Groklaw Summarizes the Lori Drew Verdict
Bootsy Collins writes "Last Wednesday, the Lori Drew 'cyberbullying' case ended in three misdemeanor convictions under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, a 1986 US Federal law intended to address illegally accessing computer systems. The interpretation of the act by the Court to cover violations of website terms of service, a circumstance obviously not considered in the law's formulation and passage, may have profound effects on the intersection of the Internet and US law. Referring to an amicus curiae brief filed by online rights organizations and law professors, PJ at Groklaw breaks down the implications of the decision to support her assertion that 'unless this case is overturned, it is time to get off the Internet completely, because it will have become too risky to use a computer.'"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
November 30th, 2008 - Posted in Uncategorized | | Comments Off
DIY Wrapping Paper Saves Money and Personalizes Your Gifts [DIY]
Unless you had the foresight to stockpile wrapping paper after Christmas last year, you're looking at buying a lot of over priced paper this holiday season. At the business blog Strategize they came up with a cheap solution for wrapping tons of gifts without breaking the bank.
[We used the] basic brown shipping paper that you can purchase in any office supply or paper store. We wound up buying a pretty large roll of it in a 50 weight, but the entire roll was less than $50. The logo is applied with a self-inking rubber stamp that cost us around $25 and was produced in 24 hours by OfficeMax.
$75 for wrapping gifts might seem steep, but they wrapped around 150 gifts with those basic supplies putting their cost per gift wrapped at around fifty cents. They used their company logo as the adornment on the spartan paper, but you can easily substitute your own variety of craft store stamps or markers to the same effect. In an effort to recycle even more this year, I saved the enormous roll of art paper my toddler has been working her way through to be used as colorful wrapping paper. Should I run out, I'll set her to work with more crayons and restock. While you have gift wrapping on the brain, set up a gift wrapping station to speed up your holiday preparations. For other wrapping ideas check out how to Make Your Own Gift Wrap and how to Turn Catalogs Into Gift Wrap. Have you own creative way of wrapping gifts? Share in the comments below.
November 30th, 2008 - Posted in Uncategorized | | Comments Off
DIY Wrapping Paper Saves Money and Personalizes Your Gifts [DIY]
Unless you had the foresight to stockpile wrapping paper after Christmas last year, you're looking at buying a lot of over priced paper this holiday season. At the business blog Strategize they came up with a cheap solution for wrapping tons of gifts without breaking the bank.
[We used the] basic brown shipping paper that you can purchase in any office supply or paper store. We wound up buying a pretty large roll of it in a 50 weight, but the entire roll was less than $50. The logo is applied with a self-inking rubber stamp that cost us around $25 and was produced in 24 hours by OfficeMax.
$75 for wrapping gifts might seem steep, but they wrapped around 150 gifts with those basic supplies putting their cost per gift wrapped at around fifty cents. They used their company logo as the adornment on the spartan paper, but you can easily substitute your own variety of craft store stamps or markers to the same effect. In an effort to recycle even more this year, I saved the enormous roll of art paper my toddler has been working her way through to be used as colorful wrapping paper. Should I run out, I'll set her to work with more crayons and restock. While you have gift wrapping on the brain, set up a gift wrapping station to speed up your holiday preparations. For other wrapping ideas check out how to Make Your Own Gift Wrap and how to Turn Catalogs Into Gift Wrap. Have you own creative way of wrapping gifts? Share in the comments below.
November 30th, 2008 - Posted in Uncategorized | | Comments Off
Atari 2600 stuffed into Game Gear, Sega Nomad seen casting envious glances
[Via technabob]
Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds
Atari 2600 stuffed into Game Gear, Sega Nomad seen casting envious glances originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 30 Nov 2008 17:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsNovember 30th, 2008 - Posted in Uncategorized | | Comments Off
Cartoon: Talking Web
The word on the street this month is speech. (Which makes it the spoken word on the street.) Speech-based iPhone apps are just a throat-clearing for the stream of oratory that IBM says we can expect from computer users within the next five years.
It may finally be time I did something about that compulsive swearing issue, unless I want some seriously skewed search results. But that may only be the beginning.
Sponsor
Just as a lot of us have sore arms, shoulders and necks from using mice and keyboards, we may find unexpected consequences from training our voices to use precise diction, simple sentences and clear directives. For instance, we may all end up sounding like voice-mail systems in real life. ("Darling, will you marry me?" "It sounds like you're asking me to marry you. I can help you with that.")
My biggest fear, though, is that we'll lose something far more precious than the nuance and subtlety of the human voice - and that's the ability to yell at a recalcitrant device with impunity. There's profound satisfaction in telling your computer to go screw itself, without worrying that it might attempt to comply with the instruction.
