Sunday, November 13, 2011

[Slashdot] Stories for 2011-11-13

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Slashdot Daily Newsletter

In this issue:
* Is There an Institutional Bias Against Black Tech Entrepreneurs?
* Judge Makes Divorcing Couple Swap Facebook Passwords
* A Job Fair For Jobs In India — In California
* Chevy Volt Fire Prompts Safety Investigation For EV Batteries
* Motorola Reinvents the RAZR
* Google Music Downloads To Go Ahead Without Sony Or Warner
* Ask Slashdot: Physical Input Devices For Developers?
* Warner Brothers: Automated Takedown Notices Hit Files That Weren't Ours
* Predicting US Supreme Court Justice Votes
* How Litigation Only Spurred On P2P File Sharing
* Icelandic MP To Challenge US Court Ruling On Twitter Privacy
* Commercial Space: Spirit of Apollo Or Spirit of Solyndra?
* Rise of the Ping Pong Robots
* X-ray Facility To Simulate Conditions At Earth's Core

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| Is There an Institutional Bias Against Black Tech Entrepreneurs?
| from the world-white-web dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 12, @18:21 (Businesses)
| with 278 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/2024235/is-there-an-institutional-bias-against-black-tech-entrepreneurs?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
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An anonymous reader writes sends this excerpt from CNN: "The vast
majority of top executives at the leading Silicon Valley tech firms are
white men. Women and Asians have made some inroads, but
[0]African-American and Latino tech leaders remain a rarity. About 1% of
entrepreneurs who received venture capital in the first half of last year
are black, according to a study by research firm CB Insights. ... 'The
tech industry is pretty clubby,' said Hank Williams, an African-American
entrepreneur in the NewMe program who had success in the Internet boom of
the 1990s. 'There are really no people of color in Silicon Valley.'
Others say the issue could be rooted deep within the black community. The
NewMe co-founders said African-American families don't typically
encourage business leaders or programmers to pursue interests in tech."

Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/2024235/is-there-an-institutional-bias-against-black-tech-entrepreneurs?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/11/tech/innovation/black-tech-entrepreneurs/

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| Judge Makes Divorcing Couple Swap Facebook Passwords
| from the be-careful-whom-you-poke dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 12, @12:45 (Facebook)
| with 242 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/1738201/judge-makes-divorcing-couple-swap-facebook-passwords?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
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PolygamousRanchKid writes with news of a recent court order during
divorce proceedings: [0]both parties must give their social networking
passwords to the other, so that each side can snoop for evidence. From
the article: "Everyone knows that evidence from social networking sites
comes in handy for lawsuits and divorces. Attorneys usually get that
material by visiting someone���s page or asking that they turn over
evidence from their page, not by signing into their accounts. But judges
are sometimes forcing litigants to hand over the passwords to their
Facebook accounts. Should they be? What was the reason behind the
court-authorized hacking in the Gallion case? ... While all may be ���fair���
in love and war (and personal injuries), password exchanges like this are
not kosher according to Facebook���s terms of service. I wonder if Judge
Shluger is aware that his order violates Facebook���s TOS, which require
that users not hand over their passwords to anyone else. Shluger did, at
least, try to limit the privacy invasiveness of his order by telling the
parties not to prank each other. 'Neither party shall visit the website
of the other���s social network and post messages purporting to be the
other,' he included in the order."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/1738201/judge-makes-divorcing-couple-swap-facebook-passwords?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2011/11/07/judge-orders-divorcing-couple-to-swap-facebook-and-dating-site-passwords/

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| A Job Fair For Jobs In India — In California
| from the borders-aren't-everything dept.
| posted by timothy on Saturday November 12, @08:28 (Businesses)
| with 219 comments
| https://developers.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/0322231/a-job-fair-for-jobs-in-india-in-california?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

dcblogs writes "Indian and U.S. companies are holding a [0]job fair at
the San Jose Convention Center this weekend for jobs in India. The job
fair is aimed at Indian workers in the U.S., but anyone with an interest
in working overseas can attend. India is pitched as a 'sea of
opportunity' in a PowerPoint presentation about the job fair. That's in
contrast to another slide that makes the obvious point that the U.S. has
'barely recovered from a downturn,' with 'signs that it's headed for
another.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://developers.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/0322231/a-job-fair-for-jobs-in-india-in-california?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9221756/Looking_for_work_Here_s_a_job_fair_touting_tech_openings_in_India

