smitth1276 - Slashdot User

Comment Re:Why are we deprived of this in North America? (Score 1) 578

by smitth1276 on Sunday June 14, 2009 @05:23AM (#28325437) Attached to: Microsoft Will Ship Windows 7 in Europe With IE Unbundled

I'm jealous - we should be offered the same deal here in good old North America

Yeah.. or at least as many browser choices as we get when we buy Apple's machines. And next, we can go after Microsoft for bundling Windows with Windows Media Player... they shouldn't be allowed to use their monopoly to push their media management and playback software on us! We should get to choose iTunes if we prefer it. And notepad?!? I want Notepad++ bundled with my OS!

I, for one, won't be happy until Microsoft is forced to remove any and all useful, desirable applications from their OS, so that otherwise uncompetitive companies can get free exposure at Microsoft's expense and have their product presented to us--unsolicited--in hopes that we will install their software without any requirement that they actually earn our "business".

Comment Re:The only fix is campaign finance reform (Score 1) 785

by smitth1276 on Monday March 23, 2009 @03:41PM (#27302599) Attached to: Obama DOJ Sides With RIAA

No, the fix is to reduce the power that lawmakers have over us so there is no "need" or desire to buy them. A flat tax or some other simplified tax system--which does not allow lawmakers to carve out exemptions to this that and the other thing for anyone with enough campaign cash--would be the most effective thing we could do to eliminate corruption.

If you want to give the government the power to take care of you from cradle to grave and provide health care and affordable housing and yada yada yada, you are creating corruption.

Comment So, Nobody here is bothered by the fact...? (Score 1) 499

by smitth1276 on Monday August 11, 2008 @07:10PM (#24561595) Attached to: Did NBC Alter the Olympics' Opening Ceremony?

...it doesn't bother any of you that this is an entirely inaccurate claim? The order wasn't changed at all, and whoever alleged that it was is smoking crack.

Microsoft Trolling for New Acquisitions 142

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday February 11, 2008 @03:29PM from the playing-catch-up dept.

NewShinyCD writes "Sources tell Valleywag that startup Ustream.tv is in advanced discussions with Microsoft to acquire the lifecasting service for more than $50 million, but there are other companies in the bidding as well. Ustream is currently raising a very large initial round of VC financing, and Microsoft is attempting to grab them prefunding for a cheap price. Our tipster also mentions that Microsoft would use Ustream as a way to promote its Adobe Flash competitor, Silverlight." Relatedly, Microsoft has also announced their intent to buy Sidekick maker Danger. Financial details of the Danger buyout were not disclosed.

Microsoft to Spy on Employees 305

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday January 16, 2008 @10:33AM from the do-you-see-what-i-see dept.

4T writes "Forget about monitoring your computers with spyware, now they're going to monitor the users as well! 'Microsoft is developing Big Brother-style software capable of remotely monitoring a worker's productivity, physical wellbeing and competence. The Times has seen a patent application filed by the company for a computer system that links workers to their computers via wireless sensors that measure their metabolism. The system would allow managers to monitor employees' performance by measuring their heart rate, body temperature, movement, facial expression and blood pressure. Unions said they fear that employees could be dismissed on the basis of a computer's assessment of their physiological state.'"

What Would You Do As President? 1455

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday January 14, 2008 @02:58PM from the its-got-what-plants-crave dept.

With the elections continually in the news there is constant discourse on what each candidate has done or will do. However, rarely do people get the chance to say what they would do. Here is your chance, you have been elected President of the US (god help us all), what items go to the head of the class and how would you handle them?

Predicting The Google Phone 205

Posted by Zonk on Wednesday November 14, 2007 @03:07PM from the can-you-goog-me-now dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Inside The GPhone: What To Expect From Google's Android Alliance (an article at Information Week) argues that you can predict what the GPhone(s) will look like very easily, simply by listing the technologies of the Open Handset Alliance partners. According to this theory, the phone will have a user interface from Sweden's TAT, VCAST-like multimedia capabilities powered by PacketVideo Corp., and an iPhone-like capacitive touch-screen, from Synaptics. Hardware-wise, it'll probably be built around Texas Instruments' OMAP processors, which enable a single-chip world phone (GSM/EDGE/GPRS). "While the GPhone won't be revolutionary, it'll connect the pieces in pleasantly new ways," argues author Alex Wolfe. Should Apple be concerned?"

Microsoft Windows 7 "Wishlist" Leaked 522

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Tuesday November 13, 2007 @07:20PM from the leaky-news-always-suspect dept.

