motiz88 - Slashdot User

Spotify Releases a Linux-Only Client Library 96

Posted by timothy on Sunday April 12, 2009 @10:55PM from the you-and-you-and-definitely-not-you dept.

f0rk writes "Spotify, a popular music streaming service, has just recently released libspotify. An official, binary-only, only for subscribers, library to 'enable and inspire you to build some really cool stuff.' The first release only has support for x86-32 Linux, the only major platform Spotify does not run on. It looks like the Spotify team is trying to be nice to the Linux community and hope someone will use their restricted binary-only library to write a Linux client."

Comment Re:Way to prove the point. (Score 1) 434

by motiz88 on Saturday March 22, 2008 @06:17AM (#22828088) Attached to: DirectX Architect — Consoles as We Know Them Are Gone

My main point is that "anti-virus" is not a legitimate, inevitable, recurring expense in owning a computer, and that "viruses" aren't that big and overwhelming a threat - if you know what you're doing. Also, in my opinion it's worth taking the time and effort to get a fundamental clue, vs. paying extra for bloated anti-virus crapware.

I think perpetuating the fatalistic "OMG viruses" angle is unhelpful and only serves the interests of commercial anti-virus makers.

But as I wrote, it's all really tangential to the consoles/PCs debate (in which I don't have a firm opinion). I see your greater point and I generally agree. Consoles are specialized products, for a market that loves specialized products that are crippled outside officially mandated use cases, and that market isn't going away soon.

HP Stops Selling Printers, Starts Selling Prints 346

Posted by Zonk on Thursday April 19, 2007 @01:01PM from the does-this-mean-i-get-a-free-printer dept.

An anonymous reader writes "HP has launched a new line of business printers but there's a big catch — you won't be able to buy one. For the first time in history, the company will make customers purchase printing services, rather than the product itself. At its biggest printer launch since the LaserJet in 1984, HP's new business-class Edgeline printers will only be available through a managed services contract. Pricing will be per page, depending on the quality of the printout. Edgeline technology is said to be so ink-efficient that if HP were to sell these printers, they would never match the money they make from consumables (cartridges etc) now."

Preparing for the Worst in IT 172

Posted by Zonk on Saturday April 14, 2007 @02:46PM from the in-a-post-blah-blah-blah dept.

mplex writes "How vulnerable is the internet to terrorist attack? Is it robust enough to handle an outage on a massive scale? Should the commercial infrastructure that powers the internet be kept secret? These are the sorts of questions raised by Mark Gibbs in his latest column in Network World. 'There is an alternate route available for nearly all services through Las Vegas or Northern California serving all facilities-based carriers in Los Angeles -- all interconnected at numerous L.A. and L.A.-area fiber-optic terminals supporting both metro and long-distance cable.' Given that the internet thrives on open networks, it's hard to imagine keeping them a secret. At best, we must be prepared to deal with the worst."

China Reinstates Wikipedia Ban 172

Posted by Zonk on Friday November 17, 2006 @03:36PM from the that-was-depressingly-quick dept.

Rob T Firefly writes "The International Herald Tribute reports that the lifting of China's Wikipedia ban earlier this week was short-lived. Wikipedia is once again inaccessible from behind the Great Firewall, along with all other Wikimedia projects. Additionally, the URL of Chinese Wikipedia is once again a banned search term. No reason has yet been given for any of it." From the article: "It wasn't immediately clear if Wikipedia was inaccessible due to technical glitches or because government censors had blocked the site again. The Foreign Ministry and Ministry of Information Industry did not immediately respond when contacted for comment Friday. Beijing blocked access to the English and Chinese versions of Wikipedia in October last year, apparently out of concern about entries touching on the country's sensitive spots -- Tibet, Taiwan and other topics."

Wikipedia and the End of Archeology 256

Posted by Zonk on Thursday November 02, 2006 @05:21PM from the it's-a-wiki-past dept.

Andy Updegrove writes "Far too much attention has been paid to whether or not the Wikipedia is accurate enough. The greater significance of the Wikipedia today, and even more for those in the future, is its reality as the most detailed, comprehensive, concise, culturally-sensitive record of how humanity understands itself at any precise moment in time. Moreover, with its multiple language versions, it also demonstrates how different cultures understand the same facts, historical events and trends at the same time. Today, archaeologists are doing digs to understand how people lived only 150 years ago, making guesses based on the random bits and pieces of peoples' lives that they find. In the future, that won't be necessary, as archaeologists are replaced by anthropologists that mine this treasure-trove for data."