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| Chevy Volt Fire Prompts Safety Investigation For EV Batteries
| from the four-door-the-burninator dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 12, @09:31 (Transportation)
| with 181 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/1324253/chevy-volt-fire-prompts-safety-investigation-for-ev-batteries?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
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Three weeks after undergoing a crash test, a Chevy Volt caught fire.
[0]The car's battery was determined as the cause of the fire, though GM
said its protocols for deactivating the battery following a crash would
have prevented it. Either way, [1]the National Highway Traffic Safety
Association is now on the case. They're planning additional testing of
the batteries, though they were quick to say, "Based on the available
data, N.H.T.S.A. does not believe the Volt or other electric vehicles are
at a greater risk of fire than gasoline-powered vehicles. In fact, all
vehicles ��� both electric and gasoline-powered ��� have some risk of fire in
the event of a serious crash." According to the president of an
engineering firm, "If a lithium battery is pierced by steel, a chemical
reaction will take place that starts raising the temperature and can
result in a fire... If the piercing is small, that reaction can take days
or weeks to occur."

Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/1324253/chevy-volt-fire-prompts-safety-investigation-for-ev-batteries?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/11/11/bloomberg_articlesLUIO0E6KLVR7.DTL&ao=all
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/12/business/energy-environment/regulators-examine-electric-car-batteries-after-fire.html?_r=1

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| Motorola Reinvents the RAZR
| from the remember-when-clamshells-were-hip dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 12, @13:52 (Cellphones)
| with 151 comments
| https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/1819218/motorola-reinvents-the-razr?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

zacharye writes with news that Motorola has [0]reinvented their popular
RAZR clam-shell phone as an Android smartphone. The new device is [1]4G
LTE-capable and 7.1mm thick, and it contains "a 1.2GHz dual-core TI OMAP
processor, a 4.3-inch qHD Super AMOLED display, 1GB of RAM, an
8-megapixel camera with 1080p HD video capture, an LED flash, an HDMI-out
port, noise cancellation capabilities, 16GB of built-in storage and a
16GB microSD card pre-installed." [2]iFixit did a teardown of the phone,
finding that the construction necessary for such thinness will make
repairs problematic.

Discuss this story at:
https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/1819218/motorola-reinvents-the-razr?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.bgr.com/2011/11/11/rebirth-of-an-icon-motorola-reinvents-the-razr/
1. http://www.bgr.com/2011/11/07/motorola-droid-razr-review/
2. http://www.ifixit.com/Teardown/Motorola-Droid-RAZR-Teardown/7048/1

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| Google Music Downloads To Go Ahead Without Sony Or Warner
| from the they'll-never-stop-arguing dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 12, @16:10 (Music)
| with 143 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/1953203/google-music-downloads-to-go-ahead-without-sony-or-warner?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
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An anonymous reader writes "Google has sent out press invitations to an
event on Wednesday where it's expected they'll [0]unveil their
long-rumored Google Music download service. CNET reports that while
Google already has an agreement in place with Universal, talks with Sony
and Warner Music Group are still in progress, and won't be finished by
the time Google Music launches. 'The negotiations between Google and the
labels by and large have not gone well for either side. The labels are
eager for a serious iTunes competitor to emerge and believe Google has
the technological know-how, money, and Internet presence to give iTunes a
run for its money. ... Yet, the company is once again launching a major
part of its music service without acquiring licenses and this may serve
to widen the rift between the company and some of the labels. '"

Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/1953203/google-music-downloads-to-go-ahead-without-sony-or-warner?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-57323505-261/google-music-launching-without-sony-and-warner/

