Submission + - Eolas to sue Apple, Google and 23 more (arstechnica.com)
vinodis writes: Company that won $585M from Microsoft sues Apple, Google
The company that won a patent case against Microsoft in 2003 is now using the same patent to go after 23 other companies, including Apple and Google. The USPTO has upheld the patent several times now, so the case may not be as cut and dry as some other patent complaints.
The company that won a patent case against Microsoft in 2003 is now using the same patent to go after 23 other companies, including Apple and Google. The USPTO has upheld the patent several times now, so the case may not be as cut and dry as some other patent complaints.
Submission + - Fans Come Together to Complete Star Wars Uncut (starwarsuncut.com) 1
eldavojohn writes: "Star Wars Uncut has taken a novel approach to remaking Star Wars IV: A New Hope. You merely sign up for a 15 second clip, film it and submit it. The trailer is now complete and I will suspect you might enjoy the high quality (and low quality) of some of the already accepted scenes. 251 scenes remain in need of claiming with 688 claimed and 291 finished. Do your part to remake one of the greatest movies by filming fifteen seconds of yourself and your friends!"
Submission + - Details on Worldwide Surveillance and Filtering (net-security.org)
An anonymous reader writes: Help Net Security is running an interview with Rafal Rohozinski, a founder and principal investigator of the OpenNet Initiative which investigates, exposes and analyzes Internet filtering and surveillance practices all over the world. Rafal provides insight on the process of assessing the state of surveillance and filtering in a particular country and discusses differences related to these issues in several regions, touching especially the United States and Europe. In the US, censorship is more difficult to implement if for no other reason than the court systems offer greater protections for freedom of speech. However, in both places surveillance is on the rise particularly as law-enforcement agencies become more adept to working in the cyber domain.
Submission + - Palm Frees up webOS Development (osnews.com)
Per Wigren writes: Palm has just announced a number of changes its webOS development platform that should really be welcomed by developers.
From TechCrunch: "The first is that they're allowing developers to fully distribute their apps via the web. What this means is that developers can simply submit their apps to Palm, and Palm will return to them a URL that they can then blog, tweet, do whatever they want to share it. When a person then clicks on that URL they can easily install the app, bypassing any kind of store. And while Palm is providing the URL, it is not going to be reviewing the apps in any way — a clear dig at Apple's approval process.
The next announcement is that Palm is waiving the $99 yearly fee it normally charges to developers to make webOS apps if those apps are going to be open source."
OS news notes that "This moves the webOS much closer to Android territory."
From TechCrunch: "The first is that they're allowing developers to fully distribute their apps via the web. What this means is that developers can simply submit their apps to Palm, and Palm will return to them a URL that they can then blog, tweet, do whatever they want to share it. When a person then clicks on that URL they can easily install the app, bypassing any kind of store. And while Palm is providing the URL, it is not going to be reviewing the apps in any way — a clear dig at Apple's approval process.
The next announcement is that Palm is waiving the $99 yearly fee it normally charges to developers to make webOS apps if those apps are going to be open source."
OS news notes that "This moves the webOS much closer to Android territory."
Submission + - IBM wants to read DNA like a barcode (itpro.co.uk)
nk497 writes: IBM scientists are working on ambitious research where nano-sized holes will be drilled into computer chips and DNA passed through to create a 'genetic code reader'. A DNA molecule would be passed through a hole just three nanometers wide, while an electrical sensor "reads" the DNA.
The challenge of the silicon-based 'DNA Transistor' would be to slow and control the motion of the DNA through the hole so the reader could decode what is inside it. IBM claimed that if the project was successful it could make personalised genome analysis as cheap as $100 to $1,000, and compared it to the first ever sequencing done for the Human Genome Project, which cost $3 billion.
The challenge of the silicon-based 'DNA Transistor' would be to slow and control the motion of the DNA through the hole so the reader could decode what is inside it. IBM claimed that if the project was successful it could make personalised genome analysis as cheap as $100 to $1,000, and compared it to the first ever sequencing done for the Human Genome Project, which cost $3 billion.
Submission + - SPAM: Father of fiber optics wins Nobel Prize
alphadogg writes: Charles Kao, whose work in the 1960s laid the foundation for todayâ(TM)s long-distance fiber-optic networks, has won a share of this yearâ(TM)s Nobel Prize in Physics.
