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Latest Slashdot News:• Software (and Appropriate Input Device) For a Toddler? An anonymous reader writes "I have an 18-month-old who loves bright screens (TV and computer) loves loud noises and loves to mash buttons. He targets my laptop with the button-mashing and I sort of hate having to tell him 'no' when he wants to explore a computer. I was wondering if anyone knows of some fun (and maybe educational) age-specific PC software that also comes with an age-appropriate input device. I've seen those big-button devices in retail stores that seem to just hook up to the TV and I've also seen some PC software that requires keyboard/mouse input which does not seem like the right input device for a toddler."  • Brazil Considering Legalizing File Sharing An anonymous reader writes "It looks like Brazil may be the country to watch if you're interested in much more consumer-friendly copyright laws (assuming US diplomatic pressure doesn't interfere). As that country goes through a copyright reform process among the proposals is one that would create fines not just for infringing but also for hindering fair use and the public domain. Also there is a big push underway with widespread support — even from some artists groups — to legalize file sharing in exchange for a small levy (~$1.74/month) on your broadband connection. Of course one reason why Brazil may be doing it this way is because of the massive success the Brazilian musical genre technobrega has had by embracing file sharing as a way to promote new works and making money (often lots of it) through other avenues like live shows."  • Game Publishers Using Stealth P2P Clients An anonymous reader writes "TorrentFreak has shed some light on the dark practice of installing stealth-mode P2P clients during game downloads and using unsuspecting gamers' PCs as 'bandwidth slaves.' The clients operate in the background and largely go unnoticed until problems arise that are caused by overactive uploading/seeding. While the Akamai NetSession Interface and Pando Media Booster are specifically called out there appear to be other offenders as indicated in the comments left by TorrentFreak readers. A publisher called Solid State Networks is putting out a call for an industry-wide 'best practices' effort to promote transparency control and privacy on behalf of gamers who are otherwise being abused for their bandwidth without their consent."  • Winnie-the-Pooh Parodied In Wookie-the-Chew pickens writes "Erik Hayden writes in the Atlantic that children will see endearing portraits of Chewbacca rendered in the style of "Winnie-the-Pooh" in the book of drawings "Wookie the Chew" a tribute to the combined genius of George Lucas A.A.Milne and E.H.Sheppard by artist James Hance released on September 1st. Samples from the book are available at Hance's web site. Hance bases his right to parody Winnie-the-Pooh on Fair Use as parody under which certain uses of copyrighted works which would otherwise be considered infringing are permissible. Interestingly enough the rights to the original Winnie-the-Pooh were the subject of an 18-year feud in which Walt Disney corporation fought off a challenge to its ownership of the rights ending in 2009 when a judge in Los Angeles struck out a claim against Disney lodged by the family of Stephen Slesinger a comic book pioneer who bought the copyright to Pooh in 1930 from the bear's British creator A.A. Milne. Stories of Pooh's adventures were originally created by Milne in the 1920s based on a toy bear owned by the author's son Christopher Robin."  • 2010 May Be the First Year YouTube Turns a Profit eldavojohn writes "Analysts are saying that this year will be the first year YouTube turns a profit. From the New York Times article: 'In the last year the video site has become a significant contributor to the family business at a time when Google which makes more than 90 percent of its revenue from text search ads is seeking a second act. Though Google does not report YouTube's earnings it has hinted that it is hovering near profitability. Analysts say YouTube will bring in around $450 million in revenue this year and earn a profit. Revenue at YouTube has more than doubled each year for the last three years according to the company.' Of course a little over a year ago we were being told that YouTube was losing around $1.65 million each day. Regardless when you pay $1.65 billion for a business you probably don't expect it to take three to four years before you start making your money back."  • VISA Pulls Plug On ePassporte Porn Webmasters tsu doh nimh writes "Credit card giant VISA International has suspended its business with ePassporte an Internet payment system widely used to pay adult Webmasters and a raft of other affiliate programs. A number of adult Webmaster forums are up in arms over the move because many of their funds are now stranded. Visa has been silent on the issue so far but KrebsOnSecurity.com points to an e-mail from ePassporte founder Christopher Mallick saying the unexpected move by Visa wouldn't strand customers indefinitely. Mallick co-directed Middle Men a Paramount film released in August that tells the story of his experience building one of the world's first porn site payment processing firms as well as the Russian mobsters porn stars and FBI agents he ran into along the way. Interestingly the speculation so far is that Visa cut ties with ePassporte due to new anti-money laundering restrictions in the Credit Card Act of 2009 which affects prepaid cards and other payment card instruments that can be reloaded with funds at places other than financial institutions."  • New and Old Experiments Combine To Help the Search For Life On Mars jamie sends in a story about an unexpected finding by the Phoenix Mars Lander which has shed new light on experiments done by the Viking landers back in 1976. The Viking experiments found traces of chlorine compounds that were interpreted to be the result of contamination from cleaning fluids on Earth. In 2008 an experiment done by Phoenix found percholates in the soil which came as a surprise to researchers. After doing tests on similar soil from Chile a new study has found that those percholates paired with organic molecules could very well be the source of the chlorine compounds detected by Viking. While this is not direct evidence for life on Mars the fact that complex organic compounds can apparently persist in the Martian soil gives researchers a new avenue to pursue while looking for that evidence.  • NVIDIA Announces New Line of Fermi-Based Mobile Chips MojoKid writes "NVIDIA has announced an entire line-up of Fermi-based GeForce GT and GTX 400M mobile GPUs seven in total and revealed a number of notebook design wins from major OEMs. Like their desktop-targeted counterparts the mobile GeForce GT and GTX 400M series GPUs make use of technology from NVIDIA's desktop architecture which debuted in the GF100 GPU at the heart of the company's flagship GeForce GTX 480. GeForce GT and GTX 400M series GPUs are DirectX 11 compatible and support all of NVIDIA's 'Graphics Plus' features including PhysX 3D Vision CUDA Verde drivers 3DTV Play and Optimus dynamic switching technology. The GeForce GTX 470M and GTX 460M are the most powerful of the group and target enthusiasts and gamers while the GeForce GT 445M GT 435M GT 425M GT 420M and GT 415M target performance-conscious but more mainstream consumers."  • Where Does Dell Go After Losing 3Par? crimeandpunishment writes "It was the big deal Dell wanted in a big way. But now that it has lost out to Hewlett-Packard in the bidding war it started for 3Par where does Dell go in its effort to diversify its business and move into the higher-profit area of selling technology to other companies? The company faces significant challenges largely due to its lower-end focus and because many of its competitors beat Dell into branching out. One analyst says 'People see [Dell] as box-pushers'."  • Anti-Google Video Runs In Times Square Hugh Pickens writes "The NY Times reports that Consumer Watchdog is running a 540-square-foot video billboard advertisement in Times Square New York that shows Google CEO Eric Schmidt as an ingratiating ice cream truck driver who knows everything about everyone and happily offers free ice cream in exchange for full body scans. The group says its goal is to push Congress and the Federal Trade Commission to create a Do Not Track Me list similar to the Do Not Call list developed to prevent telemarketers from aggressively calling consumers. 'Do you want Google or any other online company looking over your shoulder and tracking your every move online just so it can increase its profits?' writes the group's president Jamie Curtis at the group's web site. 'Consumers have a right to privacy. They should control how their information is gathered and what it is used for.' The FTC's consumer affairs group had no comment on whether the agency is considering creating a Do Not Track Me list."  Philly Business:• N.H. jury deliberates case on Phila. firm’s drug CONCORD N.H. - A New Hampshire woman is seeking more than $24 million in damages from the Philadelphia-based maker of a prescription drug she took to ease shoulder pain but that caused a reaction so severe that she is now blind and scarred by internal and external burns. >> read more or comment • Federal grant OK’d for STEM map The Delaware Valley Industrial Resource Center Philadelphia has received a $300000 National Science Foundation grant to explore development of a digital map showing where the region's STEM (science technology engineering and math) operations are located and what each does. >> read more or comment • Campbell reports Q4 profit rise on better margins Summer is rarely a hot sales season for Campbell Soup Co. and this year's sweltering June and July made that even more true but the company said Friday that cost-cutting and strong drink sales helped its net income climb. >> read more or comment • Pa. Senate GOP writes Marcellus Shale tax bill State Senate Republicans have begun drafting legislation for a sweeping overhaul of Pennsylvania's oil and gas law that includes proposals for a new tax on the extraction of natural gas from the Marcellus Shale formation and limitations on municipal zoning that affects drilling. >> read more or comment • McCord brief reiterates gaming meetings stand Pennsylvania State Treasurer Rob McCord filed a brief in his lawsuit against the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board today. >> read more or comment • PBF not talking on reports of Paulsboro deal A spokesman for PBF Energy Partners L.P. said that it is interested in buying oil refineries in North America but would not comment on wire service reports that it is in talks to buy Valero Energy Corp.'s refinery in Paulsboro. >> read more or comment • Jobless rate inches up to 9.6% The nation's unemployment rate inched up slightly to 9.6 percent in August as public and private employers for the third straight month laid off more people than they hired the Department of Labor reported this morning. >> read more or comment • Campbell’s non-soup sales help even out 4Q revenues Soup sales for Campbell Soup Co. fell 5 percent in the fourth quarter in a tough economy the Camden company reported today. >> read more or comment • Fired N.J. education commissioner wants apology A week after he was fired New Jersey's former education commissioner said he isn't considering taking legal