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Comment Mobile, better, you can do it! (Score 1) 1839

The mobile site behaves a little odd in one browser or another. Open /. in Naked Browser (the only sane browser on Android), click a story. Now hit the back button. (Not the one on the top. The device back button.) Site is now broken. Also, I'd GLADLY pay subscription fees if you kept content to the upper echelon of intellect. The dumb stories might attract more eyeballs, but you lose the brighter minds that make this site what it was. /. isn't about the stories. It's about the conversation. PS, I don't mind off topic stories (read: not *exactly* tech), long as they're about smart shit. PPS On that note, Markdown is a handy markup language for comments. I know it's not assembly or fortran, but it's good stuff, especially for mobile readers... PPPS Please don't suck. You got this! I believe in you!

Comment Re: North Pole (Score 1) 496

It's certainly some point near the South Pole, since the North Pole hasn't got any earth. I'm not good enough with math to figure it out, but it's some point greater than one mile North of the South Pole such that when you do the one mile walk West, you cross all the longitudes and end up where you started. Then when you walk North again, you're back where you were in the beginning. Why is this more correct than starting at the North Pole? The same reason why Musk thought it better to rely on thrusters broom-balancing a landing rather than a simple parachute: he likes to do things the hard way!

Comment Re: aggregate all my communication channels (Score 1) 421

Sounds like you want an iPhone. It does everything you asked for, with the exception of no highpass filtering (it's a limitation of current cell protocol--use Skype if you want greater resolution) and the phone book is sorta built in, but it only functions as a lookup when you receive a call from an unknown number. I use Android, though, so I can't tell you the current state of the iPhone's antenna, but I understand reception is just fine these days.

Submission + - Cyberattack on German steel factory causes 'Massive Damage' (itworld.com)

An anonymous reader writes: In a rare case of an online security breach causing real-world destruction, a German steel factory has been severely damaged after its networks were compromised. "The attack used spear phishing and sophisticated social engineering techniques to gain access to the factory’s office networks, from which access to production networks was gained. ... The attack used spear phishing and sophisticated social engineering techniques to gain access to the factory’s office networks, from which access to production networks was gained. Due to these failures, one of the plant’s blast furnaces could not be shut down in a controlled manner, which resulted in 'massive damage to plant,' the BSI said, describing the technical skills of the attacker as 'very advanced.'" The full report (PDF) is available in German.
Cellphones

Federal Court Allows Class-Action Suit Against Apple Over In-App Purchases 279

suraj.sun writes "An iPhone-owner whose daughter downloaded $200 worth of 'Zombie Toxin' and 'Gems' through in-app purchases on his iPhone has been allowed to pursue a class action suit against Apple for compensation of up to $5m. Garen Meguerian of Pennsylvania launched the class-action case against Apple in April 2011 after he discovered that his nine-year-old daughter had been draining his credit card account through in-app purchases on 'free' games including Zombie Cafe and Treasure Story. This month, Judge Edward J Davila in San Jose District Federal Court has allowed the case to go to trial, rejecting Apple's claim that the case should be dismissed. Meguerian claimed that Apple was unfairly targeting children by allowing games geared at kids to push them to make purchases. He describes games that are free to play but require purchases of virtual goods to progress as 'bait apps' and says they should not be aimed at children."

Comment Maybe go the JAMMA route? (Score 1) 361

Personally I prefer to play on original hardware rather than emulation (it's a bit like the old CD vs vinyl debate!) That's not to say emulation isn't great in a lot of circumstances, but I tend to prefer the real hardware. Timing is one thing I often notice is inaccurate or erratic in emulated games, my favourite example being Samus' wall kick in Super Metroid, which I often use as a quick acid test of a SNES emulator.

