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Comments: 113 +-   Slashback: Facebook Un-Ban, Exploding Laptop, FFXI II on Wednesday July 19 2006, @06:59PM

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wednesday July 19 2006, @06:59PM
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Slashback tonight brings some clarifications, and updates to previous Slashdot stories including, Kent State Facebook ban reversed, exploding laptop old news to Dell, XM moves to dismiss RIAA suit, J2EE death greatly exaggerated, and Square's next MMOG not FFXI II -- Read on for details.

Kent State Facebook ban reversed. Corvaith writes "Just a few days after it was originally noted that Kent State University had banned athletes from posting on Facebook, the Kent Stater announced that the ban was reversed. From the article: 'The athletic department had previously expressed concern about athletes' personal information being available to the public, allowing for possible stalking situations. They were also concerned about athletes displaying inappropriate information on their profiles.' But, in the end, they 'had a change of heart after reviewing the privacy measures available on Facebook.' Athletes must now lock their profiles to friends only."

Exploding laptop old news to Dell? Anonymous writes "CRN is reporting that Dell had about a dozen reports of burned laptops before they announced last year's battery recall. The recall was launched in response to a exploding laptop caught on film at a Japanese conference. Dozens more cases popped up with apparently severe overheating, melted cases, etc., according to the report."

XM moves to dismiss RIAA suit. mikesd81 writes "Apparently, XM is asking a judge to dismiss a a copy right law suit brought by the recording industry. The law suit is over the ipod-like device that can store up to 50 hours of music. XM Satellite said the 1992 Home Recording Audio act protects it from being sued over its $400 handheld device. From the article: 'In a court filing, XM Satellite said the 1992 protections represent Congress' efforts to insure that the powerful recording industry would not be able to restrict the right of consumers to record songs that are broadcast over the radio or stifle innovation by chilling the development and use of the latest recording technologies.'"

J2EE death greatly exaggerated. Peter writes "A recent Burton Group report has stated that the Java Enterprise Edition platform is 'dying due to its complexity and lack of suitability for SOA.' Major vendors supporting JEE have responded with rebuttals, stating that the complexity has arisen due to customer needs and that it is well positioned for companies to build SOA solutions on."

Square's next MMOG not FFXI II. Despite some of the rumblings around the net, it appears that the next MMOG to come out of Square will not be a sequel to the popular FFXI. While Square may have shot down this rumor, the question still remains, what MMO are they working on?

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  • XM?? (Score:5, Informative)

    by Khyber (864651) <khyberkitsune@gmail.com> on Wednesday July 19 2006, @07:05PM (#15747079) Journal
    I hope sincerely that XM gets it's suit dismissed. For one, it's a subscription service, I've already paid for it, why not be able to listen to songs I may have missed out on, even though I paid for that capability? Secondly, doesn't the RIAA also get a cut of XM's subscription revenue? Why the fuck should they be complaining? They're getting money. Oh, I forgot, this is the RIAA - greed is the motivating factor, here. They think they're not getting ENOUGH, even though they've already agreed to some contract signed with XM. Someone EMP the hell out of any facility affiliated with the RIAA and put them out of our misery forever, already.

    • Re:XM?? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Durrok (912509) <calltechsucks&gmail,com> on Wednesday July 19 2006, @07:21PM (#15747131) Homepage Journal
      RIAA will die out, no doubt about that. They are aging dinosaurs in a changing climate with no will to change. The RIAA has an advantage the dinosaurs didn't however. The dinosaurs were helpless to change their environment and died out, letting new creatures evolve and prosper in their absence. The RIAA has the ability to forcibly change the "climate" thus killing off everything else while leaving them to prosper.

      Only time will tell...

