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Comment Das (Score 2) 223

I have a DAS Keyboard with brown Cherry switches. They are 45g to activate, and not clicky. The keyboard is not silent, but it is certainly not noisy, either. This is the best feeling keyboard I own, and maybe the best feeling one I have ever owned. I have pounded the crap out of it for over a year and it still works, as one would expect. Every time I shop for a laptop, I just cringe when I feel the keys and I think about spending all day using it.

Comment Re:It's Not ALL Bloggers (Score 4, Interesting) 353

The decision does raise an interesting question, though - what makes you a journalist? Is it having an account on WordPress or Blogger? What about aggregators like Drudge and Slashdot? We see journalists espousing opinions all the time, frequently controversial - your local rag's editorial page is just such a place. I love the shades of grey.

Comment Meh (Score 1) 144

I started messing around with RockMelt six months ago after receiving an invite. It's ok, but I have yet to find a real compelling reason to use it over Chrome, especially since, as the article mentions, it only sort-of supports Chrome extensions, which means I can only sort-of do things that I rely on Chrome for.
United States

Submission + - FCC Head Supports Ala Carte Cable

MikeyTheK writes: PC Magazine Reports that Kevin Martin, chairman of the FCC, supports ala carte cable.

In a letter to several minority groups on Wednesday, Martin said "While I believe all consumers would benefit from channels being sold in a more a la carte manner, minority consumers, especially those living in Spanish speaking homes, might benefit most of all,". He goes on to argue "Cable companies act as gatekeepers into the programming allowed by the expanded basic cable package, preventing independent content producers from reaching viewers,", citing the example of Black Family Television, which was forced to go online-only because cable operators refused to carry it, even after it reached 16 million homes.
Privacy

Privatunes Anonymizes iTunes Plus 176

njondet writes "French-law.net reports that Ratatium.com, a French website specialized in technology news and software downloads, has just launched Privatunes, a free software that anonymizes DRM-free files bought on iTunes Plus. Last month's revelations that the DRM-free files sold by EMI on iTunes Plus came with user's full name and account e-mail embedded in them had raised serious privacy concerns. Ratatium.com explains (in French) that Privatunes is aimed at guaranteeing the privacy of users but also their rights as consumers to freely share and trade the songs they have purchased. However, the claim that this software is perfectly legal will surely be tested."
Security

Submission + - Major Bug Found in Security Products

ancientribe writes: A stealthy and potentially dangerous bug has been discovered in security products from eight different vendors, including Check Point Software, according to an article in Dark Reading. The so-called cross-site request forgery (CSRF) lets an attacker access the user's network and even conduct transactions on behalf of the user. It could affect over a million installations, but so far, Check Point is the only security vendor to step up and patch it.
Even more scary is that this vulnerability is found in most everything with a Web-based interface, including printers, firewalls, DSL routers, and IP phones.

http://www.darkreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=127 731&WT.svl=news1_1
Oracle

Submission + - Oracle Linux adopters labelled 'idiots'

atbarboz writes: "One of the first converts to Oracle's support for Linux said it has endured a public backlash since its decision to drop Red Hat.
Melbourne company Opes Prime Stockbroking told ZDNet Australia that in the weeks following its announcement to adopt Oracle Linux, upset Linux enthusiasts phoned, e-mailed and wrote about the company online to complain at the decision. "People called us out of the blue to tell us we were idiots," said Opes executive director Anthony Blumberg.
Does it behove the linux community to act like fanatics and fanboys?"
Music

Steve Jobs Announces (some) DRM-free iTunes 838

Fjan11 writes "Steve Jobs just announced that starting next month on you can buy higher quality 256Kbps AAC encoded DRM-free versions of iTunes songs for $1.29. Upgrades to songs you've already bought will be available at the $0.30 price difference. Currently EMI is the only publisher participating, accounting for about 20% of the songs available." There's also reports from Reuters and ABC News. The deal excludes the Beatles. You can also read the official press release from Apple if you still think this a late joke; this story confirms earlier speculation.
Programming

Submission + - No Foolin': Morfik Patents AJAX Compiler

MikeyTheK writes: Sorry for the title, the subject can only take so many characters. No April Fools joke here. It appears that under the radar, the USPTO granted Morfik a patent for the "System and method for synthesizing object-oriented high-level code into browser-side javascript". Reading further, it appears that they have patented the compiling of high-level languages into AJAX apps. The high-level languages include "Ada, C, C++, C#, COBOL, ColdFusion, Common Lisp, Delphi, Fortran, Java, Object Pascal, SmallTalk, Visual Basic, and Visual Basic.NET".

It would appear that the application date is September, 2005.
Communications

Ten Dangerous Beliefs About Smart Phones 49

jcatcw writes "According to Computerworld, lots of assumptions about the security of smart phones are wrong, and any high-value targets, such as political candidates or organizations with valuable data, should treat them carefully. They are not, contrary to common beliefs: just phones with cool features: 'A phone call over a landline used to be an acceptable method for communicating out-of-band administrative information. For example, a system administrator might call you back at your desk to verbally give you a new password (which you then changed, right?), This worked because the desk phone was isolated from the network and system resources to which you were being given access. Not so anymore. If you lose your smart phone and IT calls you back on that mobile number to confirm the trouble ticket, is it a meaningful method of verifying the identity or location of the person who answers?'"

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