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Comment Use CLDR or ICU (Score 3) 84

I recommend using CLDR (http://cldr.unicode.org/). It has data to format numbers with measurement units, and recent versions include all of the language specific grammatical cases needed to format such a quantity in a sentence. ICU (http://site.icu-project.org/) is one of the common ways to access this localized data.

Comment Re: Get an LG (Score 2) 320

5. Not connecting the television to the network often sees the 'smart' feature interfere with normal operation including messages about not being able to check for updates, it being in the list of inputs, etc.

If this is the crux of the issue, then get a recent LG 4K TV with HDR support, like the UH7700 series. Mine isn't connected to a network, and it doesn't complain. I think their OS is webOS, which uses the Linux kernel and a bunch of other open source. The open source is listed in the license attribution screen. All non-portable things in my house connected to a network are never connected over wifi so that I can more easily control the attack surface with a firewall. If it needs a network, it has to be an ethernet port. I still want to get security updates from time to time. I use ethernet for that, and then I unplug it after it's done. Yes, it's a smart TV with unused "smart" functionality.

I don't use their remote normally. I use an old Logitech universal remote, which is helpful for controlling viewing configurations. It's one button to turn on satellite viewing. One button for blueray viewing. One button for Apple TV. One button for turning it all off. I don't need to press multiple buttons to switch inputs and to control their power.

Comment San Francisco astroturf (Score 1) 250

There is a reason why Silicon Valley is not in San Francisco. San Francisco may be an entertaining place to live as long as you ignore the homeless people, drug dealers and nutty politicians. The real innovation is near Palo Alto, Cupertino, Mountain View, Santa Clara and San José. Those places are just too laid back and relaxing for some people living in San Francisco.

Security

Submission + - Iranian cyber army strikes again -- hitting VoA (techworld.com.au)

angry tapir writes: "The pro-Iran hacktivist group that defaced the Baidu and Twitter Web sites a year ago has hit another target: the U.S. Government's Voice of America news site. Voice of America was knocked offline temporarily after hackers were able to change the organization's DNS (Domain Name System) settings, redirecting Web traffic hitting Voice of America sites to another site controlled by the hackers."

Submission + - CIA Shows Off SuperSecret Spy Goodies (foxnews.com) 1

Velcroman1 writes: In a world where Russian femme fatales become international brands and an iconic British spy franchise has made a culturally resurgent reboot, it seems only fitting that the notoriously secretive Central Intelligence Agency is giving the world an insider’s look at some of its wackier exploits.

Last week, the U.S. spy organization launched a revamped website with links to YouTube and Flickr containing Agency historical videos and picture galleries.

“The idea behind these improvements is to make more information about the agency available to more people, more easily,” Director Panetta said in a statement. “The CIA wants the American people and the world to understand its mission and its vital role in keeping our country safe.” In terms of pure coolness the Flickr stream takes the cake — including never-before-seen gallery of special agent supergadgets.

Spam

Submission + - California Spam Law Upheld by Appeals Court. 1

www.sorehands.com writes: In the first California appeals court ruling, in Hypertouch v. Valueclick, it is ruled that the I-CAN-SPAM Act does not preempt California Business & Professions Code Section 17529.5. California Business & Professions Code Section 17529.5 prohibits the use of falsified headers and subject lines that are likely to mislead recipients.

Spammers have been claiming, and some courts have been ruling, that to survive preemption, a Plaintiff has to show all the elements of fraud (false representation, knowledge, reliance, and damage from the reliance.) The reliance and damage from the reliance is difficult as it would essentially require the recipient to buy the penis enlargement pills and show that they don't work, or to send the money to the Nigerian prince. An ISP could never show reliance and harm, as they are not the recipient and would not be responding to e-mails traversing their systems.

Spammers, and Courts have been claiming that the rulings in Gordon v. Virtumundo, 575 F.3d 1040, and Omega World Travel, Inc. v. Mummagraphics (4th Cir. 2006)
469 F.3d 348 rules that state laws are preempted, but this is dispelled in Hypertouch. In both Gordon and Omega, there was no false information inserted, just not complete (the spammer could be identified using a whois lookup.) In Hypertouch, it is alleged that there were false names in the headers. The Court's seem not to get, or it has not been argued, that a from line is supposed to say who/what an e-mail is from, not from the "Free 50 inch plasma TV." What legitimate business hides their identity when sending an e-mail?

While most of the federal courts have been ruling that it is not required, those rulings do not bind the state courts. This ruling binds all California courts.

