120287306
submission
beaverdownunder writes:
Commodore’s Jack Tramiel saw an emerging market for low-cost home computers, releasing the VIC-20 in 1980. At a US$299 price point sales were initially modest, but rival Texas Instruments, making a play for the bottom of the market, would heavily discount its TI99/4A, and start a price war with Commodore that culminated with both computers selling as low as $US99. Only one company was going to walk away.
106169764
submission
beaverdownunder writes:
While researching for our magazine we sometimes find nuggets buried by time that have been forgotten by the Internet. This particular nugget was found in the May 1977 issue of Creative Computing. Science fiction author and futurist Arthur C. Clarke’s predictions of the future are fascinating, both for what he got right, and what he got wrong
71915281
submission
beaverdownunder writes:
2K Australia, the Canberra studio that most recently developed Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, is closing its doors.
The entire studio is closing, and all staff members will lose their jobs. “All hands are gone,” said a source for Kotaku Australia.
2K Canberra was the last major AAA-style studio operating out of Australia. The costs of operating in Australia are apparently to blame for the decision.
This raises questions as to the viability of developing major video games in Australia.
70763625
submission
beaverdownunder writes:
We're currently working on developing a teaching platform based around our BASIC interpreter DiscoRunner, and we would love to hear from Slashdot readers as to what methods they've used in the past to teach kids computer science concepts — which worked, what didn't, and why.
This will obviously be invaluable to us when it comes to working out the lessons that will be taught in our fight-to-save-the-world-from-evil learning environment, and we would be eternally grateful for any scraps of wisdom you could toss our way. =)
Thank you!
59810175
submission
beaverdownunder writes:
Will Uber succeed in Australia? It's looking a bit grim for the service: Victoria Australia's Taxi Directorate has begun a crackdown on Melbourne Uber drivers, fining them $1700 each for operating a taxi service illegally, with total fines apparently equalling over $50000. In response, Uber has shut down its Melbourne service, and has refused to comment on whether its drivers will be compensated, since Uber told them they were providing a legal service. (Fined Uber drivers could take the company to the state's consumer tribunal: stay tuned!)
Uber is set to meet with the Directorate next week but it is likely the demands the Directorate will place on Uber drivers, such as mandatory criminal record checks, vehicle inspections and insurance, will make the service in Melbourne unviable.
Meanwhile, the New South Wales government is awaiting a report to determine if Uber drivers operating in that state are doing so illegally, warning that drivers could face substantial fines if they are found to have been operating in breach of the law. In South Australia, it doesn't even appear Uber will get off the ground — the state has made it clear that those who operate as an Uber driver will be driving without being covered by the state's mandatory insurance coverage, essentially de-registering their vehicle and making them liable for fines and license suspension.
56664539
submission
beaverdownunder writes:
Facebook has recognised it's a gender-diverse world — at least in the US.
In addition to Male or Female, Facebook now lets US users choose among some 50 additional options such as "transgender," "cisgender," "gender fluid," "intersex" and "neither."
Users also now have the ability to choose the pronoun they would like to be referred to publicly: he/his, she/her, or the gender-neutral they/their.
"When you come to Facebook to connect with the people, causes, and organizations you care about, we want you to feel comfortable being your true, authentic self," Facebook said in a post on its Diversity page.
"An important part of this is the expression of gender, especially when it extends beyond the definitions of just 'male' or 'female,' " the post continued. "So today, we're proud to offer a new custom gender option to help you better express your own identity on Facebook."
54747837
submission
beaverdownunder writes:
From the Guardian:
Snapchat users’ phone numbers may be exposed to hackers due to an unresolved security vulnerability, according to a new report released by a group of Australian hackers.
Snapchat is a social media program that allows users to send pictures to each other that disappear within 10 seconds. Users can create profiles with detailed personal information and add friends that can view the photos a user shares.
But Gibson Security, a group of anonymous hackers from Australia, has published a new report with detailed coding that they say shows how a vulnerability can be exploited to reveal phone numbers of users, as well as their privacy settings.
54493187
submission
beaverdownunder writes:
Despite a 2011 law requiring retailers to provide a refund option for faulty goods, and free repairs to items reasonably expected to still function properly (this part of the law is intentionally ambiguous), Apple steadfastly stuck to its AppleCare program, denying warranty repairs to units more than one year old (without the purchase of an extension) and only offering replacement or credit for DOA items.