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| Ask Slashdot: Physical Input Devices For Developers?
| from the solenoids-in-shoes-are-a-start dept.
| posted by timothy on Friday November 11, @21:39 (GUI)
| with 139 comments
| https://ask.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/0126226/ask-slashdot-physical-input-devices-for-developers?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First time accepted submitter [0]paysonwelch writes "I am a developer and
entrepreneur and I am considering developing a very graphically rich and
custom interface for my latest application which does charting and
analysis of large data sets. The application would feature lots of
gauges, knobs and levers. As I was thinking about this I said to myself,
why not hook up physical knobs and levers to my computer to control my
application instead of designing them in 2D bitmaps? This could
potentially save screen space and provide tactile feedback, and a new way
of interacting digitally with one's application and data. So my question
is whether or not anyone out there has advice for building a custom
solution, perhaps starting with a mixing board, or if there are any
pre-fab kits / controllers for achieving this?"

Discuss this story at:
https://ask.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/0126226/ask-slashdot-physical-input-devices-for-developers?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.paysonwelch.com/

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| Warner Brothers: Automated Takedown Notices Hit Files That Weren't Ours
| from the let-god-sort-'em-out dept.
| posted by timothy on Saturday November 12, @00:31 (The Internet)
| with 133 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/0410256/warner-brothers-automated-takedown-notices-hit-files-that-werent-ours?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]itwbennett writes "In a court case between Hotfile.com and Hollywood
studios, Warner Brothers admitted they sent takedown orders for
[1]thousands of files they didn't own or control. Using an automated
takedown tool provided by Hotfile, Warner Brothers used automated
software crawlers based on keywords to generate legal takedown orders.
This is akin to not holding the Post Office liable for what people mail,
or the phone companies liable for what people say. But the flip side is
that hosters must remove files when receiving a legal takedown notice
from the copyright holder ��� even when the copyright holders themselves
don't know what material they actually own."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/0410256/warner-brothers-automated-takedown-notices-hit-files-that-werent-ours?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.itworld.com/
1. http://torrentfreak.com/warner-bros-admits-sending-hotfile-false-takedown-requests-111109/

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| Predicting US Supreme Court Justice Votes
| from the indulge-your-cynicism dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 12, @14:59 (The Courts)
| with 123 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/1948206/predicting-us-supreme-court-justice-votes?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
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New submitter Pierre Bezukhov writes "Researchers Roger Guimera and Marta
Sales-Pardo of Spain set out to ask whether one of the nine Supreme Court
justices could be plucked from the bench and replaced with an algorithm
that does not take into account the law or the case at issue, but does
take into account the other justices' votes and the court's record. These
researchers say their computational models, using methods developed to
analyze complex social networks, are [0]just as accurate in predicting a
justice's decision as forecasts from legal experts. 'We find that Supreme
Court justices are [1]significantly more predictable than one would
expect from "ideally independent" justices in "ideal courts,"' that is,
free agents independently evaluating cases on their merits, free of
ideology, the study said."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/1948206/predicting-us-supreme-court-justice-votes?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/248194/20111112/supreme-court-votes-predicted-study.htm
1. http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0027188

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| How Litigation Only Spurred On P2P File Sharing
| from the perverse-incentives dept.
| posted by timothy on Saturday November 12, @06:06 (Piracy)
| with 119 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/0042257/how-litigation-only-spurred-on-p2p-file-sharing?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

littlekorea writes "The growth in peer-to-peer file sharing [0]surged in
response to efforts by the content industry to litigate over the past
decade, according to a new study by a researcher at Melbourne's Monash
University. Dr Rebecca Giblin explains why 'physical world' assumptions
don't apply to the online world."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/0042257/how-litigation-only-spurred-on-p2p-file-sharing?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.itnews.com.au/News/279763,how-litigation-only-spurred-on-p2p-file-sharing.aspx

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Icelandic MP To Challenge US Court Ruling On Twitter Privacy
| from the ain't-over-'till-it's-over dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 12, @10:33 (Privacy)
| with 113 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/1336224/icelandic-mp-to-challenge-us-court-ruling-on-twitter-privacy?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

