islandstifle - Slashdot User

Comment Re:American Airlines (Score 1) 74

by islandstifle on Sunday November 23, 2008 @05:00PM (#25867179) Attached to: Obese Have Right To Two Airline Seats

Nope, this is not unfair nor intolerance. If the plane carries more weight, it has to burn more fuel. While airlines can't (for the moment) weigh passengers checking in, if a person needs two seats to travel then it is a pretty safe bet that they are making a bit more than the average contribution to the plane's weight, and they should pay accordingly.

Comment Re:SUSE laptops (Score 1) 499

by islandstifle on Wednesday November 19, 2008 @12:45PM (#25819269) Attached to: HP's Fury At Vista Capable Downgrade

I had to check my oil on my driving test. (I could do that, but failed for driving too slowly.)

Microsoft Feared Mac Vs. Vista In '05 652

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday November 19, 2008 @12:08PM from the not-so-much-any-more dept.

CWmike writes "Gregg Keizer sifted through many threads of e-mails released under the 'Vista Capable' lawsuit to dig up this jewel...More than a year before Windows Vista's release — and long before Apple started poking fun at the OS — Microsoft officials were already worried about comparisons between Mac OS X and Vista. An e-mail thread from October 2005 showed that an article in the Wall Street Journal by Walt Mossberg grabbed the attention of managers at Microsoft. In a column headlined What PC to Buy If You Are Planning On a Vista Upgrade, Mossberg alarmed one Windows manager who forwarded a bit from the column.... 'You won't have to worry about Vista if you buy one of Apple Computer's Macintosh computers, which don't run Windows,' Mossberg had written. 'Every mainstream consumer doing typical tasks should consider the Mac. Its operating system, called Tiger, is better and more secure than Windows XP, and already contains most of the key features promised for Vista.' Warrier added a comment of his own: 'A premium experience as defined by Walt = Apple. This is why we need to address [the column].'"

Psystar Antitrust Claim Against Apple Dismissed 256

Posted by kdawson on Wednesday November 19, 2008 @06:40AM from the oh-give-me-a-clone dept.

CNet has a report that a federal judge has dismissed Psystar's antitrust suit against Apple. Observers had said that the counter-suit embodied the Mac clone-maker's best chance of prevailing and staying in business. We've been following Psystar and the dueling lawsuits since the beginning.

Court Slams Door On Sale of Spyware 51

Posted by kdawson on Wednesday November 19, 2008 @01:55AM from the mother-may-i-install dept.

coondoggie writes "The Federal Trade Commission yesterday had a US District Court issue a temporary restraining order halting the sale of RemoteSpy keylogger spyware. According to the FTC's complaint, RemoteSpy spyware was sold to clients who would then secretly monitor unsuspecting consumers' computers. The defendants provided RemoteSpy clients with detailed instructions explaining how to disguise the spyware as an innocuous file, such as a photo, attached to an email."

Crowdsourcing Site Offers Rewards To Bust Patents 96

Posted by timothy on Tuesday November 18, 2008 @01:50PM from the here-you-get-valuable-mod-points dept.

holy_calamity writes "Article One Partners is a new startup that offers $50,000 rewards to people that find prior art for certain valuable patents. The company's founder told New Scientist she thought the initiative would improve 'patent quality' by increasing scrutiny on poor patents. She aims to profit by selling the information contributors collect, or trade stocks based on it. Current patents they are looking for help to bust include those being used by Konami to sue Harmonix over Rock Band and Guitar Hero."

New TN Law Forces Universities To Patrol For Copyright Violations 331

Posted by timothy on Tuesday November 18, 2008 @09:56AM from the skipping-the-monkey-trial-entirely dept.

CSMatt points with this excerpt from the EFF's page: "Last week, the RIAA celebrated the signing of a ridiculous new law in Tennessee that says: 'Each public and private institution of higher education in the state that has student residential computer networks shall: [...] [R]easonably attempt to prevent the infringement of copyrighted works over the institution's computer and network resources, if such institution receives fifty (50) or more legally valid notices of infringement as prescribed by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 within the preceding year.' While the entertainment industry failed to get 'hard' requirements for universities in the Higher Education Act passed by Congress earlier this year, the RIAA succeeded in Tennessee (and is pushing in other states) with this provision that gives Big Content the ability to hold universities hostage through the use of infringement notices. Moreover, the new rules will cost Tennessee a pretty penny — in the cost review attached to the Tennessee bill, the state's Fiscal Review Committee estimates that the new obligations will initially cost the state a whopping $9.5 million for software, hardware, and personnel, with recurring annual costs of more than $1.5 million for personnel and maintenance."

In AU, Dodgy Dell Deal Faces Consumer Backlash 173

Posted by kdawson on Monday November 17, 2008 @05:22AM from the you-advertised-it-now-honor-it dept.

Ben Seberry writes "It appears Dell has been caught red-faced by yet another pricing mistake on their Australian website. Many customers thought they had spotted a fantastic deal when they came across a 55%-off offer. Dell later denied that this was a valid special and telephoned customers to offer them a choice of the standard price, or a cancelled order. Dell's senior manager of corporate communication came out and apologized for the mistake, promising processes would be reviewed to prevent it from happening again. In the days after the original 'incorrectly priced' offer was fixed, Dell made a different error leading to an even cheaper price being advertised. This time, on many user forums and blogs, users are debating Australian contract law as it applies to this matter — it is not as clear-cut as many originally believed."

Toyota Demands Removal of Fan Wallpapers 594

Posted by Soulskill on Sunday November 16, 2008 @10:16AM from the see-what-sticks dept.

An anonymous reader writes "TorrentFreak reports that Toyota's lawyers have recently contacted computer wallpaper site Desktop Nexus in a blatant example of DMCA abuse. Toyota issued a blanket request to demand the immediate removal of all member-uploaded wallpapers featuring a Toyota, Lexus, or Scion vehicle (citing copyright violation), regardless of whether Toyota legally holds the copyright to the photos or not. When site owner Harry Maugans requested clarification on exactly which wallpapers were copyrighted by Toyota, he was told that for them to cite specifics (in order to file proper DMCA Takedown Notices), they would invoice Desktop Nexus for their labor."

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