dmci - Slashdot User

Students Skip College Music Services 246

Posted by timothy on Thursday July 06, 2006 @11:16AM from the they-know-which-end-stinks dept.

WSJdpatton writes "College students don't turn down much that's free. But when it comes to online music, even free hasn't been enough to persuade many students to use the digital download services colleges and universities are providing." I know that the Ctrax service offered by my current school — Temple University — and many others (it's "available to all college students with a '.edu' email address") has an ugly, awkward interface. Worse, the free (gratis) part is an expiring, "tethered" collection of music for those who use it; downloads to keep are fee-per-track.

Hands on: Google Spreadsheets 257

Posted by Hemos on Monday June 12, 2006 @10:50AM from the reviewing-the-offerings dept.

feminazi writes "Google spreadsheets are more powerful than you might think, according to Richard Ericson. The free, Web-based service doesn't currently offer encryption, but the clean interface has standard drop-down menus, icons and buttons (just when MS is switching to "ribbons"). You can use it to work with existing files and "Formatting is simple, direct and fast. ... Sort, does precisely what you'd expect." Most importantly, it has most of Excel's functions -- including some that aren't listed or documented." We covered the launch of this program last week.

FTC and Rockstar Settle Hot Coffee Dispute 295

Posted by Zonk on Thursday June 08, 2006 @03:04PM from the angryness dept.

kukyfrope writes "The FTC and Rockstar/Take-Two have reached a settlement surrounding the 'Hot Coffee' mod for GTA: San Andreas that will serve to prevent future incidents. The FTC has stated that Rockstar and Take-Two must disclose all content to the ESRB when rating games, or face an $11,000 fine per violation if undisclosed content is discovered. 'Parents have the right to rely on the accuracy of the entertainment rating system. We allege that Take-Two and Rockstar's actions undermined the industry's own rating system and deceived consumers,' commented Lydia Parnes, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection."

The Art of SQL 225

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday June 07, 2006 @03:22PM from the learn-all-about-it dept.

Graeme Williams writes "One difference between SQL and a conventional procedural programming language is that for SQL there's a bigger gap between what the code says and what the code does. The Art of SQL is the opposite of a cookbook – or rather it's about cooking rather than recipes. It's not a reference manual, although there's plenty to refer back to. It's an intermediate level book which assumes you know how to read and write SQL, and analyzes what SQL does and how it does it." Read on for Graeme's review.

Comment Re:Lots of FUD in this article (Score 1) 243

by dmci on Tuesday May 02, 2006 @10:26AM (#15245032) Attached to: Higher Education Fears Wiretapping Law

I'm sorry, but I must respectfully disagree. I DO get it, and have been following this issue for some time. The article leaves out very important information regarding a recent FCC clarification regarding higher education. Here is a quote from a March 10 article in the "Chronicle of Higher Education"

The Federal Communications Commission has clarified how it wants colleges to comply with an order to re-engineer their computer networks so the government can monitor online communications. And the agency's explanation is heartening for colleges, which had feared having to spend billions of dollars on new systems to meet the government's surveillance needs.

In a brief filed last week in federal court here, the FCC indicated that colleges would need to redesign their networks so the government could monitor e-mail messages and other electronic communications flowing into and out of campuses, but not within campuses.

You can see the full article here: http://chronicle.com/weekly/v52/i27/27a03002.htm

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