Slashdot Mirror

I don't know who originally reported it (it was over a decade ago), but if you check Google books or scholar you'll find references. books link scholar link

"Stolen" is a confrontational term, but put it this way: if China backed an armed revolution inside the US which successfully overthrew the government and installed a military dictatorship, and then contracts were signed that gave Chinese corporations access and control over the natural resources of the US, would you consider this to be okay? Or would you consider that, somehow, the natural resources were being "stolen"?

There are many references claiming that this has happened, see war is a racket, the war on democracy etc. There was even an honest politician from one country who was vilified because he stated straight up that they were part of the Iraq coalition in exchange for corporate access to oil.

http://code.google.com/p/reaver-wps/wiki/HintsAndTips

is WPS the same a cisco's/linksys SES (secured easy setup)?

No, SES predates WPS. It addresses the same issue, but it is a different implementation. See the note section of this page for more detail

Google is racist! When you look up the Google translate for chango, it translates it to English as chango.

But when you Google translate chango negro, , it translates to black monkey. Google are in on the Hispanic racial slurs!

Google is racist! When you look up the Google translate for chango, it translates it to English as chango.

But when you Google translate chango negro, , it translates to black monkey. Google are in on the Hispanic racial slurs!

(And, now that everyone's figured out how to turn on TinyUrl previews (hint, here it is))

http://tinyurl.com/7j7qhzz (what is this)
http://tinyurl.com/3mpe88f (move the placeholder)
http://tinyurl.com/7yyknry (click Go to see the pretty)

(compatible with FF, C, O - except for that last one - crashes O hard on Windows, try it yourself)

Stereo sound, at its inception, was disorienting to some patrons.

Color added story only through presence; 3D could be easily used in the same way.

Digital projection absolutely improves the experience, by removing film jitter and degradation.

3D doesn't make me nauseous; there's no downside for me. Ergo, I embrace it.

Google once offered access to their search engine via a SOAP API. That disappeared years ago. Then they offered more limited access with the "Google Web Search API", which came with an obfusicated interface, a restrictive EULA which permitted its use only for widgets on a web page, and is now closed to new users. Now they have the Custom Search API, where you get only 100 queries a day before you have to pay.

Yahoo used to have a Yahoo Search API, which was free. Then they had the Yahoo BOSS API, which was also free. Now they only have a pay API.

Bing's search API remains free, but you have to sign up with Bing first, and Microsoft reserves the right to start charging.

Google once offered access to their search engine via a SOAP API. That disappeared years ago. Then they offered more limited access with the "Google Web Search API", which came with an obfusicated interface, a restrictive EULA which permitted its use only for widgets on a web page, and is now closed to new users. Now they have the Custom Search API, where you get only 100 queries a day before you have to pay.

Yahoo used to have a Yahoo Search API, which was free. Then they had the Yahoo BOSS API, which was also free. Now they only have a pay API.

Bing's search API remains free, but you have to sign up with Bing first, and Microsoft reserves the right to start charging.

Google once offered access to their search engine via a SOAP API. That disappeared years ago. Then they offered more limited access with the "Google Web Search API", which came with an obfusicated interface, a restrictive EULA which permitted its use only for widgets on a web page, and is now closed to new users. Now they have the Custom Search API, where you get only 100 queries a day before you have to pay.

Yahoo used to have a Yahoo Search API, which was free. Then they had the Yahoo BOSS API, which was also free. Now they only have a pay API.

Bing's search API remains free, but you have to sign up with Bing first, and Microsoft reserves the right to start charging.

Actually.... the summary does mention that the lack of open source code from Facebook and Google is "hindering open source development."

Ah yes, Facebook has really waged a war on Open Source by not releasing code, eh? And don't get me started on those bastards at Google.

If only there was a diet fad with > 300k google results for that..
  https://www.google.com/search?q=caveman+diet

Unfortunately, most of our options are always from the 1%:

google news search results for "how you keep getting ripped off"

Yet I own several ipads and android tablets and have NEVER experienced what you have.

Lucky you. However the net is full of complaints about slow iPad browsing and I did not imagine it when I experienced it myself, or saw multiple other people experience it. So you are special.

Yes, but we get the term "doctor" from him!

(mentioned in an episode last season, but the show's current producer wrote this idea in a USENET post back in 1996...

