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User: SternisheFan

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  1. Re:Probably.... on What's Next For Smartphone Innovation · · Score: 1

    What do you think will be the next generation of killer features for smartphones?

    Probably biofeedback sensors that can transmit as well as receive. That way, not only can your smart phone monitor your heart rate, it can send a pulse to stop it, too. That would definitely be a killer feature.

    That's what de-fibrillators actually do when your heart rythm goes bad, de-fibs send an impulse that stops the heart, essentially killing you. Then, in most cases, the heart resets itself, and beats normally.

    For my phone, an FM radio and IR programmable remote control, 2 features some models had and you don't see anymore. Why??

  2. Re:Dear God on Scientists Are Cracking the Primordial Soup Mystery · · Score: 2
    Au contraire, mon frere. I've had story submissions accepted (IANAWriter) and the editors here always fleshed it out and fixed it, making it palatable for the front page. (Thanks to Soulskill for fixing my latest)

    Typos happen in all media, even The New York Times. I assume that the eds are busy ''behind the scenes", like setting up upcoming stories, formatting comments (who knows?) and 'shit happens' sometimes, the 'shit' gets fixed. It's a great tech info site, and I've learned a lot reading here over the years. The editors here care about the site, and don't always get the applause they deserve, that's part of the job, I guess.

  3. Re:e-books and such on Ask Slashdot: What Should Happen To Your Data After You Die? · · Score: 1
    I've heard that music bought from Apple is drm'd, but burning them to disc then copying them from disc removes the drm. As for movies and books there are programs that available to remove drm from them, otherwise you can't pass them on to family or friends. You don't really 'own' them, you lease them.

    Some celebrity once challenged Apple for the right to pass on his Apple bought mp3 collection after his death, and learned that his account is non-transferable.

  4. Re:Apropos on Ask Slashdot: What Should Happen To Your Data After You Die? · · Score: 1

    Best, most important Slashdot thread ever, IMO. Cool.

  5. Re:PC not offering the best experience on Why PC Sales Are Declining · · Score: 0

    I bought a $100 tablet (Arnova 7G3) (after my $400 laptop got water in it, would've cost $400 to fix!), with HDMI out, a 32gb microsdcard for storage, and some 64gb flashdrives for backup. I've come to realize that I don't 'need' a lap or desktop. With my light game playing, internet use, video/youtubing the tablet does all I used to use a computer for. Someday I'll get another computer, but now I'm in no rush for one.

  6. Re:What office apps do you use? on MS Office Tablet Delay Gives Google a Real Chance, and Not Just Google Apps · · Score: 1

    Like this man said, "Kingsoft Office", available in Google's PlayStore.

  7. Re:Edge of space? on Swedish Engineer's RC Plane Gets a Balloon Lift To Space · · Score: 1

    Thanks. I wasn't sure if it was a wide lens effect or not. I saw that the 'curve' kept changing as the video played.

  8. Headline I'd like to see... on North Korean Missile Raised To Firing Position, Says US Official · · Score: 4, Funny

    In what experts are calling "the ultimate cry for attention", North Korea leader Kim Jung-Un blew himself up with his own nucleur weapons today. In an ironic twist, the missiles homed in on the largest Korean target available. Upon hearing this news Mrs. Un, who had been ordered to love Kim Jung with all of her heart, celebrated by feeding her people.

  9. Re:Edge of space? on Swedish Engineer's RC Plane Gets a Balloon Lift To Space · · Score: 1

    Please excuse my in-exactness (I was born American, still not a good excuse). High enough to have the Earth's curvature clearly defined. Now seems like a great time for RC projects. Crashing one today doesn't mean you're out of thousands of dollars pfft like that.

  10. Re:Edge of space? on Swedish Engineer's RC Plane Gets a Balloon Lift To Space · · Score: 2
    Makes what we did as kids with Estes rockets seem rather dull and mundane. Shoot rocket, hope parachute deploys. Chute didn't deploy? Save paper route money up for next rocket.

    That is a real neat project. And the video captured from 30,000+ feet is damn clear.

  11. Re:The Solution: Burnnote.com on EFF Urges Court To Protect Privacy of Text Messages · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Nothing would stop someone from snapping a pic of the screen with the text displayed, and it would live on that way. Just saying.

  12. Re:Holy Inaccurate Summary, Batman! on Competitors Complain To EC That Free Android Is a 'Trojan Horse' · · Score: 1

    Not yet, there is "Kingsoft Office", which keeps improving with each new update.

    While improving with each update is good (Microsoft ME, Vista, etc...) in principle, it doesn't necessarily make Kingsoft Office usable or worth considering. What is the current status of the suite, how often are updates released, are the improvements noticeable, etc, and so on?