Copyright Axe To Fall On YouTube? 295

Posted by CowboyNeal on Friday September 15, 2006 @12:56AM from the calm-before-the-storm dept.

theoddball writes "In what should come as no great surprise, Universal Music Group is preparing to file suit against YouTube for copyright infringement, the AP reports. Discussions with the site's owners have broken down (although talks are apparently still progressing with Myspace / News Corp over similar issues). From the article: 'We believe these new businesses are copyright infringers and owe us tens of millions of dollars,' Universal Music CEO Doug Morris told investors Wednesday at a conference in Pasadena. This development follows last month's announcement that YouTube is negotiating with labels to legally host videos. While the primary complaint is against music videos, one cannot help but wonder if this will also impact the many, many homemade videos using copyrighted UMG songs as a soundtrack (or — *shudder* — a lipsync.)"

Divine Proportions 192

Posted by timothy on Friday August 18, 2006 @03:48PM from the thought-you-said-mathematical-erotica dept.

David Halprin writes with a review of a new (and mighty odd sounding) mathematics book: "In my humble opinion, we have an unjustified polemic in the world of mathematics, yet again. My background is tertiary level mathematics and concomitant research in specialised areas, so when a friend e-mailed me the link to this book, I was so excited after reading the author's hype, that I ordered a pre-publication copy. My expectations have not been met, unfortunately, hence my analysis precipitated this review." Read on for Halprin's idiosyncractic take on Norman John Wildberger's Divine Proportions: Rational Trigonometry to Universal Geometry.

Kids with Cell Phones, How Young is Too Young? 514

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wednesday August 16, 2006 @04:16PM from the how-often-are-they-on-their-own dept.

An anonymous reader writes "CNet is reporting that the average age of a child receiving their first cell phone is continuing to drop. A report carried out last year showed that the average age of a child's first cell phone was just eight years old and is expected to drop closer to 5 years of age this year. The author raises the obligatory medical questions that have been argued about in adults for years. Just how young is too young for a cell phone?

Iran's President Launches Blog 472

Posted by samzenpus on Monday August 14, 2006 @11:05AM from the does-he-have-a-friends-list dept.

02bunced writes "The BBC is reporting that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has started his own blog, the launch of which was announced on Iranian State TV. This is perhaps slightly ironic, given that the Iranian Government actively censors blogs on the Internet."

Mozilla Partners with Real Networks 386

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wednesday August 02, 2006 @06:34PM from the need-a-realware-checker dept.

engineer_uhg writes to tell us that Mozilla has just entered into a multi-year agreement with Real Networks to have Firefox distributed with downloads of RealPlayer, Rhapsody, and RealArcade. The Mozilla team cited Real's estimated 2 million downloads per day as a great tool for distribution. However, many Firefox supporters question the move, complaining of questionable practices by Real.

Sony Pushes Back Release For Blu-Ray Players 262

Posted by Zonk on Monday June 12, 2006 @01:25PM from the series-of-unfortunate-events dept.

Sony has announced that their first model of Blu-Ray player will release in August, not later this month as originally announced. The BDP-SP1, retailing for $1000, will now ship on or about August 15th. Bad news for fans of the new format, and even worse news for the PS3. Since Sony's lackluster E3 showing, a string of bad news has seemed to conspire against the company's next-gen console. From the Gamers with Jobs article: "With the PS3's high-end model coming it at a whopping $400.00 less than a stand-alone Blu-Ray player, Sony needs to release these players as soon as possible. If they wait too long, the PS3 will begin looming on the horizon, causing even devout early adopters to question the intelligence of buying a stand-alone Blu-Ray unit. Sony also needs the largest possible installed base, come launch-time for the PS3. For the Blu-Ray player to be the PS3's version of the PS2's DVD player, casual technophiles need to be able to see the virtues of the Blu-Ray format. If there are few players, and few titles, this might not happen."

'Cooking' Carbon Nanotubes Like Spaghetti 57

Posted by Zonk on Sunday April 30, 2006 @09:40PM from the tastes-like-liquid-polymer dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "Scientists from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have developed a technique to force a variety of enzymes to self-assemble layer-by-layer on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with the help of noodle-like polymer molecules. In 'A biosensor layered like lasagna,' the researchers say that this technique can be applied to a wide range of applications. In particular, it will be possible to build other biosensors "that react specifically with other biological chemicals, environmental agents or even microbes." Read more for additional details and the most spectacular scientific image of the month."

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