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Comment Re:I might throw in a few bucks. (Score 1) 52

by KnuthKonrad (#26290221) Attached to: CCP Considering Mobile Apps For <em>EVE Online</em>

You are aware of the fact that you can switch to another (=longer) skill whenever you want without losing any skill points of the current skill?

It's common practice to change to a longer skill right before going offline. If you log in again, switch back to the shorter skill you were training before.

Comment Re:One word... (Score 1) 327

by KnuthKonrad (#21654335) Attached to: If There Was More Firefly, How Would You Want It?

Yeah, I've seen the interviews with Joss where he explains that he wanted to break free from the classic mold of "heroes don't die randomly", but that's just stupid. The reason heroes don't die at random like that is because being nigh-unkillable is part of the basic definition of a fictional hero.

While I agree to a certain extend, one of the best (mini) TV series I know, Cracker takes a lot of its excitement out of the fact that no one but Fitz is "safe". The deaths of other main characters contribute greatly to the overall story arc and really makes it outstanding.
Privacy

Submission + - FBI data-mines grocery stores. Did Visa/MC help? (cnet.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Recent media reports indicate that in 2005-06, the FBI went trawling through grocery store records in order to track down Iranian terror cells. They hoped to be able to locate Iranians through the purchase of specific food items. The problem with this, of course, is that most Iranians buy their middle eastern food at small ethnic markets, and not the big supermarket chains — for the simple reason that muslims are required to eat halal meat, which is not sold in most places. The majority of mom and pop ethnic markets do not have the detailed computer purchase histories that Safeway or Whole Foods have. Thus, what is more likely is that the FBI simply put together a list of everyone who had purchased anything at a middle eastern food market. As this "CNET article discusses, all signs point to the credit card companies (Visa, Mastercard, Amex) providing this data, and not the individual stores. This could be the tip of a (potentially illegal) data-mining iceberg. http://www.cnet.com/8301-13739_1-9812473-46.html
The Courts

Submission + - Is a Domain Name an Automatic Trademark? 2

Submitted by
TheWorkingStiff
TheWorkingStiff writes: "I registered a descriptive domain name like "thesimpledog.com" and started a blog on it. About a month later I get a threatening letter from a link farmer who owns "simpledog.com" The owner of simpledog.com is claiming that he owns the trademark to the words simpledog even though he has no real business or rights by that name other than a static page with some text and Adsense slapped on it. There is no product, service or brand whatsoever

Does simply registering a two or three word domain give you instant trademark rights to those words even though you've never done anything with them? Should I give up my domain to a link farmer who is trying to bully me, or does he have a valid right to any phrase he registers that isn't already trademarked?"
Media

Submission + - Geek stars, from Atkinson to Montel to Zappa (computerworld.com) 2

Submitted by
Ian Lamont
Ian Lamont writes: "You probably remember reading about Brian May getting a PhD in Astrophysics, but may not know about the many other celebrities from the music, TV, and film worlds who have studied science and technology in college and grad school, or are simply serious gearheads who like gadgets, games, and other geek pasttimes. Computerworld has identified about 50 celebrities who fit the bill, including Dan Grimaldi (Patsy Parisi, The Sopranos) who has a Bachelor of Arts degree in math, a master's in operations research and a Ph.D. in data processing; Rowan Atkinson, who has a master's in electrical engineering from Queen's College, Oxford; and Todd Rundgren, who developed an early paint program called Utopia. Other folks on the list: Dr. Demento, Montel Williams, Natalie Portman, Curt Schilling, and Huey Lewis."
Software

Submission + - South Africa adopts ODF as a government standard (tectonic.co.za)

Submitted by ais523
ais523 writes: As reported by Tectonic, South Africa's new Mininimum Interoperability Standards for Information Systems in government (MIOS) explain the new rules for which data formats will be used by the government; according to that document, all people working for the South African government must be able to read OpenDocument Format documents by March, and the government aims to use one of its three approved document formats (UTF-8 or ASCII plain text, CSV, or ODF) for all its published documents by the end of 2008. A definition of 'open standard' is also included that appears to rule out OOXML at present (requiring 'multiple implementations', among other things that may also rule it out).
The Courts

