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Wed, May 13, 2009 01:02:47 AMFrom:
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Subject:
[Slashdot] Stories for 2009-05-13
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Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* DOJ Nixes Lax Policy, Hardens Antitrust Enforcement
* Mapping Hidden Twitter Data For Epidemiology
* The Electronic Police State
* Replacing New Hampshire's Old Man of the Mountain
* Apple Freezes Snow Leopard APIs
* Square Enix Shuts Down Fan-Made Chrono Trigger Sequel
* SGI Lives On, In Name At Least
* Brain Scanning May Be Used In EU Security Checks
* UK "Creative Industries" Call For File-Sharers Ban
* How To Store Internal Hard Drives?
* Can Cable Companies Store Shows For Us?
* Qt Opens Source Code Repositories
* French Assembly Adopts 3-Strikes Bill
* Break-In Compromises 160k Medical Records At UC Berkeley
* NY Court Says Police Can't Track Suspect With GPS
* 220-mph Solar-Powered Train Proposed In Arizona
* Microsoft Raises $3.8B in Bond Sale
* Ultra-Dense Deuterium Produced
* Social Networking Behavioral Agreements At Work?
* Copyright Infringment of Books
* Funding For Automotive Fuel Cells Cut
* Man Arrested For Taking Photo of Open ATM
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| DOJ Nixes Lax Policy, Hardens Antitrust Enforcement |
| from the new-sheriff-in-town dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Monday May 11, @20:26 (Government) |
| http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/11/2250229 |
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eldavojohn writes "A policy from the Bush era seen as a hurdle to the
government prosecuting companies under antitrust laws has been
[0]withdrawn by Obama's Department of Justice. From the article: 'The
DOJ's Antitrust Division has withdrawn a September report that "raised
too many hurdles to government antitrust enforcement and favored extreme
caution" toward antitrust enforcement action, the DOJ said. The change in
policy could mean that the department looks harder at the actions of
technology vendors such as Google, Oracle and IBM, as detractors have
raised antitrust concerns about all three in recent months.' You may
recall that [1]Google has come under some antitrust scrutiny recently and
the pressure may have just gotten a little more intense."
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/05/11/2250229
Links:
0. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=printArticleBasic&taxonomyName=Government&articleId=9132872&taxonomyId=13
1. http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/29/1218201&tid=217
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| Mapping Hidden Twitter Data For Epidemiology |
| from the just-landed dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Monday May 11, @22:08 (Transportation) |
| http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/11/2339241 |
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jamie found this [0]visualization of air travel, which might be usable in
some sort of proxy for the spread of flu virus (to choose a random
application). Jer Thorp, an artist and educator from Vancouver, Canada
(and a former geneticist), searched Twitter for the phrase "Just landed
in" and obtained lat/lon coordinates for both the indicated airport and
the Twitter user's home location, as recorded in their Twitter profile.
He then produced videos of multi-hour stretches of air travel that had
been latent in the Twitter information stream.
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/05/11/2339241
Links:
0. http://blog.blprnt.com/blog/blprnt/just-landed-processing-twitter-metacarta-hidden-data
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| The Electronic Police State |
| from the watching-you dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Monday May 11, @23:54 (Privacy) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/12/0012255 |
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gerddie writes "Cryptohippie has published what may be called a [0]first
attempt to describe the 'electronic police state' (PDF). Based on
information available from different organizations such as Electronic
Privacy Information Center, Reporters Without Borders, and Freedom House,
countries were rated on 17 criteria with regard to how close they are
already to an electronic police state. The rankings are for 2008. Not too
surprisingly, one finds China, North Korea, Belarus, and Russia at the
top of the list. But the next slots are occupied by the UK (England and
Wales), the US, Singapore, Israel, France, and Germany." This is a good
start, but it would be good to see details of their methodology. They do
provide the [1]raw data (in XLS format), but no indication of the
weightings they apply to the elements of "electronic police state"
behavior they are scoring.