JabrTheHut writes "The Guardian has a story of how Icelandic MP Birgitta
Jonsdottir, a former WikiLeaks volunteer, is [0]challenging the U.S.'s
acquisition of Twitter account information, IP addresses, mailing
addresses and even bank information. The U.S. says [1]it wanted these
details to help with its investigation into WikiLeaks founder Julian
Assange. Jonsdottir said, 'This is a huge blow for everybody that uses
social media. We have to have the same civil rights online as we have
offline. Imagine if the U.S. authorities wanted to do a house search at
my home, go through my private papers. There would be a hell of a fight.
It's absolutely unacceptable.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/1336224/icelandic-mp-to-challenge-us-court-ruling-on-twitter-privacy?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/11/us-verdict-privacy-wikileaks-twitter
1. http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/11/10/2021215/judge-rules-twitter-data-fair-game-in-wikileaks-investigation

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| Commercial Space: Spirit of Apollo Or Spirit of Solyndra?
| from the little-of-column-a-little-of-column-b dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 12, @17:17 (Businesses)
| with 103 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/1955219/commercial-space-spirit-of-apollo-or-spirit-of-solyndra?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]MarkWhittington writes "Andrew Chaikin, the author of A Man on the
Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts, believes that [1]the spirit
of Apollo no longer resides at NASA, but rather in the nascent commercial
space companies such as SpaceX. This assessment is disputed by many, who
see in the Obama administration program of government subsidies for
commercial space the [2]spirit of Solyndra."

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/1955219/commercial-space-spirit-of-apollo-or-spirit-of-solyndra?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. mailto:mwhittingt@sprynet.com
1. http://news.yahoo.com/commercial-space-spirit-apollo-spirit-solyndra-000800801.html
2. http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/09/01/1829257/solar-company-folds-after-05b-in-subsidies

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| Rise of the Ping Pong Robots
| from the friends-for-the-basement dept.
| posted by timothy on Saturday November 12, @03:22 (Robotics)
| with 43 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/0558251/rise-of-the-ping-pong-robots?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

mikejuk writes with this excerpt: "Meet Wu and Kong ��� the latest in
[0]ping pong playing robots. They may not achieve exciting matches at the
moment, but the fact that they can do the job at all is an indication of
how fast things are moving. Unlike many other game-playing robots these
two players are humanoid and are kitted out in old style Chinese jackets.
They are about 1.6 meters tall and weigh in at 55 kilos. They track the
ball with video cameras situated in their heads and then play a variety
of strokes. They were developed by Zhejiang University and are currently
turning up on the Chinese media as a novelty item. ... The current record
for a rally is 144 rounds between robots. Humans can compete against
them, but the robots lack the variety of shots that makes table tennis a
game of strategy as well as accuracy."

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/0558251/rise-of-the-ping-pong-robots?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.i-programmer.info/news/169-robotics/3223-ping-pong-robots.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| X-ray Facility To Simulate Conditions At Earth's Core
| from the i-think-hillary-swank-can-answer-your-questions dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 12, @11:40 (Earth)
| with 29 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/1359222/x-ray-facility-to-simulate-conditions-at-earths-core?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]Diggester sends this quote from an article at the BBC: "The ID24 beam
line at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility will [1]use X-ray
beams to subject iron and other materials to extraordinary temperatures
and pressures. How the X-rays are absorbed should give insight into the
mysterious processes going on at and near the Earth's core. For example,
the work could unravel why the Earth's magnetic field can 'flip.' ... The
samples are compressed at a pressure millions of times higher than that
on the Earth's surface. High-power lasers are then fired through the
diamonds at the samples, heating them to higher than 10,000C. Then X-rays
are used as a probe to determine the precise composition and chemistry of
samples."

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/12/1359222/x-ray-facility-to-simulate-conditions-at-earths-core?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.gizmocrazed.com/
1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15691038


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