workbench - Slashdot User

35% Consumers Want iPhone 5... Sight Unseen 566

Posted by CmdrTaco on Tuesday July 26, 2011 @11:00AM from the it's-one-bigger dept.

judgecorp writes "Apple's iPhone 5 is not announced yet, but 35 percent of consumers say they will buy it, when it comes out, even though they know nothing about it. The figure comes from an online survey of 3,000 US consumers by Experian's PriceGrabber shopping website."

Gates: Not Much To Show For $5B Spent On Education 496

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday July 25, 2011 @10:18AM from the i-feel-dumber dept.

theodp writes "Since 2000, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has poured some $5 billion into education grants and scholarships. Ten years into his record-breaking philanthropic push for school reform, the WSJ reports that Bill Gates is sober about the investment and willing to admit some missteps. 'I applaud people for coming into this space,' said Gates, 'but unfortunately it hasn't led to significant improvements.' This understanding of just how little influence seemingly large donations can have has led the foundation to rethink its focus in recent years. Instead of trying to buy systemic reform with school-level investments, a new goal is to leverage private money in a way that redirects how public education dollars are spent. Despite the good intentions, some are expressing concerns about how billionaires and the Gates Foundation rule our schools, including the lack of transparency and spotty track record of the wealthy would-be reformers. Perhaps Gates should consider funding a skunkworks educational project for retired Microsoft CTO Ray Ozzie, who was working on networked, self-paced computer assisted instruction in 1974 — 36 years before Bill and Google discovered Khan Academy!"

CERN Launches Open Hardware Initiative 29

Posted by Soulskill on Friday July 08, 2011 @01:06PM from the leadership-by-example dept.

sfcrazy writes "CERN has launched version 1.1 of the Open Hardware License (OHL), a legal framework to facilitate knowledge exchange across the electronic design community. The alpha version was launched four months ago. In the spirit of knowledge and technology dissemination, the CERN OHL was created to govern the use, copying, modification and distribution of hardware design documentation, and the manufacture and distribution of products."

Comment Re:Get over it. (Score 1) 638

by workbench on Tuesday March 08, 2011 @09:28PM (#35425810) Attached to: A Letter On Behalf of the World's PC Fixers

The fact that you refer to people who "click 'ok' on all the addons their favourite 'free' download site suggests" as "douchehats" is precisely why the rest of the world thinks IT heads are assholes. And the rest of the world is right to think so. This applies to all your other examples.

So let me rephrase your conclusion:

If you are unable to help and educate your users, your customers, or your students, if you are not willing to make your software, your service or product or whatever it is you provide friendly to non-expert, then my self-righteous friend you should get out of your field and get a fucking factory job, because you are the problem.

Comment Re:Yea! (Score 1) 129

by workbench on Sunday May 30, 2010 @01:10PM (#32398088) Attached to: New Ebola Drug 100% Effective In Monkeys

No, we get a bunch of autistic monkeys instead.

Expect a statement from renowned scientists and vaccine experts Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carey soon.

Apple Update Means Palm Pre Can No Longer Sync With iTunes 841

Posted by timothy on Wednesday July 15, 2009 @06:34PM from the watch-the-antitrusters-froth dept.

endikos writes "Apple updated iTunes to version 8.2.1. According to the changelog, it offers bug fixes and 'addresses an issue with verification of Apple devices.' In other words, 'Buzz off, Palm Pre. You ain't no iPhone.'"

Submission + - Duke Nukem Developer Shuts Down (tomshardware.com)

Submitted by

PLSQL Guy

on Wednesday May 06, 2009 @09:01PM

PLSQL Guy writes: "Duke Nukem Forever developer 3D Realms is shutting down, according to Shacknews, who cites 'a reliable source close to the company' who said the developer, along with the recently resurrected Apogee name, is finished and employees from both have already been let go. It looks like all of the Duke Nukem Forever jokes are turning into reality- it looks like DNF might turn out to be the ultimate vaporware after all."

Comment unlist (Score 1) 229

by workbench on Saturday January 24, 2009 @10:59AM (#26588673) Attached to: Fraudsters Abusing Canada's Do-Not-Call List

You can de-register your phone # by doing the following:

To remove a residential, wireless, fax, or VoIP telephone number from the National Do Not Call List (DNCL), you must call the National DNCL Service Line at 1-866-580-DNCL (1-866-580-3625) or by a TTY 1-888-DNCL-TTY (1-888-362-5889) from the number you wish to remove.

from https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lnnte-dncl.gc.ca%2Fannins-dereg-eng.

