Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
Patents

Apple Patents Polluting Facebook, Google Profiles 142

Posted by timothy from the why-all-your-friends-have-crazy-aliases dept.
theodp writes "On Tuesday, the USPTO granted Apple an odd patent on Techniques to Pollute Electronic Profiling, which presumably might concern the targeted ad revenue-hungry folks at Google, Facebook, and LinkedIn (and their investors). The patent, apparently assigned to Apple from Novell, is designed to thwart 'dataveillance techniques from automated Litter Brothers,' including lawful targeted and aggressive marketing tactics. Creating cloned identities that are 'intentionally populated with divergent information [e,g., fake phone numbers, email accounts, credit or debit card accounts],' explains the patent, 'circumvents the reliability and usefulness of dataveillance used by network eavesdroppers and effectively provides greater privacy over the network to principals.'"
Music

Ask Slashdot: Best Headphones, Earbuds, Earphones? 448

Posted by Soulskill from the boombox-and-duct-tape-no-longer-cut-it dept.
alexbgreat writes "What do you think is the best set of head-mounted loudspeakers for the money, with a cost of less than $50? Here are some featuresthat would be stupendous to have (in descending order of importance): noise isolation (not cancellation), flat/near flat response (I need to be able to hear bass, but I don't need my eardrums blown out), long-term comfort (earbuds usually hurt for me), and durability. Over-ear is preferred to anything on- or in-ear. Boom mics are permissible, as I may well use it as a broadcast intercom headset." If you have experience using headphones from different price ranges, feel free to share that as well.

Comment Re:To hell with OpenGL and Direct3D (Score 2, Informative) 161

by forsetti (#28552583) Attached to: Virtualbox 3.0 Announces OpenGL/Direct3D Support

"Odd protocols, like GRE?"
Hmmm .. not a network guy, are you? Should I use a standardized, widely implemented protocol like GRE, or a single-implementation solution like OpenVPN. Don't get me wrong, I love OpenVPN and thing those guys have a fantastic cross-platform solution ... but GRE isn't exactly an "odd protocol".

Comment Re:Have they ever heard of BER/DER? (Score 1) 332

by forsetti (#24106201) Attached to: Google Open Sources Its Data Interchange Format

Heh -- I'm not talking about the *implementers* ... just the *protocol designers*. That's why I left out *OpenLDAP* and *OpenSSL*. ;-)

Seriously though - ASN.1 is pretty good for specification, and some of the serializations aren't bad. Fairly compact, flexible ... But don't code it by hand - se a ASN.1 compiler.
Operating Systems

The Great Microkernel Debate Continues 405

Posted by Zonk from the tiny-issues dept.
ficken writes "The great conversation about micro vs. monolithic kernel is still alive and well. Andy Tanenbaum weighs in with another article about the virtues of microkernels. From the article: 'Over the years there have been endless postings on forums such as Slashdot about how microkernels are slow, how microkernels are hard to program, how they aren't in use commercially, and a lot of other nonsense. Virtually all of these postings have come from people who don't have a clue what a microkernel is or what one can do. I think it would raise the level of discussion if people making such postings would first try a microkernel-based operating system and then make postings like "I tried an OS based on a microkernel and I observed X, Y, and Z first hand." Has a lot more credibility.'"

Comment Re:Apple and iPod... (Score 3, Interesting) 395

by System.out.println() (#17390988) Attached to: New iPod Owner Onslaught Overwhelms iTunes
If money's a factor, you can always go the route I did - go to the Apple Store online and look in their refurb section. Everything on there is backed by the same warranty as the new stuff. They used to have (and may still have) first gen (black/white) 2Gb nanos for $99, for example.

For Christmas I got a refurb'd 60GB iPod video. I'd told my parents that I had no need for 80GB, but 30 was too small (they really should stick a 60GB in that $300 hole) and pointed them to Apple's refurb site. Since the 5G 60GB is for all intents and purposes the same as the current generation aside from the capacity, it seemed like a good call.
User Journal

Journal Journal: Mod points and GMail invites! 6

Journal by System.out.println()

Pretty self explanatory: I need to spend my mod points (I get them regularly) and GMail invites (my friends all have accounts).

Want GMail? Give me an email address and a name to send it to.
Think a post needs a mod point thrown at it? link it here.

Thanks. :)
Slashdot.org

Journal Journal: My first Foe!

Journal by System.out.println()

Awww, my very first Foe. Finally, someone who routinely makes immature comments without posting anonymously. stubear, you should be proud.
Slashdot.org

Journal Journal: Mod Points! 1

Journal by System.out.println()

I'm getting mod points pretty regularly lately.... if you have any suggestions for where I should dish them out, please leave a comment and I'll check it out.

Slashdot Top Deals

"Show business is just like high school, except you get paid." - Martin Mull

Close