A collection of stories tagged 'feedback' from Slashdot. http://www.roomformilk.com/ Copyright 2006 RoomforMilk.com. RoomforMilk is not affiliated with Slashdot.org. Thu, 20 Nov 2008 22:23:11 EST Because the 'green revolution' is accelerating, I felt it was time to get involved. Last week I started with buying a portable solar energy charger for my mobile phone. But soon I was thinking of also recharging my Asus Eee netbook with a portable solar energy recharger. I found things like the Portable Power Pack, Foldable Solar Chargers, and the Solar Gorilla. The Solar Gorilla looks quite interesting and might be able to recharge my netbook and fits nicely in a rucksack. But I would like some real-life feedback. If you have experience with these or other portable solar devices, what has worked for you?"Read more of this story at Slashdot. http://www.roomformilk.com/launch/25955 http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/97RdzHGYJtM/article.pl Tue, 04 Nov 2008 04:05:08 EST Right on the heels of Microsoft's adoption of the OpenID protocol by announcing their intention to enable OpenID authentication against all Live IDs, Google has announced their intention to join the growing list of OpenID authentication providers. Except it turns out they're using their own version of OpenID that is incompatible with everyone else. It seems that Google will be using their own 'improved' version of OpenID (based upon research and user feedback of the OpenID system) which isn't backwards compatible with OpenID 1.0/2.0, in hopes of improving end-user experience at the cost of protocol compatibility and complexity."Read more of this story at Slashdot. http://www.roomformilk.com/launch/25850 http://rss.slashdot.org:80/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/xA-5-Jo6YjU/article.pl Wed, 29 Oct 2008 19:05:15 EDT Right on the heels of Microsoft's adoption of the OpenID protocol by announcing their intention to enable OpenID authentication against all Live IDs, Google has announced their intention to join the growing list of OpenID authentication providers. Except it turns out they're using their own version of OpenID that is incompatible with everyone else. It seems that Google will be using their own 'improved' version of OpenID (based upon research and user feedback of the OpenID system) which isn't backwards compatible with OpenID 1.0/2.0, in hopes of improving end-user experience at the cost of protocol compatibility and complexity."Read more of this story at Slashdot. http://www.roomformilk.com/launch/25847 http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/xA-5-Jo6YjU/article.pl Wed, 29 Oct 2008 18:05:01 EDT Serious heart surgery usually involves stopping the organ and keeping the patient alive with a cardiopulmonary bypass machine. But this risks brain damage and requires a long recuperation. Scientists at Harvard University and Children's Hospital Boston have now developed a device that lets surgeons operate on a beating heart with a steady hand. The 'robotic' device uses 3-D ultrasound images to predict and compensate for the motion of the heart so that the surgeon can work on a faulty valve as it moves. The approach should improve recovery times and give a surgeon instant feedback on the success of the procedure, the researchers say. Here's a (slightly gory) video of the device in action."Read more of this story at Slashdot. http://www.roomformilk.com/launch/25692 http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/WiOKuETmlns/article.pl Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:05:01 EDT Today Mozilla released development builds of its next mobile browser, Fennec 1.0 Alpha 1. 'The last eight milestones were building up to getting a stable browser with an easy to use interface. We really want to get Fennec in front of as many people as possible and get feedback.' To that end, Fennec has been made available for the desktop on Windows, Mac and Linux."Read more of this story at Slashdot. http://www.roomformilk.com/launch/25608 http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/lzWVrk65xzk/article.pl Fri, 17 Oct 2008 18:05:40 EDT Today Mozilla released development builds of its next mobile browser, Fennec 1.0 Alpha 1. 'The last eight milestones were building up to getting a stable browser with an easy to use interface. We really want to get Fennec in front of as many people as possible and get feedback' To that end, Fennec has been made available for the desktop on Windows, Mac and Linux."Read more of this story at Slashdot. http://www.roomformilk.com/launch/25604 http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/brmG5fKvx2Q/article.pl Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:05:22 EDT In what might be a glimpse of things to come in Windows 7, Microsoft is asking customers whether they would be interested in a new 'Instant-on' version of Windows. 'We would like your feedback on a new concept,' the Microsoft survey states. 