Comment Yeah (Score 1) 247
AC/DC were so smart, never to release their songs on the radio, as singles, or in movie soundtracks. By demanding "whole album or nothing" they really proved their point on this whole issue.
Comment Ridiculous (Score 1) 260
$24 more in parts? Perhaps. But so what?
However, what about differences in costs around engineering, part yields, manufacturing time, etc.?
Stories like this are meaningless. The headline should read: "Some guy guesses some numbers."
Comment Not Stealing. Not infringement. (Score 1) 284
The copyright on a non-protected derivative work automatically reverts to the original copyright holder. In this case, if I transcribe the dialogue to a movie, the dialogue still clearly belongs to whoever owns the copyright on the movie. If they license Netflix to use the dialogue as subtitles, then Netflix are within their rights to take it from transcriptions done without license.
Comment Re:Not safe (Score 5, Informative) 301
Oh come on. Both articles you link to are full of nothing but conjecture and opinion, and both are about the same accident.
Plus, anecdotal evidence tells us nothing. What I want to know is: how many accidents on average do Google autonomous cars have per mile, and how does that relate to the average for human-driven cars?
Is Innovation the Most Abused Word In Business? 287
dcblogs writes "Most of what is called innovation today is mere distraction, according to a paper by economist Robert Gordon, written for the National Bureau of Economic Research. Real innovations involve things like the combustion engine or air conditioning, not the smartphone. The paper includes thought experiments to help you gain more respect for genuine innovations such as indoor plumbing. The Financial Times has posted the complete 25-page paper.(pdf)"
Comment Other... (Score 1) 223
Software technical support, technical account management. Non-development semi-technical work in the software industry.
Posting Photos of Olympics Could Land You In Court 394
hypnosec writes "With London's summer 2012 games due to take place in the very near future, you'd think that organizers would make more of an effort and persuade people to show more of an interest — yet it appears the complete opposite has happened, with strict guidelines banning athletes from posting photos of themselves on Twitter with products that aren't official Olympics sponsors, as well as prohibiting videos or photos to be taken from the athlete's village. Oh and just for good measure, fans could find themselves barred from sharing videos and photos on Facebook and YouTube of themselves delighting in said Olympics action."
Comment Slashdot Hates Patents, News at 11 (Score 1) 310
Seriously, how is this news? The article title is clearly an opinion. Just because your Kool-Ade is opensource doesn't make groupthink healthy.
New Apple Multi-Touch Patent Is Too Broad 310
adeelarshad82 writes "Nearly three and a half years later, Apple has finally been awarded the U.S. patent number 7,966,578, which according to the patent experts should worry rivals. According to exclusive interviews with patent experts, the incredibly broad patent puts Apple in a strong position when it comes to displaying content and using certain finger gestures on smart phones. The patent is so broad that not only will Apple's legal team target iPhone competitors but will also look to go after iPad and iPod rivals. Experts also discussed the scenario of Apple licensing its patented technology or for that matter, the courts completely scrapping the patent in public's interest."
Will Capped Data Plans Kill the Cloud? 530
theodp writes "With the introduction of its Chromebook, Google is betting big on the Cloud. As is Apple, with its iCloud initiative. So too are Netflix and Skype. Unfortunately, their very existence is threatened by data-capping carriers, who have set a course to make sure that the network is NOT the computer. 'I don't know what the solution is,' writes David Pogue. 'I don't know if anyone's thinking about this. But there are big changes coming. There are big forces about to shape our lives online. And at the moment, they're on a direct collision course.'"
Duke Nukem Forever Goes Gold 277
An anonymous reader writes with enthusiasm "Duke Nukem Forever has finally gone gold!"
Looks like it'll be on shelves around June 10th with a demo available for Duke Nukem First Access Club members available June 3rd. Can it really be true?
Comment Technical Problem, or etiquette problem (Score 1) 1002
In my experience, people get personally hurt when they are told that they don't need equipment as good as another department. It's one thing not to hand it out in the first place, but I can never imagine an employer taking away part of someone's working environment and equipment. It's a slap in the face. It's also disruptive to productivity-- Once someone is used to their setup, changing it at all can waste their time, especially taking away equipment they are used to as part of their daily process.
Bill Clinton Suggests Internet Fact Agency 336
eldavojohn writes "Friday on CNBC, Bill Clinton gave an interview that is causing some unrest on popular news sites today. When asked if there is a role for government in terms of ensuring that the information out there is accurate, he replied, 'Well, I think it would be a legitimate thing to do. ... If the government were involved, I think you'd have to do two things ... I think number one, you'd have to be totally transparent about where the money came from. And number two, you would have to make it independent. ... let's say the US did it; it would have to be an independent federal agency that no president could countermand or anything else because people wouldn't think you were just censoring the news and giving a different falsehood out. That is, it would be like, I don't know, National Public Radio or BBC or something like that, except it would have to be really independent and they would not express opinions, and their mandate would be narrowly confined to identifying relevant factual errors. And also, they would also have to have citations so that they could be checked in case they made a mistake.' His statements have elicited responses ranging from a Ministry of Truth a la 1984 to discussion of genuine concern about internet rumors and falsehoods."
Comment What a coincidence... (Score 1) 441
I'm aiming to have 200 million customers in four years too. And I'm about a likely to get them as Ubuntu is to meet their goal.
Ubuntu Aims For 200 Million Users In Four Years 441
dkd903 writes "Delivering the keynote at the Ubuntu Developer Summit at Budapest, Hungary, Canonical Founder Mark Shuttleworth has announced that Canonical's goal is to have 200 million Ubuntu users in four years. Canonical has not officially provided any data on how many Ubuntu users there currently are — in fact, the number is quite difficult to track. However, according to Prakash Advani, a partner manager for Central Asia at Canonical, there are an estimated 12 million Ubuntu users."
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