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Comment Re:Work skills vs. Life skills (Score 1) 511

by YomikoReadman (#37310936) Attached to: Laptops In the Classroom Don't Increase Grades

This is completely offtopic, but I love that in a post where you rail against ignorance writ large, you state the following:

"So why the massive discepancy? Not talking about the Bible Belt here."

Because honestly, this makes you no better than the Californian who doesn't believe in any form of currency apart from the US Dollar.

Comment Re:HOW? (Score 1) 290

While AC was very up in arms, as ACs are wont to do, he does make a point. CNN is every bit as biased as Fox is, and quite frankly as an American, I can't stand either news outlet, when speaking in broad terms. There are, however, specific things that they both do well. Honestly, and I know this will sound a bit out there, but if you're really after a good news station, watch Al Jazeera.

Yes, I'm serious. Go watch Al Jazeera. And quit laughing at me behind my monitors.

Submission + - Competitor threatens suit - counter DMCA takedown?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Zen Magnets, a maker of neodymium magnets, has been under assault by the much larger and better distributed Buckyballs, a maker of a nearly identical toy. After Zen Magnets listed a couple of eBay auctions with a set of Buckyballs and a set of their own, asking customers to decide which was higher quality, Buckyballs replied with a legal threat. Zen Magnets responded with an open video response, in which they presented the voicemail from Buckyballs and demonstrated their claims of quality through repeatable, factual tests, providing quantitative data to back up their assertions.

Soon after, Buckyballs CEO Jake Bronstein got the video taken down from Youtube via a DMCA takedown, despite the fact that the only elements not made by Zen Magnets are the voicemail he left and some images of himself, which are low resolution and publicly available online.

Zen Magnets is now asking for help as they don't know what to do. It's appalling and I can't imagine that it is infringing, but I am not a lawyer. What would you do in this scenario?

(I am affiliated with neither company, although Thinkgeek sells Buckyballs...Slashdot & ThinkGeek share a corporate overlord.)
The Military

Submission + - US deploys "heat-ray" in Afghanistan (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by Koreantoast
Koreantoast writes: The United States military has deployed Raytheon's newly developed Active Denial System (ADS), a millimeter-wave, "non-lethal" heat-ray to Afghanistan. The weapon generates a "burning sensation" that is supposedly harmless, with the military claiming that the chance of injury is at less than 0.1%; numerous volunteers including reporters over the last several years have experienced its effects during various trials and demonstrations. While US military spokesperson Lt. Col. John Dorrian states that the weapon has not yet been operationally used, the tense situation in theater will ensure its usage soon enough. Proponents of ADS believe the system may help limit civilian deaths in counterinsurgency operations and provide new, safer ways to disperse crowds and control riots, but opponents fear that the system's long-term effects are not fully known and that the device may even be used for torture. Regardless, if ADS is successful in the field, we'll probably see this mobile microwave at your next local protest or riot.
NASA

Submission + - Earth's upper atmosphere collapses. None know why (csmonitor.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: An upper layer of Earth's atmosphere recently collapsed in an unexpectedly large contraction, the sheer size of which has scientists scratching their heads, NASA announced Thursday.
The layer of gas – called the thermosphere – is now rebounding again. This type of collapse is not rare, but its magnitude shocked scientists.

"This is the biggest contraction of the thermosphere in at least 43 years," said John Emmert of the Naval Research Lab, lead author of a paper announcing the finding in the June 19 issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters. "It's a Space Age record."

The collapse occurred during a period of relative solar inactivity – called a solar minimum from 2008 to 2009. These minimums are known to cool and contract the thermosphere, however, the recent collapse was two to three times greater than low solar activity could explain.

Submission + - Kagan against porn and "hate speech" (politico.com)

Submitted by
DesScorp
DesScorp writes: "SCOTUS nominee Elena Kagan hasn't left much of a paper trail during her legal career, which may make gauging her ideas and opionions somewhat difficult. But there are some positions she has made clear statements on, among them, pornography and "hate speech". In a 1993 University of Chicago seminar on the subject, Kagan argued that the government wasn't doing enough about the spread of porn or hate speech. She argued that new approaches were needed to fight their spread, as well as taking a fresh look at old approaches, such as obscenity laws. Kagan included herself among"“those of us who favor some form of pornography and hate speech regulation” and told participants that “a great deal can be done very usefully” to crack down on such evils.
Kagan steadfastly argued that pornography was a threat to women as it contributed to sexual violence, and on that basis could be prosecuted to some degree. "“Statutes may be crafted in ways that prohibit the worst of hate speech and pornography, language that goes to sexual violence. Such statutes may still be constitutional,” Kagan assured the meeting. She pressed for “new and harsher penalties against the kinds of violence against women that takes place in producing pornography, the use of pandering statutes and pimp statutes against pornographersperhaps the initiation—the enactment of new statutes prohibiting the hiring of women for commercial purposes to engage in sexual activities.”"
Idle

Submission + - McDonalds Facing Lawsuit for Happy Meal Toys (latimes.com) 1

Submitted by cosm
cosm writes: From the what-happened-to-personal-responsibility-department:
FTA:

