Catch up on stories from the past week (and beyond) at the Slashdot story archive

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror

Comment Re:quickoffice is free and available to any Androi (Score 1) 178

by JayRott (#45315971) Attached to: Google Attacks Microsoft Again: Android 4.4 Ships With Quickoffice

*sigh*.. If I could uninstall it I would have, it's a common problem (just read some forums).. I have a motorolla xoom tablet.. Yes, QuickOffice is free, I know that too, but before you can install the latest version you need to be able to remove the old one, and that's not possible when QO shipped with your tablet (at least on 'older' devices)..

Just root the damn thing and remove it with titanium backup or one of the countless root uninstaller apps on Google Play. Rooting a Xoom is pretty trivial, in fact here is an idiot-proof guide: http://androidcommunity.com/motorola-xoom-root-the-easy-way-with-1-click-root-and-overclock-guide-20110331/

Comment Re:What advantage does a CyanogenMod ROM have ? (Score 2) 65

by JayRott (#45315937) Attached to: CyanogenMod 10.2 M1 Released

Please pardon me because I am a total n00b

But what can a CyanogenMod ROM do that the Android ROM can't ?

CyanogenMod simply offers a bunch of tweaks and little customizations not found in vanilla Android. For example you can add your own favorite apps to the lock screen slider, or apply themes that change the look of the device. It really just gives more options to personalize the phone to your liking.

Comment Quit yer bitchin! (Score 1) 1501

by JayRott (#44296587) Attached to: Kernel Dev Tells Linus Torvalds To Stop Using Abusive Language
Linus created the most widely used kernel on the planet. I think that affords him a good bit of leeway when it come to his "professional behavior." The fact is, he was just some faceless college student, a Joe Sixpack if you will (albeit an intelligent and talented one) who lucked into a good thing. He was never groomed to be a "business man." That doesn't make his behavior right, but anyone who doesn't like it has the right to take their ball and go home if that is what is going to make them happy at the end of the day. I can promise you had I been in the same position as Linus, I doubt everyone would find me particularly "likable." I tend to be a bit brash and vulgar myself.
Robotics

Ask Slashdot: How To Begin Simple Robotics As a Hobby? 166

Posted by samzenpus from the playing-in-the-lab dept.
First time accepted submitter nedko.m writes "I would describe myself as more of a 'software guy' rather than somebody who likes to play with hardware much, but I've wanted to start doing basic robotics projects as a hobby for quite a while now. However, I was never sure where to start from and what the very first steps should be in order to get more familiar with the hardware aspects of robotics. For instance, I would like to start off with a simple soccer robot. Any suggestions on what low-budget parts should I obtain, which would provide me, subsequently, extensibility to a bit more elaborate projects?"
Businesses

Electronic Arts Slashes Workforce 188

Posted by samzenpus from the survival-of-the-fittest dept.
Dawn Kawamoto writes "Electronic Arts has been slashing jobs in recent weeks and according to Kotaku the size of the layoffs has reached as much as 10 percent of its workforce. The game maker says it's making the move to align its workforce closer to mobile and new technologies. For the console dinosaur that's trying to fight extinction by evolving into a bigger mobile player, this process has been a painful transition with a number of employees ending up in the tar pit - as well as its CEO."

Submission + - Panicked porn troll Prenda Law now dismissing pending lawsuits (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by JayRott
JayRott writes: "The embattled copyright trolling firm Prenda Law is seeking to contain the fallout from a looming identity theft scandal by voluntarily dismissing lawsuits filed by the shell company AF Holdings. A Minnesota man named Alan Cooper has charged that Prenda fraudulantly used his name as the CEO of AF Holdings, allegations that have attracted the attention of a California judge.

Ken at the legal blog Popehat broke the news that Prenda attorney Paul Duffy has sought dismissal of at least four pending infringement cases involving the Prenda-linked shell company AF Holdings. All four dismissals occurred in the Northern District of Illinois."

I don't see how Prenda thinks this is going to make one lick of difference to an already angry Judge.
The Internet

Submission + - This Story Stinks: Researchers Explain Why Trolls Win With Toxic Comments 2

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "The Web is a place for unlimited exchange of ideas but NPR reports that researchers have found that rude comments on articles can change the way we interpret the news. "It's a little bit like the Wild West. The trolls are winning," says Dominique Brossard, co-author of the study on the so-called "Nasty Effect." Researchers worked with a science writer to construct a balanced news story on the pros and cons of nanotechnology, a topic chosen so that readers would have to make sense of a complicated issue with low familiarity then asked 1,183 subjects to review the blog post from a Canadian newspaper that discussed the water contamination risks of nanosilver particles and the antibacterial benefits. Half saw the story with polite comments, and the other half saw rude comments like, "If you don't see the benefits of using nanotechnology in these products, you're an idiot." People that were exposed to the polite comments didn't change their views really about the issue covering the story, while the people that did see the rude comments became polarized — they became more against the technology that was covered in the story. We need to have an anchor to make sense of complicated issues says Brossard. "And it seems that rudeness and incivility is used as a mental shortcut to make sense of those complicated issues." Brossard says there's no quick fix for this issue (PDF) and while she thinks it's important to foster conversation through comments sections, every media organization has to figure out where to draw the line when comments get out of control. "It’s possible that the social norms in this brave new domain will change once more — with users shunning meanspirited attacks from posters hiding behind pseudonyms and cultivating civil debate instead," writes Broussard. "Until then, beware the nasty effect.""

Slashdot Top Deals

We all like praise, but a hike in our pay is the best kind of ways.

Close