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Comment Re:potential privacy concern? (Score 1) 104

by The Pim (#18590289) Attached to: Facebook's Cross-Language Network Library

Instead of relying on common, generic data-format such as XML
XML was not designed as a "generic data-format"; it was designed as a "better SGML", that is, a document format. In fact, it is not a good data format, as can be seen by the contortions involved in adding a type system (essential to a general purpose data format). Which still doesn't work, by the way.

Besides which, designing your own data format, while requiring some care, is not exactly a Herculean labor. If they would just add product and union types, I could see using this.
Software

OpenOffice.org Tries to Woo Dell 316

Posted by Zonk from the maybe-they-need-to-hire-professional-wooers dept.
Rob writes "OpenOffice.org project members have written to Dell (pdf), hoping to persuade the company to adopt OpenOffice in response to customer demand. John McCreesh, OpenOffice.org marketing project lead, writes 'Let's have a conversation about how we could build an OpenOffice.org supplied by Dell product to give your customers what they are asking for.' Demand for open source products on Dell's IdeaStorm web site prompted the letter. A somewhat obvious question is raised: why isn't OpenOffice already available by default on new PC's and Workstations?"
Microsoft

Apple, the New Microsoft? 703

Posted by Zonk from the rolling-stone-obviously-an-authority-on-this dept.
VE3OGG writes "Apple, the ultimate source of cool. The marketers of slick. The next 'evil empire'? While it might sound goofy at first, Rolling Stone magazine is running an article that summarizes some very interesting points that detail how Apple could become the next technology bad guy. Among the reasons given: Apple's call to be rid of DRM (while continuing to use it in iTunes); Apple's perceived arrogance when they warned consumers not to upgrade to Vista, while not rushing to fix the problem themselves; and Apple's seemingly unstoppable market dominance in the form of the iPod. The iPhone featured heavily as well, a product that is months from release but steals the press from more competitive products. What do you think, could Apple eventually take the place of Microsoft?"
Mars

Warming a Tiny Piece of Mars For Terraforming 205

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the ants-under-the-magnifying-glass dept.
dptalia writes "It's been a dream of science fiction writers everywhere that we would eventually terraform Mars. Now an engineering student has proposed a way to terraform only a kilometer of Mars. By building an array of space based mirrors to focus the sun's light, a small area of Mars could be warmed to about 68 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius) which would make it easier for explorers to work and live there. Since Mars' atmosphere is thin, the mirrors would have to be carefully designed to prevent them from reflecting harmful radiation as well as light and warmth."

4 Seconds Loading Time Is Maximum For Websurfers 219

Posted by CmdrTaco from the longer-than-i-wait dept.
nieske writes "Of course we all want webpages to load as fast as possible, but now research has finally shown it: four seconds loading time is the maximum threshold for websurfers. Akamai and JupiterResearch have conducted a study among 1,000 online shoppers and have found, among other results, that one third of respondents have, at one point, left a shopping website because of the overall 'poor experience.' 75% of them do not intend ever to come back to this website again. Online shopper loyalty also increases as loading time of webpages decreases. Will this study finally show developers of shopping websites the importance of the performance of their websites?"

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