Become a fan of Slashdot on Facebook

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror

Comment Re:Beh. (Score 1) 266

by Zephyros (#20901525) Attached to: PS3's Back-Compat Loss Explained, Analyzed

I was in the same boat. My PS2 is on its last legs, so I picked up a 60GB model when they dropped the price. The writing was on the wall at that point - backwards compatibility was going away, first to software emulation and then completely. That would've left me stuck with a fairly extensive PS2 library and no system on which to play.

I'm not as convinced as they are that there's no market for backwards compatibility, with as many PS2s as they have sold.
Communications

Submission + - Would swap your cell phone for 2m dollars?

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: According to a CNet article, an incredible one in three people aged 16 to 24 in the UK would not give up their mobile phone for a million pounds. "The phone-centric survey, called Mobile Life, was carried out across the UK and questioned 1,256 people aged 16 to 64 on a variety of topics, including whether or not they would sacrifice being able to own or use a mobile phone ever again for a whopping £1m."
Patents

Submission + - Do patents stop people creating 'perfect' devices?

Submitted by Chris M
Chris M writes: In a recent CNET article, the mobile phone editor writes about what he thinks would make a perfect phone. Unfortunately, as someone in the comments section points out, much of the technology that is used in this concept phone belongs to separate companies. 'Im sorry to be the devils advocate here, but most of those things are patented to separate companies. So it would require almost all the major manufacturers to do this, which is highly unlikely.' Do you think patents are stopping companies from creating devices or is it just a lack of imagination?
Businesses

Submission + - Is cash no longer legal tender? (uic.edu)

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: I attend the University of Illinois at Chicago. Last semester my housing arrangements went smoothly. I put down my application fee, and my deposit just fine, got a room for the semester and life went on. This semester, because there was supposedly a large number of students who did not check into their rooms last semester, we were required to make a $100 prepayment, in addition to the application fee and deposit. No problem, I think, I see the university is trying to make a quick buck off people who don't follow through with their plans. Now I do NOT have a checking account, a credit card, or anything. I am one of the few people who do EVERYTHING in cash. I don't trust the banks, I don't trust credit card companies. I also had a trip planned for out of the country, so I get my cash, and on my way to the airport, I stop by the housing office to make my prepayment. They refuse to take cash. They will not charge my university account (so I can pay the bursar or whoever I need to) in cash, and they want a check or money order. Nowhere in their letter did they say that. I fear out of technicality I am going to loose my housing since I cannot get them their money on time because they do not take cash. Is it legal for a state-owned university, let alone any business to not take legal tender?
Music

Submission + - Paul McCartney on music in the digital world

Submitted by
Rachhpal
Rachhpal writes: "Paul McCartney, ex-Beatles member, will release his new album today, "Memory Almost Full". In an interview with L.A. Times, he indicated ending his long time relationship with EMI and making his album fully downloadable through his new relationship with Starbucks' new Hear Music Label. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-mc cartney3jun03,1,1265126.story?track=rss&ctrack=2&c set=true Some of his comments on the music industry currently from the interview: "I was bored with the old record company's jaded view," McCartney says, ..... "They're very confused, and they will admit it themselves: that this is a new world, and they're a little bit at a loss as to what to do. So they've got millions of dollars and X budget ... for them to come up with boring ways — because they've been at it for so long — to what they call 'market' it. And I find that all a bit disturbing."
X

Submission + - Andy Ritger of NVIDIA on Linux Driver Development (abclinuxu.cz)

Submitted by tykev
tykev writes: The Director of Unix Software at NVIDIA talks about Linux drivers, planned features, development cycle, and the open-source Nouveau driver. "NVIDIA's stance is to neither help nor hinder Nouveau. We are committed to supporting Linux through a) an open source 2d "nv" X driver which NVIDIA engineers actively maintain and improve, and b) our fully featured proprietary Linux driver which leverages common code with the other platforms that NVIDIA supports."
Privacy

Submission + - Forensics Meets Its Match: New Tools Thwart Police (cio.com)