      P.S: Sorry for all the analogies, won't happen again. ;)

    • Re:XM?? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by Svet-Am (413146) on Wednesday July 19 2006, @07:39PM (#15747189)
      I'm a Sirius customer. If the RIAA is "so up in arms" about potential copyright infringment from XM's device, why aren't they suing over the Sirius S50? The S50 also allows you to tote MP3s and record Sirius broadcasts. This seems to me like XM pissed of the RIAA somehow and the RIAA is just trying to extract a pound of flesh as "punishment."

      • Re:XM?? (Score:5, Informative)

        by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 19 2006, @08:22PM (#15747306)
        According to today's Wash post, Sirius agreed to pay the RIAA $15 per device. XM asked for the same deal and was sued instead.

        • Re:XM?? (Score:2, Interesting)

          by Squalish (542159)
          I seem to remember a bitchfest in enthusiast circles when Sirius put major restrictions on the S50's recording capabilities, as well.
      • Sirius got sued a few months earlier. Sirius agreed to pay a per unit royalty, largely because they didn't expect to sell that many of the S50. The S50 needs to be docked to receive live broadcasts, whereas the XM2Go models don't. Also, XM has a few million more subscribers, so between the better technology and larger customer base, XM probably isn't as willing to settle.

    • Re:XM?? (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Spinn12 (989688)
      We keep asking the same questions over and over about the RIAA. The facts remain - their adgenda is to make as much money as possible, and to stretch the definition of their areas of jurisdiction to do so. It's obvious to all of us on the outside that the RIAA, MPAA and the like all need a revamp of their business models, but you can akin their behavior to intolerance, racism and the like. Now before I get the flaming trolls being shot from catapults, let me explain - Every generation, we see improvement
      • Sadly, the day they sue themselves out of existence is dependent upon when we decide to get off our collective asses and stop the legislation these corporations are paying to have passed.
  • Square's next MMOG not FFXI II.

    Thank God. While I did play some of the MMOFF and enjoyed it this is not what Square does best. I hope they return to their roots and release a game with innovative game elements and a great story line. Oh, and for the love of God, NO DANCE SPHERES.
    • My japanese isn't nearly good enough to read this, but: World of Mana [square-enix.co.jp] sounds like it might be an MMORPG.
      • Mana would make a terrible MMORPG though, the game focuses on 1-2 heroes saving the world using the mana sword, or at very most a very small group (Mana knights). Removing these elements and making it a MMORPG would spoil the world it's self.
      • There's two trailers on there. Sat through a couple minutes of one of them (their buffering sucked or my internet sucked) and it looked like there was some sort of coherent plot based around a couple main characters, usually in MMOs they show off a bunch of different archetypes at least you can pick from. I'm guessing it's just another mana game, probably as disappointing as the last couple :P
    • I can't agree more. I've been very disappointed at their recent releases (I've fallen back to replaying Chrono Trigger...). Even FFXII, their latest single player game, lacks the fun gameplay that the old releases in the franchise had. OTOH, FFXII had some great dialogue (Balthier FTW) and cutscenes, but that doesn't make a game great as opposed to merely good.
    • What square did best was a generic RPG line to make money and then make awesome spin off games. Saddly spin offs from the FF line seem rarer and rarer these days when they're the best part.

      Also the next MMORPG should be based on Crystal chronicles, there isn't anyone alive who could tell me CC wouldn't make for an original MMORPG with some intresting elements like having each race focus on different goals. For example you could use people who keep the roads clear and safe for caravans, you'd have to travel

      • Re:Square and MMOs (Score:5, Funny)

        by Durrok (912509) <calltechsucks&gmail,com> on Wednesday July 19 2006, @07:45PM (#15747205) Homepage Journal
        My apologies AC, I know you are omnipotent (and sure post a lot!) and would never make such a typo. I have played the game and all that dancing that made me not wanting to play it around my friends for fear of my sexuality coming into play came back to haunt me. It is Dress sphere's I meant to say, although I think I'm still justified in keeping the rest of the sentence the way it is.