action over his termination. >> read more or comment • QVC refinances credit facility QVC has refinanced its credit facility with a new revolving line of credit of as much as $2 billion. >> read more or comment • From cars to coke: Sunoco hires former GM CEO Sunoco Inc. has hired former General Motors Co. chief executive Frederick A. "Fritz" Henderson to lead its SunCoke subsidiary which the Philadelphia refiner is spinning off next year. >> read more or comment • Pa. and N.J. are in the top 10 of closing costs a survey says. It's something few buyers appear to include when calculating the price of homeownership but closing costs sometimes can be the tipping point in a sale. >> read more or comment • SugarHouse adds finishing touches before opening Sept. 23 It is not faint praise to say that the most striking aspect of the interior of the soon-to-open SugarHouse Casino is the spectacularly inventive use of the exceedingly tight 45000 square feet. >> read more or comment • Dean of Northwestern's medical school the new chief at Penn's J. Larry Jameson dean of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago was named Thursday as the next dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and head of the Penn health system. >> read more or comment • New dean named for Penn’s med school J. Larry Jameson a prominent molecular endocrinologist and dean Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine today was named to become dean of the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine and executive vice president of the Penn health system next year. When he assumes his new positions next year Jameson 56 will oversee the enterprise known as Penn Medicine which encompasses the medical school – ranked second in research by U.S. News and World Report – and the three-hospital University of Pennsylvania Health System. The health system’s chief executive Ralph Muller will report to Jameson. >> read more or comment • PhillyInc: Philadelphia near the bottom in Allstate's rankings of safe-driver cities Here's why Philadelphia and not Fort Collins Colo. is the setting for not one but two cable-television series that revolve around driving in the city: >> read more or comment • Business news in brief >> read more or comment • Discounts spur retail sales gains NEW YORK - This year's back-to-school season isn't turning out to be as big a bust for retailers as they feared - or as last year's was - but it's not great either. >> read more or comment • Harry Gross: Want that judgment $? Get tough Dear Harry: How does one recoup money from a person who will not pay it back? I entered into a written agreement with a "grant writer" back in November 2008. After a year without any kind of progress report or retuned phone calls I contacted he >> read more or comment Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce:• PCVB Update for Chamber Members >> read more or comment • NBC News’ David Gregory to Speak at 210th Annual Meeting >> read more or comment • GPCC to Increase Community Relations Efforts with New Public Affairs Position >> read more or comment • Social Media Expert Provides Valuable Tips for Chamber Members >> read more or comment • Chamber Members – Bring it Home! >> read more or comment • YPN Presents its Annual Volunteer of the Year Award >> read more or comment • Business Community Provides Paid Summer Internships to Philadelphia Youth >> read more or comment • Business Alliance for Northeast Mobility Supports Increased Funding for Amtrak >> read more or comment • Cultivating a Creative Workforce Robert Redford .]]> >> read more or comment • Rob Wonderling Thanks GPCC Members for Outstanding Program Year Rob Wonderling thanks our members and sponsors for a successful and robust 2009-2010 program year.]]> >> read more or comment Philadelphia Tech News:• Tech Stocks Join In Broad Market Rally Tech Stocks Join In Broad Market Rally read more >> • Tech Stocks: Take-Two gains highlight tech sector's advance Tech stocks take to the high ground in recent activity rising along with the broad market as investors get in a positive mood following a better-than-expected payrolls report and video game publisher Take-Two Interactive Inc. reports upbeat earnings. read more >> • TECH STOCKS: Tech Stocks Close With Gains; H-P Wins 3Par Fight TECH STOCKS: Tech Stocks Close With Gains; H-P Wins 3Par Fight read more >> • TECH STOCKS: Apple's Rise Highlights Broad Tech Gains TECH STOCKS: Apple's Rise Highlights Broad Tech Gains read more >> • State briefs: SEPTA putting hybrid tech to use in subway PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The transit agency serving the Philadelphia area is planning to put hybrid technology to use on its subway cars. read more >> • TECH STOCKS: Tech Stocks Muddle Through Another Mixed Session TECH STOCKS: Tech Stocks Muddle Through Another Mixed Session read more >> • TECH STOCKS: Chip-stock Losses Lead Weak Month For Techs TECH STOCKS: Chip-stock Losses Lead Weak Month For Techs read more >> • Texas Tech University Names TeamFanShop Official Partner to Power Online Store Texas Tech University selects TeamFanShop to operate all aspects of their new official Red Raiders online store. read more >> • Tech Stocks: Chip-stock losses lead weak month for techs Tech stocks end August on a lackluster note Tuesday as sector ends down for the day and down for the month. read more >> • Gaming: College Pigskin Prognostications Philadelphia PA (Sports Network) - After months of waiting the 2010 college football season is ready to kick off its first barrage of Saturday games and with that comes the unveiling of my inaugural Top 12 followed by each club's power ratings. read more >> << Next Page >> |
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