cottandr - Slashdot User

Comment Re:NOT "2008 patent filing", but 1997! (Score 1) 265

by cottandr on Wednesday June 16, 2010 @09:35PM (#32597748) Attached to: USPTO Lets Amazon Patent the "Social Networking System"

The first patent (the one filed in 1997) describes a PIM a la microsoft exchange. The second patent (the one filed in 1999) distinctly mentions relationships and granting permission to view personal information. The 2008 patent just seems to adjust the claims to fit a current social network.

Comment But... (Score 5, Interesting) 205

by cottandr on Thursday May 20, 2010 @07:38PM (#32287212) Attached to: Penn. AG Corbett Subpoenas Twitter For Bloggers' Names

Twitter doesn't store personal details. Even putting a name in your profile name is optional. How can they provide information they don't even collect?

Comment Re:dropbox? (Score 1) 305

by cottandr on Thursday November 19, 2009 @06:36PM (#30165038) Attached to: Synchronize Data Between Linux, OS X, and Windows?

Dropbox's beta builds have LAN sync.

Kyocera's OLED Phone Concept Charges As You Flex It 101

Posted by timothy on Thursday April 16, 2009 @01:08PM from the other-products-to-flex-on-the-way dept.

Mike writes "Kyocera recently unveiled a kinetic energy-powered phone with a flexible OLED display that can be folded up like a wallet. Dubbed the EOS phone, the display unfolds to reveal a wide screen, and shape memory allows the phone's keys to pop up when in use and blend in with the surface during downtime. Best of all, the phone's soft, semi-rigid polymer skin is embedded with an array of tiny piezoelectric generators — the more you use the phone, the more it charges!" So far, it's just a design idea — but a cool one.

Even Dirtier IT Jobs 175

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday April 06, 2009 @11:06AM from the summon-mike-rowe dept.

snydeq writes "InfoWorld's Dan Tynan offers up 7 'even dirtier IT jobs' in a follow-up of last year's 7 dirtiest jobs in IT. Number four? Zombie console monkey. 'Wanted: Individuals with low self-esteem and high boredom threshold willing to spend long hours poring over server logs and watching blinking lights on a network console.'"

Christmas Tree Made From 70 SCSI Hard Drives 248

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday December 17, 2008 @01:39PM from the free-time dept.

Trigger writes "At our work we were decomissioning six old HP/Compaq servers to clear up space for new servers and, naturally, each server had a fairly large raid array. Instead of formatting every hard drive (would have taken weeks performing a DoD level wipe) and disposing them all together with the servers, I decided to disassemble the hard drives and recycle them into something neat. With a lot (a lot) of patience, I made this shiny Xmas tree. In total there are around 70 old SCSI hard drives, between 9gb and 18gb in size each. They were nice and chunky, oldschool style. There were quite a few different hard drive models, which is good because they each had different bits which I could use. The Xmas tree is made with parts from hard drives only except for one nut which I had to purchase for $0.39." It's good to see that this guy has plenty to do at work.

Google Map To Real Piracy 262

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday November 24, 2008 @05:03PM from the not-the-pretend-kind dept.

An anonymous reader noted that you can now see a Google Map of piracy. Not the pretend kind, the real kind with boats and stuff. Considering how much time we spend talking about the other kind, I think it's worth paying attention to the real problems out there.

EU Strikes Down French "3 Strikes" Copyright Infringement Law 271

Posted by timothy on Sunday November 23, 2008 @04:24PM from the mon-dieu dept.

Erris writes "Opendotdotdot has good news about laws in the EU: 'EU culture ministers yesterday (20 November) rejected French proposals to curb online piracy through compulsory measures against free downloading ... [and instead pushed] for "a fair balance between the various fundamental rights" while fighting online piracy, first listing "the right to personal data protection," then "the freedom of information" and only lastly "the protection of intellectual property." [This] indicates that the culture ministers and their advisers are beginning to understand the dynamics of the Net, that throttling its use through crude instruments like the "three strikes and you're out" is exactly the wrong thing to do.'"