November 30th, 2008 - Posted in Uncategorized | | Comments Off
Recourse For Poor Customer Service?
eleventypie writes "I am in the Army and currently stationed in Afghanistan. Recently I found myself without a laptop so I decided to build a studio 17 from Dell. I designed/customized my laptop on 2008-09-17 and placed my order, which totaled approximately $1,700. The laptop was built and apparently shipped on 2008-09-28. Given my APO address, I know mail can sometimes take a little while to get here, though 7-10 days is normal. Dell said to give my laptop 6-8 business days and occasionally, it might take as much as 4-6 weeks. So on 2008-11-12 I sent another email to Dell informing them I still had not received my laptop. One person said to give it more time, while another person responded to my message telling me to send my address again and they would send me a replacement. So I sent my address immediately and never got a response. It is now the 30th of November and I still have no laptop and Dell seems to have quit responding to my emails. This is very frustrating being out $1,700 and not having a laptop to talk to my friends and family and do school work. Phone calls aren't easy so calling them is pretty much out of the question. Any advice on what I can or should do at this point to get the computer I ordered or get my money back?"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
November 30th, 2008 - Posted in Uncategorized | | Comments Off
HOW TO: Vote for the Best How To Site
This article is part of the Open Web Awards, an open, international contest for the best websites and services.
It’s pretty simple, really. If you’d like to cast your vote for the best How To site online, simply:
1. Choose your favorite from the nominees below
2. Select that site in the widget’s dropdown menu
3. Enter your email address
4. Click Vote
5. We will send you a confirmation email. Be sure to click the link to verify your vote!
The How-To site with the most votes proceeds to the finals next week. Voting ends at midnight PST tonight. Good luck to all the nominees!
The Contenders
A Full Cup - offers how-tos for those seeking coupons and discounts.
Bright Hub - shares information about how scientific facts evolve into the latest technology.
Bukisa - lets you share your knowledge and then get paid when others access it
Church Media Design - offers tips and tricks for the church media designer in video podcast format.
College-Cram - social learning site that allows students to organize their schoolwork.
eHow - provides video and textual tutorials on hundreds of subject areas.
Howcast - offers professionally made and user generated how-to videos.
Makezine - features thousands of DIY projects for the hands-on enthusiast.
MyTechOpinion - provides product reviews, how-to articles, and technology-specific strategies for real estate professionals.
RepairPal - an in-depth how-to site for car maintenance and automotive repair.
WonderHowTo - a video how-to site.
VOTE NOW: One Vote Per Category Per Day
Now it’s time to vote for your favorite How-To site in the first of two voting rounds. You can vote for one company per day until midnight on November 30th (that’s today!).
Feel free to embed this widget on your own blog or website by clicking the “Grab This” button! For a timeline, rules and information on our 100 blog partners, please visit the Open Web Awards site.
Top Tip For Nominees
You got through? Congratulations! Did you know you can create a custom version of our voting widget above to post to your company blog or website? Just visit the Open Web Awards Widget Creator and check the box to preset a category or company. This means your fans only need to enter an email address to vote - simple!
Start Canvassing for YOUR Candidate!
Want others to vote for your favorite site? Of course you do! Why not leave a comment here and on any of our international partner blogs encouraging other readers to add their support? The more you promote your candidate across these blogs, the more likely it is for your site to proceed to the finals!
OWA Sponsors Love The Web
The Open Web Awards is made possible by our sponsors. By supporting the Open Web Awards, these companies reward and encourage innovative web technologies. We can’t thank them enough for sharing our passion: building great web companies.
Platinum Partner
“PartnerUp brings small business and social networking together to create a community where entrepreneurs find the people, resources and information to grow their businesses.”
Gold Sponsors
“iStockphoto is the world’s leading image market and a revenue-sharing social network. Browse 3.5 million images and videos starting at $1 or become a contributor.”
“With Quintura’s advanced visual-based search and analytics solution, content publishers can increase site usage while creating new ad revenues”
Prize Sponsor
“Infinite and Instant, Zazzle is the only on-demand retail platform for consumers and major brands, offering billions of retail quality, one-of-a-kind products, most of which are produced within 24 hours.”
