Tyler Too - Slashdot User

Submission + - American Science & Surplus is fighting for its life

Submitted by Tyler Too on Wednesday June 04, 2025 @05:00PM

Tyler Too writes: One of the few major, independent science-surplus/DIY outlets left is American Science & Surplus. They've recently launched a GoFundMe campaign to ensure their survival. From Ars Technica:

Now, nearly 90 years after its launch selling "reject lenses" as American Lens & Photo, American Science & Surplus is facing an existential threat. The COVID-19 pandemic and increased costs hit the business hard, so the store has launched a GoFundMe campaign looking to raise $200,000 from customers and fans alike. What's happening in suburban Chicago is a microcosm of the challenges facing local retail, with big-box retailers and online behemoths overwhelming beloved local institutions. It's a story that has played out countless times in the last two-plus decades, and owner Pat Meyer is hoping this tale has a different ending.

Comment Re:All E-content should be NFT (Score 1) 20

by Tyler Too on Tuesday September 07, 2021 @02:20PM (#61772591) Attached to: The Surprisingly Big Business of Library E-books

yes

Submission + - Judge rejects SCO's motion for a new trial (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 10, 2010 @04:52PM

An anonymous reader writes: A judge has rejected SCO's motion for a new trial in the company's dispute over UNIX intellectual property ownership. The ruling validates a verdict that was issued in April by a jury which determined that Novell, and not SCO, is the rightful owner of the UNIX SVRX copyrights. This means that SCO cannot continue to pursue its litigation against IBM and other Linux users. "There was substantial evidence that Novell made an intentional decision to retain ownership of the copyrights," the Judge wrote in his decision. "The Court finds that the verdict is not clearly, decidedly, or overwhelmingly against the weight of the evidence. Therefore, SCO is not entitled to a new trial."

Submission + - Tentacular, tentacular! (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by Tyler Too on Thursday April 01, 2010 @12:46PM

Tyler Too writes: "Beware, mortals: Cthulhu has returned, and he's armed with bacon and an unhealthy obsession with geek brains." It's a really bizarre and hilarious choose your own adventure saga starring the Great Old One himself, Sergey Brin, Anonymous, David Pogue, and non-Euclidian tacos with bacon.

Submission + - Ubuntu dumps the brown, gets new visual identity (arstechnica.com) 4

Submitted by buntcake on Wednesday March 03, 2010 @03:59PM

buntcake writes: Canonical has launched a new visual identity for the Ubuntu Linux distribution. Ubuntu is shedding its previous brown look and adopting a more professional color scheme with purple and orange. The colors will be used in a new GNOME theme and boot splash for Ubuntu 10.04. According to updated design documents that were published in the Ubuntu wiki, "light" is the underlying concept behind the new visual identity. It displaces the "human" concept that has been part of Ubuntu's theming and brand vernacular for the past five years. Ubuntu community manager Jono Bacon has posted a screenshot and additional information.

Submission + - MPAA pushes for HD-disabling SOC once again (arstechnica.com) 2

Submitted by Tyler Too on Wednesday September 02, 2009 @03:31PM

Tyler Too writes: The MPAA is once again trying to badger the FCC into approving Selectable Output Control, which would plug the 'analog hole' during broadcasts of some prerelease HD movies. MPAA bigshots met with seven staffers from the FCC Media Bureau last week, calling the petition a 'pro-consumer' move designed to 'enable movie studios to offer millions of Americans in-home access to high-value, high definition video content.' At least the studios are now acknowledging that SOC would break the functionality of some HDTVs, an admission they were previously unwilling to make: 'What's interesting about the group's latest filing, however, is that it effectively concedes that the output changes it wants could, in fact, hobble some home video systems. "The vast majority of consumers would not have to purchase new devices to receive the new, high-value content contemplated by MPAA's" request, the group assures the FCC.'

Submission + - Google brings 3D to web with open source plugin (arstechnica.com) 1

Submitted by maxheadroom on Tuesday April 21, 2009 @02:39PM

maxheadroom writes: Google has released an open source browser plugin that provides a JavaScript API for displaying 3D graphics in web content. Google hopes that the project will promote experimentation and help advance a collaborative effort with the Khronos Group and Mozilla to create open standards for 3D on the web. Google's plugin offers its own retained-mode graphics API, called O3D, which takes a different approach from a similar browser plugin created by Mozilla. Google's plugin is cross-platform compatible and works with several browsers. In an interview with Ars Technica, Google product manager Henry Bridge and engineering director Matt Papakipos say that Google's API will eventually converge with Mozilla's as the technology matures. The search giant hopes to bring programs like SketchUp and Google Earth to the browser space.