Your question will garner far more posts like the one above but I will add my 0.02.

I like the original Transformer (TF101-A1) very much and would suggest you take a look at it if the Prime is too pricey for what you want. The Prime is currently the only shipping Tegra 3 system I know of so to lump it in with the rest of your list isn't quit fair. While it's still yet to be field proven all indicators point to the Tegra 3 being quite a capable chip which will run for a very long time on a single charge.

Toshiba's Thrive is an interesting tablet. I have only tested it in store but I like it for the most part. The full size ports are a definite plus and the rubbery backing make for a slip free experience.

I don't have any experience with the Xoom or the Galaxy but you mentioned rooting and I was curious if you had posed this question over at XDA? I choose my android devices on price and rootability so the Nook Color has been my recommendation to all my non-technical friends looking for a cheap tablet.

Sony likes to cut off its nose to spite its face. Given their treatment of Geohot I would steer clear if you are looking for rooting. I'm sure you can root them just not sure what Sony's response will be to it.

The option is there for a reason. Your reaction is like that of the person who cuts themselves by accident with a kitchen knife and resorts to buying all kinds of gadgets to protect their fingers instead of learning proper technique. The lesson you should learn isn't to never use -Rf or * with rm, it's that when you use one of those features you should double check everything you've typed before pressing the enter key. Measure twice, cut once works for more than carpentry.

Vic, you are a hypocrite and an idiot. Fuck you and your stupid 'identity platform'. Why hasn't this stupid clown been fired yet? He was already alienating users when he was in charge of Android and continues doing so now that he is in charge on Social. Stupid jerk-off.

--
There is a new arrogant asshole in town!

I don't like to see the typical Christian bashing that goes on here, I usually defend them, as the majority of Christians are neither "fundies" nor fanatics. (I myself am agnostic and follow no organized religion; it's not for me)
But here, cusco has a valid point. Christians, as a whole, can be very selective about what parts of the Bible they wish to adhere to and which parts they don't. Here's one example: Jesus told his apostles that a rich man has about as much chance of entering heaven as a camel has of passing through the eye of a needle. Well, I don't know one Christian person who isn't concerned and working hard to make more money, own a nice car, and a home, a big screen TV, and generally have some nice things. We're a very materialistic society. No one is giving anyone the shirt off their back. I'm not saying they're insane with greed or blind ambition, (although I bet a lot of wall street bankers consider themselves christian), but it does go against the teachings of the religion in general.

As to contradictions, all religious texts have those. But since all religious texts also claim they were narrated by God, or by divine inspiration, it's really inexcusable that said contradictions exist in the first place.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=bible+contradictions&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDAQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.infidels.org%2Flibrary%2Fmodern%2Fjim_meritt%2Fbible-contradictions.html&ei=DIv8TsiuMOPj0QGgsY2hAg&usg=AFQjCNFnuvWuBGU5uGWpsrptQbBxhDTRhg for starters..

Do you really think that 80% of FireFox users just leave default settings on anything? Firefox' major selling point is, it is the most CUSTOMIZABLE browser on the web. People download it because they want to play with it. Kinda like Linux users.

Which reminds me of a great pic -
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/102342595285863325267/albums/posts/5675640915223683682

If you're like me, or if you have a small desktop, you may have to zoom it to read it. ;^)

For one thing, the FDA has almost no authority in many of their jurisdictions; they can recommend things, but in most cases have no power to change policy or punish reckless companies.

That is a load of malarky. Not to mention that The FDAâ(TM)s actions stand in contrast to other areas where the Obama administration has said it will take a hands-off approach to violations of the law, including the use of medical marijuana in states that have approved it, and illegal-immigrant students and youths, whom the administration said recently will not be targets of their enforcement efforts.

So ultimately, the FDA doesn't have the mandate, the funding, or the legal prerogative to do even one-tenth as much as the scientists and lower-management would like

GOOD. FUCKING GOOD. FUCK THE FDA UP THEIR CORPORATIST ASSES. And fuck the USDA while you're at it. Food pyramid indeed. Fats and oils, 1-2 servings? Suck me.

http://code.google.com/p/androidchat/

But yeah, there aren't many.

Here is the original press release (through google translate)

You're quite busy aren't you?