Apple has promised to compensate all Australian customers who were charged for repairs during the last two years, and make the terms of the law clear on the Australian Apple website. How this will affect company warranty policy is unclear — under the law, consumers could be entitled to repairs for the life of the product (barring damage, of course). What is the acceptable 'life' of an iPad? A MacBook?
53239005
submission
beaverdownunder writes:
To commemorate 50 years of the Tardis, today the BBC is airing a 75 minute special finally revealing the secrets of the Time War.
What did you think off the special? And what's your fondest memory of Who? And what about that Capaldi guy?
50428201
submission
beaverdownunder writes:
Silicon Valley technology conference organisers TechCrunch have been forced to apologise after two Australian men pitched a smartphone app called "Titstare" in front of a nine-year-old girl.
The Sydney duo's presentation had the mainly male audience laughing, but angered Twitter users and reignited a debate about sexism in the technology sector.
The two entrepreneurs — Jethro Batts, 28, and David Boulton, 24 — pitched their "tongue in cheek" idea at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco on Sunday after winning expenses for the trip to the US in a similar competition, AngelHack Sydney.
In their pitch, Boulton explained to an audience of hundreds (plus thousands online) that it would allow users to "take photos of yourself, looking at tits".
"It's science my good friend, science," Boulton said.
TechCrunch also apologised for another pitch for a product called Circle Shake, in which a man simulated masturbation.
Additional article: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2013/09/titstare-tech-worlds-latest-brogrammer-joke-techcrunch-disrupt/69171/
48313483
submission
beaverdownunder writes:
Melbourne restauranteur Paul Mathis has developed a one-character replacement for the word 'The' – effectively an upper-case "T" and a lower-case "h" bunched together so they share the upright stem – and an app that puts it in everyone's hand by allowing users to download an entirely new keyboard complete not just with his "Th" symbol, but also a row of keys containing the 10 or 15 (depending on the version) most frequently typed words in English.
Mathis has already copped criticism on Twitter (one correspondent called him "a crazy arsehole") from people who claim he is attempting to trademark a symbol that is part of the Serbian Cyrillic alphabet (pronounced "tshe", the letter represents the "ch" sound found in the word "chew").
47057003
submission
beaverdownunder writes:
From the Australian Broadcasting Corporation:
Japan's peak whaling body has launched a new campaign to promote whale meat as a nutritious food that enhances physical strength and reduces fatigue.
With about 5,000 tonnes of whale meat sitting unwanted in freezers around Japan, the country's Institute for Cetacean Research has decided to launch a new campaign to promote the by-product of its so-called scientific whaling program.
Once popular in school lunches, younger generations of Japanese rarely, if ever, eat whale.
But the institute hopes to revive flagging interest by advertising whale meat as a great source of balenine — a substance believed to enhance energy and physical health.
46731197
submission
beaverdownunder writes:
I recently attended a 'hackathon' that was really just another pitching contest, and out of frustration am tempted to organise an event myself that is better suited to developers and far less entrepreneur-centric than some of the latest offerings.
What I'd like to know from the /. community is, what would you like to see in a hackathon? What are some good hackathons you've attended that weren't just thinly-veiled pitch-development workshops? I have an idea around assigning attendees to quasi-random teams based on their skillsets, then giving them 48 hours to complete a serious coding / engineering challenge (probably in the not-for-profit space) — but maybe you've got some better ideas?
45889913
submission
beaverdownunder writes:
An Australian company is proposing to use laser technology to solve the growing problem of space junk at the fraction of the time and cost of other methods.
The company's CEO, Craig Smith, says blasting space junk with lasers could be a viable alternative to costly satellite removal of space junk.
Mr Smith says their plan, to shoot high-energy lasers at space debris to move them out of harm's way, is more practical, cost-effective and timely.
"You can't really destroy it unless you can bring it down into the Earth's orbit and burn it up," Mr Smith said.
44137183
submission
beaverdownunder writes:
Debate 'down under' has started to rage surrounding the importation of 'temporary' IT workers on so-called '457' visas, with the Prime Minister promising to bring in tough new restrictions on foreign workers in a pre-election pledge despite evidence that there are insufficient numbers of Australians to fill the skills 'gap'. Some quarters argue the foreign workers are necessary to drive growth in Australia's IT industry, while others have cited examples where large Australian companies have imported workers needlessly, displacing qualified Aussie personnel.
What do you think? Is Big Technology only trying to improve its bottom line? Or are qualified Australian / American / Canadian etc. IT workers an endangered species?
