'Get me rewrite!' Now, computers can play along | CNET News.com

'Get me rewrite!' Now, computers can play along: Now, using several methods, including statistical techniques borrowed from gene analysis, two researchers have created a program that can automatically generate paraphrases of English sentences.

ABCNEWS.com : Music Industry Says Lawsuit to Continue

ABCNEWS.com : Music Industry Says Lawsuit to Continue: "Last Friday's U.S. District Court decision calling the Recording Industry Association of America's legal tactics against the law is sure to stoke the fires of the ongoing music wars. The decision handed down by the court says the RIAA has no right to issue subpoenas to an Internet Service Provider for personal user information related to file swapping. It also lets Verizon off the hook, saying the ISP isn't responsible for what its users do while using the Internet, or what they do with files taken from the Net."

Will DVD acquittal mean tougher copyright laws? | CNET News.com

Will DVD acquittal mean tougher copyright laws: A Norwegian appeals court threw out a criminal copyright case against a programmer accused of breaking Hollywood's DVD encryption scheme. Norwegian authorities tried Jon Johansen on criminal charges for writing a software tool that can be used to overcome anticopying technology built into most commercial DVDs. On Monday, an appeals court threw out the government's case, agreeing with a lower court that Johansen had done nothing wrong under Norwegian law.

Wired News: Song Swappers Win a Big One

Wired News: Song Swappers Win a Big One: "A federal appeals court ruled Friday the recording industry can't force Internet providers to identify subscribers swapping music online, dramatically setting back the industry's anti-piracy campaign. The three-judge panel from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia overturned a trial judge's ruling that enforced a type of copyright subpoena under a law that predated the music-swapping trend. "

Wired News: Dutch Court Throws Out Kazaa Case

Wired News: Dutch Court Throws Out Kazaa Case: "The makers of Kazaa, the world's most popular computer file-sharing program, cannot be held liable for copyright infringement of music or movies swapped on its free software, the Dutch Supreme Court ruled Friday. "

FLIGHT 001

FLIGHT 001: nat took me, and tree found it on the net! wikkid travel gear!!!

Slashdot | SpaceShipOne Rockets To 68,000 Feet

Slashdot | SpaceShipOne Rockets To 68,000 Feet: "According to Space.com, Scaled Composite's SpaceShipOne flew its first rocket-powered flight today, the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' 12-second first flight. SpaceShipOne's engine burned for 15 seconds, pushing it to Mach 1.2 (930 mph) and a peak altitude of 68,000 feet. To win the X-Prize they need to reach 330,000 feet twice within 2 weeks."

Slashdot | 55 Operating Systems On A PowerBook

Slashdot | 55 Operating Systems On A PowerBook: " found an article called 'Many Systems on One Machine' over at Kernelthread.com that shows over 55 operating systems running on a 17inch Powerbook. The article includes screenshots and descriptions of each system, and also hacks and tips on getting the nasty ones installed. The author Amit Singh (the Hanoimania guy, covered earlier on Slashdot) explains his reasons for all this in a related FAAQ (frequently asked anticipated questions) ... In all a very interesting read, specially the FAAQ, where he calls the setup 'the iPod of operating systems'. Now thats an Apple Power User! I wonder what Steve Jobs would say if he sees people doing such things to his machines!!"

Wired News: No, Really, You Can't Copy These

Wired News: No, Really, You Can't Copy These: "Philips Electronics said on Tuesday it was six months away from launching a system against illegal copying that will allow consumers to play digital video and music on any digital media player. "

John Squire back with concept album - NME.COM

John Squire back with concept album: "JOHN SQUIRE will release a new solo single and album in the new year."

Slashdot | Technology Quarterly: "There is an unusually interesting Technology Quarterly available for free from The Economist where they discuss some of the more interesting new areas in the area of science and technology. Of most interest to Slashdot might be Open source's local heroes, or perhaps playing Pac-Man on thought-controlled computers. Among the other articles this month: Predicting microweather, transparent magnetic memories, smart robotic transplants, how to bake the perfect chip, and Benoit Mandelbrot - the father of fractals."