I'll be here, watching the sunset high as fuck with a case of malt liquor, with this playing on repeat.

Many took this as charity, and for the purpose of advancing the web.

Which is absurd. Chrome and Firefox are competing for the same users. Chrome helps Google display ads by directing users to Google services, such as with searches in the address bar. Google and Mozilla are competitors. Remember, you are the product, and advertisers are Google's customers.

David Ulevitch, founder of OpenDNS, had a more likely hypothesis, which is that Google is protecting itself from increased antitrust scrutiny. Remember that they often display a message on Google.com trying to convince people to download Chrome. Along with Android, Google needs to appear like it's not too dominant.

Peter Kasting at Google posted a response, but it focused on claims about Google killing Firefox and didn't actually contradict Ulevitch's thesis on why they paid so much to be Firefox's default search provider. Firefox usage is falling because of Chrome, so it's not like Mozilla (a non-profit) is best pals with Google (a for-profit, multibillion-dollar advertising megacorp). And Mozilla has questioned Google's motives in the past over their refusal to implement Do Not Track in Chrome when all the other major browsers committed to it.

It's like how Microsoft keeps releasing Office for Mac and various other utilities to make sure the Mac is out there just enough to keep antitrust regulators off its back.

phantomfive opined:

If that's the case, then you're completely wrong.....the Tower of Babel depicted in the Bible is at 1500BCE at the absolute latest. The one in this Slashdot article was built ~600BCE.

No, the ziggurat in TFS is the rebuilt Tower. The original was destroyed by the Assyrian king Sennacherib in 689 BCE, and rebuilt by Nabopolassar and his successor Nebuchadnezzar II after Esarhaddon became king of Assyria.Three hundred or so years later, Alexander III had the much-neglected Etemenanki (the Babylonian name for the Tower) demolished in preparation for rebuilding it - a project that fell through after his unexpected death in June, 323 BCE.

IF this is the Tower of Babel mentioned in the bible, it basically proves that the bible is wrong.

It does nothing of the sort. Otoh, it provides no support to the biblical account of the Tower, either.

Which is to say, the Etemenanki was and is real. The Tower of Babel story, by contrast, is a myth.

And, if you're not into the Cyanogen custom experience, or if you have a T-Mobile Vibrant (which will probably never get ICS CyanogenMod support), then check out this project to bring ICS to the Galaxy S series. It's already very stable:
http://code.google.com/p/ice-cream-sandwich-sgs/

FTFA: "Until now our knowledge of the Tower of Babel has been based on the account in Genesis 11:1-9, and of Herodot: The Histories I:178 - 182, with the measurement of the first 2 steps, and a Seleucid tablet of 229 BC (Louvre AO 6555), giving the sizes of the steps."

This is not entirely true, the Irish genealogies of Milesius (corroborated by disparate genealogies throughout Europe) also attest to the Tower of Babel and its peoples.

The Tower of Babel story occurs in the Irish & European genealogies with the namesake of the Phoenicians, Fenius Farsa, and his son Niul the Linguist.

These genealogies diverge at nearly every generation & they corroborate independently across countries & cultures. They're are among the most valuable documentary evidence we have of ancient world history (more so than the bible).

See, e.g., http://books.google.com/books?id=h5MNAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA8.

The story among the Irish also corroborates the Slashdot story about the common source of languages (and, yes, the genealogies pre-date the arrival of Semitic biblical texts to Ireland [if the bible is Semitic, these records are Japhetic]).

Glad to see that this comment hasn't been down-modded into oblivion by the Android fanbois. It is really sad that a mediocre product like Android has gained so much market share just because that big hypocrite known as Andy Rubin managed to convince Larry and Serge to invest in his crappy product. The only reason why Android has been successful is because of Google's backing. If you are a real geek you would be using a Maemo/Meego device, not that hacked together turd running on a bastardized version of Java.

--
I'm an arrogant asshole, so I work for Google now.

Amazon pretty much back-stabbed M-Edge. Is not uncommon for these big companies to do it, unfortunately.

