http://yro.slashdot.org/ News for nerds, stuff that matters en-us Copyright 1997-2009, Geeknet, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 2009-11-23T08:20:23+00:00 Geeknet, Inc. help@slashdot.org Technology hourly 1 1970-01-01T00:00+00:00 http://a.fsdn.com/sd/topics/topicslashdot.gif http://yro.slashdot.org/ http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~3/C977EqP4Cck/Google-Patents-Displaying-Patents theodp writes "Google has actually managed to patent displaying patents. The USPTO issued US Patent No. D603,866 to six Google inventors for their 'graphical user interface for display screen of a communications terminal.' Among the six inventors is the guy who introduced Google Patents. Ironically, Google Patents can't seem to find the new Google patent for Google Patents."<p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/22/2019219/Google-Patents-Displaying-Patents?from=rss"><img src="http://yro.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/11/22/2019219"></a></p><p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/22/2019219/Google-Patents-Displaying-Patents?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Ckjr6QK4fvmiEELFttfpbR1xnc4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Ckjr6QK4fvmiEELFttfpbR1xnc4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Ckjr6QK4fvmiEELFttfpbR1xnc4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Ckjr6QK4fvmiEELFttfpbR1xnc4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~4/C977EqP4Cck" height="1" width="1"/> timothy 2009-11-22T20:30:00+00:00 patents on-the-internet yro 68 68,65,50,39,11,6,4 http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/22/2019219/Google-Patents-Displaying-Patents?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~3/S6Kj5HQHXfY/No-More-Fair-Price-Refund-For-Declining-XP-EULA mark0 writes "Getting a fair-price refund from Amazon or Asus after declining the Windows XP EULA appears to be a thing of the past. In contrast to reports from the US and the UK from earlier in the year, Amazon simply refuses and provides information to contact Microsoft. Asus is offering US$6. Despite being confronted with publicly available information about the real OEM price of Windows XP Home Edition being $US25-US$30, Asus replies, 'The refund price for the decline of the EULA is correct in it being US$6. This price unfortunately is not negotiable. I do apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Please be assured that it is not ASUS intentions to steer you away in any which way.'"<p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/22/1833255/No-More-Fair-Price-Refund-For-Declining-XP-EULA?from=rss"><img src="http://yro.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/11/22/1833255"></a></p><p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/22/1833255/No-More-Fair-Price-Refund-For-Declining-XP-EULA?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/z-pAcyyAi2SWhL3pjIRCz-Gmyzc/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/z-pAcyyAi2SWhL3pjIRCz-Gmyzc/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/z-pAcyyAi2SWhL3pjIRCz-Gmyzc/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/z-pAcyyAi2SWhL3pjIRCz-Gmyzc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~4/S6Kj5HQHXfY" height="1" width="1"/> timothy 2009-11-22T19:22:00+00:00 microsoft but-thanks-for-asking yro 250 250,244,188,146,43,22,12 http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/22/1833255/No-More-Fair-Price-Refund-For-Declining-XP-EULA?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~3/Ay2H6Pt9cKg/Facebook-Photos-Lead-To-Cancellation-of-Quebec-Womans-Insurance No. 24601 writes "A Quebec woman on long-term sick leave, due to a diagnosis of depression, lost her health benefits after her insurance provider found photos of her on Facebook smiling and looking cheerful at parties and out on the beach. Besides all the obvious questions, how did the insurance company access her locked Facebook profile?"<p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/22/0125253/Facebook-Photos-Lead-To-Cancellation-of-Quebec-Womans-Insurance?from=rss"><img src="http://yro.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/11/22/0125253"></a></p><p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/22/0125253/Facebook-Photos-Lead-To-Cancellation-of-Quebec-Womans-Insurance?