Comment Re:New Kind of Science? (Score 1) 369
You may have also noticed he operates a business by that name. Crazy, I know!
Comment Re:Seen this before? (Score 1) 369
Not even close. I asked it for the population of a nearby county and the answer was something like "Hopefully this page can answer your question:" with a link to the Wikipedia page about that county. Click on the link explaining how Start works and you'll see that even they don't pretend that it's really the same thing. The emphasis with Start is on parsing Natural Language Queries, period.
Turns Out Ubuntu Dell Costs $225 More 361
An anonymous reader writes "One week ago this community discussed the apparent price advantage of Ubuntu Dell over Vista. The article linked to a Dell IdeaStorm page with the status: 'Implemented.' Today the status has changed on that page to 'Reneged: Ubuntu Dell is $225 More Than Windows Dell.' The full price of a Ubuntu Inspiron 1420N is indeed $50 cheaper than the identical hardware configuration with Vista — except that a $275 free upgrade to 2GB memory and a 160-GB hard drive is available for Windows only."
Submission + - Microsoft sued about scratched Xbox 360 discs (hdtvinfo.eu)
Xbm360 writes: "Microsoft has been sued by Jorge Brouwer from the US who claims that Xbox 360s scratched his game discs, making them unusable.
Jack Evans, a Microsoft spokesman, stated about these complaints; "Out of the millions of Xbox consoles in use, Microsoft has not received any widespread reports of Xbox 360s scratching discs""
Microsoft's OOXML Formulas Could Be Dangerous 360
hill101 writes "According to Rob Weir's blog, Microsoft's 325-page OOXML specification for spreadsheet formulas is deeply flawed. From basic trigonometric functions that forget to specify units, to statistical functions, to critical financial functions — the specification does not contain correct formulas that could possibly be implemented in an interoperable way. Quoting Mr. Weir: 'It has incorrect formulas that, if implemented according to the standard, may cause loss of life, property, and capital... Shame on all those who praised and continue to praise the OOXML formula specification without actually reading it.'"
Submission + - OSI to crack down on "open source" abusers (businessreviewonline.com)
munchola writes: According to CBRonline
the Open Source Initiative is going to "open a can of whup ass on any vendors that claim to be open source despite not actually using a license approved by the OSI". In a blog post OSI president Michael Tiemann wrote: "Enough is enough. Open Source has grown up. Now it is time for us to stand up. I believe that when we do, the vendors who ignore our norms will suddenly recognize that they really do need to make a choice: to label their software correctly and honestly, or to license it with an OSI-approved license that matches their open source label."
Submission + - iTunes store DRM free music sells well says EMI
An anonymous reader writes: "The initial results of DRM-free music are good" said Lauren Berkowitz, a senior vice president of EMI, at a music industry conference in New York. Berkowitz said the early results from iTunes indicate that DRM-free offerings may boost revenue from digital albums as well as individual songs. No surprise!
eBay May Lose 'Buy it Now' Button in Patent Case 177
Spamicles writes "A judge has delayed his ruling on the eBay patent infringement case. eBay has been involved in a legal dispute over the use of its popular "Buy it Now" button, which allows consumers to skip the bidding and purchase items on eBay directly. The patent suit was filed six years ago by MercExchange L.L.C. In May of 2003, a jury ruled in MercExchange's favor finding that eBay did in fact infringe on the patent, but in 2005 the US Supreme Court ruled that MercExchange was not automatically entitled to a court order blocking the offending service, essentially handing a victory down to patent reform advocates. However, the ruling by the Supreme Court does not affect the final judgment of the court."
Judge Orders TorrentSpy to Turn Over RAM 726
virgil_disgr4ce writes "In an impressive example of the gap of understanding between legal officials and technology, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Chooljian 'found that a computer server's RAM, or random-access memory, is a tangible document that can be stored and must be turned over in a lawsuit.' ZDNet, among others, reports on the ruling and its potential for invasion of privacy."
Cisco Extends Negotiations on iPhone 74
An anonymous reader writes "Apple and Cisco have just a short while longer to discuss the use of the iPhone name for Apple's new product. Cisco has extended the deadline for a resolution out to February 21st. The two companies are seeking a peaceful resolution to their problems, and the deadline was extended to 'reach an agreement on trademark rights and interoperability.' Early this month, Cisco put their lawsuit on hold to start these negotiations - it's easy to understand why they wouldn't want to scrap a whole month's worth of discussion over a few final details."
Tech Toys Dominate Toy Fair 2007 48
Edis Krad writes "An CNN Money article previews the Hot Toys for 2007 from this past week's Toy Fair. The article is a great place to start looking through the hundreds of new products that were on display at the annual industry event. Among those featured in the article, I was particularly impressed with the Video Journal (blogging for kids?), the virtual bicycle (apparently, riding a real bicycle isn't cool enough anymore), and last but not least, the robotic parrot, that oddly reminds me of the replicant owl in Blade Runner. For more details on tech toys at the event, IEEE Spectrum has a rundown on the nerdier toys available. Artificial snow and a pre-assembled Mentos/Coke kit were two of that journalist's favorites. For different perspectives Forbes has a look at the toy business as it stands since last week, and Wired's Luddite column crabs that kids have too many techie toys nowadays. Dagnabit."
MPAA Violates Another Software License 297
Patrick
Robib, a blogger who wrote his own blogging engine called Forest Blog recently noticed that none other than the MPAA was using his work, and had completely violated his linkware license by removing all links back to the Forest Blog site, not crediting him in any way. The MPAA blog was using the Forest Blog software, but had completely stripped off his name, and links back to his site. He only found about it accidentally when he happened to visit the MPAA site.
Google Releases Paper on Disk Reliability 267
oski4410 writes "The Google engineers just published a paper on Failure Trends in a Large Disk Drive Population. Based on a study of 100,000 disk drives over 5 years they find some interesting stuff. To quote from the abstract: 'Our analysis identifies several parameters from the drive's self monitoring facility (SMART) that correlate highly with failures. Despite this high correlation, we conclude that models based on SMART parameters alone are unlikely to be useful for predicting individual drive failures. Surprisingly, we found that temperature and activity levels were much less correlated with drive failures than previously reported.'"
Submission + - Sony claims fictional award for SixAxis
NexusTw1n writes: On Monday, Sony claimed their revolutionary SixAxis controller had been honoured with an Emmy , leaving many wondering why the Wiimote had been ignored.
Today, that press release has been clarified , with a statement making it clear the award was actually for the PS2 Dual Shock controller, rather than the new PS3 model.
Today, that press release has been clarified , with a statement making it clear the award was actually for the PS2 Dual Shock controller, rather than the new PS3 model.
"I would like to confirm that Sony did not win for their PS3 controller, they won for their Dual Shock Analog controller," the NATAS representative concluded. Somewhat at odds, then, with Monday's press release: "Sony Computer Entertainment America Wins Emmy Award for PLAYSTATION 3 SIXAXIS Wireless Controller," where SCEA president and CEO Jack Tretton attributed his company's fictional success to "overwhelming consumer demand and critical acclaim".
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