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Comment Re:Hmm (Score 1) 941

How much you want to bet there was a fine print clause buried in the Equipment Issuance paperwork that allows the school to monitor their student issued equipment in any way they deem fit?
That any information that is stored on that computer is school property?
That the school reserves the right to monitor, intercept, or act on any information gathered by said computer?

I bring this up because it is standard for any government owned computer, and I bet the issuance form was read by and signed by both the parent and the student.

The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Coders: Your Days Are Numbered (infoworld.com) 2

snydeq writes: "Fatal Exception's Neil McAllister argues that communication skills, not coding skills, are a developer's greatest asset in a bear economy. 'Too many software development teams are still staffed like secretarial pools. Ideas are generated at the top and then passed downward through general managers, product managers, technical leads, and team leads. Objectives are carved up into deliverables, which are parceled off to coders, often overseas,' McAllister writes. 'The idea that this structure can be sustainable, when the U.S. private sector shed three-quarters of a million jobs in March 2009 alone, is simple foolishness.' Instead, companies should emulate the open source model of development, shifting decision-making power to the few developers with the deepest architectural understanding of, and closest interaction with, the code. And this shift will require managers to look beyond résumés 'choked with acronyms and lists of technologies' to find those who 'can understand, influence, and guide development efforts, rather than simply taking dictation.'"

Comment Re:This Is A Shame.... (Score 2, Interesting) 244

I really thought TR had potential. It's true that the launch was a little rocky and it was rough around the edges but as you really progressed through the game, the story was actually rather compelling.

I had some misgivings about the limited character creation system where is was basically a cookie cutter system where you could only change the face as a whole, hair, skin color and a couple accessories; as well as the clunky and convoluted crafting system that they took way too long to fix. I think they really had the game to a point where they could tweak settings here and there and still add more content.

I thought the graphics were great, the enemy character models looked real and had a lot of detail. Gameplay was almost constant out in the field. They even took player created events and made a separate zone for them to hold it. It was a prime example of the developers listening to the players and giving them what they want.

I think ultimately where they failed was in the advertising arena. When I talked about the game to other gamers, 75% of them had no idea what I was talking about. It is a sad day indeed for TR fans, but I suppose I can invest more time into CoH now.

Biotech

Justice Department's Bio-terror Mistake 477

destinyland writes "University professor and artist Steve Kurtz publicizes the history of chemical weapons with performance art pieces. The day his wife died of a heart attack, 911 responders mistook his scientific equipment for bioterrorism supplies. After he was detained for 22 hours, Homeland Security cordoned off his block, and a search was performed on his house in hazmat suits, they found nothing. Now they're prosecuting him for "mail fraud" for the way he obtained $256 of harmless bacteria."
The Almighty Buck

Underfunded NSA Suffers Brownouts 198

An anonymous reader writes "Almost ten years after the an internal report, and a year after a Baltimore sun story warned that the electrical system at the fort Meade NSA HQ couldn't keep up with the growing electricity demand ... the problem has got worse. The 'NSA has had to resort to partial, rolling brownouts at its computer farms and scheduled power outages and some offices are experiencing significant power disruptions'. NSA director Alexander testified to congress about this problem. It is suggested he wanted to add more than $800 million to the 07 budget. A recent public powerpoint presentation suggested 70% of of all intelligence spending goes to contractors. It also included a graph, without numbers, of this spending. It suggests that US intelligence spending is around $60 billion. An internal survey that showed NSA employees have problems trusting each other."
User Journal

Journal Journal: FCC indecency rules struck down. 548

Reuters reports that the 2nd circuit has struck down the FCC's rules on indecency, in a case brought by Fox. The court said the U.S. Federal Communications Commission was "arbitrary and capricious" in setting a new standard for defining indecency. Republican FCC Chairman Kevin Martin angrily retorted, "'shit' and 'fuck' bleep bleep children." The case is a victory for Nicole Richie and Bono and Cher, as some of the people Fox a
Operating Systems

Journal Journal: Preinstalled Ubuntu - not just Dell

After all of the excitement from Dell's new Ubuntu machines, I was surprised to see a computer being sold with the popular Linux pre-installed. Sure, the general idea is that if Dell's Linux machines really sell, others may be soon to follow... I didn't anticipate anything quite this soon though. Ok, the real meat is this: I am here in Peru, and I just happen to be in a superstore not unlike Mega-Wal-Mart or something like that. And I also just happened to be passing by their computer sectio
Toys

Submission + - WizKids Sues Wizards of the Coast over Game Patent (gamingreport.com)

Anonymous Coward writes: "WizKids Games (makers of HeroClix) is suing Wizards of the Coast (makers of Magic: the Gathering), seeking judgment that their Pirates game does not infringe on a recently granted patent. From the article:

[T]he suit claims that WOTC contacted WizKids via a letter in May 2004 concerning the filing of the patent, and that WOTC asserted that WizKids Pirates game fell squarely within many of the proposed claims of the pending patent application. WOTC warned that when the patent [was] issued, WOTC would have the right to sue WizKids for an injunction and damages. WOTC threatened that it would take legal action against WizKids if or when a patent was allowed if WizKids did not cease and desist selling its Pirates game. WizKids responded to the letter on June 4, 2004, denying that the Pirates game was within the scope of any of the then pending claims of WOTCs patent application.
The suit asks the judge to declare that the Pirates game does not infringe and seek to stop Wizards of the Coast from pursuing any legal action.

The patent in question is for a "Constructible Strategy Game," where players build models from punch-out cards sold in booster packs. The Pirates game seems to fit the patent description perfectly. A game designer that worked on the project that spurred the patent left Wizards of the Coast in mid-development to work for WizKids. The Pirates game was announced shortly thereafter."

Google

Submission + - Interview: how Google tweaks rank algorithm (nytimes.com)

nbauman writes: "New York Times interview with Amit Singhal, who is in charge of Google's ranking algorithm. They use 200 "signals" and "classifiers," of which PageRank is only one. "Freshness" defines how many recently changed pages appear in a result. They assumed old pages were better, but when they first introduced Google Finance, the algorithm couldn't find it because it was too new. Some topics are "hot". "When there is a blackout in New York, the first articles appear in 15 minutes; we get queries in two seconds," said Singhal. Classifiers infer information about the type of search, whether it is a product to buy, a place, company or person. One classifier identifies people who aren't famous. Another identifies brand names. A final check encourages "diversity" in the results, for example, a manufacturer's page, a blog review, and a comparision shopping site. If the user has signed in to Google, they can tell whether a search for "dolphins" is by a football fan or marine biologist. Examples of problems that Google identified and tweaked the algorithm to avoid: a search for "french revolution" returned too many results about the French presidential elections. A search for "teak patio palo alto" didn't return a store called the Teak Patio. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/03/business/yourmon ey/03google.html Inside the Black Box By SAUL HANSELL, June 3, 2007"

Feed Google security vulnerabilties stack up (theregister.com)

With four in the last week, is Google the next security buffoon?

Analysis Google's desktop search application is vulnerable to an exploit that allows a determined attacker to remotely run most programs installed on a victim's machine. The flaw is one of at least four security holes to visit Google this past week, demonstrating that the search king, despite the god-like aura it enjoys for its pleasing software designs, remains a mere mortal in the security cosmos.


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