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+ - Faith-Based Intellectual Property

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A new article by Mark Lemley (a law professor at Stanford) makes the case that today's intellectual property law is based on quasi-religious beliefs rather than factual data. From the abstract: "The traditional justification for intellectual property (IP) rights has been utilitarian. We grant exclusive rights because we think the world will be a better place as a result. But what evidence we have doesn’t justify IP rights. Rather than following the evidence and questioning strong IP rights, more and more scholars have begun to retreat from evidence toward what I call faith-based IP, justifying IP as a moral end in itself rather than on the basis of how it affects the world. I argue that these moral claims are ultimately unpersuasive and a step backward in a rational society." It's a very interesting read free from legal jargon, but citing a lot of studies about what is actually known of the effects of intellectual property laws on creative production.

+ - Seed from ancient extinct plant planted and brought back to life

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Israeli scientists have successfully gotten a 2000-year-old seed of an extinct date plant to grow and now reproduce.

Methuselah sprouted back in 2005, when agriculture expert Solowey germinated his antique seed. It had been pulled from the remains of Masada, an ancient fortification perched on a rock plateau in southern Israel, and at the time, no one could be sure that the plant would thrive. But he has, and his recent reproductive feat helps prove just how well he’s doing.

For a while, the Judean date palm was the sole representative of his kind: Methuselah’s variety was reportedly wiped out around 500 A.D. But Solowey has continued to grow date palms from ancient seeds discovered in the region, and she tells National Geographic that she is “trying to figure out how to plant an ancient date grove.” Doing so would allow researchers to better understand exactly what earlier peoples of the region were eating and how it tasted.

+ - MuseScore 2.0 Released->

Submitted by rDouglass
rDouglass writes: MuseScore, the open source desktop application for music notation, has released MuseScore 2.0 for Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows. This release represents the culmination of four years of development, including technical contributions from over 400 people. In addition to a completely new UI, top features include linked parts (good for pieces with many instruments), guitar tablature, flexible chord symbols, and fret diagrams. The program integrates directly with the online library of scores, and music written with the application can be displayed and played using the MuseScore mobile app.
Link to Original Source

Comment: Re:Two options (Score 1) 466

by Erioll (#49143543) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Old PC File Transfer Problem
I agree, find SOME way to get that onto a local network, and that will be BY FAR the easiest way to do things. Maybe dig up an old ISA 10Mbps card on Ebay or something, as the original poster suggested if you can't find a suitable PCMCIA card.

And combining with something said above, it's not difficult to find a usb->serial port device/cable (it's not just pin-out, so it's a device, not merely a cable). Pretty cheap. Same with a null-modem cable. Both together should run you in the range of $20-$40 or less. Then hook it directly up to whatever computer you want that has a USB cable, and get a terminal emulator (plenty available) and transfer.

It CAN be done, but I'm with the parent that windows file sharing via ethernet is going to be the fastest by far.

Comment: Re: Maybe Putin could help (Score 1) 155

by Erioll (#48538225) Attached to: Romanian Officials Say Russia Finances European Fracking Protests
From the link:

Small earthquakes keep big ones from happening. Each magnitude level represents about 31.6 times more energy released. It takes 32 magnitude 3s to equal the energy released in a magnitude 4, 1,000 magnitude 3s to equal a magnitude 5 and a billion magnitude 3s to equal a single magnitude 9. So while a small quake may temporarily ease stress on a fault line, it does not prevent a large temblor.

This basically says "no effect either way" from my non-expert reading of it. Also, small quakes cause no damage. If fracking causes damaging quakes, then that's an issue. It's like saying "that wind from the desk fan is damaging me, like a hurricane would!" Umm, no it isn't. If it doesn't hit the threshold, you're being an idiot.

+ - Why Microsoft skipped Windows 9

Submitted by Bizzeh
Bizzeh writes: Microsoft may not be everybody's favorite company, but they are the kings of backwards compatibility. When testing what was Windows 9 (and is now Windows 10). It seems like they came across some compatibility issues from the Windows 9x days. Mentioned by Mikko Hypponen on twitter (, quite a lot of products test the version string with "indexOf("windows 9")". Using searchcode, we can see what he means.