Firefox 2 and Gecko 1.8 End of Life 138

Posted by Soulskill on Sunday November 16, 2008 @10:44AM from the out-with-the-old dept.

vm writes "According to Mozilla and other sources, Firefox 2 and Gecko 1.8 will soon be left behind some time in mid-December. The end result: no future security or stability updates. This will affect Thunderbird 2, SeaMonkey 1.1, Camino 1.5, and any other projects based on Gecko 1.8. So, if you haven't already upgraded, there's no time like the present."

French Senate Passes Anti-Piracy Internet Cut-Off Law 225

Posted by Soulskill on Sunday November 02, 2008 @01:13PM from the trois-coups dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The French Senate has approved a three strikes law for Internet users who download copyrighted entertainment media without paying for it. If, after two warnings, a person continues to download pirated music and movies, the internet service providers would cut off access for a year. Quoting: 'The legislation passed with a massive cross-party majority of 297 votes to 15. Only a handful of conservatives, centrists and socialists voted against, while the Communists abstained. In passing the bill, the senators rejected an amendment proposed by senator Bruno Retailleau of the right-wing MPF party replacing internet cut-off with a fine. ... The bill sets up a tussle between France and Brussels. In September, the European Parliament approved by a large majority an amendment outlawing internet cut-off." We discussed the introduction of this legislation several months ago.

Voters In Many States Must Register By October 6 182

Posted by kdawson on Monday October 06, 2008 @02:12AM from the there-is-no-late dept.

Will F. Johnston writes "Voters in AK, AR, AZ, CO, DC, FL, GA, HI, IN, KY, LA, MI, MS, OH, PA, TN, TX, and VA must register to vote by tomorrow, October 6, in order to vote in November. Other deadlines coming up soon: IL and NM are October 7. MT is Oct. 6, but you can do same-day registration at the elections office. UT is also Oct. 6, but you can register in person until the 20th."

MediaDefender's Parent Company Joins P2P Market 40

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday October 04, 2008 @08:19AM from the playing-both-sides dept.

An anonymous reader writes with news that ArtistDirect, the company who acquired MediaDefender, has launched another company called PiCast for the purpose of P2P video distribution. The reader says: "This is a strange twist for a company which last year set up a video-sharing site called Miivi in an attempt to entrap users uploading copyrighted content, and was caught launching a DoS attack against Revision3, which we discussed earlier this year."

iPhone Antitrust and Computer Fraud Claims Upheld 273

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday October 03, 2008 @06:05PM from the everybody-hates-the-big-guy dept.

LawWatcher writes "On October 1, 2008, a federal judge in California upheld a class action claiming that Apple and AT&T Mobility's five-year exclusive voice and data service provider agreement for the iPhone violates the anti-monopoly provisions of the antitrust laws. The court also ruled that Apple may have violated federal and California criminal computer fraud and abuse statutes by releasing version 1.1.1 of its iPhone operating software when Apple knew that doing so would damage or destroy some iPhones that had been 'unlocked' to enable use of a carrier other than AT&T."

New 4100 Lumen Flashlight Can Set Things On Fire 464

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday January 28, 2008 @05:04PM from the no-telling-ghost-stories-with-this-baby dept.

i4u writes "Engadget is reporting that Wicked Lasers has introduced The Torch. It is the world's brightest and most powerful flashlight. The Flashlight is capable of melting plastic, lighting paper on fire within seconds, and if you like, fry an egg or a marshmallow on a stick. At 4100 lumens, The Torch is 100 lumens more powerful than The Polarion Helios, the former most powerful flashlight, and retails for around $300. The Torch is apparently also undergoing review at the Guinness Book of World Records."

Maryland Scraps Diebold Voting System 209

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday January 21, 2008 @05:42PM from the long-overdue dept.

beadfulthings writes "After eight years and some $65 million, the state of Maryland is taking its first steps to return to an accountable, paper-ballot based voting system. Governor Martin O'Malley has announced an initial outlay of $6.5 million towards the $20 million cost of an optical system which will scan and tally the votes while the paper ballots are retained as a backup. The new (or old) system is expected to be in place by 2010 — or four years before the state finishes paying off the bill for the touch-screen system."

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