The ruling also made it clear that the advertiser is responsible for the acts of their agents, even if their agents promise not to spam. This is very important, as in most, and my own litigation, the Defendants' David Szpak and Emmanuel Gurtler have their affiliates agree not to spam, but had hired Yamboo Financials, (See http://www.spamhaus.org/rokso/evidence.lasso?rokso_id=ROK3095 ) which had 17 different affiliate ids, and ignored multiple lawsuits for spamming.

A copy of the ruling is at http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/B218603.PDF
Oracle

Submission + - Oracle releases MySQL 5.5 (oracle.com)

darthcamaro writes: Two years after Sun released MySQL 5.1, Oracle has picked up the ball with the official release of MySQL 5.5. New features include semi-synchronous replication, InnoDB by default and new SIGNAL/RESIGNAL support for exception handling. Above all, Oracle stressed that they are comitted to further MySQL open source development and that they see it as a complentary technology to their proprietary Oracle database.

"MySQL 5.5 remains and future versions will remain, open source under the GPL license," Tomas Ulan, vice president of engineering for MySQL at Oracle said.


The Military

Submission + - Navy tests Mach 8 Electromagnetic Railgun (wired.com)

hargrand writes: Wired magazine has a story and publicly released video of the Navy test firing of a 32 megajoule electromagnetic railgun.

Reporters were invited to watch the test at the Dalghren Naval Surface Warfare Center. A tangle of two-inch thick coaxial cables hooked up to stacks of refrigerator-sized capacitors took five minutes to power juice into a gun the size of a schoolbus built in a warehouse. With a 1.5-million-ampere spark of light and a boom audible in a room 50 feet away, the bullet left the gun at a speed of Mach 8.


Government

Submission + - Income Tax Quashed, Ballmer to Cash in Billions 1

theodp writes: Washington's proposed state income tax not only prompted Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to spend $425,000 of his own money to help crush the measure at the polls, it also inspired Microsoft to launch a FUD campaign aimed at torpedoing the initiative. 'As an employer, we're concerned that I-1098 will make it harder to attract talent and create additional jobs in Washington state,' explained Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith. 'We strongly support public education, but we're concerned by key details in I-1098. This initiative would give Washington one of the top five highest state income tax rates in the country. I-1098 would apply this tax rate to all income, including capital gains and dividends, and would not permit any deductions for charitable contributions.' Nice to see a company take a principled stand, backed by a CEO who's not unafraid to put his money where his company's mouth is, right? Well, maybe not. Just three days after the measure went down in flames, Ballmer said in a statement that he plans to sell up to 75 million of his Microsoft shares by the end of the year to 'gain financial diversification and to assist in tax planning.' Based on Friday's closing price of $26.85, the 75MM shares would be valued at approximately $2 billion. All of which might make a cynic question what was really important to Microsoft — public education, or a $2B state income tax-free payday for its CEO?

Submission + - Downwind faster than the wind: Record set (makezine.com)

Shawnconna writes: Can a wind cart travel faster than the wind? A group of makers say Yes!, and Make: Online has published the first in a three-part series on the Blackbird wind cart that just set a record. This is a follow-up on a story in MAKE Volume 11 where Charles Platt built a cart based on a viral video where a guy claimed he'd built a wind-powered vehicle that could travel downwind faster than the windspeed. Charles built one and said it didn't work. Heated debates broke out in forums, on BB, and elsewhere on the Net. In the ensuing time, a number of people have built carts and claimed success, most principally, Rick Cavallaro. He got funding, from Google and JOBY, to build and test a human-piloted cart. They claim success, with multiple sensor systems on board, impartial judges and experts in attendance. The controversy continues. And the 3-part story starts today on Makezine.com.
IBM

Submission + - IBM's plans for the Cell processor (idg.com.au)

angry tapir writes: "Development around the original Cell processor hasn't stalled and IBM will continue to develop chips and supply hardware for future gaming consoles, a company executive said. IBM is working with gaming machine vendors including Nintendo and Sony, said Jai Menon, CTO of IBM's Systems and Technology Group, during an interview Thursday. "We want to stay in the business, we intend to stay in the business," he said. IBM confirmed in a statement that it continues to manufacture the Cell processor for use by Sony in its PlayStation 3. IBM also will continue to invest in Cell as part of its hybrid and multicore chip strategy, Menon said."

Comment Take a look at the central air system (Score 1) 499

While router channel conflict is a common problem in denser areas, I found out that my variable speed central heater was causing power and radio interference with my internet connection when it turned on. The heater manufacturer had a kit to fix it though. I only noticed the interference source while using a portable AM radio and listening between the radio stations.

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