judamasmas s-tumblrs

Has Google Killed RSS?

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 17:31:19 +0200

from Social Media Today - The world’s best thinkers on social media by Mike Allton

Industry observers have been saying for years that RSS is dead or dying. And yet, strangely, we still use RSS to disseminate and aggregate content today. The problem, what has everyone on Twitter and Google+ flummoxed, is that Google Reader, the undisputed King of RSS tools, is being shut down.

Publisher Sues University Librarian Over His Personal Blog Posts

Mon, 18 Feb 2013 15:14:40 +0200

Publisher Sues University Librarian Over His Personal Blog Posts:

from Slashdot by samzenpus

McGruber writes “The Chronicle of Higher Education has the news that Herbert Richardson, founder of Edwin Mellen Press is suing McMaster University and University Librarian Dale Askey for $3 Million over Mr. Askey’s posts on a personal blog. In 2010 Mr. Askey wrote a blog post about Edwin Mellen Press on his personal Web site, Bibliobrary. Mr. Askey referred to the publisher as ‘dubious’ and said its books were often works of ‘second-class scholarship.’ For a few months afterward, several people chimed in in the blog’s comments section, some agreeing with Mr. Askey, others arguing in support of the publisher. In a February 11 statement, the McMaster University Faculty Association (MUFA) stated that The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) ‘and the MUFA Executive agree that this case represents a serious threat to the freedom of academic librarians (pdf) to voice their professional judgement and to academic freedom more generally.’”

Scientists Claim They've Built a Computer That Never Crashes

Sun, 17 Feb 2013 00:25:47 +0200

Scientists Claim They've Built a Computer That Never Crashes:

from Gizmodo by Jamie Condliffe

A crashing computer is at best annoying and at worst catastrophic. But now a team of scientists has developed a new type of computer that never crashes—and it relies on chaos and randomness to achieve the feat. More »

Inhibiendo la democracia

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 14:23:04 +0200

Inhibiendo la democracia:

from El Blog de Enrique Dans by Enrique Dans

Esta mañana tuvo lugar la comparecencia de Mario Draghi en el Congreso de los Diputados (El Mundo, El País, 20Minutos). El presidente del Banco Central Europeo comparecía a puerta cerrada, cuestión que algunos diputados, cargados de razón, consideraron completamente inaceptable.

Take me with you!

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 13:33:20 +0200

Take me with you!

kurobaralice: Maniac. It has been a while since I did a propper...

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 13:32:03 +0200

kurobaralice:

Maniac.

It has been a while since I did a propper digital illustration, so I wanted to see how rusty I am…
Wanted to do something colorful with a 80’s feeling since I’m kind of hung into “Maniac” from Flash dance

Swedish School Makes Minecraft Lessons Compulsory

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 23:11:54 +0200

Swedish School Makes Minecraft Lessons Compulsory:

from Slashdot by samzenpus

SchrodingerZ writes “The Viktor Rydberg school in Stockholm, Sweden, has announced that they have included Minecraft into the curriculum for their 13-year-old students. The program is not meant to teach children about math or language, but rather as a tool to inspire creativity in the classroom. ‘They learn about city planning, environmental issues, getting things done, and even how to plan for the future,’ Viktor Rydberg teacher Monica Ekman told English-language newspaper The Local. ‘It’s not any different from arts or woodcraft,’ she added.”

Castlevania Fan Film Is 146 Minutes Long. Oh, And It's Made Of LEGO.

