Big Brother Calls 'Shotgun' In Illinois

Posted by timothy on Wednesday October 05, @11:48AM 

from the how-could-george-bush-do-such-a-thing dept.

Reader kackle joins the army of free and accepted Slashdot submitters with this eyebrow-raising story:"I received a form letter from the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority saying that my first-generation 'IPASS' transponder needs to be replaced because the battery is old. I called them for clarification since the first-generation transponders obviously have user-replaceable batteries, and I wanted to keep this version because it beeps when a toll is paid. (This notifies drivers that their battery is still good, unlike the silent second-generation version, which informs them of a dead battery by sending a ticket in the mail.) The woman on the phone explained that they were replacing them just because the electronics are old. This uninformed answer made me research the device. I found that the manufacturer has recently filed a patent application for a new transponder that has a camera in it — a camera pointed inward at the occupants. How long before they make it illegal to cover that camera with tape?"

Theater Professor's Firefly Poster Declared Threatening

Posted by samzenpus on Monday October 03, @09:47AM 

from the wait-until-they-find-out-about-reavers dept.

ocean_soul writes"Probably because nothing more threatening was happening and they need to prove their usefulness the school police at University of Wisconsin-Stout decided a Firefly poster with the quote: "You don't know me, son, so let me explain this to you once: If I ever kill you, you'll be awake. You'll be facing me. And you'll be armed," was a threat to the safety on campus. Wasn't that a quote about not killing people?"

Mad Max Fans Hit the Desert for Apocalyptic Weekend

By Dan Glass  

September 27, 2011  |  

5:30 pm  |  

Categories: events, movies

<< Previous | Next >>

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

The captain of the Wasteland Elite Guard monitoring activity in the desert.

Courtesy William Kirkley

<< Previous | Next >>

View all

CALIFORNIA CITY, Calif. — If life after the apocalypse will be anything like Wasteland Weekend — theMad Max-inspired event in the California desert — then go ahead and push the red button.

Approximately 700 people outfitted with scrap armor, leather, and homemade machetes gathered in the scrubland to re-create a post-apocalyptic world for three days, beginning last Friday. Wasteland Weekend came complete with mock blood sports, grinding industrial music, plastic-and-cardboard shanties, and two (yes two!) 1973 Australian Ford Falcon XB GT “Interceptors” modeled after the cars in the first two Mad Max films.

Which Cell carriers store your data the longest

Report suggests Android app downloads will overtake iPhone by summer

by Kelly HodgkinsOct 12th 2011 at 11:30AM

June 2012 is the date that monthly Android App downloads will exceed monthly iOS app downloads says Xyologic, a German company that indexes both the Android Market and iOS App Store. Currently, iOS has about 1.45 billion downloads each month, while Android has 640 million. Assuming Android continues its meteoric rise and iOS's growth stabilizes, both platforms will have a staggering 3.2 billion downloads per month in June 2012. At this point, Android will begin to eclipse iOS. Xyologic also predicts Android will surpass iOS in the total number of downloads sometime in mid-2013.

Predictions like this are fun to ponder, but you have to remember they are based on the assumption that Android will continue to climb exponentially and iOS will slow down slightly. This may not be the case. Google is increasingly facing legal action over Android and is rumored to have delayed the rollout of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich due to patent issues. If Google is stymied from introducing important upgrades in a timely manner, then it will not have the momentum to surpass iOS.