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/05/12/0012255
Links:
0. https://secure.cryptohippie.com/pubs/EPS-2008.pdf
1. https://secure.cryptohippie.com/pubs/EPS-2008-data.xls
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| Replacing New Hampshire's Old Man of the Mountain |
| from the fall-down-go-boom dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday May 12, @02:39 (Earth) |
| http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/11/2236204 |
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[0]Holdstrong writes "New Hampshire's iconic natural rock formation, the
[1]Old Man of the Mountain, fell from its mountain-side perch back in
2003. Award-winning architect Francis D. Treves is proposing a monument
to replace it. His idea would feature a replica of the Old Man made out
of 250 suspended glass panels and would allow visitors to enter the
structure in order to gain views of the valley below. The design has
received harsh criticism from the public, in part, Mr. Treves believes,
due to the fact that [2]quality images and accurate information about his
design have been hard to come by. Replacing a beloved natural monument
with a man-made one is sure to bring out emotions. Will a clearer
understanding of the design help sway public opinion?"
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/05/11/2236204
Links:
0. http://www.townsandtrails.com/
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Man_of_the_Mountain
2. http://www.townsandtrails.com/replacing-the-old-man-of-the-mountain-revisited-with-information-from-the-architect
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Apple Freezes Snow Leopard APIs |
| from the see-you-at-the-base-camp dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday May 12, @05:25 (Operating Systems) |
| http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/12/0213242 |
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DJRumpy writes in to alert us that Apple's new OS, [0]Snow Leopard, is
apparently nearing completion. "Apple this past weekend distributed a new
beta of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard that altered the programming methods
used to optimize code for multi-core Macs, telling developers they were
the last programming-oriented changes planned ahead of the software's
release. ...`Apple is said to have informed recipients of Mac OS X 10.6
Snow Leopard build 10A354 that it has simplified the`... APIs for working
with Grand Central, a new architecture that makes it easier for
developers to take advantage of Macs with multiple processing cores. This
technology works by breaking complex tasks into smaller blocks, which are
then`... dispatched efficiently to a Mac's available cores for faster
processing."
Discuss this story at:
http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/05/12/0213242
Links:
0. http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/05/11/apple_freezes_snow_leopard_apis_as_software_nears_final_stretch.html
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| Square Enix Shuts Down Fan-Made Chrono Trigger Sequel |
| from the suspicious-timing dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday May 12, @06:35 (Games) |
| http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/12/0643208 |
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[0]KIllagouge writes "Just days before the release of [1]Chrono Trigger:
Crimson Echoes, SquareEnix sent a Cease & Desist letter to [2]Chrono
Compendium to [3]stop everything to do with Crimson Echoes. People might
remember when they did this with [4]Chrono Resurrection. Seems to be the
growing trend; instead of listening to their fans, which would net them
even more money, game developers continue to lock down old gaming IP. A
copy of the [5]C&D letter is available online." The fan project had been
in development since 2004 and was 98% complete.
Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/05/12/0643208
Links:
0. mailto:gougec17@msn.com
1. http://crimsonechoes.com/
2. http://www.chronocompendium.com/
3. http://ds.kombo.com/article.php?artid=7141
4. http://www.opcoder.com/projects/chrono/
5. http://crimsonechoes.com/letter.pdf
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| SGI Lives On, In Name At Least |
| from the meet-the-new-boss dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday May 12, @08:10 (Silicon Graphics) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/12/0136233 |
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[0]Hugh Pickens writes "In a surprise corporate move, after Rackable
Systems received bankruptcy court approval on April 30 to close its
[1]purchase of SGI, the company announced on Monday that the deal had
closed and that [2]the combined company would be called SGI ?€? short for
Silicon Graphics International instead of the original Silicon Graphics
Inc. The revival of the SGI brand will certainly please people in Silicon
Valley with a historical bent, as SGI has been one of the area's true
icons. However, some consider this a curious turn of events, considering
that Rackable has come to represent the new guard in the server market,
while SGI has struggled for years. Executives hope the name change will
help it expand its business overseas, where SGI is a better-known brand.
