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Microsoft

Windows Media Center Restricts Cable TV 448

Posted by kdawson from the no-HBO-for-you dept.
PrescriptionWarning writes "With the latest Media Center Edition update from Microsoft, I and many others are finding that content available on television is now completely unwatchable from Media Center. The message states: 'Restricted Content: Restrictions set by the broadcaster and/or originator of the content prohibit playback of the program on this computer.' A simple search on the subject reveals that HBO programming and, in my case, Braveheart on AMC are among the many selections now restricted for playback or recording by Windows Media Center Edition. What's next, restricting every piece of programming on television?"
The Courts

Daylight Savings Time Puts Kid in Jail for 12 Days 881

Posted by Zonk from the yeah-that's-a-woops dept.
Jherek Carnelian writes "Cody Webb was jailed for calling in a bomb threat to his Hempstead Area high school (near Pittsburgh). He spent 12 days in lockup until the authorities realized that their caller-id log was off an hour because of the new Daylight Savings Time rules and that Cody had only called one hour prior to the actual bomb threat. Perhaps it took so long because of the principal's Catch-22 attitude about Cody's guilt — she said, 'Well, why should we believe you? You're a criminal. Criminals lie all the time.'"
It's funny. Laugh.

When the Alarm Clock Runs and Hides 212

Posted by kdawson from the run-in-circles-scream-and-shout dept.
bbbbryan writes to tell us about the commercialization of the elusive alarm clock prototyped at the MIT Media Lab a couple of years back. This alarm clock actually runs, hides from you, and beeps to ensure that you'll be awake enough not to go back to sleep by the time you find it and get it shut up. Detroit News has a writeup on the device, which you can buy from the inventor's site for $50.
Space

NASA Probe Validates Einstein Within 1% 188

Posted by kdawson from the kind-of-a-drag dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Gravity Probe B uses four ultra-precise gyroscopes to measure two effects of Einstein's general relativity theory — the geodetic effect and frame dragging. According to the mission's principal investigator, the data from Gravity Probe B's gyroscopes confirm the Einstein theory's value for the geodetic effect to better than 1%. In a common analogy, the geodetic effect is similar to the shape of the dip created when the ball is placed on to a rubber sheet. If the ball is then rotated, it will start to drag the rubber sheet around with it. In a similar way, the Earth drags local space and time around with it — ever so slightly — as it rotates. Over time, these effects cause the angle of spin of the satellite's gyroscopes to shift by tiny amounts." The investigators will be doing further data analysis over the coming months and expect to release final results late this year.

Comment Re:what were the tasks? (Score 1) 180

by kink (#15119910) Attached to: 2006 ACM Programming Contest Complete
> I'd like to suggest to the rwth-aachen to participate next time

You can't participate directly; you need to come to the regional contest. For Aachen this is the NWERC. Participation from Germany has been quite low the past years: only a couple of teams for the whole of the country. The nordic countries and The Netherlands are traditionally strong contenders.

Experience makes all the difference. Here in Holland, most universities have their own local contest, of which the best few teams go to the Dutch National Programming Championship. Each university also sends teams to the Northwestern European Regional Contest, so for teams arriving there it will most probably already be their third contest that year.

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"I just want to be a good engineer." -- Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple Computer, concluding his keynote speech at the 1988 AppleFest

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