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Comment I have an idea. (Score 4, Insightful) 119

They should build bigger cars that hold more people. The additional weight will certainly require some innovation; how about instead of rubber tires the cars are on metal tracks? Does anyone have a name they'd like to suggest? "Underground Mega-Car on Rails" has a nice ring but I'm sure there's a more catchy word that we can use.
Patents

Apple Patents Alternative To NFC 171

Posted by Soulskill from the bet-it'll-have-a-cooler-name dept.
another random user sends word that a set of newly-granted Apple patents published by the USPTO includes an alternative to the near field communication (NFC) technology that has begun to pop up in mobile devices. From the article: "Apple has received a Granted Patent relating to techniques for triggering a process within a portable electronic device that identifies itself for purposes of establishing communications with another device that is in proximity. At the moment, NFC is the technology that's getting all of the attention lately in respect to making it easier for two mobile devices to share information. While Apple is likewise doing research with NFC, they're also working with an alternate methodology for which they've now gained a patent for. In accordance with Apple's newly granted patent, a method for network device discovery monitors a compass output in a portable electronic device. As the portable device and an external device come closer to each other, a magnetic field signature is computed based on the monitored compass output. A determination is then made as to whether the computed signature could be associated with or implies that a previously defined type of electronic device (with which a network device discovery process can be conducted) is in close proximity. In other words, as the two devices come closer to each other, their respective magnetic characteristics cause the compass output to change in a way that implies that a network device discovery process should be initiated between the two devices."

Comment Re:Horsecrap indeed (Score 1) 273

by versiondub (#37502260) Attached to: EA's New User Agreement Bans Lawsuits
While I like your cornfield metaphor, I'm not sure it captures the truth. There are many talented lawyers working in the class action field, and arbitration agreements are almost universally accepted as a 'pro-business' stance that courts have made over the past decade: the courts realize that unless you create a forum that is favorable to corporate interests (Arbitration Companies) and allow contract offerors to funnel disputes into them, the companies that handily pay gross receipts tax to states will have less money, and the courts will have less money after devoting more of their time to cases that will get removed to federal court anyway. So in the end, it's politics, not legal skills, that are the determinant here.

Comment uh... (Score 2) 20

by versiondub (#37027138) Attached to: Analyzing Culture With Google Books
Isn't this article the same one that came out to accompany google's "ngrams" (http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/) lab? I don't think these guys are trying to make generalizations about culture in general; they are only raising the possibility that, even with a small (4% of the total published) sample, interesting queries and surveys of human (although in this case Anglophone) culture can be made.

Comment exaggerations sell newspapers (Score 1) 530

by versiondub (#36491606) Attached to: Will Capped Data Plans Kill the Cloud?
Apple et. al. will do with the carriers just what they did with the music licensing companies: pay them off. Consumers will need to be taught that an iPad with 4g connectivity is actually worth $1500 instead of $500, but they are a docile sort, ready to accept any script Jobs reads. The real danger is that the American consumer will not have the money when the time comes to pay up; but that's a non-start.
Transportation

"Road Trains" Ready To Roll 318

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the new-possibilities-in-war-driving dept.
clickclickdrone writes to mention that "road trains," a system linking vehicles together via wireless sensors, could soon be rolled out in Europe. The system is designed primarily for cutting fuel consumption, travel time, and congestion. "Funded under the European Commission's Framework 7 research plan, Sartre (Safe Road Trains for the Environment) is aimed at commuters in cars who travel long distances to work every day but will also look at ways to involve commercial vehicles. Tom Robinson, project co-ordinator at engineering firm Ricardo, said the idea was to use off-the-shelf components to make it possible for cars, buses and trucks to join the road train."
Media

Warner Music Pulls Videos Off YouTube 237

Posted by Soulskill from the taking-their-toys-and-going-home dept.
iammani writes with this excerpt from Reuters: "Warner Music Group ordered YouTube on Saturday to remove all music videos by its artists from the popular online video-sharing site after contract negotiations broke down. ... The talks fell apart early on Saturday because Warner wants a bigger share of the huge revenue potential of YouTube's massive visitor traffic. There were no reports on what Warner was seeking. 'We simply cannot accept terms that fail to appropriately and fairly compensate recording artists, songwriters, labels and publishers for the value they provide,' Warner said in a statement." Warner's deal with YouTube to make those videos available came just prior to YouTube's acquisition by Google.
Earth

Plasma Plants Vaporize Trash While Creating Energy 618

Posted by samzenpus from the Mr.-Fusion dept.
Jason Sahler writes "Recently St. Lucie County in Florida announced that it has teamed up with Geoplasma to develop the United States' first plasma gasification plant. The plant will use super-hot 10,000 degree Fahrenheit plasma to effectively vaporize 1,500 tons of trash each day, which in turn spins turbines to generate 60MW of electricity — enough to power 50,000 homes!"

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