Canada deems P2P downloading legal: "Downloading copyrighted music from peer-to-peer networks is legal in Canada, although uploading files is not, Canadian copyright regulators said in a ruling released Friday"

New P2p From RIAA Members: "A new file-sharing standard designed to distribute copyrighted music and movies legitimately has been developed by a technology consortium. The system could deliver any content format to any computer, and users might even earn rewards points for sharing the files. The Content Reference Forum (CRF), founded by Universal Music Group and backed by technology companies including Microsoft, released the first specifications for the standard this week."

OPSWARE INC. / On the record: Marc Andreessen

OPSWARE INC. / On the record: Marc Andreessen at the sfgate!!!

The Hello World Project

The Hello World Project: send a msg!!!

MacSlash | All-in-ones: Apple Vs. Gateway

MacSlash | All-in-ones: Apple Vs. Gateway: "The Mercury News has done a comparison of the iMac to Gateway's newest all-in-one computer, the 610XL. Surprisingly, the iMac WINS on price! The only place the Gateway wins is that it comes with a TV tuner and wireless networking by default. The iMac wins on almost every other option. (They compared 17' models. The 20' iMac is slightly more than the 17' Gateway. Gateway doesn't offer a 20' model.) At the end, they even discuss 'cheaper' models, with the 15' iMac winning over a cheaper flat panel Gateway, and the eMac winning over a CRT Gateway. Just goes to show you that Apple can be cheaper in the consumer market."

Slashdot | AT&T Wireless Fumbles Number Portability

Slashdot | AT&T Wireless Fumbles Number Portability: "The FCC is demanding that AT&T Wireless Services explain their number portability failures. Apparently, tens of thousands of customers are having their number portability requests delayed because of computer system problems at AT&T Wireless. Sadly, the FCC did not say they were going to be imposing fines for this breach of regulations yet but I'm sure that will follow if things don't improve quickly.' Reader (54)T-Dub adds: 'As many of you already reported on wed, there have been some pretty serious delays for people switching cellphone providers according to this NYTimes article (free reg required). Most notably former AT&T customers can expect to wait up to a week for their number to switch."

Slashdot | Buzz Advocates Lagrange Point Spaceport

Slashdot | Buzz Advocates Lagrange Point Spaceport: "Buzz Aldrin has an editorial in the New York Times (free reg req) advocating a spaceport at a Lagrange point between the Earth and the moon over simply more moon missions. He emphasizes the cost and practicality of such a station, as well its potential as a 'bridge to the heavens.'"

Slashdot | McBride's New Open Letter on Copyrights

Slashdot | McBride's New Open Letter on Copyrights: "An open letter was posted today by Darl McBride, where he restates his claim that the GPL violates the U.S. Constitution, patent laws, copyright laws, and the DMCA. Mostly he just builds up a false image of the Free Software Foundation and open source supporters claiming that they have no respect for intellectual property and believe copyrights should be eliminated, then attacks that image, AKA the straw man attack. Nothing we haven't seen before"

'Space Invaders' to alight on U.S. soil | CNET News.com

'Space Invaders' to alight on U.S. soil | CNET News.com: "Japanese game machine maker Taito said Friday that it plans to restart sales of 'Space Invaders' in the United States, almost 25 years after the video game first appeared in arcades."

:)

Google wants ruling on search trademark law | CNET News.com

Google wants ruling on search trademark law: "The Mountain View, Calif.-based company filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif., on Nov. 24. It centers on a dispute with American Blind & Wallpaper Factory, an interior decor specialist, over the sale of keyword-advertising within search results that appear on Google and across the Web. American Blind has insisted that Google stop selling keyword phrases that the company claims violate its trademarks."

