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Comment Re:The iPad is not that bad (Score 4, Interesting) 780

by instar (#33043706) Attached to: iPad Owners Are 'Selfish Elites'

I own one, as do two of my close friends. We all fit the late 20s, middle-class, lower/middle management, computer geek stereotype - we love gadgets and are early-adopters.

I understand full well that the iPad is only a fraction of what it could be if it had been produced by a company other than Apple and ran Android instead of iOS. But I happened to be in the market for an e-reader anyway, and the iPad happens to excel at that (iBooks is overrated, but there are now apps for just about every major e-book store), and also lets me read news feeds, check email, look up video game stragegies online, etc. It's also a great airport time-waster. Apart from the price difference there was just no reason to NOT buy an iPad rather than a Nook or Kindle or whatever.

Anyway, I don't think you're particularly wrong.. there's just another class of us out there who bought the iPad because it filled a niche that no other product currently fills. There are a lot of Android tablets slated for this holiday season, though :)

Comment Re:Washer and dryer (Score 1) 422

by instar (#31296744) Attached to: What Has Your Phone Survived?

My iphone went through the washer not that long ago, and of course appeared dead when I found it. This was the day before I left for a business trip, so I stuck the SIM in an old phone and went on my way. A week later I get home and plug the iphone in for shits and giggles, and it powered on and continues to work fine.

This was about 3 weeks after I dropped it 3+ feet onto the driveway while getting out of my truck.

I guess I'm just lucky :)
Classic Games (Games)

Checkers Solved, Unbeatable Database Created 359

Posted by Zonk from the does-that-mean-we-don't-need-to-play-anymore dept.
tgeller writes "My story on the Nature site announced that a team of computer scientists at the University of Alberta has solved checkers. From the game's 500 billion billion positions (5 * 10^20), 'Chinook' has determined which 100,000 billion (10^14) are needed for their proof, and run through all relevant decision trees. They've set up a site where you can see the proof, traverse the logic, and play their unbeatable automaton. '[Jonathan] Schaeffer notes that his research has implications beyond the checkers board. The same algorithms his team writes to solve games could be helpful in searching other databases, such as vast lists of biological information because, as he says, "At the core, they both reduce to the same fundamental problem: large, compressed data sets that have to be accessed quickly."'"
Intel

Submission + - Intel Spills Beans On Santa Rosa Notebook Platform

Submitted by
Steve Kerrison
Steve Kerrison writes: "From the Intel Developer Forum in Beijing comes news of the successor to the Napa notebook platform. Santa Rosa, which will head up Intel's notebook technology line-up until 2H 2008, beefs up almost everything seen in Napa, from graphics to WiFi.

Santa Rosa carries Robson Technology, now known as Intel Turbo Memory, the flash-based disc-caching system that speeds up loading times of frequently-used data. Santa Rosa is an obvious continuation of the Centrino series. There will also be another Santa Rosa Centrino variant — Pro — that covers the business features found on Intel's Q-series chipsets, namely vPro.
Intel's Core2 mobile processors remain a key part of the platform, as you'd expect, with 45nm 'Penryn' CPUs making their way into the Santa Rosa refresh in 2008."
The Internet

Canadian DMCA Coming This Spring 153

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the riding-the-band-wagon dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The Canadian government is reportedly ready to introduce copyright reform legislation this spring, provided that no election is called. The new bill would move Canada far closer to the U.S. on copyright, with DMCA-style anti-circumvention legislation that prohibits circumvention of DRM systems and bans software and mod chips that can be used to circumvent such systems."

Feed Vonage Says There Is No Workaround To Verizon's VoIP Patents (techdirt.com)

From feed by techdirtfeed
After a jury sided with Verizon in its patent-infringment case against it, Vonage told customers and investors not to worry, because it was developing a workaround that would allow it to continue operating without infringing upon any of the patents in question. However, the company has now confirmed that there is no such workaround, and it's not certain that one would be feasible, given the breadth of the Verizon patents. It's filing for a permanent stay of the injunction against it, apparently with the hope that the appeals process will work out in its favor. If that move isn't successful, it's going to be awfully hard for the company to stay in business. Seeing the stay denied would be a dream scenario for Verizon, since the patents in question are so broad that it's conceivable it could be impossible to run a landline-replacement VoIP service in the US without infringing upon them -- meaning it could shut down the entire US VoIP industry and the stiff competition it provides the company's traditional phone services. Verizon's not the only company rubbing its hands gleefully, either. The whole VoIP space is so patented up that it's under threat not just from entrenched rivals who would like to see its growth stymied, but by companies that have done little to bring their innovations to market and are looking to make a quick buck.
Censorship

Submission + - New Australian laws will censor terror DVDs

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: Within a few weeks, Australia may introduce new laws to censor films and literature deemed by the government to be supportive of terrorism. This is not the first time material has been censored in Australia, which has previously censored films and banned publications, including one titled Defence of the Muslim Lands (censored in mid 2006 by Attorney-General Phillip Ruddock). The proposed laws are aimed to target material such as a DVD by Feiz Mohammad containing some of his past controversial sermons calling for jihad and comparing Jews with pigs. The Office of Film and Literature Classification previously classified this DVD as "PG", suitable for viewing by anyone under 15 years of age with parental guidance.

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