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Comment fingers in my ears *lalalalala* (Score 0) 901

by Langfat (#35277412) Attached to: German Foreign Office Going Back To Windows
I'm not really surprised to see this here on Slashdot, but I find it interesting that rather than taking the criticism to heart, and finding ways to fix the problems that are listed, most of the replies so far are accusatory or dismissing.

Instead of taking the information and using it to improve future products, many advocates here seem to just be shouting "YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG!" You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar, as the saying goes...

Comment Re:And why the US has it easy compared to Canada (Score 3, Interesting) 442

by Langfat (#34204228) Attached to: Why Unlocked Phones Don't Work In the US
Norway and Canada have roughly the same population density yet Norway has nearly double the number of mobile phones per capita that Canada does.

As a Canadian living in Norway, I can definitively say it's because the laws are stricter here regarding price/competition, and the requirements of infrastructure are much greater on the carriers.
Image

UK Teen Banned From US Over Obscene Obama Email 555

Posted by samzenpus from the sticks-and-stones dept.
British teenager Luke Angel has been banned from the US for sending an email to the White House calling President Obama an obscenity. The 17-year-old says he was drunk when he sent the mail and doesn't understand what the big deal is. "I don't remember exactly what I wrote as I was drunk. But I think I called Barack Obama a p***k. It was silly -- the sort of thing you do when you're a teenager and have had a few," he said. The FBI contacted local police who in turn confronted Luke and let him know that the US Department of Homeland Security didn't think his email was funny. "The police came and took my picture and told me I was banned from America forever. I don't really care but my parents aren't very happy," Angel said.

Comment Re:Some skills can transfer (Score 1) 249

by Langfat (#30328006) Attached to: <em>Gran Turismo</em> Gamer Becomes Pro Race Driver

It is important to note that the skills (ie: muscle memory) involved in gaming are different from real life. Getting good at Guitar hero just means you have the skill for strumming/timing along with pressing 4 buttons. The muscle memory and training to go from 4 buttons to a real guitar is very different.

Pfff, you're obviously still on MEDIUM. I've graduated to ALL FIVE buttons which I'm told is EXACTLY like playing a REAL GUITAR.

Comment Re:barrage of ads; been to the theater lately? (Score 1) 156

by Langfat (#30074868) Attached to: Hollywood Backs Swedish Movie Streaming Site

As a Canadian who's lived in Oslo for a little over 2 years I can tell you that it meets 4/5 of your requirements.

You can buy your tickets online for the exact same price as you'd get them in the cinema. All seats are assigned, and there's usually only 2-3 trailers. Unfortunately there's still the barrage of ads before the trailers, but since your seats are guaranteed, you can simply show up 5-10 minutes after the start time and avoid all of that :)

I know that it's in Norwegian, but head over to www.oslokino.no and see what it looks like. Use the menu on the left to choose a movie or date or cinema.

Comment Sucks to be American sometimes (Score 3, Insightful) 366

by Langfat (#29708753) Attached to: Warez Moving From BitTorrent to Conventional Hosting Services

sorry to be rude, but not all countries adhere to the crazy copyright laws that the USA does. according to my interpretation of current Canadian law (which could very well be incorrect) the levies i pay on blank media go to the riaa/mpaa/canadian equivalents and i am allowed to download as much as i want. this doesn't mean i'm allowed to distribute as much as i want, but with a centralized server which is download only, that's not the problem that it would be with bittorrent, in which you're required to both send and receive.

not too mention that rapidshare et. al have an air of legitimacy, as they take down any files which are reported to contain content they aren't legally allowed to distribute. of course, "they don't have the resources to check every single file that is uploaded to their servers," only the ones that are reported. And the only reason rapidshare does that is because they are a German-owned company (if i recall correctly). some countries, like Colombia and Egypt don't adhere to any copyright law. presumably a company owned and operated in a place like that would be virtually immune to any information requests from the MAFIAA and their ilk.

it surprises me, given the invention and popularity of the internet, how many americans still struggle to think globally, and still assume that the rest of the world on their terms. this is not intended to be a troll or flamebait or personal insult, it's merely my own stated opinion.

Comment Re:Price Drops (Score 1) 536

by Langfat (#29544441) Attached to: Why Games Cost $60
Are you American? Because Americans aren't the only ones who use dollars for their currency. It's very possible the grandparent is Canadian or Australian. As a Canadian myself, I remember most new games being around the $60 price-point, even in the NES days...
Security

Could Cyber-Terrorists Provoke Nuclear Attacks? 183

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the telling-woprs dept.
Hugh Pickens writes "The Guardian reports that according to a study commissioned by the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (ICNND), a joint initiative of the Australian and Japanese Governments, terrorists could use information warfare techniques to make a nuclear attack more likely — triggering a catastrophic chain of events that may be an easier alternative 'than building or acquiring a nuclear weapon or dirty bomb themselves.' While the possibility of a radical group gaining access to actual launch systems is remote, the study suggests that terrorists could focus on feeding in false information further down the chain — or spreading fake information to officials in a carefully orchestrated strike. According to the study 'Hacking Nuclear Command and Control' [PDF], cyber-terrorists could 'provoke a nuclear launch by spoofing early warning and identification systems or by degrading communications networks.' Since command and control systems are placed at a higher degree of exploitation due to the need for rapid decisions under high pressure with limited intelligence, cyber-terrorists 'would not need deception that could stand up over time; they would only need to be believable in the first 15 minutes or so.'"
The Internet

Kazaa To Return As a Legal Subscription Service 133

Posted by Soulskill from the if-it's-good-enough-for-the-pirate-bay dept.
suraj.sun sends in this excerpt from CNet: "One of the most recognizable brands in the history of illegal downloading is due to officially resurface, perhaps as early as next week, sources close to the company told CNET News. Only this time the name Kazaa will be part of a legal music service. Altnet and parent company Brilliant Digital Entertainment attached the Kazaa brand to a subscription service that will offer songs and ringtones from all four of the major recording companies. For the past few months, a beta version has been available. The company tried recently to ratchet up expectations with a series of vague, and what some considered misguided, press releases. The site will open with over 1 million tracks." The NYTimes has a related story about how the music industry is trying to convert casual pirates by offering more convenient new services.
Privacy

UK Police Raid Party After Seeing "All-Night" Tag On Facebook 628

Posted by Soulskill from the clicking-buttons-is-much-easier-than-walking-a-beat dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Apparently the police like to spend their time trawling our private information on Facebook looking for criminals. 'Riot police stormed a man's 30th birthday barbecue for 15 guests because it was advertised as an "all-night" party on Facebook. Four police cars, a riot van, and a force helicopter were dispatched to a privately-owned field in a small village near Sowton, Devon in the UK on Saturday, ordering the party shut down or everyone would be arrested. The birthday barbecue was busted up before they even had a chance to plug the music in, reports the BBC. It was about 4pm when eight officers with camouflage pants and body armor jumped out of their vehicles and ordered everyone out about an hour into the party.' The event's organizer, Andrew Poole, said, 'The police had full-on camouflage trousers on and body-armour, it was ridiculous. There were also several plain-clothes officers as well ... they kept on insisting it has been advertised it as an all-night rave on the internet. The times on it were put as "overnight" in case people wanted to sleep-over, but after being explained this they were still banging on saying it was advertised on the internet. They wouldn't accept it wasn't a rave. It was in a completely isolated field.'"

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