    It was last updated on March 8, 2013. 47,000 users give it 5/5 stars, with hardly any negative comments. It's free, compact (less than 5 mb), seems to be the best office suite available for Android, though I personally haven't explored it in depth yet. :-)

  13. Re:Ok..So verizon has shown they cant be trusted.. on FBI's Smartphone Surveillance Tool Explained In Court Battle · · Score: 1

    Whether it's Verizon, or any company that markets any device in the U.S., I imagine part of the vetting process before it can be sold here is that govt. agencies have their backdoors already in them. If it's a device with any type of antenna you have to figure it's sold pre-compromised. Welcome to our brave new world.

  14. Re:Supply Chain Attack on FBI's Smartphone Surveillance Tool Explained In Court Battle · · Score: 1

    I always face my webcams and Kinect towards the wall when not in use, so I guess I subscribe to your particular brand of paranoia. I suppose they can still watch me when the Kinect is in use, but if they really find me playing Angry Birds in the buff that exciting who am I to deprive them of their entertainment?

    What about the microphone in the Kinect?

    1) Double up a piece of black electrical tape (so it's not 'sticky') then scotch tape it over the lens (scotch tape being less 'sticky) so you can remove/apply it as needed. Same for the mike hole. If you are still unsure, unplug the internet completely. I do this mainly to keep the camera lens on my phones/ devices unscratched, still, a 'little' paranoia is okay too.

    2) Live as clean a life as possible.

  15. Re:Holy Inaccurate Summary, Batman! on Competitors Complain To EC That Free Android Is a 'Trojan Horse' · · Score: 2

    There's Microsoft Office for Android now?

    Not yet, there is "Kingsoft Office", which keeps improving with each new update.

  16. So, 'free' is bad? on Competitors Complain To EC That Free Android Is a 'Trojan Horse' · · Score: 5, Insightful
    From the article: The FairSearch complaint boils down to Google using Android as a ‘Trojan Horse’ to sign up advertising partners, monopolise the mobile market and control user data by letting mobile hardware manufacturers use its operating system free of charge.

    The group is concerned that as the online advertising market shifts increasingly to mobile platforms with the rise in smartphones and tablets, Google is giving itself an unfair head start.

    “Google achieved its dominance in the smartphone operating system market by giving Android to device-makers for ‘free’. But in reality, Android phone makers who want to include must-have Google apps such as Maps, YouTube or Play are required to pre-load an entire suite of Google mobile services and to give them prominent default placement on the phone,” the group argued.

    “This disadvantages other providers, and puts Google’s Android in control of consumer data on a majority of smartphones shipped today. Google’s predatory distribution of Android at below-cost makes it difficult for other providers of operating systems to recoup investments in competing with Google’s dominant mobile platform.”

    So, this is 'wrong' because Google doesn't charge for their OS? Man, MS is getting blatantly desperate sounding. Make an OS that people will want to use, then you might even get them to buy it!

  17. Re:Probably spot on ruling on Should California Have Banned Checking Smartphone Maps While Driving? · · Score: 1
    One goofy distracted driver story was of a woman who was driving while her passenger boyfriend was shaving her 'bikini area' when they both got so distracted that she rear-ends a stopped truck.

    http://hiphopwired.com/2010/03/08/woman-arrested-for-crashing-car-while-shaving-private-parts/

  18. Re:good idea on Should California Have Banned Checking Smartphone Maps While Driving? · · Score: 2
    Some years ago an insurance company mounted cameras in cars to monitor the drivers habits while driving leading to a lot of video footage leading up to accidents. They found that an accident happened when the driver was distracted and not looking at the road for (on average) 2 seconds. That's it, 2 seconds of not looking where they were going then WHAM! The distractions were fumbling for something dropped, like a lit cigarette or a compact disc, tuning the radio, engaged in a phone conversation, etc.

    The brain can multi-task 4 things at any one time, and driving takes up almost all of the brain's multi-tasking ability. Adding one more distraction is asking for an accident. I've driven taxis with Garmin gps units, and learned to just do a quick-glance at the screen for when the next upcoming turn would be. Forget texting while driving, that's just asking for an accident to happen.

  19. Re:Come on morons... on British Library To Archive One Billion UK Websites · · Score: 1
    I mean the 'BBC article, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-22028738 ... I noticed that they're such polite postings made by the British people, out of the 88 comments, only 2 were moderated out.

    Wandalust1956 5th April 2013 - 10:01

    This is just, in essence, the 21st Century equivilant of the Mass Observation project that started in the 1930's and included the diary of a housewife from Cumbria during the 2nd World War...which was turned into a TV play by Victoria Wood. http://www.massobs.org.uk/index.htm As long as the content is "relevant" to current affairs then it could be a cultural insight to life in the 21st Century.

