Day: August 31, 2013

Microsoft opens door for ValueAct to join its board

Microsoft may be getting a new board member, investment firm ValueAct’s President Mason Morfit…….


For Education, Why TI-83 > iPad

theodp writes “Writing in The Atlantic, Phil Nichols makes a convincing case for why educational technologies should be more like graphing calculators and less like iPads. Just messing around with TI-BASIC on a TI-83 Plus, Nichols recalls, ‘helped me cultivate many of the overt and discrete habits of mind necessary for autonomous, self-directed learning.’ So,…


Dotless Domain Names Prohibited, ICANN Tells Google

New submitter gwstuff writes “Last year, Google filed applications for about 100 top level domains. These included .app, .cloud and .lol, but perhaps most prominently .search, which they had requested to operate as a ‘dotless’ domain. [Friday], ICANN gave their verdict on the idea that would make this URL valid : NO. Here is the…


Classics corner: An introduction

Major Gav is a man of particular tastes. He’s got a question for you: “Modern cars are rubbish, right?”……


Smartphones: When is ‘big’ too big? (Smartphones Unlocked)

This year, both the size of smartphone screens –and demand for them — will continue to balloon. But at some point, they’ll pop…….


BT Prepares To Pull Plug On Dial-Up

judgecorp writes “BT has proudly announced it will switch off its dial-up service on 1 September. But it turns out it isn’t the end of the line for dial-up modems in the UK. BT charges £17.25 per month for dial-up, and broadband is only £10, so anyone who can switch across probably has by now….


Experts assess extent of NZ software patent ban

The devil is in the detail of a New Zealand ban on patent protection for software…….


UK High Court Gives OK To Investigation of Data Siezed From David Miranda

cold fjord writes with this snippet from The Guardian: “The high court has granted the Metropolitan police extended powers to investigate whether crimes related to terrorism and breaches of the Official Secrets Act have been committed following the seizure of data at Heathrow from David Miranda… At a hearing … lawyers for Miranda said they…


New energy rating system for data centres

Proposed National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) for data centres will provide consumer-style six star energy rating for infrastructure and equipment…….


Ohio State Introduces Massive Open Online Calculus

An anonymous reader writes “Professors at the Ohio State University are embracing MOOCs, with a Massive Open Online Calculus Course — it is completely open source; everything is on github. There is are free videos, free online assessment system, and a free textbook!”……