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Journal Journal: Free Speech vs. Trademarks

Journal by theophilosophilus
As a computer scientist who has crossed over to the legal field, I am greatly interested in that place where technology meets the law. In fact, interest in that subject is why I went to law school. Currently, my interest has focused on the relationship between intellectual property law and First Amendment free speech protections. Last semester, I wrote a paper for my First Amendment Rights class entitled Free Speech Post Rumsfeld v. FAIR. FAIR appears to have redefined what symbolic condu

Comment In Soviet Russia LCD screens YOU (Score 1, Interesting) 69

by skeptobot (#20974877) Attached to: Sharp's Tiny LCD Doubles As Scanner
If you were to put these touchscreens as the primary UI on vending machines, ticket machines, ATMs and the like, you could harvest hundreds of thousands of fingerprints without anybody realizing it. I bet that we'll see more and more companies trying to con people into "use your fingerprint to make calls, pay for your shopping, access your ATM" type of deals. I also bet that these screens will wind up in cellphones as a "standard" feature. You'll be told that you can switch scanning off and use it only as a touchscreen if you like, but who knows whether the scanning function is on or off and whether the phone is sending your biometric data places without your consent or not. This tech is a definite threat to privacy.
User Journal

Journal Journal: Vista is just a massive donkey wang.

Journal by Digital Nobody
So my girlfriend gets a new computer a month ago, we buy it off the shelf in a high street store because, shit, it doesn't have to do much, run Firefox, run MSN generally not crash and Jesus H Christ I'd have a happy girlfriend. The new box is running Vista, so this makes me twitch a bit, a new operating system isn't something I want to expose someone who doesn't give two fucks about a box unless it "...just works" to but hell, it can't be that bad right?
Security

Submission + - Satellite images used to monitor Burmese junta

Submitted by BurmesePython
BurmesePython writes: Human rights groups are using high-resolution satellites images to reveal the activities of Burma's junta as it gets tough with pro-democracy protesters. Apparently "it should be easy to spot groups of monks because of their distinctive maroon robes". Like previous efforts to use satellites to monitor the humanitarian crisis in Darfur [slashdot.org], the hope is it will prod the UN and other international actors into putting pressure on the Burmese rulers.
Education

Submission + - 'Floating Bridge' Property of Water Found (physorg.com)

Submitted by
eldavojohn
eldavojohn writes: "When exposed to high voltage, water does some interesting things. From the article, ' When exposed to a high-voltage electric field, water in two beakers climbs out of the beakers and crosses empty space to meet, forming the water bridge. The liquid bridge, hovering in space, appears to the human eye to defy gravity. Upon investigating the phenomenon, the scientists found that water was being transported from one beaker to another, usually from the anode beaker to the cathode beaker. The cylindrical water bridge, with a diameter of 1-3 mm, could remain intact when the beakers were pulled apart at a distance of up to 25 mm.'"
Microsoft

Submission + - EU thinktank urges full Windows unbundling

Submitted by leffeman
leffeman writes: An influential Brussels think tank is urging the European Commission to ban the bundling of operating systems with desktop and laptop computers. The Globalisation Institute's submission to the Commission says that bundling 'is not in the public interest' and that the dominance of Windows has 'slowed technical improvements and prevented new alternatives entering from the marketplace.' It says the Microsoft tax is a burden on EU businesses: the price of operating systems would be lower in a competitive market. This is the first time a major free-market think tank has published in favour of taking action against Microsoft's monopoly power.
Microsoft

Submission + - Everything you've read about Vista DRM is lies (zdnet.com) 2

Submitted by
Technical Writing Geek
Technical Writing Geek writes: "Self-described "professional paranoid" Peter Gutmann of the University of Auckland has become the most widely quoted source of information on DRM and content protection in Windows Vista. The trouble is, Gutmann's work is riddled with factual errors, distortions, contradictions, and outright untruths, and his conclusions are equally wrong.

http://blogs.zdnet.com/Bott/?p=299"
Windows

Submission + - Microsoft loses anti-trust appeal

Submitted by
Kugrian
Kugrian writes: "Microsoft has lost its appeal against a record 497m euro (£343m; $690m) fine imposed by the European Commission in a long-running competition dispute. The European Court of First Instance upheld the ruling that Microsoft had abused its dominant market position."

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