Submission + - In-depth with the Windows 7 public beta (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by Dozer on Monday January 12, 2009 @05:38PM

Dozer writes: With the Windows 7 public beta out, Ars Technica has an in-depth look at the release. There's praise for Windows 7's UI changes and polish as well much-needed changes to UAC, but also a warning that those who have problems with Vista won't like Windows 7 much better. 'If you couldn't stand Vista's UI (whether it's because you didn't like Explorer, Aero, Control Panel, UAC, or anything else), Windows 7 is unlikely to do much to help, as it builds on the same UI. If Vista's hardware demands were too steep, Windows 7 will likely cause you the same grief, as its hardware demands match. And if Vista didn't work with a program or device you need to use, Windows 7 will offer no salvation, as its compatibility is virtually identical.'

Submission + - SPAM: Do Not Call registry set to become permanent

Submitted by

coondoggie

on Thursday February 07, 2008 @02:42PM

coondoggie writes: "The Do Not Call registry is on its way to becoming permanent. The Senate on Wednesday followed the House and unanimously passed Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007 that will permanently prevent salesmen and other telemarketers from making those irritating dinner-time phone calls looking to sell you everything from aluminum siding to Zebra insurance (fine if you owned a Zebra I suppose). Aside from what telemarketing junk the bill does prevent, experts note what may also be a big deal is a provision that is NOT in this bill and that is protection for those other annoying time wasters: political robo calls. [spam URL stripped]"
Link to Original Source

Comment Linking to mainstream media sites for science news (Score 3, Informative) 59

by Tyler Too on Wednesday February 06, 2008 @06:55PM (#22326742) Attached to: Breakthrough in Holographic Displays

BBC's coverage is pretty lame. Slashdot would serve its readers better by linking to coverage at a science blog instead. For instance, Ars Technica's Nobel Intent science journal has a far superior writeup of the announcement.

Submission + - Why the coming exaflood won't drown the Internet (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by High Waters on Monday December 17, 2007 @02:18PM

High Waters writes: Ars Technica examines predictions of an exaflood of data that some alarmists believe will overwhelm the Internet. 'Doomsday predictions about the collapse of the Internet have never been hard to come by. Most recently, concern has focused on the rise of Internet video, one of the key drivers of traffic growth over the last couple of years. Should Internet traffic surge more quickly than networks can keep up, the entire system could clog up like a bad plumbing job.' But a closer look reveals that many of those raising the alarm about an exaflood are generally doing so to make the case against 'Net neutrality regulation. 'There's a reason that "exaflood" sounds scary. It's supposed to. Though Brett Swanson's Wall Street Journal piece tried to avoid alarmism, it did have an explicitly political point in mind: net neutrality is bad, and it could turn the coming exaflood into a real disaster'

Submission + - Penny-sized flash module holds 16GB (linuxdevices.com) 1

Submitted by nerdyH on Monday December 17, 2007 @01:55PM

nerdyH writes: Intel describes its new 2GB to 16GB SSDs (solid state disks) as "smaller than a penny, and weighing less than a drop of water." The parts are "400 times smaller in volume than a 1.8-inch hard drive," Intel boasts, "and at 0.6 grams, 75 times lighter." Sampling now, with mass production set for Q1, the Z-P140 is described as an "optional" part of Intel's Menlow chipset, built in turn as part of Intel's vision for Linux-based Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs).

Submission + - Congressman Hollywood wants to revisit DMCA (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by Stormy seas on Thursday December 13, 2007 @01:18PM

Stormy seas writes: Congressman Howard Berman (D-CA) used a House subcommittee hearing today to express his view that the DMCA was in need of a rewrite. During his opening remarks for a hearing on the PRO-IP Act, Berman said that the DMCA's Safe Harbor needs further scrutiny and that it might be time to make filtering mandatory. There's more: Berman also 'wants to examine the "effectiveness of takedown notices" under the DMCA, and he'd like to take another look at whether filtering technology has advanced to the point where Congress ought to mandate it in certain situations.'

Submission + - MPAA boss makes case for ISP content filtering (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by creaton on Wednesday December 05, 2007 @06:16PM

creaton writes: At the annual UBS Global & Media Communications Conference yesterday, MPAA boss Dan Glickman banged on the copyright filtering drum during a 45-minute speech. Glickman called piracy the MPAA's #1 issue and told the audience that it cost the studios $6 billion annually. His solution: technology, especially in the form of ISP filtering. '"The ISP community is going to be at the forefront of this in the future because they have everything to lose and nothing to gain by not seeing that the content is being properly protected," he said, "and I think that's a great opportunity."' AT&T has already said it plans to filter content, but others may be more reluctant to go along, notes Ars Technica: 'ISPs that are concerned with being, well, ISPs aren't likely to see many benefits from installing some sort of industrial-strength packet-sniffing and filtering solution at the core of their network. It costs money, customers won't like the idea, and the potential for backlash remains high.'

Submission + - Facebook caves to privacy protests over Beacon (computerworld.com)

Submitted by jcatcw on Wednesday December 05, 2007 @02:45PM

jcatcw writes: After weeks of privacy protests over its advertising system, Facebook CEO announced that users now can turn the system off completely. CEO Zuckerberg said "We simply did a bad job with this release." Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, called the announcement from Zuckerberg "a step in the right direction."

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