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/HSbsVRl5KZm7ZmPf-Y5MT33IG7U/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/HSbsVRl5KZm7ZmPf-Y5MT33IG7U/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/HSbsVRl5KZm7ZmPf-Y5MT33IG7U/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/HSbsVRl5KZm7ZmPf-Y5MT33IG7U/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~4/Ay2H6Pt9cKg" height="1" width="1"/> timothy 2009-11-22T12:51:00+00:00 privacy public-option yro 567 567,553,460,362,94,55,41 http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/22/0125253/Facebook-Photos-Lead-To-Cancellation-of-Quebec-Womans-Insurance?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~3/k8ffRJ0-IRM/Brazilian-Breaks-Secrecy-of-Brazils-E-Voting-Machines-With-Van-Eck-Phreaking After the report last week that Brazil's e-voting machines had withstood the scrutiny of a team of invited hackers, reader ateu writes with news that a hacker has shown that the Linux-based voting machines aren't perfectly safe; he was able to eavesdrop on them (translated from Portuguese) by means of Van Eck phreaking.<p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/22/027229/Brazilian-Breaks-Secrecy-of-Brazils-E-Voting-Machines-With-Van-Eck-Phreaking?from=rss"><img src="http://yro.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/11/22/027229"></a></p><p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/22/027229/Brazilian-Breaks-Secrecy-of-Brazils-E-Voting-Machines-With-Van-Eck-Phreaking?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/jDKlQDJXNgWUYEouwBDyfisv82w/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/jDKlQDJXNgWUYEouwBDyfisv82w/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/jDKlQDJXNgWUYEouwBDyfisv82w/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/jDKlQDJXNgWUYEouwBDyfisv82w/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~4/k8ffRJ0-IRM" height="1" width="1"/> timothy 2009-11-22T03:11:00+00:00 government old-ways-are-best yro 141 141,140,114,83,23,16,7 http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/22/027229/Brazilian-Breaks-Secrecy-of-Brazils-E-Voting-Machines-With-Van-Eck-Phreaking?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~3/bP8DbhVz-1A/NIMF-To-Close-Its-Doors eldavojohn writes "One of the driving forces behind the ESRB toughening its ratings is closing its doors on December 31st, 2009. The National Institute on Media and the Family was funded by Fairview Health Services, and simply could no longer justify the yearly $750,000 price tag given today's economic climate. NIMF's reign of nagging has been pretty consistent since 1996, and was often indirectly featured on Slashdot. Don't worry, president and founder Dr. David Walsh promises to keep writing and giving speeches ... and imploring us all to think of the children."<p><a href="http://games.slashdot.org/story/09/11/21/1524213/NIMF-To-Close-Its-Doors?from=rss"><img src="http://yro.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/11/21/1524213"></a></p><p><a href="http://games.slashdot.org/story/09/11/21/1524213/NIMF-To-Close-Its-Doors?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/PeRvGRChC9BNv6tb6UvL2fxAZDY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/PeRvGRChC9BNv6tb6UvL2fxAZDY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/PeRvGRChC9BNv6tb6UvL2fxAZDY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/PeRvGRChC9BNv6tb6UvL2fxAZDY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~4/bP8DbhVz-1A" height="1" width="1"/> Soulskill 2009-11-21T17:18:00+00:00 censorship but-where-will-nicodemus-go games 66 66,63,48,40,14,8,4 http://games.slashdot.org/story/09/11/21/1524213/NIMF-To-Close-Its-Doors?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~3/gFPhB6oRRPU/Pittsburgh-To-Tax-Students societyofrobots writes "Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl has proposed taxing college and professional students for the privilege of receiving an education in the city. The proposed tax will charge students in the city at a rate of 1% of their yearly tuition &mdash; which, at Carnegie Mellon, would mean roughly a $400 tax (PDF) on most students. As the tax proposal hit local media outlets this week, the mayor repeatedly emphasized the burden that college students have placed on city services, and the need for students to pay their 'fair share.'"<p><a href="http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/11/21/1234231/Pittsburgh-To-Tax-Students?from=rss"><img src="http://yro.