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Submission + - Open Source -- The Last Patent Defense? (outercurve.org)

Submitted by dp619
dp619 writes: A developer might fly under the patent troll radar until she makes it big, and then it's usually open season. Apple just shared that it has faced off 92 lawsuits over just 3 years. Even Google's ad business is at risk. Well known FOSS attorney Heather Meeker has blogged at the Outercurve Foundation on what to consider and what to learn if you're ever sued for patent infringement. Meeker examined how provisions of open source licenses can deflate a patent troll's litigation and shift the balance in favor of the defense.

Submission + - Laser Headlights Promise More Intense, Controllable Beams

Submitted by cartechboy
cartechboy writes: If you're a fan of spy spoofs, you know the iconic line, "Fire the laser!" Yes, Austin Powers was a hoot, but now it's time to talk about real life. And soon, your new car's headlights will be powered by lasers. That's right, the BMW i8 is entering production and it's the first vehicle to offer laser headlights. These new laser headlights offer a handful of advantages over LED lighting, including greater lighting intensity, extending the beams' reach as far as 600 meters down the road (nearly double the range of LEDs). The beam pattern also can be controlled very precisely. Plus, laser lights consumer about 30 percent less energy than the already efficient LED lights. Audi is among the short list of other auto manufacturers to promise laser lights in the near future, but BMW is going to be the first to deliver on the new technology. But the coolest part of all this? When you turn on the i8's headlights, you'll be able to scream, "FIRE THE LASERS!"

Submission + - Bitcoin Exchanges Halt Withdrawals After 'Massive' DDoS Attack (ibtimes.co.uk)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Bitstamp bitcoin exchange has temporarily halted its users from withdrawing bitcoins, as it is targeted by a "massive and concerted" cyber attack.

A DDoS (distributed denial of service) attack is being felt across the bitcoin landscape, with a number of exchanges affected by what is known as the cryptocurrency 'transaction malleability problem', first discovered in 2011 and flagged up by the Mt Gox exchange earlier this week.

Submission + - A Business Park in North Korea Is Getting Internet (vice.com)

Submitted by Daniel_Stuckey
Daniel_Stuckey writes: A business park in North Korea will soon have (limited) access to the internet, according to news reports.

The Register wrote that an industrial park in the Kaesong Industrial Region will house internet-connected PCs by the first half of this year. The Daily NK explained that the first step to connectivity will be an internet cafe with 20 computers but after that, company offices will also get hooked up.

They quoted a spokesperson from the Ministry of Unification—a department of the South Korean government that works on unifying the two Koreas—as saying, “We are planning to launch the basic level of Internet services at the Kaesong Industrial Complex starting in the first half of this year,” and adding, “Officials and employees in the North's border city will be able to use most of the online services now available in South Korea.”

Submission + - South Carolina Education Committee Removes Evolution from Standards

Submitted by Toe, The
Toe, The writes: The South Carolina Education Oversight Committee approved new science standards for students except for one clause: the one that involves the use of the phrase 'natural selection.' Sen. Mike Fair, R-Greenville, argued against teaching natural selection as fact, when he believes there are other theories students deserve to learn. Fair argued South Carolina's students are learning the philosophy of natural selection but teachers are not calling it such. He said the best way for students to learn is for the schools to teach the controversy. Hopefully they're going to teach the controversy of gravity and valence bonds too. After all, they're just theories.

Submission + - House committee passes bill banning in-flight phone calls (itworld.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: If these clowns passing this bill were flying home to see a dying parent I wonder if they would prefer voice over TEXTING?

I also find it amusing that since they fly in private planes they don't really care what the 'citizens' do.

This is beyond bizarre to me.

I'm BETTING you that the company that has MONEY invested in the phones you PAY TO USE on the plane in flight have PAID FOR this bill. Any takers?

Submission + - FBI: $10,000 reward for info on anyone who points a laser at an aircraft (networkworld.com)

Submitted by coondoggie
coondoggie writes: Here's a good idea: The FBI today said it launched a targeted 60 day program that will offer up to a $10,000 for information leading to the arrest of anyone who intentionally aims a laser at an aircraft. The FBI said the laser pointing scourge continues to grow at an alarming rate. Since the FBI and the Federal Aviation Administration began tracking laser strikes in 2005, there has been ridiculous 1,000% increase in the number of laser pointing/aircraft incidents. Last year, 3,960 laser strikes against aircraft were reported-an average of almost 11 incidents per day.

Submission + - New Precambrian Fossil Bed Found (www.cbc.ca)

Submitted by jfbilodeau
jfbilodeau writes: Scientists recently located a new fossil site in B.C. and west of Calgary that is already yielding major new discoveries about early animal evolution. The Marble Canyon fossil beds were located in 2012 by a team of Canadian, U.S. and Swedish researchers in Kootenay National Park, about 40 kilometres from the 505-million-year-old Burgess Shale in Yoho National Park, which is considered one of the most important fossil fields in the world.