The new SGI will also [3]continue to develop and support the
high-performance computing systems that Silicon Graphics was known for,
says Rackable's president and CEO. 'There should be no disruption to
Silicon Graphics customers.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/05/12/0136233
Links:
0. http://hughpickens.com/
1. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/02/1216243&tid=139
2. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/sgi-lives-or-at-least-its-name-does/
3. http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/164706/rackable_systems_becomes_sgi_closes_deal.html
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| Brain Scanning May Be Used In EU Security Checks |
| from the who-do-you-think-you-are? dept. |
| posted by timothy on Tuesday May 12, @08:59 (Security) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/12/1234222 |
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An anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from the Guardian:
"Distinctive brain patterns could become the latest subject of biometric
scanning after [0]EU researchers successfully tested technology to verify
identities for security checks. The experiments, which also examined the
potential of heart rhythms to authenticate individuals, were conducted
under an EU-funded inquiry into biometric systems that could be deployed
at airports, borders and in sensitive locations to screen out terrorist
suspects." The same article says that "The Home Office, meanwhile, has
confirmed rapid expansion plans of automated facial recognition gates: 10
will be operating at major UK airports by August." I wonder [1]what Bruce
Schneier would have to say about such elaborate measures.
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/05/12/1234222
Links:
0. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/may/10/biometric-scanning-brain-security-checks
1. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-schneier28-2008aug28,0,3099808.story
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| UK "Creative Industries" Call For File-Sharers Ban |
| from the smoking-an-unprecedented-joint dept. |
| posted by timothy on Tuesday May 12, @09:48 (The Media) |
| http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/12/1336205 |
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[0]siloko writes "An alliance of so-called 'Creative Industries,'
including the [1] UK Film Council, have signed a [2]joint statement
asking the UK government to force ISPs into banning users caught sharing
illegally. In an 'unprecedented joint statement,' the alliance predicted
a 'lawless free-for-all' unless the government ensured the 'safe and
secure delivery of legal content.' The previous tactic of pursuing
individual file-sharers in the courts appear to have been abandoned.
'Instead, [the government] should provide enabling legislation, for the
specific measures to be identified and implemented in an Industry Code of
Practice,' it recommends. One wonders how they remain 'creative' in their
vocation when they keep on trotting out the same old story backed up by
imaginary statistics (they claim 50% of net traffic in the UK is illegal
content but provide no evidence for this figure). The BBC also has a
[3]blog entry dissecting their statement."
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/05/12/1336205
Links:
0. http://mango.homelinux.net/
1. http://www.ukfilmcouncil.org.uk/
2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8044251.stm
3. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2009/05/how_damaging_is_illegal_filesh.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| How To Store Internal Hard Drives? |
| from the velcro-patches-and-a-strong-fuzzy-wall- dept. |
| posted by timothy on Tuesday May 12, @10:10 (Data Storage) |
| http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/12/1358221 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
mike writes "I have been ripping all my movies and TV shows for easy
viewing through a media PC. Because I would rather not rip everything
again I'm looking for a simple backup solution. I'm considering a hard
drive dock and several internal hard drives to use as 'disks' to back
things up every once in a while but I don't know what the best way to
store internal drives would be in the meantime. Could they sit together
in any empty box and be OK, or would a number of externals be worth the
slightly higher cost with fewer worries about storing them in the
meantime?"
Discuss this story at:
http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/05/12/1358221
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Can Cable Companies Store Shows For Us? |
| from the which-end-of-the-wire dept. |
| posted by timothy on Tuesday May 12, @10:35 (Media) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/12/1415254 |
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[0]NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "Last August I reported that the US Court
of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit had [1]defeated the MPAA's attempt to
label as copyright infringement a cable operator's storing video for
later reuse at the request of its subscribers, in [2]Cartoon Networks v.