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/11/21/1234231"></a></p><p><a href="http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/11/21/1234231/Pittsburgh-To-Tax-Students?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/5XomKg4YeD3gqjXA_V362KGXPWs/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/5XomKg4YeD3gqjXA_V362KGXPWs/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/5XomKg4YeD3gqjXA_V362KGXPWs/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/5XomKg4YeD3gqjXA_V362KGXPWs/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~4/gFPhB6oRRPU" height="1" width="1"/> Soulskill 2009-11-21T14:14:00+00:00 education this-will-go-over-well news 333 333,329,239,185,59,33,21 http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/11/21/1234231/Pittsburgh-To-Tax-Students?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~3/BFfRT1dHLo0/Bing-Censoring-All-Simplified-Chinese-Language-Queries boggis writes "Nicholas Kristof, a New York Times journalist, is calling for a boycott of Microsoft's Bing. They have censored search requests at the request of the Chinese Government (like certain others). The difference is that Bing has censored all searches done anywhere in simplified Chinese characters (the characters used in mainland China). This means that a Chinese speaker searching for Tiananmen anywhere in the world now gets the impression that it is just a lovely place to visit."<p><a href="http://search.slashdot.org/story/09/11/21/0158213/Bing-Censoring-All-Simplified-Chinese-Language-Queries?from=rss"><img src="http://yro.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/11/21/0158213"></a></p><p><a href="http://search.slashdot.org/story/09/11/21/0158213/Bing-Censoring-All-Simplified-Chinese-Language-Queries?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/TAkwCf1bGYBUbwB3Qxug3OZaQCo/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/TAkwCf1bGYBUbwB3Qxug3OZaQCo/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/TAkwCf1bGYBUbwB3Qxug3OZaQCo/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/TAkwCf1bGYBUbwB3Qxug3OZaQCo/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~4/BFfRT1dHLo0" height="1" width="1"/> Soulskill 2009-11-21T10:08:00+00:00 censorship boy-that's-a-great-wall search 209 209,200,171,137,48,27,16 http://search.slashdot.org/story/09/11/21/0158213/Bing-Censoring-All-Simplified-Chinese-Language-Queries?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~3/ls_qtJaN13s/RFID-Fingerprints-To-Fight-Tag-Cloning Bourdain writes with news out of the University of Arkansas, where researchers are looking for ways to combat counterfeit RFID tags. Passive tags typically wait for a reader to transmit a signal of the appropriate strength and frequency before sending their own transmission. The scientists found that the amount of power required to trigger this varies quite a bit from one tag to the next, especially when many different frequencies are sampled. This and other physical characteristics give the tag its own "fingerprint" that is independent of the signal information stored in its memory, which the researchers say will facilitate the detection of cloned tags.<p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/21/0354209/RFID-Fingerprints-To-Fight-Tag-Cloning?from=rss"><img src="http://yro.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/11/21/0354209"></a></p><p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/21/0354209/RFID-Fingerprints-To-Fight-Tag-Cloning?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/N9bo7kkajBniwerKfMuH4dvDCzg/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/N9bo7kkajBniwerKfMuH4dvDCzg/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/N9bo7kkajBniwerKfMuH4dvDCzg/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/N9bo7kkajBniwerKfMuH4dvDCzg/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~4/ls_qtJaN13s" height="1" width="1"/> Soulskill 2009-11-21T05:00:00+00:00 privacy cloning-is-bad-haven't-you-seen-scifi yro 58 58,55,45,33,15,9,4 http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/21/0354209/RFID-Fingerprints-To-Fight-Tag-Cloning?