  • Facebook Ban (Score:4, Interesting)

    by betterthanducttape (763202) <betterthanducttape@sbcglobal.net> on Wednesday July 19 2006, @07:12PM (#15747103) Homepage
    Ironically enough, for the last few days Facebook.com would have been a good site to ban. One of their ad banners was loaded with a virus, and it took them quite a while to fix it. It was a trojan with a .wmf extension. Thankfully, my anti-virus caught it as Firefox attempted to auto-download it for some reason (I suspect FlashGot of being that reason).

    • Re:Facebook Ban (Score:4, Informative)

      by remembertomorrow (959064) on Wednesday July 19 2006, @07:41PM (#15747194)
      http://adblock.mozdev.org/ [mozdev.org]

      No ads, no problems.
      • You could've stopped after the AdBlock comment. Flash animation is actually quite popular in its niche communities, and I'm certainly not uninstalling it, or fully disabling Java or JavaScript. I prevent JavaScript doing specific things (thanks Firefox), but small, useful Javascript widgets are just that: harmless.

        This place is too paranoid...
        • It's only harmless until you unwittingly download and execute things (note my still-pending ISTSVC penetrating thru Firefox and infecting my system submission to /. including the followup, which is still pending.) without knowing it. I still use Firefox religiously, but Opera seems to look like a better choice to me as time passes. I've yet (key word, YET) to get any infection of mal/spy/adware using Opera, I've had four instances of infection while using Firefox. Yes, I'm fully updated. Take it at your own

        • Re:Adblock (Score:3, Informative)

          by DrSkwid (118965)
          http://flashblock.mozdev.org/ [mozdev.org] is the one you want; replaces flash content with a play button.

  • Athletes are representatives... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by a_greer2005 (863926) on Wednesday July 19 2006, @07:20PM (#15747128)
    and as such they have a responsibility not to embarass the program or school; if the average student posts trash talk about the arch-rival's star player on FB, it is no problem, if an athelete does it, it could blow up into an NCAA investigation, and worse, loads of bad publicity on Spotscenter.

    when you choose to be an athelete and get your schooling comped for the trouble, you take the public persona that comes with it.
    • when you choose to be an athelete and get your schooling comped for the trouble, you take the public persona that comes with it.

      How many student athletes receive full or partial athletic scholarships? You don't give up your rights when you become a student athlete.

      • Can atheletes wear arch rivals swag? can they be seen/caught at a place where alcohal is being consumed by minors even if they dont partake? They, at least in major sports, live under the thought that any wrong move they make could be on the front page of the paper, or if they are really big stars, national media...so it may not be explicit, but they do give up some "rights" -- mostly privacy.
      • If you are invited to participate in a college sport, you are subject to whatever silly rules they want to enforce, scholarships or no. If you don't like it, you don't have to participate.

        • Re:Athletes are representatives... (Score:2, Insightful)

          by Anonymous Coward
          Thats patently false. I don't know where folk such as yourself come off just saying random inaccurate things just because you want to believe something to be true to actually be the case.

          Public institutions (government, states, colleges, and anything in between) don't get to abridge the Bill of Rights by virtue of making functions optional or by invitation. The Supreme Court has placed the line with the "compelling interests" test. It is very unlikely that even a somewhat conservative court would agree that
      • How many student athletes receive full or partial athletic scholarships? You don't give up your rights when you become a student athlete.

        no, its apparently worse than that. you give up many of your rights by merely becoming a college student these days.

        google around - there are so many stories of the 'pc police' stopping free exchange of communication and ideas across the campuses today.

        not to mention the net.filtering that the schools are doing by PANDERING to the *AA.
      • Most athletes get some scholorship (in my observations).

        My sister was the only one on her basketball team without a full scholorship, and it was a very non-sportsy school.

        College sports are very difficult to participate in, and only the most dedicated or masochistic would do the practice schedule to warm the bench (if you didn't get any scholorship, you are not starting).