CSC Holdings. The MPAA has petitioned the US Supreme Court to review that
holding. According to a [3]recent interview with Gigi Sohn of Public
Knowledge, the High Court has not yet decided whether to grant the MPAA's
petition seeking review. What I found odd about [4]the 2nd Circuit
decision (PDF) is that (a) although 'fair use' was the most logical
defense to be employed in view of the Supreme Court's holding in [5]SONY
Betamax, upholding a VCR's 'time shifting' of a broadcast television show
as a 'fair use,' the defendant in Cartoon Networks has stipulated to
waive 'fair use,' and (b) although the easier legal theory for plaintiff
to prove would have been secondary, rather than primary, copyright
infringement (i.e. Cablevision's encouraging and inducing its customers
to make unauthorized copies), the MPAA has stipulated to waive that line
of attack. I.e. neither plaintiffs nor defendants seized the 'low hanging
fruit.' In her interview, Ms. Sohn discusses the fair use defense, but
I'm not sure why she does, since as I recall the defendant has waived
it."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/05/12/1415254
Links:
0. http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/
1. http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/2008/08/mpaa-loses-in-case-against-cablevision.html#5217329618632854988
2. http://beckermanlegal.com/Documents.htm#Cartoon_v_CSC
3. http://www.multichannel.com/article/231936-Q_A_Gigi_Sohn_Says_Give_Remote_DVR_A_Chance.php
4. http://beckermanlegal.com/pdf/?file=/Lawyer_Copyright_Internet_Law/cartoonnetwork_csc_080804SecondCircuitDecis.pdf
5. http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=CASE&court=US&vol=464&page=417
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Qt Opens Source Code Repositories |
| from the good-news-on-a-few-fronts dept. |
| posted by timothy on Tuesday May 12, @11:23 (Programming) |
| http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/12/1457220 |
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sobral writes "Following the [0] announcement of the LGPL license model,
since yesterday the Qt source code repositories are [1] open to the
public together with their [2] roadmap. The contribution model is online
and will enable developers from the community to submit patches through a
single click process, avoiding the previous hassle of sending in signed
paperwork. The code is hosted at [3]qt.gitorious.org and an instant
benefit of this launch is that [4] Qt Software has been working together
with Gitorious maintainers for the last four months to improve Gitorious
and all these new features are already submitted upstream."
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/05/12/1457220
Links:
0. http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/14/1312210&tid=189
1. http://www.qtsoftware.com/about/news/qt-contribution-model-announced
2. http://www.qtsoftware.com/developer/qt-roadmap
3. http://qt.gitorious.org/
4. http://labs.trolltech.com/blogs/2009/05/11/qt-public-repository-launched
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| French Assembly Adopts 3-Strikes Bill |
| from the what-does-the-academy-think-of-baseball-metaphors? dept.|
| posted by timothy on Tuesday May 12, @12:10 (The Courts) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/12/1555231 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "After lots of turmoil, including a
[0]surprise rejection and a [1]European amendment against it, Sarkozy's 3
strikes law has just been [2]passed by the French Assembly [in French]:
'The first warning mails ... should be sent in the coming fall. In case
of second offenders, the first disconnections should start beginning
2010.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/05/12/1555231
Links:
0. http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/09/1235235&tid=153
1. http://www.ispreview.co.uk/story/2009/05/07/europe-rejects-broadband-isp-three-strikes-anti-piracy-legislation.html
2. http://www.lemonde.fr/technologies/article/2009/05/12/les-deputes-adoptent-la-loi-hadopi_1192219_651865.html#ens_id=1162478
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Break-In Compromises 160k Medical Records At UC Berkeley |
| from the no-ivy-league-nudes-on-file-at-berkeley dept. |
| posted by timothy on Tuesday May 12, @12:57 (Privacy) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/12/1630240 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
nandemoari writes "Hackers have reportedly infiltrated restricted
computer databases at the University of California Berkeley, putting
[0]the private data of 160,000 students, alumni, and others at risk.
According to UC Berkeley, computer administrators determined on April 9,
2009 that electronic databases in University Health Services had been
[1]breached by overseas criminals. The breakins began in October 2008.
Information contained on the breached databases included Social Security
numbers, health insurance information, and non-treatment medical
information such as records of immunization and names of treating
physicians."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/05/12/1630240
Links:
0. http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/960
1. http://datatheft.berkeley.edu/
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| NY Court Says Police Can't Track Suspect With GPS |
| from the when-a-cop-slaps-you-on-the-back-check-your-back dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday May 12, @13:48 (The Courts) |
| http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/12/1731256 |
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[0]SoundGuyNoise sends in a story that brings into relief just how
unsettled is the question of whether police can use GPS to track suspects
without a warrant. Just a couple of days ago a Wisconsin appeals court
ruled that [1]such tracking is OK; and today an appeals court in New York
[2]reached the opposite conclusion. "It was wrong for a police
investigator to slap a GPS tracking device under a defendant's van to
track his movements, the state's top court ruled today. A sharply divided
NY Court of Appeals, in a 4-3 decision, reversed the burglary conviction
of defendant Scott Weaver, 41, of Watervliet. Four years ago, State
Police tracked Weaver over 65 days in connection with the burglary
investigation."