Submitted by rabblerouzer
rabblerouzer writes: Antiforensic tools have slid down the technical food chain, from Unix to Windows, from something only elite users could master to something nontechnical users can operate. "Five years ago, you could count on one hand the number of people who could do a lot of these things," says one investigator. "Now it's hobby level." Take, for example, TimeStomp. Forensic investigators poring over compromised systems where Timestomp was used often find files that were created 10 years from now, accessed two years ago and never modified.
Enlightenment

Submission + - Drive for Altruism is Hardwired, Like Sex or Food

Submitted by
Dekortage
Dekortage writes: "Your brain is pre-wired to enjoy placing the interests of others ahead of your own. At least, that's what neuroscientists are claiming in the Washington Post. In studies, "generosity activated a primitive part of the brain that usually lights up in response to food or sex.... Altruism, the experiment suggested, was not a superior moral faculty that suppresses basic selfish urges but rather was basic to the brain, hard-wired and pleasurable." Such neuroscience "has opened up a new window on what it means to be good," although many philosophers over recorded history have suggested similar things. Are you hardwired for good?"
Patents

Submission + - TiVo Awarded Patent For Password You Can't Hack

Submitted by
Davis Freeberg
Davis Freeberg writes: "TiVo has always been know for thinking outside of the box, but this week they were awarded an unusual patent related to locking down content on their hard drives. According to the patent, they've invented a way to create password security that is so tough, it would take you longer than the life of a hard drive, in order to figure out. They could be using this technology to prevent the sharing of content or it could be related to their advertising or guide data, but if their decryption technology is really that good, it's an interesting solution for solving the problem of securing networks."
Biotech

Submission + - The Human Mutation

Submitted by
eldavojohn
eldavojohn writes: "Scientists in China have announced their findings of the gene that makes us human. The article explains that prior work has shown that humans have a longer form of a protein (type II neuropsin) located in the prefrontal cortex of the brain than the Great Apes species which diverged from us 5 million years ago. From the article, 'Gene sequencing revealed a mutation specific to humans that triggers a change in the splicing pattern of the neuropsin gene, creating a new splicing site and a longer protein. Introducing this mutation into chimpanzee DNA resulted in the creation of type II neuropsin. "Hence, the human-specific mutation is not only necessary but also sufficient in creating the novel splice form," the authors state.' The team is urging further analysis of the extra 45 amino acids in type II neuropsin form since they believe that chain may cause protein structural and functional changes. Your imagination could run wild with the potential of introducing this genetic mutation to other animals but it should be noted that the research didn't necessarily link anything with this protein, simply identify it as a very distinct difference between us & our cousins in the animal kingdom."
Censorship

Submission + - Student arrested for writing essay

Submitted by
mcgrew
mcgrew writes: "The Chicago Tribune reports that an eighteen year old straight A Cary-Grove High School student was arrested for writing a "disturbing" essay. From the Trib:

Allen Lee, an 18-year-old straight-A student at Cary-Grove High School, was arrested Tuesday near his home and charged with disorderly conduct for an essay police described as violently disturbing but not directed toward any specific person or location.
So much for freedom of speech in the US."
Security

Submission + - Ohio audit reveals more Diebold problems

Submitted by armb
armb writes: From http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/04/diebold_v ote_da.html "Problems found in an audit of Diebold tabulation records from an Ohio November 2006 election raise questions about whether the database got corrupted during the tabulation of election results" They were using the Microsoft Jet engine, which Microsoft do not recommend for serious use with concurrent updates. Perhaps most surprising of all, Diebold initially claimed that the raw election results were a protected trade secret.
The Courts

Submission + - Should I worry about my employment contract?

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: I was preparing to accept a software developer job at a California company and was put off by the contract which claimed ownership of any ideas I create (on my own time or at the company) during my stay at the company and required me to inform them of any ideas (related to the company or not) during my employment and for a year afterwards. I found references to a couple instances where this became a legal problem for the developer. Is this something to worry about?
Google

Submission + - Google Docs and Spreadsheets Expanding

Submitted by
dhinckley
dhinckley writes: "Google announced today that they will indeed be adding Presentation software to their Docs and Spreadsheets package. With the announcement they revealed that they have purchased Tonic Systems to help them with the new Presentation software and hope to have it ready by sometime this summer. Google's office package is starting to look a bit more comparable to Microsoft Office."

Slashdot Top Deals

A holding company is a thing where you hand an accomplice the goods while the policeman searches you.

Close