Comment Is this really a ban? (Score 1) 555
IANAL, but I don't think this forbids anyone from setting up their own server because of the words "should not":
"Unless you have a written agreement with Google Fiber permitting you do so, you should not host any type of server using your Google Fiber connection"
(Emphasis by me). This sounds more like a "it would be nice if you don't" to me. Heck, even RFC 2119 agrees:
4. SHOULD NOT This phrase, or the phrase "NOT RECOMMENDED" mean that there may exist valid reasons in particular circumstances when the particular behavior is acceptable or even useful, but the full implications should be understood and the case carefully weighed before implementing any behavior described with this label.
Submission + - Japan’s Robot Picks Only the Ripest Strawber (singularityhub.com)
kkleiner writes: The Institute of Agricultural Machinery at Japan’s National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, along with SI Seiko, has developed a robot that can select and harvest strawberries based on their color. Ripened berries are detected using the robot’s stereoscopic cameras, and analyzed to measure how red they appear. When the fruit is ready to come off the vine, the robot quickly locates it in 3D space and cuts it free. From observation to collection, the harvesting process takes about 9 seconds per berry. Creators estimate that it will be able to cut down harvesting time by 40%.
Submission + - Vuvuzelas Blare on Pirated Copies (wired.com) 1
An anonymous reader writes: A novel anti-piracy measure baked into the Nintendo DS version of Michael Jackson: The Experience makes copied versions of the game unplayable and taunts gamers with the blaring sound of vuvuzelas.
Many games have installed switches that detect pirated copies and act accordingly, like ending the user’s game after 20 minutes. Ubisoft has come under fire multiple times for what players have seen as highly restrictive anti-piracy measures that annoy legitimate users as much or more so than pirates.
But some more-mischievous developers have used tricks similar to the vuvuzela fanfare to mess with pirates.
Batman: Arkham Asylum lets unauthorized users play through the game as if it were a normal copy, with a single exception: Batman’s cape-glide ability doesn’t work, rendering the game impossible to finish — although you might bash your head against it trying to make what are now impossible jumps.
If you pirate Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, brace yourself for an explosion, as your entire base will detonate within 30 seconds of loading the game.
Many games have installed switches that detect pirated copies and act accordingly, like ending the user’s game after 20 minutes. Ubisoft has come under fire multiple times for what players have seen as highly restrictive anti-piracy measures that annoy legitimate users as much or more so than pirates.
But some more-mischievous developers have used tricks similar to the vuvuzela fanfare to mess with pirates.
Batman: Arkham Asylum lets unauthorized users play through the game as if it were a normal copy, with a single exception: Batman’s cape-glide ability doesn’t work, rendering the game impossible to finish — although you might bash your head against it trying to make what are now impossible jumps.
If you pirate Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2, brace yourself for an explosion, as your entire base will detonate within 30 seconds of loading the game.
Submission + - Ubuntu Rolling release rumours wrong (h-online.com) 1
ddfall writes: Previously on /. — http://linux.slashdot.org/story/10/11/24/1346221/Ubuntu-May-Move-To-Rolling-Releases — This is wrong! Engineering Director of Ubuntu Rick Spencer says "Ubuntu is not changing to a rolling release". He goes on to say, "We are confident that our customers, partners, and the FLOSS ecosystem are well served by our current release cadence. What the article was probably referring to was the possibility of making it easier for developers to use cutting edge versions of certain software packages on Ubuntu. This is a wide-ranging project that we will continue to pursue through our normal planning processes".
Submission + - The Hail Mary Cloud is Growing (blogspot.com)
badger.foo writes: The .au Rickrolling of jailbroken iPhones only goes to prove that bad passwords are bad for you, Peter Hansteen points out before he reports on the further exploits of password-guessing Hail Mary Cloud (previously /.ed here). The article contains log data that could indicate that the cloud of distributed password guessing hosts is growing.
New Motorcycle World Speed Record, 367.382 mph 253
An anonymous reader, apparently a member of the BUB racing team, wrote to let us know that on Thursday, their crew set the new ultimate motorcycle world speed record at 367.382 mph with the BUB Seven Streamliner at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah. The Seven is powered by a 3 Liter, turbocharged, 16-valve V4 engine that produces a claimed 500 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque at 8500 rpm. The pilot, Chris Carr, hit 380 mph during the run.
