Comment Re:Cheating? (Score 1) 693
According to your analogy, you are implying that Microsoft did something illegal. If Microsoft's actions are illegal, then I agree with you. However, I don't see any mention of law breaking.
Comment Cheating? (Score 4, Insightful) 693
And why is that cheating? Sounds like simple observance in an effort to get improve results.
Comment Speculative? (Score 1) 648
"Gov. Steve Beshear said he does not believe the incentives would violate the principle of church-state separation
You are speculating on a couple of the most important pieces of the article. Perhaps this story conflicts with your beliefs and is clouding the objectivity of your post.
Comment Re:DMCA notice coming (Score 1) 275
This might be even more simple. The device itself has a free cellular connection. If you hack the device to gain access to the connection then you aren't stealing unless you agreed not to do that.
If you aquire a nook and do not sign or agree to any EULA that prohibits you from opening the device and using the internet connection then there is no stealing happening. If you do that and the carriers aren't happy then it is their fault. If they don't like it, but you agreed to a EULA or something else that prohibited it, then it's not their fault.
Comment Re:and this changes what? (Score 1) 184
You got the idea, while preaching means that are diametrically opposed to accomplishing it. Ideas are indeed the foundation of civilization, but it's the spread of ideas and their widespread application that induces civilization, not ideas locked up and caged and available only at arbitrary cost from their progenitor. Ownership is a fundamental aspect of individual freedom, but ownership of ideas damages societal freedom.
Copyrights and patents stifle progress and act as a brake against innovation that leads to further "upgrades" of civilization. When use of an idea that can improve my life requires a fee, I'm less likely to use it. Taken to its ultimate end, every idea that can improve my life requires a fee. How then do I live?
Submission + - India hanging up on 25 million cellphones 1
jvillain writes: India is about to pull the plug so to speak on 25 million cell phones in the name of fighting terrorism.
Submission + - Dell Defect Turns 2.2GHz CPU into 100MHz CPU (chambana.net)
jtavares2 writes: In what is being dubbed as Throttlegate, scours of users on many message boards have been complaining about inexplicably aggressive throttling policies on their Dell Latitude E6500 and E6400 laptops which cause its CPUs to be throttled to less than 5% of its theoretical maximum even while in room temperatures! In many cases, the issue can triggered just by playing a video or performing some other trivial, but CPU intensive, task. After being banned from the Dell Forums for revealing "non-public information", one user went so far as to write and publish a 59-page report explaining and diagnosing the throttling problem in incredible detail. Dell seems to be silent on the issue, but many users are hoping for a formal recall.
Submission + - Harvard: Computers Don't Save Hospitals Money (computerworld.com)
Lucas123 writes: Researchers at Harvard Medical School pored over survey data from more than 4,000 "wired" hospitals and determined that computerization of those facilities not only didn't save them a dime, but the technology didn't improve administrative efficiency. The study also showed most of the IT systems were aimed improving efficiency for hospital management not doctors, nurses and medical technicians. "For 45 years or so, people have been claiming computers are going to save vast amounts of money and that the payoff was just around the corner. So the first thing we need to do is stop claiming things there's no evidence for. It's based on vaporware and [hasn't been] shown to exist or shown to be true," said Dr. David Himmelstein, the study's lead author.
Submission + - US Congressman Announces Plans to Probe Wikileaks (newsday.com) 1
eldavojohn writes: Congressman Peter King (Republican — New York) is calling for a probe into Wikileaks with regards to the half million 9/11 pager messages published recently. He has announced plans involving his Washington staff conducting a preliminary investigation under the premise that this action 'raises security issues.' A word of caution, Congressman King has been known to make inflammatory and unpopular statements.
Submission + - Network security while traveling? 2
truesaer writes: I'll be spending all of next year backpacking through South America. In the past I've used internet cafes while away, but this time I plan to bring a netbook and rely primarily on wifi hotspots. I'll be facing the same issues and risks that business travelers in hotels and airports face, as well as those that millions of other backpackers, gap-year travelers, and students encounter. Since my trip is so long I'll have no choice but to access my banking, credit card, and investment accounts on public networks. Other than an effective firewall, a patched system, and the use of SSL what else should I do to protect my information? Keep in mind that many places have very poor bandwidth and latency, and that I will not have a system at home to connect through.
Submission + - Government delays new ban on Internet gambling (komonews.com)
The Installer writes: Frank's legislation would allow the Treasury Department to license and regulate online gambling companies that service American customers. Frank argues that online gambling should be legal as a matter of personal liberty and that the federal government could collect increased tax revenues if Internet gambling is regulated.