Slashdot | AOL's $299 PC

Slashdot | AOL's $299 PC: "Internet.com reports 'Looking to attract households that still aren't online, AOL is offering new customers a $299 PC system if they sign a one-year $23.90 dial-up Internet service contract.' A click through AOL's ecommerce site reveals the the specs as 1.7 GHz Celeron with 256 MB RAM, 40 GB hard drive, 56K modem, 10/100ethernet card, 17' monitor and Lexmark printer. The PC is running Windows XP, and includes 'AOL Office Powered by Sun'. Also of note is the fact that the $299 appears to be financed at around 22%. The math ( (12*23.90) 299 ) seems to suggest that you can get a $699 computer for $585.80 plus any finance charges. Setting aside the question of whether this is a good deal or not, one has to wonder whether AOL is desperate for new customers and resorting to bribery, or just progressing to the next step of branding. With this action AOL controls everything from the OS to the Word Processor to the web sites their customers browse."

sounds like a good deal!!!

Should ISP subscribers pay for P2P? | CNET News.com

Should ISP subscribers pay for P2P?: "A trade group representing Canadian songwriters and music publishers argued in front of that country's Supreme Court on Wednesday that ISPs should pay into a nationwide pool--similar to a tax now imposed on blank tapes and CDs--to compensate copyright holders for widespread music downloading. "

Nanotech bill gets Bush's approval: " President Bush approved a bill that will provide $3.7 billion to nanotechnology projects over four years. "

meet box here we come!!!

Slashdot | Economic Analysis of the Nanotech Future

Slashdot | Economic Analysis of the Nanotech Future: "Economic Historian and Berkeley Professor Brad DeLong has created an analysis on his Web Log on the economic implications of Nanotechnology. His observations are based on what previously happened with the Industrial Revolution (and other economic shifts in general) and using this to speculate what Nanotech will do to the economy: who wins (technical/knowledge workers), who loses (manufacturing), and what changes (costs of products)."

Slashdot | California Bans Genegineered Fish

Slashdot | California Bans Genegineered Fish: "California regulators have announced that they are blocking the sale of genetically engineered fish. The arguments of the regulators seem to echo some of those discussed earlier here."

no more glowing gold fish :( !!!

Slashdot | TunA and Socializing via MP3 Player: "Wired is carrying a story about a new program in development called TunA. It will allow you to view other users playlists on their MP3 Player and also stream the music to your Player. Works through WiFi so it limits to mostly laptops for now. "

sounds like itunes ;) !!!

Slashdot | Mame on the Nokia N-Gage: "The Nokia N-Gage has now joined the club of consoles for whom the excellent MAME (Multi Arcade Machine Emulator) was ported to. Staffan Ulfberg has ported EMame over to the N-Gage - the emulator supports a mass of games"

wahoooo, tron deadly disk handheld!!!

Jack White almost joins The Stooges: "The White Stripes star was in the frame for a collaboration after the garage legends reformed to play a number of tracks on frontman Iggy Pop's new album, 'Skull Ring'."

Spiritualized to release a second album of rarities : "Almost all of the 26 tracks are not available on any previous Spiritualized album, and date from 1995 to 2002, taking in the sessions immediately before this year's 'Amazing Grace'."

Slashdot | President Bush To Call For Return To Moon?: "According to the National Review: 'When President Bush delivers a speech recognizing the centenary of heavier-than-air-powered flight December 17, it is expected that he will proffer a bold vision of renewed space flight, with at its center a return to the moon, perhaps even establishment of a permanent presence there. If he does, it will mean that he has decided the United States should once again become a space-faring nation.' Here's hoping. The article also includes talk of nuclear engines and using the moon as a testbed for going to Mars."

Slashdot | Japanese Train Sets A Speed Record Of 581 kph: "Last night, on December 2, a high-speed Japanese train set a new record of 581 kph, breaking its own previous record. The new Maglev high speed had real passengers on board this time. They proved that the distance between Osaka and Tokyo can be covered in one hour's time. However, we wouldn't see real trains for a while now since the cost is prohibitively expensive at this time. However, they expect that the cost would come down over the next 20 years. This seems to be the future of transportation, at least in Japan. Here is a detailed article from The Japan Times."

