Comment Punch Cards? (Score 1) 615
These guys are neat for what they still sell and service, in addition to punch cards and hardware the process them:
http://www.cardamation.com/
Comment Re:Time to change his name... (Score 1) 225
wow - a guy named Borker being sent to prison really puts a new spin on "bork bork bork"
Malicious Online Retailer Ordered Held Without Bail 225
Zaphod_85 writes "You may remember the New York Times story from a couple of weeks ago regarding Vitaly Borker, an online retailer intentionally harassing customers in order to gain linking points in Google's PageRank algorithm. Now, not only has Google altered their algorithm in order to prevent this tactic from being effective (Though according to Katherine Noyes at PCWorld, this tactic may never actually have been benefiting the website in the first place), Now Mr. Borker has the Feds to deal with. He is being charged with cyberstalking, wire fraud, mail fraud, and making interstate threats, and faces up to 50 years in prison if convicted on all counts. Given his disturbing behavior that brought about the charges, a federal judge has ordered he be held without bail while he awaits trial."
Comment Re:I'm not convinced (Score 1) 207
FTA: "... The WarMouse Meta goes where no mouse has gone before." - Engadget
Perhaps another way to say that is "Good riddance to daft rodents."
S
Comment oops (Score 2, Insightful) 20
IMHO it was the cow that needed to be cleansed by bathing, while Lusti Gusti needed to get drowned to rid the town of bad luck...
Heh,
S
Comment Re:Activision - Sluggish Sales For Sousaphone Hero (Score 1) 79
There were a few of us at my last job who wanted to take that idea and crank out a prototype USB accordion peripheral. Even more sad is how much time I spent researching the appropriate sensor tech to make this work
I think it still needs to be done, dammit! Break out the lederhosen! (and Pilsner)
-SL
UC Berkeley Asking Incoming Students For DNA 468
peterofoz writes "The students will be asked to voluntarily submit a DNA sample. The cotton swabs will come with two bar code labels. One label will be put on the DNA sample and the other is kept for the students' own records. The confidential process is being overseen by Jasper Rine, a campus professor of Genetics and Development Biology, who says the test results will help students make decisions about their diet and lifestyle." No word in the story on just what "confidential" means — who will have access to the results, how long they'll be kept, or what else they might someday be used for. Will the notoriously liberal Berkeley campus see this as a service or an invasion of privacy?
Another Stab At a Canadian DMCA 237
whisper_jeff writes "News has come out that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is planning on bringing the DMCA to Canada. As a Canadian, this disgusts me. Watching Harper sell out Canadians in favour of US lobby groups is an affront. I am hopeful that enough Canadians write to Harper and their MPs to voice their disapproval of this effort."
Steve Jobs Hints At Theora Lawsuit 686
netcrawler writes "Steve Jobs' open letter on Flash has prompted someone at the Free Software Foundation Europe to ask him about his support of proprietary format H.264 over Theora. Jobs' pithy answer (email with headers) suggests Theora might infringe on existing patents and that 'a patent pool is being assembled to go after Theora and other "open source" codecs now.' Does he know something we don't?"
Update: 05/01 00:38 GMT by T : Monty Montgomery of Xiph (the group behind Theora, as well as Ogg Vorbis, and more) provides a pointed, skeptical response to the implicit legal threat, below.
Apple Raises E-book Prices For Everyone 327
Nom du Keyboard writes "I was informed by my publisher this week that they would have to raise my e-book prices because they planned to sell them through the Apple iBooks store. How could this happen? A lot of my individual stories sell in the $1 to $3 range, which is well within the impulse purchase amount for many people. In this price range a 50-cent price difference may well be the difference between a purchase and a pass. Meanwhile, Apple is touting its new 'agency model,' whereby the publishers set the prices. However, it seems that Apple requires books sold in its iBook store have prices ending in .99 — nothing else." (More below.)
Apple To Buy ARM? 695
gyrogeerloose writes "An article in the London Evening Standard claims that Apple has made an $8 billion offer to acquire ARM Holdings. For those few Slashdotters who don't already know, ARM makes the processor chips that power Apple's iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. However, ARM processors are also used by other manufacturers, including Palm and, perhaps most significantly, companies building Android phones. This explains why Apple might be willing to spend so much on the deal — almost 20% of its cash reserves. Being able to control who gets to use the processors (and, more importantly, who doesn't) would give Apple a huge advantage over its competitors."
Comment Re:Exercise some self-discipline and keep... (Score 1) 456
Sure, and hormone-soaked teenagers whose brains are still trying to develop good impulse control always think rationally and choose abstinence when a member of their preferred sex is hot to trot for them. This is why abstinence-only education has been such a rousing success everywhere it's been tried.
uhhh
Whee!
SG
Comment this story is about a month and a half late (Score 1) 456
...I can't possibly be the only one who has wished people "Happy VD!" on Valentine's Day
hehe
Why a High IQ Doesn't Mean You're Smart 808
D1gital_Prob3 writes "How can a 'smart' person act foolishly? Keith Stanovich, professor of human development and applied psychology at the University of Toronto, Canada, has grappled with this apparent incongruity for 15 years. He says it applies to more people than you might think. To Stanovich, however, there is nothing incongruous about it. IQ tests are very good at measuring certain mental faculties, he says, including logic, abstract reasoning, learning ability and working-memory capacity — how much information you can hold in mind."
SCO Terminates Darl McBride 458
bpechter writes "Linux Today reports SCO has terminated Darl McBride and linked to the SCO 8K SEC report. The report found also at the SCO site and states: 'the Company has eliminated the Chief Executive Officer and President positions and consequently terminated Darl McBride.'"
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I tell them to turn to the study of mathematics, for it is only there that they might escape the lusts of the flesh. -- Thomas Mann, "The Magic Mountain"