'The Instant On experience is different from "Full Windows" because it limits what activities you can do and what applications you can have access to.' Sounds interesting but hardly new: Asus and Dell have produced laptops that provide swift access to apps and data using Linux subsystems."Read more of this story at Slashdot. http://www.roomformilk.com/launch/25575 http://rss.slashdot.org:80/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/NG4SBVvSy8k/article.pl Thu, 16 Oct 2008 18:05:11 EDT In what might be a glimpse of things to come in Windows 7, Microsoft is asking customers whether they would be interested in a new 'Instant-on' version of Windows. 'We would like your feedback on a new concept,' the Microsoft survey states. 'The Instant On experience is different from "Full Windows" because it limits what activities you can do and what applications you can have access to.' Sounds interesting but hardly new: Asus and Dell have produced laptops that provide swift access to apps and data using Linux subsystems."Read more of this story at Slashdot. http://www.roomformilk.com/launch/25564 http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/NG4SBVvSy8k/article.pl Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:05:04 EDT Slashdot has one of the best discussion systems there is. It's grown and adapted over the years to meet various challenges and suit the needs of our users. A lot of time and effort has gone into it and we are always open to user input to help make it better. Some of our best ideas start as user suggestions and we appreciate the feedback. Of course they can't all be gems and sometimes the suggestions we get are unworkable or just bizarre. Here are a few of my favorite unhelpful, helpful suggestions.Read more of this story at Slashdot. http://www.roomformilk.com/launch/25436 http://rss.slashdot.org:80/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/FsKoMhXcDRY/article.pl Sat, 11 Oct 2008 09:05:22 EDT Slashdot has one of the best discussion systems there is. It's grown and adapted over the years to meet various challenges and suit the needs of our users. A lot of time and effort has gone into it and we are always open to user input to help make it better. Some of our best ideas start as user suggestions and we appreciate the feedback. Of course they can't all be gems and sometimes the suggestions we get are unworkable or just bizarre. Here are a few of my favorite unhelpful, helpful suggestions.Read more of this story at Slashdot. http://www.roomformilk.com/launch/25411 http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/FsKoMhXcDRY/article.pl Fri, 10 Oct 2008 15:05:07 EDT cmunic8r99 writes in with an email he received from walmart.com yesterday evening about the pending shutdown of their DRM services (which we discussed a while back). Walmart has reconsidered and won't be shutting off its DRM servers after all. They are still moving to an all-MP3 store, but won't break all the DRMed music its customers have already downloaded; this because of "feedback from the customers."Read more of this story at Slashdot. http://www.roomformilk.com/launch/25403 http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/Vv_dZorTN9U/article.pl Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:05:01 EDT GovIT Geek writes to tell us that third-party websites will no longer be off limits for members of the US House, providing that they use it for "official purposes" and not personal, commercial, or campaign purposes. "The rules are seen by House Administration Chairman Robert Brady as a compromise between several proposals under consideration in recent months and are closely aligned with those circulated by the Senate Rules Committee last week. [...] 'These new guidelines are a step in the right direction for a Congress that has been behind the technological curve for too long,' Boehner said. 'By encouraging the use of emerging and established new media tools, Congress is sending the message that we want to speak to citizens, and receive feedback, in the most open and accessible manner possible.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot. http://www.roomformilk.com/launch/25250 http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/Njc5oUIoS6w/article.pl Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:05:06 EDT A new study shows the key role technology can play in extending the age at which people can drive safely and highlights the important psychological role that driving plays in older people's lives in contributing to feelings of independence and freedom and maintaining their quality of life. The study identified ideas for in-car information systems to help compensate for the reduction in reaction time that affects many older drivers. Specific recommendations included a head-up display on the windshield that displays road sign information based on GPS position so the driver doesn't have to keep watching the road side for information and a system to provide the driver with audible feedback on their current speed so the driver doesn't have to look at the dashboard so often. 'Our research highlights issues that have been overlooked by car designers and those advising older people on lifestyles,' says Dr Charles Musselwhite, who led the study. 