        I am sure there are schools that are exceptions, but in general college athletes get some type of scholorship.
    • Part of the problem for the Kent State athletes is that they haven't yet learned:

      What happens in Cleveland stays in Cleveland! (Apologies to Las Vegas and Tijuana)

    • Re:Athletes are representatives... (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Student athletes are more than representatives. They're celebrities and commodities. College sports bring a lot of income to schools-- from the games, which rake in the cash from tickets and concessions (and are often even broadcast nationally), from donations from fans (college football or basketball team tend to give copious amounts of cash) and corporate sponsors (donations from large corporations like Nike, for example, that will be quashed if the school's team has a bad reputation.) And then there

  • J2EE (Score:5, Interesting)

    by zerocool^ (112121) on Wednesday July 19 2006, @07:33PM (#15747169) Homepage Journal
    I can tell you this: I don't program in Java, but I do have to install and support it as part of my job, and I can't think of a more odd set of install criteria than the Java installers.

    For one, we use primarialy redhat-based linux installs for desktop and server, including Fedora, RHEL, and Centos. Sun Java, for reasons that I've never fully understood (something to do with the licensing, and it makes my brain hurt to figure it out) cannot be distributed with Linux distros. Or, that's what I thought, but then I heard that Mepis comes with java installed and working. See? Wierd already. But, at any rate, when you install a RH-based Linux install, you get the gnu java. Since I support University professors, most of them have been using Sun's java, and the GNU has (appearantly) enough querks that they don't like using it (same with the g77 fortran, but that's a different story).

    So, at that point, you need to install Java. Which one? Nobody knows. People want to be able to use java plugins in their web browser (more on that in a sec), they want to be able to compile java, and they want to be able to run java apps in some sort of java environment. I think. But which one do you install? Java_jdk, Java_Jre, or Java_j2ee? Some of them include functionality replicated in the others, but there's no like clear-cut FAQ on the java website to tell you which (like, a simple four-column by X row table with the distros across the top and the expected functionality down the left side, and X's or O's, or green and red squares, to indicate which versions include which functionality). If you independantly read the descriptions, it's a LOT of buzzwords, and very short on substance.

    Then, there's the "where does it install" question. They distribute as binaries, so you just kind of chmod u+x file; ./file and cross your fingers. Sometimes it's /usr/java/bin/java, sometimes, it's /usr/bin/java, sometimes it's /usr/local/java, sometimes it's /usr/local/bin/java, sometimes it's /opt/SUNWappserver/java/bin/java. Who knows? Good thing all Unix and Linux distro's use exactly the same order in their $PATH and the same file structure and organization. Not to mention, you kind of have to trust that it installs libraries and whatever else in all the correct spots, and is familiar with every linux distro from RHEL to Bob's Discount Linux to create a bazillion symlinks.

    Then, you've got to figure out which one to run. "which java" can yeild any one of 50 outputs, and that's if you don't let users set their own shells and rc scripts. Not to mention, you may end up chasing symlinks down for an hour to find the exact binary (/usr/java -> /etc/alternatives/java -> /usr/bin/java -> /usr/local/java/bin/java etc). Oh, and some of the installers are command line and some are X windows required. And I've had trouble with the J2EE 1.4 installer claiming it was out of diskspace on a partition with 60 GB free, aside from all that.

    Then, you have to get it so the plugins run in the web browser. How do you do this? Well, you .... google. There's a file somewhere called libjavaplugin_oji.so, but it could be anywhere. Then you've got to find your firefox or mozilla installation, which could also be anywhere depending on whether you're using the default install, whether the user has run updates, whether the version is a self-compiled version, and what linux distro you're using. Then you have to symlink the object into the plugins folder. What? Come on. You've got to be kidding. There's not a "Download this 4 meg file and stick it here" option? Nope, it relys on 1500 libraries. Oh, and every time you run a full update that also catches firefox, it's going to break (thanks yum). And when you need to update java? Good luck. Here's hoping there's a binary update that knows what it's doing.