Computers To Mark English Essays 243
digitig writes "According to The Guardian, computers are to be used in the UK to mark English examination essays. 'Pearson, the American-based parent company of Edexcel, is to use computers to "read" and assess essays for international English tests in a move that has fueled speculation that GCSEs and A-levels will be next. ... Pearson claims this will be more accurate than human marking.' Can computers now understand all the subtle nuances of language, or are people going to have to learn an especially bland form of English to pass exams?"
Alan Turing Gets an Apology From Prime Minister Brown 576
99luftballon writes "The British government has officially apologized for the treatment of Alan Turing in the post war era. An online petition got more than enough signatures to force an official statement and Prime Minister Gordon Brown has issued a lengthy apology. 'Thousands of people have come together to demand justice for Alan Turing and recognition of the appalling way he was treated. While Turing was dealt with under the law of the time and we can't put the clock back, his treatment was of course utterly unfair and I am pleased to have the chance to say how deeply sorry I and we all are for what happened to him. So on behalf of the British government, and all those who live freely thanks to Alan's work I am very proud to say: we're sorry, you deserved so much better.'"
Microsoft Launches Its Own Open Source Foundation 344
darthcamaro writes "Microsoft already had its own open source (OSI-approved) licenses, its own open source project hosting site and now it's adding its own non-profit open source foundation.
That's right, the company that is still banging the patent drum against open source now has its own 501(c)(6) open source foundation. Officially called the CodePlex Foundation, it's a separate effort from the CodePlex site and is aimed at helping to get more commercial developers involved in open source. Considering how they continue to attack Linux and open source, will anyone take them seriously?"
Comment Re:Which kernel version do I apply the patch to? (Score 1) 333
Correction:
Symlink error, now it applies fine:
linux-2.6$ ln -sv . linux-2.6.30-bfs.orig
`linux-2.6.30-bfs.orig' -> `.'
Same kernel version as mentioned above.
Comment Re:Which kernel version do I apply the patch to? (Score 1) 333
I applied the patch to v2.6.30 from Linus' git tree at git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux-2.6.git (commit 07a2039b8eb0af4ff464efd3dfd95de5c02648c6), and it compiled fine. Had to let patch(1) assume "-R" when it wanted to delete non-existant files, though. Worked for me:
linux-2.6$ ln -sv . linux-2.6.30-bfs
linux-2.6$ patch -p0 </tmp/2.6.30-sched-bfs-209.patch
patching file linux-2.6.30-bfs/Documentation/sysctl/kernel.txt
patching file linux-2.6.30-bfs/fs/pipe.c
patching file linux-2.6.30-bfs/include/linux/init_task.h
patching file linux-2.6.30-bfs/include/linux/sched.h
The next patch would delete the file linux-2.6.30-bfs.orig/kernel/sched.c,
which does not exist! Assume -R? [n] y
[...]
Wi-Fi Allergy a PR Stunt 174
ADiamond writes "There is no Wi-Fi allergy. The English DJ claiming a Wi-Fi sensitivity, chronicled earlier, was a PR stunt to promote his new album. It would appear that the stunt was highly successful, appearing in multiple high-profile media outlets like The Sun, The Telegraph, and Fox News. The article at Ars goes on to discuss the evidence, or lack-thereof, of electromagnetic spectrum sensitivity."
Comment Incompetent USPTO people (Score 1) 202
11 expanded comments in this thread, and nearly half of them link to evidence of prior art. WTF are these USPTO people doing at work? How about some investigation before granting the patent, or at least a simple Google search?
Sigh. Utterly useless.
Comment Re:I've Still Yet to See the Code from Them (Score 5, Insightful) 237
PLEASE NOTE: Microsoft Corporation (or based on where you live, one of its affiliates) licenses this supplement to you. You may use it with each validly licensed copy of Microsoft operating system products software (for which this supplement is applicable) (the ÃoesoftwareÃ). You may not use the supplement if you do not have a license for the software.
(Emphasis by me.) Addidionally, if this is GPL, as they say, they can't demand that you have a MS Windows license to use the software. When you've got a copy of it, you're free to use it as much as you want, with or without a MS Windows license.