In September, a U.S. appeals court in Philadelphia upheld the 2006 law, rejecting a challenge from an association of offshore bookies that the federal prohibition was too vague and violated privacy rights.
U.S. bettors have been estimated to supply at least half the revenue of the $16 billion Internet gambling industry, which is largely hosted overseas.
In September, a U.S. appeals court in Philadelphia upheld the 2006 law, rejecting a challenge from an association of offshore bookies that the federal prohibition was too vague and violated privacy rights.
U.S. bettors have been estimated to supply at least half the revenue of the $16 billion Internet gambling industry, which is largely hosted overseas.
Submission + - Microsoft's top devs don't seem to like own tools (computerworld.com)
ericatcw writes: Through tools such as Visual Basic and Visual Studio, Microsoft may have done more than any other vendor to make drag and drop-style programming mainstream. But its superstar developers seem to prefer old-school modes of hacking code. During the panel at the Professional Developers Conference earlier this month, the devs also revealed why they think writing tight, bare-metal code will come back into fashion, and why parallel programming hasn't caught up with the processors yet.
Submission + - Engaging with Climate Skeptics (nytimes.com) 1
Geoffrey.landis writes: Andrew Rivkin of the NYT blog profiles Judith Curry, a climate scientist at Georgia Tech who-- unlike many climate scientists-- does not simply dismiss the arguments "climate skeptics," but attempts to engage them in dialogue. She can, as well, be rather pointed in criticizing her colleagues, as in a post on the skeptic site climateaudit where she argues for greater transparency for climate data and calculations (mirrored here). In this post she makes a point that tribalism in science is the main culprit here-- that when scientists "circle the wagons" to defend against what they perceive to be unfair (and unscientific) attacks, the result can be damaging to the actual science being defended.
Is it still possible to conduct a dialogue, or is there no possible common ground? Stay tuned.
Is it still possible to conduct a dialogue, or is there no possible common ground? Stay tuned.
Submission + - Contributors Leaving Wikipedia in Record Numbers
Hugh Pickens writes: "CNET reports that the volunteers who create Wikipedia's pages, check facts and adapt the site are abandoning Wikipedia in unprecedented numbers with tens of thousands of editors going “dead” — no longer actively contributing and updating the site — a trend many experts believe could threaten Wikipedia’s future. In the first three months of 2009 the English-language version of Wikipedia suffered a net loss of 49,000 contributors, compared with a loss of about 4,900 during the same period in 2008. “If you don’t have enough people to take care of the project it could vanish quickly," says Felipe Ortega at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid who created a computer system to analyze the editing history of more than three million active Wikipedia contributors in ten different languages. "We’re not in that situation yet. But eventually, if the negative trends follow, we could be in that situation.” Contributors are becoming disenchanted with the process of adding to the site which is becoming increasingly difficult says Andrew Dalby, author of The World and Wikipedia: How We are Editing Reality and a regular editor of the site. “There is an increase of bureaucracy and rules. Wikipedia grew because of the lack of rules. That has been forgotten. The rules are regarded as irritating and useless by many contributors.” Arguments over various articles have also taken their toll. "Many people are getting burnt out when they have to debate about the contents of certain articles again and again," adds Ortega."
Submission + - Wal-Mart, Amazon Battle for Online Retail's Future 1
Hugh Pickens writes: "The NY Times reports that Amazon and Wal-Mart are waging an price war for the future of online retailing that is spreading through product areas like books, movies, toys and electronics. The tussle began last month over which company had the lowest prices on the most anticipated new books and DVDs this fall but has now spread to select video game consoles, mobile phones, even to the humble Easy-Bake Oven. “It’s not about the prices of books and movies anymore. There is a bigger battle being fought,” said Fiona Dias, executive vice president at GSI Commerce, which manages the Web sites of large retailers. “The price-sniping by Wal-Mart is part of a greater strategic plan. They are just not going to cede their business to Amazon.” Wal-Mart, with $405 billion in sales last year, dominates by offering affordable prices to Middle America in its 4,000 stores while Amazon with $20 billion in sales, caters mostly to affluent urbanites who would rather click with their mouse than push around a cart. But Amazon is expanding its slice of the retail pie at an alarming rate with Amazon sales shooting up 28 percent in the third quarter of this year while sales in Amazon’s electronics and general merchandise business are up 44 percent. “We have to put our foot down and refuse to let them grow more powerful,” says Dias. “I applaud Wal-Mart. It’s about time multichannel retailers stood up and refused to let their business go away.”"
Slashdot Top Deals
"My sense of purpose is gone! I have no idea who I AM!" "Oh, my God... You've.. You've turned him into a DEMOCRAT!" -- Doonesbury
