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Comment Re:Age of Consent? (Score 1) 192

My understanding of it is that since Facebook is US-based, they made the rule in order to abide by the local law. Since everyone still has to abide by Facebook's rules on the website, you would still be subject to it. I don't know enough about the law to tell if it is technically illegal for a U.S. site to get personal information from 12-year-olds in other countries, but my guess would be... it is still illegal.

Comment Re:Still Humans? (Score 1) 409

Even though genetic drift isn't as big of a factor anymore, there's still the matter of a dramatically altered environment - not so much in a, "global warming," sense as a, "humans have lately been adapting to a completely different definition of fitness than the one that got us to where we are now," sense. The main thing that comes to mind is sexual selection. If nothing else, the centuries will tend to look kindly on the families that are best at attracting mates, keeping them, and seeing to it that their kids are able to do the same. What's more, while we don't have much in the way of natural predators anymore, we still occasionally get someone with a mutation that gives them an edge, and in that case the genes tend to spread like wildfire. As a semi-relevant example: It used to be that most people couldn't drink cow's milk without puking. Soon after it was discovered, though, it became apparent that those who could stomach this new food had an almost flukish advantage, and so over time we've gotten to the point where most people have inherited the ability from some ancient milk-drinker or another. In summary, it will be a long time before humanity technically develops into a different species, but along the way we'll probably become super hot and learn to drink milk.

Comment 1000-year Language Barrier (Score 2, Interesting) 409

Defining a human as someone who casually refers to him or herself as, "Human," in the linguistic sense common at this moment in 2009, the last of them will probably show up in ~1000 years, as natural drift in pronunciation and usage cause everyone to gradually move towards newer (and hopefully, but probably not, better) terminology. What's more, the people of the future may well have a mindset that is completely alien to us by then, no thanks to 4chan and implanted commlinks.
The Internet

What Do You Do When the Cloud Shuts Down? 203

jbrodkin writes "Can you trust your data to the cloud? For users of an online storage service called The Linkup, formerly known as MediaMax, the answer turned out to be a resounding 'no.' The Linkup shut down on Aug. 8 after losing access to as much as 45% of its customers' data. 'When we looked at some individual accounts, some people didn't have any files, and some people had all their files,' The Linkup CeO Steve Iverson admits. None of the affected users will get their lost data back. Iverson called it a 'worst-case scenario.'"
Software

Software Price Gap Between the US and Europe 1003

Kensai7 writes "A quick comparison between same versions of mainstream software sold in the USA and the EU markets show a big difference in the respective price tags. If you want to buy online, let's say, Adobe's Dreamweaver CS3, you'll have to pay $399 if you live in the States, but a whopping E570 (almost $900 in current exchange rates!) if you happen to buy it in Germany. Same story for Microsoft's newest products: Expression Web 2 in America costs only $299 new, but try that in Italy and they will probably ask you no less than E366 ($576!). How can such an abyssal difference be explained? I understand there are some added costs for the localized translated versions, but I also thought the Euro was supposed to be outbuying the dollar. Where's the catch?"
Robotics

Machine Prints 3D Copies Of Itself 341

TaeKwonDood writes "Automated machines have been around for decades. They have basically been dumb devices that do simple assembly tasks. But RepRap takes that a step further because, instead of assembling pre-fabricated parts, it creates 3-D objects by printing them — squirting molten plastic in layers — and then building them up as the plastic solidifies. It works on coat hooks, door handles and now it can even make working copies ... of itself. The miracle of additive fabrication, coming soon to a robotic overlord near you."
Input Devices

OCZ's Brain Mouse Hits the Store 150

John Roller writes "Three months to the day since Slashdot originally received word that OCZ's "brain-mouse" — the Neural Impulse Actuator was ready for shipping, the first in-depth review of the device containing pictures of the retail packaging along with several videos have arrived on the internet. Overclock3D.Net got the first look at the device, and although it's still early days, they managed to play a game of "Pong" using only brain power. The article is only part one in a month-long log of using the device, but it's extremely interesting to see what the people who have pre-ordered the device can expect from it when it arrives on their doorsteps shortly."
Hardware Hacking

Chinese Pirates Copy iPhone, Make Improvements 716

An anonymous reader writes "Popular Science notes that manufacturers in China duplicate many well-know products. This includes the Apple iPhone, imitations of which are rolling off the assembly line already. That might actually be a good thing for some users, who might enjoy the user experience of China's own miniOne. 'It ran popular mobile software that the iPhone wouldn't. It worked with nearly every worldwide cellphone carrier, not just AT&T, and not only in the U.S. It promised to cost half as much as the iPhone and be available to 10 times as many consumers.' The cloned iPhone uses a Linux-based system. 'The cloners hire a team of between 20 and 40 engineers to begin decoding the circuit boards. At the same time, coders start to develop an operating system for the phone with a similar feature set. (The typical cloner either uses off-the-shelf code, writes something entirely new, or modifies a publicly available Linux-based system.)' Using the iPhone as an example, the PopSci site walks through the process of making imitation technology."

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