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Slashdot.org - Annette - 12-14-2006 Slashdot.com's Daily Headlines go see! http://it.slashdot.org that site has some interesting stuff! from their daily mailer Why Do Computers Take So Long to Boot Up? from the tired-hampsters dept. posted by Zonk on Sunday December 10, @20:48 (Operating Systems) http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/0142212 Scientists Developing Commercially Viable Synthetic Gecko from the better-than-synthetic-llama dept. posted by Zonk on Sunday December 10, @23:30 (Science) http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/0430240 Telescope Spots Solar Tsunami from the could-even-silver-surfer-have-ridden-that-wave dept. posted by Zonk on Monday December 11, @01:47 (Space) http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/0434205 New Developments From Microsoft Research from the end-result-of-windows-money dept. posted by Zonk on Monday December 11, @03:24 (Microsoft) http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/0438253 Study Detects Recent Instance of Human Evolution from the genetic-not-mental dept. posted by Zonk on Monday December 11, @05:57 (Science) http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/0445222 Java EE & Streaming Architectures from the a-better-cornerstone-for-a-better-building dept. posted by Hemos on Monday December 11, @07:22 (Java) http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1134204 Mac Book Pro as Roomba Remote from the send-arnold-back-in-time-to-stop-this dept. posted by Hemos on Monday December 11, @07:59 (Robotics) http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1129201 Hans Reiser in Court Today from the the-case-grinds-on dept. posted by Hemos on Monday December 11, @08:35 (The Courts) http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1144226 Map of the Internet from the truly-impressive dept. posted by Hemos on Monday December 11, @09:12 (The Internet) http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1150241 A Close® Look At OLPC Human Interface Guidelines from the making-the-audience-understand dept. posted by Hemos on Monday December 11, @09:48 (GUI) http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1155242 Java SE 6 Released from the upgrade-maybe dept. posted by Hemos on Monday December 11, @09:54 (Java) http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/145238 Apple's Illuminous (Aqua v2) to Compete with Aero from the the-rumour-mill-starts-twitching dept. posted by Hemos on Monday December 11, @10:15 (Software) http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1426226 Advice For Programmers Right Out of School from the words-of-advice-for-young-people dept. posted by Hemos on Monday December 11, @10:26 (Programming) http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1247200 Red Hat Dismisses Threat Posed by Oracle and MS from the well-of-course-he-would-say-that dept. posted by Hemos on Monday December 11, @11:01 (Red Hat Software) http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1259246 Independent Benchmarking System for Mice from the getting-a-wee-bit-specialized dept. posted by Hemos on Monday December 11, @11:16 (Input Devices) http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1427242 Disk Drives Face Challenge From Chips from the the-growth-of-hard-storage dept. posted by Hemos on Monday December 11, @11:36 (Data Storage) http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1414241 Predicting Space Weather from the but-don't-use-space-based-lasers dept. posted by Hemos on Monday December 11, @12:20 (Space) http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1416213 Consumer Reports: Cingular, Sprint Bad Performers from the and-guess-which-company-starting-with-C-I-have dept. posted by Hemos on Monday December 11, @12:55 (Communications) http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1537216 Ultrawideband Soon To Be Legal In Europe from the wires-begone dept. posted by kdawson on Monday December 11, @13:30 (Wireless Networking) http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1638253 Neverwinter Nights 2 Review from the like-facing-down-a-lich-loved-templated-dire-vampiric-badger dept. posted by Zonk on Monday December 11, @14:14 (Role Playing (Games)) http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1616229 Rails Recipes from the really-cooking dept. posted by samzenpus on Monday December 11, @14:53 (Book Reviews) http://books.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1534204 How To Choose Archival CD/DVD Media from the 70-years-or-bust dept. posted by kdawson on Monday December 11, @15:33 (Media) http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1714232 Outsourcing Growing Beyond India from the ho-ho-ho-chi-minh dept. posted by kdawson on Monday December 11, @16:10 (Businesses) http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1818204 Unwanted Popups Boosting Web Traffic from the stealing-eyeballs dept. posted by kdawson on Monday December 11, @16:47 (The Internet) http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1829256 Sense of Smell Tied To Quantum Physics? from the sniffing-out-a-theory dept. posted by kdawson on Monday December 11, @17:28 (Biotech) http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1952201 The Demise of the Professional Photojournalist from the going-going dept. posted by kdawson on Monday December 11, @18:06 (The Media) http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/195217 VLC 0.8.6 Released from the plays-almost-anything dept. posted by kdawson on Monday December 11, @18:42 (Media) http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/208229 RE: Slashdot.com - Annette - 12-14-2006 they've changed their Daily Mailer a bit .. gad! what a lot to read! how do they scout out all this stuff? from slashdot.com} *solar tsunami ?? ====================================================================== A Better Job is Waiting for You—Find it Now. Check out SlashdotÂ’s new job board. Browse through tons of technical jobs posted by companies looking to hire people just like you. http://jobs.slashdot.org/ ====================================================================== Slashdot Daily Newsletter In this issue: * Why Do Computers Take So Long to Boot Up? * Scientists Developing Commercially Viable Synthetic Gecko * Telescope Spots Solar Tsunami * New Developments From Microsoft Research * Study Detects Recent Instance of Human Evolution * Java EE & Streaming Architectures * Mac Book Pro as Roomba Remote * Hans Reiser in Court Today * Map of the Internet * A Close® Look At OLPC Human Interface Guidelines * Java SE 6 Released * Apple's Illuminous (Aqua v2) to Compete with Aero * Advice For Programmers Right Out of School * Red Hat Dismisses Threat Posed by Oracle and MS * Independent Benchmarking System for Mice * Disk Drives Face Challenge From Chips * Predicting Space Weather * Consumer Reports: Cingular, Sprint Bad Performers * Ultrawideband Soon To Be Legal In Europe * Neverwinter Nights 2 Review * Rails Recipes * How To Choose Archival CD/DVD Media * Outsourcing Growing Beyond India * Unwanted Popups Boosting Web Traffic * Sense of Smell Tied To Quantum Physics? * The Demise of the Professional Photojournalist * VLC 0.8.6 Released +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Why Do Computers Take So Long to Boot Up? | | from the tired-hampsters dept. | | posted by Zonk on Sunday December 10, @20:48 (Operating Systems) | | http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/0142212 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "Computers take too long to boot up, and it doesn't make sense to me. Mine takes around 30 seconds; it is double or triple that for some of my friends' computers that I have used. Why can't a computer turn on and off in an instant just like a TV? 99% of boots, my computer is doing the exact same thing. Then I get to Windows XP with maybe 50 to 75 megs of stuff in memory. My computer should be smart enough to just load that junk into memory and go with it. You could put this data right at the very start of the hard drive. Whenever you do something with the computer that actually changes what happens during boot, it could go through the real booting process and save the results. Doing this would also give you instant restarts. You just hit your restart button, the computer reloads the memory image, and you can be working again. Or am I wrong? Why haven't companies made it a priority to have 'instant on' desktops and laptops?" Discuss this story at: http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/11/0142212 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Scientists Developing Commercially Viable Synthetic Gecko | | from the better-than-synthetic-llama dept. | | posted by Zonk on Sunday December 10, @23:30 (Science) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/0430240 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Gordon from Seattle writes to mention a CNN article about [1]a new way to hang out. A British aerospace team is working on a super-sticky substance they're calling "Synthetic Gecko". It mimics the hairs on a gecko's foot, and may eventually be developed as a reusable adhesive. From the article: "Each of the microscopic setae on a gecko's foot has a mushroom shaped cap on the end, less than one-thousandth of a millimeter across. This ensures that the gecko's foot is in very close contact with the surface beneath. The cumulative attractive force, called van der Waals force, of these setae allows the lizard to scurry up walls and ceilings, and even hang from polished glass surfaces. In 2003 scientists at the University of Manchester produced a one centimeter patch of 'gecko tape,' but neither the University of Manchester nor University of California teams managed to produce the material in a greater quantity, unlike Haq and Sargent, who have already tested areas larger than 10 centimeters-squared." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/11/0430240 Links: 0. mailto:gordon.indeed@gmail.com 1. http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/science/12/04/fs.syntheticgecko/index.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Telescope Spots Solar Tsunami | | from the could-even-silver-surfer-have-ridden-that-wave dept. | | posted by Zonk on Monday December 11, @01:47 (Space) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/0434205 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ scdeimos writes "The prototype of a new solar patrol telescope in New Mexico [0]recorded a tsunami-like shock wave rolling across the visible face of the Sun following a major flare event on Wednesday, Dec. 6. The shock wave, known as a Moreton wave, also destroyed or compressed two filaments of cool gas at opposite sides of the solar hemisphere." From the article: "'These large scale 'blast' waves occur infrequently, however, are very powerful. They quickly propagate in a matter of minutes covering the whole Sun, sweeping away filamentary material,' said Dr. K. S. Balasubramaniam. 'It is unusual to see such powerful waves encompassing the whole sun from ground based observatories. Its significance comes from the fact that these waves are occurring near solar minimum, when intense activity is yet to pick up.'" Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/11/0434205 Links: 0. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/061208_solar_tsunami.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | New Developments From Microsoft Research | | from the end-result-of-windows-money dept. | | posted by Zonk on Monday December 11, @03:24 (Microsoft) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/0438253 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]prostoalex writes "Information Week magazine [1]runs a brief report from Microsoft Research, showcasing some of the new technologies the company's research division is working on. Among them — a rootkit that eliminates other rootkits, a firewall that blocks the traffic exploiting published vulnerabilities, a system for catching lost e-mail, a honeypot targeted at discovering zero-day exploits, and some anti-phishing applications." Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/11/0438253 Links: 0. http://www.moskalyuk.com/blog 1. http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml;jsessionid=VWJX043PV2OCOQSNDLPSKH0CJUNN2JVN?articleID=196600677 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Study Detects Recent Instance of Human Evolution | | from the genetic-not-mental dept. | | posted by Zonk on Monday December 11, @05:57 (Science) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/0445222 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ The New York Times is running a Sunday article regarding [0]new evidence about 'recent' human evolution. A research team at the University of Maryland has done some work looking at the [1]rise of lactose tolerance in the human populations of Africa. From the article: "The principal mutation, found among Nilo-Saharan-speaking ethnic groups of Kenya and Tanzania, arose 2,700 to 6,800 years ago, according to genetic estimates, Dr. Tishkoff's group is to report in the journal Nature Genetics on Monday. This fits well with archaeological evidence suggesting that pastoral peoples from the north reached northern Kenya about 4,500 years ago and southern Kenya and Tanzania 3,300 years ago ... Genetic evidence shows that the mutations conferred an enormous selective advantage on their owners, enabling them to leave almost 10 times as many descendants as people without them. The mutations have created 'one of the strongest genetic signatures of natural selection yet reported in humans,' the researchers write. " Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/11/0445222 Links: 0. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/10/science/10cnd-evolve.html?ex=1323406800&en=6576a01a1bb4ce31&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lactose_intolerance&oldid=93435162#History_of_genetic_prevalence +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Java EE & Streaming Architectures | | from the a-better-cornerstone-for-a-better-building dept. | | posted by Hemos on Monday December 11, @07:22 (Java) | | http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1134204 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Amin Ahmad writes "Implementing a [1]streaming architecture on a Java EE application server provides asymptotically better memory performance, and, hence, scalability, than current, widely-implemented, Java EE patterns endorsed by Sun. This article provides a [2]concrete implementation of a streaming architecture and compares its scalability to two other, standard implementations: Remote EJB and Local EJB-based solutions. The implementation based on a streaming architecture comes out the hands-down winner: for example, when sending back 300 rows of data to the client, the Local EJB solution fails beyond 16 concurrent users whereas the streaming solution is still running at 128 concurrent users! The article includes complete source code and the entire results database for the stress test. I would be interested in hearing your feedback." Discuss this story at: http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/11/1134204 Links: 0. http://www.ahmadsoft.org/ 1. http://www.ahmadsoft.org/articles/stream/stream.html 2. http://www.ahmadsoft.org/articles/stream/presidents.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Mac Book Pro as Roomba Remote | | from the send-arnold-back-in-time-to-stop-this dept. | | posted by Hemos on Monday December 11, @07:59 (Robotics) | | http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1129201 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ adelord writes "Alpha Geeks have a new do-it-yourself project to terrorize the cat with: use Perl with a MacBook Pro's Sudden Motion Sensor to control a Roomba. Wired's [0]Cult of Mac cites the original site [1]which has other fun ways to pimp your Roomba . This gets my award for most inefficient use of tech, time, and training for the week. It won't freak out her cat nearly as much as a [2]RoboRaptor on Roam mode. " Discuss this story at: http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/11/1129201 Links: 0. http://blog.wired.com/cultofmac/2006/12/control_a_roomb.html 1. http://hackingroomba.com/projects/roomba-tilt-control-with-macbook-perl/ 2. http://www.forthepickney.com/202-165993011-B0007SXAKC-WowWee_Roboraptor_Robotic_Dinosaur.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Hans Reiser in Court Today | | from the the-case-grinds-on dept. | | posted by Hemos on Monday December 11, @08:35 (The Courts) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1144226 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "Hans Reiser has pled not guilty to murdering his wife and invoked his right to a speedy trial. He will attend a hearing today where the judge will decide [0]if the state has a case " We had covered this story back when [1]it had first broke; and for those of you playing catch-up, Hans is the [2]author of ReiserFS. Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/11/1144226 Links: 0. http://www.insidebayarea.com/argus/localnews/ci_4734707 1. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/11/0142216&tid=123 2. http://www.namesys.com/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Map of the Internet | | from the truly-impressive dept. | | posted by Hemos on Monday December 11, @09:12 (The Internet) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1150241 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Wellington Grey writes "Author of the popular webcomic [1]xkcd has put up a hand made [2]map of the internet as today's comic. He also has an interesting [3]blog entry detailing some of the work that went into it, such a pinging servers and creating a method of fractal mapping to display related regions as contiguous sections on the grid." The drawing is pretty damn impressive; somebody get on making that thing a giant wall poster so I can paper over Taco's office door. Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/11/1150241 Links: 0. http://www.wellingtongrey.net/ 1. http://xkcd.com/ 2. http://xkcd.com/c195.html 3. http://blag.xkcd.com/2006/12/11/the-map-of-the-internet/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | A Close® Look At OLPC Human Interface Guidelines | | from the making-the-audience-understand dept. | | posted by Hemos on Monday December 11, @09:48 (GUI) | | http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1155242 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ feranick writes "There have been a lot of articles on Slashdot about the OLPC project, most of them regarding the hardware, the social impact or the cost of the operation itself. However the software development, [0]specifically in the GUI didn't get so far much attention. This blog summarizes some of the [1]OLPC global interface guidelines. You will see that what is really new in the laptop is not the laptop itself, but the completely new idea behind the design, where instead of applications you have activities, documents are now journals, 'application bundles can be signed by whoever works on them — because there is a view source key on the keyboard, anybody can modify an app and distribute it'. It really looks like if this is successfully, we could see a new breakthrough in GUI design also in mainstream PCs: "This UI is quite simply one of the deepest and most interesting redesigns of the desktop user interface ever produced. It makes MacOS look like what it is — boring and unoriginal."" Discuss this story at: http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/11/1155242 Links: 0. http://www.wildgardenseed.com/mike/olpc.html 1. http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Human_Interface_Guidelines +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Java SE 6 Released | | from the upgrade-maybe dept. | | posted by Hemos on Monday December 11, @09:54 (Java) | | http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/145238 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]twofish writes "Sun has announced the availability of [1]Java Standard Edition 6 final release. JSE6 now has dynamic language support. It comes pre-delivered with Netscape's Rhino, a Javascript engine, and the [2]scripting project's home page documents many other available scripting languages, including awk, Jelly, Pnuts, Python, Ruby, and Scheme. In addition a lot of work has been done on the libraries and run-time compiler. The JIT has been improved, with better runtime analysis of program characteristics, giving notable performance improvements. Other improvements include better desktop support, improvements in Swing look and feel, Windows Vista support, and better diagnostic support (For example, profilers and debuggers can now attach to a running JVM without specifically using a debugging-capable configuration. For example, if a problem is found at run-time for a production server, a debugger can attach to it without restarting the server). Sun is also offering sixty days of free developer support for JSE 6 through their [3]Developer Services program." Discuss this story at: http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/11/145238 Links: 0. http://www.twofish-music.com/ 1. http://java.sun.com/javase/6/ 2. http://java.sun.com/developer/technicalArticles/J2SE/Desktop/scripting/ 3. http://developers.sun.com/services/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Apple's Illuminous (Aqua v2) to Compete with Aero | | from the the-rumour-mill-starts-twitching dept. | | posted by Hemos on Monday December 11, @10:15 (Software) | | http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1426226 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ tovarish writes "According to Apple Gazette Apple will [0]replace Aqua with a new name (and hopefully looks) called Illuminous. Is Jobs scared of Aero?, does it make sense to go for a new UI now?, has Aqua run out of steam? The answers will probably come later next month(year)." Discuss this story at: http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/11/1426226 Links: 0. http://www.applegazette.com/mac/rumor-aqua-to-be-replaced-with-illuminous/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Advice For Programmers Right Out of School | | from the words-of-advice-for-young-people dept. | | posted by Hemos on Monday December 11, @10:26 (Programming) | | http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1247200 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ ari1981 writes "I recently graduated from school with a CS degree, and several of my classes were very theoretical in nature. There was some programming, but it seems not as much as in other schools. I'm currently working at a company where I'm doing primarily c/c++ app development on unix. But as I read slashdot, and other tech sites / articles, and realize for some of the software being written nowadays, I would have absolutely NO IDEA how to even begin writing it. I remember first time I saw them, I thought console emulators were really cool. After my education, I have no idea how someone would begin writing one. With the work I'm doing now, it doesn't seem I'm going to be using (or creating) any of the really cool technology I hear about. How did everyone here begin learning / teaching themselves about different aspects of programming, that they initially had no clue about? How did you improve? Programming on your own? Through work?" Discuss this story at: http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/11/1247200 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Red Hat Dismisses Threat Posed by Oracle and MS | | from the well-of-course-he-would-say-that dept. | | posted by Hemos on Monday December 11, @11:01 (Red Hat Software) | | http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1259246 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Rob writes "Red Hat Inc's executive vice president of worldwide sales, Alex Pinchev, has dismissed the impact that Oracle Corp's entry into the Linux support business could have on Red Hat, insisting Oracle does not really know what it is doing. Pinchev also described Microsoft's recent interoperability and patent peace deal with Novell Inc as a "non-event" and dismissed the suggestion that Linux [0]users are at risk of a patent infringement lawsuit from Redmond." Discuss this story at: http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/11/1259246 Links: 0. http://www.cbronline.com/article_news.asp?guid=92852D1D-6DEA-4E2C-B755-F033F87D91C0 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Independent Benchmarking System for Mice | | from the getting-a-wee-bit-specialized dept. | | posted by Hemos on Monday December 11, @11:16 (Input Devices) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1427242 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Heartless Gamer writes "[1]Why benchmark a mouse? From ESReality; "In this environment where performance is king, it's ludicrous to think that mouse performance has never been measured for reviewing the products. Imagine reviewing the latest graphics card in the same way. Without benchmarks, reviewers would have to resort to loading up their favourite game and commenting on how their frag count improved. You would have no way to compare NVIDIA and ATI cards apart from the quality of the packaging. Without benchmarking, graphics card reviews would be almost entirely useless. So why do we put up with mouse reviews that are just as useless?"" Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/11/1427242 Links: 0. http://hgamer.blogspot.com/ 1. http://www.esreality.com/?a=post&id=1265679 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Disk Drives Face Challenge From Chips | | from the the-growth-of-hard-storage dept. | | posted by Hemos on Monday December 11, @11:36 (Data Storage) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1414241 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]WSJdpatton writes "Researchers are [1]reporting significant progress in perfecting a different way to store data in semiconductors, which could replace one widely used type of memory chip and possibly become a credible competitor to disk drives. The researchers, in a paper being delivered at a technical conference in San Francisco, say they used a novel combination of materials to create prototype phase-change components that are more than 500 times as fast as flash chips, while requiring less than half of the electrical power to record data." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/11/1414241 Links: 0. http://wsj.com/free 1. http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB116580685002446215-4Hx7rrKLHcz7OHLOMyKOqi0aXlk_20061218.html?mod=blogs +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Predicting Space Weather | | from the but-don't-use-space-based-lasers dept. | | posted by Hemos on Monday December 11, @12:20 (Space) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1416213 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]eldavojohn writes "Recently, a new discovery has been made [1]explaining how & predicting when [2]space weather occurs. Hopefully this will allow us to predict when and where these extreme forces of magnetic flux occur so that we can prepare to repair satellites or shut them down for safety reasons. Recent activities on the sun have surprised scientists including the explosive "[3]solar tsunami" that happened last week. From the article, "The new study shows that the Northern Lights, also called aurora, and other space weather near Earth are driven by the rate at which the Earth's and Sun's magnetic fields connect, or merge, and not just by the solar wind's electric field. The merging occurs way out in space, at a spot between the Earth and Sun, roughly 40,000 miles above our planet's surface. Researchers have now developed a formula that describes the merging rate of the magnetic field lines and accurately predicts 10 different types of near-Earth space weather activity, such as the aurora and magnetic disturbances."" Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/11/1416213 Links: 0. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood,_Sweat_&_Tears 1. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/061211_mm_space_weather.html 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_weather 3. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/061208_solar_tsunami.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Consumer Reports: Cingular, Sprint Bad Performers | | from the and-guess-which-company-starting-with-C-I-have dept. | | posted by Hemos on Monday December 11, @12:55 (Communications) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1537216 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]dcgirl20006 writes "It's that time again, Consumer Reports is out with the [1] annual cell phone review. And Verizon has risen to the top. And, Cingular, with the most subscribers (post AT&T mega merger), claims it is the company with the "least dropped calls" but consumers say otherwise. [2]What can be done? Provide risk-free 30 day trial period; realistic coverage maps, upfront price disclosure, and end early termination fees." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/11/1537216 Links: 0. http://www.hearusnow.org/ 1. http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/electronics-computers/cell-phones-service/cell-phone-service-1-07/overview/0107_serve_ov_1.htm 2. http://cu.convio.net/HUN_PetitionTheCellPhoneCompanies +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Ultrawideband Soon To Be Legal In Europe | | from the wires-begone dept. | | posted by kdawson on Monday December 11, @13:30 (Wireless Network| | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1638253 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ ukhackster writes "ZDNet UK is reporting that ultrawideband will be [0]legalized in Europe within 6 months, but with tougher controls than in America — the only place where it is legal now. Ultrawideband offers wireless connectivity at speeds up to 1Gbps, and is meant to supersede USB and clear our desks of wires. In Europe, fears that UWB might interfere with other technologies have kept it out of the market. Opening up the European market could give manufacturers a powerful incentive to push UWB." From the article: "[S]ources confirmed to ZDNet UK that the restrictions put forward by the EC would indeed be more rigorous than those imposed in the US, although they would not be so restrictive as to make it impossible for some global harmonization of UWB devices... It is understood that the committee decision to allow UWB was based on a far from unanimous majority, with some Scandinavian countries and France opposing the proposal." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/11/1638253 Links: 0. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/0,1000000085,39285057,00.htm +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Neverwinter Nights 2 Review | | from the like-facing-down-a-lich-loved-templated-dire-vampiric-ba| | posted by Zonk on Monday December 11, @14:14 (Role Playing (Games| | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1616229 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Neverwinter Nights was like an arrow of Zonk-slaying aimed directly at my gamer heart. I've been a table-top player since grade school, and a CRPG version of Dungeons and Dragons with the (at the time) new 3.0 rule set was tremendously exciting. Some four years later, and the sequel had me equally excited. Neverwinter Nights 2 was developed by Obsidian (of Planescape: Torment fame), using a fairly faithful version of the newer 3.5 rules. The result is a game that oozes D&D from every pore. You've got tons of spells, prestige classes, quirky-weird races (tieflings? anybody?), and a polished, functional story that gets you from point A to point B with a minimum of pain. A recipe for a nerdgasm if there ever was one. The game itself, regrettably, suffers from a fairly big problem: they rolled a 1 on their Craft(Videogame) roll. Read on to find out why they should have taken 10 in my impressions of Neverwinter Nights 2. This story continues at: http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1616229 Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/11/1616229 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Rails Recipes | | from the really-cooking dept. | | posted by samzenpus on Monday December 11, @14:53 (Book Reviews) | | http://books.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1534204 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]James Edward Gray II writes "If you have been swept up by the Rails craze or are even just a casual fan, you have probably been waiting for the terrific books to start rolling in. Some early entries, like Agile Web Development with Rails, were very solid but for me greatness arrived with [1]Rails Recipes. For those who are not familiar with it, Rails is a full-stack web application framework, for quickly developing state-of-the-art web applications. Rails Recipes is the latest book on the subject from the Pragmatic Programmers." Read the rest of James's review. This story continues at: http://books.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1534204 Discuss this story at: http://books.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/11/1534204 Links: 0. mailto:james@grayproductions.net 1. http://www.pragmaticprogrammer.com/titles/fr_rr/index.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | How To Choose Archival CD/DVD Media | | from the 70-years-or-bust dept. | | posted by kdawson on Monday December 11, @15:33 (Media) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1714232 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader tips us to an article by Patrick McFarland, the well-known Free Software Magazine author, going into [0]great detail on CD/DVD media. McFarland covers the history of these media from CDs through recordable DVDs, explaining the various formats and their strengths and drawbacks. The heart of the article is an essay on the DVD-R vs. DVD+R recording standards, leading to McFarland's recommendation for which media he buys for archival storage. Spoiler: it's Taiyo Yuden DVD+R all the way. From the article: "Unlike pressed CDs/DVDs, 'burnt' CDs/DVDs can eventually 'fade,' due to five things that affect the quality of CD media: sealing method, reflective layer, organic dye makeup, where it was manufactured, and your storage practices (please keep all media out of direct sunlight, in a nice cool dry dark place, in acid-free plastic containers; this will triple the lifetime of any media)." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/11/1714232 Links: 0. http://adterrasperaspera.com/blog/2006/10/30/how-to-choose-cddvd-archival-media/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Outsourcing Growing Beyond India | | from the ho-ho-ho-chi-minh dept. | | posted by kdawson on Monday December 11, @16:10 (Businesses) | | http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1818204 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ PreacherTom writes "One of the most controversial aspects of the global economy has been the newfound enthusiasm of companies, freed from the constraints of physical location, to outsource jobs. No country had embraced tech outsourcing with more passion than India. Of late, [0]problems are beginning to arise in Indian outsourcing: engineers will start a project, get a few months' experience, and then bolt for greener pastures. The level of attrition can cause the turnover of a project's entire staff within the course of a year. Combine this with salaries in Bangalore that are rising at 12% to 14% per year and it is no surprise that companies are looking beyond India to a slew of emerging hotspots for IT, such as Brazil, China, and Vietnam. Will Ho Chi Minh City be the new Bangalore?" From the article: "India remains an IT outsourcing powerhouse, with $17.7 billion in software and IT services exports in 2005, compared with $3.6 billion for China and $1 billion for Russia... India's outsourcing industry is still growing at a faster pace than that of... other wannabe Bangalores... By the third year of an outsourcing deal, after all the costs have been squeezed out, companies get antsy to find a new locale with an even lower overhead." Discuss this story at: http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/11/1818204 Links: 0. http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2006/tc20061207_164472.htm?campaign_id=bier_tcc.g3a.rss1211a +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Unwanted Popups Boosting Web Traffic | | from the stealing-eyeballs dept. | | posted by kdawson on Monday December 11, @16:47 (The Internet) | | http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1829256 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Most of us have experienced popups used for advertising. Now, some adware companies and advertiser networks are using popups (mostly from programs that users did not want installed) to [0]directly boost traffic numbers for their customer Web sites. Net rating and measurement companies try to detect and discount such inflated traffic numbers, with mixed success. Discuss this story at: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/11/1829256 Links: 0. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/11/technology/11push.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Sense of Smell Tied To Quantum Physics? | | from the sniffing-out-a-theory dept. | | posted by kdawson on Monday December 11, @17:28 (Biotech) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/1952201 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]SpaceAdmiral writes "A controversial theory that proposes that our sense of smell is based not on the shape of the molecules that enter our nose but on their vibrations was given a boost recently when University College London [1]researchers determined that the quantum physics involved makes sense. The theory, proposed in the mid-1990s by biophysicist Luca Turin, suggests that electron tunneling initiates the smell signal being sent to the brain. It could explain why similarly shaped molecules can have very different smells, and molecules with very different structures can smell similar." Turin has now formed a company to design odorants using his theory, and claims an advantage over the competition of two orders of magnitude in rate of discovery. The article concludes, "At the very least, he is putting his money where his nose is." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/11/1952201 Links: 0. http://www.fanehenderson.com/ 1. http://www.nature.com/news/2006/061204/full/061204-10.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | The Demise of the Professional Photojournalist | | from the going-going dept. | | posted by kdawson on Monday December 11, @18:06 (The Media) | | http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/195217 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Dan Gillmor has a piece up on his Center for Citizen Media blog about the [0]coming decline in the venerable professions of photojournalism and videography. It's hard to fault Gillmor's argument that the ubiquity of Net-connected cameras and cell phones will mean that, for breaking news at least, a pro will rarely if ever be the ones who capture the shot or the footage that gets widely published and reprinted. The comments to Gillmor's post are worth reading. One reader pulls out the figure that a billion camera phones will be in use globally by 2008. Discuss this story at: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/11/195217 Links: 0. http://citmedia.org/blog/2006/12/04/the-demise-of-the-professional-photojournalist/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | VLC 0.8.6 Released | | from the plays-almost-anything dept. | | posted by kdawson on Monday December 11, @18:42 (Media) | | http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/11/208229 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]h2g2bob writes "VideoLAN yesterday released a [1]new version of VLC media player. A shout out goes to [2]ffmpeg for many of the codec improvements." From the blurb: "Building on feedback from the 29 million downloads of VLC media player 0.8.5, we bring you version 0.8.6 with many bugfixes, as well as a couple of new features we think you will truly enjoy. Most prominent are probably Windows Media Video 9 and Flash Video. Other important changes are improved H.264 decoding, better Windows Unicode support, a Fullscreen controller, and Apple Remote support for Mac OS X." Discuss this story at: http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=06/12/11/208229 Links: 0. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:H2g2bob 1. http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ 2. http://ffmpeg.mplayerhq.hu/ Copyright 1997-2006 OSTG. All rights reserved. ====================================================================== RE: Slashdot.com - Annette - 01-05-2008 Slashdot Daily Headline Mailer The 5 Coolest Hacks of '07 from the still-no-pencil-hack dept. posted by samzenpus on Wednesday January 02, @19:47 (Security) http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/02/2320230 What's Wrong With the TV News from the not-enough-capes-spaceships-and-pie dept. posted by samzenpus on Wednesday January 02, @21:13 (Television) http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/02/2327238 Scientists Fly to 2008's Most Dazzling Meteor Shower from the follow-that-burning-rock dept. posted by samzenpus on Wednesday January 02, @23:09 (Space) http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/02/2334242 World's Smallest Projector from the there-are-no-small-roles dept. posted by samzenpus on Thursday January 03, @03:04 (Portables) http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/03/0418221 Airport Profilers Learn to Read Facial Expressions from the you-look-guilty dept. posted by samzenpus on Thursday January 03, @07:50 (Transportation) http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/03/0426219 GUI Design Book Recommendations? from the wrapping-the-mind-around-it dept. posted by kdawson on Thursday January 03, @08:32 (Books) http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/03/135217 RTF Vs. OOXML from the already-extinguished dept. posted by kdawson on Thursday January 03, @09:20 (Microsoft) http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/03/1347236 Investors, "Beware" of Record Companies from the rats-heading-down-the-hawsers dept. posted by kdawson on Thursday January 03, @10:02 (Businesses) http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/03/1412247 MS To Push Silverlight Via Redesigned Microsoft.com from the bye-bye-html dept. posted by kdawson on Thursday January 03, @10:45 (Software) http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/03/1537227 Sears Installs Spyware from the naughty-naughty dept. posted by kdawson on Thursday January 03, @11:35 (Privacy) http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/03/1630203 Cocaine Vaccine In the Works from the runnin-round-my-brain dept. posted by kdawson on Thursday January 03, @12:15 (Biotech) http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/03/1647202 Russia Weighs Going Cyrillic For DNS from the ru-serious dept. posted by kdawson on Thursday January 03, @12:57 (The Internet) http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/03/1658224 Lenovo Announces the IdeaPad from the branching-away-from-ibms-old-market dept. posted by Zonk on Thursday January 03, @13:41 (Portables) http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/03/1749255 The Trouble with Virtualization - Cranky IT Staffs from the p-e-b-k-a-c dept. posted by Zonk on Thursday January 03, @14:22 (IT) http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/03/1833252 LG & Netflix Team Up to Offer Downloadable Movies on TV from the yet-another-standalone-piece-of-tech dept. posted by Zonk on Thursday January 03, @15:01 (Movies) http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/03/1859218 Four Root DNS Servers Go IPv6 On February 4th from the our-interwebs-are-all-growed-up dept. posted by Zonk on Thursday January 03, @15:40 (The Internet) http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/03/1954245 UK Moves to Outlaw 'Hacker Tools' from the getting-to-be-popular-over-there dept. posted by Zonk on Thursday January 03, @16:21 (Government) http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/03/2056223 Antitrust Suit Filed To Halt Apple 'Music Monopoly' from the a-bit-too-popular dept. posted by Zonk on Thursday January 03, @17:03 (The Courts) http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/03/2135259 Stern Measures Keep NASA's Kepler Mission on Track from the playing-hardball-in-spaaaace dept. posted by Zonk on Thursday January 03, @17:43 (NASA) http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/03/229207 Surveillance Rights for the Public? from the why-can't-we-big-brother-them-back dept. posted by Zonk on Thursday January 03, @18:24 (The Courts) http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/03/2232218 RE: Slashdot.com - Annette - 01-07-2008 Slashdot Daily Newsletter In this issue: * PI License May Soon Be Required for Computer Forensics * General Motors Embraces Open Source for New Community Site * Frozen Researchers Set Antarctic Ballooning Record * The Strangest Online Political Challenges of 2007 * Apple Files for OLED Keyboard Patent * McAfee Worried Over "Ambiguous" Open Source Licenses * Science Text Attempts to Reconcile Religion and Science * Google, Yahoo, Others Sued Over Solitaire Patent * Warner Backs Blu-Ray. End Times For HD-DVD? * Bill Gates and Microsoft Fund Telescope * Weave... Mozilla Is Trying To Be More Social * Facebook Widget Installs Zango Spyware * NYT Notes Flaws In Current Electronic Voting Methods * Vista SP1 Guides for IT Professionals Released * High School Robotics Competition Kicks Off * Boeing 787 May Be Vulnerable to Hacker Attack * A Bleak Future For Physical Media Purchases? * RIAA's 'Misspeaking' May Have Affected Verdict +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | PI License May Soon Be Required for Computer Forensics | | from the geeks-licensed-to-buy-cool-surveillance-gear dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday January 04, @20:22 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/04/2244227 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]buzzardsbay writes "The good folks over at Baseline Magazine have an intriguing â and worrisome â report on a movement to limit computer forensics work to those who have a [1]Private Investigator license or those who work for licensed PI agencies. According to the story, pending legislation would limit the specialized task of probing deep into computer hard drives, network and server logs for telltale signs of hacking and data theft to the same people who advertise in the Yellow Pages for surveillance on cheating spouses, workers' compensation fraud and missing persons. Those caught practicing computer forensics without a license could face criminal prosecution." Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/04/2244227 Links: 0. mailto:buzzardsbay@gmail.com 1. http://www.baselinemag.com/article2/0,1540,2242720,00.asp +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | General Motors Embraces Open Source for New Community Site | | from the let-em-have-it dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday January 04, @22:34 (The Interne| | http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/04/2045222 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "GM has [0]introduced a new website called [1]GMnext. The site utilizes Wordpress and launching in spring a Wiki allowing General Motors to get better feedback on topics such as energy, design and technology from the community. The interesting part is the executives at GM are participating in the collaborative website. 'We're starting our second century at a time of fundamental change in the auto industry,' said GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner. 'We'll use GMnext to introduce some of our ideas for addressing critical issues concerning energy, the environment and globalization. In the process, we also hope to spark a broader, global discussion on these important topics.'" Discuss this story at: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/04/2045222 Links: 0. http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080104/BUSINESS01/801040337/1002 1. http://www.gmnext.com/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Frozen Researchers Set Antarctic Ballooning Record | | from the hope-you-like-penguins dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Saturday January 05, @00:27 (NASA) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/04/231215 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]coondoggie writes to mention NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF) have [1]announced a new record in the history of scientific ballooning in Antarctica. The new record was established by 'launching and operating three long-duration sub-orbital flights simultaneously within a single southern-hemisphere summer'. "The milestone is significant, as it occurs during the height of the International Polar Year (IPY), a coordinated scientific campaign that is utilizing scientists from more than 60 nations. NSF is the lead federal agency for IPY, which began in March 2007 and will continue until 2009 to allow for two full years of observations and field work in parts of the world that are generally uninhabitable for as long as six months each year, researchers said. " Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/04/231215 Links: 0. http://networkworld.com/ 1. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/23518 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | The Strangest Online Political Challenges of 2007 | | from the different-is-good dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Saturday January 05, @01:02 (The Inter| | http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/05/0152237 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]destinyland writes "Blorgable has a list the year's [1]ten strangest online political moments arguing that 2007 was the year digital identities started encroaching into the culture. While the U.S. Senate was busy fighting cartoon-related digital terrorism with 'The Terrorist Hoax Improvements Act of 2007,' Ann Coulter's web page ended up [2]'mistakenly' announcing her retirement after someone hacked it! But the unpredictable changes were sometimes deadly serious. Even the mainstream media noticed '[3]the ghosts of MySpace' â those U.S. soldiers whose web pages ultimately outlived them." Discuss this story at: http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/05/0152237 Links: 0. http://www.destinyland.org/ 1. http://www.blorgable.com/2008/01/04/year-of-the-web-10-strangest-political-moments-of-2007/ 2. http://www.blorgable.com/2007/10/16/hacked-ann-coulter-site-my-career-was-a-prank/ 3. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/webguide/internetlife/2007-05-25-fallensoldiersonline_N.htm +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Apple Files for OLED Keyboard Patent | | from the prior-art dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Saturday January 05, @02:22 (Input Dev| | http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/05/0043217 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ pegdhcp writes to mention that Apple has applied for a patent on a '[0]dynamically controlled keyboard' with OLED keys. This may seem [1]remarkably familiar, since an OLED keyboard has been bandied about by Art Lebedev studios for quite a while now. "while the Optimus Maximus is a bit expensive, Apple could certainly mass-produce something similar for less money, perhaps bringing the price into reality for most users. Lebedev has, however, apparently applied for several patents for the Optimus, so it's unclear just what Apple is up to, or what would happen if the company were ever to release such a product." Discuss this story at: http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/05/0043217 Links: 0. http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/01/04/apples-oled-keyboard-patent-optimus-maximus-watch-out 1. http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/07/14/1335215&tid=159 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | McAfee Worried Over "Ambiguous" Open Source Licenses | | from the play-by-the-rules-and-no-one-gets-hurt dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Saturday January 05, @04:36 (Software)| | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/05/0215201 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]willdavid writes to tell us InformationWeek is reporting that McAfee, in their annual report, has warned investors that [1]"ambiguous" open source licenses "may result in unanticipated obligations regarding [McAfee] products." "McAfee said it's particularly troubling that the legality of terms included in the GNU/General Public License -- the most widely used open source license -- have yet to be tested in court. 'Use of GPL software could subject certain portions of our proprietary software to the GPL requirements, which may have adverse effects on our sales of the products incorporating any such software,' McAfee said in the report filed last month with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Among other things, the GPL requires that manufacturers who in their products use software governed by the license distribute the software's source code to end users or customers. Some manufacturers have voiced concerns that the requirement could leave important security or copyright protection features in their products open to tampering." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/05/0215201 Links: 0. mailto:willdavid@comcast.net 1. http://www.informationweek.com/shared/printableArticle.jhtml?articleID=205207799 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Science Text Attempts to Reconcile Religion and Science | | from the something-for-both-sides-to-hate dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Saturday January 05, @06:30 (Education| | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/05/025256 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ terrymaster69 writes "The New York Times reports that the National Academy of Sciences has just published their third book outlining guidelines for the [0]teaching of evolution. 'But this volume is unusual, people who worked on it say, because it is intended specifically for the lay public and because it devotes much of its space to explaining the differences between science and religion, and asserting that acceptance of evolution does not require abandoning belief in God.'" Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/05/025256 Links: 0. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/04/us/04evolve.html?ex=1357102800&en=528ac8c83d2eeec6&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Google, Yahoo, Others Sued Over Solitaire Patent | | from the patent-trolls dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Saturday January 05, @08:24 (Patents) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/05/0138259 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "Back in 2004, Slashdot posted about [0]computer solitaire being patented. It was a ridiculous patent and made it onto the EFF's list of [1]worst patents. However, not much had been heard about that patent until now. It turns out that the patent holder, Sheldon Goldberg, is now using that patent to [2]sue a bunch of different online publications, including Digg, eBaum's World, the NY Times, Cnet and the Washington Post. He's also suing Google, Yahoo and AOL (why not?)." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/05/0138259 Links: 0. http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/02/03/1516237&tid=206 1. http://w2.eff.org/patent/wanted/patent.php?p=sheldon 2. http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20080104/025253.shtml +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Warner Backs Blu-Ray. End Times For HD-DVD? | | from the sure-why-not dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Saturday January 05, @09:25 (Television) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/05/1337258 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "The NY Times reports: In addition to Apple, Warner Brothers is now going to [0]throw its weight behind the Blu-ray format for high-definition disks. Warner has been the only major studio to publish its movies in both Blu-ray and HD DVD formats. Today, the studio announced that from now on, it would [1]only issue movies in Blu-ray. Richard Greenfield, the media analyst with Pali Research, wrote that this marks the end of the format wars: "We expect HD DVD to 'die' a quick death."" Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/05/1337258 Links: 0. http://www.timewarner.com/corp/newsroom/pr/0,20812,1700383,00.html 1. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/04/did-warner-brothers-just-kill-hd-dvd/index.html?hp +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Bill Gates and Microsoft Fund Telescope | | from the he's-still-a-nerd-people dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Saturday January 05, @10:18 (Space) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/05/1420206 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]coondoggie writes "Bill Gates and the Charles Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences this week donated $30 million to [1]an ambitious telescope that researchers say will be able to survey the entire sky every three nights â something never done before. The Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) Project got $20 million from the Charles Simonyi Fund for Arts and Sciences and $10 million from Microsoft founder and chairman Bill Gates. Expected to see its "first light" in 2014, the 8.4-meter LSST will survey the entire visible sky deeply in multiple colors every week with its 3 billion-pixel digital camera, probing the mysteries of dark matter and dark energy and opening a movie-like window on objects that change or move. With the telescope scientists will be able to quickly find Earth-threatening asteroids and exploding stars called supernovas and will be able to map out 100 billion galaxies, according to researchers." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/05/1420206 Links: 0. http://networkworld.com/ 1. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/23514 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Weave... Mozilla Is Trying To Be More Social | | from the how-about-trying-to-leak-less dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Saturday January 05, @11:14 (Mozilla) | | http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/05/156200 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Cassanova writes "Weave is the newest Mozilla Labs project. It allows the user to save browser settings on Mozilla servers (Favorites, sessions, passwords, etc.) and load them from anywhere. With this project. Mozilla is trying to be an online services provider, which is an important step. But[1] can Mozilla labs get over the privacy issues?" Discuss this story at: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/05/156200 Links: 0. http://wddc.blogspot.com/ 1. http://wddc.blogspot.com/2008/01/mozilla-weave-mozilla-is-trying-to-be.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Facebook Widget Installs Zango Spyware | | from the hate-when-that-happens dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Saturday January 05, @12:16 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/05/157208 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ BaCa writes "A malicious Facebook Widget actively spreading on the social networking site [0]ultimately prompts users to install the infamous "Zango" adware/spyware. The tremendous success and lightning fast expansion of Facebook empowered the social networking giant with an impressive user base. Needless to say, in a digital world where web traffic equals money, such a user base attracts spammers, virus/spyware seeders, and other ethic-less online marketers like honey would attract flies." Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/05/157208 Links: 0. http://www.net-security.org/malware_news.php?id=898 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | NYT Notes Flaws In Current Electronic Voting Methods | | from the judge-carefully dept. | | posted by Zonk on Saturday January 05, @13:32 (United States) | | http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/05/1718210 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ dstates writes "The New York time has an informative article on electronic voting with [0]some frightening statistics and interesting anecdotes. Printers on Diebold machines in Cayahoga County OH jammed 20% of the time, making paper trail recounts suspect. Crashing voting machines in California reportedly resulted from Windows CE sensing fingers sliding from one key to another as a drag and drop event, and the Diebold software failing to handle the event. Of course, rather than just ignore this unanticipated condition, the OS did the right thing for a voting machine and crashed." Discuss this story at: http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/05/1718210 Links: 0. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/06/magazine/06Vote-t.html?ex=1357275600&en=fa64e2dfdbc25941&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Vista SP1 Guides for IT Professionals Released | | from the get-prepped-before-the-hammer-falls dept. | | posted by Zonk on Saturday January 05, @14:29 (Windows) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/05/1723202 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ wilkinism writes "Microsoft released [0]several detailed documents explaining just about everything you ever wanted to know about Vista SP1. Highlights include a [1]Deployment Guide, [2]list of included hotfixes, and a 17-page list of [3]'Notable Changes'. In reviewing the Notable Changes document, it seems the company focused on improving reliability & performance in really specific scenarios, so it's no wonder that most reviewers are reporting no noticeable gains." Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/05/1723202 Links: 0. http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsVista/en/library/b984ce70-701b-4565-868e-51d1ba47555d1033.mspx 1. http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsVista/en/library/5cf710a1-1414-4d11-97de-0748abdcec651033.mspx 2. http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsVista/en/library/20184cb6-7038-4e82-a32c-4bc10ffe56ab1033.mspx 3. http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsVista/en/library/005f921e-f706-401e-abb5-eec42ea0a03e1033.mspx +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | High School Robotics Competition Kicks Off | | from the all-fun-till-they-nuke-the-colonies dept. | | posted by Zonk on Saturday January 05, @15:46 (Robotics) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/05/2030241 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ DeviceGuru writes "Some 35,000 high school students from over 1500 high schools in eight countries today began competing in the [0]annual US FIRST student robotics contest. This year's competition, dubbed FIRST Overdrive, challenges the student teams to build semi-autonomous robots that can will move 40-inch diameter inflatable balls around a playing field and score the most points. In this year's game, two alliances of three teams each work collaboratively to win each round. An [1]animated simulation of the game (in several video formats) is available online." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/05/2030241 Links: 0. http://www.deviceguru.com/2008/01/05/high-school-robotics-competition-kicks-off/ 1. http://robotics.nasa.gov/events/2008_frcwebcasts.php +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Boeing 787 May Be Vulnerable to Hacker Attack | | from the does-anyone-speak-l33t dept. | | posted by Zonk on Saturday January 05, @16:32 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/05/2057247 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]palegray.net writes "An article posted yesterday on Wired.com notes that 'Boeing's new 787 Dreamliner passenger jet [1]may have a serious security vulnerability in its onboard computer networks that could allow passengers to access the plane's control systems, according to the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration.' They're already working on solutions to the problem - including placing more physical separation between aircraft networks and implementing more robust software-based firewalls." Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/05/2057247 Links: 0. http://classhelper.org/articles/pcp_backup_server/ 1. http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2008/01/dreamliner_security +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | A Bleak Future For Physical Media Purchases? | | from the it's-a-madhouse-a-madhouse dept. | | posted by Zonk on Saturday January 05, @17:26 (Media) | | http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/05/2142214 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ KevReedUK writes "The folks at ZDNet are [0]eulogising over the upcoming death of physical media music sales. They refer to the noticeable drop in physical sales of albums whilst digital sales continue climbing (albeit at a reduced rate). Their central argument is that 'the music industry was pillaged by piracy and competition from other forms of entertainment such as video games ... [2007] marked the lowest tally and the steepest decline since Nielsen began publishing estimates based on point-of-sales data in 1993, a Nielsen representative said. The peak year in that time was 2000, when sales reached 785 million units.'" Discuss this story at: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/05/2142214 Links: 0. http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6224597.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | RIAA's 'Misspeaking' May Have Affected Verdict | | from the slip-of-the-tongue-i-swear dept. | | posted by Zonk on Saturday January 05, @18:30 (The Courts) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/05/2158242 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "David Kravetz of Wired.com covered last year's [0]Capitol v. Thomas trial gavel-to-gavel. It's worth noting, then, his article saying that [1]the RIAA's recent statement â that Sony's top litigation lawyer 'misspoke' during the trial. She said that making a copy from one's own cd is 'stealing', which (in his words) may have caused a major [2]miscarriage of justice. Wired further points out that later on in the trial, during the RIAA's examination of Ms. Thomas, 'On the hard drive she [turned] over were thousands of songs Thomas said she ripped from her CDs. The RIAA's Gabriel suggested to jurors that copying one's purchased music was a violation of the Copyright Act. Gabriel, for example, asked Thomas whether she had ever burned CDs, either for herself, or to give away to friends.' Gabriel, the RIAA's lead attorney, apparently misspoke too â prejudicing jurors along the way." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/05/2158242 Links: 0. http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/2007/01/index-of-litigation-documents.html#Virgin_v_Thomas 1. http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/2008/01/according-to-cary-sherman-of-riaa-sony.html 2. http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/01/riaas-cary-sher.html Copyright 1997-2006 OSTG. All rights reserved. ====================================================================== RE: Slashdot.com - Annette - 01-20-2008 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | FCC Will Test Internet Over TV Airwaves, Again | | from the automagic-for-the-people dept. | | posted by Zonk on Saturday January 19, @14:26 (Television) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/19/1827209 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Weather Storm writes "According to MSNBC.com, the FCC will try again to test prototypes on Jan. 24 for [0]transmitting high-speed Internet service over unused television airwaves. The devices were developed by Microsoft and Motorola, among other corporate partners, and will be tested in laboratory and real-world conditions for three months. 'Last year, a high-technology coalition â which included Microsoft, Google Inc., Dell Inc., Hewlett-Packard Co., Intel Corp. among others â [1]submitted prototypes they said could transmit broadband Internet service over unlicensed and unused TV spectrum, known as "white spaces." Television broadcasters and the wireless microphone industry say such devices could interfere with programming. The Initial prototype testing failed last July because the devices did not reliably detect and avoid TV programming signals and could have caused interference. If the tests are successful this time and the devices are approved, the coalition plans to introduce commercial devices for sale after the digital television transition in February 2009.'" Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/19/1827209 Links: 0. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22728557/ 1. http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/03/13/0235257&tid=193 RE: Slashdot.com - Annette - 02-09-2008 Slashdot Daily Newsletter In this issue: * FBI Sought Approval To Use Spyware Through FISC * Comcast's New Terms of Service Disclose Traffic Management * Birds Give a Lesson to Plane Designers * First Amendment Ruling Protects Internet Trolls * TSA Changes Screening Based on Blog Suggestion * Undersea Cable Cut Circumstances Examined * New Authentication Scheme Proposed * Torvalds On Desktop Linux's Slow Uptake * Hotmail Doesn't Work With Linux Firefox 2.0 * Deal Reportedly Reached In Writers' Strike * RIAA's Attack On NewYorkCountryLawyer Fails * Hostile ta Vista, Baby * 10-Year Anniversary of Open Source * Chinese Professor Sues Google, Yahoo Over Search Exclusion * Intel Skulltrail Benchmark and Analysis * Is Linus Torvalds Speaking for Linux Anymore? * Yahoo Offers All-You-Can-Eat Storage and Bandwidth * Intel Sued Over Core 2 Duo Patent Infringement * College Funding Bill Passes House, P2P Provision Intact * Microsoft Under Third EU Investigation for OOXML * Zvents Releases Open Source Cluster Database Based on Google +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | FBI Sought Approval To Use Spyware Through FISC | | from the hey-guys-this-is-ok-right dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Thursday February 07, @19:43 (Privacy) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/07/2320236 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "Wired is reporting that [0]the FBI sought approval to use its custom spyware program, [1]CIPAV, from the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in terrorism or spying investigations. Affidavits prepared for the court are among 3,000 pages of documents gathered, but not yet released, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from Wired. The FBI [2]hasn't answered any questions about its use of the CIPAV since the program's existence [3]became widely known in July. [4]The FISC is generally regarded as a rubber stamp; it approved over 4,000 surveillance requests in [5]2005 and [6]2006[PDF], rejecting none." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/07/2320236 Links: 0. http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/02/secretive-surve.html 1. http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/01/1632250&tid=172 2. http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/07/thank-you-for-y.html 3. http://www.wired.com/politics/law/news/2007/07/fbi_spyware 4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Foreign_Intelligence_Surveillance_Court 5. http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/fisa/2005rept.html 6. http://www.usdoj.gov/nsd/foia/reading_room/2006fisa-ltr.pdf +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Comcast's New Terms of Service Disclose Traffic Management | | from the thanks-for-the-retroactive-heads-up dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Thursday February 07, @21:15 (The Internet| | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/08/0019227 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ cremou brings us word that [0]Comcast has changed its Terms of Service to include policies on traffic management. This comes after the FCC's recent decision to [1]investigate Comcast's P2P throttling. The language in the updated [2]Terms of Service, according to Ars Technica, mirrors the FCC's 2005 [3]Internet Policy Statement[PDF]. "According to Section III of the revised ToS, Comcast 'uses reasonable network management practices that are consistent with industry standards.' The company points out that it is not alone in the practice, saying that 'all major' ISPs engage in some form of traffic shaping. Comcast does it to keep its subscribers from suffering the heartaches of 'spam, viruses, security attacks, network congestion, and other risks and degradations of service' and to 'deliver the best possible Internet experience to all of its customers.'" Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/08/0019227 Links: 0. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080207-comcast-tweaks-terms-of-service-in-wake-of-throttling-uproar.html 1. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/16/0238244&tid=95 2. http://www6.comcast.net/terms/use/ 3. http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-05-151A1.pdf +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Birds Give a Lesson to Plane Designers | | from the it's-a-bird-it's-a-plane-no-really dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Thursday February 07, @23:22 (Science) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/08/0113231 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Roland Piquepaille points out a news release from the University of Michigan where [1]researchers are looking to birds and bats for insights into aerospace engineering. Wei Shyy and his colleagues are learning from solutions developed by nature and applying them to the technology of flight. A [2]presentation on this topic was also given at the 2005 TED conference. From the news release: "The roll rate of the aerobatic A-4 Skyhawk plane is about 720 degrees per second. The roll rate of a barn swallow exceeds 5,000 degrees per second. Select military aircraft can withstand gravitational forces of 8-10 G. Many birds routinely experience positive G-forces greater than 10 G and up to 14 G. Flapping flight is inherently unsteady, but that's why it works so well. Birds, bats and insects fly in a messy environment full of gusts traveling at speeds similar to their own. Yet they can react almost instantaneously and adapt with their flexible wings." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/08/0113231 Links: 0. http://www.primidi.com/2008/02/07.html 1. http://www.ns.umich.edu/htdocs/releases/story.php?id=6312 2. http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/18 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | First Amendment Ruling Protects Internet Trolls | | from the reinforced-bridges dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Friday February 08, @02:26 (The Courts) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/08/0243242 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "A recent [1]ruling by the Court of Appeal of the State of California (PDF) in Krinsky v. Doe H030767 overturned a lower court ruling and decided that [2]the First Amendment right to anonymous speech protects internet trolls, too. Specifically, the ruling said that 'this juvenile name-calling cannot reasonably be read as stating actual facts.' And, even though some of the statements were crudely sexual and accused Ms. Krinsky of being among 'boobs, liars and crooks,' the statements were held to 'fall into the category of crude, satirical hyperbole which, while reflecting the immaturity of the speaker, constitute protected opinion under the First Amendment.'" Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/08/0243242 Links: 0. http://www.iwouldntsteal.net/ 1. http://www.courtinfo.ca.gov/opinions/documents/H030767.PDF 2. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080207-appeals-court-first-amendment-protects-forum-trolls-too.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | TSA Changes Screening Based on Blog Suggestion | | from the hey-they-actually-listened dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Friday February 08, @05:19 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/08/0339225 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]hhavensteincw writes "Less than a week after it launched a new blog aimed at gathering suggestions from air travelers to improve airport security processes, the Transportation Security Administration changed a practice where some screeners were [1]requiring passengers to remove all electronics, including Blackberries, iPods, and cords from carry-on luggage. Seems the TSA [2]didn't know this was going on, and after the question was raised on its blog, it clamped down on the practice. The TSA also provided a detailed description of their [3]reasoning behind the liquids policy. We discussed the [4]opening of the blog last week." Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/08/0339225 Links: 0. http://www.computerworld.com/ 1. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9061538&intsrc=hm_list 2. http://www.tsa.gov/blog/2008/02/hooray-bloggers.html 3. http://www.tsa.gov/blog/2008/02/more-on-liquid-rules-why-we-do-things.html 4. http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/01/2152216&tid=95 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Undersea Cable Cut Circumstances Examined | | from the putting-away-the-tinfoil-hats dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Friday February 08, @06:54 (The Internet) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/08/0517205 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "Wired has a good review of all the recent undersea cable cuts and why it's suspicious, but [1]unlikely to be a conspiracy. So far, there are only four cut cables (the 'fifth' was weeks ago) in [2]two different locations. Of course, a cable is damaged once every three days, on average, and there are 25 ships that do nothing but repair them. While the timing and locations are a little odd, Iran has been online the whole time, even if some of their routers weren't, and none of the conspiracy theories really add up. In a [3]recent interview, TeleGeography Analyst Eric Schoonover said, 'I think that this is more along the lines of coincidence.'" Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/08/0517205 Links: 0. http://www.iwouldntsteal.net/ 1. http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/02/who-cut-the-cab.html 2. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080207-repairs-underway-explanation-elusive-on-cable-failures.html 3. http://www.networkperformancedaily.com/2008/02/hotter_under_the_water_a_look_1.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | New Authentication Scheme Proposed | | from the more-secure-less-portable dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Friday February 08, @08:21 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/08/0452221 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ jerel brings us a story about a prototype authentication system which approaches security from an atypical angle. It focuses on [0]hiding identity challenges from attackers in addition to the responses. The system, [1]Undercover [PDF], "uses a combination of visual and tactile signals in the authentication process." "The system displays a set of images to the user and asks if any belongs to the image portfolio that the user had previously selected. At the same time, the trackball sends the user a signal that maps each button on the case to a certain answer. The user's hand must cover the trackball for it to operate, so a sneaky observer wouldn't be able to see his or her selections, or answers. So a would-be attacker can't 'see' the tactile challenge presented by the trackball and therefore doesn't get the user's authentication data, even though he or she could see the image challenge on the display." Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/08/0452221 Links: 0. http://www.darkreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=145104&WT.svl=news1_2 1. http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/nicolasc/publications/SCH-CHI08.pdf +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Torvalds On Desktop Linux's Slow Uptake | | from the dare-not-to-be-different dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday February 08, @09:03 (Linux) | | http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/08/1338207 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]javipas notes a Wired piece summarizing a two-part [1]interview with Linus Torvalds that's up at linux-foundation.org ([2]part 1, [3]part 2). In the second part the creator of the Linux kernel gives his view on the limited success of Linux on the desktop. "I have never, ever cared about really anything but the Linux desktop... The desktop is also the thing where people get really upset if something changes, so it's really hard to enter the desktop market because people are used to whatever they used before, mostly Windows... better is worse if it's different." Discuss this story at: http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/08/1338207 Links: 0. http://www.javipas.com/ 1. http://blog.wired.com/monkeybites/2008/02/linus-torvalds.html 2. http://linux-foundation.org/weblogs/openvoices/linus-torvalds-part-i/ 3. http://linux-foundation.org/weblogs/openvoices/linus-torvalds-part-ii/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Hotmail Doesn't Work With Linux Firefox 2.0 | | from the whoa-there-big-feller dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday February 08, @09:35 (Mozilla) | | http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/08/1355246 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader tips a column up at freesoftwaremagazine.com in which the writer discovers that the latest UI enhancements that Hotmail has recently introduced [0]don't work with Firefox 2.0 under Linux. The writer concludes that the webmail interface has been artificially limited by basic user-agent sniffing. The solution is simple enough â spoofing the User Agent that Firefox reports. Discuss this story at: http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/08/1355246 Links: 0. http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/columns/hotmail_doesnt_work_with_firefox_2 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Deal Reportedly Reached In Writers' Strike | | from the gonna-be-a-backlog dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday February 08, @10:21 (Television) | | http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/08/149233 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ BlueshiftVFX writes to let us know that the writers' strike may be over. CNBC and other media are quoting former Disney CEO Michael Eisner: "It's over. They made the deal, they shook hands on the deal. It's going on Saturday to the writers in general... A deal has been made, and they'll be back to work very soon." Discuss this story at: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/08/149233 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | RIAA's Attack On NewYorkCountryLawyer Fails | | from the first-get-the-facts-right dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday February 08, @11:02 (The Courts) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/08/1441245 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "p2pnet.net reports that the RIAA [1]has egg on its face. When the Electronic Frontier Foundation requested permission to [2]file an amicus curiae brief on behalf of Boston University students challenging the RIAA's ex parte discovery order, the RIAA lawyers attacked the blog 'Recording Industry vs. The People' for its criticism of the RIAA as seeking to 'abuse the American judicial system, distort copyright law, and frighten ordinary working people and their children' and then falsely claimed that the blog's author is an EFF attorney â this despite the fact that they know that the blog's author (known on Slashdot as [3]NewYorkCountryLawyer) is a partner in a New York law firm and not an EFF attorney. Judge Gertner apparently wasn't impressed, and [2]granted the EFF's motion, rejecting the RIAA's objections, since she felt amici curiae might 'shed light' on the 'copyright law' and 'computer technology' issues before her." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/08/1441245 Links: 0. http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/ 1. http://www.p2pnet.net/story/14902 2. http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/2008/02/judge-grants-eff-motion-for-leave-to.html 3. http://science.slashdot.org/~NewYorkCountryLawyer/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Hostile ta Vista, Baby | | from the title-could-have-been-worse dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday February 08, @11:45 (Windows) | | http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/08/1627201 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Frequent Slashdot contributor Bennett Haselton adds his experience to the litany of woes with Microsoft Vista. Unlike most commentators who have a beef with the operating system, Bennett does a bit of surveying to bolster his points. Read his account by clicking on the magic link. This story continues at: http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/08/1627201 Discuss this story at: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/08/1627201 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | 10-Year Anniversary of Open Source | | from the corks-a-poppin dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday February 08, @12:26 (Software) | | http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/08/174250 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Bruce Perens writes "Saturday is the 10-Year Anniversary of Open Source, the initiative to promote Free Software to business. Obviously, it's been incredibly successful. I've submitted a [1]State of Open Source message discussing the anniversary of Open Source, its successes, and the challenges it will face in the upcoming decade." Discuss this story at: http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/08/174250 Links: 0. mailto:bruce.perens@com 1. http://perens.com/works/articles/State8Feb2008/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Chinese Professor Sues Google, Yahoo Over Search Exclusion | | from the temper-tantrum dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday February 08, @13:11 (Yahoo!) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/08/176203 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Techdirt points out that while there have been many lawsuits over someone's Google-rank, a Chinese professor is suing Google and Yahoo for [0]removing all mention of him in China. "Google and Yahoo, of course, have agreed to play by local rules in China, upsetting many. Legally, it would seem like this suit has little chance of success â but I doubt that he cares about the legal result. What this actually does is to call attention to his plight â and on that front, it's clearly a successful strategy." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/08/176203 Links: 0. http://techdirt.com/articles/20080207/142142203.shtml +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Intel Skulltrail Benchmark and Analysis | | from the coming-up-short dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday February 08, @13:53 (Intel) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/08/1744254 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Tom's Hardware has a detailed benchmark and analysis of [0]Intel's new Skulltrail offering, taking a look at 8 vs 4 cores. The comparison uses games, A/V applications, office applications, and 3D rendering tools to help demonstrate benchmarks. "We were disappointed by the Skulltrail platform. Although we have tested and reviewed numerous Intel products, we have never had such a half-baked system such as this in our labs. If this sounds harsh, bear in mind that all we have to base this conclusion on is the Skulltrail system itself in its current state, which Intel provided as an official review platform. We do not know whether Intel plans to revise and improve the platform before the final versions ship to retail." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/08/1744254 Links: 0. http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/02/08/intel_skulltrail_part_3/index.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Is Linus Torvalds Speaking for Linux Anymore? | | from the try-not-to-have-an-aneurysm dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday February 08, @14:36 (Operating | | http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/08/1752248 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes to tell us CNET is currently running a story asking '[0]Is Linus Torvalds even speaking for Linux anymore?' It examines both Torvalds' recent public statements on other operating systems and his current approach towards Linux. The author wonders if his utopian view of how an operating system should be viewed and used is just too alien from what the majority of users are really looking for. "if it were up to Torvalds, beauty and intuition would take a backseat to functionality. But when you look at distributions like Ubuntu or OpenSuse, it looks like no one is paying attention. 'An OS should never have been something that people (in general) really care about: it should be completely invisible and nobody should give a flying [expletive] about it except the technical people.' Sure, that statement makes some sense, but in the grand scheme of things, it's the design and usability factor that makes the operating system much easier to use. And while both Mac OS X and Windows have their issues, for the average person, it makes more sense to use those than Linux." Discuss this story at: http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/08/1752248 Links: 0. http://www.cnet.com/8301-13506_1-9866862-17.html?tag=head +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Yahoo Offers All-You-Can-Eat Storage and Bandwidth | | from the until-your-traffic-spikes dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday February 08, @15:20 (Data Stora| | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/08/1811236 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Lucas123 writes "Yahoo this week opened up [1]a new monthly Web Hosting service for small and medium sized businesses that allows unlimited hosted storage capacity and bandwidth for $11.95 a month. Yahoo had been charging $12 a month for 5GB of disk space and 200GB of bandwidth; $20 a month for 10GB disk space and 400GB of bandwidth; and $40 for 20GB disk space and 500GB bandwidth.." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/08/1811236 Links: 0. http://www.computerworld.com/ 1. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=storage&articleId=9061559&taxonomyId=19&intsrc=kc_top +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Intel Sued Over Core 2 Duo Patent Infringement | | from the patents-are-such-a-mess dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday February 08, @16:04 (Intel) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/08/202249 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "It looks like Intel is being sued over a patent infringement alleged to be [0]in the Core 2 Duo microprocessor design. 'The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) is charging Intel Corporation with patent infringement of a University of Wisconsin-Madison invention that significantly improves the efficiency and speed of computer processing The foundation's complaint identifies the Intel CoreTM 2 Duo microarchitecture as infringing WARF's United States Patent No. 5,781,752, entitled "Table Based Data Speculation Circuit for Parallel Processing Computer." WARF contacted Intel in 2001, and made repeated attempts, including meeting face-to-face with company representatives, to offer legal licensing opportunities for the technology.' The text of [1]the complaint [PDF] is also available via WARF's site." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/08/202249 Links: 0. http://warf.org/news/news.jsp?news_id=221 1. http://www.warf.org/uploads/media/Complaint_with_patent_as_filed.pdf +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | College Funding Bill Passes House, P2P Provision Intact | | from the pay-no-attention-to-the-man-behind-the-curtain dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday February 08, @16:47 (Government| | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/08/2029259 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "Ars Technica is reporting that the College Opportunity and Affordability Act [1]passed through the House today with a vote of 354-58 and the anti-P2P provision is intact. That provision would require universities to filter P2P and to offer legal alternatives. They are claiming now, though, that universities would not lose federal funding if they fail to do this. Of course, an amendment that would have clarified that was withdrawn immediately after it was offered." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/08/2029259 Links: 0. http://www.iwouldntsteal.net/ 1. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080207-controversial-college-funding-bill-passedp2p-proviso-intact.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Microsoft Under Third EU Investigation for OOXML | | from the back-in-trouble-again dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday February 08, @17:34 (The Courts| | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/08/213222 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ The Wall Street Journal and Information Week reported this morning that EU regulators have announced a [0]third investigation into Microsoft's conduct on the desktop. This latest action demonstrates that while the EU has settled the case against Microsoft that ran for almost a decade, it remains as suspicious as ever regarding the software vendor's conduct, notwithstanding Microsoft's less combative stance in recent years. The news can be found in a story reported by Charles Forelle bylined in Brussells this morning. According to the Journal, the investigation will focus on whether Microsoft 'violated antitrust laws during a struggle last year to ratify its Office software file format as an international standard.' The article also says that the regulators are 'stepping up scrutiny of the issue.' Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/08/213222 Links: 0. http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=206106956 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Zvents Releases Open Source Cluster Database Based on Google | | from the surprised-it-took-this-long dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday February 08, @18:19 (Databases)| | http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/08/2227216 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "Local search engine company, Zvents, has released an [0]open source distributed data storage system based on Google's released design specs. 'The new software, Hypertable, is designed to scale to 1000 nodes, all commodity PCs [...] The Google database design on which Hypertable is based, Bigtable, attracted a lot of developer buzz and a "Best Paper" award from the USENIX Association for "Bigtable: A Distributed Storage System for Structured Data" a 2006 publication from nine Google researchers including Fay Chang, Jeffrey Dean, and Sanjay Ghemawat. Google's Bigtable uses the company's in-house Google File System for storage.'" Discuss this story at: http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/08/2227216 Links: 0. http://www.linuxworld.com/news/2008/020608-hypertable.html RE: Slashdot.com - Annette - 02-26-2008 anyone know what the heck they are talking about? http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/25/1322252 Pakistan YouTube Block Breaks the World Journal written by Alien54 (180860) and posted by CmdrTaco on Monday February 25, @08:50AM from the oops-they-did-it-again dept. The Internet Allen54 noted a followup to yesterday's story about Pakistan's decision to block YouTube. He notes that "The telecom company that carries most of Pakistan's traffic, PCCW, has found it necessary to shut Pakistan off from the Internet while they filter out the malicious routes that a Pakistani ISP, PieNet, announced earlier today. Evidently PieNet took this step to enforce a decree from the Pakistani government that ISP's must block access to YouTube because it was a source of blasphemous content. YouTube has announced more granular routes so that at least in the US they supercede the routes announced by PieNet. The rest of the world is still struggling." RE: Slashdot.com - Annette - 03-07-2008 from slashdot today} +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | eBay Battles Power Sellers | | from the something-to-think-about dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday March 05, @11:37 (The Internet) | | http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/05/1539232 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]DigitalDame2 writes "eBay power sellers, angered by the recent eBay policy changes, have been hitting back the auction site with listing boycotts and now with accusations of [1]fake listings and forum censorship. EBay admitted that a "bug" in its system had accidentally placed listings from eBay-owned shopping.com onto eBay.com late Friday night. A California-based seller's new eBay listings did not allow users to actually bid on his items. "This guy has over 35,000 items. And there is no button for a 'buy it now' and no button for making a bid." As a result, sellers are threatening to take their complaints to the Federal Trade Commission, but eBay is not backing down." Normally I wouldn't really care, but I think this is interesting because eBay is so dominant in their field, that there is no real alternative. Watching how things like this play out is interesting to me because I want to believe that the internet will require everyone to be more responsible or lose. But the real question for me is at what point does total marketplace dominance trump that. Discuss this story at: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/05/1539232 Links: 0. http://www.gearlog.com/ 1. http://www.appscout.com/2008/03/powersellers_ebay_is_padding_p.php RE: Slashdot.com - Annette - 03-19-2008 Slashdot Daily Newsletter * they ^ come up with so many nteresting topics I can never get to them all! In this issue: * Analysts Forsee Another Banner Year For Videogame Industry * Newly Discovered Fungus Threatens World Wheat Crop * MIT Student Gets Artistic With LED Art * Vista Service Pack One Almost Here * What's Your Favorite Monster? * How The Latest in High Tech Works * The Net's Effect on Journalism * Most Spam Comes From Just Six Botnets * Berners-Lee Rejects Tracking * Identifying Manipulated Image * Single Photons Bounced Off Orbiting Satellite * Young Employees Pose Increasing Risk to Networks * 100-Year-Old Electric Car Design Makes a Comeback * Supreme Court to Hear FCC Indecency Case * Researchers Design Microchip Ten Times More Efficient * Advanced Rails * Settlement Reached in Verizon GPL Violation Suit * Intel Details Nehalem CPU and Larrabee GPU * Novell's 2004 Case Against Microsoft Moves Forward +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Analysts Forsee Another Banner Year For Videogame Industry | | from the banner-that-says-money-money-money dept. | | posted by Zonk on Sunday March 16, @21:23 (Businesses) | | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/16/2341250 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Analysts observing the videogame industry forsee [0]2008 being another blockbuster year in sales. Sales during the month of February were considerably up, according to the NPD group. Early in the year is historically a very slow time in the game sales calendar, making the 34% jump for the month highly significant. Grand Theft Auto IV is likely to be an engine for sales throughout the year: "The game, which will be available on the Xbox 360 and Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3, is expected to boost sales of both consoles. Pre-orders have been better than expected, according to its publisher, Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan, expects the game to sell about 9 million units during the company's fiscal year, which ends in October. Roughly 6 million of this, he added, will be to Xbox 360 owners." Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/16/2341250 Links: 0. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/technology/AP-Video-Game-Sales.html?ref=technology +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Newly Discovered Fungus Threatens World Wheat Crop | | from the swarm-of-hungry-hungry-hippos-not-helping dept. | | posted by Zonk on Sunday March 16, @23:19 (Biotech) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/16/2347253 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]RickRussellTX writes "The UN reports that a variety of the rust fungus originally detected in Uganda in 1999 has already spread as far north as Iran, [1]threatening wheat production across its range. The fungus infects wheat stems and affects 80% of wheat varieties, putting crops at risk and threatening the food sources for billions of people across central Asia. Although scientists believe they can develop resistant hybrids, the fungus is moving much faster than anticipated and resistant hybrids may still be years away. Meanwhile, [2]national governments in the path of the fungus are telling folks that there is nothing to worry about." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/16/2347253 Links: 0. mailto:rickrussell@gmail.com 1. http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=25859&Cr=cereal&Cr1= 2. http://www.app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31327&Itemid=2 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | MIT Student Gets Artistic With LED Art | | from the what-are-they-teaching-those-kids-up-there dept. | | posted by Zonk on Monday March 17, @01:43 (Education) | | http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/17/0347216 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Gibbs-Duhem writes "An MIT graduate student has up a page showcasing a standout art project. [0]He's designed custom LED light fixtures which are seven times brighter than the closest similar commercial models, and include colors which can't be reproduced by a normal RGB cluster (including two ridiculously bright UV LEDs). The result: some beautiful mixed media artwork. The author's goal is to eventually publish a guide to make getting into creating such artwork more accessible to the general public. The site includes lots of great photos and a movie of the art in action. It also has in depth descriptions of the theory involved in this relatively new form of art, an explanation of how the paints were chosen, and an in depth technical discussion of how such lights are designed with schematics and board layouts for those who might wish to build their own lights." Discuss this story at: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/17/0347216 Links: 0. http://web.mit.edu/neltnerb/www/artwork/index.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Vista Service Pack One Almost Here | | from the like-a-really-lame-christmas dept. | | posted by Zonk on Monday March 17, @03:38 (Windows) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/17/0354211 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ arogier writes "After numerous delays and [0]an actual release reversal, the [1]official release date for Vista service pack one has been set for Tuesday, March 18th on Windows Update and Microsoft Downloads. It will be released as an automatic update on April 18th. 'It's unclear so far how a February snafu will affect SP1's roll-out. Last month, after Microsoft pushed a pair of prerequisite patches to users, some reported that their machines refused to finish installing one of the fixes, then went into an endless series of reboots. Several days later, Microsoft pulled the update from automatic delivery, said it was working on a solution and promised it would "make the update available again shortly after we address the issue."' It would be a good time for those planning to adopt early to perform requisite backups and locate their restore media." Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/17/0354211 Links: 0. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/21/1526225&tid=109 1. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=windows&articleId=9068818&taxonomyId=125&intsrc=kc_top +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | What's Your Favorite Monster? | | from the always-been-a-fan-of-nessie dept. | | posted by Zonk on Monday March 17, @05:13 (It's funny. Laugh.) | | http://idle.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/17/0638213 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Pickens writes "Mankind has always had a fascination with monsters, and mythologies from around the world include stories of strange and terrifying creatures. Examples include the half-bull, half-human Minotaur of Greek myths, the living clay Golem of Jewish traditions, British elves and Chinese dragons. Live Science has an interesting photo essay on their [1]ten favorite monsters that may have a basis in real life. Their rogue's gallery includes the Ogopogo, a mysterious monster in Canada's Lake Okanagan; the Chupacabra, that Latin Americans believe is the unholy result of secret US government experiments in the jungles of Puerto Rico; and the perennial favorite Bigfoot." Discuss this story at: http://idle.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/17/0638213 Links: 0. http://hughpickens.com/ 1. http://www.livescience.com/strangenews/top-10-monsters-1.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | How The Latest in High Tech Works | | from the all-done-with-mirrors dept. | | posted by Zonk on Monday March 17, @07:29 (Toys) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/17/0659230 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Popular Science has up a feature looking at "how it works", [0]examining the innards of several new technology-based innovations. We've talked about [1]the Sayaka endoscope in a pill, but did you know it [2]captures images in 360 degrees? We've discussed the [3]adorable little Pleo dino-bot, but did you know [4]how adaptive it is to stimuli? And what about [5]the tank-burning laser that can be fired from an airplane? Well, we haven't discussed that but I'm at a loss as to explain why. "A kind of reverse telescope called the beam expander inside a retractable, swiveling pod called the turret widens the beam to 20 inches and aims it. The laser's computer determines the distance to the target and adjusts the beam so it condenses into a focused point at just the right spot. Tracking computers help make microscopic adjustments to compensate for both the airplane's and the target's movement. A burst of a few seconds' duration will burn a several-inch-wide hole in whatever it hits." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/17/0659230 Links: 0. http://www.popsci.com/how-it-works/article/2008-03/popsci-presents-how-it-works 1. http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/25/1557214&tid=14 2. http://www.popsci.com/node/19963 3. http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/07/1754245&tid=216 4. http://www.popsci.com/node/19959 5. http://www.popsci.com/node/19965 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | The Net's Effect on Journalism | | from the no-not-that-way-the-other-way dept. | | posted by Zonk on Monday March 17, @08:13 (The Media) | | http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/17/0649200 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An Associated Press article about the impact of the internet on journalism has a few interesting findings. A few years ago, it was expected that the internet would democratize news coverage. While print media is being rapidly reborn online, web-based news appears to be [0]constraining the number of conversations instead of expanding them. "The news agenda actually seems to be narrowing, with many Web sites primarily packaging news that is produced elsewhere, according to the Project for Excellence in Journalism's annual State of the News Media report. Two stories - the war in Iraq and the 2008 presidential election campaign - represented more than a quarter of the stories in newspapers, on television and online last year, the project found. Take away Iraq, Iran and Pakistan, and news from all of the other countries in the world combined filled up less than 6 percent of the American news hole, the project said." Discuss this story at: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/17/0649200 Links: 0. http://news.wired.com/dynamic/stories/S/STATE_OF_JOURNALISM?SITE=WIRE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2008-03-16-16-32-59 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Most Spam Comes From Just Six Botnets | | from the all-obsessed-with-your-wang dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Monday March 17, @09:00 (Spam) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/17/1230215 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Ezhenito noted some research pointing out the (maybe) surprising bit of research that [0]6 botnets are responsible for 85 percent of the world's spam. That seems a bit high to me, but the only aspect of spam I am an expert in is *getting* it. Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/17/1230215 Links: 0. http://www.marshal.com/trace/traceitem.asp?article=567 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Berners-Lee Rejects Tracking | | from the along-with-everyone-else dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Monday March 17, @09:38 (Privacy) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/17/1259234 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ kernowyon writes "The BBC has an interview with Sir Tim Berners-Lee during his visit to the UK on their website currently. In it, he voices his concern about [0]the practice of tracking activity on the internet â with particular reference to Phorm. Quotes Sir Tim with regard to his data â "It's mine â you can't have it. If you want to use it for something, then you have to negotiate with me."" Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/17/1259234 Links: 0. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7299875.stm +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Identifying Manipulated Image | | from the check-that-out dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Monday March 17, @10:17 (Graphics) | | http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/17/1313213 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Jamie found a cool story at MIT Tech Review. (As an aside, it sits behind an interstitial ad AND on 2 pages: normally I reject websites that do that, but it's a slow news day, so I'm letting it through) Essentially, software is used to [0]analyze light patterns in still photographs. Once you can figure out where the light sources are, it becomes a lot easier to determine if an image has been photoshopped. Discuss this story at: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/17/1313213 Links: 0. http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/20423/?a=f +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Single Photons Bounced Off Orbiting Satellite | | from the pling-pling-pling dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Monday March 17, @11:00 (Communications) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/17/1421219 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]KentuckyFC writes "If we're ever going to benefit from the perfect security of quantum communication, we're going to need ways of transmitting entangled photons around the globe and certainly further than the current record of 144km through the atmosphere. Anton Zeilinger at the University of Vienna and colleagues have taken an important step towards this by [1]bouncing individual photons off the Ajisai geodetic satellite (essentially a space-based disco ball) which is orbiting at 1400km. The group says the experiment is an important proof of principle for satellite-based quantum communications." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/17/1421219 Links: 0. http://www.arxivblog.com/ 1. http://arxivblog.com/?p=317 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Young Employees Pose Increasing Risk to Networks | | from the also-increased-chance-of-lohan dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Monday March 17, @11:42 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/17/1423249 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]buzzardsbay writes "Baseline is reporting on [1]an upcoming survey from Symantec and Applied Research-West that confirms many suspicions about the generation gap in the workplace, namely that younger workers will use your corporate network to run most any device, technology or social networking software they can get their hands on. Dubbed "Millenials," these workers born after 1980 are nearly twice as likely to use cell phones and PDAs at work, and half admit to installing unauthorized software on their employer's computers. On the upside, the Millenials are more security aware than their older co-workers." Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/17/1423249 Links: 0. mailto:buzzardsbay@gmail.com 1. http://www.baselinemag.com/c/a/Security/Beware-a-Generation-of-Risk-Takers/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | 100-Year-Old Electric Car Design Makes a Comeback | | from the they-do-make-em-like-they-used-to dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday March 17, @12:54 (Transportatio| | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/17/1554249 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ CNet's Green Tech Blog is reporting that Detroit Electric plans to release a small number of cars based around a car [0]designed nearly 100 years ago. Detroit Electric is a joint venture between Santa Rosa, CA-based electric transportation specialist, Zap and China's Youngman motors. "Back in 1917, a Detroit Electric cost anywhere from $1,775 to $2,375--in other words, fit for the proletarian or plutocrat. The cars could go 65 miles to 100 miles on a battery charge, but only go at speeds ranging from 6 miles per hour to 25 mph." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/17/1554249 Links: 0. http://www.news.com/8301-11128_3-9894597-54.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-5 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Supreme Court to Hear FCC Indecency Case | | from the arbitrary-standards dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday March 17, @14:06 (The Courts) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/17/1634214 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ MachineShedFred writes "The Supreme Court of the United States has announced that it will be [0]hearing the FCC's appeal to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision that the FCC has changed its policy on fleeting expletives without adequate explanation. It's now on the FCC to explain to the Supreme Court why its policy has changed. This is also the first time the Supreme Court has heard a major 'broadcast indecency' case in 30 years." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/17/1634214 Links: 0. http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080317/scotus_broadcast_indecency.html?.v=2 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Researchers Design Microchip Ten Times More Efficient | | from the proof-of-concept dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday March 17, @15:11 (Power) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/17/1651249 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]WirePosted writes to mention that a new [1]highly efficient microchip has been announced by researchers from MIT and Texas Instruments. The new chip touts up to 10 times more energy efficiency than current generation chips. "One key to the new chip design, Chandrakasan says, was to build a high-efficiency DC-to-DC converter--which reduces the voltage to the lower level--right on the same chip, reducing the number of separate components. The redesigned memory and logic, along with the DC-to-DC converter, are all integrated to realize a complete system-on-a-chip solution." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/17/1651249 Links: 0. mailto:hound-dog@itwire.com 1. http://www.itwire.com/content/view/17183/53/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Advanced Rails | | from the read-all-about-it dept. | | posted by samzenpus on Monday March 17, @16:19 (Book Reviews) | | http://books.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/17/138205 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ yukster writes "As Ruby on Rails rocketed into the development community's hearts and minds a few years ago, the number of books on the subject climbed with it. However, a lot of these books were introductory in nature (Agile Web Development with Rails, Beginning Rails, Build Your Own Rails Applications, etc.). What's a budding Rails-head to do once they've gotten the basics down? Books like Advanced Rails, which was released late last year by O'Reilly, aim to fill this void." Keep reading below for the rest of Ben's review. This story continues at: http://books.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/17/138205 Discuss this story at: http://books.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/17/138205 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Settlement Reached in Verizon GPL Violation Suit | | from the lifetime-of-clicking-i-agree-on-licenses-brought-to-a-ha| | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday March 17, @17:30 (The Courts) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/17/1854252 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]eldavojohn writes "A [1]settlement has been reached in the [2]Verizon GPLv2 violation suit. The now famous BusyBox developers, Erick Andersen and Rob Landley, will receive an undisclosed sum from subcontractor Actiontec Electronics. 'Actiontec supplied Verizon with wireless routers for its FiOS broadband service that use an open source program called BusyBox. BusyBox developers Andersen and Landley in December sued Verizon -- claiming that the usage violated terms of version 2 of the GNU General Public License.'" Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/17/1854252 Links: 0. http://tinyurl.com/hdng7 1. http://www.informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=206904096&subSection=News 2. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/07/1953217&tid=123 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Intel Details Nehalem CPU and Larrabee GPU | | from the business-is-war dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday March 17, @18:34 (Intel) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/17/2026220 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Vigile writes "Intel previewed the information set to be released at IDF next month including details on a wide array of technology for server, workstation, desktop and graphics chips. The [0]upcoming Tukwila chip will replace the current Itanium lineup with about twice the performance at a cost of 2 billion transistors and Dunnington is a hexa-core processor using existing Core 2 architecture. [1]Details of Nehalem, Intel's next desktop CPU core that includes an integrated memory controller, show a return of HyperThreading-like SMT, a new SSE 4.2 extension and modular design that features optional integrated graphics on the CPU as well. Could Intel beat AMD in its own "Fusion" plans? Finally, Larrabee, the GPU technology Intel is building, was [2]verified to support OpenGL and DirectX upon release and Intel provided information on a new extension called Advanced Vector Extension (AVX) for SSE that would improve graphics performance on the many-core architecture." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/17/2026220 Links: 0. http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=534 1. http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=534&type=expert&pid=2 2. http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=534&type=expert&pid=3 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Novell's 2004 Case Against Microsoft Moves Forward | | from the on-hold-since-2004 dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday March 17, @19:41 (The Courts) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/17/2033204 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "Novell's antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft for destroying the market for WordPerfect and QuattroPro [1]can now move forward. The Supreme Court denied certiorari to Microsoft's appeal of an appeals court ruling, which is the fancy legal way of saying they ignored Microsoft's appeal and let the previous ruling stand. Novell's complaint is an interesting read, because some of this sounds quite familiar, given how Microsoft is now forcing the standardization of OOXML. Statements like, 'As Microsoft knew, a truly standard file format that was open to all ISVs would have enhanced competition in the market for word processing applications, because such a standard allows the exchange of text files between different word processing applications used by different customers,' and 'Microsoft made other inferior features de facto industry standards,' sound a lot more recent." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/17/2033204 Links: 0. http://www.eff.org/support 1. http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20080317124445613 Copyright 1997-2006 SourceForge, Inc.. All rights reserved. ====================================================================== RE: Slashdot.com - Annette - 03-22-2008 Slashdot Daily Newsletter In this issue: * Cassini Finds Evidence For Ocean Inside Titan * FBI Posts Fake Hyperlinks To Trap Downloaders of Illegal Porn * Game Developers Should Ignore Software Pirates * "Manhattan Project" For Prosthetic Arms * Inside The Twisted Mind of Bruce Schneier * Buckyballs Can Store Concentrated Hydrogen * Blu-ray BD+ Cracked * Road Coloring Problem Solved * Ubuntu 8.04 Beta Released * Sony Blu-ray Under Patent Infringement Probe * Lessig Bets On the Net To Clean Up Government * Gamma Ray Burst Visible At Record Distance * In Soviet US, Comcast Watches YOU * Array-Based Memory May Put a Terabyte On a Chip * Wireless Auction Ends With Mixed Feelings * Astronomers Discover New Class of Pulsating Star * Microsoft Hyper-V Leaves Linux Out In The Cold * HTC Shift + ThinkPad X300 + MacBook Air = Perfect Notebook? * What Happens To Bounced @Donotreply.com E-Mails * Sony Offers Bloatware Removal Service — For a Fee [Updated] * From GNOME to KDE and Back Again * Web 2.0, Meet JavaScript 2.0 * DirectX Architect — Consoles as We Know Them Are Gone +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Cassini Finds Evidence For Ocean Inside Titan | | from the so-that's-where-it-was-hiding dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Thursday March 20, @20:28 (Space) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/20/2222209 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Riding with Robots writes "NASA reports that by using data from the Cassini probe's radar, scientists established the locations of 50 unique landmarks on the surface of Saturn's planet-size moon Titan. They then searched for these same lakes, canyons and mountains in the data after subsequent Titan flybys. They found that the features had [1]shifted from their expected positions by up to 30 kilometers. NASA says a systematic displacement of surface features would be difficult to explain unless the moon's icy crust was decoupled from its core by an internal ocean, making it easier for the crust to move. If confirmed, this discovery would add to the growing list of moons in the solar system that are icy on the outside and warm and liquid inside, providing potential habitats. We've previously discussed Titan's [2]hydrocarbon lakes and [3]potential cryovolcano." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/20/2222209 Links: 0. http://www.ridingwithrobots.org/ 1. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2008-048 2. http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/03/2353255&tid=160 3. http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/06/10/0843214&tid=160 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | FBI Posts Fake Hyperlinks To Trap Downloaders of Illegal Porn | | from the if-you-thought-getting-a-shock-site-link-was-bad dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Thursday March 20, @21:59 (The Courts) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/20/2323247 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]mytrip brings us a story from news.com about an FBI operation in which agents posted hyperlinks which advertised child pornography, recorded the IP addresses of people who clicked the links, and then tracked them down and raided their homes. The article contains a fairly detailed description of how the operation progressed, and it raises questions about the legality and reliability of [1]getting people to click "unlawful" hyperlinks. Quoting: "With the logs revealing those allegedly incriminating IP addresses in hand, the FBI sent administrative subpoenas to the relevant Internet service provider to learn the identity of the person whose name was on the account--and then obtained search warrants for dawn raids. The search warrants authorized FBI agents to seize and remove any "computer-related" equipment, utility bills, telephone bills, any "addressed correspondence" sent through the U.S. mail, video gear, camera equipment, checkbooks, bank statements, and credit card statements. While it might seem that merely clicking on a link wouldn't be enough to justify a search warrant, courts have ruled otherwise. On March 6, U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt in Nevada agreed with a magistrate judge that the hyperlink-sting operation constituted sufficient probable cause to justify giving the FBI its search warrant." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/20/2323247 Links: 0. http://www.mytrip.com/ 1. http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9899151-38.html?tag=nefd.pop +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Game Developers Should Ignore Software Pirates | | from the please-insert-the-play-disc-to-continue-reading dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Friday March 21, @00:11 (PC Games (Games))| | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/20/2351201 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ wraith808 points out a story about remarks made by the CEO of software and game development company Stardock about sales in the PC game industry. His suggestion to other developers is simple: [0]ignore the software pirates. From Ars Technica: "'So here is the deal: When you develop for a market, you don't go by the user base. You go by the potential customer base. That's what most software companies do. They base what they want to create on the size of the market they're developing for,' Wardell writes on his blog. 