Cassius Corodes is one of many readers to point out that a recent "wishlist" of new Windows development features is floating around the net. This list was supposedly leaked from Microsoft and contains some of their key development features for the next version of Windows. Given that the next new Windows release is bound to be a long way off I would recommend seasoning this news with a hefty dose of sodium chloride.

Google's Android Cellphone SDK Released 283

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday November 12, 2007 @02:23PM from the can-you-hear-me-now dept.

AchiIIe writes "The android SDK has been released to the wild. As expected it features the Linux Kernel, low level libraries such as FreeType, OpenGL, SQL Lite, WebKit (as a web browser), a custom Java Bytecode interpreter that is highly specialized for the CPU. A common java API is provided. A video has been posted with an the overview of the API." SM: Several readers have also written to mention the Android Developer Challenge offering $10 million in prizes for cool mobile apps.

Warrantless Surveillance To Continue For Now 402

Posted by CowboyNeal on Thursday October 05, 2006 @09:47PM from the watching-the-watchmen dept.

NormalVisual writes "It appears that the unconstitutional and controversial warrantless surveillance program being conducted by the Bush Administration can continue until an appeals court can hear the case, according to an AP article. The 6th Circuit ruled that while the lower court had ruled the program was unconstitutional, they felt that the case's chances before the appeals court and the possible danger to national security warranted their decision to let it continue despite the likelihood that the appeal process will take months."

Was the 2004 Election Stolen? 1425

Posted by kdawson on Sunday September 17, 2006 @05:40PM from the disenfranchising-ohio dept.

jZnat writes, "In June Rolling Stone ran an article by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delving into the statistical improbability that Bush won the 2004 election based on massive amounts of evidence that support a Republican-sponsored election fraud across the country, particularly in Ohio. The GOP used a number of tactics in its fraudulent campaign including ballot-stuffing, denying newly registered voters (particularly in urban and minority precincts) their voting privileges via illegal mailings known as caging lists, inane voter registration requirements, preventing thousands of voters from receiving provisional ballots, under-providing Democrat-majority precincts with voting machines thus creating enormous queues of voters, faulty machines (particularly from Diebold) that skewed results in the GOP's favor, mostly unnoticed ballot-stuffing and fraud in rural areas, and a fixed recount that was paid for by the Green and Libertarian parties that essentially supported the initial fraudulent numbers." From the article: "'Ohio was as dirty an election as America has ever seen,' Lou Harris, the father of modern political polling, told me."

Java to be Open Sourced in October 267

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday August 15, 2006 @01:02PM from the coffee-in-the-fall dept.

thePowerOfGrayskull writes "Sun is now stating that the Hotspot JVM and javac will be open-sourced in October of this year, with the rest to follow by the end of 2007. There is still no word as to which license it will be released under. For those who haven't seen it yet, Sun has previously opened a public developer community site for soliciting feedback and providing updates about the process."

Google Sends Legal Threats to Media Organizations 449

Posted by samzenpus on Monday August 14, 2006 @08:47AM from the you-wouldn't-like-google-when-it's-angry dept.

rm69990 writes "Google, becoming more and more concerned about the growing use of the word google as a verb, has fired off warning letters to numerous media organizations warning them against using its name as a verb. This follows google (with a lowercase g) being added to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary in June. According to a Google spokesperson: "We think it's important to make the distinction between using the word Google to describe using Google to search the internet, and using the word Google to describe searching the internet. It has some serious trademark issues.""

Stephen Colbert vs The Hungarian Government 554

Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday August 10, 2006 @01:04PM from the under-our-skin-we're-all-colberican dept.

jefu writes "The Hungarian government is sponsoring an internet vote to name a new bridge. So far naming the bridge after acter Chuck Norris has been the most popular. However, last night Stephen Colbert (of Comedy Central's "Colbert Report") suggested that viewers vote to name the bridge after him. Remembering the effect that a Colbert segment had had on Wikipedia, I visited the voting page (in Hungarian when it works) soon after that and it was completely non-responsive. This morning (8:00 Thursday Pacific time) it is showing a "Horrible exception" and a Jetspeed/tomcat stack trace. " I believe Colbert's straight-talking sensibilities have earned him far more than just a bridge in whatever continent Hungaria is in. Instead I think we should consider renaming one of our lesser used states as an honor more appropriate to his grippy contributions to America. We're not doing anything with Colorado these days anyway, but imagine the appeal of a new and improved state with a virile name like Colberado. Book your tickets today!

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