November 30th, 2008 - Posted in Uncategorized | | Comments Off
DVD Identifier Gives You a Detailed Look at Your Discs [Featured Windows Download]
Windows only: Selecting blank media would seem to be a straight forward affair. You discover a certain brand works great for your purposes so you plan to buy more in the future. Simple! The label wrapped around the spindle of DVDs you just purchased doesn't tell the whole story however. While there are dozens and dozens of DVD brands, there are only a few actual manufacturers. If you're looking for that perfect burn and want to take another step towards becoming a blank-media connoisseur, DVD Identifier will help you dig beneath the labels and find more detailed information about your media. No need to waste burn time if you know the discs are low quality or won't be accepted by a finicky console or DVD player. For an interesting, albeit slightly dated, look at media quality and the varied labels of disc media check out the guide to high quality recordable DVDs. DVD Identifier is freeware, Windows only, and works on CD, DVD, HD DVD, and BLU-RAY media.
November 30th, 2008 - Posted in Uncategorized | | Comments Off
DVD Identifier Gives You a Detailed Look at Your Discs [Featured Windows Download]
Windows only: Selecting blank media would seem to be a straight forward affair. You discover a certain brand works great for your purposes so you plan to buy more in the future. Simple! The label wrapped around the spindle of DVDs you just purchased doesn't tell the whole story however. While there are dozens and dozens of DVD brands, there are only a few actual manufacturers. If you're looking for that perfect burn and want to take another step towards becoming a blank-media connoisseur, DVD Identifier will help you dig beneath the labels and find more detailed information about your media. No need to waste burn time if you know the discs are low quality or won't be accepted by a finicky console or DVD player. For an interesting, albeit slightly dated, look at media quality and the varied labels of disc media check out the guide to high quality recordable DVDs. DVD Identifier is freeware, Windows only, and works on CD, DVD, HD DVD, and BLU-RAY media.
November 30th, 2008 - Posted in Uncategorized | | Comments Off
Trains on the Brain
The holiday season brings back memories of toy trains running under the Christmas tree. My father built a six-foot-long platform for an American Flyer train set that was mine and went under the tree. My younger brother had a square platform for an HO-scale Lionel train and it sat off to the side. Each holiday season, we'd get these train-boards down and set up the track, fitting the sections together to create the oval. We'd unwrap the plastic pieces that made up the model village, and place the styrofoam train tunnel carefully around a bend. Finally, we'd wire the transformer to the track and get the train running along. Of course, we'd crank up the power and see how fast the train would go without it jumping off the tracks. It's a time when you're glad to have younger siblings distributed around the track ready to put the cars back on track. Trains were something to enjoy through the holidays and we'd complain not only that the holiday ended but that it was time to put these trains away.
when I was young growing up in LA, my favorite place to eat was a diner that had sawdust on the floor. What I remember most is that the diner had a train that ran along the u-shaped counter and made a loop back into the kitchen. Sitting at the counter, I wrote down my order and clipped the piece of paper to a boxcar and off it went to the kitchen. Soon, the train returned and stopped in front of me with my plate sitting on top of a flatbed car.
When my own son was young, we set up some trains at Christmas and enjoyed them. I don't know if they occupy the same place in his brain as they do in mine. Video games have meant more to him and honestly, race-car sets were much more fun. Nonetheless, coming upon Christmas again, I want to build a train board and get a train set. I've been looking at what's new in trains, and I see digital command systems. It's a little hard to figure it out. I'm curious how trains and computers (microcontrollers, even) might play together today.
Recently, I was re-reading Steven Levy's book, Hackers, and it begins by telling the story of the MIT Model Railroad Club. There were two groups in the student club -- one that worked on the detailed layouts and the other that worked on the switching. It was the latter that saw the possibilities for using computers to control the trains. It was this group that first defined the hacker ethic and what Levy called the "hands-on" imperative. If you couldn't get your hands on something and take it apart, you could not understand how it works and learn to use it. In those days, computer manufacturers wouldn't have thought that a model train set was an appropriate application for computers, nor could they have imagined that the future of technology would be influenced so much by hackers.
Over the weekend, I visited the Golden State Model Railway Museum in Point Richmond, California. The trains weren't running on the day I visited but I did get to see the different layouts, simulating different California scenes. The museum is a little sleepy, with old men working on the tracks. Frankly, what I imagine going on there is more interesting than what is actually going on. I want more interactivity than what's possible with the large-scale train layouts. I also recall over the years visiting men who had elaborate train yards in their garages. The layouts are meticulous and each one must have taken years to build. I don't necessarily want to the be that kind of person.
Afterwards my wife and I went on a beautiful walk in the Miller-Knox Regional Park across the street from the museum. It's the site of the Ferry Point Terminal, where, in the days before there were bridges over the Bay, trains arrived at this pier. Passengers and cargo were unloaded on to ferries and transported across the bay. Today, Ferry Point is a makeshift fishing pier but the shadowy hulk of train tracks and a rusty crane remain in place.
November 30th, 2008 - Posted in Uncategorized | | Comments Off