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 17:18:55 +0200

Castlevania Fan Film Is 146 Minutes Long. Oh, And It's Made Of LEGO.:

from Kotaku by Luke Plunkett

Castlevania Fan Film Is 146 Minutes Long. Oh, And It's Made Of LEGO." height="360" src="http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/18bmcdz0u5ojdjpg/original.jpg" title="Click here to read Castlevania Fan Film Is 146 Minutes Long. Oh, And It's Made Of LEGO." width="640"/>

It’s taken seven years of work, but three brothers from Finland have finally completed what must surely be their life’s work: KastleVania 4, an epic feature-length film based on Konami’s Castlevania series. More »

Anonymous Attacks Department Of Justice Website and Threatens Worse Over Aaron Swartz's Suicide

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 17:01:30 +0200

Anonymous Attacks Department Of Justice Website and Threatens Worse Over Aaron Swartz's Suicide:

from Gizmodo by Eric Limer

Since Aaron Swartz’s suicide two weeks ago—an incident largely blamed on the charges being levied against him—the ‘net has been grieving. And Anonymous has been doing that in its own special way: tearing shit up. In the latest of several attacks, they took down the U.S. Justice Department’s Sentencing Commission site and left behind a video threatening more cyber-carnage. More »

Aaron Swartz Case: Deja Vu All Over Again For MIT

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 17:00:12 +0200

Aaron Swartz Case: Deja Vu All Over Again For MIT:

from Slashdot by timothy

theodp writes “On Saturday, questions for MIT’s Aaron Swartz investigation were posted on Slashdot with the hope that MIT’ers might repost some to the MIT Swartz Review site. So it’s good to see that MIT’s Hal Abelson, who is leading the analysis of MIT’s involvement in the matter, is apparently open to this workaround to the ban on questions from outsiders. In fact, on Sunday Abelson himself reposted an interesting question posed by Boston College Law School Prof. Sharon Beckman: ‘What, if anything, did MIT learn from its involvement in the federal prosecution of its student David LaMacchia back in 1994?’ Not much, it would appear. LaMacchia, an apparent student of Abelson’s whose defense team included Beckman, was indicted in 1994 and charged with the ‘piracy of an estimated million dollars’ in business and entertainment computer software after MIT gave LaMacchia up to the FBI. LaMacchia eventually walked from the charges, thanks to what became known as the LaMacchia Loophole, which lawmakers took pains to close. ‘MIT collaborated with the FBI to wreck LaMacchia’s life,’ defense attorney Harvey Silverglate charged in 1995 after a judge dismissed the case. ‘I hope that this case causes a lot of introspection on the part of MIT’s administration. Unfortunately, I doubt it will.’”

Pets & Video Games. It's Like The Internet Condensed Into A Single Thing.

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:39:59 +0200

Pets & Video Games. It's Like The Internet Condensed Into A Single Thing.:

from Kotaku by Luke Plunkett

Press Paws is an upcoming art show in LA that wants to bring together pets and video games. If that wasn’t already a perfect pairing, the show is also about raising money for charity. More »

Aaron Swartz y el #PDFtribute: la investigación académica debe ser libre

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:39:12 +0200

Aaron Swartz y el #PDFtribute: la investigación académica debe ser libre:

from El Blog de Enrique Dans by Enrique Dans

Durante todo el día de ayer, infinidad de académicos e investigadores subieron sus papers libres a la red en formato pdf y lo anunciaron en Twitter con el hashtag #PDFtribute como homenaje a Aaron Swartz, el joven hacker y activista de 26 años que se quitó la vida el pasado viernes en Nueva York. Puedes leer la noticia de su muerte en Wired, The New York Times y en todas partes, o los obituarios publicados por personas que le conocieron y trataron, como Cory Doctorow, Lawrence Lessig, Cyrus Farivar o Dave Winer.

