reagank - Slashdot User

A Bad Month for Firefox 195

Posted by CowboyNeal on Saturday February 24, 2007 @10:06AM from the and-its-bugs dept.

marty writes "Februrary is not a good month for Mozilla developers. Infoworld reports about the efforts of Polish researcher Michael Zalewski, who apparently kept finding new vulnerabilities in the popular browser on a daily basis through the month, first postponing the 2.0.0.2 update, and then finding a remotely exploitable flaw in it immediately after its release."

Amazon Using Patent Reform to Strengthen 1-Click 71

Posted by Zonk on Saturday February 24, 2007 @07:20AM from the song-and-dance-routine dept.

theodp writes "As some predicted, lawyers for Amazon.com have recently submitted 1-Click prior art solicited by Tim O'Reilly under the auspices of Jeff Bezos' patent reform effort to the USPTO, soliciting a 'favorable action' that would help bulletproof the patent. Last June, an Amazon lobbyist referred to deficiencies with the same prior art as he tried to convince Congress that 1-Click was novel, prompting Rep. Howard Berman to call BS."

Nike+ iPod Used For Surveillance 66

Posted by Zonk on Saturday December 02, 2006 @01:38AM from the what-isn't-though-nowadays dept.

Thib writes "Researchers at the University of Washington have published a report detailing many easy and cheap ways the Nike+ iPod Sport Kit previously discussed on Slashdot can be used to track individuals, even when they are not carrying their iPod. They have even implemented a Google Maps application to display surveillance data in real time." From the article: "'Our research also shows that there exist simple cryptographic techniques that the Nike+iPod Sport Kit designers could have used to improve the privacy-preserving properties of the Nike+iPod kit,' the group reports. 'Our work underscores the need for a broad public discussion about and further research on the privacy-preserving properties of new wireless personal gadgets,' the group reports. 'We stress, however, that there is no evidence that Apple or Nike intended for these devices to be used in any malicious manner. Additionally, neither Apple nor Nike endorsed this study.'"

Music Labels Screwed, DRM Is Dead 346

Posted by Zonk on Sunday November 05, 2006 @07:16AM from the damn-the-man dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Peter Jenner, former manager of bands like Pink Floyd, T.Rex and the Clash, states in an interview with the Register that music label executives have lost faith in DRM and dollar-per-track online music selling isn't working too well as a model. He predicts that in two to three years time, many countries will have moved to a blanket licensing regime." The article goes on at some length, talking about the value of digital music, patterns in the music industry, and some business at the end about 'the tyranny of the playlist' that I'm not hep enough to follow. I'm not sure this rant has any connection whatsoever with reality, but it is something to think about.

Motorola Develops Bare-Bones Phone 293

Posted by Hemos on Monday October 30, 2006 @01:55PM from the keep-it-simple-stupid dept.

tunabomber writes "Whenever a review of the latest cellphone/camera/MP3 player/GPS receiver/fish finder/tazer convergence gadget is posted on Slashdot, the first posters are usually quick to chime in by saying they just want something with decent battery life, reception, ergonomics, etc. Those posters' prayers may now be answered, because Motorola's new 'dumb' phone has been designed with these traits in mind. Notable features include an E Ink display and dual antennae to improve reception. The phone is slated to become available before the end of the year."

Comment Re:Forgive the troll.. (Score 1) 470

by reagank on Sunday October 08, 2006 @11:42AM (#16355231) Attached to: Will the iPod Ever Die?

1) It can be used as a USB hard drive no problem. To manage music you have to use iTunes (without some sort of third-party solution), but you can still use it as an extrnal storage device.
2) It plays MP3 and AAC files, but not WMA or OGG. I know this affects /.ers more than most, but it's an issue I've never gotten. (Also, if you try to import music encoded as WMA, iTunes offers to convert it to MP3 or AAC for you)
3) It may have been over-priced at one point, but right now the iPod costs basically the same as most name brand competitors (i.e., Creative, Samsung, etc.)
4) Battery life, as with any electronic device, is a crap shoot. I've had a monochrome 4G for 2 years, and while the battery life isn't as good as it was when new, it still will go through a day with no trouble. I've had laptops (which I've paid a lot more for, obviously) that had batteries that lasted 1 year before crapping out
5) I live in Michigan, it gets pretty cold here, and I've never had a problem with it not working. Now I don't know if I'd take my HD-based player jogging, but that's not an iPod fault, it's a problem with physics... The nano or shuffle would work just fine jogging in the winter.

As for the UI, every one is different, but the scrolling interface for me is very natural. If you're spinning your finger in a circle, you stop when you see what you want on screen. It comes down to what you're used to, but there's a reason that Creative started using their "slider" style interface; a lot of people find the touch-sensitive interface very intuitive.

As with any device that's become iconic, there's a large counter-revolutionary faction that says "It's popular! The sheeple use it! It must be bad!" And if you want to be different, that's a valid point. But the reason it's become so popular isn't just because of a crowd effect or canny marketing, it's also because Apple knows how to make a product that, for a lot of people, is easy to use and just works.

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