'The current emphasis on developing technologies which take over part of the driving task may actually end up deterring older drivers. By contrast, better in-car information systems could help them drive safely and ensure they want to keep driving.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot. http://www.roomformilk.com/launch/24926 http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/IsdVgpM83Qo/article.pl Sat, 20 Sep 2008 19:05:01 EDT English, German, Simplified Chinese, and Japanese versions of Internet Explorer 8 have been released for public beta. New features include accelerators, which provide instant context menu access for a number of common tasks; automatic crash recovery, which prevents a single page's failures from taking down your entire browser; and browser privacy, a feature that didn't make Firefox 3. I'm primarily a Firefox user, and I've been using IE8 at work (MS) for the past few weeks. It's a definite improvement over previous versions, and brings a lot to the table that Firefox requires extensions for. Give it a spin, submit feedback, and help keep all browser makers on their toes by facing each other's competition."Read more of this story at Slashdot. http://www.roomformilk.com/launch/24404 http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/377080572/article.pl Thu, 28 Aug 2008 10:05:05 EDT I've been tasked with finding a way to bury digitally stored photographs in a small underground time capsule to be opened in 25 years. It looks like we'll be using a steel vessel, welded closed. I've thought of CDs, DVDs, a hard drive, or a thumb drive — but they all have drawbacks, not the least of which is outdated technology 25 years from now. Maybe I'll put a CD and a CD-ROM drive in the capsule and hope that the IDE interface is still around in 25 years? Ideas and feedback will be appreciated."Read more of this story at Slashdot. http://www.roomformilk.com/launch/24395 http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/376570379/article.pl Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:05:00 EDT JagsLive informs us that the electronics retailer Newegg.com is defying New York lawmakers; it has suddenly stopped collecting sales tax from New York online shoppers. The "Amazon tax," which went into effect June 1, requires online merchants to collect sales tax if they have any affiliates in the state. Amazon is complying but has sued the state on constitutional grounds. Overstock.com dropped all of its New York affiliates and then joined the Amazon lawsuit. Newegg started out complying with the law on June 1, but stopped collecting taxes for New York on August 21. From Newegg's letter to its customers: "After careful review and consideration, we are pleased to inform you that we have stopped collecting New York sales tax, effective August 21, 2008," reads an email the company tossed at customers late last week, including at least one loyal Reg reader. "This decision was driven by your direct and candid feedback and our continued commitment to you as our valued customers."Read more of this story at Slashdot. http://www.roomformilk.com/launch/24386 http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/376145042/article.pl Wed, 27 Aug 2008 10:05:04 EDT Only a week after the bad press coverage regarding the Linux-related bugs in a number of motherboards released by Foxconn (which turned out to be the AMI BIOS that several board makers use), Foxconn is the first vendor out with a publicly released test patch that fixes the bulk of the problems, allowing kernel 2.6.26 to run well on the afflicted boards. The remaining issues appear to either be kernel bugs in builds earlier than 2.6.26, issues with the Intel chipset itself, or minor annoyances that Foxconn is still working to resolve. Foxconn representative Heart Zhang has posted on the Ubuntu forums (where the situation began), apologizing for the issues, thanking Foxconn customers and the community at-large for their feedback, and promising that Foxconn will take Linux support and testing seriously, going forward."Read more of this story at Slashdot. http://www.roomformilk.com/launch/23923 http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/353736406/article.pl Sat, 02 Aug 2008 15:05:00 EDT Quick, incremental updates, along with heavy user involvement, are key characteristics of the emerging software development methods championed by a new generation of Web 2.0 start-ups. A survey conducted for Computerworld showed that an overwhelmingly majority of the respondents said that traditional corporate development teams could benefit from Web 2.0 techniques, specifically the incremental feature releases, quick user feedback loops and quality assurance programs that include users. Fifty seven percent of the respondents said that problem-solving and analytical skills will be key requirements for next generation developers. The bottom-line: corporate development teams need to get to know their users."Read more of this story at Slashdot. http://www.roomformilk.com/launch/23684 http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/341728470/article.pl Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:05:00 