Show Man's Best Friend You Care With Some Doggy Booze

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:26:00 +0200

Show Man's Best Friend You Care With Some Doggy Booze:

from Gizmodo by Ashley Feinberg

No man should have to drink alone—that’s why we have pets. But assuming you don’t want an angry PETA protest outside your house yelling about how “alcohol is bad for dogs” and you need to “stop” and “get a job,” you’re going to need to find an alternative solution to your solitary drinking problem. More »

Comic Books' Disastrous Self-Censorship Offers a Lesson for Games Publishers, Too

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:09:15 +0200

Comic Books' Disastrous Self-Censorship Offers a Lesson for Games Publishers, Too:

from Kotaku by Owen Good

“Censoring violent comic books did not reduce juvenile delinquency or increase literacy,” reasons the International Game Developers Association. “It decimated the production of one of the few kinds of literature that at-risk youths read for pleasure.” More »

Game Receives First R18 "Adults Only" Classification In Australia

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:06:40 +0200

Game Receives First R18 "Adults Only" Classification In Australia:

from Slashdot by samzenpus

angry tapir writes “Australia’s Classification Board today announced the first video game to receive the new R18+ classification which came into effect at the start of 2013, indicating the title is to be sold only to adults. Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge, developed by Team Ninja, is published by Nintendo for the company’s new Wii U console. The R18+ classification was created after a long campaign by gamers and game publishers. Previously games had a maximum rating of MA, and titles that didn’t meet the criteria had to be reworked or not released in Australia.”

IBM's Watson Gets a Swear Filter After Learning the Urban Dictionary

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 16:04:50 +0200

IBM's Watson Gets a Swear Filter After Learning the Urban Dictionary:

from Slashdot by samzenpus

redletterdave writes “IBM’s super-computer Watson briefly went from smart to smart ass with the help of the Urban Dictionary. According to Eric Brown, an IBM research assistant, he and his 35-person team wanted to get Watson to sound more like a real human. After teaching IBM’s super-computer the entire Urban Dictionary, however, Watson simply couldn’t distinguish polite discourse from profanity. Watson unfortunately learned all of the Urban Dictionary’s bad habits, including throwing in overly-crass language at random points in its responses; in answering one question, Watson even reportedly used the word ‘bullshit’ within an answer to one researcher’s question. In the end, Brown and his team were forced to remove the Urban Dictionary from Watson’s vocabulary, and additionally developed a smart filter to keep Watson from swearing in the future.”

Why Power Outlets Look So Weird in Other Countries

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:23:41 +0200

Why Power Outlets Look So Weird in Other Countries:

from Gizmodo by Andrew Tarantola

Getting foreign gadgets to play nice with the local power grid is a nightmare any time you travel internationally. Here’s why every country on the planet (except yours) totally screwed up indoor wiring. More »

The Library of Congress Can't Quite Handle That Massive Tweet Archive It Was Trying to Build

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 18:47:32 +0200

The Library of Congress Can't Quite Handle That Massive Tweet Archive It Was Trying to Build:

from Gizmodo by Eric Limer

A few years ago, the Library of Congress announced its plans to create an archive of every public tweet ever. If you thought that sounded a little bit optimistic, you’d be right; the Library of Congress released a white papertoday explaining why they can’t quite pull it off. More »

That Link You Just Posted Could Cost You 300 Euros

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 18:38:25 +0200

That Link You Just Posted Could Cost You 300 Euros:

from Slashdot by Soulskill

Nate the greatest writes “Do you like to tweet or share links to interesting news articles? According to a coalition of Irish newspapers, that makes you a pirate. The National Newspapers of Ireland has adopted a new policy. Any website which links to one of the 15 NNI member newspapers will have to pay a minimum of 300 Euros, with the license fee going up if you post more links. Note that this is not a fee to post an excerpt or some punitive measure for the copying of an entire article. No, the NNI wants to charge for links alone. It’s almost as if this organization has no idea how the web works. Or maybe they have found an elaborate way to commit suicide.”

It's Time For the US to Go Metric

Sun, 27 Jan 2013 18:34:32 +0200

It's Time For the US to Go Metric:

from Gizmodo by Jamie Condliffe

The US has a love affair with imperial units: height in inches, milk in quarts, weight in pounds. You name it, and it’s measured in imperial. The only problem? Imperial is dumb. So let’s cast of those shackles and join the rest of the world by embracing units that make sense. Let’s go metric, once and for all. More »