Kao, sometimes referred to as the "father of fiber-optic communications," was formally honored by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden "for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication." Kaoâ(TM)s breakthrough discovery in 1966 was to determine how to transmit light over long distances using ultrapure optical glass fibers. [spam URL stripped] This would extend the distance of such transmissions to 62 miles vs. the mere 65 feet allowed under previous technology held back by impurities. The first ultrapure fiber was created in 1970.
Link to Original Source
Kao, sometimes referred to as the "father of fiber-optic communications," was formally honored by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden "for groundbreaking achievements concerning the transmission of light in fibers for optical communication." Kaoâ(TM)s breakthrough discovery in 1966 was to determine how to transmit light over long distances using ultrapure optical glass fibers. [spam URL stripped] This would extend the distance of such transmissions to 62 miles vs. the mere 65 feet allowed under previous technology held back by impurities. The first ultrapure fiber was created in 1970.
Link to Original Source
Comment Re:Yes. (Score 1) 306
Those all have holidays already
Teacher's day: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teachers'_Day
Doctor's Day: http://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/March/doctorsday.htm
World Social Worker's day: http://www.ifsw.org/p38001263.html
World Science Day: http://www.unesco.org/science/wcs/eng/declaration_e.htm
Mathematicians day:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi_Day (I know it's a stretch)
Firefighter's day: http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1986/100886d.htm
Initernational Artists day:http://www.internationalartistday.com/
For good measure:
Sysadmin day:http://www.internationalartistday.com/
Programmer day:http://www.programmerday.info/
Bookmark Breaking Windows!: Feelin' Groovy (m1cr0sux0r.com)
Google Wave Reviewed 365
Michael_Curator writes "Developers are finally getting their hands on the developer preview of Google's Wave, which means we can finally get some first-hand accounts of what it's really like to use, unfiltered by Google's own programmers. Ben Rometsch, a developer with U.K. Web development firm Solid State, blogged that, it's 'probably the most advanced application in a browser that I've seen.' Wave is like giant Web page onto which users can drag and drop any kind of object, including instant messaging and IRC [Internet Relay Client] clients, e-mail, and wikis, as well as gadgets like maps and video. All conversations, work product and applications are stored on remote servers — presumably forever. 'It's like real time email. On crack,' he wrote. And unlike the typically minimalist Google UI, 'It feels a lot more like a desktop application that just so happens to live in your browser.'" User molex333 has already written a Slashdot app and shares his initial reactions here.
Comment ECLIPSE (Score 1) 1055
I use Eclipse (For Java) but I know that they do make a C/C++ version. There is a real nice community surrounding the project as well.
Comment Re:Please, please, do NOT.... (Score 1) 444
I was thinking that you could force some monkey's to watch. This would be a new form of Monkey Torture! Remember kids, get yourself a monkey, and torture the hell out of it!
Comment I'll believe it when I believe it! (Score 2, Interesting) 444
This is interesting considering in recent interviews, Aykroyd has been quoted as saying that the new Ghostbusters game is actually the rumored third movie. Don't get me wrong, I do love me some Ghostbusters, but I just think this is the Duke Nukem Forever of movies.
Submission + - Linux the size of a plug (nytimes.com)
Guanine writes: "Today, Saul Hansell's Bits Blog featured the PlugComputer: a 1.2GHz ARM compliant processor, 512mb DDR2, 512mb flash, USB 2.0, gigabit ethernet — all in a power-brick sized, wall-plug mounted computer. Is the hardware worth the money?
"The first plausible use for the plug computer is to attach one of these gizmos to a USB hard drive. Voila, you've got a network server. Cloud Engines, a startup, has in fact built a $99 plug computer called Pogoplug, that will let you share the files on your hard drive, not only in your home but also anywhere on the Internet.
Submission + - U.S Federal Government Launches Data.gov (elasticvapor.com)
Elastic Vapor writes: "I'm happy to announce that the U.S. Federal Government earlier today launched the new Data.Gov website. The primary goal of Data.Gov is to improve access to Federal data and expand creative use of those data beyond the walls of government by encouraging innovative ideas (e.g., web applications). Data.gov strives to make government more transparent and is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. The openness derived from Data.gov will strengthen the Nation's democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government."
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The explanation requiring the fewest assumptions is the most likely to be correct. -- William of Occam