Submission + - Court convicts Skype for breaching GPL

Submitted by terber
terber writes: In Munich a German court once again upheld the GPL2 and convicted Skype (based in Luxembourg) of violating GPL by selling the Linux-based VoIP phone "SMCWSKP 100" without proper source code access. Skype later on added a flyer to the phones with an URL where to obtain the sources, but the court found this insufficient as this was in breach of GPL section 3. Plaintiff was once again Netfilter developer Harald Welte, who runs http://gpl-violations.org/. The decision is currently only available in German at http://www.ifross.de./ News source (German): www.golem.de/0707/53684.html
Businesses

Submission + - CEO used pseudonym to post on stock bboard (wsj.com)

Submitted by jpallas
jpallas writes: The Wall Street Journal reports that court filings by the FTC about Whole Foods' plan to acquire Wild Oats reveal an unusual detail: The CEO of Whole Foods regularly posted to a Yahoo! stock bulletin board under a pseudonym. His alter ego was feisty, to say the least, and regularly disparaged the company that he later decided to acquire. A former SEC chairman called the behavior "bizarre and ill-advised, even if it isn't illegal." This certainly raises questions about online rights to free speech and anonymity, especially when the line between free speech and regulated speech depends on who is speaking as much as what they are saying.
Space

Submission + - NASA purchases $19 million toilet from Russia

Submitted by
Gary
Gary writes: "NASA has paid $19 million for a Russian-built international space station toilet system. The toilet system, similar to the one already in use in the station's Zvezda Service Module, is scheduled to arrive at the space station in 2008 and will offer more privacy for a crew expected to double from three to six by 2009. The space station toilet physically resembles those used on Earth, except it has leg restraints and thigh bars to keep astronauts and cosmonauts from floating away. NASA says purchasing the multi million dollar toilet is a bargain compared to developing one from scratch."
Security

Submission + - Malware Self-Defense Technologies Evolution (net-security.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: This article explores how malware has developed self-defense techniques and how these techniques have evolved as it has become more difficult for viruses to survive. It also provides an overview of the current situation. In order to avoid confusion about what is considered a self-defense technology and what is not, it examines only the most popular and obvious means of malware self-defense. First and foremost this includes various means of modifying and packing code, in order to conceal the presence of malicious code in the system and to disrupt the functionality of antivirus solutions.
Music

Submission + - Music Industry Attacks Free Prince CD (guardian.co.uk) 1

Submitted by
Mike
Mike writes: "You might not like Prince but he's planning on giving away a free CD in a national Sunday newspaper, but music industry executives are practically going insane over the idea and threatening to retaliate. "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince should know that with behaviour like this he will soon be the Artist Formerly Available in Record Stores. And I say that to all the other artists who may be tempted to dally with the Mail on Sunday," said Entertainment Retailers Association spokesman Paul Quirk, who also said it would be "an insult" to record stores. But wait a minute- can't Prince give away his own music if he wants to without fear of industry retaliation?"
Software

Submission + - Students Beat Mozilla and eBay to Firefox Add-on

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: The Grooveking Blog reports on a group of Stanford students who got together to help promote Firefox and ended up releasing a long overdue eBay Toolbar for Firefox before the joint extension from Mozilla and eBay could be released in Europe.

Besides basic search features, it removes external ads on the site and allows users to see thumbnail pictures on ALL search items, even those sellers didn't pay for. An eBay toolbar has been long overdue. Users have petitioned for one on eBay discussion boards since October of 2005. Succumbing to popular demand, the eBay Developer's Program put a Firefox toolbar in the pipeline, but it seems that the Stanford students beat them to the punch. eBay can't be too enthusiastic about this toolbar since it cuts directly into its main sources of revenue: ads and thumbnail fees. But eBay users get a really good deal.
According to John Lilly, COO of Mozilla, the preemptive release of the eBay Toolbar even ruffled some feathers among the eBay execs in Europe.

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