--
I'm an arrogant asshole, so I work for Google now.

http://scholar.google.com/scholar?client=opera&rls=en&q=sedimentology+peru&oe=utf-8&channel=suggest&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&sa=N&tab=ws

Android doesn't even let you adjust the font size which is an essential part of the user interface:

What? I never had the compulsion to adjust the font size since I was a grown-up, even less so for a phone.
I would agree that there should be a large fonts theme for people with weaker eyesight, but it's hard to do right on smartphones. As a UX developer, you would have to account for variable-sized text in all layouts from the beginning, or redesign everything from scratch once you commit to it. And it can make the default-sized layouts look like they waste a lot of space. No wonder nobody does it.

http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=4547

Heh, if half of Android bug reports are written and commented on like that, I pity Google's QA engineers.

Android is an infinitely moddable user interface but stock tends to be completely and utterly crap.

Android doesn't even let you adjust the font size which is an essential part of the user interface:
http://code.google.com/p/android/issues/detail?id=4547

Pretty much the only phones you can download from Google's repos and build for are the Nexus phones. Anything else and there's no guarantee you'll ever be able to rebuild from source.
Even then, all officially supported devices require binary blobs to run.

People have a google doc up about his bullshit, too https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/lv?key=0AnMPztotGCGadE1sQkV4aDlOVWRFTGtkS1VzUldHRnc&toomany=true#gid=0

Technology often sedates students and harms learning. Without excellent planing and implementation it decays into chaos or becomes masked as success because child and adult learners show fewer negative symptoms. Should we be following the lead of parents who install screens in the minivan?

Please join me. I'm researching technology and education. Does the prize of technology hide the punishment? More screen time and web only courses are not really building learing or relationships. There's very little agreement that technology boosts k-12 state test scores, even if you believe in them.

Please read or help me edit this draft google document: Sedation or Salvation - Education & Technology

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1umIJ_XanBrF4PAvPiB6EGGCBQ1Jxilsy3MzrXnQvr8I/edit?authkey=CKGo06sE

There's a huge technology & education trade show that rivals the size and hype of macworld. The ISTE conference is full of people who ignore the pitfalls noted by such reports as "Let them eat data" and "Fools gold". I want to collect more research on all sides of this topic. Contact me if you or people you know are questioning the myths of technology in education.

my short bio: After working at Adobe & HP I managed IT for six years at a technology high school in San Francisco. ( the 2nd Cisco academy ) I've taught middle and high school for 6 years full time in low income schools. I was once a proponent of one-one computers and laptops, but I've now changed sides after my first hand experiences with the wide array of symptops ignored by most educators. This includes but is not limited to the massive costs, and quickly growing mounds of obsolete computers thrown out by schools.

Here's a great cartoon that says it all:
http://www.claybennett.com/images/archivetoons2/theaters.jpg

Android has the Android Scripting Layer. It's not BASIC, but it has several easy to learn languages available.

The rounded rectangle is a simplification.

Actually it's not a simplification. Take a look at Apple's patent. It's nothing more than "an electronic device" which, as shown in a few very vague drawings, is rectangular with rounded corners. Perhaps Samsung's devices resemble Apple's in other respects too, but that's a side issue. All that's needed to violate this patent is that it be rectangular with rounded corners. The changes you suggest, like having a dark blue border, would make no difference at all.

( &#29702;&#31185;&#38626;&#12428; <p> <--- whaat? no unicode in slashdot comments?)

http://www.google.com/search?q="rika+banare" (heh... wikipedia only suggests "rika banana")

Neil, Thanks for the amazing personal story. You're in a masters program, and you travel to 4 countries. You're from a privileged class and this post was about k-8 schools, Where 1 in 5 kids live in poverty, and most classrooms are getting more crowded. Neil, like you I took hybrid and web only classes where most students printed out the PDF readings. I put them into google docs. I can search, and I wish I could highlight the PDF and annotate in docs. My master's research is focused on this topic: Is technology in education a form of salvation or sedation. I invite people to join me in editing something I'm throwing together today. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1umIJ_XanBrF4PAvPiB6EGGCBQ1Jxilsy3MzrXnQvr8I/edit?authkey=CKGo06sE

check out google forplay

I don't see anyone obsessing over their toaster like this...

You're talking to a group of people who basically believe tinkering with the bits and bytes in your toaster's chipset is a basic human right.

In your discussion of synonyms you forgot to include debate of what should be "wiped of the map", namely not "jewish state" but "zionist regime".

