Comment Re:Don't forget the Senate (Score 2) 277
...well, it hasn't passed the House, for that matter. The vote just means it made it out of committee.
Comment Send them a message: temporarily cancel (Score 1) 722
Regardless of where you are on the rage spectrum, you should consider temporarily canceling your plan (but perhaps not your account). If there's a sudden move for the doors (even if most of us were only planning on staying outside for an hour or two), it could send a powerful message. Hold out for as long as you can; if you can't stand it, reactivating your account is easy because they retain everything. But at least take the step beyond anonymous internet rage and cancel your plan, for as long as you can.
Submission + - Netflix doubling the cost of your current plan (netflix.com)
micsaund writes: While Netflix has continued to drop fees and still maintain a good services, today, they take three steps in the other direction by doubling the cost of the plan you probably already have:
"So for instance, our current $9.99 a month membership for unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs will be split into 2 distinct plans:
Plan 1: Unlimited Streaming (no DVDs) for $7.99 a month
Plan 2: Unlimited DVDs, 1 out at-a-time (no streaming), for $7.99 a month.
The price for getting both of these plans will be $15.98 a month ($7.99 + $7.99). For new members, these changes are effective immediately; for existing members, the new pricing will start for charges on or after September 1, 2011."
Now, if they could get everything available on streaming, this would be fine, but how many times have you needed to get a physical disc for that oddball movie, or had a movie in your instant queue that magically disappears due to some behind-the-scenes contract expiration or whatever? Discuss.
"So for instance, our current $9.99 a month membership for unlimited streaming and unlimited DVDs will be split into 2 distinct plans:
Plan 1: Unlimited Streaming (no DVDs) for $7.99 a month
Plan 2: Unlimited DVDs, 1 out at-a-time (no streaming), for $7.99 a month.
The price for getting both of these plans will be $15.98 a month ($7.99 + $7.99). For new members, these changes are effective immediately; for existing members, the new pricing will start for charges on or after September 1, 2011."
Now, if they could get everything available on streaming, this would be fine, but how many times have you needed to get a physical disc for that oddball movie, or had a movie in your instant queue that magically disappears due to some behind-the-scenes contract expiration or whatever? Discuss.
Submission + - Harmony project pushes lawyers off FOSS's back (networkworld.com)
Julie188 writes: "Harmony is an effort that was begun and shepherded by Amanda Brock, the general counsel at Canonical. The intent was to create a small collection of consistently-worded contribution agreements (both licenses and assignments) for free and open source projects to use to reduce the friction such agreements can cause when they’re encountered for the first time by corporate counsel unfamiliar with FOSS licensing. Version 1.0 of the documents have launched. As court cases involving software copyrights and patents continue to sprout forth, we don’t have the liberty of ignoring the changes brought on by the law. Neither do we get to follow Dick the Butcher’s suggestion in Henry the Sixth and kill all the lawyers."
Comment Re:N=2 (Score 1) 246
BTW I guess it wasn't clear from the above, but I expect that the estimate in the paper is low-balling it; the inadequacy of our methods lead to a lot of false negatives.
Comment N=2 (Score 1) 246
I think it's woefully premature to generalize the results of this study to the entirety of humanity. These results are based off of the whole genome sequencing of *2* families, and as far as our technology and analytical methods have come, they still leave a lot to be desired. Besides, the key message isn't that we have a conclusive de novo mutation rate for humans (which we don't), but that the rate and mechanism of their creation can vary widely from family to family.
Comment This was a triumph (Score 1) 1855
I'm making a note here: huge success.
Comment Ohhh the irony... (Score 5, Insightful) 744
Is there anything ironic about the self-appointed "voice of free speech" trying to bully an admittedly annoying and vocal cult into silence?
Submission + - Live a Month at the Museum of Science and Industry
theodp writes: Even usually snarky Gawker loves the idea of living in a science museum for a month. Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry is 'looking for someone to take on a once-in-a-lifetime assignment: spend a Month at the Museum, to live and breathe science 24/7 for 30 days. From October 20 to November 18, 2010, this person's mission will be to experience all the fun and education that fits in this historic 14-acre building, living here full-time and reporting your findings to the outside world.' Oh, and if you're The Chosen One, you'll also walk away with $10,000, a package of tech gadgets, and an honorary lifetime membership to MSI. Visit the Month at the Museum site for details and to apply — the deadline is August 11th.
Submission + - Damn Vulnerable Linux most vulnerable Linux ever (geek.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Usually, when installing a new operating system the hope is that it’s as up-to-date as possible. After installation there’s bound to be a few updates required, but no more than a few megabytes. Damn Vulnerable Linux is different, it’s shipped in as vulnerable a state as possible. As the DVL website explains:
"Damn Vulnerable Linux (DVL) is everything a good Linux distribution isn’t. Its developers have spent hours stuffing it with broken, ill-configured, outdated, and exploitable software that makes it vulnerable to attacks. DVL isn’t built to run on your desktop – it’s a learning tool for security students."
New Hungarian Government OMGs All Gov Sites 59
An anonymous reader writes "The new Hungarian government chose to replace the home pages with a 'disclaimer' page on several governmental websites such as ministries or the Foreign Office. The title and the main message is 'OMG,' which is followed by an explanation that the inherited websites 'lack any kind of uniform structure' and this is 'unworthy of Hungary.' Today is the takeover day in most ministries for the new administration."
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"More software projects have gone awry for lack of calendar time than for all other causes combined." -- Fred Brooks, Jr., _The Mythical Man Month_