New Star Trek Trailer 591

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday November 17, 2008 @06:07PM from the please-jj-don't-hurt-em dept.

roelbj writes "The full trailer to the next Star Trek movie is now available at the movie's official web site. The upcoming J.J. Abrams-helmed installment represents a changing of the guard, a reboot of the franchise, and a return to the original-series crew. It should prove interesting to see how Abrams' writing staff (Cloverfield, Lost, Alias) tackles the Star Trek universe and all the continuity and baggage that comes with it."

Comment oh please (Score 0, Flamebait) 668

by workbench on Thursday November 06, 2008 @07:04PM (#25668259) Attached to: iTunes On OS X Finally Has Competition

Starting an argument by claiming that "iTunes is an average music player," then linking to an alternative that looks like a pixel-for-pixel rip-off of said application is a very poor way to make a point. Seriously.

The only "real" advantage I see here is support for Vorbis, and even still -- the reality is that 99.99% of users do not care -- or even know what it is, for that matter.

And as for Amarok... I don't know how much "sexy" there was in there previously, but if I was willing to put up with this sort of mess, I wouldn't be using a mac in the first place. A for effort, but I think I'll stick with iTunes, thanks...

Spacecraft Buzzes By Mercury 62

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday October 06, 2008 @08:57AM from the it's-time-to-buzz-the-planet dept.

Riding with Robots writes "The robotic spacecraft MESSENGER is making its second fly-by of the first planet today, skimming just 200 kilometers above the surface. The fly-by will reveal portions of the planet that have never been seen before, but the main purpose of the maneuver is to prepare for an orbital insertion in 2011. The mission site offers extensive information, along with the first pictures that are already arriving on Earth, with many more expected in the coming hours and days."

First Deus Ex 3 Details Emerge 157

Posted by Soulskill on Sunday October 05, 2008 @11:22PM from the coming-back-for-more dept.

Ostracus writes "Deus Ex 3, the third entry in the influential FPS/RPG series, was confirmed to be in development by Eidos Montreal nearly a year ago — and now the first solid details on the game have finally emerged. UK magazine PC Zone has a cover story on Deus Ex 3 for their 200th issue (which has reportedly just begun reaching subscribers), and CVG has relayed a number of interesting tidbits from the preview: '... this time around combat won't be influenced by stats, but will rely purely on your personal marksmanship skills. Instead stats will influence "a vast array of fully upgradeable and customisable weapons," and you'll be able to tailor your arsenal to your play style with mag upgrades, scopes and other add-ons. What's more, stealth will now rely on a cover system rather than shadows, and damage will be dealt with by a very Call of Duty-style auto-heal.'"

Xbox 360 Finally Getting Blu-ray 174

Posted by timothy on Saturday May 03, 2008 @05:59PM from the poison-death-rays-all-taken dept.

Starturtle writes "Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer had admitted that Microsoft had been working on support for Blu-ray under Windows during this year's Mix08 conference. Rumors began to swirl and many began to expect Microsoft to announce a Blu-ray peripheral for the Xbox 360. However, Microsoft came out and denied all rumors, stating that they were not exploring any kind of Blu-ray add-on or in talks with Sony about integrating Blu-ray into the Xbox experience. After months of rumors and denials, the Xbox 360 with a Blu-ray disc drive is due to be manufactured soon and shipped in Q3 of 2008. Pegatron Technology, an OEM subsidiary of Asustek Computer, is reported to have received the winning order from Microsoft for a Blu-ray equipped Xbox 360."

Hardy Heron Making Linux Ready for the Masses? 1100

Posted by Zonk on Wednesday April 16, 2008 @05:55PM from the it-is-a-very-robust-bird dept.

desmondhaynes writes "Is Linux ready for the masses? Is Linux really being targeted towards the 'casual computer user'? Computerworld thinks we're getting there, talking of Linux 'going mainstream 'with Ubuntu. 'If there is a single complaint that is laid at the feet of Linux time and time again, it's that the operating system is too complicated and arcane for casual computer users to tolerate. You can't ask newbies to install device drivers or recompile the kernel, naysayers argue. Of course, many of those criticisms date back to the bad old days, but Ubuntu, the user-friendly distribution sponsored by Mark Shuttleworth's Canonical Ltd., has made a mission out of dispelling such complaints entirely.'"

Doctorow Tears Up ISP Contract Over Net Neutrality 322

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday April 15, 2008 @03:10PM from the schedule-2-numbers-1-j-and-k dept.

Burz writes "As a reaction to Virgin Media CEO's promise to violate the concept of net neutrality, Cory Doctorow is declaring his ISP contract void, canceling the service, and calling on other Virgin customers to do the same. He isn't alone. Charlie Stross counts the ways the gang that became Virgin Media is trashing Sir Richard's brand. Myself, I am thinking of stopping my Virgin Mobile service in protest."

Slashdot Top Deals