    ON TOP OF THAT, on o

    • Re:J2EE (Score:5, Informative)

      by Mr. Shiny And New (525071) on Wednesday July 19 2006, @07:57PM (#15747237) Homepage Journal
      1. Sounds like you're using Fedora or Redhat. You might want to look at Jpackage. It lets you re-package the SUN Java so that it fits into Fedora's weird java world. Works well, at least on the latest 1.4 and 1.5 JDKs.

      2. Here's what you need to know about the different versions. JDK/Java SDK is for development. Comes with Javac. You need this for J2EE and for development. JRE is included in the JDK or is available as a standalone download. The JRE is the runtime env, it only includes the VM. J2EE is a specification, you almost never want the J2EE install from Sun since, by itself, it doesn't give you anything. You need an application server, such as Websphere, Geronimo, JBoss, Weblogic, etc. The application server includes the J2EE libraries. It does not always include a JDK.

      3. You can always do what I do when you install the sun JDK: move the whole directory so that it is where you want it. AFAIK on Linux it doesn't install any files outside of its directory. Install as many JDKs as you like, then have your users set the JAVA_HOME env variable and add $JAVA_HOME/bin to the path.

      As for why you couldn't find documentation for this... I'm not sure if there is any, I thought this stuff was common knowledge in the Java world (but if you don't devel in java, I guess you can't be expected to know this).

      • Yeah, exactly. You've hit on all the major points.

        I will look into that redhat thing. THAT would save a lot of headaches. I don't particularly like redhat, and they do some things a bit wonky, but at least it's relatively consistant. Also, the suggestion about $JAVA_HOME is brilliant, I can't believe I haven't thought of it. I'm probably going to do that tomorrow.

        If you go back and read:

        JDK/Java SDK is for development. Comes with Javac. You need this for J2EE and for development. JRE is included in th
      • Also, I dropped this: </i>. Can you pick it up for me?

        ----

        Yeah, exactly. You've hit on all the major points.

        I will look into that redhat thing. THAT would save a lot of headaches. I don't particularly like redhat, and they do some things a bit wonky, but at least it's relatively consistant. Also, the suggestion about $JAVA_HOME is brilliant, I can't believe I haven't thought of it. I'm probably going to do that tomorrow.

        If you go back and read:

        JDK/Java SDK is for development. Comes with Javac.
    • THANK YOU! I have to deal with much of the same annoyances concerning Java here at FIU! In fact, we have so many different versions of Java installed that we had to make java a wrapper script that uses the JAVA_HOME environment variable to decide which version to run! This way professors who insist on using a particular version can continue to do so happily without being affected by upgrades.

      It's exasperating and I wonder why people seem to love Java so much. Not to mention that nearly every Java program I

    • I'll do my best to address your concerns

      So, at that point, you need to install Java. Which one? Nobody knows. People want to be able to use java plugins in their web browser (more on that in a sec), they want to be able to compile java, and they want to be able to run java apps in some sort of java environment. I think. But which one do you install? Java_jdk, Java_Jre, or Java_j2ee?

      • JDK: Java Development Kit. Use this to DEVELOP Java software. This comes with a compiler and other Development tools

      • I can't help you with the questions as to why certain versions of Java are suited for certain things. I just repeat what I'm told. Remember, these are University professors - the more brilliant they are, the touchier they get about changes to their environment.

        Most of the problems are from a sysadmin point of view, yes. It's just more complicated since I don't develop in java - I'm not sure how to test it, exactly, to see that everything is working. So, at first, I'd install the JDK and ... if it didn't
    • That whole diatribe boils down to 4 points:
      1. Sun provides both a runtime and a full SDK for java. The SDK includes the runtime.
      2. Java is made up of a number of different APIs, which are grouped into several platform "editions": J2SE, J2EE, and J2ME.
      3. Java installers can be unpredictable about the locations they choose.
      4. Sometimes people want to run specific versions of java.