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~3/O1FlJ6ji2pQ/iPhone-Owners-Demand-To-See-Apple-Source-Code CWmike writes "iPhone owners charging Apple and AT&amp;T with breaking antitrust laws asked a federal judge this week to force Apple to hand over the iPhone source code, court documents show. The lawsuit, which was filed in October 2007, accuses Apple and AT&amp;T of violating antitrust laws, including the Sherman Act, by agreeing to a multi-year deal that locks US iPhone owners into using the mobile carrier. On Wednesday, the plaintiffs asked US District Court Judge James Ware to compel Apple to produce the source code for the iPhone 1.1.1 software, an update that Apple issued in September 2007. The update crippled iPhones that had been unlocked, or 'jailbroken,' so that they could be used with mobile providers other than AT&amp;T. The iPhone 1.1.1 'bricked' those first-generation iPhones that had been hacked, rendering them useless and wiping all personal data from the device. The plaintiffs say that the source code is necessary to determine whether all iPhones were given the same 1.1.1 update, and whether it was designed to brick all or just some hacked iPhones."<p><a href="http://apple.slashdot.org/story/09/11/20/2022250/iPhone-Owners-Demand-To-See-Apple-Source-Code?from=rss"><img src="http://yro.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/11/20/2022250"></a></p><p><a href="http://apple.slashdot.org/story/09/11/20/2022250/iPhone-Owners-Demand-To-See-Apple-Source-Code?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/6uVnt_Fb83FLX3vLhzJ0BqkPoZc/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/6uVnt_Fb83FLX3vLhzJ0BqkPoZc/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/6uVnt_Fb83FLX3vLhzJ0BqkPoZc/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/6uVnt_Fb83FLX3vLhzJ0BqkPoZc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~4/O1FlJ6ji2pQ" height="1" width="1"/> kdawson 2009-11-20T21:50:00+00:00 cellphones you're-a-brick apple 288 288,285,231,181,35,18,15 http://apple.slashdot.org/story/09/11/20/2022250/iPhone-Owners-Demand-To-See-Apple-Source-Code?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~3/U4jf8AaDMls/Xbox-Live-Class-Action-Being-Investigated eldavojohn writes "Were you negatively affected by the recent ban on Xbox Live for modifying hardware you own? Did you modify yours for homebrew or altering things you paid for and not to engage in piracy? Abington IP would like to hear from you and may be able to help. From that page: 'If you are an Xbox Live subscriber, had your modified Xbox console banned from Xbox Live, were not refunded a prorated sum for the time left on your subscription, or have experienced other problems as a result of being banned, and would like to participate in a class action against Microsoft, please submit your information below.' Someone is finally standing up for the legitimate hobbyists. Should Microsoft worry?"<p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/20/1513201/Xbox-Live-Class-Action-Being-Investigated?from=rss"><img src="http://yro.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/11/20/1513201"></a></p><p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/20/1513201/Xbox-Live-Class-Action-Being-Investigated?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/JxlXepcw08FPJ9VNYdh5VOB6C1g/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/JxlXepcw08FPJ9VNYdh5VOB6C1g/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/JxlXepcw08FPJ9VNYdh5VOB6C1g/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/JxlXepcw08FPJ9VNYdh5VOB6C1g/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~4/U4jf8AaDMls" height="1" width="1"/> kdawson 2009-11-20T17:54:00+00:00 court modders-unite yro 425 425,422,340,261,62,31,18 http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/20/1513201/Xbox-Live-Class-Action-Being-Investigated?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~3/GkSYjQPhlhw/Patent-Issued-For-Podcasting pickens writes "The EFF is reaching out for help after a company called Volomedia got the Patent Office to grant them exclusive rights to 'a method for providing episodic media' that could threaten the community of podcasters and millions of podcast listeners. 'It's a ridiculously broad patent, covering something that many folks have been doing for many years,' writes Rebecca Jeschke. 'Worse, it could create a whole new layer of ongoing costs for podcasters and their listeners.' To bust this patent, EFF is looking for additional 'prior art' &mdash; evidence that the podcasting methods described in the patent were already in use (PDF) before November 19, 2003. 'In particular, we're looking for written descriptions of methods that allow a user to download pre-programmed episodic media like audio files or video files from a remote publisher, with the download occurring after the user subscribes to the episodes, and with the user continuing to automatically receive new episodes.'"