Submission + - How I Lost My Google Glass (and Regained Some Faith in Humanity) (slashdot.org)

Submitted by Nerval's Lobster
Nerval's Lobster writes: 'The winter weather made my hands numb. I was distracted, rushed, running late to a meeting. Put those two things together, and it’s a recipe for disaster,' Boonsri Dickinson writes in her account of how she lost her Google Glass unit. 'The cab had already gone two blocks before I realized my Google Glass was no longer in my hand. I asked the driver to swing back around to where he picked me up; I retraced my steps along the snowy street to my apartment, looking for my $1,500 device. No luck. Total panic.' The device featured photos, video, email, and other data that, in the wrong hands, could seriously upend her life. Fortunately, the person who found the Glass unit was a.) more interested in returning the device than wrecking her existence, and b.) engaged in quite a bit of digital detective work to track her down (with some help from Google). 'The device holds more than enough data to make me nervous about the possible voyeuristic invasion of my privacy, and the fear of the thought that the media connected to my Glass would possibly end up online, somewhere, cached forever in a Google search,' she concluded. But the saga also reset some of her faith in humanity.

Submission + - Tiny Motors Controlled Inside Human Cell (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by cold fjord
cold fjord writes: BBC reports, "For the first time, scientists have placed tiny motors inside living human cells and steered them magnetically. The advance represents another step towards molecular machines that can be used, for example, to release drugs into specific locations within the body. There is interest in the approach because it could enhance the benefits of drugs while minimising side effects. The rocket-shaped metal particles were propelled using ultrasound pulses. Materials scientist Prof Tom Mallouk, from Penn State University, and colleagues have published their research in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition. "As these nanomotors move around and bump into structures inside the cells, the live cells show internal mechanical responses that no one has seen before," said Prof Mallouk. "This research is a vivid demonstration that it may be possible to use synthetic nanomotors to study cell biology in new ways.""

Submission + - Red Hat Hires CentOS Developers

Submitted by rjmarvin
rjmarvin writes: Karanbir Singh and a handful of other CentOS developers are now full-time Red Hat employees, working in-house http://sdt.bz/content/article.... on the CentOS distribution with more transparent processes and methods. None of the CentOS developers will be working on Red Hat Enterprise Linux. The CentOS project would become another distribution and community cared for by Red Hat, like Fedora, and Red Hat CTO Brian Stevens says the company is planning its future around OpenStack, not just Linux.

Submission + - A dedicated shell for Git commands

Submitted by CMULL
CMULL writes: Stop typing Git over and over again. Ruby on Rails development and consulting firm thoughtbot created an interactive shell dedicated to Git commands, gitish. The shell allows users to issue any Git commands instead of having to run Git commands in general-purpose shells like Zsh or Bash. One of the primary developers says there is a need for this shell because many early Unix utilities don't take sub-commands like Git.

Submission + - Oldest Known Star in the Universe Discovered (gizmag.com)

Submitted by Zothecula
Zothecula writes: A team of astronomers at The Australian National University (ANU) working on a five-year project to produce the first comprehensive digital survey of the southern sky has discovered the oldest known star in the Universe. Just a 6,000 light year astronomical hop, skip and jump from Earth, the ancient star formed shortly after the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago.

Submission + - Should developers fix bugs in their own time? 7

Submitted by Bizzeh
Bizzeh writes: Today my boss came to me with what he thought to be a valid point and analogy. If a builder builds a wall, and a week later, bricks begin to fall out of the bottom, but he continues to build the wall higher, he would have to replace those lower bricks he did not place correctly at his own expense and in his own time. When a software developer writes a piece of software, when bugs are discovered, they are paid to fix them by the company and on the companies time. I didn't know how to refute the analogy at the time, but it did make me think, why are bugs in software treated differently in this way?

Comment Re:Another set-top box ? (Score 1) 104

by yvajj (#42063829) Attached to: Microsoft Reportedly Working On Xbox TV Device

AT&T UVerse boxes run Windows CE. I was surprised to see this when I browsed to the details of the OS on my box.

It runs surprisingly really well. It's an IP Based tuning system (IPTV). Currently it supports 4 concurrent streams i.e. you can record 4 streams at once (mix / match watch vs. record). This is purely limited by bandwidth. With the previous UVerse profile (before they did a firmware update), it supported 3 concurrent streams. Once AT&T bumped their profile, the box automatically supported 4 profiles.

I've had no problems recording multiple HD streams.

The box also supports playing DLNA / UPnP music from a media server. I had hoped that at some point they would also support DLNA video streaming, but I suspect they don't due to it cannibalizing their VOD / pay features.

Combine the features they support on 360 with what they do via the UVerse boxes, they could come out with a kick ass media box.

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