EDT MySQL has released plans for a final RC for the MySQL 5.1 server. Monty Widenius, the CTO and founder of MySQL, has put up a request for more feedback from the community. You can get the latest RC here. Please help with the testing of 5.1 and report your bugs here."Read more of this story at Slashdot. http://www.roomformilk.com/launch/23601 http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/337565048/article.pl Wed, 16 Jul 2008 21:05:16 EDT My business just purchased a couple dozen blades, and with our existing servers, this brings us to around 60 machines. We're geographically dispersed, and most of the users who need to connect to servers are not technical (if that matters). We used to use theme-based naming schemes, but we've been migrating to a more utilitarian system. I think it's clearer and more concise, but I've had some feedback from users who didn't find it understandable. What do you use for your internal DNS schemes? How big is your network, and what do you recommend for future expansion? Does it matter to your users at all?"Read more of this story at Slashdot. http://www.roomformilk.com/launch/23400 http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/328295346/article.pl Sun, 06 Jul 2008 17:05:01 EDT In a bold move to connect with the next generation of young British voters, the House of Lords has launched a YouTube video series that will detail what it does and make it more accessible to the younger generation. It accompanies an experimental blog in which various Lords write about political issues and can receive feedback from anyone around the world. The article quotes spokesman Owen Williams saying, 'We're trying to engage with younger people and people who may not be interested in politics. We looked at YouTube because it appeals to people outside the political elite.' Is this doomed to failure, or should more governments be doing something similar?"Read more of this story at Slashdot. http://www.roomformilk.com/launch/22974 http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/311652422/article.pl Sat, 14 Jun 2008 04:05:00 EDT Yesterday, Google released Gmail Labs, which allows Gmail developers to decide what to include in the next feature releases of Gmail based on user feedback. As ZDNet has pointed out, essentially users are guinea pigs for these new features. Participants will vote on their favorite new features, and the ones that are voted the highest will stick around and the ones that are least popular will disappear." Reader physman_wiu points out an article at the BBC about the experiments on offer, writing: "Some of the features are really nice — like the option to use additional star icons, mouse gestures, and custom keyboard shortcuts. Others ... well, let's just say Old Snakey made it in."Read more of this story at Slashdot. http://www.roomformilk.com/launch/22856 http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/307322483/article.pl Sun, 08 Jun 2008 08:05:01 EDT Bell Canada recently announced that it is launching a downloadable video store just as it is caught up in a government inquiry into its traffic-shaping practices. Some consider this a conflict of interest since several content providers were in the process of distributing TV shows using P2P technology before the Bell throttling issue started getting media coverage. Bell's FAQ states that it is not available for Mac users right now (and not Linux either of course) because they are using Windows Media DRM. They do, however, invite feedback on their site."Read more of this story at Slashdot. http://www.roomformilk.com/launch/22547 http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/296303265/article.pl Fri, 23 May 2008 01:05:00 EDT An anonymous reader sends a pointer to Erik Schwiebert's blog — he's the design lead of Microsoft's Mac Business Unit — where he announces that Visual Basic will be returning to Mac Office. Not in Office 2008, which started shipping earlier this year. We discussed the announced death of VBA in Mac Office 17 months back. Schwiebert says that the interval to the next version of Mac Office will be shorter than 4 years but isn't able to offer any more detail. The blog post calls for feedback on what features of VBA and Windows interoperability are most important to people.Read more of this story at Slashdot. http://www.roomformilk.com/launch/22369 http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/290136529/article.pl Wed, 14 May 2008 09:05:01 EDT emj writes to tell us project jDome has started actively soliciting consumer feedback and, of course, donations. They are currently promising to deliver their "180 degree FOV monitor" this year for a pricepoint of around $200. The videos and talk have been circulating for the last couple of weeks or so, but they have added a video of the supposed tech in action. Buyer beware, but I would love to see a couple of reviewers get ahold of this and let us know what the story is.Read more of this story at Slashdot. http://www.roomformilk.com/launch/22338 http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~3/288933719/article.pl Mon, 12 May 2008 18:05:06 EDT