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/05/12/1731256
Links:
0. http://slashdot.org/~SoundGuyNoise/
1. http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/10/1549252&tid=270
2. http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=799375
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| 220-mph Solar-Powered Train Proposed In Arizona |
| from the gonna-soak-up-the-sun dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday May 12, @14:37 (Transportation) |
| http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/12/1811201 |
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[0]Mike writes "An ambitious Arizona company has recently revealed plans
for a [1]solar powered bullet train that will streak across the desert at
220 mph, traveling from Tuscon to Phoenix in 30 minutes flat. Proposed by
Solar Bullet LLC, the system comprises a series of tracks that would
serve stations including Chandler, Casa Grande, Red Rock, and Marana, and
may one day be extended to Flagstaff and Nogales. The train would require
110 megawatts of electricity, which would be generated by solar panels
mounted above the tracks." Local coverage of the plan [2]takes a harder
look, noting that Solar Bullet LLC is two guys who are now asking local
governments in the towns at which such a train would potentially stop for
$35K for a legal and feasibility study. Total cost is estimated at $27B.
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/05/12/1811201
Links:
0. http://www.inhabitat.com/
1. http://www.inhabitat.com/2009/05/12/transportation-tuesday-arizona-startup-unveils-solar-bullet-train/
2. http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20300353&BRD=1817&PAG=461&dept_id=68561&rfi=6
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| Microsoft Raises $3.8B in Bond Sale |
| from the name-is-bond-cheap-bond dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday May 12, @15:28 (Microsoft) |
| http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/12/198250 |
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pfleming writes "Microsoft quietly, or not so quietly, raised some cheap
cash in bond sales yesterday. For a company that already has a huge cash
war chest and doesn't carry debt, what is the incentive to [0]sell nearly
$4 billion in bonds? From the article: 'Microsoft is sitting on $25
billion in cash, so the company doesn't need the bond proceeds "unless
they have something big in mind," says Reena Aggarwal, professor of
finance at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/05/12/198250
Links:
0. http://www.smartmoney.com/Investing/Bonds/What-s-Behind-Microsoft-s-Bond-Offering/?afl=yahoo
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| Ultra-Dense Deuterium Produced |
| from the big-if dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday May 12, @16:16 (Power) |
| http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/12/1954239 |
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Omomyid was among several readers writing in about the [0]production of
microscopic amounts of ultra-dense deuterium by scientists at the
University of Gothenberg, in Sweden. A cubic centimeter of the stuff
would weigh 287 lbs. (130 kg). UDD is 100,000 times more dense than
water, and a million times more dense than deuterium ice, which is a
common fuel in laser-ignited fusion projects. The researchers say that,
if (big if) the material can be produced in large quantities, it would
vastly improve the chances of starting a fusion reaction, as the atoms
are much closer together. Such a D-D fusion reaction would be cleaner
than one involving highly radioactive tritium. Many outlets have picked
up the same press release that Science Daily printed pretty much verbatim
(as is their wont); there doesn't seem to be much else about this on the
Web. Here's the [1]home page of one of the researchers. The press release
gives no hint as to how the UDD was produced. Reader wisebabo asks: "I
can easily imagine a material being compressed by some heavy duty diamond
anvil to reach this density, the question is: what happens when you let
the pressure off? Will it expand (explosively one would presume) back to
its original volume?"
