Comment Next week ... (Score 0) 499
disappointment with Windows 7 leads to incremental downgrades back to Windows 1.0
UK Bill Would Outlaw Open Wi-Fi 250
suraj.sun writes with this excerpt from ZDNet about another troubling aspect of the UK's much-maligned Digital Economy Bill:
"The government will not exempt universities, libraries and small businesses providing open Wi-Fi services from its Digital Economy Bill copyright crackdown, according to official advice released earlier this week. This would leave many organizations open to the same penalties for copyright infringement as individual subscribers, potentially including disconnection from the Internet, leading legal experts to say it will become impossible for small businesses and the like to offer Wi-Fi access. 'This is going to be a very unfortunate measure for small businesses, particularly in a recession, many of whom are using open free Wi-Fi very effectively as a way to get the punters in. Even if they password protect, they then have two options — to pay someone like The Cloud to manage it for them, or take responsibility themselves for becoming an ISP effectively, and keep records for everyone they assign connections to, which is an impossible burden for a small cafe,' said Lilian Edwards, professor of Internet law at Sheffield University."
Relatedly, an anonymous reader passes along a post which breaks down the question of whether using unprotected Wi-Fi is stealing.
Comment Re:Bonjour (Score 1) 98
No it doesn't. But thanks for asking.
I don't actually want the parent to my post modded that way.
I don't actually want the parent to my post modded that way.
Comment Re:Bonjour (Score 1) 98
While virtualXTC rarely trolls, this may be one of those cases.
Whether the two companies can really be lumped together is up for debate, but they frequently provide a slick application that works very well. Most of the automatic updates improve security and reduce bugs.
It is good to be aware that many successful commercial ventures do take this approach, and it is even better when we keep them honest about it. How many of us really want to give up on all products from either of these two companies?
Whether the two companies can really be lumped together is up for debate, but they frequently provide a slick application that works very well. Most of the automatic updates improve security and reduce bugs.
It is good to be aware that many successful commercial ventures do take this approach, and it is even better when we keep them honest about it. How many of us really want to give up on all products from either of these two companies?
Adobe Download Manager Installing Software Without Consent 98
"Not all is worth cheering about as Adobe turns 20," writes reader adeelarshad82, who excerpts from a story at PC Magazine's Security Watch: "Researcher Aviv Raff has found a problem in ADM (Adobe Download Manager) and the method through which it is delivered from adobe.com. The net effect of the problem is that a user can be tricked into downloading and installing software using ADM without actual consent. Tonight Adobe acknowledged the report and said they were working on the issue with Raff and NOS Microsystems, the company that wrote ADM."
Comment Re:Think bigger (Score 1) 293
As we learned on Duck Tales, no glass is ever completely unbreakable.
For GUIs, Just the Right Degree of Realism 256
mr crypto writes "User interfaces make copious use of pictures and symbols, but how abstract should images be? Lukas Mathis has an interesting blog entry on where to draw the line."
The Apple Tablet Interface Must Be Like This 278
kylevh writes "On one side, there are the people who think that a traditional GUI—one built on windows, folders and the old desktop metaphor—is the only way to go for a tablet. In another camp, there are the ones who are dreaming about magic 3D interfaces and other experimental stuff, thinking that Apple would come up with a wondrous new interface that nobody can imagine now, one that will bring universal love, world peace and pancakes for everyone. Both camps are wrong: The iPhone started a UI revolution, and the tablet is just step two. Here's why." There are lots of cool UI ideas in there, even if it is entirely speculation. It's worth a read just to think about what the future could be like.
Comment Re:Some More Numbers (Score 1) 1137
Thank you for digging through publictransportation.org to find the link to the calculator. The calculator does not seem to include parking costs associated with getting to public transit. While getting to a station under human power is excellent, many people with 25 mile commutes each way (APTA estimate) do prefer driving to the station. As a member of the public who prefers public transit, I want to see more rational estimates and better researched reporting on such reports.
Correction:
Correction:
How can one possibly save $12,600 per year? The inflated estimates of 15,000 miles per year at only 23.4 miles and $2.039 per gallon costs only $1,310, and a high parking rate of $460 per month results in additional costs under $5600.
Submission + - Commuting costs by car vs. train? (apta.com)
grepdisc writes: Newspapers in Boston are fawning over a report by the American Public Transportation Association that taking public transportation saves money over driving. How can one possibly save $12,600 per year, when the inflated estimates of 15,000 miles per year at only 23.4 miles and $2.039 per gallon costs only $1,310, and a high parking rate of $460 per month results in under $5600. Is the discrepancy made up of tolls, repairs, the cost of buying a car and ignoring train station parking fees?
Submission + - The Internet Archive Demands Same Rights as Google (fictioncircus.com)
Miracle Jones writes: "Brewster Kahle's Internet Archive has jumped on Google's "Authors Guild" settlement and asked to be included as a party defendant, claiming that they ought to get the same rights and protections from liability that Google will receive when the settlement is approved by federal court. From the Internet Archive's letter to Judge Denny Chin: "The Archive's text archive would greatly benefit from the same limitation of potential copyright liability that the proposed settlement provides Google. Without such a limitation, the Archive would be unable to provide some of these same services due to the uncertain legal issues surrounding orphan books."
Who deserves the rights to out-of-print literature more? Google or Kahle's internet library?"
Comment Mail is my filesystem?! (Score 2, Interesting) 606
Complete cleaving the tether to a local machine: permit downloading files (txt, pdf, etc.) while browsing and allow access to them between apps (e.g, safari, mail, Annotater, who's going to write vi?).
Comment Re:Anecdotal support (Score 1) 133
Local is intended to convey that the design and manufacturing occur in the same geographic region and by a small group of people. /. can give global attention to local companies located in any locale.
Comment Anecdotal support (Score 5, Interesting) 133
When calling Tom Bihn about a broken clasp on a two year old bag, the phone was answered, "Hello this is Tom." The bag was repaired quickly and free of charge (paid shipping one-way). This is a bag from a local company worth supporting.
How To Kill an Open Source Project With New Funding 187
mir42 writes "The OpenSource multimedia authorware project Sophie, formerly hosted by USC Los Angeles, may just have been killed by new funding. The original funding organization, Mellon Foundation, approved a grant to redevelop the four year project from scratch in Java. The grant was awarded to a Bulgarian company based on their proposal, which is simply an exact description, including the UI and the artwork, of the current Sophie. Being an OpenSource project, this isn't strictly illegal, but let's say, not nice and definitely not innovative, coming from a former sub-sub-contractor on the project. Some of the original, now laid-off developers started OpenSophie.org trying to salvage the project. As the current version is still somewhat buggy and slow, it might just be enough to alienate all potential users of Sophie to the point that nobody will even try to use the next version. Have others faced similar situations? How would you deal with a situation like this?"
Slashdot Top Deals
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it is too dark to read.