+ - Forest Service clamps down on free speech

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: The U.S. Forest Service has instituted rules requiring journalists to get a permit before they can take pictures or videos on federal land. The Bill of Rights is such an inconvenient thing.

Under rules being finalized in November, a reporter who met a biologist, wildlife advocate or whistleblower alleging neglect in any of the nation’s 100 million acres of wilderness would first need special approval to shoot photos or videos even on an iPhone. Permits cost up to $1,500, says Forest Service spokesman Larry Chambers, and reporters who don’t get a permit could face fines up to $1,000.

First Amendment advocates say the rules ignore press freedoms and are so vague they’d allow the Forest Service to grant permits only to favored reporters shooting videos for positive stories.

The fascist nature of these new rules is revealed by this quote near the end of the article:

[T]he Forest Service is giving its supervisors discretion to decide whether a news outlet’s planned video or photo shoots would meet the Wilderness Act’s goals. “If you were engaged on reporting that was in support of wilderness characteristics, that would be permitted,” [said Liz Close, the Forest Service's acting wilderness director].

But if you are reporting on something the Forest Service disagrees with they obviously believe they have the right to deny you a permit to film or videotape.

+ - Microsoft goes cross-platform with a universal keyboard for Android and iOS

Submitted by DroidJason1
DroidJason1 writes: Microsoft has released a new keyboard that is designed to work with all of your devices. The Universal Mobile Keyboard, as Microsoft calls it, works on Android, iPad, iPhone, and Windows. Microsoft is taking the "one experience for everything in your life" mantra quite seriously. The keyboard connects to devices via Bluetooth, and works with Windows 8 and higher; Windows RT; Apple iOS 6 and higher; and Android 4 or higher. It features an OS switch that lets you change from one operating system to another while maintaining a fully functional keyboard. The keyboard cover has an integrated stand that can easily be detached too. The keyboard hits retail in October for $79.95.

+ - World's First 3D Printed Castle is Now Complete - On to Printing a House Next->

Submitted by ErnieKey
ErnieKey writes: A Minnesota man, named Andrey Rudenko has officially finished 3D printing a castle in Minnesota. It is constructed using a 3d printer that extrudes a concrete mixture in 10mm high layers. The project took a couple months to complete, and the results turned out quite incredible. The castle's turrets were printed separately, and it took 7 adult men to lift them and put them on top. With his method now proven, Rudenko now plans to 3D print an entire 2-story home, in one piece, including the roof.
Link to Original Source

+ - So, what are THE BEST games to have in your collection? 3

Submitted by SternisheFan
SternisheFan writes: I am not a 'gamer', per se. What I grew up on was 'old school' arcade/atari/arcade type games. What my question is...,

What are THE VERY BEST games to own? And it does not matter what console/system/phone based games you own. My question is...

"What are the very best games to have in your collection?"

+ - A Box of Forgotten Smallpox Vials Was Just Found in an FDA Closet

Submitted by Jason Koebler
Jason Koebler writes: The last remaining strains of smallpox are kept in highly protected government laboratories in Russia and at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. And, apparently, in a dusty cardboard box in an old storage room in Maryland.
The CDC said today that government workers had found six freeze-dried vials of the Variola virus, which causes smallpox, in a storage room at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland last week. Each test tube had a label on it that said "variola," which was a tip-off, but the agency did genetic testing to confirm that the viruses were, in fact, smallpox.

+ - Asheron's Call to end active development, Turbine to release server software->

Submitted by _KiTA_
_KiTA_ writes: Asheron's Call, one of the longest running modern era MMOs at 15 years, will have one final monthly update on March 4th, whereupon the game (alongside Asheron's Call 2) will be placed in Mothball — going free to play for existing accounts, with only bugfix and balance updates to be expected.

However, at the same time, Turbine's going out with a bang — adding a Disgaea-like character reincarnation system, LOTRO style evolving weapons, and a fanservice-filled bonus dungeon for the remaining (and returning) faithful players.

Oh, and they're planning on releasing the game's servers, client, utilities, and art assets for free. Similar to how Ultima Online spawned a host of unofficial and technically illegal 3rd party servers, Turbine is going to officially allow 3rd party servers now that the game is being retired. There are also increasing rumors that Turbine might be working on an Asheron's Call 3 or AC Reboot, as well.

Link to Original Source