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/05/12/1954239
Links:
0. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090511181356.htm
1. http://www2.chem.gu.se/staff/leif_holmlid.html
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| Social Networking Behavioral Agreements At Work? |
| from the in-case-they-need-another-reason-to-fire-you dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday May 12, @17:06 (Social Networks) |
| http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/12/1818245 |
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r0nc0 writes "My company (a Fortune 15 company) has recently required
everyone that accesses the company portal to accept or decline an
'agreement' that governs the use of social networking. It basically
states that any discussion of the company or any of the work that you do,
whether at the office or at home, must be governed by their rules of
social networking. Naturally these rules are that you never say anything
bad or negative about the company, nor do you say anything bad or
negative about anything. It's presented like a EULA, but if you decline
more than 3 times your manager is notified. Naturally I declined it each
time until my manager complained to me about all the email he was getting
about me not accepting the agreement, so I went ahead and accepted,
knowing that anybody who cares would just post anonymously anyway. This
is the first time I've run into a forced agreement about social
networking, and the agreement is so broad that it can't possibly be
enforced. I've tried pointing out that agreements like that only drive
people away and aren't necessary anyway, but I might as well talk to a
brick wall. Has anyone else out there run into social networking
behavioral agreements like this?"
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/05/12/1818245
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| Copyright Infringment of Books |
| from the all-just-bits dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday May 12, @17:58 (Books) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/12/2116236 |
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Maximum Prophet recommends a NY Times piece on the growing phenomenon of
[0]unauthorized digital versions of copyrighted books showing up online.
The problem has been growing exponentially, fed in part by the popularity
of reading devices such as the Kindle and the iPhone. The article
features the odd photographic juxtaposition of Cory Doctorow and Ursula
K. Le Guin, who take opposite views on electronic editions, authorized or
not. Ms. Le Guin: "I thought, who do these people think they are? Why do
they think they can violate my copyright and get away with it?" Mr.
Doctorow: "I really feel like my problem isn't piracy. It's obscurity."
"Doctorow, a novelist whose young adult novel 'Little Brother' spent
seven weeks on the New York Times children's chapter books best-seller
list last year, offers free electronic versions of his books on the same
day they are published in hardcover. He believes free versions, even
unauthorized ones, entice new readers."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/05/12/2116236
Links:
0. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/technology/internet/12digital.html?hpw
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| Funding For Automotive Fuel Cells Cut |
| from the goring-entrenched-oxen dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday May 12, @18:47 (Transportation) |
| http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/12/2047228 |
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[0]rgarbacz writes "The US will [1]stop funding research on automotive
fuel cells and redirect the work towards stationary plants, because of
slow progress on the research. Developing those cells and coming up with
a way to transport the hydrogen is a big challenge, Energy Secretary
Steven Chu said in releasing energy-related details of the
administration's budget for the year beginning Oct. 1. Dr. Chu said the
government preferred to focus on projects that would bear fruit more
quickly. The industry and the National Hydrogen Association [2]criticized
the decision and declared their intention to fight for funding. Dr. Chu
also announced that funding for a coal gasification pilot project, cut by
the Bush administration, will be reinstated. The Obama administration
will also drop spending for research on the exploration of oil and gas
deposits because the industry itself has ample resources for that, Dr.
Chu said."
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/05/12/2047228
Links:
0. mailto:rgarbacz@googlemail.com
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/08/science/earth/08energy.html?scp=1&sq=fuel%20cell%20&st=cse
2. http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/fight-for-hydrogen-funding/?scp=2&sq=fuel%20cell%20&st=cse
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| Man Arrested For Taking Photo of Open ATM |
| from the i-will-tackle-you dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday May 12, @19:38 (Security) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/12/2239211 |
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net_shaman writes in with word of a Seattle man who was [0]arrested for
taking a photo of an ATM being serviced. "Today I was shopping at the
downtown Seattle REI. I was about to buy a Thule hitch mount bike rack.
They were out of the piece that locks the bike rack into the hitch. So I
was in the customer service line to special order one. It was a long line
and while I was waiting, I saw two of guys (employees of Loomis, as I
later learned) refilling the ATM. I walked over and took a picture with
my iPhone of them and more interestingly of the open ATM. I took the
picture because I'm fascinated by the insides of things that we don't
normally get to see. ... That was when Officer GE Abed (#6270) spun me
around and put handcuffs on me."
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/05/12/2239211
Links:
0. http://iamshane.com/2009/05/09/of-atms-iphones-and-911/
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