  20. Re:Come on morons... on British Library To Archive One Billion UK Websites · · Score: 2

    One of the comments from the CNN story was, "The UK web archive is actually using archive.org's software. The point it that archive.org has only got so much money, and only archives a percentage of the web. Having the BL support this is a good thing."

  21. Re:Data Storage on British Library To Archive One Billion UK Websites · · Score: 2

    How are they going to store the data?

    They'll use the "Cloud".

    ..., Oh, wait...

  22. Re: Apple is just another Electronics Company on German Court Finds Apple's 'Slide To Unlock' Patent Invalid · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Apple phones are already almost water proof. There are videos of people putting them in tanks of water and they remain on the entire time. Google it.

    For about $80 you can have any phone get a 'completely waterproof' coating applied to it, warrantied for 2 years, not just water-resistant.

    I'm not an Apple hater, I've always thought they are amazing devices, but they just aren't the cutting edge leader in phone tech they once were. Attempting to keep their lead, Apple has been trying to kill the encroaching competition through frivolous patent lawsuits, and not doing too well at it. They should have innovated new killer tech instead of just treading water.

    The iPhone popularized touchpad input, and that gave them the needed edge to become the leader in smartphones, they were the coolest phone then. That was a decade ago, and Apple just doesn't have that exclusiveness anymore. Android devices have caught up and in many ways surpassed iPhones. Apple continues on now based solely on customer loyalty.

    Over a year ago I opted for the Android system due to its being less costly up front. Having been immersed in smartphone culture since, I've realized that smartphones are portable computers with internet/ bluetooth connectivity, that also have phone 'apps'. And an iPhone is basically an app player, with an alternate OS. They haven't come out with anything new that sets it apart from the competition. Unless the next iPhone has something the others don't, then Apple's had it's time in the sun.

  23. Apple win on 'Text Selection' on German Court Finds Apple's 'Slide To Unlock' Patent Invalid · · Score: 4, Informative
    From Reuters:

    Samsung Electronics Co Ltd infringed a key portion of an Apple Inc patent by including a text-selection feature in its smartphones and tablets, an International Trade Commission judge said in a preliminary decision.

    South Korean-based Samsung did not infringe portions of a second Apple patent that allows a device to detect if a microphone or other device is plugged into its microphone jack, the judge said in a decision that was issued on March 26 but kept confidential until late Thursday to allow the companies to redact sensitive business information.

    The full commission must now decide if they will uphold it or overturn the judge's decision. A final decision is expected in August.

    If it is upheld, the ITC can order any infringing device to be barred from importation into the United States. Apple has alleged that Samsung's Galaxy, Transform and Nexus devices, among others, were among those made with the infringing technology. Apple had filed a complaint in mid-2011, accusing Samsung of infringing its patents in making a wide range of smartphones and tablet.

    ITC Judge Thomas Pender said in a preliminary decision in October that Samsung infringed four Apple patents but did not violate two others listed in the complaint. There had been seven listed initially, but one was dropped during litigation. The full commission then said it wanted the agency's judge to take a second look at portions of two patents where he had found that Samsung infringed. That remanded decision, issued in late March, was unsealed on Thursday.

    Samsung is the world's largest smartphone maker, while Apple is in second place, according to Gartner Inc, a technology research firm. Apple is waging war on several fronts against Google Inc, whose Android software powers many Samsung devices. The legal battles between Apple and Samsung have taken place in some 10 countries as they vie for market share in the booming mobile industry.

    Google's Android software, which Apple's late founder Steve Jobs denounced as a "stolen product," has become the world's No. 1 smartphone operating system. Apple's battle against Google's Android software has dragged in hardware vendors that use it, including Samsung and HTC. Samsung is also a parts supplier to Apple, producing micro processors, flat screens and memory chips for the iPhone, iPad and iPod. Apple has reduced orders from Samsung for chips and screens. The case at the International Trade Commission is No. 337-796

    http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/04/05/us-apple-samsung-patent-idUSBRE9340NI20130405

    http://thedroidguy.com/2013/04/the-never-ending-samsung-vs-apple-infringement-case/

  24. Re:sounds overly optimistic on German Scientists' Visible Light Network Hits 3Gbps · · Score: 1

    thanks, I had confused 'room lights' with 'standard LEDs', I guess. :^\

  25. Re:Skype is broken on New Skype Malware Uses Victims' Machines To Mine Bitcoins · · Score: 0
    I've a relative who works for the DOJ, and they refuse to use Skype to videochat, citing security reasons.

    Good to see how secure bitcoins are though. (cough, cough)