OK, apparently you materialized in our universe only yesterday and you are just looking around our reality. So as a start, here you go just for the debate about dealing with Iran regime. Later you can educate yourself about not only what is debated, but what is already happening.

And btw, thanks for that insights about how dropping bombs on another sovereign state is not such big deal. I'll try to remember that when Israel launches another massive attack into dense urban area because dozens of rockets fall somewhere in desert on Israel side of border.

there were some great programming tools for the Atari and Amiga which allowed people to write some great applications and build up their skills.. blizzard basic, and the like.

anyone remember arexx, which was a powerful tool?

How about Lua on android and iOS?

it seems this particular wheel keeps getting reinvented.

For example ruby http://code.google.com/p/android-ruby/ or even http://www.robmiles.com/journal/2011/1/7/running-ruby-on-windows-phone.html. It seems there is a bit of interest http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/web/library/wa-ruby/index.html?ca=drs-.

It seems that Ruby is becoming the default beginners language, with compact easily readable code. So go Ruboto http://ruboto.org/ interesting video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3074P4juuXs.

But we do have python for symbian phones aka PY60. The project could be replicated in gardens such as IOS, blackberry, android,windows and even dumb phones! It works well in my nokia s60 v3 and use it with ped ide.

Normally, I'd say that the parent was being unhelpful, but in this case with the the Scripting Layer 4 Android (SL4A) already having done most of the work for you, it would actually pretty easy to do this. Here are the beginning of their instructions:

Introduction
Part of the SL4A project is to define an API for others to develop new interpreters that SL4A (or any other compatible project) can support. Currently, this standard is for interpreters that can be run as a binary in a separate process. This standard will be extended in the future to also support running JVM based interpreters in process.

The Easy Way is a step-by-step description of how to build an interpreter APK that is compatible with SL4A.
The Way of Samurai describes how to use the interpreter.jar in your own project to interface with SL4A.
The Way of Zen describes the API in detail.

[...]

And yes, I'm aware that the original question mentions SL4A, but says that that it doesn't provide "exhaustive" access to the platform, which triggers the question for me, what access does he want? Just tell me one thing that he wants (please not a fully shopping list), just have him pick one item, and I'll show him how he can add it to the the Scripting Layer for Android himself.

And yes, I do realize that's really not the original question that he was asking, and to that, I'd reply that not everyone in life always get what they want. "Basic" may be at the center of his Universe right now, but it's certainly not the de facto language for everyone these days and it would be presumptuous for him to think that his opinion should override everyone else's opinion on the matter. And it would also be presumptuous to think that a big faceless corporation, with so many developers and so many resources, should cater to *his* every individual needs all because it would be so simple and so easy to do for them. I'm afraid that's not how corporations work. Corporations usually have their own agendas and their own whims to cater to.

Normally, I'd say that the parent was being unhelpful, but in this case with the the Scripting Layer 4 Android (SL4A) already having done most of the work for you, it would actually pretty easy to do this. Here are the beginning of their instructions:

Introduction
Part of the SL4A project is to define an API for others to develop new interpreters that SL4A (or any other compatible project) can support. Currently, this standard is for interpreters that can be run as a binary in a separate process. This standard will be extended in the future to also support running JVM based interpreters in process.

The Easy Way is a step-by-step description of how to build an interpreter APK that is compatible with SL4A.
The Way of Samurai describes how to use the interpreter.jar in your own project to interface with SL4A.
The Way of Zen describes the API in detail.

[...]

And yes, I'm aware that the original question mentions SL4A, but says that that it doesn't provide "exhaustive" access to the platform, which triggers the question for me, what access does he want? Just tell me one thing that he wants (please not a fully shopping list), just have him pick one item, and I'll show him how he can add it to the the Scripting Layer for Android himself.

And yes, I do realize that's really not the original question that he was asking, and to that, I'd reply that not everyone in life always get what they want. "Basic" may be at the center of his Universe right now, but it's certainly not the de facto language for everyone these days and it would be presumptuous for him to think that his opinion should override everyone else's opinion on the matter. And it would also be presumptuous to think that a big faceless corporation, with so many developers and so many resources, should cater to *his* every individual needs all because it would be so simple and so easy to do for them. I'm afraid that's not how corporations work. Corporations usually have their own agendas and their own whims to cater to.