A watchdog group says giving away toys with Happy Meals contributes to childhood obesity and threatens to sue. McDonald's cites healthful menu choices....The [watchdog] organization on Tuesday served the fast food giant with a letter expressing its intent to sue if toys are not removed. The letter is legally required in several states before lawsuits can be brought under consumer protection statutes..."McDonald's is the stranger in the playground handing out candy to children," Stephen Gardner, litigation director for the advocacy group said in a statement. "McDonald's use of toys undercuts parental authority and exploits young children's developmental immaturity."
Earth

Submission + - Airplanes Unexpectedly Modify Weather (discovery.com)

Submitted by reillymj
reillymj writes: Commercial airliners have a strange ability to create rain and snow when they fly through certain clouds. Scientists have known for some time that planes can make outlandish "hole-punch" and "canal" features in clouds. A new study has found that these odd formations are in fact evidence that planes are seeding clouds and changing local weather patterns as they fly through. In one case, researchers noted that a plane triggered several inches of snowfall directly beneath its flight path.
Idle

Submission + - Working shotgun built from Lego by 15-year-old (wired.co.uk) 2

Submitted by Lanxon
Lanxon writes: A mildly terrifying young Brit named Jack Streat has managed to build a series of working guns, including a Lee Enfield bolt-action sniper rifle, entirely out of Lego and rubber bands, reports Wired. Streat, who lists himself as 15 years old on his profile, has constructed an enormous and diverse armoury of weaponry that fire either rubber bands or Lego bricks. Most are based on real-life guns, including a Steyr AUG, a Tommygun, an AK-47, a belt-fed M429 PARA, an Arctic Warfare sniper rifle, a Glock 17, a pair of semi-automatic TEC-9s, a SPAS 12 pump-action shotgun and a minigun that he calls the Obliterator.

Submission + - iPad Bait and Switch: No more Unlimited Data Plan (gizmodo.com) 1

Submitted by _KiTA_
_KiTA_ writes: AT&T announced today that the iPhone will gain tethering, finally, at an extra $20 a month, but only for people on a new 2gb a month plan. They also quietly announced at the same time the real news — that the $30 Unlimited Data plan on the iPad 3G will be axed in lieu of the same data plan. Yes, this would be the same "revolutionary data plan" that Steve Jobs was so proud of during the iPad unveiling — it lasted exactly 1 month after the 3G model was delayed to May 7th. People feeling vibes of previous Apple iDevice releases are not alone. Existing accounts will be allowed to grandfather in, although Apple has removed the ability to purchase the iPad from the online store at this time, and AT&T has a history of changing their plans without warning. Finally, there is no word on what happens if you ever let your Unlimited plan lapse for a month at this time.

Comment Re:wait... (Score 1) 2

by YomikoReadman (#32364774) Attached to: Blizzard Boss Says DRM Is A Waste Of Time

It's more like the old CD keys, where you had to register it with Blizzard to get single player. The exception here is that when you're playing single player, you also tie the game to your bnet account for achievement tracking purposes. DRM? Yea, I suppose. But it's not a rootkit, or mandatory connection with garbage servers, or anything that's really crippling to a legitimate player.
Games

Submission + - Blizzard Boss Says DRM Is A Waste Of Time (thinq.co.uk) 2

Submitted by Stoobalou
Stoobalou writes: Blizzard founder, Frank Pearce reckons that fighting piracy with DRM is a losing battle.

His company — which is responsible for the biggest videogame of all time, the worryingly-addictive online fantasy role player World of Warcraft — is to release Starcraft 2 on July 27th and Pearce has told Videogamer that the title won't be hobbled with the kind of crazy copy protection schemes which have made Ubisoft very unpopular in gaming circles of late.

Starcraft 2 will require a single online activation using the company's Battle.net servers, after which players will be allowed to play the single-player game to their hearts' content, without being forced to have a persistent Internet connection.
Robotics

Submission + - Stanford Robot Car Nails Amazing Parking Maneuver (singularityhub.com) 1

Submitted by kkleiner
kkleiner writes: Stanford’s Junior, the robot car that took second place at DARPA’s Grand Challenge in 2007, has learned how to perform a tire squealing 180 degree spin into a skin-tight parking space. Similar to a James Bond action scene, the maneuver is impressive and would be extremely difficult for a human to pull off. We won't be handing the keys over to robot cars anytime soon, but Stanford shows us that at least for some driving tasks robot cars can already meet or even exceed human ability.
Government

Submission + - Telco's Secret Anti-net Neutrality Strategy (thinkprogress.org)

Submitted by NoMoreHelio
NoMoreHelio writes: The political blog ThinkProgress obtained a secret PowerPoint presentation from a telecommunications industry front group that lays out the industry strategy for defending against regulatory attempts by the Federal Communications Commission. The industry plans to partner with well known conservative "astroturfing" groups, best known for their work seeding the Tea Party movement. Today's revelation from ThinkProgress comes as Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) joined various telecom funded front groups to unveil an anti-Net Neutrality bill.

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