Slashdot | Nanotechnology: Are Molecular Assemblers Possible?: "Two experts in the field of nanotechnology, K. Eric Drexler, Ph.D., cofounder of the Foresight Institute in Palo Alto, Calif., and the person who coined the term 'nanotechnology,' and Richard E. Smalley, Ph.D., a professor at Rice University and winner of the 1996 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, exchanged open letters about 'molecular assemblers' -- devices capable of positioning atoms and molecules for precisely defined reactions in almost any environment. These letters are making the -- long -- cover story of the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News. At the end of this rich exchange of four letters, they still disagree about the issue. Drexler thinks 'molecular assemblers' are possible while Smalley denies it. Who is right? Don't count on me to give an answer. This summary contains some forceful quotes from the original letters."

Group seeks political power for P2P | CNET News.com

Group seeks political power for P2P : "A new nonprofit organization aimed at welding file-swapping and open-source computing advocates into a political force is launching online this week. "

Ananova - Ballet featuring Radiohead may play in London : "Radiohead hope to play live when a ballet production they're providing music for comes to London."

Rotation Archive

Rotation Archive:
Clone Wars Micro Series
D4
Friendster
HeadPhoneRecord
Hüsker Dü
Red v Blue
Sigur Rós
The Beach Boys
The Clash
The Postal Service
Trail Of Dead
Transistor Lounge

Ananova - Marilyn Manson faces stage act criminal inquiry: "Marilyn Manson is under criminal investigation in Switzerland after a religious group made a formal complaint about his stage act."

Slashdot | Who Owns The Facts?: "With all of the furor over the Patriot Act a truly scary bill that expands the rights of corporations at the expense of individuals was quietly introduced into congress in October. In Feist v. Rural Tel. Serv. Co. the Supreme Court ruled that a mere collection of facts can't be copyrighted. But H.R. 3261, the Database and Collections of Information Misappropriation Act neatly sidesteps the copyright question and allows treble damages to be levied against anyone who uses information that's in a database that a corporation asserts it owns. This is an issue that crosses the political spectrum. Left-leaning organizations like the American Library Association oppose the bill and so do arch-conservatives like Phyllis Schlafly, who wrote an impassioned column exposing the bill for what it is the week after it was introduced."

Sony ships blue laser optical drives: "Sony Electronics on Monday said it is shipping blue laser-based optical storage drives and related products to equipment manufacturers and system integrators. The new Professional Disc for Data products include media cartridges that store up to 23GB of data, Sony said. The new devices should appeal to customers seeking more capacity than is possible with 9.1GB magneto-optical discs, according to Sony. Magneto-optical discs are used in drives that feature both a laser and a magnetic read-write head. Sony said its new technology is ideal for applications such as document and medical imaging, e-mail archiving and multimedia projects"

IKEA: super dope site!!!

Sony Global - QRIO

QRIO: abio's human :)

Slashdot | Will TiVo Destroy Ad-Supported TV?: "According to a column in Television Week, the increasing popularity of digital video recorders will actually cause a decline in ad revenues in the next few years. 'The rollout of DVR-type technology ... will reach critical mass with 11 percent penetration of U.S. television households by 2005 and 15 percent by 2006...As a result, five-year earnings growth for TV station groups could fall from as much as 10 percent to as low as 4 percent.' Why? DVR users skip at least two-thirds of commercials and the 'collective impact represents a threat to revenue and cash flow growth that cannot be offset ... Fifteen percent DVR penetration implies that 9.1 percent of all ads would not be watched and that advertisers would be overpaying by 9.1 percent, or $6.6 billion as calculated from projected 2006 total ad revenues of $72 billion.' And another business model goes down in flames."