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Submission + - DoorDash warns no tipping will mean slower service (cnn.com)

Submitted by quonset
quonset writes: “Orders with no tip might take longer to get delivered — are you sure you want to continue?”

That is the message DoorDash is trying out on customers though users do have the option of continuing without leaving a tip.

The message is just a test, DoorDash spokesperson Jenn Rosenberg told CNN in an email. “This reminder screen is something that we’re currently testing to help create the best possible experience for all members of our community,” she said. “As with anything we pilot, we look forward to closely analyzing the results and feedback.”

Rosenberg noted that Dashers, the people who deliver orders, are “independent contractors” who “have full freedom to accept or reject offers based on what they view as valuable and rewarding.” Tips go directly to Dashers, according to the company. So if an order comes in without a tip, they’re more likely to let it linger.

Submission + - Microsoft vs Linux 1998 (catb.org)

Submitted by mtaht
mtaht writes: Today is the 25th anniversary of the infamous "Halloween documents", which were leaked memos from within Microsoft about how they intended to deal with the "Linux threat" at the time. Judge for yourself as to how the world changed (or not) at those moments.
Privacy

ASCII Art Steganography 120

Posted by timothy from the of-all-the-ideas-out-there-this-is-one dept.
bigearcow writes "ASCII art is nothing new, but this site takes it one step further by allowing you to embed another data file within the image. The resulting ASCII art remains printable (i.e. no special unicode symbols) — this means you can print the image out, hang it on your wall, and have it look like an innocent ASCII art when it's hiding a secret document of your choice." You'll need a small (200x200 pixel max) base image from which the ASCII art will be built.

Comment Exchange Rates? (Score 3, Informative) 302

by lekker biltong (#26270583) Attached to: Breaking Down the Dropping Parts Cost for Sony's PS3

The article does not mention anything about exchange rates - since the PlayStation is not manufactured in the US and the article mention all amounts in dollars [the Yen strengthened considerably against the Dollar the last year or so] - I would take the amounts with a pinch of salt.

The other possibility of course is that they converted everything from Yen into Dollars - but did not mentioned it.
Cellphones

What Carriers Don't Want You To Know About Texting 570

Posted by timothy from the what-the-market-will-bear dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Randall Stross has just published a sobering article in The New York Times about how the four major US wireless carriers don't want anyone to know the actual cost structure of text message services to avoid public outrage over the doubling of a-la-carte per-message fees over the last three years. The truth is that text messages are 'stowaways' inside the control channel — bandwidth that is there whether it is used for texting or not — and 160 bytes per message is a tiny amount of data to store-and-forward over tower-to-tower landlines. In essence it costs carriers practically nothing to transmit even trillions of text messages. When text usage goes up, the carriers don't even have to install new infrastructure as long as it is proportional to voice usage. This makes me dream of the day when there is real competition in the wireless industry, not this gang-of-four oligopoly."
Microsoft

Microsoft Plans VR Simulation of Everything? 217

Posted by CmdrTaco from the ok-readers-why-is-this-one-evil dept.
Ian Lamont writes "Microsoft recently updated ESP, a virtual reality modeling platform that until now has primarily been used to model aircraft and flight simulations. Microsoft has plans to expand it to other industries such as real estate and urban planning, but one of the most interesting possibilities could be what one observer refers to as a 'simulation of everything,' based on Virtual Earth and perhaps even user-generated content. Indeed, Microsoft's research chief has been promoting the idea of commerce applications and other tools built on top of what he calls the 'Spatial Web', a blend of 3D, video, and location-aware technologies. He gave an example of a shopkeeper creating 3D models of his store's interior and goods with Photosynth and then uploading the results into a large 3D model of local shopping district. Customers could 'visit' the area, browse products, and order them for real-world delivery."
GUI

An Optimized GUI Based On Users' Abilities 114

Posted by Soulskill from the how-about-a-difficulty-slider dept.
Ostracus writes "Researchers at the University of Washington have recently developed a system, which, for the first time, offers an instantly customizable approach to user interfaces. Each participant in the program is placed through a brief skills test, and then a mathematically-based version of the user interface optimized for his or her vision and motor abilities is generated. The current off-the-shelf designs are especially discouraging for the disabled, the elderly and others who have trouble controlling a mouse, because most computer programs have standardized button sizes, fonts, and layouts, which are designed for typical users."
Cellphones

Passport Required To Buy Mobile Phones In the UK 388

Posted by Soulskill from the and-dna-samples-for-special-ringtones dept.
David Gerard points out a Times Online story that says: "Everyone [in the UK] who buys a mobile telephone will be forced to register their identity on a national database under government plans to extend massively the powers of state surveillance. Phone buyers would have to present a passport or other official form of identification at the point of purchase. Privacy campaigners fear it marks the latest government move to create a surveillance society. A compulsory national register for the owners of all 72m mobile phones in Britain would be part of a much bigger database to combat terrorism and crime. Whitehall officials have raised the idea of a register containing the names and addresses of everyone who buys a phone in recent talks with Vodafone and other telephone companies, insiders say." We've recently discussed other methods the UK government is using to keep track of people within its borders, such as ID cards for foreigners and comprehensive email surveillance.
Power

10 IT Power-Saving Myths Debunked 359

Posted by timothy from the replace-all-leds-with-cfls dept.
snydeq writes "InfoWorld examines 10 power-saving assumptions IT has been operating under in its quest to rein in energy costs vs. the permanent energy crisis. Under scrutiny, most such assumptions wither. From true CPU efficiency, to the life span effect of power-down frequency on servers, to SSD power consumption, to switching to DC in the datacenter, get the facts before setting your IT energy strategy."
Power

Making Strides Toward Low-Cost LED Lighting 398

Posted by timothy from the brightly-walk-among-the-clouds dept.
Roland Piquepaille writes "You all know that incandescent bulbs are pretty inefficient, converting only 10% of electricity into light — and 90% into heat. Light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, could soon replace incandescent and compact fluorescent bulbs in our homes. They are more efficient and environmentally friendly. But LED lights are currently too expensive because they are using a sapphire-based technology. Now, Purdue University researchers have found a way to build low-cost and bright LEDs for home lighting. According to the researchers, the LED lights now on the market cost about $100 while LED lights based on their new technology could be commercially available within a couple of years for a cost of about $5. It would also help to cut our electricity bill by about 10%."

Comment Pre-emptive Godwin (Score 5, Interesting) 250

by Reader X (#24098679) Attached to: Telecom Amnesty Opponents Back New Amendment
So I was browsing Wikipedia and came across the following definition for "fascism":

Fascism may be defined as a form of political behavior marked by obsessive preoccupation with community decline, humiliation, or victim-hood and by compensatory cults of unity, energy, and purity, in which a mass-based party of committed nationalist militants, working in uneasy but effective collaboration with traditional elites, abandons democratic liberties and pursues with redemptive violence and without ethical or legal restraints goals of internal cleansing and external expansion.

Hm. Committed nationalist militants working in collaboration with "traditional elites", such as large telcos.

Discuss.
Security

Submission + - G-Archiver Harvesting Google Mail Passwords

Submitted by Thwomp
Thwomp writes: It appears that a popular GMail back up utility, named G-Archiver, has been harvesting users GMail passwords, this was discovered when a Dustin Brooks took a look at the code using a decompiler. He discovered that user's account information was being sent by e-mail to another GMail account. With that account's password embedded in the source code the developer logged in and found over 1700 e-mails all with user's account information! The creator of G-Archiver has pulled the software stating that it was debug code and was unintentionally left in by a developer.

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