      1 and 2 are not rocket science, 5 minutes of googling will tell you the difference between them. 3 is true (can be more of a pain on


      • And honestly, if it's part of your job to support java, you don't seem to be doing too well at it.

        Emphasis on the "part of". I have to support pretty much everything. My official title is Computer Systems Engineer, Linux Support or something along those lines. I support labs of 60+ machines running linux, a remote login load balanced cluster of 20 machines, and am partially responsible for the department's infrastructure. I support servers, desktops, workstations, clusters, etc. I build, repair, and ma
    • One of the main problems with Sun's Java was there distribution restrictions that forced admins everywhere to download the JRE or JDKs and be forced to trust the Sun installer.

      Since lifting these restrictions a couple of months ago, Sun's java has made it into Debian's Universe repositories. It's even in the multiverse repository for the latest version of Ubuntu. Installing is now as simple as:

      apt-get install sun-java5-jdk

      or

      apt-get install sun-java5-jre

      And you're done. If Sun properly open-sources Java like
  • That is to say, "the Buzzword Oriented Bullshit nature of Java Enterprise Edition brings Supremely Over-the-top Acronyms". Don't get me wrong. I write Java. I even use some Enterprise Edition components. I even like Java and (some) of the JEE feature set. However unfortunate, I'm sure the PHB driven drivel about the IT bullshit will bring some confusing so-called "feature" that smart developers will avoid, idiots will grab on to, and consultants will smack their lips over using to leveredge more money ou

  • really? (Score:4, Funny)

    by revery (456516) * <.charles. .at. .cac2.net.> on Wednesday July 19 2006, @09:50PM (#15747612) Homepage
    Just a few days after it was originally noted that Kent State University had banned athletes from posting on Facebook, the Kent Stater announced that the ban was reversed.

    Really? So now you lose your scholarship if you don't use Facebook? Or is it just really late and my mind is working way too literally? ;)

    --
    This is a joke. I am joking. You have been joked with.

  • Oh, really... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ivan256 (17499) on Wednesday July 19 2006, @09:52PM (#15747622)
    CRN is reporting that Dell had about a dozen reports of burned laptops before they announced last year's battery recall.

    I'm not surprised, since there is a good chance that out of the thousands and thousands of laptops they sell, a couple bad batteries could be a fluke, and you need a bigger sample to see a trend... It's hard to fault them for this unless you make money off page impressions...

    On the other hand, if this were an Apple story it would have made the front page as it's own story, and would be parroted across the web. Funny how that stuff goes.

  • PMG DELL KNEW!! (Score:3, Insightful)

    by StikyPad (445176) on Wednesday July 19 2006, @09:53PM (#15747628) Homepage
    So a company waited for problems to show up more than once before issuing a complete product recall. Why is this news? One or two could be a quirk, and "dozens," vague as it is, sounds about right.

  • What's that smell? (Score:3, Funny)

    by I am Jack's username (528712) on Thursday July 20 2006, @03:53AM (#15748479) Homepage
    Dude: A new laptop built by my company is switched on and the battery overheats. The system fan fails. The laptop explodes and burns with the hard disk trapped inside. Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of laptops in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of explosions, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.
    Lady switching off her laptop: Are there a lot of these kinds of explosions?
    Dude: You wouldn't believe.
    Shocked lady: Which computer company do you work for?
    Dude: A major one.
    • AH, Well it's good to see that at least someone in the shallow end of the gene pool is attempting the art of the critique.

      Needs a tad more work though. I recommend going for four sylable words next time.

    • Re:Say NO to RMS (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Millenniumman (924859) on Thursday July 20 2006, @12:03AM (#15747982)
      I wanted to suggest everybody to stop using the term "GNU/Linux" and using "Linux"

      I think everyone else is way ahead of you.

      Is there another operating system for the Linux kernel?
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