<p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/20/1422202/Patent-Issued-For-Podcasting?from=rss"><img src="http://yro.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/11/20/1422202"></a></p><p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/20/1422202/Patent-Issued-For-Podcasting?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/2wjJU9fU_tj1X9kCuh8DoZ-g5Qc/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/2wjJU9fU_tj1X9kCuh8DoZ-g5Qc/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/2wjJU9fU_tj1X9kCuh8DoZ-g5Qc/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/2wjJU9fU_tj1X9kCuh8DoZ-g5Qc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~4/GkSYjQPhlhw" height="1" width="1"/> kdawson 2009-11-20T17:14:00+00:00 patents next-a-patent-on-the-eardrum yro 149 149,147,130,102,22,9,4 http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/20/1422202/Patent-Issued-For-Podcasting?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~3/am_6p3HG7iQ/emSecond-Lifeem-To-Remove-Free-Content-From-Web-Search Outland Traveller writes "In a move that continues to shake the Second Life community of content creators, merchants, and consumers, Linden Labs has declared that free virtual content will no longer be searchable without listing payments on their website portal; and additional fees will be added with the intention of discouraging content listed for inexpensive selling prices. The move is particularly troubling because the online Web listing service is the de facto search engine for virtual content in Second Life, since the in-world search tools are unable to provide information about an object beyond name and location &mdash; basic textual descriptions, pictures, or descriptions of licensing, size, or content-category are not possible. While initially the change was explained as a response to community feedback, the residents involved in this feedback process were revealed to be fewer than 100 in number, primarily larger merchants among a community of millions. Within 24 hours of the announcement, the feedback thread has swelled to over 1,000 overwhelmingly negative responses. Additionally, in-world protests have erupted throughout the day, and over 20,000 objects have been voluntarily removed from the online store by angered merchants." Read on for more details on the brouhaha.<p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/20/1323231/emSecond-Lifeem-To-Remove-Free-Content-From-Web-Search?from=rss"><img src="http://yro.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/11/20/1323231"></a></p><p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/20/1323231/emSecond-Lifeem-To-Remove-Free-Content-From-Web-Search?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ihN_mA2uvwrZ7MIRmOHuD3Poobs/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ihN_mA2uvwrZ7MIRmOHuD3Poobs/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ihN_mA2uvwrZ7MIRmOHuD3Poobs/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ihN_mA2uvwrZ7MIRmOHuD3Poobs/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~4/am_6p3HG7iQ" height="1" width="1"/> kdawson 2009-11-20T14:31:00+00:00 censorship all-for-monetizing yro 186 186,182,134,104,33,24,13 http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/20/1323231/emSecond-Lifeem-To-Remove-Free-Content-From-Web-Search?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~3/svgwbBITLOg/Federal-Judge-Says-Corps-of-Engineers-Liable-For-Katrina-Damage Hugh Pickens writes "The Christian Science Monitor reports that a federal judge has ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers &mdash; and thus the US government &mdash; is liable for a big chunk of the damage caused when hurricane Katrina pushed ashore on August 29, 2005 by failing to stop the natural widening of the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet canal (aka Mr. Go) causing it to eventually bump up against the shore of Lake Borgne, on the city's east side. 'It is the court's opinion that the negligence of the corps, in this instance by failing to maintain the MR-GO properly, was not policy, but insouciance, myopia, and shortsightedness,' wrote US District Court Judge Stanwood Duval. Judge Duval said he believed it was the failure to shore up the outlet that 'doomed the channel to grow to two to three times its design width' allowing waves on Lake Borgne to enter the Mr. Go and travel into the east side of the city, battering the levees to a degree to which they were not designed. 