I've put together a collection of various JAMMA games that are favourites of mine and use a Supergun to play them. While it's a bit of a pain swapping delicate boards (the encased boards of the CPS1 Q-sound era onwards are a godsend), it's great to be able to play the original hardware. Obviously certain early non-JAMMA games need extra wiring to work, but it can be worth the effort if you're into this sort of hobby. :)

Privacy

"Expert Body" To Decide Which Sites To Block For Copyright Infringement 173

Barence writes "Rights holders in the UK are proposing to appoint a 'council' and an 'expert body' to decide which websites should be blocked by ISPs for infringing copyright. The controversial Digital Economy Act made provisions for sites accused of hosting copyrighted material to be blocked by British ISPs. 'The cost of the proposed scheme is not indicated, but is likely to be substantial, including the running cost of two non-judicial independent bodies and the cost to ISPs of permanently blocking websites,' Consumer Focus said."
The Military

Porn Reportedly Found At Bin Laden Compound 537

Hugh Pickens writes "Reuters reports that a stash of pornography was found in the hideout of Osama bin Laden by the US commandos who killed him. The pornography consists of modern, electronically recorded video and is fairly extensive, according to the officials, who discussed the discovery with Reuters on condition of anonymity. Officials said they did not know if bin Laden himself had acquired or viewed the materials and it is unclear how compound residents would have acquired the pornography but a video released by the Obama administration confiscated from the compound showed bin Laden watching pictures of himself on a TV screen, indicating that the compound was equipped with video playback equipment. Officials familiar with evidence gathered during investigations of other Islamic militants said the discovery of pornography is not uncommon in such cases." Is it too cynical to mention that the US government has a vested interest in denigrating Bin Laden, and that he's no longer around to deny this claim?
PlayStation (Games)

Ask Slashdot: How Should Sony Compensate PSN Users? 386

ogar572 writes "So Sony is going to give 20 million+ PlayStation Network users (numbers vary based on what article you read) two free games and free credit protection (US only) for what happened a few weeks ago. I for one do miss playing Black Ops online, but I have made it through this outage by doing other, more productive things. What I am most frustrated about is the lack of consistent details and information via email about what is going on. Now Sony says that they are going to compensate us with two free downloadable games (more than likely I have never heard of these games before). I would have been satisfied with the free credit protection. Now that they want to offer me 2 games, why can't I pick any 2 games that I want? I mean, my personal info is now probably being sold on the black market because of Sony. What do you think Sony should do, if anything, to compensate for what has happened?"
Japan

Engineers Find Nuclear Meltdown At Fukushima Plant 664

fysdt writes "Engineers from the Tokyo Electric Power company (Tepco) entered the No.1 reactor at the end of last week for the first time and saw the top five feet or so of the core's 13ft-long fuel rods had been exposed to the air and melted down. Previously, Tepco believed that the core of the reactor was submerged in enough water to keep it stable and that only 55 per cent of the core had been damaged."
Google

Sergey Brin: Windows Is "Torturing Users" 645

jbrodkin writes "Google created Chrome OS because Windows is 'torturing users,' Google co-founder Sergey Brin says. Only about 20% of Google employees use Windows, with the rest on Mac and Linux, and Brin hopes that by next year nearly all Googlers will be using Chromebooks. 'With Microsoft, and other operating system vendors, I think the complexity of managing your computer is really torturing users,' Brin told reporters at Google I/O. 'It's torturing everyone in this room. It's a flawed model fundamentally. Chromebooks are a new model that doesn't put the burden of managing the computer on yourself.' Google claims 75% of business users could be moved from Windows computers to Chrome laptops."
The Internet

23,000 File Sharers Targeted In Latest Lawsuit 386

wiedzmin writes "Subpoenas are expected to go out to ISPs this week in what could be the biggest BitTorrent downloading case in US history. At least 23,000 file sharers are being targeted by the US Copyright Group for downloading The Expendables. The Copyright Group appears to have adopted Righthaven's strategy in blanket-suing large numbers of defendants and offering an option to quickly settle online for a moderate payment. The IP addresses of defendants have allegedly been collected by paid snoops capturing lists of all peers who were downloading or seeding Sylvester Stallone's flick last year. I am curious to see how this will tie into the BitTorrent case ruling made earlier this month indicating that an IP address does not uniquely identify the person behind it."

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