'One of the greatest catastrophes in the history of the US' was both predictable and preventable, testified veteran Louisiana geologist Sherwood Gagliano, a former Corps consultant."<p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/20/0742226/Federal-Judge-Says-Corps-of-Engineers-Liable-For-Katrina-Damage?from=rss"><img src="http://yro.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/11/20/0742226"></a></p><p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/20/0742226/Federal-Judge-Says-Corps-of-Engineers-Liable-For-Katrina-Damage?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/WDc5cn_j4oiMhPClxUx2DvA9K-8/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/WDc5cn_j4oiMhPClxUx2DvA9K-8/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/WDc5cn_j4oiMhPClxUx2DvA9K-8/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/WDc5cn_j4oiMhPClxUx2DvA9K-8/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~4/svgwbBITLOg" height="1" width="1"/> timothy 2009-11-20T13:11:00+00:00 court too-bad-a-judge-didn't-do-the-engineering yro 478 478,469,394,288,76,46,36 http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/20/0742226/Federal-Judge-Says-Corps-of-Engineers-Liable-For-Katrina-Damage?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~3/xkI_yIUwVJo/emModern-Warfare-2em-Not-Recalled-In-Russia-After-All thief21 writes "After claims that console versions Modern Warfare 2 had been recalled in Russia due to complaints from politicians and the gaming public over the infamous airport slaughter scene, it turns out the stories were completely untrue. Activision never released a console version of the game in Russia." Instead, they simply edited the notorious scene out of the PC version. They did this of their own volition, since Russia doesn't have a formal ratings committee.<p><a href="http://games.slashdot.org/story/09/11/20/0519249/emModern-Warfare-2em-Not-Recalled-In-Russia-After-All?from=rss"><img src="http://yro.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/11/20/0519249"></a></p><p><a href="http://games.slashdot.org/story/09/11/20/0519249/emModern-Warfare-2em-Not-Recalled-In-Russia-After-All?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/UqcPpWL4Kx4ha91ZpH9aaQjKjlg/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/UqcPpWL4Kx4ha91ZpH9aaQjKjlg/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/UqcPpWL4Kx4ha91ZpH9aaQjKjlg/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/UqcPpWL4Kx4ha91ZpH9aaQjKjlg/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~4/xkI_yIUwVJo" height="1" width="1"/> Soulskill 2009-11-20T08:14:00+00:00 censorship it's-the-thought-that-counts games 87 87,83,69,52,16,8,6 http://games.slashdot.org/story/09/11/20/0519249/emModern-Warfare-2em-Not-Recalled-In-Russia-After-All?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~3/-JAZXoLgxww/Microsoft-Applies-For-Patent-On-Tuftes-Sparklines jenkin sear writes "Data visualization guru Edward Tufte developed Sparklines, a great way to display condensed data as an inline graphic. Excel's new version has incorporated the design element &mdash; and Microsoft has applied for a patent on them &mdash; without so much as a by-your-leave from Tufte."<p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/20/0145200/Microsoft-Applies-For-Patent-On-Tuftes-Sparklines?from=rss"><img src="http://yro.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/11/20/0145200"></a></p><p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/20/0145200/Microsoft-Applies-For-Patent-On-Tuftes-Sparklines?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/LxqqipbbuQJFx4KZ_NLxZWU58Xk/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/LxqqipbbuQJFx4KZ_NLxZWU58Xk/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/LxqqipbbuQJFx4KZ_NLxZWU58Xk/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/LxqqipbbuQJFx4KZ_NLxZWU58Xk/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotYourRightsOnline/~4/-JAZXoLgxww" height="1" width="1"/> timothy 2009-11-20T04:30:00+00:00 patents audacity-of-patents yro 175 175,168,146,116,39,19,12 http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/20/0145200/Microsoft-Applies-For-Patent-On-Tuftes-Sparklines?from=rss Search Slashdot stories query http://yro.slashdot.org/search.pl