'But not PC game developers.' Don't let people who aren't your audience control the titles you make, and ignore piracy. This is much like Trent Reznor's strategy, although the execution is different. Instead of worrying about pirates, just leave the content out in the open. The market Reznor plays to will still buy the music; he's simply stopped worrying about the pirates. He came to the same conclusion: they weren't customers, they might never be customers, so spending money to try to stop them serves no purpose." Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/20/2351201 Links: 0. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080320-pc-game-developer-has-radical-message-ignore-the-pirates.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "Manhattan Project" For Prosthetic Arms | | from the kinder-gentler-arms-race dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Friday March 21, @02:14 (Medicine) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/21/0158246 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]cortex tips us to a story about a nationwide effort to incorporate advanced technology into the [1]next generation of prosthetic arms. Researchers for the DARPA-funded project are developing feedback techniques that range from sensors on the surface of the user's skin to electrodes implanted on the inside of the user's skull that intercept and interpret signals from the motor cortex. Quoting: "'Think about taking a sip from a can of soda,' Harshbarger says. The complex neural feedback system connecting a native limb to its user lets that user ignore an entire series of complicated steps. The nervous system makes constant automatic adjustments to ensure, for example, that the tilt of the wrist adjusts to compensate for the changing fluid level inside the can. The action requires little to no attention. Not so for the wearer of current prosthetic arms, for whom the act of taking a sip of soda precludes any other activity. The wearer must first consciously direct the arm to extend it to the correct point in space, then switch modes to rotate the wrist into proper position. Then he must open the hand, close it to grasp the soda can (not so weakly as to drop it but not so hard as to crush it), switch modes to bend the elbow to correctly place the can in front of his mouth, rotate the wrist into position, and then concentrate on drinking from the can of soda without spilling it." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/21/0158246 Links: 0. mailto:neuralsci@netscape.net 1. http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/mar08/6069 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Inside The Twisted Mind of Bruce Schneier | | from the it's-dark-in-here dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Friday March 21, @05:15 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/21/0233228 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "Bruce Schneier has an [1]essay on the mind of security professionals like himself, and why it's something that can't easily be taught. Many people simply don't see security threats or the potential ways in which things can be abused because they don't intend to abuse them. But security pros, even those who don't abuse what they find, have a different way of looking at things. They always try to figure out all the angles or how someone could beat the system. In one of his examples, Bruce talks about how, after buying one of Uncle Milton's Ant Farms, he was enamored with the idea that they would mail a tube of live ants to anyone you asked them to. Schneier's article was inspired by a University of Washington course in which the professor is attempting to teach the 'security mindset.' Students taking the course have been encouraged to post [2]security reviews on a class blog." Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/21/0233228 Links: 0. http://endsoftpatents.org/ 1. http://www.wired.com/politics/security/commentary/securitymatters/2008/03/securitymatters_0320 2. http://cubist.cs.washington.edu/Security/category/security-reviews/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Buckyballs Can Store Concentrated Hydrogen | | from the brought-to-you-by-the-letter-H dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Friday March 21, @08:18 (Power) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/21/0838259 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Pickens brings news that researchers from Rice University have discovered that it's possible to [1]store hydrogen inside buckyballs. Hydrogen can be an excellent power source, but it is notoriously difficult to store. The [2]buckyballs can contain up to 8% of their weight in hydrogen, and they are strong enough to hold it at a density that rivals the center of Jupiter. "Using a computer model, Yakobson's research team has tracked the strength of each atomic bond in a buckyball and simulated what happened to the bonds as more hydrogen atoms were packed inside. Yakobson said the model promises to be particularly useful because it is scalable, that is it can calculate exactly how much hydrogen a buckyball of any given size can hold, and it can also tell scientists how overstuffed buckyballs burst open and release their cargo." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/21/0838259 Links: 0. http://hughpickens.com/ 1. http://www.media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=10750&SnID=986985334 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckyball +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Blu-ray BD+ Cracked | | from the bigger-they-come dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday March 21, @08:55 (Media) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/21/1241234 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "In July 2007, Richard Doherty of the Envisioneering Group (BD+ Standards Board) [0]declared: 'BD+, unlike AACS which suffered a partial hack last year, won't likely be breached for 10 years.' Only eight months have passed since that bold statement, and [1]Slysoft has done it again. According to the press release, the latest version of their flagship product AnyDVD HD can automatically remove BD+ protection and allows you to back-up any Blu-ray title on the market." Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/21/1241234 Links: 0. http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/07/09/2333207&tid=188 1. http://forum.slysoft.com/showthread.php?t=14786 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Road Coloring Problem Solved | | from the hard-but-not-complicated dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday March 21, @09:35 (Math) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/21/1319250 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ ArieKremen writes "Israeli Avraham Trakhtman, a Russian immigrant mathematician who had been employed as a night watchman, has [0]solved the Road Coloring problem. First posed in 1970 by Benjamin Weiss and Roy Adler, the problem posits that given a finite number of roads, one should be able to draw a map, coded in various colors, that leads to a certain destination regardless of the point of origin. The 63-year-old Trakhtman jotted down the solution in pencil in 8 pages. The problem has real-world implementation in message and traffic routing." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/21/1319250 Links: 0. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5g2lh1_jNDbrmhNoMlwkZTfLeCw8gD8VHBPIO0 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Ubuntu 8.04 Beta Released | | from the heron-your-chest dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday March 21, @10:14 (Software) | | http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/21/1336240 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]markybob writes "[1]Ubuntu Hardy 8.04 beta has been released. It features GNOME 2.22 and uses Linux kernel 2.6.24. Furthermore, it uses Firefox 3 beta 4, and PulseAudio is enabled by default. To ease the transition of Windows users, it includes Wubi, which allows users to install and uninstall Ubuntu like any other Windows application. It does not require a dedicated partition, nor does it affect the existing bootloader, yet users can experience a dual-boot setup almost identical to a full installation." Discuss this story at: http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/21/1336240 Links: 0. mailto:markybob@gmail.com 1. http://www.ubuntu.com/testing/hardy/beta +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Sony Blu-ray Under Patent Infringement Probe | | from the not-your-usual-patent-troll dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday March 21, @10:51 (Patents) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/21/1352246 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Lucas123 writes "The US International Trade Commission said it will [1]launch an investigation into possible patent infringements involving Sony's Blu-ray players and other technologies using laser and light-emitting diodes, such as Motorola's Razr phone and Hitachi camcorders. The [2]investigation was prompted by a complaint filed in February by a Columbia University professor emerita who says she invented a method of using gallium nitride-based semiconductor material for producing wide band-gap semiconductors for LEDs and laser diodes in the blue/ultraviolet end of the light spectrum. Her complaint asks the ITC to block imports of LED and laser diode technology from Asia and Europe. The total market for all types of gallium nitride devices has been forecast at $7.2 billion for 2009 alone." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/21/1352246 Links: 0. http://www.computerworld.com/ 1. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=storage&articleId=9070419&taxonomyId=19&intsrc=kc_top 2. http://www.usitc.gov/ext_relations/news_release/2008/er0320ff2.htm +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Lessig Bets On the Net To Clean Up Government | | from the change-congress dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday March 21, @11:30 (Social Networks) | | http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/21/1419200 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]christian.einfeldt writes "Stanford Law Professor Larry Lessig really 'gets it' when it comes to the efficacy of distributed open source code production. Now he is attempting to use distributed production methods to [1]expose corruption in the US Congress with the launch of another 'CC' organization â this time it's called '[2]Change Congress'. CC (as opposed to cc for Creative Commons) would invite users to track whether US legislators are willing to commit to Change Congress' four pledges. CC will rely on users to record and map the positions of candidates who are running for open seats in the US House and Senate. Change Congress will use a Google mash-up to create a map depicting which legislators have taken the CC pledge, which have declined, and which have signaled support for planks in the Change-Congress platform. The four pledges (which are not numbered 0 through 3) call for greater transparency in government, and less influence of private money in shaping legislation." Discuss this story at: http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/21/1419200 Links: 0. http://einfeldtampdigitaltippingpointcom/ 1. http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/03/stanford-law-pr.html 2. http://change-congress.org/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Gamma Ray Burst Visible At Record Distance | | from the do-not-look-directly-into-the-supernova dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday March 21, @11:46 (Space) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/21/1529217 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Invisible Pink Unicorn writes "A gamma ray burst detected on March 19 by NASA's Swift satellite has set a new record for the [1]most distant object that could be seen with the naked eye. The burst had a measured redshift of 0.94, meaning the explosion took place 7.5 billion years ago. The optical afterglow from heated gas was 2.5 million times more luminous than the most luminous supernova ever recorded, making it the most intrinsically bright object ever observed by humans in the universe. The previous most distant object visible to the naked eye is the nearby galaxy [2]M33, a relatively short 2.9 million light years from Earth." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/21/1529217 Links: 0. http://filer.case.edu/bct4/ 1. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/swift/bursts/brightest_grb.html 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messier_33 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | In Soviet US, Comcast Watches YOU | | from the you-have-none-get-over-it dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday March 21, @12:09 (Privacy) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/21/1511240 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ cayenne8 sends us to Newteevee.com for a blog posting reporting from the Digital Living Room conference earlier this week. Gerard Kunkel, Comcast's senior VP of user experience, stated that the cable company is experimenting with different camera technologies built into its devices so it can [0]know who's in your living room. Cameras in the set-top boxes, while apparently not using facial recognition software, can still somehow figure out who is in the room, and customize user preferences for cable (favorite channels, etc.). While this sounds 'handy,' it also sounds a bit like the TV sets in 1984. I am sure, of course, that Comcast wouldn't tap into this for any reason, nor let the authorities tap into this to watch inside your home in real time without a warrant or anything." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/21/1511240 Links: 0. http://newteevee.com/2008/03/18/comcast-cameras-to-start-watching-you/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Array-Based Memory May Put a Terabyte On a Chip | | from the need-ramback-now dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday March 21, @12:48 (Data Storage) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/21/1618253 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Lucas123 writes "A new type of flash memory, called array-based memory, could offer [1]a terabyte of data on a single chip within the next decade by bypassing current NAND memory technology, which is limited by the miniaturization capability of lithography. According to the Computerworld story, start-up Nanochip Inc. is being backed by Intel and others, and over 11 years has made research breakthroughs that will enable it to deliver working prototypes to potential manufacturing partners next year. And by 2010, the first chips are expected to reach 100GB capacity." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/21/1618253 Links: 0. http://www.computerworld.com/ 1. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&taxonomyName=storage&articleId=9068318&taxonomyId=19&intsrc=kc_feat +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Wireless Auction Ends With Mixed Feelings | | from the endless-positioning dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday March 21, @13:32 (Communication| | http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/21/169257 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Macworld is reporting that the conclusion of the wireless auction has ended with many participants having [0]mixed feelings. While bigger companies hailed it as a success, including Google who didn't actually bid to win but was able to get open access rules introduced, many smaller companies were left feeling that they were doomed from the start. "A former mail carrier, McBride has been trying his luck at FCC auctions since 1996. He said new rules for the auction favored large companies with deep pockets. For example, the FCC shortened the amount of time that the winners would have to build their networks. "All that did was prevent small businesses from coming in. They were scared of the build-out requirements," he said." Discuss this story at: http://mobile.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/21/169257 Links: 0. http://www.macworld.com/article/132631/2008/03/auction.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Astronomers Discover New Class of Pulsating Star | | from the shiny-new-toys dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday March 21, @14:17 (Space) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/21/1639238 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]KentuckyFC writes "It doesn't happen very often but astronomers have discovered a [1]new class of pulsating white dwarf. The work began last year when the Sloan Digital Sky Survey found a few exotic white dwarf stars with carbon atmospheres. A mathematical model of these stars showed that in some circumstances the dwarfs could pulsate as the carbon was cycled through the atmosphere by convection. Now a few days observation of one of these stars has shown that it does actually pulsate as predicted." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/21/1639238 Links: 0. http://www.arxivblog.com/ 1. http://arxivblog.com/?p=320 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Microsoft Hyper-V Leaves Linux Out In The Cold | | from the some-things-never-change dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday March 21, @15:06 (Microsoft) | | http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/21/1712211 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]whitehartstag writes to mention that Microsoft has announced their new Hyper-V as feature-complete. Unfortunately the [1]list of supported systems is disappointingly short. "No offense to SUSE Enterprise Server crowd, but only providing SUSE support in Hyper-V is a huge mistake. By not supporting Red Hat, Fedora, CentOS, and BSD, Microsoft is telling us Hyper-V is a Microsoft only technology. More Mt. Redmond, Microsoft center of the universe thinking. That's disappointing. Sure, if you are a Microsoft only shop, Hyper-V will be an option for virtualization. But so will VMware and XenServer. But if you run a mixed shop, Hyper-V won't solve your problems alone â you'll have to also add VMware or Xen to your virtualized data center portfolio. Or just go with VMware and Xen and forego Hyper-V." Discuss this story at: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/21/1712211 Links: 0. mailto:lleung@nww.com 1. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/26165 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | HTC Shift + ThinkPad X300 + MacBook Air = Perfect Noteb| | from the pipe-dreams dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday March 21, @15:49 (Portables) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/21/1721234 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Tom's Hardware has an interesting look at the [0]HTC Shift, the newest contender in the ultralight portable arena, with a strong compare and contrast to the other two heavyweights, the ThinkPad X300 and the Macbook Air. "As some of you know, I actually like the Macbook Air but found the Lenovo ThinkPad X300 to be a vastly more useful product in the class. I'm one of the few folks that have been using an early version of the HTC Shift , a smaller screened ultra light tablet with a keyboard and a touch screen which is superior to both offerings in some ways and just released on Amazon.com for $1500 (someone screwed up, this wasn't supposed to happen until next week). This got me thinking: The perfect next generation ultra-sexy notebook should be a blend of all three products." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/21/1721234 Links: 0. http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/03/21/the_htc_shift_thinkpad_x300_the_macbook_air_perfect_notebook/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | What Happens To Bounced @Donotreply.com E-Mails | | from the lazy-people-who-can't-configure-mail-servers-to-do-their| | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday March 21, @16:30 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/21/1737248 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "The Washington Post's Security Fix blog today features a funny but scary interview with a guy in Seattle who [0]owns the domain name donotreply.com. Apparently, everyone from major US banks to the Transportation Security Administration to contractors in Iraq use some variation on the address in the "From:" field of all e-mails sent out, with the result that bounced e-mails go to the owner of donotreply.com.'With the exception of extreme cases like those mentioned above, Faliszek says he long ago stopped trying to alert companies about the e-mails he was receiving. It's just not worth it: Faliszek said he is constantly threatened with lawsuits from companies who for one reason or another have a difficult time grasping why he is in possession of their internal documents and e-mails.'" Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/21/1737248 Links: 0. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2008/03/they_told_you_not_to_reply.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Sony Offers Bloatware Removal Service — For a Fee [Updated] | | from the scams-and-other-marketing-ideas dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday March 21, @17:11 (Sony) | | http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/21/1749252 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ linuxwrangler writes "First Sony packed its laptops with Microsoft Works, Microsoft Office trial version, Corel Paint Shop Pro trial version, WinDVD and more. Now it is [0]offering to remove the bloatware. Of course marketing changed the name from 'removing the crap we stuck you with' to 'Fresh Start' software optimization. And they want you to pay $149.99 to clean up their mess â $49.99 for 'Fresh Start' on top of the required $100.00 Vista Business upgrade. You can get about $25.00 of that cost back if you select all available 'no-software' options which are only available after selecting the $149.99 'upgrade'. Wonder what they would charge to remove Windows completely." Update 11:57 GMT by SM: It seems that massive outrage at Sony's "Fresh Start" program has encouraged them to [1]drop the fee for scrubbing your laptop of bloatware before shipping it your way. Discuss this story at: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/21/1749252 Links: 0. http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/03/21/Sony-charges-to-remove-laptop-bloatware_1.html 1. http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/03/sony-pay-an-ext.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | From GNOME to KDE and Back Again | | from the old-habits-are-hard-to-break dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday March 21, @17:54 (KDE) | | http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/21/1939249 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Slashdot's own Roblimo has an interesting introspective on what makes us so prone to liking [0]one window manager over another. More than likely it's just the inherent laziness of most users that precludes change. "I used KDE as my primary desktop from 1996 through 2006, when I installed the GNOME version of Ubuntu and found that I liked it better than the KDE desktop I'd faced every morning for so many years. Last January, I got a new Dell Latitude D630 laptop and decided to install Kubuntu on it, but within a few weeks, I went back to GNOME. Does this mean GNOME is now a better desktop than KDE, or just that I have become so accustomed to GNOME that it's hard for me to give it up?" Discuss this story at: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/21/1939249 Links: 0. http://www.linux.com/feature/129757 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Web 2.0, Meet JavaScript 2.0 | | from the just-plain-geeked dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday March 21, @18:37 (Programming) | | http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/21/2025237 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Jeremy Martin writes "Well I suppose it's an undeniable fact about us programmer-types â every now and then we just can't help but get excited about something really nerdy. For me right now, that is definitely [1]JavaScript 2.0. I was just taking a look at the proposed specifications and I am really, truly excited about what we have coming." Discuss this story at: http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/21/2025237 Links: 0. http://blog.jeremymartin.name/ 1. http://blog.jeremymartin.name/2008/03/web-20-meet-javascript-20.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | DirectX Architect — Consoles as We Know Them Are Gone | | from the something-about-a-nomad dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday March 21, @19:24 (Games) | | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/21/2134239 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]ThinSkin writes "DirectX architect Alex St. John swims against the current and predicts the demise not of PC gaming, but of game consoles, in an exclusive two-part interview at ExtremeTech. In part one, Alex [1]blasts Intel for pushing its inferior onboard graphics technology to OEMs, insists that fighting piracy is the main reason for the existence of gaming consoles, and explains how the convergence of the GPU and the CPU is the next big thing in gaming. Alex continues in part two with more thoughts on retail and 3D games, and discusses in detail why he feels '[2]Vista blows' and what's to become of DirectX 10." Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/21/2134239 Links: 0. http://www.extremetech.com/ 1. http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2277507,00.asp 2. http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2277868,00.asp Copyright 1997-2008 SourceForge, Inc.. All rights reserved. ====================================================================== RE: Slashdot.com - Annette - 03-31-2008 Slashdot Daily Newsletter In this issue: * VeriSign Jacks Up .com, .net Prices To the Max * Quake-Catcher Aims to be Largest Distributed Seismometer Network * Building the World's 4th Fastest Supercomputer * All 44 Blackboard Patent Claims Invalidated * Virgin America Uses Linux to Entertain Inflight * Creative Goes After Driver Modder * Huge Interest Brings Wikileaks Offline * The Rush To Patent the Atomic Bomb * Last year's CanSecWest Winner Repeats on Vista, Ubuntu Wins * Jail-Breaking iPhones at the Apple Store * Open Source Business Model Using Software Patents * OOXML Vote Tracker and Calculation Guide * Hacker Club Publishes German Official's Fingerprint * Griefers Assault Epileptics Via Message Board * Cisco, Troll Tracker Blogger Sued For Defamation +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | VeriSign Jacks Up .com, .net Prices To the Max | | from the greed-is-universal dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday March 28, @21:37 (The Internet)| | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/28/2249213 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ se7en writes "VeriSign is [0]jacking up prices for the .com and .net domains for the second year running, increasing both by the maximum 7% allowed under its exclusive contract with ICANN. 'Assuming that VeriSign continues the 7 percent rise each year (which seems reasonable given the company's history), registrars will be looking at $9.00 for .com domains by the time the current contract ends in 2012 â a 50 percent increase in six years.' Registrars have no choice but to pony up, and chances are they'll pass the pain on to customers." Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/28/2249213 Links: 0. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080328-verisign-ups-cost-of-com-net-domains-second-year-in-a-row.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Quake-Catcher Aims to be Largest Distributed Seismometer Network | | from the shake-rattle-and-roll dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday March 28, @23:22 (Science) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/28/233215 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Nature is reporting that a new distributed computing application is looking to monitor earthquake data using the accelerometer in many computing devices. In the long run, "[0]Quake-Catcher" will hopefully be fast enough to give warning before major earthquakes. "If it works, it will be the cheapest seismic network on the planet and could operate in any country. It wouldn't be as sensitive as traditional networks of seismometers, but Lawrence says that's not the point. 'If you have only two sensors in an area, you have to have a perfect system. If you have 15 sensors in a system it [can] be less perfect. One hundred, one thousand, ten thousand -- your need for the system to be perfect becomes much smaller,' he says. 'That's really our approach -- just to have massive numbers.'" Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/28/233215 Links: 0. http://www.nature.com/news/2008/080326/full/452397a.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Building the World's 4th Fastest Supercomputer | | from the better-faster-stronger dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Saturday March 29, @01:31 (Supercomput| | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/29/0015208 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]ngkabra writes "In November 2007, a previously unheard of supercomputer called EKA, built by CRL, India came out of nowhere to become the 4th fastest supercomputer in the world. It is also the only supercomputer in the top 10 that hasn't taken any government funding â which means it has no strings attached against commercial exploitation. That is one of the reasons why Yahoo! chose EKA for the cloud computing research that they announced at the Hadoop Summit earlier this week. Yesterday, I attended a presentation by the team that built EKA, and they touched upon a lot of the [1]technical details of EKA, and the challenges faced in designing and building it, which makes for interesting reading." Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/29/0015208 Links: 0. mailto:navin@punetech.com 1. http://punetech.com/building-eka-the-worlds-fastest-privately-funded-supercomputer/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | All 44 Blackboard Patent Claims Invalidated | | from the small-victories-still-victories dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Saturday March 29, @03:28 (Patents) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/29/0346212 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "The US Patent & Trademark Office has [1]invalidated all 44 claims in Blackboard's patent. While this is a [2]non-final action [PDF], which means that Blackboard will be able to appeal, it does represent a win for the Software Freedom Law Center which had requested the reexamination of Blackboard's patent. It is not yet known how this will affect the [3]$3.1M judgment Blackboard won from Desire2Learn." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/29/0346212 Links: 0. http://endsoftpatents.org/ 1. http://mfeldstein.com/all-44-blackboard-patent-claims-invalidated-by-uspto/ 2. http://www.desire2learn.com/patent/USPTO%20Non-Final%20Action.pdf 3. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/25/2345211&tid=155 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Virgin America Uses Linux to Entertain Inflight | | from the slow-steady-creep dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Saturday March 29, @05:42 (Software) | | http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/29/0357206 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]anomalous cohort writes "CrunchGear has an interesting interview of the Director of Inflight Entertainment for the airline Virgin America discusses their [1]adoption of Linux for the passenger's seat back computers. 'The ability to compose a music-video playlist is pretty cool and on the horizon. The READ section is also awesome in that it takes what is typically a bunch of wasted trees (excess newspapers, periodicals) and allows us to be more environmentally friendly and timely with things like news/event info/sports/entertainment etc.'" Discuss this story at: http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/29/0357206 Links: 0. http://www.transitionchoices.com/projection.html 1. http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/03/27/all-about-linux-2008-penguins-fly-an-interview-with-charles-virgin-airs-head-of-in-flight-entertainment/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Creative Goes After Driver Modder | | from the shame-on-you-creative dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Saturday March 29, @07:33 (Hardware Ha| | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/29/046201 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]FreedomFighter writes "Since the release of Windows Vista, Creative has promised their Sound Cards as being 'Vista Ready'. Unfortunately, as many unlucky customers did discover, this is not true. What the users actually found were buggy, feature crippled drivers. Creative insisted that features such as Decoding of Dolby® Digital and DTS signals and DVD-Audio which worked fine in WinXP, would not work on windows Vista. With Creative releasing less than one new driver a year, things seemed bleak. Fortunately, a talented user, Daniel_K, was recently able to 'fix' many of the drivers, enabling the incompatible features and also fixing many bugs. Just today Creative has decided to [1]put a stop to this. They removed all links to his modified drivers, and banned several users who were posting links to the now banned drivers." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/29/046201 Links: 0. http://fightingagainstsuppression.blogspot.com/ 1. http://forums.creative.com/creativelabs/board/message?board.id=soundblaster&thread.id=116332 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Huge Interest Brings Wikileaks Offline | | from the yet-drudge-still-stands dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Saturday March 29, @08:55 (News) | | http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/29/126204 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]DragonFire1024 writes "[1]Wikinews.org â The Wikileaks website, which publishes sensitive and censored material submitted by anonymous contributors, has experienced unprecedented levels of Internet traffic today through public interest. This interest has caused the website's servers to be unable to meet the enormous demand of over 164 gigabytes of download traffic within twenty-four hours, leading the site to be temporarily inaccessible." Discuss this story at: http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/29/126204 Links: 0. mailto:jason.safoutin@wikinewsie.org 1. http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Huge_interest_brings_Wikileaks_offline +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | The Rush To Patent the Atomic Bomb | | from the can-you-sue-a-glowing-man dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Saturday March 29, @09:57 (Patents) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/29/138204 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]dooling writes "In case you were thinking of building your own atom bomb, you may want to weigh your intellectual property liability. It seems there are over [1]2000 patents covering the atom bomb. To avoid publishing the patents, a central tenet of the patent system, "the project made use of an obscure law whereby patent applications could be filed but no one would actually look at them or evaluate them. They would just be stamped secret and stored in a vault at the patent office." The irony here is that while all the patents were essentially stored in the same place at the patent office and written to be understandable by any engineer, the Manhattan Project worked diligently to compartmentalize knowledge, using code names for just about all aspects of the project and keeping tight security on all information. It seems the patents were filed to give the U.S. government an essential monopoly on the burgeoning nuclear industry and protect it against others who might patent similar technologies later." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/29/138204 Links: 0. http://politigenomics.blogspot.com/ 1. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89127786 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Last year's CanSecWest Winner Repeats on Vista, Ubuntu Wins | | from the tough-nut-to-crack dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Saturday March 29, @11:02 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/29/1414218 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ DimitryGH followed up on the earlier news that [0]the MacBook Air lost CanSecWest by noting that "[1]Last year's winner of the CanSecWest hacking contest has won the Vista laptop in this year's competition. According to the [2]sponsor TippingPoint's blog, Shane Macaulay used a new 0day exploit against Adobe Flash in order to secure his win. At the end of the day, the only laptop (of OS X, Vista, and Ubuntu) that remained unharmed was the one running Ubuntu. How's that for fueling religious platform wars?" Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/29/1414218 Links: 0. http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/28/0126221&tid=184 1. http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/21/0336255&tid=172 2. http://dvlabs.tippingpoint.com/blog/2008/03/28/pwn-to-own-final-day-and-wrap-up +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Jail-Breaking iPhones at the Apple Store | | from the dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Saturday March 29, @12:04 (Hardware Hacking| | http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/29/1514258 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "According to [0]an article in Xconomy, iPhone hacker and author Jonathan Zdziarski was invited to speak at an Apple Store in Cambridge, MA last week where he talked about the history of iPhone hacking, jail-breaking, and limitations of the official SDK. From the article, "Zdziarski was one of the first software engineers to figure out how to hack the iPhone, and he's the author of a forthcoming O'Reilly Media book called iPhone Open Application Development, which gives readers explicit instructions on jail-breaking iPhones. So for Apple to give Zdziarski the podium at an Apple retail location is a little like Steve Ballmer inviting Linus Torvalds to speak at a Windows product launch." Zdziarski reports in [1]his own blog how the open source community was on the iPhone developer scene as early as 2007, long before enterprises got there, and estimates that nearly 40% of all iPhones have been jail-broken to run the third-party community software installer. Finally, [2]this story from Top Tech News suggests that open source software might actually create competition for Apple's "official" developers, because applications using the open source iPhone compiler are not subject to the same limitations as official Apple SDK programs are." Discuss this story at: http://mobile.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/29/1514258 Links: 0. http://www.xconomy.com/2008/03/25/jail-breaking-iphones-and-other-tales-from-the-apple-store/ 1. http://www.zdziarski.com/ 2. http://www.toptechnews.com/story.xhtml?story_id=130007J0SQWS +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Open Source Business Model Using Software Patents | | from the say-it-ain't-so dept. | | posted by kdawson on Saturday March 29, @13:18 (Patents) | | http://interviews.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/29/1710238 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Joe Barr writes "Robin Miller has an exclusive [1]video interview with Larry Rosen and Fred Popowich this morning on Linux.com about their new open source business model which includes software patents in its DNA. Their motto is 'Free for open source, everyone else pays.' Larry Rosen was once legal counsel for the OSI." Linux.com and Slashdot share a corporate parent. Discuss this story at: http://interviews.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/29/1710238 Links: 0. mailto:joe@joebarr.org 1. http://www.linux.com/feature/130947 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | OOXML Vote Tracker and Calculation Guide | | from the tools-for-the-impatient dept. | | posted by kdawson on Saturday March 29, @14:34 (Microsoft) | | http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/29/1758224 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Andy Updegrove writes "The vote on Microsoft's OOXML closes today. The final result will not be announced (or leak) before sometime early next week. Meanwhile the votes of individual countries continue to come in, currently with more reported switching in favor of OOXML than against it. For the benefit of those who want to keep track of how the vote is tending until it's official, I'm posting the [1]running tally of which votes have switched, what the net change has been, now many votes have come to light, and how many remain to be announced. It's likely that it will not be possible to know the final result until all votes are in, due to the complex double test for approval, and the complication that the final number of abstentions â and whether they move from 'yes' or 'no' votes â can decrease the total number of votes that need to switch to 'yes' in order for OOXML to be approved. For that reason, I also include the algorithm for arriving at a final result." Discuss this story at: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/29/1758224 Links: 0. http://www.gesmer.com/attorneys/updegrove.php 1. http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/article.php?story=20080329071456170 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Hacker Club Publishes German Official's Fingerprint | | from the sauce-for-the-goose dept. | | posted by kdawson on Saturday March 29, @15:50 (Hardware Hacking)| | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/29/1941206 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ A number of readers let us know about the Chaos Computer Club's latest caper: they [0]published the fingerprint of German Secretary of the Interior Wolfgang Schäuble (link is to a Google translation of the [1]German original). The club has been active in opposition to Germany's increasing push to use biometrics in, for example, e-passports. Someone friendly to the club's aims captured Schäuble's fingerprint from a glass he drank from at a panel discussion. The club published 4,000 copies of their magazine [2]Die Datenschleuder including a plastic foil reproducing the minister's fingerprint â ready to glue to someone else's finger to provide a false biometric reading. The CCC has a page on their site detailing [3]how to make such a fake fingerprint. The article says a ministry spokesman alluded to possible legal action against the club. Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/29/1941206 Links: 0. http://209.85.135.104/translate_c?hl=en&langpair=de%7Cen&u=http://www.heise.de/newsticker/CCC-publiziert-die-Fingerabdruecke-von-Wolfgang-Schaeuble-Update--/meldung/105701 1. http://www.heise.de/security/CCC-publiziert-die-Fingerabdruecke-von-Wolfgang-Schaeuble-Update--/news/meldung/105701 2. http://ds.ccc.de/ 3. http://www.ccc.de/biometrie/fingerabdruck_kopieren.xml?language=en +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Griefers Assault Epileptics Via Message Board | | from the not-funny-mcgee dept. | | posted by kdawson on Saturday March 29, @17:05 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/29/206207 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader tips us to a story up at Wired reporting on what may be the first computer attack to inflict physical harm on victims. Last Saturday, griefers posted hundreds of bogus messages on the support forums of the nonprofit Epilepsy Foundation that used JavaScript and strobing GIFs to [0]trigger migraines and seizures in users. For about 3% of the 50 million epileptics worldwide, flashing lights and colors can trigger seizures. "'I don't fall over and convulse, but it hurts,' says [an IT worker in Ohio]. 'I was on the phone when it happened, and I couldn't move and couldn't speak.' ... Circumstantial evidence suggests the attack was the work of members of Anonymous, an informal collective of griefers best known for their recent war on the Church of Scientology. The first flurry of posts on the epilepsy forum referenced the site EBaumsWorld, which is much hated by Anonymous. And forum members claim they found a message board thread â since deleted â planning the attack at 7chan.org, a group stronghold." Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/29/206207 Links: 0. http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2008/03/epilepsy +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Cisco, Troll Tracker Blogger Sued For Defamation | | from the sleeping-under-bridges dept. | | posted by kdawson on Saturday March 29, @18:11 (Patents) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/29/223256 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Joe Mullin writes "We've discussed [1]Troll Tracker here before â the anonymous blogger who was outed last month as Rick Frenkel, a Cisco lawyer. Since then, two lawyers from the notoriously patent-friendly Eastern District of Texas have filed defamation suits against Frenkel and Cisco, and [2]Frenkel's blog has been [3]shuttered. One of the plaintiffs, a renowned patent judge's son, may have been [4]hunting the anonymous blogger for months. This week Cisco [5]announced new blogging guidelines in response to the Troll Tracker fiasco. The company acknowledged that 'a few Cisco employees used poor judgment' during secret-blog-time, but they're largely [6]standing by their man. Cisco's new rules will prohibit only anonymous blogging by employees about issues for which 'they have responsibilities at Cisco.'" Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/03/29/223256 Links: 0. http://thepriorart.typepad.com/ 1. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/26/1827225&tid=155 2. http://trolltracker.blogspot.com/ 3. http://thepriorart.typepad.com/the_prior_art/2008/03/judge-wards-son.html 4. http://thepriorart.typepad.com/the_prior_art/2008/03/ward-jr-may-hav.html 5. http://blogs.cisco.com/news/2008/03/lessons_learnedcisco_updates_p_1.html 6. http://thepriorart.typepad.com/the_prior_art/2008/03/troll-tracker-l.html Copyright 1997-2008 SourceForge, Inc.. All rights reserved. ====================================================================== RE: Slashdot.com - Annette - 06-17-2008 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | GE Microbes Make Ersatz Crude Oil From Many Sources | | from the hey-I'm-crude-and-oily-so-clone-me dept. | | posted by timothy on Monday June 16, @06:13 (Power) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/16/0451237 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]polymath69 writes "According to The Times Online, genetically modified microbes have been developed capable of turning surplus material such as wood chips, sugarcane, or others, not into ethanol, but [1]into a substance which could substitute directly for crude oil. They claim it could be sold for about $50/bbl, and the production process would be carbon negative." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/06/16/0451237 Links: 0. mailto:9k3k3xw02@nOSpaM.sneakemail.com 1. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article4133668.ece here's the rest of their daily mailer} Slashdot Daily Newsletter In this issue: * Intel Shows Off Quake Wars, Ray Traced * Clash of the Titans Over USB 3.0 Specification Process * Nuclear Warhead Blueprints On Smugglers' Computers * GE Microbes Make Ersatz Crude Oil From Many Sources * Do Women Write Better Code? * Bezos Buries Patent Office in Paper * Trending Low-Volume Google Searches with Gootrude * Taking the Wii Controller to the Next Level * Hands On With Nvidia's New GTX 280 Card * Corporate Behemoth Keeps Ripping "Real" * Nokia Unveils "World's Thinnest" QWERTY Smartphone * Hackerteen Volume 1: Internet Blackout * Trio of Super-Earths Discovered * Visualizing Open Source Contributions * Bone-Headed IT Mistakes * White House Wins Ruling On E-mail Records * Computer Art For a CS Dept Office? * R2-D2 Monitors Your Web Servers * XP Deathwatch, T Minus 2 Weeks * UCITA By the Back Door +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Intel Shows Off Quake Wars, Ray Traced | | from the this-time-I-really-mean-oooh-shiny dept. | | posted by timothy on Sunday June 15, @21:13 (Graphics) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/16/014229 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "At the Research@Intel Day 2008, Intel showed a [0]ray-traced version of Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. Compared to the original game, a water with reflections and refractions and a physically correct glass shader were added. Also, a camera portal with up to 200 recursions to itself has been demonstrated. To show off this ongoing research in the topic of real-time ray tracing, a four-socket system with quad cores has been used that allowed rendering the enhanced visual effects in 1280x720 at 14-29 fps. Just two years before, early versions of [1]Quake 4: Ray Traced ran only at [2]256x256 with 17 fps. Even though Intel's upcoming Larrabee will be [3]primarily a rasterizer, the capabilities for also doing ray tracing on it should deliver interesting opportunities." Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/06/16/014229 Links: 0. http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/37925/113/ 1. http://www.q4rt.de/ 2. http://www.q4rt.de/benchmarks.html 3. http://home.comcast.net/~tom_forsyth/blog.wiki.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Clash of the Titans Over USB 3.0 Specification Process | | from the so-you'd-cut-this-giant-electronic-baby-in-half dept. | | posted by timothy on Sunday June 15, @23:50 (Intel) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/16/0229242 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Ian Lamont writes "Nvidia and other chip designers are [1]accusing Intel of 'illegally restraining trade' in a dispute over the USB 3.0 specification. The dispute has prompted Nvidia, AMD, Via, and SiS to [2]establish a rival standard for the USB 3.0 host controller. An Intel spokesman [3]denies the company is making the USB specification, or that USB 3.0 'borrows technology heavily' from the PCI Special Interests group. He does, however, say that Intel won't release an unfinished Intel host controller spec until it's ready, as it would lead to incompatible hardware." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/06/16/0229242 Links: 0. http://www.thestandard.com/people/i-lamont550036 1. http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/06/14/intel-nvidia-dispute-heats-usb-3-0-standard-fight 2. http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9968410-7.html?tag=nefd.top 3. http://blogs.intel.com/technology/2008/06/usb_30_for_the_masses_dispelli.php +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Nuclear Warhead Blueprints On Smugglers' Computers | | from the that's-worrisome dept. | | posted by timothy on Monday June 16, @02:21 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/16/0440225 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ imrehg links to a story at the Guardian which begins "Blueprints for a sophisticated and compact nuclear warhead have been [0]found in the computers of the world's most notorious nuclear-smuggling racket, according to a leading US researcher. The digital designs, found in heavily encrypted computer files in Switzerland, are believed to be in the possession of the US authorities and of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in Vienna, but investigators fear they could have been extensively copied and sold to 'rogue' states via the nuclear black market." Reader this great guy links to the [1]New York Times article on the discovery, and asks "Given that Khan's revelations were made in early 2004, does that mean it took the IAEA 1-2 years to brute-force the encryption?" Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/06/16/0440225 Links: 0. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jun/16/nuclear.pakistan 1. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/15/world/asia/15nuke.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | GE Microbes Make Ersatz Crude Oil From Many Sources | | from the hey-I'm-crude-and-oily-so-clone-me dept. | | posted by timothy on Monday June 16, @06:13 (Power) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/16/0451237 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]polymath69 writes "According to The Times Online, genetically modified microbes have been developed capable of turning surplus material such as wood chips, sugarcane, or others, not into ethanol, but [1]into a substance which could substitute directly for crude oil. They claim it could be sold for about $50/bbl, and the production process would be carbon negative." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/06/16/0451237 Links: 0. mailto:9k3k3xw02@nOSpaM.sneakemail.com 1. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article4133668.ece +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Do Women Write Better Code? | | from the better-than-me-at-least dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 16, @08:30 (Programming) | | http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/16/1212240 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ JCWDenton writes "The senior vice-president of engineering for computer-database company Ingres-and one of Silicon Valley's highest-ranking female programmers-insists that [0]men and women write code differently. Women are more touchy-feely and considerate of those who will use the code later, she says. They'll intersperse their code... with helpful comments and directions, explaining why they wrote the lines the way they did and exactly how they did it. The code becomes a type of "roadmap" for others who might want to alter it or add to it later, says McGrattan, a native of Ireland who has been with Ingres since 1992. Men, on the other hand, have no such pretenses. Often, "they try to show how clever they are by writing very cryptic code," she tells the Business Technology Blog. "They try to obfuscate things in the code," and don't leave clear directions for people using it later. " Discuss this story at: http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/06/16/1212240 Links: 0. http://blogs.wsj.com/biztech/2008/06/06/men-write-code-from-mars-women-write-more-helpful-code-from-venus/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Bezos Buries Patent Office in Paper | | from the it's-hard-standing-by-your-word dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 16, @09:13 (Patents) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/16/1229242 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]theodp writes "On June 2nd, almost two-and-half years after the USPTO initiated a reexamination of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos' 1-Click Patent, [1]Amazon dumped another load of documents on the USPTO Examiner assigned to the case, asking for consideration of the 185 or so listed references and 'favorable action.' Peter Calveley, the LOTR actor whose do-it-yourself legal effort prompted the reexam, notes that he was [2]cc'ed on 20 kg of documents that Amazon sent earlier to the USPTO as it tried to stave off [3]last October's nonfinal rejection of all but 5 of Amazon's 26 1-Click patent claims. So much for Bezos' 2000 pledge of [4]'less work for the overworked Patent and Trademark Office'." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/06/16/1229242 Links: 0. mailto:theodp@aol.com 1. http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3276/2582303441_25b725170c_o.jpg 2. http://igdmlgd.blogspot.com/search/label/Amazon.com%20one-click%20patent%20reexamination%20Wikipedia 3. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/27/1144222&tid=155 4. http://oreilly.com/news/amazon_patents.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Trending Low-Volume Google Searches with Gootrude | | from the stuff-to-play-with dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 16, @10:01 (Google) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/16/1312249 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]michaelrash writes "The [1]Google Trends project provides some visibility into how popular search terms like "Myspace" or "2008 Election" change over time and points out relevant news articles that create jumps in search volume. This is a handy tool, but there are many search terms that Google Trends does not display any results for. Such terms (such as "Linux Firewalls" â with the quotes) have insufficient search volumes to display graphs according to the error message that Google Trends generates. Fair enough. Google sets an internal threshold on search volume, and this threshold could be set for reasons that range anywhere from Google Trends is still experimental to Google not wanting to provide data on how it builds its massive search index for emerging search terms. Either way, I would like a way to see search term trends that Google doesn't currently make available to me. So, I've released an [2]open source project called "Gootrude" to do just this. For the past year Gootrude has collected a set of low-volume search terms and interfaced with Gnuplot to [2]visualize them." Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/06/16/1312249 Links: 0. http://www.cipherdyne.org/ 1. http://www.google.com/trends 2. http://www.cipherdyne.org/blog/2008/06/trending-low-volume-google-searches-introducing-gootrude.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Taking the Wii Controller to the Next Level | | from the stuff-to-play-with dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 16, @10:40 (Input Devices) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/16/1326238 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]funfail writes "It's a Wii without the $250 console. It's virtual Pong and so much more. Any object is now an input device, even your fingers. [1]Camspace is a pure software solution that allows nearly any ordinary PC webcam (95% are supported) to track up to four objects â even as small as 5mm â in real-time and with very high accuracy and reliability (Windows only). Techcrunch has [2]an in-depth article and a video." Very neat idea, but it appears that it is in a limited beta only, and source doesn't appear likely. Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/06/16/1326238 Links: 0. http://megaxo.com/ 1. http://www.camspace.com/ 2. http://www.techcrunch.com/2008/06/11/camspace-creates-a-wii-for-everyone-minus-the-nintendo-console/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Hands On With Nvidia's New GTX 280 Card | | from the that-time-of-year-again dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 16, @11:21 (Graphics) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/16/1343227 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]notdagreatbrain writes "Maximum PC magazine has early [1]benchmarks on Nvidia's newest GPU architecture â the GTX 200 series. Benchmarks on the smokin' fast processor reveal a graphics card that can finally tame Crysis at 1900x1200. 'The GTX 280 delivered real-world benchmark numbers nearly 50 percent faster than a single GeForce 9800 GTX running on Windows XP, and it was 23-percent faster than that card running on Vista. In fact, it looks as though a single GTX 280 will be comparable to â and in some cases beat â two 9800 GTX cards running in SLI, a fact that explains why Nvidia expects the 9800 GX2 to fade from the scene rather quickly.'" Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/06/16/1343227 Links: 0. http://www.maximumpc.com/ 1. http://www.maximumpc.com/article/unveiled_nvidias_next_gen_gpu +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Corporate Behemoth Keeps Ripping "Real" | | from the ripping-rocks dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 16, @12:06 (Media) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/16/1420233 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Slashdot contributor [0]Bennett Haselton has written in with a tale of media rippers and corporate giants "In 2001 RealNetworks [1]sued and blocked Streambox from distributing the Ripper, a program that let users rip and save RealAudio and RealVideo streams even if the stream contained a proprietary "do not copy" flag. Then one year ago this month, RealNetworks caused a [2]stir by releasing a beta of RealPlayer 11 that similarly let the user record and save streams from sites like [3]YouTube and [4]Pandora. [5]YouTube rippers and the like had existed before, but this was the first time a major company had included a stream ripper in its media player. And while RealPlayer 11 didn't explicitly ignore any copy protection flags, the release still provoked legal rumblings: in a Variety [6]article by Scott Kirsner, an anonymous network exec said accused RealNetworks of "aiding and abetting piracy" and said that they would "more likely than not" take action against RealNetworks. But now that the feature has stayed in RealPlayer for a year, its real impact will be not on piracy but on the perceived legitimacy of ripping programs. The [7]corporate behemoth, raked over the coals in the past for [8]privacy violations and [9]nuisance-ware, strikes a blow for [10]free-culture hackers." The rest of Bennett's essay is available by following that magical link right below these words. This story continues at: http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/16/1420233 Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/06/16/1420233 Links: 0. mailto:bennett@peacefire.org 1. http://www.law.uh.edu/faculty/cjoyce/copyright/release10/Real.html 2. http://slashdot.org/= 3. http://www.youtube.com/ 4. http://www.pandora.com/ 5. http://www.google.com/search?q=youtube+ripper 6. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117966988.html?categoryid=1009&cs=1 7. http://www.real.com/ 8. http://www.junkbusters.com/real.html 9. http://www.boingboing.net/2004/02/01/how-to-get-spywarefr.html 10. http://www.reason.com/news/show/29299.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Nokia Unveils "World's Thinnest" QWERTY Smartphone | | from the i-lost-it-in-a-deck-of-cards dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 16, @12:52 (Cellphones) | | http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/16/1614251 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Barence writes "Nokia has revamped its E-series of business-oriented smartphones with two new models, including the [1]"world's thinnest" QWERTY device. The GPS-enabled E71 is the slimmer successor to the Nokia E61, with a thickness of only 1cm. It's HSDPA-enabled, offers switchable home screens, and gives a claimed "two full days of heavy, heavy use". The E66, on the other hand, is a slide-phone with a conventional numerical keypad and a built-in accelerometer. At the same event, Nokia also gave a [2]tantalising hint about its plans for an iPhone rival, with its senior vice president saying, "we will have touchscreen devices coming this year"." Discuss this story at: http://mobile.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/06/16/1614251 Links: 0. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/ 1. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/205995/nokia-unveils-worlds-thinnest-qwerty-smartphone.html 2. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/206136/iphone-rival-coming-this-year-says-nokia.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Hackerteen Volume 1: Internet Blackout | | from the read-all-about-it dept. | | posted by samzenpus on Monday June 16, @13:36 (Book Reviews) | | http://books.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/16/1453216 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]stoolpigeon writes "Hackerteen Volume 1: Internet Blackout is an interesting new project, a graphic novel being published by O'Reilly. What makes it interesting is not just that this is a rather new direction for O'Reilly but that this is, to my knowledge, a rather unique publication in that it seeks to educate teenage youth about an array of issues ranging from privacy, free software, security and the impact of politics on personal freedom as it relates to the use of technology. Making topics like that exciting, and understandable to a young person may sound like a tall order, and I think it is." Read below for the rest of JR's review. This story continues at: http://books.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/16/1453216 Discuss this story at: http://books.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/06/16/1453216 Links: 0. mailto:bittercode@gmail +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Trio of Super-Earths Discovered | | from the no-they-don't-have-powers dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 16, @14:35 (Space) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/16/1816249 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]FiReaNGeL writes "A group of [1]astronomers have now discovered a system of three super-Earths around a rather normal star, which is slightly less massive than our Sun, and is located 42 light-years away towards the southern Doradus and Pictor constellations. "We have made very precise measurements of the velocity of the star HD 40307 over the last five years, which clearly reveal the presence of three planets". The planets, having 4.2, 6.7, and 9.4 times the mass of the Earth, orbit the star with periods of 4.3, 9.6, and 20.4 days, respectively. "The perturbations induced by the planets are really tiny â the mass of the smallest planets is one hundred thousand times smaller than that of the star â and only the high sensitivity of [2]HARPS made it possible to detect them" says co-author François Bouchy, from the Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris, France. Clearly these planets are only the tip of the iceberg." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/06/16/1816249 Links: 0. mailto:fireang3l@hotmaELIOTil.comminuspoet 1. http://esciencenews.com/articles/2008/06/16/a.trio.super.earths 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HARPS +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Visualizing Open Source Contributions | | from the do-you-see-what-i-see dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 16, @15:24 (Programming) | | http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/16/1855209 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "A student at UC Davis has created some [0]stunning visualizations of open source software contributions, including [1]Eclipse, [2]Python, [3]Apache httpd and [4]Postgres. From the website: "This visualization, called code_swarm, shows the history of commits in a software project. A commit happens when a developer makes changes to the code or documents and transfers them into the central project repository. Both developers and files are represented as moving elements. When a developer commits a file, it lights up and flies towards that developer. Files are colored according to their purpose, such as whether they are source code or a document. If files or developers have not been active for a while, they will fade away. A histogram at the bottom keeps a reminder of what has come before."" Discuss this story at: http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/06/16/1855209 Links: 0. http://vis.cs.ucdavis.edu/~ogawa/codeswarm/ 1. 2. 3. 4. +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Bone-Headed IT Mistakes | | from the throw-yours-into-the-mix dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 16, @16:08 (It's funny. Laugh.| | http://entertainment.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/16/198246 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]snydeq writes "PCs preconfigured with stone-age malware, backups without recovery, Social Security numbers stored in plain view of high school students â Andy Brandt gives InfoWorld's [1]Stupid Users series a new [2]IT admin twist. Call it fratricide if you will, but getting paid to know better is no guarantee against IT idiocy, as these stories attest." Discuss this story at: http://entertainment.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/06/16/198246 Links: 0. http://www.infoworld.com/ 1. http://www.infoworld.com/article/07/05/07/19FEuserintro_1.html 2. http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/06/16/25FE-stupid-users-part-3-admins_1.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | White House Wins Ruling On E-mail Records | | from the unleash-the-shredders dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 16, @16:42 (United States) | | http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/16/1913259 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "The White House Office of Administration is [0]not required to turn over records about a trove of possibly missing e-mails, a federal judge ruled Monday. The ruling by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly found the agency does not have "substantial independent authority" so it is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act." Discuss this story at: http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/06/16/1913259 Links: 0. http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/06/16/wh.emails/index.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Computer Art For a CS Dept Office? | | from the nerds-deserve-aesthetic-walls-too dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 16, @17:24 (Education) | | http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/16/1945254 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]philgross writes "My university's Computer Science Department has just renovated its main office, and is looking for artwork for the walls. Do you have any recommendations about their favorite posters or images that address the algorithms, the history, and/or the aesthetics of Computer Science?" Discuss this story at: http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/06/16/1945254 Links: 0. mailto:phil@philgross.com +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | R2-D2 Monitors Your Web Servers | | from the because-you-can dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 16, @18:04 (It's funny. Laugh.| | http://entertainment.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/16/2116228| +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]1sockchuck writes "What happens when you hire Star Wars enthusiasts as the system admins for your data center? You end up with the [1]R2-D2 server monitoring system. The staff at Japan's [2]Syun (Only if you read Japanese) have converted an R2-D2 DVD Projector into a Nagios-based server monitoring system that alerts them whenever a server goes offline." Say what you will, but that's a lot harder to ignore than a beeper. Discuss this story at: http://entertainment.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/06/16/2116228 Links: 0. http://www.gamehostingguide.com/ 1. http://gizmodo.com/5016555/r2+d2s-in-ur-serverz-monitoring-ur-packetz 2. http://blog.syun.co.jp/2008/06/r2d2_server_monitoring_system.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | XP Deathwatch, T Minus 2 Weeks | | from the how-to-really-spike-linux-and-mac-adoption dept. | | posted by kdawson on Monday June 16, @18:46 (Windows) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/16/225212 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]CWmike writes "June 30 is Microsoft's deadline for mainstream computer makers to stop selling new PCs with the old operating system, and the date that it will stop shipping boxed copies to retailers. That's just two weeks away. Computerworld offers a [1]FAQ about XP's approaching retirement after Microsoft's most recent relaxation of the retirement rules, with some details about which machines big-brand computer makers will be selling with XP after June 30. First FAQ: Any sign that Microsoft will reprieve Windows XP's retirement? Sort of." Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/06/16/225212 Links: 0. mailto:mike_barton@computerworld.com 1. http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9098418 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | UCITA By the Back Door | | from the get-off-my-lawn-forcement dept. | | posted by kdawson on Monday June 16, @19:30 (Government) | | http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/06/16/2316205 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ InfoWorld's Gripelog airs a subject that should interest this community â involved as we were with efforts against UCITA [0]back in [1]the day. One main aim of the derailed UCITA initiative was to give software manufacturers and content owners a degree of control over users' computers. Gripelog's Ed Foster informs us that [2]UCITA is sneaking back in, under the cover of an an anti-spyware bill, S. 1625, now making its way through the US Senate. One clause in this draft bill would legalize what the BSA calls "electronic self help" â i.e., the ability for commercial entities to cripple or disable software or networks on your computer if they believe you are violating their property rights. Discuss this story at: http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/06/16/2316205 Links: 0. http://features.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/02/17/0038235&tid=103 1. http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=99/08/09/0249233&tid=103 2. http://www.gripe2ed.com/scoop/story/2008/6/16/1219/71034 Copyright 1997-2008 SourceForge, Inc.. All rights reserved. ====================================================================== RE: Slashdot.com - Annette - 08-29-2008 Slashdot Daily Newsletter In this issue: * Computer With UK Bank Customer Data Sold On eBay * The Internet's Biggest Security Hole Revealed * "Shimmer Vision" Scopes See Better Using Heat * First Oort Cloud Object May Have Been Discovered * What To Do With All of My Gadget Chargers? * Newegg Defies New York Sales Tax Law * Computer Virus Aboard the ISS * Gaining RAM For Free, Through Software * Space Cube – the World's Smallest Linux PC * Compromised SSH Keys Lead To Linux Rootkit Attack * Nvidia Firmly Denies Plans To Build a CPU * Locked iPhones Can Be Unlocked Without Password * iPhone Web Claims Draw Governmental Rebuke in UK * Google Tests Custom Highlights, Comments In Search * Zero Day Threat * Capturing 3D Surfaces Simply With a Flash Camera * How a Quake 3 Mod Team Turned Into a Successful Studio * Corporate Gaming Is Good For Business * Mozilla Labs' "Ubiquity" Helps Automate Web Interactions * China Blocks More Internet Services * Full Immersion Cooling Comes To Desktop PCs * Microsoft Rinses SOAP Out of SQL Server 2008 * Large Content Patch To Precede Upcoming WoW Expansion * Andy Hertzfeld Shares His Thoughts on 25 Years of the Mac * Digital Storage To Survive a 25-Year Dirt Nap? * The Power Grid Can't Handle Wind Farms +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Computer With UK Bank Customer Data Sold On eBay | | from the fingers-pointing-in-a-circle dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday August 26, @21:23 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/0055251 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Walpurgiss tips a BBC News story about a man in Oxford who paid $140 for a computer on eBay, and was shocked to find on it [0]bank records of several million customers of the Royal Bank of Scotland, its subsidiary Natwest, and one other bank. "Mr. Chapman said anyone with a basic knowledge of computer software would have been able to find the data fairly simply. 'The information was in back-up CDs and in ISO files so it would have been possibly quite easy to find...,' he said." Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/27/0055251 Links: 0. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7581540.stm +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | The Internet's Biggest Security Hole Revealed | | from the kaminsky-was-a-warmup dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday August 26, @23:16 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/0141247 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ At DEFCON, Tony Kapela and Alex Pilosov demonstrated a [0]drastic weakness in the Internet's infrastructure that had long been rumored, but wasn't believed practical. They showed how to hijack BGP (the border gateway protocol) in order to eavesdrop on Net traffic in a way that wouldn't be simple to detect. Quoting: "'It's at least as big an issue as the DNS issue, if not bigger,' said Peiter 'Mudge' Zatko, noted computer security expert and former member of the L0pht hacking group, who testified to Congress in 1998 that he could bring down the internet in 30 minutes using a similar BGP attack, and disclosed privately to government agents how BGP could also be exploited to eavesdrop. 'I went around screaming my head about this about ten or twelve years ago... We described this to intelligence agencies and to the National Security Council, in detail.' The man-in-the-middle attack exploits BGP to fool routers into re-directing data to an eavesdropper's network." Here's the PDF of [1]Kapela and Pilosov's presentation. Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/27/0141247 Links: 0. http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/08/revealed-the-in.html 1. https://www.defcon.org/images/defcon-16/dc16-presentations/defcon-16-pilosov-kapela.pdf +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "Shimmer Vision" Scopes See Better Using Heat | | from the coco-bop dept. | | posted by kdawson on Wednesday August 27, @01:06 (The Military) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/021244 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ holy_calamity writes "New Scientist reports on a neat DARPA idea that [0]uses the shimmer of heat haze to allow binoculars to see further. It works by exploiting the fact that some distortions from heat haze actually magnify objects behind them. The binoculars collect a series of frames when that is occurring to boost magnification by 3 times. The design goal is to be able to present one image a second, and to enable facial recognition at 90% accuracy at a distance of 1 km. The scopes could be on the battlefield inside of 3 years." Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/27/021244 Links: 0. http://www.newscientist.com/blog/technology/2008/08/shimmer-vision-binoculars-see-further.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | First Oort Cloud Object May Have Been Discovered | | from the lands-where-the-jumblies-live dept. | | posted by kdawson on Wednesday August 27, @03:26 (Space) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/005200 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ SpuriousLogic alerts us to the discovery of what may be the first object ever discovered [0]from the inner edge of the Oort cloud. 2006 SQ372 was found on images from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Its discoverers theorize that this comet-like object and [1]the planetoid Sedna, first spotted in 2003, might be Oort denizens. Sedna is in a stable orbit but 2006 SQ372 has been perturbed by the gravity of Uranus and/or Neptune, simulations suggest, so its orbital history is unknowable. 2006 SQ372 will travel out to 1,600 AU on this orbit, making it the most distant solar-system object yet found. The Oort cloud is believed to extend ten times that far, or about a quarter of a light-year. "Theoretical models of the formation of the Oort Cloud predict that it should also host a massive inner part, but comets from this region never make it near Earth. To see the long-period comets from the inner region of the Oort Cloud requires observing comets whose orbits always stay well outside Saturn's orbit â like 2006 SQ372." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/27/005200 Links: 0. http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/35430/title/Tiny_object_points_to_remote_solar_system_reservoir 1. http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/14/1657223&tid=160 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | What To Do With All of My Gadget Chargers? | | from the visa-or-mastercard dept. | | posted by kdawson on Wednesday August 27, @05:46 (Power) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/0026242 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ legoman666 writes "On my desk I have chargers for the following gadgets: Nokia N810, LG Chocolate, Sony Ericcson Z310a, Canon Powershot SD1000, Cowan iAudio X5L, Lenovo Thinkpad, Logitech MX1000 and my Nintendo DS. Not a single pair of them share a similar connector. I have two power strips whose singular purpose is to energize these chargers. My question to Slashdot is: How do you organize all of your different chargers? Please, share your secrets." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/27/0026242 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Newegg Defies New York Sales Tax Law | | from the not-expanding-here-thanks dept. | | posted by kdawson on Wednesday August 27, @08:05 (Government) | | http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/0230233 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ JagsLive informs us that the electronics retailer Newegg.com is defying New York lawmakers; it has suddenly [0]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." Discuss this story at: http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/27/0230233 Links: 0. http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/3767486 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Computer Virus Aboard the ISS | | from the like-a-little-piece-of-home dept. | | posted by timothy on Wednesday August 27, @08:54 (Space) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/1231224 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ chrb writes "BBC News is reporting that laptops taken to the International Space Station by NASA astronauts are [0]infected with the Gammima.AG worm. The laptops have no net connection; officials suspect [1]the worm may have been transferred via a USB flash drive owned by an astronaut. NASA have said this isn't the first time computer viruses had travelled into space." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/27/1231224 Links: 0. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7583805.stm 1. http://www.symantec.com/security_response/writeup.jsp?docid=2007-082706-1742-99&tabid=2 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Gaining RAM For Free, Through Software | | from the but-ram-doubler-is-old-news dept. | | posted by timothy on Wednesday August 27, @09:25 (Software) | | http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/1322239 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]wakaramon writes with a piece from IEEE Spectrum about an experimental approach to [1]squeezing more usable storage out of a device's existing RAM; the researchers were using a Linux-based PDA as their testbed, and claim that their software "effectively gives an embedded system more than twice the memory it had originally â essentially for free." "Although the price of RAM has plummeted fast, the need for memory has expanded faster still. But if you could use data-compression software to control the way embedded systems store information in RAM, and do it in a way that didn't sap performance appreciably, the payoff would be enormous." Discuss this story at: http://mobile.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/27/1322239 Links: 0. http://mena.com.mx/ 1. http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/aug08/6479 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Space Cube – the World's Smallest Linux PC | | from the not-time-cube-note dept. | | posted by timothy on Wednesday August 27, @09:47 (Portables) | | http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/1334214 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Barence writes "Meet [1]the Space Cube â the world's smallest fully functional PC. Primarily designed for use in space, it somehow manages to cram a working PC with USB ports, card readers, audio outputs and proprietary interfaces into a tiny cube chassis measuring just two inches square. It runs a basic Linux front-end, which the blogger takes a look at, and there are some great photos of the device being loomed over by everyday objects like coffee mugs and cellphones. It has connections for controlling various electronics used by ESA, NASA and JAXA, but it will also apparently be for sale to the public soon, for use by amateur engineers and robotics clubs." Discuss this story at: http://mobile.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/27/1334214 Links: 0. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs 1. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2008/08/27/a-real-space-oddity-arrives-at-pc-pro/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Compromised SSH Keys Lead To Linux Rootkit Attack | | from the bad-childhoods-keep-on-giving dept. | | posted by timothy on Wednesday August 27, @10:20 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/1413238 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Tech Groupie writes "The US Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT) has issued a warning for what it calls [0]'active attacks' against Linux-based computing infrastructures using compromised SSH keys. The attack appears to initially use stolen SSH keys to gain access to a system, and then uses local kernel exploits to gain root access. Once root access has been obtained, a rootkit known as 'phalanx2' is installed." Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/27/1413238 Links: 0. http://blogs.zdnet.com/security/?p=1803 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Nvidia Firmly Denies Plans To Build a CPU | | from the this-time-we-mean-it dept. | | posted by timothy on Wednesday August 27, @10:39 (Graphics) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/1357211 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Barence writes "A senior vice president of Nvidia has [1]denied rumours that the company is planning an entry into the x86 CPU market. Speaking to PC Pro, Chris Malachowsky, another co-founder and senior vice president, was unequivocal. 'That's not our business,' he insisted. 'It's not our business to build a CPU. We're a visual computing company, and I think the reason we've survived the other 35 companies who were making graphics at the start is that we've stayed focused.' He also pointed out that such a move would expose the company to fierce competition. 'Are we likely to build a CPU and take out Intel?' he asked. 'I don't think so, given their thirty-year head start and billions and billions of dollars invested in it. I think staying focused is our best strategy.' He was also dismissive of the threat from Intel's Larrabee architecture, following [2]Nvidia's chief architect calling it a 'GPU from 2006' at the weekend." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/27/1357211 Links: 0. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/ 1. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/221229/nvidia-we-wont-build-a-cpu.html 2. http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/24/1213251&tid=152 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Locked iPhones Can Be Unlocked Without Password | | from the now-lookie-hyeah dept. | | posted by timothy on Wednesday August 27, @11:07 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/1427245 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]snydeq writes "Private information stored in Apple's iPhone and protected by a lock code can be [1]accessed by anyone with just a few button presses. Pressing the emergency call button at the unlock screen, followed by two taps on the home button, takes you to the iPhone's private 'favorites' page without the need to enter the unlock code, [2]MacRumors user greenmymac has found. If the owner of the phone has favorite entries in their address book containing URLs, e-mail addresses or mobile phone numbers, then those entries can be used to launch the browser, mail application or SMS software, and gain access to private Web favorites, e-mail messages, and text messages stored in the phone, again without entering the unlock code." Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/27/1427245 Links: 0. http://www.infoworld.com/ 1. http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/08/27/Locked_iPhones_can_be_unlocked_without_a_password_1.html 2. http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=551617 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | iPhone Web Claims Draw Governmental Rebuke in UK | | from the zoolander-bit dept. | | posted by timothy on Wednesday August 27, @11:30 (Cellphones) | | http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/1521248 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Wills writes "Apple has been running [0]an iPhone ad saying 'all parts of the internet are on the iPhone', but it had to be withdrawn after [1]Britain's Advertising Standards Authority ruled that it gave [2]'a misleading impression of the internet capabilities of the iPhone' because the iPhone cannot access Flash or Java â features that are essential to some websites. This raises an interesting issue of where do you draw the line between essential and non-essential features of websites. What should the web look like? Should government authorities be the ones making that decision?" Discuss this story at: http://mobile.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/27/1521248 Links: 0. http://youtube.com/watch?v=0lfmlKYZ-vU 1. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/aug/27/iphone.advertising 2. http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/Public/TF_ADJ_44891.htm +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Google Tests Custom Highlights, Comments In Search | | from the humans-err-good dept. | | posted by timothy on Wednesday August 27, @12:21 (Google) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/1531241 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Ian Lamont writes "Google is testing functionality that [1]lets users tinker with query results by re-ranking them and commenting on them. The reason for the commenting feature: 'We're just curious to see how it will be used,' according to a Google engineer quoted in the article. The company has posted [2]screenshots of some of the experiments, which also involve highlighting certain results as well as stems and synonyms within results. Google declined to answer any questions about the experiments, and it's not known whether Google would factor the rearranging of results by users into the overall computation for ranking results for those specific queries. It's also not clear whether search result comments would be made available to anyone to read." Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/27/1531241 Links: 0. http://www.thestandard.com/people/i-lamont550036 1. http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/08/26/google-may-let-users-comment-rearrange-search-results 2. http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/search-experiments-large-and-small.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Zero Day Threat | | from the protect-ya-neck dept. | | posted by samzenpus on Wednesday August 27, @13:10 (Security) | | http://books.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/1257230 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Ben Rothke writes "Zero Day Threat: the Shocking Truth of How Banks and Credit Bureaus Help Cyber Crooks Steal Your Money and Identity is an interesting and eye-opening look at how banks and credit card companies make ID theft and fraud rather elementary. But with all that, this book must be read in the larger context of how today's society deals with, and is often oblivious to, risk. When is comes to risk, American society tolerates tens of thousands of drunk-driving deaths, gives millions in federal tobacco subsidies, and is oblivious about near-epidemics such as heart disease, obesity, and diabetes. With all that, it is doubtful that the myriad horror stories Zero Day Threat details will persuade Congress or the other players to do anything to curtail the problem with identity theft and internet fraud." Keep reading for the rest of Ben's review. This story continues at: http://books.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/1257230 Discuss this story at: http://books.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/27/1257230 Links: 0. mailto:ben@rothke.com +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Capturing 3D Surfaces Simply With a Flash Camera | | from the more-depth-than-I've-got dept. | | posted by timothy on Wednesday August 27, @14:02 (Graphics) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/1734224 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]MojoKid writes with this excerpt from Hot Hardware (linking to a video demonstration): "Creating 3D maps and worlds can be extremely labor intensive and time consuming. Also, the final result might not be all that accurate or realistic. A new technique developed by scientists at The University of Manchester's School of Computer Science and Dolby Canada, however, might make capturing depth and textures for 3D surfaces as simple as shooting [1]two pictures with a digital camera â one with flash and one without. First an image of a surface is captured without flash. The problem is that the different colors of a surface also reflect light differently, making it difficult to determine if the brightness difference is a function of depth or color. By taking a second photo with flash, however, the accurate colors of all visible portions of the surface can be captured. The two captured images essentially become a reflectance map (albedo) and a depth map (height field)." Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/27/1734224 Links: 0. http://www.hothardware.com/ 1. http://www.hothardware.com/News/Capturing-3D-Surfaces-Simply-With-a-Flash-Camera/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | How a Quake 3 Mod Team Turned Into a Successful Studio | | from the attention-to-detail dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Wednesday August 27, @14:27 (PC Games (Gam| | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/1743250 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Paul Williams writes "Develop Magazine has an interesting profile up looking at UK studio Splash Damage, [1]charting its humble beginnings as a Quake 3 mod team through to its status as one of Britain's leading studios â it's currently developing a new game for Bethesda. Most interesting is the assertion by studio founder Paul Wedgwood that UK studios should shake off their low-rent reputation and start modeling their businesses on the likes of Valve, id, and the other envied American independents: 'We'd been to the US and seen companies like Ritual, Gearbox and id, and to us it seemed like the game development industry was seen as better in the US. People sat in cool chairs in cool offices surrounded by action figures â it was nothing like the UK's approach, which was more like a workhouse.'" Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/27/1743250 Links: 0. mailto:paul_o_matic@hotmail.com 1. http://www.developmag.com/interviews/255/Making-a-Splash +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Corporate Gaming Is Good For Business | | from the just-doing-my-part,-boss dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Wednesday August 27, @14:53 (Businesses) | | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/188247 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ The Economist is running a story about how [0]gaming is on the rise in corporate environments, and how games are also becoming a popular tool for advertising. From internally developed games to commercial offerings to simply creating a framework in which employees can interact, game-based competitions and community building are [1]leading to increased productivity, even for Fortune 500 companies. Quoting: "Take Microsoft's own experience. Before it releases a new version of its Windows operating system, it asks staff to help debug the software by installing and running the system. In the past, project managers had to spend a great deal of time and effort persuading busy Microsoftees to help them with this boring task. So for Windows Vista, the system's latest incarnation, Microsoft created a game that awarded points for bug-testing and prizes such as wristbands for achieving certain goals. Participation quadrupled." Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/27/188247 Links: 0. http://www.economist.com/business/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11997115 1. http://www.fastcompany.com/articles/2008/07/serious-games.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Mozilla Labs' "Ubiquity" Helps Automate Web Interactions | | from the a-few-seconds-times-several-million-users dept. | | posted by timothy on Wednesday August 27, @15:40 (Mozilla) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/1843222 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Martin writes "Mozilla Labs have released a prototype version of the Firefox add-on Ubiquity. It is basically Launchy (the application launcher) for Firefox with the difference that [1]Ubiquity makes use of web APIs and the Firefox browser. The [2]official website contains examples, a command list, information about creating your own commands and of course the Ubiquity extension that is compatible with Firefox 3.x. Ubiquity can pull and send data to various services like Twitter, display, find and embed Google Maps, perform searches, write emails, add entries to the calendar, digg stories and more." Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/27/1843222 Links: 0. http://www.ghacks.net/ 1. http://www.ghacks.net/2008/08/26/mozilla-labs-ubiquity-is-a-firefox-killer-application/ 2. http://labs.mozilla.com/2008/08/introducing-ubiquity/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | China Blocks More Internet Services | | from the how-totally-amazing dept. | | posted by timothy on Wednesday August 27, @15:53 (Communications)| | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/197254 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Dave writes "China continue to block more and more popular services. This week they blocked iTunes and YouTube, and [0]now it's TringMe, a popular VoIP 2.0 service. From TringMe's Blog: 'We received close to hundred complaints from our China users that TringMe services is not accessible from yesterday. We have found after our investigation that TringMe is blocked by Chinese government. Earlier China blocked Skype and now they are turning their eye to TringMe. TringMe is extremely popular in China and we have a large number of paying customers in China including a Chinese social network with 3 million users using TringMe's API & services.'" Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/27/197254 Links: 0. http://blog.tringme.com/china-blocks-tringme +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Full Immersion Cooling Comes To Desktop PCs | | from the please-don't-drink-the-flourinert dept. | | posted by timothy on Wednesday August 27, @16:28 (Hardware Hackin| | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/1930214 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]mr_sifter writes "After three years of research and around £100,000 of R&D costs, UK-based [1]Armari has unveiled its XCP prototype. It's a full immersion liquid cooled PC which supports standard ATX components. Unlike conventional liquid cooled PCs, the components are all easy to swap in and out as they're swimming in liquid, rather than under waterblocks. It also looks amazing, pumping around 70KG of electrically inert cooling fluid (salvaged from an old Cray) around its military grade perspex shell." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/27/1930214 Links: 0. http://www.custompc.co.uk/ 1. http://www.custompc.co.uk/features/604728/video-dream-pcs-2008-armaris-amazing-xcp.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Microsoft Rinses SOAP Out of SQL Server 2008 | | from the squish-splurtsch-splqlsh dept. | | posted by timothy on Wednesday August 27, @16:50 (Databases) | | http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/203235 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Julie188 writes "A Microsoft SQL Server 2005 fan toppled over in surprise when [1]he got this error message from SQL Server 2008 (he was running the SQL Server 2008 Upgrade Advisor tool): 'In SQL Server 2008, SQL Server native SOAP has been deprecated and will be removed in a future SQL Server release ... Avoid use of SQL server native SOAP in new development work, and plan to modify applications that currently use it.' No more SOAP-based Web services for your SQL Server database? Native XML was only added in v.2005 and was much ballyhooed at that time." Discuss this story at: http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/27/203235 Links: 0. mailto:jbort@nww.com 1. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/31669 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Large Content Patch To Precede Upcoming WoW Expansion | | from the three-point-oh dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Wednesday August 27, @17:09 (Role Playing | | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/194227 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Blizzard has announced they will be releasing a sizable patch to [0]prepare for the upcoming Wrath of the Lich King expansion to World of Warcraft. The patch, similar to one they released prior to the first expansion, will include the new profession (Inscription), new talents for each class, and two new arenas. The patch will be up on the Public Test Realm "soon," according to a Blizzard rep, but it will [1]require significant testing before reaching the live servers. Blizzard developers Tom Chilton and J. Allen Brack gave a related interview recently to Videogamer in which they mentioned that a graphical reboot for World of Warcraft "[2]may never be necessary." We've been following the [3]development of [4]Wrath of the Lich King for [5]a while now. Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/27/194227 Links: 0. http://pc.gamespy.com/pc/world-of-warcraft-wrath-of-the-lich-king/902977p1.html?RSSwhen2008-08-26_145400&RSSid=902977 1. http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.php?topic=14041.0 2. http://www.videogamer.com/pc/wrath_of_the_lich_king/preview-1194.html 3. http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/20/1316232&tid=209 4. http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/21/1540207&tid=209 5. http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/07/21/175235&tid=209 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Andy Hertzfeld Shares His Thoughts on 25 Years of the Mac | | from the never-forget-your-first-mac dept. | | posted by timothy on Wednesday August 27, @17:16 (Desktops (Apple| | http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/2046220 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]blackbearnh writes "It may make you feel very, very old, but the Macintosh will be turning 25 in January. As we approach this momentous anniversary, O'Reilly News had [1]a talk with Andy Hertzfeld, one of the original Macintosh designers, about the long and storied history of the Mac. Hertzfeld, who tells the story of the Mac in his book [2]A Revolution in the Valley, shares his thoughts about how the Mac has aged over time, how life might have been different if Steve Jobs had stayed on at Apple, and the differences between working for Apple, and for Google (his current employer.)" Read on below for a bit of what Hertzfeld had to say. This story continues at: http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/2046220 Discuss this story at: http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/27/2046220 Links: 0. http://news.oreilly.com/ 1. http://news.oreilly.com/2008/08/the-mac-at-25-andy-hertzfeld-l.html 2. http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596007195/?CMP=ILC-orm_article_products&ATT=book-revinvalley +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Digital Storage To Survive a 25-Year Dirt Nap? | | from the lazarus-brand-only-goes-a-few-days dept. | | posted by timothy on Wednesday August 27, @18:12 (Data Storage) | | http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/2119252 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]AlHunt writes "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 â 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." Discuss this story at: http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/27/2119252 Links: 0. http://www.alhunt.com/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | The Power Grid Can't Handle Wind Farms | | from the gone-with-the-wind dept. | | posted by samzenpus on Wednesday August 27, @19:09 (Power) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/27/2217221 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]DesScorp writes "The Times reports on the problems of adding wind farms to the power grid. Because of the grid's old design, it [1]can't handle the various spikes that wind farms sometimes have, and there's no efficient way to currently move massive amounts of that power from one section of the country to the other. Further complicating things is the fact that under current laws, power grid regulation is a state matter, and the Federal government has comparatively little authority over it right now. Critics are calling for federal authority over the grid, and massive new construction of "superhighways" to share the wind power wealth nationally. Quoting the article, 'The dirty secret of clean energy is that while generating it is getting easier, moving it to market is not.'" Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/08/27/2217221 Links: 0. mailtoesScorp@Gmail.com 1. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/27/business/27grid.html?_r=1&oref=slogin Copyright 1997-2008 SourceForge, Inc.. All rights reserved. ====================================================================== RE: Slashdot.com - Annette - 10-09-2008 how they find all this different stuff every day is amazing} Slashdot Daily Newsletter In this issue: * Nintendo DSi Software Will Be Region Locked * Google's Obfuscated TCP * New Bill To Rein In DHS Laptop Seizures * Prevent Gmail From Emailing Under the Influence * Where's the "IronPerl" Project? * DMCA Exemption Time * TiVo Wins Appeal On Patents For Pause, Ffwd, Rwd * Obama Beats McCain In Spam Landslide * Steve Jobs Patents "The Dock" * Free Online Scientific Repository Hits Milestone * New Contestants On the Turing Test * Spammer Perjury is Worth Prosecuting * Palin E-mail Hacker Indicted * Firefox Add-On To Track Your Location Via Wi-Fi * Opera 9.60 Released, With Upgraded Mail Client * Cisco Ships Mexican Folk Music On VPN Client CD * Nagios 3 Enterprise Network Monitoring * Asteroid Explodes Over Sudan * Google Brings Ads To Games, Game Ads To YouTube * Fluorescent Protein Research Lands Scientists Nobel Prize * Age of Conan Dev Talks Problems, Future Plans * Landing IT Work Overseas * Watching Brain Cells In Action * Mathematicians Deconstruct US News College Rankings * Maryland Police Put Activists' Names On Terror List * Recovering Blurred Text Using Photoshop and JavaScript * David Axmark Resigns From Sun * Odd Planet Confuses Scientists +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Nintendo DSi Software Will Be Region Locked | | from the don't-import dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Tuesday October 07, @20:30 (Portables (Gam| | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/07/2244228 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]aliquis writes with news that [1]software made for the recently announced Nintendo DSi will be region-locked. Nintendo's reasoning is that the DSi "embeds net communication functionality within itself and we are intending to provide net services specifically tailored for each region." It's also been discovered that accounts with the DSi's online store [2]won't be linked with the Wii store, so points for one won't work with the other. Nintendo has stated that they don't intend for digital distribution to [3]replace retail sales. We [4]discussed the DSi's announcement last week. Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/07/2244228 Links: 0. mailto:dospam@gmail.com 1. http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=253920 2. http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/55155 3. http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/55150 4. http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/02/1351256&tid=234 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Google's Obfuscated TCP | | from the shake-hands-when-you-say-that dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday October 07, @20:53 (Encryption) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/0025258 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ agl42 writes "[0]Obfuscated TCP attempts to provide a cheap opportunistic encryption scheme for HTTP. Though SSL has been around for years, most sites still don't use it by default. By providing a less secure, but computationally and administratively cheaper, method of encryption, we might be able to increase the depressingly small fraction of encrypted traffic on the Internet. There's an [1]introduction video explaining it." Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/08/0025258 Links: 0. http://code.google.com/p/obstcp 1. +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | New Bill To Rein In DHS Laptop Seizures | | from the give-it-back-now dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday October 07, @22:41 (Privacy) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/07/233220 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ twigles writes with news of a new proposed bill that seeks to [0]curtail DHS's power to search and seize laptops at the border without suspicion of wrongdoing. Here is [1]Sen. Feingold's press release on the bill. The new bill has more privacy-protecting safeguards than [2]the previous one, which we discussed last month. "The Travelers Privacy Protection Act, a bill written by US Senators Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., and Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., would allow border agents to search electronic devices only if they had reasonable suspicions of wrongdoing. In addition, the legislation would limit the length of time that a device could be out of its owner's possession to 24 hours, after which the search becomes a seizure, requiring probable cause." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/07/233220 Links: 0. http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/832 1. http://feingold.senate.gov/~feingold/releases/08/09/20080925l.html 2. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/09/17/0226221&tid=158 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Prevent Gmail From Emailing Under the Influence | | from the chili-meter-with-brains dept. | | posted by kdawson on Wednesday October 08, @00:29 (It's funny. L| | http://entertainment.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/0032219| +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]mikesd81 writes "Google has developed 'Mail Goggles,' a Gmail add-on that [1]makes sending email from Gmail more difficult during certain times (which you can set). If you have Mail Goggles installed, it will force you to answer a series of math questions before sending out any new messages. You can adjust the math difficulty and times this option is in effect. If you get any of the questions wrong, Mail Goggles will say, 'Water and bed for you. Or try again.' Of course, if you set the math settings too high, you may have a tough time solving some of those problems in under 60 seconds, even when sober. Then again, if you're sober, you could just turn Mail Goggles off and hit send on that impassioned letter to your ex-boyfriend/girlfriend or that flame to your boss." Discuss this story at: http://entertainment.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/08/0032219 Links: 0. http://mikesdatptd.net/ 1. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081007-mail-goggles-a-breathlyzer-test-for-your-gmail.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Where's the "IronPerl" Project? | | from the more-than-one-way dept. | | posted by kdawson on Wednesday October 08, @03:05 (Perl) | | http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/019240 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ pondlife writes "A friend asked me today about using some [0]Microsoft server components from Perl. Over the years he's built up a large collection of Perl/COM code using [1]Win32::OLE and he had planned on doing the same thing here. The big problem is that as with many current MS APIs, they're available for .NET only because COM is effectively deprecated at this point. I did some Googling, expecting to find quickly the Perl equivalent of [2]IronPython or [3]IronRuby. But to my surprise I found almost nothing. ActiveState has PerlNET, but there's almost no information about it, and the [4]mailing list 'activity' suggests it's dead or dying anyway. So, what are Perl/Windows shops doing now that more and more Microsoft components are .NET? Are people moving to other languages for Windows administration? Are they writing wrappers using COM interop? Or have I completely missed something out there that solves this problem?" Discuss this story at: http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/08/019240 Links: 0. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms162169.aspx 1. http://search.cpan.org/~jdb/Win32-OLE-0.1709/lib/Win32/OLE.pm 2. http://www.codeplex.com/Wiki/View.aspx?ProjectName=IronPython 3. http://www.ironruby.net/ 4. http://aspn.activestate.com/ASPN/Mail/Browse/Threaded/perl.net +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | DMCA Exemption Time | | from the circumvent-with-daring-and-whimsy dept. | | posted by kdawson on Wednesday October 08, @05:39 (Encryption) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/07/2114243 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ jvillain writes "Contentagenda notes that the Copyright Office is taking [0]submissions for exemptions to the DMCA. They do this every three years. There's a description of the six exemptions made last time to give you some ideas. So fire up the keyboard and [1]let the Copyright Office know what needs to be changed. If you don't get in now, it'll be another three years before you can try again." Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/07/2114243 Links: 0. http://www.contentagenda.com/blog/1500000150/post/640034464.html 1. http://www.copyright.gov/fedreg/2008/73fr58073.pdf +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | TiVo Wins Appeal On Patents For Pause, Ffwd, Rwd | | from the satellites-descending dept. | | posted by kdawson on Wednesday October 08, @08:12 (Patents) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/0052232 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Lorien_the_first_one writes "After years of wrangling, TiVo has [1]won its day in court against Dish Network, formerly known as the EchoStar, when the Supreme Court declined to take up Dish Network's appeal, forcing the satellite television company to pay $104 million in damages. According to the article, 'TiVo originally won a patent infringement case in 2004 against Dish, which was then named EchoStar Communications. It charged that Dish illegally copied its technology, which allows people to pause, rewind, and record live television on digital video recorders.' Despite an injunction, Dish continued distributing its set-top boxes in the belief that the work-around they had implemented avoided infringing TiVo's patents. Now the case goes back to the lower court for review to determine if they did indeed steer clear of those patents." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/08/0052232 Links: 0. http://thelibertychannel.blogspot.com/ 1. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/07/BULF13C9BD.DTL&type=tech +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Obama Beats McCain In Spam Landslide | | from the well-isn't-that-unfortunate dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday October 08, @08:50 (Spam) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/1231223 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "The New York Times runs an article about [0]the spammers' choice of presidential candidate. From the article: 'According to Secure Computing Corp., spammers were nearly seven times more likely to slap Obama's name in the subject line than McCain's during September. The bulk of Obama's lead in the spam wars came from a massive blitz early in the month.' Secure Computing released [1]additonal numbers for the past weeks, and McCain was able to close the gap in the latest spammers' poll." Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/08/1231223 Links: 0. http://www.nytimes.com/idg/IDG_852573C400693880002574DB005EF4DB.html?ref=technology 1. http://www.trustedsource.org/blog/154/The-Spammers-Vote +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Steve Jobs Patents "The Dock" | | from the what's-next dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday October 08, @09:43 (Patents) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/1224224 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]theodp writes "If [1]you're a PC, you may be unfamiliar with [2]The Dock, the bar of icons that sits at the bottom or side of a Mac and provides easy access to Apple applications. But don't count on it becoming a standard on the PC. On Tuesday, the USPTO awarded Apple â and inventor Steve Jobs â a patent for their [3]User Interface for Providing Consolidation and Access, aka 'The Dock,' after a rather lengthy nine-year wait." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/08/1224224 Links: 0. mailto:theodp@aol.com 1. http://www.microsoft-watch.com/content/marketing/hello_im_a_pc.html 2. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2474?viewlocale=en_US 3. http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?patentnumber=7,434,177 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Free Online Scientific Repository Hits Milestone | | from the a-whole-lotta-smart-stuff dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday October 08, @10:24 (The Internet)| | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/1255256 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]ocean_soul writes "Last week the free and open access repository for scientific (mainly physics but also math, computer sciences...) papers [1]arXiv got [2]past 500,000 different papers, not counting older versions of the same article. Especially for physicists, it is the number-one resource for the latest scientific results. Most researchers publish their papers on arXiv before they are published in a 'normal' journal. A famous example is [3]Grisha Perelman, who published his award-winning paper exclusively on arXiv." Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/08/1255256 Links: 0. mailto:tobias.verhulst@nOSpam.ua.ac.be 1. http://arxiv.org/ 2. http://communications.library.cornell.edu/com/news/PressReleases/arXiv-milestone.cfm 3. http://aps.arxiv.org/find/grp_math/1/au:+Perelman_Grisha/0/1/0/all/0/1 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | New Contestants On the Turing Test | | from the game-on dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday October 08, @11:15 (Programming) | | http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/1443238 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ vitamine73 writes "At 9 a.m. next Sunday, six computer programs â 'artificial conversational entities' â will [0]answer questions posed by human volunteers at the University of Reading in a bid to become the first recognized 'thinking' machine. If any program succeeds, it is likely to be hailed as the most significant breakthrough in artificial intelligence since the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue beat world chess champion Garry Kasparov in 1997. It could also raise profound questions about whether a computer has the potential to be 'conscious' â and if humans should have the 'right' to switch it off." Discuss this story at: http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/08/1443238 Links: 0. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/oct/05/artificialintelligenceai +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Spammer Perjury is Worth Prosecuting | | from the love-a-little-alliteration dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday October 08, @12:01 (Spam) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/1345216 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Slashdot regular [0]Bennett Haselton summarizes his essay by saying "Spammers really do lie more often under oath than other parties in court (surprise). Judges and prosecutors could promote respect for the law by cracking down on it, and maybe make a dent in spam in the process." Read on to learn of his experiences with (shocking!) spammers who lie in court. This story continues at: http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/1345216 Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/08/1345216 Links: 0. mailto:bennett@peacefire.org +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Palin E-mail Hacker Indicted | | from the very-stealthy dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday October 08, @12:44 (The Courts) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/1445258 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ doomsdaywire writes "A University of Tennessee student who is the son of a Memphis legislator has been [0]indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of hacking Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin's personal e-mail. [...] If convicted, [David C.] Kernell faces a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and a three-year term of supervised release. A trial date has not been set." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/08/1445258 Links: 0. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/oct/08/arrest-made-palin-hacking-case +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Firefox Add-On To Track Your Location Via Wi-Fi | | from the location-aware dept. | | posted by timothy on Wednesday October 08, @13:32 (Mozilla) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/1714228 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Barence writes "Mozilla Labs has unveiled a new Add-on that allows Firefox to [1]pinpoint your location based on Wi-Fi signals. The feature, called Geode, is a prototype for the location-tracking technology that will be built into the forthcoming Firefox 3.1. Geode is designed to work with websites that rely on knowing your location, such as mapping and geotagging services. The prospect of Firefox having the ability to track your location raises obvious privacy fears. Mozilla insists users will remain in complete control. 'With Geode, when a website requests your location a notification bar [2]will ask how much information you want to give that site: your exact location, your neighbourhood, your city, or nothing at all,' the Mozilla Labs blog claims." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/08/1714228 Links: 0. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/ 1. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/228891/firefox-to-track-your-location.html 2. http://labs.mozilla.com/2008/10/introducing-geode/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Opera 9.60 Released, With Upgraded Mail Client | | from the alternative-alternative- dept. | | posted by timothy on Wednesday October 08, @13:49 (Communications| | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/1740204 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Kelson writes "[1]Opera Software has [2]released Opera 9.60, the latest version of their web browser & internet suite. It's an evolutionary release, focused on performance optimization, [3]improving the email client and adding more items to the Opera Link synchronization service." Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/08/1740204 Links: 0. http://www.alternativebrowseralliance.com/ 1. http://www.opera.com/ 2. http://www.opera.com/pressreleases/en/2008/10/08/ 3. http://www.download.com/8301-2007_4-10060602-12.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Cisco Ships Mexican Folk Music On VPN Client CD | | from the whistle-while-you-work dept. | | posted by samzenpus on Wednesday October 08, @14:05 (It's funny. | | http://idle.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/1418232 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]jemduff writes "So we receive our brand new firewall from CISCO and all goes well with the setup... until we try to upgrade our VPN client and we discovered that the [1]installation CDs from CISCO contain 12 tracks of Mexican music!!? Not too bad if you're into that kind of music ... too bad if you need to get onto your corporate network. How much did those routers cost, again? 5,000,000 pesos?" Discuss this story at: http://idle.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/08/1418232 Links: 0. mailto:jemduff@gmail.com 1. http://dave.fumberger.com/2008/10/08/cisco-networks-new-album/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Nagios 3 Enterprise Network Monitoring | | from the read-all-about-it dept. | | posted by samzenpus on Wednesday October 08, @14:15 (Software) | | http://books.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/1328247 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]jgoguen writes "Nagios, originally known as Netsaint, has been a long-time favourite for network and device monitoring due to its flexibility, ease of use, and efficiency. Nagios provided, and still provides today, a low-cost, versatile alternative to commercial network monitoring applications. Nagios 3 takes a huge step forward compared to Nagios 2, providing improved flexibility, ease of use and extensibility, all while also making significant performance enhancements. Due to its extensibility and ease of use, no device or situation has yet been found that cannot be monitored using Nagios and a pre-made or custom script, plug-in or enhancement." Read on for the rest of jgoguen's review. This story continues at: http://books.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/1328247 Discuss this story at: http://books.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/08/1328247 Links: 0. mailto:jgoguen@jgoguen.ca +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Asteroid Explodes Over Sudan | | from the did-it-make-a-noise dept. | | posted by timothy on Wednesday October 08, @14:34 (Space) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/1829240 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]radioweather writes "A recently discovered [1] Apollo Asteroid, 2008 TC3, [2] exploded over Sudan at about 1046 EDT on October 7, 2008, according to astronomer Tim Spahr of Harvard University 2008 TC3 was discovered on Monday by an observer at the Mt Lemmon Observatory near Tucson, Arizona. 2008 TC3 is notable in that it is the first Asteroid of its size that was identified before impact and tracking it put the entire [3]Spaceguard tracking system to an extreme test. TC3 is estimated to be only two to five meters in diameter but exploded with the force of a one kiloton of explosive power." We [4]mentioned the asteroid last on Monday, when it was only at a 99.8 percent chance of colliding with Earth. Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/08/1829240 Links: 0. http://wattsupwiththat.com/ 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_asteroid 2. http://wattsupwiththat.com/2008/10/07/sudan-hit-by-apollo-asteroid/ 3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaceguard 4. http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/06/2243220&tid=160 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Google Brings Ads To Games, Game Ads To YouTube | | from the brought-to-you-by-the-letter-g dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Wednesday October 08, @14:54 (Google) | | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/1818216 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Reuters reports that YouTube will be partnering with Amazon and iTunes to provide [0]the ability to purchase games and songs that are in or related to YouTube's hosted videos. For example, watching footage from Spore will bring up a link to purchase the actual game through Amazon. The sales revenue will be shared. In related news, Google has [1]launched a public beta for their in-game advertising software based on Adsense. "Google is initially targeting the sweet spot for its technology: games based in Adobe's Flash platform and which run in a web browser with no download. ... [Christian Oestlien, senior product manager at Google] said that Google's advertisers can use the software to insert ads into games or videos for YouTube, making the ads more versatile. Developers of games can use Flash software development kits to designate the points in a game that make an 'ad request.'" Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/08/1818216 Links: 0. http://uk.reuters.com/article/technology-media-telco-SP/idUKN0748166220081007?feedType=RSS&feedName=technology-media-telco-SP&pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0 1. http://venturebeat.com/2008/10/07/google-launches-in-game-advertising-for-flash-web-games/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Fluorescent Protein Research Lands Scientists Nobel Prize | | from the also-will-change-dinner-forever dept. | | posted by timothy on Wednesday October 08, @15:37 (Biotech) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/1911237 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Iddo Genuth writes "The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences has announced three recipients of the Nobel Prize in [1]Chemistry award for 2008: jointly given to Osamu Shimomura, Martin Chalfie and Roger Y. Tsien 'for the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein, GFP' â a remarkable brightly glowing green fluorescent protein [2]first observed in the beautiful jellyfish, Aequorea victoria, in 1962." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/08/1911237 Links: 0. http://www.thefutureofthings.com/ 1. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/chemistry/laureates/2008/ 2. http://thefutureofthings.com/pod/5515/2008-nobel-prize-in-chemistry.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Age of Conan Dev Talks Problems, Future Plans | | from the polishing-is-an-endless-task dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Wednesday October 08, @15:56 (Role Playing| | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/1852210 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Jørgen Tharaldsen, Funcom's product director, recently spoke about [0]some of the problems with Age of Conan and how they are planning to make the game better. "I think it's okay to say that we simply didn't deliver as good as we should have on all the launch features." He goes on to talk about how they're working on improvements to the PvP system, [1]tradeskills, and class balance. Tharaldsen also spoke with Strategy Informer about the [2]development of the Xbox 360 version of the game, which he said was "not our key priority as there are a massive amount of PC gamers already playing the game, and we rightly have the focus on them." Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/08/1852210 Links: 0. http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/10/07/funcom-defends-age-of-conan/ 1. http://www.massively.com/2008/10/02/major-revisions-in-age-of-conan-crafting-revealed/ 2. http://www.strategyinformer.com/news/2287/funcom-xbox-360-age-of-conan-wont-release-for-another-year-isnt-our-key-priority-right-now/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Landing IT Work Overseas | | from the mostly-aimed-at-americans dept. | | posted by timothy on Wednesday October 08, @16:20 (The Almighty B| | http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/1951243 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]snydeq writes "US IT workers could find [1]considerable payoff and invaluable experience by taking their IT skills overseas, InfoWorld reports, as foreign, US, and global firms have increased the demand for a wide range of tech talent across the globe, offering positions that clearly move beyond the scut work of heads-down programming. Business fluency, industry-specific skills, and knowledge of American markets is fast becoming an invaluable asset foreign firms will pay a premium for, according to the report, which offers insights into [2]finding IT work in a range of cities and regions abroad." Discuss this story at: http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/08/1951243 Links: 0. http://www.infoworld.com/ 1. http://www.infoworld.com/article/08/10/08/41FE-tech-jobs-overseas_1.html 2. http://akamai.infoworld.com/offshore/index.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Watching Brain Cells In Action | | from the as-if-mice-have-brains dept. | | posted by timothy on Wednesday October 08, @16:42 (Biotech) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/2028206 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Roland Piquepaille writes "A Stanford University team has developed a microscope weighing only 1.1 grams. It is so small that it can be [1]mounted to the head of a freely moving mouse to watch its brain cell activity. According to what the lead researcher told New Scientist, 'A lot of work has been done using brain slices, or anaesthetised animals â even using animals that are awake but restrained. But so far it has been impossible to image cellular-level activity in a freely moving mouse.' Not any more. And as mice are the 'preferred' animals in medical labs, this new kind of microscope could lead to new ways to study human diseases." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/08/2028206 Links: 0. http://www.primidi.com/2008/10/08.html 1. http://technology.newscientist.com/article/dn14873-mini-microscope-captures-live-braincell-action.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Mathematicians Deconstruct US News College Rankings | | from the deep-springs-college dept. | | posted by timothy on Wednesday October 08, @17:00 (Education) | | http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/2037225 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "US News makes a mint off its college rankings every year, but do they really give meaningful information? A pair of mathematicians argues that the data the magazine uses is all likely to be at least somewhat relevant, but that the way the magazine weights the different statistics is pretty arbitrary. After all, different people may have different priorities. So they developed a [0]method to compute the rankings based on any possible set of priorities. To do it, they had to reverse-engineer some of US News's data. What they found was that some colleges come out on top pretty much regardless of the prioritization, but others move around quite a lot. And the top-ranked university can vary tremendously. Penn State, which is #48 using US News's methodology, could be the best university in the country, by other standards." Discuss this story at: http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/08/2037225 Links: 0. http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/37207/title/Math_Trek__Rating_the_rankings +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Maryland Police Put Activists' Names On Terror List | | from the bad-incentive-to-remain-peaceful dept. | | posted by timothy on Wednesday October 08, @17:46 (Privacy) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/2056245 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]aaandre writes with word of a Washington Post story which begins: "The Maryland State Police [1]classified 53 nonviolent activists as terrorists and entered their names and personal information into state and federal databases that track terrorism suspects, the state police chief acknowledged yesterday. The police also entered the activists' names into the federal Washington-Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area database, which tracks suspected terrorists. One well-known antiwar activist from Baltimore, Max Obuszewski, was singled out in the intelligence logs released by the ACLU, which described a 'primary crime' of 'terrorism-anti-government' and a 'secondary crime' of 'terrorism-anti-war protesters.'" According to the article, "Both [former state police superintendent Thomas] Hutchins and [Maryland Police Superintendent Terrence] Sheridan said the activists' names were entered into the state police database as terrorists partly because the software offered limited options for classifying entries." Reader kcurtis adds "The State Police say they are purging the data, but this is one more example (on top of yesterday's news that [2]datamining for terrorists is not feasible due to false positives) of just how badly the use of these lists can be abused." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/08/2056245 Links: 0. mailto:aaandre@gmail.com 1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/07/AR2008100703245.html 2. http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/10/data-mining-for.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Recovering Blurred Text Using Photoshop and JavaScript | | from the careful-how-you-hide-stuff dept. | | posted by timothy on Wednesday October 08, @18:31 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/2132212 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "There's been a lot of talk about [0]recovering blurred or pixelated text, but here's an [1]actual implementation using nothing but Photoshop and a little JavaScript. Includes a Hollywood-esque video showing the uncovered letters slowly appearing." Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/08/2132212 Links: 0. http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/07/1352242&tid=172 1. http://tlrobinson.net/blog/?p=52 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | David Axmark Resigns From Sun | | from the take-this-job-and-shove-it dept. | | posted by samzenpus on Wednesday October 08, @19:35 (Sun Microsys| | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/2230221 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "From Kay Arno's blog we see that David Axmark, MySQL's Co-Founder, [0]has resigned. This comes on top of the maybe, maybe not, [1]resignation of Monty. We saw earlier this year that Brian Aker the Director of Architecture has [2]forked the server to create a web focused database from MySQL called [3]Drizzle. The MySQL server has been "RC" now for a year with [4]hundreds of bugs still listed as being active in the 5.1 version. What is going on with MySQL?" Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/08/2230221 Links: 0. http://blogs.mysql.com/kaj/2008/10/07/thank-you-david-axmark/ 1. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13505_3-10033614-16.html 2. http://krow.livejournal.com/602409.html 3. http://launchpad.net/drizzle 4. http://bugs.mysql.com/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Odd Planet Confuses Scientists | | from the that's-no-moon dept. | | posted by samzenpus on Wednesday October 08, @19:55 (Space) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/08/2241204 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]eldavojohn writes "While there's been a lot of [1]debate about what is a planet, there is a recent discovery that [2]has scientists even more confused. COROT (COnvection ROtation and planetary Transits) spotted an object that appears to be the size of Jupiter yet is 21.6 times more massive ... and orbits its star in a mere four days and six hours. Now, the other piece of the puzzle is that the star it orbits is more massive and only slightly larger than our Sun. But they can't describe this thing orbiting it. So far they think it is more likely to be a 'failed star' but have settled with 'member of a new-found family of very massive planets that encircle stars more massive than the sun' to describe it accurately." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/08/2241204 Links: 0. http://tinyurl.com/eldavojohnmusic 1. http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/24/148245&tid=160 2. http://blogs.nature.com/news/thegreatbeyond/2008/10/cosmic_oddball_stirs_up_planet.html Hydrogen-Producing Bacteria Could Provide Clean Energy - Annette - 10-26-2008 Slashdot Daily Newsletter In this issue: * Hydrogen-Producing Bacteria Could Provide Clean Energy * Exchanging Pictures To Generate Passwords * Australian Government Censorship 'Worse Than Iran' * Study Debunks Gamer Stereotypes * Bioshock 2 Trailer Released, Platform Information Revealed * Australia Developing Massive Electric Vehicle Grid * Researchers Find Problems With RFID Passport Cards * Open Source Hardware, For Fun and For Profit * 1000-mph Car Planned * Amazon Beefs Up Its Cloud Ahead of MS Announcement * In UK, Broadband Limits Confuse Nine In Ten Users * Google Founders Buy Fighter Jet * Nintendo Blocks Homebrew Installation * Stellar Seismologists Record "Music" From Stars * ICANN Releases Draft For New TLDs * Bill Gates Founds New "Think Tank" Company * Storing Qubits In Nuclei * ACLU Creates Map of US "Constitution-Free Zone" * $29M To Start US Satellite Protection Program * Which Phone To Develop For? * Amazon Kindle Endorsed By Oprah * Hubble Repairs Hindered By Antiquated Computer Systems * Packs of Robots Will Hunt Down Uncooperative Humans +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Hydrogen-Producing Bacteria Could Provide Clean Energy | | from the for-my-motorhome-of-the-future dept. | | posted by timothy on Thursday October 23, @20:05 (Power) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/23/2318208 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Iddo Genuth writes "Scientists at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and North Carolina State University (NC State) have developed cooperatively a new 'green' technology which could lead to clean production of [1]hydrogen from nitrogen-fixing bacteria." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/23/2318208 Links: 0. http://www.thefutureofthings.com/ 1. http://thefutureofthings.com/news/5617/hydrogen-producing-bacteria-provide-clean-energy.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Exchanging Pictures To Generate Passwords | | from the worth-a-thousand-words dept. | | posted by timothy on Thursday October 23, @20:59 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/24/0034202 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Roland Piquepaille writes "Today, Ileana Buhan, a Romanian computer scientist, is presenting her PhD Thesis at the University of Twente in the Netherlands. She is using [1]biometrics to protect confidential information when it is exchanged between two mobile devices. This is a very innovative approach to security. Buhan's biometric application will generate almost unbreakable passwords from photos taken by the connected users. Here is how it works. 'To do this, two users need to save their own photos on their PDAs. They then take photos of each other. The PDA compares the two photos and generates a security code for making a safe connection.'" Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/24/0034202 Links: 0. http://www.primidi.com/2008/10/23.html 1. http://www.utwente.nl/nieuws/pers/en/cont_08-044_en.doc/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Australian Government Censorship 'Worse Than Iran' | | from the but-the-people-there-are-so-nice dept. | | posted by timothy on Thursday October 23, @23:20 (Censorship) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/24/0224239 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "The Australian Government's plan to Censor the Internet is producing problems for ISPs, with filters causing [0]speeds to drop by up to 86% and falsely blocking 10% of safe sites. The Government Minister in charge of the censorship plan, Conservative Stephen Conroy, has been accused of bullying ISP employees critical of his plan: 'If people equate freedom of speech with watching child pornography, then [1]the Rudd Labor Government is going to disagree.'" Read on for more, including an interesting approach to demonstrating the inevitable collision of automated censorship with common sense. This story continues at: http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/24/0224239 Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/24/0224239 Links: 0. http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/news/technology/labors-web-gag-worse-than-iran/2008/10/23/1224351491889.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1 1. http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,23021645-15306,00.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Study Debunks Gamer Stereotypes | | from the five-more-minutes-ok-mom? dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Friday October 24, @00:01 (Games) | | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/24/0257252 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Ars Technica reports on a recent study by Ipsos MediaCT which [0]evaluated gamers with respect to a large variety of social parameters. Among their findings: "55 percent of gamers polled were married, 48 percent have kids, and new gamers — those who have started playing videogames in the past two years — are 32 years old on average." Also, "In terms of hard dollars, the average gaming household income ($79,000) is notably higher than that of nongaming households ($54,000), but the value of the gamer as a marketing target can be seen in a variety of ways. 39 percent of gamers said that friends and family rely upon them to stay up-to-date about the latest technology." The [1]press release for the study is available at IGN. Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/24/0257252 Links: 0. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081022-study-squashes-myth-of-gamer-as-antisocial-comic-book-guy.html 1. http://corp.ign.com/articles/920/920555p1.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Bioshock 2 Trailer Released, Platform Information Revealed | | from the pretty-pictures dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Friday October 24, @02:09 (PC Games (Games| | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/24/0327242 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]arcticstoat writes "If you've played Bioshock, you'll know it can be a tough choice deciding whether you're going to kill the cute (yet evil looking) Little Sisters and extract their ADAM, or let them live. Your choice even affects whether you're given one of three possible endings of the game, and their story will now [1]continue to be told in the sequel. 2K Games has just [2]released a trailer for the new game, showing what appears to be a grown up Little Sister, still clutching a toy, while the city structure of Rapture springs up around her. No gameplay is shown, but it does give a hint as to what the game will be about, and it looks as though the game may take you onto dry land." Gamespot initially confirmed the trailer's authenticity after it was leaked last week. A representative from 2K Games also mentioned Bioshock 2 was "destined for the [3]PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Windows PC platforms." Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/24/0327242 Links: 0. http://www.russell-crow.com/ 1. http://www.custompc.co.uk/news/605076/video-bioshock-2-trailer-released.html 2. http://www.2kgames.com/cultofrapture/home.html 3. http://www.gamespot.com/news/6199938.html?part=rss&tag=gs_news&subj=6199938 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Australia Developing Massive Electric Vehicle Grid | | from the must-avert-mad-max-at-all-costs dept. | | posted by timothy on Friday October 24, @02:18 (Transportation) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/24/0440204 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]blairerickson writes "A US firm Thursday unveiled [1]plans to build a massive one-billion-dollar charging network to power electric cars in Australia as it seeks cleaner and cheaper options to petrol. Better Place, which has built plug-in stations for electric vehicles in Israel and Denmark, has joined forces with Australian power company AGL and finance group Macquarie Capital to create an Australian network. Under the plan, the three cities will each have a network of between 200,000 and 250,000 charge stations by 2012 where drivers can plug in and power up their electric cars. The points would probably be at homes and businesses, car parks and shopping centres. In addition, 150 switch stations will be built in each city and on major freeways, where electric batteries can be automatically replaced in drive-in stations similar to a car wash." I hope they're talking to the car companies about the necessary standardization it would take to make this work, too. Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/24/0440204 Links: 0. mailto:blairerickson@yahoo.com 1. http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5il6f9UKjXLMrq0sQ-Ccd8vh5VANA +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Researchers Find Problems With RFID Passport Cards | | from the clearly-unpossible dept. | | posted by timothy on Friday October 24, @05:11 (Privacy) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/24/0428245 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "Researchers at the University of Washington have found that [0]RFID tags used in two new types of border-crossing documents in the US are vulnerable to snooping and copying. The information in these tags could be copied on to another, off-the-shelf tag, which might be used to impersonate the legitimate holder of the card." You can also read the [1]summary of the researchers' report. Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/24/0428245 Links: 0. http://goodgearguide.com.au/index.php/id;438521249 1. http://www.rsa.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=3557 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Open Source Hardware, For Fun and For Profit | | from the make-it-so dept. | | posted by timothy on Friday October 24, @08:12 (Hardware Hacking)| | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/24/0343244 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]ptorrone writes "Lots of open source hardware articles making the rounds this week, first up — [1]Wired has an excellent piece on the Arduino project, an open source electronics prototyping platform, its founders and business model (they have sold over 50,000 units). And next up [2]MIT's Tech Review has a profile on a few open source hardware businesses including NYC based Adafruit Industries best known for projects like the open source synth ([3]x0x0b0x) and 'fun' projects like the [4]Wave Bubble, the open source cell phone/wifi/GPS/RF jammer." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/24/0343244 Links: 0. mailto:pt@makezine.com 1. http://www.wired.com/techbiz/startups/magazine/16-11/ff_openmanufacturing?currentPage=all# 2. http://www.technologyreview.com/article/21495/ 3. http://www.ladyada.net/make/x0xb0x/ 4. http://www.ladyada.net/make/wavebubble/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | 1000-mph Car Planned | | from the zum-zum dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday October 24, @08:54 (Transportation) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/24/1244211 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Smivs notes a BBC report on a British team planning a [1]1000-mph record-breaking car. The previous land-speed record broke the sound barrier. The proposed vehicle will get from 0 to 1,050 mph in 40 seconds. "RAF pilot Andy Green made history in 1997 when he drove the Thrust SSC jet-powered vehicle at 763 mph (1,228 km/h). Now he intends to get behind the wheel of a car that is capable of reaching 1,000 mph (1,610 km/h). Known as Bloodhound, the new car will be powered by a rocket bolted to a Typhoon-Eurofighter jet engine. The team-members have been working on the concept for the past 18 months and expect to be ready to make their new record attempt in 2011." Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/24/1244211 Links: 0. http://www.smivsonline.co.uk/ 1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7685049.stm +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Amazon Beefs Up Its Cloud Ahead of MS Announcement | | from the hey-you-get-offa-my dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday October 24, @09:40 (The Internet) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/24/1322239 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Amazon has [0]announced several major improvements to its EC2 service for cloud computing. The service is now in production (no longer beta); it offers a service-level agreement; and Windows and SQL Server are available in beta form. ZDNet points out that all this news is intended to take some wind out of Microsoft's sails as [1]MS is expected to introduce its own cloud services next week at its Professional Developers Conference. Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/24/1322239 Links: 0. http://aws.typepad.com/aws/2008/10/big-day-for-ec2.html 1. http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=1659 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | In UK, Broadband Limits Confuse Nine In Ten Users | | from the ninety-percent-of-everything dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday October 24, @10:24 (The Internet) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/24/1346245 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Mark Jackson writes "ISPreview reports that 86% of [1]UK broadband users don't understand the usage limits on their service, and nearly one million have reached or exceeded their ISPs limit in the last year. This is important because 56% of major providers are prepared to disconnect those who 'abuse' the service. However, it also shows how damaging bad marketing can be, with 6.2M people believing they have an 'unlimited' service with no restrictions. The UK Advertising Standards Authority is also blamed for making the problem worse by allowing providers to describe their services as unlimited even if there is a usage cap, as long as it is detailed in the small print. However, consumers are none the wiser with over 10 million broadband customers never reading their usage agreements and a further 1.8M not knowing whether they have read it or not. Unsurprisingly 7.5M do not even know their download limit, which is understandable when so few providers clarify it." Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/24/1346245 Links: 0. http://www.ispreview.co.uk/ 1. http://www.ispreview.co.uk/news/EkkuZyVuAkvTdljRtm.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Google Founders Buy Fighter Jet | | from the filing-a-flight-plan-for-redmond dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday October 24, @11:11 (Toys) | | http://entertainment.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/24/1449236| +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Ponca City, We love you writes "The NY Times reports that H211 LLC, a company controlled by Google's top executives, including billionaire founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, appears to have added to its fleet a [1]Dornier Alpha Jet, a light jet attack and advanced trainer aircraft manufactured by Dornier of Germany and Dassault-Breguet of France. The 1982 Alpha-Jet seats two and was [2]originally used by European air forces, but is now being sold relatively cheaply to civilians. The jet has landing rights at Moffett Field, the NASA-operated airfield that is a stone's throw from the Google campus. It is not clear who exactly flies the fighter jet, although Google chief executive Eric Schmidt is an avid pilot. If the top Googlers indeed own the fighter jet, they would be following in the footsteps of Oracle chief executive [3]Larry Ellison, who has owned several aircraft, including fighter jets." Discuss this story at: http://entertainment.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/24/1449236 Links: 0. http://poncacityweloveyou.com/ 1. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/23/a-new-fighter-jet-for-googles-founders/ 2. http://www.mv-voice.com/news/show_story.php?id=951 3. http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/04/larry-ellisons.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Nintendo Blocks Homebrew Installation | | from the see-how-long-that-lasts dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday October 24, @11:55 (Nintendo) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/24/1454228 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]ElementC writes "Sometime yesterday Nintendo uploaded the latest Wii system update. This update quietly patches a few bugs that allowed the installation of both homebrew and warez apps. Currently installed apps such as the Homebrew Channel and the video DVD library, DVDX, are reportedly not affected. Those not installing this update are blocked out of the Wii Shop channel and in the future may be blocked out of certain games. Team Twiizers [1]cracked the last update within about eight hours. They're already on the case. Readers familiar with the architecture of the Wii will find the [2]list of currently discovered changes interesting." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/24/1454228 Links: 0. mailto:takutanuva777@gmail.com 1. http://wiibrew.org/wiki/System_Menu_3.3 2. http://wiibrew.org/wiki/Wii_System_Updates +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Stellar Seismologists Record "Music" From Stars | | from the play-here-comes-the-sun-for-me dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday October 24, @12:42 (Space) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/24/1633242 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ niktemadur writes "The BBC reports that a French team of [0]stellar seismologists, using the [1]COROT Space Telescope, have [2]converted stellar oscillations into sound patterns, a relatively new technique that, according to Professor Eric Michel of the Paris Observatory, is already giving researchers new insight into the inner workings of stars. The subtly pulsating, haunting sounds are very similar to artist Aphex Twin's minimalistic nineties album 'Selected Ambient Works, Vol. 2,' only stripping away what little melody it had and leaving just the beat. These and many more recordings from space can be accessed at the Jodrell Bank Center for Astrophysics website, also known as [3]the Jodcast." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/24/1633242 Links: 0. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_seismology 1. http://smsc.cnes.fr/COROT/ 2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7687286.stm 3. http://www.jodcast.net/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | ICANN Releases Draft For New TLDs | | from the dot-whatever dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday October 24, @13:28 (The Internet) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/24/1716233 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ NdJ writes "Looks like a whole new domain name battle ground is about to open up. ICANN have just made available their [0]How to Apply for a New Generic Top-Level Domain Draft Applicant Guidebook. It won't be cheap for the individual but certainly achievable for many domain-name-pimps. 'The Evaluation Fee is designed to make the new gTLD program self-funding only. This was a recommendation of the Generic names Supporting Organization. A detailed costing methodology — including historical program development costs, and predictable and uncertain costs associated with processing new gTLD applications through to delegation in the root zone — estimates a per applicant fee of $US185,000. This is the estimated cost per evaluation in the first application round.'" Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/24/1716233 Links: 0. http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-2-23oct08-en.htm +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Bill Gates Founds New "Think Tank" Company | | from the short-drive-from-the-house-on-the-lake dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday October 24, @14:13 (Microsoft) | | http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/24/1749234 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Homncruse sends in news of [1]Bill Gates's new adventure, adding "I was working just one or two floors under this new office when it was all coming together. I even unknowingly shared an elevator with him at one time on his way up to the office." The article notes that the name "bgC3" derives from Bill Gates, catalyst, and the "third thing," neither Microsoft or the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. "Just months after his Microsoft farewell, Bill Gates is quietly creating a new company — complete with high-tech office space, a cryptic name and even its own trademark. Public documents describe the new Gates entity — bgC3 LLC — as a 'think tank.' It's housed within a Kirkland office that the Microsoft co-founder established on his own after leaving his day-to-day executive role at the company this summer... However, bgC3 will also oversee Gates' personal pursuit of breakthrough ideas in science and technology. [An] insider said the goal isn't necessarily to create new companies, although ideas could be passed along to Microsoft, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — or others — as it makes sense..." Discuss this story at: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/24/1749234 Links: 0. http://www.focuszonedevelopment.com/ 1. http://www.kirklandviews.com/2008/10/23/bill-gates-new-venture-at-carillon-point/print/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Storing Qubits In Nuclei | | from the now-you-see-it-now-you-still-see-it dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday October 24, @14:56 (Science) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/24/1829246 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]bednarz writes "Scientists have demonstrated what is being called the 'ultimate miniaturization of computer memory,' storing data for nearly two seconds in the nucleus of an atom of phosphorus. The [1]hybrid quantum memory technique is a key step in the development of quantum computers, according to the National Science Foundation. An international team of scientists demonstrated that quantum information stored in a nucleus has a lifetime of about 1¾ seconds. 'This is significant because before this technique was developed, the longest researchers could preserve quantum information in silicon was a few tens of milliseconds. Other researchers studying quantum computing recently calculated that if a quantum system could store information for at least one second, error correction techniques could then protect that data for an indefinite period of time.'" Here's the [2]NSF press release with pictures of the apparatus. They claim that this technique is promising because it "uses silicon technology" seems a bit of a stretch — the silicon the researchers employed was a painstakingly grown crystal of extremely high purity. Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/24/1829246 Links: 0. http://moc.wwntazrandeba/ 1. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/102408-small-storage-device.html 2. http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?org=NSF&cntn_id=112538&preview=false +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | ACLU Creates Map of US "Constitution-Free Zone" | | from the stay-well-inland dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday October 24, @15:42 (Privacy) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/24/197215 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ trackpick points out a recent ACLU initiative to publicize a recent [0]expansion of authority claimed by the Border Patrol to stop and search individuals up to 100 miles from any US border. They have created a map of what they call the [1]US Constitution-Free Zone. "Using data provided by the US Census Bureau, the ACLU has determined that nearly 2/3 of the entire US population (197.4 million people) live within 100 miles of the US land and coastal borders. The government is assuming extraordinary powers to stop and search individuals within this zone. This is not just about the border: This 'Constitution-Free Zone' includes most of the nation's largest metropolitan areas.'" Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/24/197215 Links: 0. http://www.aclu.org/privacy/37293res20081022.html 1. http://www.aclu.org/privacy/spying/areyoulivinginaconstitutionfreezone.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | $29M To Start US Satellite Protection Program | | from the space-race dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday October 24, @16:32 (Space) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/24/2030246 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]coondoggie sends in a Network World piece that begins "The Air Force laid out $29 million in contracts this week to build [1]space-based sensors that could detect threats or hazards and protect satellites in orbit. Assurance Technologies and Lockheed Martin Space Systems will split $20 million of the two-year contract that the Air Force says should ultimately demonstrate a viable sensing capability, as well as integration with other space systems to offer threat and hazard detection, assessment and notification... The Air Force is looking to protect satellites from ground based lasers or anti-satellite missiles mostly." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/24/2030246 Links: 0. mailto:mcooney@nww.com 1. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/34399 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Which Phone To Develop For? | | from the building-a-house-around-it dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday October 24, @17:16 (Programming) | | http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/24/2052245 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Rob MacKenzie writes "I have to decide on a mobile phone to develop for. We're building a house with some automation built in, and we want the mobile phone to be able to control certain aspects of it, and retrieve information on what's going on in the house. Our choices are the usual suspects: Apple's IPhone, RIM's Blackberry, Nokia's line (Symbian), any Android phone we can get in Canada, J2ME generic app, or a Web-based UI we would interact with in the phone's browser. What would you choose if you had to go with one? Which exact model? We will be buying a few to develop for, so price is a bit of an issue." Discuss this story at: http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/24/2052245 Links: 0. mailto:rmackenzie@dccnet.com +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Amazon Kindle Endorsed By Oprah | | from the you-could-pay-to-read-slashdot dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday October 24, @18:08 (Books) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/24/2127208 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Oprah Winfrey [0]enthused about the Amazon Kindle on her show today — it's her "new favorite thing" — and had Jeff Bezos on to announce a $50-off offer good till Nov. 1. A plug on Oprah is ordinarily a sign that a product has crossed over into the mainstream. But her show's [1]audience has been slipping lately, and it's unclear how many cash-strapped citizens will be willing to part with $309 (after the special offer) for a new techno-gadget, for which they then have to shell out more money for DRM-encrusted content. Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/24/2127208 Links: 0. http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/10/kindle-is-oprah.html 1. http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2008/08/when-exactly-di.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Hubble Repairs Hindered By Antiquated Computer Systems | | from the you-should-see-the-sputnik-abacus dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Friday October 24, @19:00 (Space) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/24/221241 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Andrew Moseman writes "Part of the trouble NASA is encountering while [1]fixing the Hubble Space Telescope comes from the fact that it's been up there for nearly two decades, and therefore carries [2]computer systems long outdated here on Earth. 'One of the main computers that the Goddard team has been struggling with during the repair attempts [3]runs on an Intel 486 chip, the height of 1989 technology.' Many of NASA's long-running missions rely on antiquated systems — the Voyager probes each have about 32k of memory — but the scientists say they can manage." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/24/221241 Links: 0. http://popularmechanics.com/ 1. http://www.space.com/news/081023-hubble-telescope-fix-update.html 2. http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/air_space/4288705.html 3. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/16/hubble_back_up/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Packs of Robots Will Hunt Down Uncooperative Humans | | from the you've-been-warned dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Friday October 24, @19:58 (Robotics) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/24/2245238 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Ostracus writes "The latest [0]request from the Pentagon jars the senses. At least, it did mine. They are looking for contractors to 'develop a software/hardware suite that would enable a multi-robot team, together with a human operator, to [1]search for and detect a non-cooperative human subject. The main research task will involve determining the movements of the robot team through the environment to maximize the opportunity to find the subject ... Typical robots for this type of activity are expected to weigh less than 100 Kg and the team would have three to five robots.'" To be fair, they plan to use the Multi-Robot Pursuit System for less nefarious-sounding purposes as well. They note that the robots would "have potential [2]commercialization within search and rescue, fire fighting, reconnaissance, and automated biological, chemical and radiation sensing with mobile platforms." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/24/2245238 Links: 0. http://www.dodsbir.net/SITIS/display_topic.asp?Bookmark=34565 1. http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2008/10/packs-of-robots-will-hunt-down.html?DCMP=ILC-hmts&nsref=specrt13_head_Pack%20hunting%20robots 2. http://www.infowars.com/?p=5507 RE: Slashdot.com - Annette - 11-04-2008 Slashdot Daily Newsletter In this issue: * Magnetic Portals Connect Sun and Earth * Motorola Moving to Android, Windows Mobile for Smartphones * Australia's ISPs Speak Out Against Filtering * Inside the New Xbox Experience * HP Opens Up TouchSmart To Third-Party Developers * October Indie Game Round-Up * Private Firm Plots Robotic Lunar Exploration * Why Netbooks Will Soon Cost $99 * Google May Scrap Yahoo Deal * Low-Income Users Latch On To iPhone * German Foreign Ministry Migrates Desktops To OSS * Stealing Data With Obfuscated Code * Fallout 3 Launches Amidst Controversy * Doom9 Researchers Break BD+ * Major Advances In Knot Theory * More Sony Batteries Recalled * Space Litter To Hit Earth Tomorrow * How To Supplement Election Coverage? +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Magnetic Portals Connect Sun and Earth | | from the no-cake-jokes-allowed dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Friday October 31, @20:17 (Space) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/31/2252255 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ MaxwellEdison writes "Scientists have discovered evidence of [0]magnetic portals connecting the Earth and the Sun every 8 minutes. 'Several speakers at the Workshop have outlined how FTEs form: On the dayside of Earth (the side closest to the sun), Earth's magnetic field presses against the sun's magnetic field. Approximately every eight minutes, the two fields briefly merge or "reconnect," forming a portal through which particles can flow. The portal takes the form of a magnetic cylinder about as wide as Earth. The European Space Agency's fleet of four [1]Cluster spacecraft and NASA's five [2]THEMIS probes have flown through and surrounded these cylinders, measuring their dimensions and sensing the particles that shoot through." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/31/2252255 Links: 0. http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/30oct_ftes.htm 1. http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/area/index.cfm?fareaid=8 2. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/themis/main/index.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Motorola Moving to Android, Windows Mobile for Smartphones | | from the changing-horses dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Friday October 31, @22:14 (Operating Syste| | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/31/2320258 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ nerdyH writes "Motorola will [0]ditch its MotoMAGX Linux stack and UIQ Symbian stack in favor of Google's Android Linux/Java stack and [1]Windows Mobile 6.5 and 7, it announced today. The news comes after five years selling millions of Linux phones in Asia, and after a year during which many of Motorola's top US phones used the homegrown Linux stack. Motorola's current Linux phones in the US include the [2]RAZR2 v8, [3]E8, [4]EM30, [5]U9, [6]ZN4, and [7]ZN5." This also comes alongside news that Motorola's financial hardships are causing them to [8]cut 3,000 jobs. It also puts into perspective their recent plans to [9]hire hundreds of Android developers. Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/10/31/2320258 Links: 0. http://linuxdevices.com/news/NS8856689287.html 1. http://www.windowsfordevices.com/news/NS5197242650.html 2. http://linuxdevices.com/news/NS8917567693.html 3. http://linuxdevices.com/news/NS3220229576.html 4. http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS6745873567.html 5. http://linuxdevices.com/news/NS8711151732.html 6. http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS3087955289.html 7. http://linuxdevices.com/news/NS3615635041.html 8. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122536662439883949.html 9. http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/04/139226&tid=269 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Australia's ISPs Speak Out Against Filtering | | from the is-it-possible-to-import-an-isp dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 01, @00:13 (Censorship) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/01/0248221 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ daria42 writes "The leaders of three of Australia's largest internet service providers â Telstra Media's Justin Milne, iiNet's Michael Malone and Internode's Simon Hackett â have, in video interviews with ZDNet.com.au over the past few months, [0]detailed technical, legal and ethical reasons why ISP-level filtering won't work. Critics of the policy also say that users will have [1]no way to know what's being filtered." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/01/0248221 Links: 0. http://www.zdnet.com.au/insight/communications/soa/ISP-level-content-filtering-won-t-work/0,139023754,339292158,00.htm 1. http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;355409327;fp;16;fpid;0 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Inside the New Xbox Experience | | from the more-and-better dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 01, @01:25 (XBox (Games)| | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/01/0523208 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Eurogamer has an [0]in-depth look at the new Xbox Experience, which is coming on November 19th. They discuss the new interface and features, and their reaction is generally positive, citing graphical improvements, smooth file management, and better chat functionality. "The Guide is also your access point to the new Party system, where you can gather eight of your friends together in a voice-chat channel and move the group between games. You don't even have to be doing the same thing: you can just chat along regardless. And because it's a service layer, it automatically works with all your existing games. Gears of War treats it like it's always been there. Instead of inviting a player, you invite the group; instead of ending a session and having to reassemble for another, you stay together. You can open it up to friends or set it to be invite-only, and while it's one of NXE's quieter additions, it's also its most authoritative statement: this is Microsoft saying, 'We figured we might need to do something like this, so we made sure we could.'" Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/01/0523208 Links: 0. http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=277017 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | HP Opens Up TouchSmart To Third-Party Developers | | from the have-at-it dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 01, @02:15 (HP) | | http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/01/0448218 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ TheTieGuy writes "HP recently released their [0]TouchSmart Application Development Guidelines to third party developers, allowing anyone to [1]port and create touch-friendly applications that integrate and run within the TouchSmart Software suite on their popular [2]TouchSmart PC. As part of the release, HP has gotten behind Capable Networks' [3]Touchsmart Community website and forum to distribute the guidelines to developers while providing an environment for TouchSmart developers to interact. Also on the site is a download hub that allows TouchSmart developers to upload and share their creations with TouchSmart owners in a central location. To kick off the new development initiative, the TouchSmart Community is running a promotion that will send one developer (travel expenses paid) to demo their software in the HP booth at the [4]2009 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, along with a free TouchSmart PC, HP MediaSmart Server, and a month of promotion in the community." Discuss this story at: http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/01/0448218 Links: 0. http://www.touchsmartcommunity.com/downloads 1. http://www.touchsmartcommunity.com/blog/entry/74/HP-Opens-Up-TouchSmart-to-Third-Party-Developers/ 2. http://www.hp.com/touchsmart 3. http://www.touchsmartcommunity.com/ 4. http://www.cesweb.org/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | October Indie Game Round-Up | | from the diverse-field-of-choices dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 01, @03:40 (PC Games (Ga| | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/01/061230 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]cyrus_zuo points out [1]the October edition of the Indie Game Round-up, where four reviewers give their opinions on ten recent independently produced games. This month, their top choice was Multiwinia, a casual, abstract take on multiplayer RTS. The second installment of the Strong Bad series also scored high, as did a side-scrolling platformer called Archibald's Adventures. "The levels are short and sweet, the graphics are cartoon-y and clear and the challenges fit in wonderfully with the paradigm of a young hero attached to a skateboard. The puzzles are all timing and creative thinking and can really be taken on by anyone of any skill level. Also, since levels can tackled in any order (you have large chunks available at a time), you can jump around if you get stuck." Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/01/061230 Links: 0. http://www.gametunnel.com/ 1. http://www.gametunnel.com/articles.php?id=715 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Private Firm Plots Robotic Lunar Exploration | | from the hope-they-have-a-big-enough-movie-studio dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 01, @05:16 (Moon) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/01/0344230 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ DeviceGuru writes "[0]Astrobotic Technology has unveiled plans for a [1]series of robotic expeditions to the Moon. The lunar rovers will explore high-interest areas of the Moon's surface and beam the data back to the Earth. The plan is to accumulate an extensive library of lunar data and [2]sell it to governments and private corporations (PDF), much as [3]Navteq's data forms the backbone of most terrestrial GPS services. Astrobotic's first goal is to win Google's $30 million [4]Lunar X Prize, with a May, 2010 trip to the Apollo 11 landing site at Mare Tranquillitatis." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/01/0344230 Links: 0. http://astrobotictechnology.com/ 1. http://www.space.com/news/081030-astrobotic-lunar-exploration.html 2. http://astrobotictechnology.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/astrobotic-technology-product-and-service-announcement-data-licensing.pdf 3. http://www.navteq.com/about/index.html 4. http://www.google.com/educators/xprize.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Why Netbooks Will Soon Cost $99 | | from the act-now-while-supplies-last dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 01, @08:18 (Portables) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/01/056247 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]CWmike sends along a ComputerWorld piece which predicts that "netbooks like the Asus Eee PC, the Dell Mini 9 and the HP 2133 Mini-Note [1]will soon cost as little as $99. The catch? You'll need to commit to a two-year mobile broadband contract. The low cost will come courtesy of a subsidy identical to the one you already get with your cell phone. It's likely that HP is working with AT&T (they're reported to be talking), which announced a major strategic shift a couple of weeks ago that should result in AT&T stores [2]selling nonphone gadgets that can take advantage of mobile broadband, including netbooks. What's more interesting is that low income and cheapskate buyers are [1]starting to use iPhones as replacements or substitutes for netbook, notebook and even desktop PCs. The author's take: A very large number of people are increasingly looking to buy a single device â or, at least, subscribe to a single wireless account â for all their computing and communications needs, and at the lowest possible price." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/01/056247 Links: 0. http://www.computerworld.com/ 1. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9118758 2. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9117430 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Google May Scrap Yahoo Deal | | from the packing-up-their-toys dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 01, @09:17 (Yahoo!) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/01/1211257 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ JagsLive points out a Reuters story which suggests that Google may [0]walk away from its deal with Yahoo instead of accepting possible antitrust limitations from the government. The ongoing [1]investigation of the deal by the Department of Justice has caused new concerns to be raised over whether the two companies have adequately addressed issues such as [2]privacy and competition. From Reuters: "'Are they more serious about walking away? Yes. Have they decided? I'm not sure,' one source told Reuters on Friday. 'Yahoo wants the deal, and they're willing to have Google sign anything at the Justice Department to have them do it.' ... Part of the impetus of Google's walking away could be Yahoo's talks with Time Warner Inc about buying the content and advertising operations of its AOL unit. Google initially struck the deal with Yahoo as a way to fend off Microsoft Corp's unsolicited bid. Yahoo and AOL are conducting due diligence to see what a combined company would look like." Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/01/1211257 Links: 0. http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN3130476920081031 1. http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/07/02/123204&tid=103 2. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,1000000097,39535499,00.htm +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Low-Income Users Latch On To iPhone | | from the for-sufficiently-high-values-of-low dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 01, @10:19 (Cellphones) | | http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/01/1338225 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]narramissic writes "The iPhone crowd is still dominated by affluent males between the ages of 18 and 35, but in a series of surveys ending in August, ComScore found that [1]iPhone purchases grew fastest among people with annual household incomes between $25,000 and $50,000. The growth rate in this group was 48 percent, compared with just 16 percent among people with incomes above $100,000. And the down economy isn't going to turn this trend around, says ComScore Mobile analyst Jen Wu. 'I don't see there's going to be much of a slowdown, just because wireless devices are so much more of a necessity than they used to be,' Wu said." In other iPhone news, an anonymous reader points out a NYTimes story about the rise in [2]car-related applications and uses for the iPhone, which points out that programmers are just beginning to "appreciate just what can be done with an iPhone and other advanced cellphones that know where they are and just how quickly they are going someplace else." Another iPhone story mentions that "Opera's engineers have developed a version of Opera Mini that can run on an Apple iPhone, but Apple won't let the company release it because it [3]competes with Apple's own Safari browser." Discuss this story at: http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/01/1338225 Links: 0. http://www.itworld.com/ 1. http://www.itworld.com/personal-tech/57039/low-income-users-latch-iphone 2. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/automobiles/autospecial2/30phone.html 3. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/27/opera-sings-an-ode-to-browsers-everywhere/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | German Foreign Ministry Migrates Desktops To OSS | | from the saving-some-geld dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 01, @11:20 (Linux Busine| | http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/01/1440213 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ ruphus13 writes "Here's another example of 'German Engineering' â The Foreign Ministry in Germany is [0]migrating all of its 11,000 desktops to GNU/Linux and other open source applications. According to the article, 'this has drastically reduced maintenance costs in comparison with other ministries. "The Foreign Ministry is running desktops in many far away and some very difficult locations. Yet we spend only one thousand euro per desktop per year. That is far lower than other ministries, that on average spend more than 3000 euro per desktop per year ... Open Source desktops are far cheaper to maintain than proprietary desktop configurations," says Rolf Schuster, a diplomat at the German Embassy in Madrid and the former head of IT at the Foreign Ministry ... "The embassies in Japan and Korea have completely switched over, the embassy in Madrid has been exclusively using GNU/Linux since October last year", Schuster added, calling the migration a success.' The Guardian has [1]additional coverage of the move." Discuss this story at: http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/01/1440213 Links: 0. http://www.osor.eu/news/de-foreign-ministry-cost-of-open-source-desktop-maintenance-is-by-far-the-lowest 1. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2003/jun/22/comment.theobserver1 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Stealing Data With Obfuscated Code | | from the malware-arms-race dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 01, @12:22 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/01/1542221 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Weblver1 writes "A recent report by web security firm Finjan shows how easily data can be accessed on PCs by malware which circumvents existing defenses. With the use of obfuscated code, antivirus software and static Web filters [1]could not identify the scrambled attack code as a threat. The report walks through a real-life scenario of the infection process step-by-step, and tracks what happens to the stolen data. This demonstrates how stealing sensitive data has become unbearably easy â especially, given the abundance of easy-to-use DIY crimeware toolkits. Finjan's report is [2]available here (PDF, registration required). Shortly after this report, Security firm RSA has released their findings of a huge amount of stolen 'virtual wallets' in [3]one of the largest discoveries of stolen data from computers compromised by the Sinowal trojan. While the trojan can be traced back to 2006, it managed to become more productive over time with frequent variants. Given the scale, ease of use, and hiding techniques making infections extremely difficult to find, no wonder today's crimeware achieves such 'impressive' results." Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/01/1542221 Links: 0. mailto:Weblvr1@gmail.com 1. http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/846 2. http://www.finjan.com/Content.aspx?id=1367 3. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/31/sinowal_trojan_heist/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Fallout 3 Launches Amidst Controversy | | from the or-fallout-one-might-say dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 01, @13:23 (Role Playing| | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/01/1653217 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Earlier this week, Bethesda released Fallout 3 after a long campaign of defending and protecting the game's reputation from claims that it contained inappropriate content. Ads for the game in Washington DC's subway system were pulled after they [0]upset some touchy travelers over the depiction of post-apocalyptic Washington landmarks. Shortly before the game's release, [1]early trailers were removed as well. Earlier this year, the game was [2]banned in Australia for its in-game use of morphine, causing the drug's name to be changed to Med-X. On the issue of sensitive content, Bethesda's Emil Pagliarulo wrote in Edge Magazine about the design decision to [3]disallow the killing of children in the game. Gamasutra ran an [4]opinion piece on the same subject, and the Washington Post discusses [5]the role of Washington DC in Fallout 3. On the DRM front, the game does come with SecuROM, but Bethesda says it's [6]only used for a disc check. Reviews for the game have been [7]overwhelmingly positive so far, despite reports of bugs with the [8]save system and [9]occasional lock-ups. Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/01/1653217 Links: 0. http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/55590 1. http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/55594 2. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/07/09/1831230&tid=153 3. http://www.edge-online.com/blogs/emil-pagliarulo-writes-edge 4. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=20908 5. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/posttech/2008/10/washingtons_role_in_fallout_3.html?nav=rss_blog 6. http://bethblog.com/index.php/2008/10/30/fallout-3-uses-securom-only-for-disc-check/ 7. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=20862 8. http://www.gameplayer.com.au/gp_documents/Fallout3-Warning.aspx?Page=1 9. http://xboxevolved.e-mpire.com/article/Fallout_3/4991.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Doom9 Researchers Break BD+ | | from the blue-hooray dept. | | posted by kdawson on Saturday November 01, @14:27 (Encryption) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/01/1728222 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "BD+, the Blu-ray copy protection system that was [0]supposed to last 10 years, [1]has now been solidly broken by a group of doom9 researchers. Earlier, BD+ had been [2]broken by the commercial company SlySoft." Someone from SlySoft posts a hint early in the thread, but then backs off for fear of getting fired. The break is announced on page 15. Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/01/1728222 Links: 0. http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/07/09/2333207&tid=188 1. http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=140571 2. http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/03/21/1241234&tid=188 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Major Advances In Knot Theory | | from the if-it's-not-theory-then-it-must-be-practice dept. | | posted by kdawson on Saturday November 01, @15:31 (Math) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/01/1752257 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader sends us to Science News, which is running a survey of recent strides in finding an answer to the age-old question: [0]How many ways are there to tie your shoelaces? "Mathematicians have been puzzling over that question for a century or two, and the main thing they've discovered is that the question is really, really hard. In the last decade, though, they've developed some powerful new tools inspired by physics that have pried a few answers from the universe's clutches. Even more exciting is that the new tools seem to be the tip of a much larger theory that mathematicians are just beginning to uncover. That larger mathematical theory, if it exists, may help crack some of the hardest mathematical questions there are, questions about the mathematical structure of the three- and four-dimensional space where we live. ... Revealing the full... superstructure may be the work of a generation." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/01/1752257 Links: 0. http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/38237/title/Unknotting_knot_theory +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | More Sony Batteries Recalled | | from the i-seem-to-recall dept. | | posted by kdawson on Saturday November 01, @16:36 (Sony) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/01/1946222 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Scott Hagerman passes along news of [1]yet another recall of Sony laptop batteries. The batteries in question, manufactured in the same timeframe as those involved in the [2]massive 2006 recall, are in laptops sold by HP, Dell, Toshiba, Lenovo, and Acer. Neither Apple nor Sony itself used these batteries in their laptops. This time 100,000 batteries are involved â 65,000 of them sold outside of the US â vs. the 10 million recalled in 2006. The Consumer Product Safety Commission fielded 19 reports of batteries overheating and/or catching fire. Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/01/1946222 Links: 0. mailto:turtlepower13@gmail.com 1. http://www.informationweek.com/news/hardware/desktop/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=211800559 2. http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/09/29/150209&tid=233 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Space Litter To Hit Earth Tomorrow | | from the leave-only-memories-take-only-footprints dept. | | posted by kdawson on Saturday November 01, @17:39 (Space) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/01/2010247 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ A refrigerator-sized tank of toxic ammonia, tossed from the international space station last year, is expected to [0]hit earth tomorrow afternoon or evening. The 1,400-pound object was [1]deliberately jettisoned â by hand â from the ISS's robot arm in July 2007. Since the time of re-entry is uncertain, so is the location. "NASA expects up to 15 pieces of the tank to survive the searing hot temperatures of re-entry, ranging in size from about 1.4 ounces (40 grams) to nearly 40 pounds (17.5 kilograms). ... [T]he largest pieces could slam into the Earth's surface at about 100 mph (161 kph). ...'If anybody found a piece of anything on the ground Monday morning, I would hope they wouldn't get too close to it,' [a NASA spokesman] said." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/01/2010247 Links: 0. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27479972/ 1. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19910584/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | How To Supplement Election Coverage? | | from the news-junkie-overload dept. | | posted by kdawson on Saturday November 01, @19:40 (The Internet) | | http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/01/2141228 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader asks "What information sources and social networking sites will you be using to supplement the election coverage on TV next Tuesday? I am ready with a big HDTV with Comcast, a Mac mini, and and an Xbox 360. I also have two laptops (one good for websites and one for streaming video), an old-school Blackberry, a 'regular' cell phone, a Nokia N810, a Squeezebox, and finally Sirius Satellite Radio. Which websites should I watch for live county results? I already know about the [0]Twitter Vote Report for tracking and reporting voting issues and I already watch 'CNN Reporters' on Friendfeed for the national flair. What other Twitter accounts should I follow? Which urgent ones should I send to my phones? Which YouTube accounts or keywords I should subscribe to in Miro? What are the most popular sites for posting 'on-scene' videos â iReport, Flickr, something else? I know most local Fox affiliates are great about streaming, but is there a page that lists all of the streams, in case I need to quickly focus on one city or area? Basically, how would you configure all those gadgets?" This reader might find some guidance in what to focus on, when, in a video produced by reader (and data modeler) [1]Bruce Nash that lays out a [2]predicted timeline for when the media will call each state, depending on when the polls close and how tight each race is expected to be. Discuss this story at: http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/01/2141228 Links: 0. http://twittervotereport.com/ 1. http://www.the-numbers.com/thecrunch 2. http://www.the-numbers.com/thecrunch/?p=42 Copyright 1997-2008 SourceForge, Inc.. All rights reserved. RE: Slashdot.com - Annette - 11-23-2008 In this issue: * How To Find a Mobile Games Publisher? * Massive Martian Glaciers Found * Oblong's g-speak Brings "Minority Report" Interface To Life * Hacks Allowing Disabled Gamers To Play Guitar Hero * Silverlight On the Way To Linux * AP Suspends DoD Over Altered US Army Photo * Obama's Mobile Phone Records Compromised, Shared * Torvalds's Former Company Transmeta Acquired and Gone * E=mc^2 Verified In Quantum Chromodynamic Calculation * Lori Drew Cyber-Bullying Trial Begins * A Web App For Real-Time Collaborative Writing * RICO Class Action Against RIAA In Missouri * How To Help Our Public Schools With Technology? * Final Judgment — SCO Loses, Owes $3,506,526 * US Officials Flunk Test On Civic Knowledge * Worm Attack Prompts DoD To Ban Use of External Media * Setting Up a Home Dev/Testing Environment? * Microsoft Blames Add-Ons For Browser Woes * DARPA's IBM-Led Neural Network Project Seeks To Imitate Brain * After Columbine, Eric Holder Advocated Internet "Restrictions" * Chinese Hacking of American Military Networks On the Rise +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | How To Find a Mobile Games Publisher? | | from the take-me-away-from-all-this dept. | | posted by timothy on Thursday November 20, @19:45 (Cellphones) | | http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/20/2352220 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ n01 writes "In the last few months of my spare time, I've been implementing an abstract strategy board game (that I invented) along with a decent AI. The game resembles [0]TwixT in that it is also a connection game, and could be played without the need for a cellphone or computer. The implementation on the Java 2 Mobile Edition platform will soon be finished, with only some minor usability and sound issues to fix. While I enjoyed working on the game (actually more than on my day job as a programmer) I would still like to earn some money from selling the game, so I can work more on such projects in the future. What experiences have Slashdot readers had with selling their applications/games for mobile phones? With which publisher will I have the broadest audience and achieve the highest earnings? Would you try to publish the game both as a mobile game and a traditional board game?" Discuss this story at: http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/20/2352220 Links: 0. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twixt +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Massive Martian Glaciers Found | | from the could-be-a-trick dept. | | posted by timothy on Thursday November 20, @21:56 (Space) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/21/0021229 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Kozar_The_Malignant writes "Scientific American is reporting that 'data from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter point to [0]vast glaciers buried beneath thin layers of crustal debris.' Data from the surface-penetrating radar on MRO revealed that two well-known mid-latitude features are composed of solid water ice. One is about three times the size of the City of Los Angeles. This certainly makes the idea of establishing a station on Mars far more plausible." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/21/0021229 Links: 0. http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=red-planet-alert-massive +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Oblong's g-speak Brings "Minority Report" Interface To Life | | from the staged-mock-up-or-real-time-control? dept. | | posted by timothy on Friday November 21, @00:50 (GUI) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/21/0215233 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]tracheopterix writes "[1]Oblong Industries, a startup based in LA has unveiled g-speak, an operational version of the notable interface from [2]Minority Report. One of Oblong's founders served as science and technology adviser for the film; the interface was an extension of his doctoral work at the MIT Media Lab. Oblong calls g-speak a 'spatial operating environment' and adds that 'the SOE's combination of gestural i/o, recombinant networking, and real-world pixels brings the first major step in computer interface since 1984.'" The video shown on Oblong's front page is an impressive demo. Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/21/0215233 Links: 0. mailto:jamie.mail@gmail.com 1. http://oblong.com/ 2. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0181689/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Hacks Allowing Disabled Gamers To Play Guitar Hero | | from the getting-out-of-hand dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Friday November 21, @04:01 (Hardware Hacki| | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/21/0514228 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]angrymilkman writes "Here are two interesting new approaches where researchers modified the popular Guitar Hero game so it can be played by gamers with disabilities. Air Guitar Hero modifies the Guitar Hero controller so [1]someone without limbs can play it by using electrodes attached to the user's residual arm. [2]Blind Hero is a mod for Frets on Fire that uses a haptic glove that can [3]turn visual feedback into haptic feedback, allowing blind gamers to play Guitar Hero songs." There have been a variety of Guitar Hero hacks in the past, including a [4]custom drum pad for playing the guitar part, using the plastic guitar as a [5]real instrument, and [6]rocking out with your bike, but it's nice to see some more serious modifications showing up. Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/21/0514228 Links: 0. mailto:efolmer@unr.edu 1. http://spectrum.ieee.org/nov08/6994 2. http://kotaku.com/5092565/frets-on-fire-for-the-blind 3. http://www.eelke.com/games/blindhero.html 4. http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1890957 5. http://www.hackszine.com/blog/archive/2008/06/wii_guitar_hero_guitar_as_a_re.html 6. +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Silverlight On the Way To Linux | | from the howl-at-the-moonlight dept. | | posted by timothy on Friday November 21, @06:39 (Graphics) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/21/0343245 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Afforess writes "For the past two years Microsoft and Novell have been working on the 'Moonlight' project. It is a runtime library for websites that run [0]Silverlight. It should allow PCs running Linux to view sites that use Siverlight. Betanews reports 'In the next stage of what has turned out to be a more successful project than even its creators envisioned, the public beta of Moonlight â a runtime library for Linux supporting sites that expect Silverlight â [1] is expected within days.' Moonlight 2.0 is already in the works." Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/21/0343245 Links: 0. http://www.silverlight.net/ 1. http://www.betanews.com/article/Novell_and_Microsoft_sanction_Silverlight_workalike_for_Linux/1227124377 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | AP Suspends DoD Over Altered US Army Photo | | from the one-big-no-no dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday November 21, @08:14 (The Military) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/21/133234 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ djupedal notes a story up at the BBC about the [0]Associated Press's suspension of the use of Department of Defense photos after a photo of General Ann Dunwoody was found to have been altered ([1]before and after comparison). "The Pentagon has become embroiled in a row after the US Army released a photo of a general to the media which was found to have been digitally altered. Ann Dunwoody was shown in front of the US flag but it later emerged that this background had been added. The Associated Press news agency subsequently suspended the use of US Department of Defense photos. 'For us, there's a zero-tolerance policy of adding or subtracting actual content from an image,' said Santiago Lyon, AP's director of photography." Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/21/133234 Links: 0. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7738342.stm 1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/08/americas_enl_1227119670/html/1.stm +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Obama's Mobile Phone Records Compromised, Shared | | from the quis-custodiet-ipsos-custodes dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday November 21, @08:59 (Privacy) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/21/1321200 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Tiger4 writes "Verizon has confirmed that some of its employees have [0]accessed and perhaps shared calling records of President Elect Barack Obama (coverage at [1]CNN, [2]Reuters, [3]AP). Verizon says the people involved have all been put on leave with pay as the investigation proceeds. Some of the employees may have accessed the information for legitimate purposes, but others may have been curiosity seekers and may have even shared the information around. The account was 'only' a phone, not a BlackBerry or similar device, and Verizon believes it was just calling records, not voicemail or email that was compromised. The articles do not mention the similarity to the warrantless wiretapping or hospital records compromises of recent months. But that immediately sprang to mind for me." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/21/1321200 Links: 0. http://news.google.com/?ncl=1272753354&hl=en&topic=h 1. http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/11/21/obama.cell.breach/index.html 2. http://www.reuters.com/article/vcCandidateFeed2/idUSN2035689520081121 3. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gp-8cbq0WhtqqH2km7dv1QuDmG7wD94J3K8O0 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Torvalds's Former Company Transmeta Acquired and Gone | | from the here's-to-you-mister-robinson dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday November 21, @09:45 (Transmeta) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/21/1421204 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]desmondhaynes sends along a posting from the TechWatch blog detailing the [1]sale of Transmeta (most recently [2]discussed here). Linus moved ten time-zones west, from Finland to Santa Clara, CA, to join Transmeta in March 1997, before this community existed. Here is our discussion of the [3]announcement of the Crusoe processor from 2000. Our [4]earliest discussion of Transmeta was the 13th Slashdot story. "Transmeta, once a sparkling startup that set out to beat Intel and AMD in mobile computing, announced that it will be acquired by Novafora. The company's most famous employee, Linux inventor Linus Torvalds, kept the buzz and rumor mill about the company throughout its stealth phase alive and guaranteed a flashy technology announcement in early 2000. Almost nine years later Transmeta's journey is over." Update: 11/21 16:25 GMT by [5]KD : It's not the 13th Slashdot story, only the 13th currently in the database. We lost the first 4 months at one point. Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/21/1421204 Links: 0. http://techwatch.reviewk.com/ 1. http://techwatch.reviewk.com/2008/11/linus-torvalds%E2%80%99-company-acquired-and-gone/ 2. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/09/25/2042208&tid=161 3. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/01/19/1050205&tid=161 4. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=98/01/03/122800&tid=99 5. http://slashdot.org/~kdawson/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | E=mc^2 Verified In Quantum Chromodynamic Calculation | | from the tee-shirts-were-right-all-along dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday November 21, @10:31 (Supercomputing) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/21/153210 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ chirishnique and other readers sent in a story in AFP about a [0]heroic supercomputer computation that has verified Einstein's most famous equation at the level of subatomic particles for the first time. "A brainpower consortium led by Laurent Lellouch of France's Centre for Theoretical Physics, using some of the world's mightiest supercomputers, have set down the calculations for estimating the mass of protons and neutrons, the particles at the nucleus of atoms. ... [T]he mass of gluons is zero and the mass of quarks is only five per cent. Where, therefore, is the missing 95 per cent? The answer, according to the study published in the US journal Science on Thursday, comes from the energy from the movements and interactions of quarks and gluons. ... [E]nergy and mass are equivalent, as Einstein proposed in his Special Theory of Relativity in 1905." Update: 11/21 15:50 GMT by [1]KD : New Scientist has a [2]slightly more technical look at the accomplishment. Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/21/153210 Links: 0. http://www.theage.com.au/news/technology/quarks-gluons-and-corroborating-emc2/2008/11/21/1226770694126.html 1. http://slashdot.org/~kdawson/ 2. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16095-its-confirmed-matter-is-merely-vacuum-fluctuations.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Lori Drew Cyber-Bullying Trial Begins | | from the trying-to-outlaw-acting-like-a-jerk dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday November 21, @11:17 (The Courts) | | http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/21/1539219 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "The cyber-bullying trial of Lori Drew opened yesterday. She was [0]indicted for conspiring to access and accessing MySpace illegally in order to '[1]further a tortious act, namely, intentional infliction of emotional distress' (PDF of the indictment). The BBC has [2]background on the case, the NYTimes covers the [3]opening statements, and Wired has [4]today's testimony." Discuss this story at: http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/21/1539219 Links: 0. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/16/0443232&tid=123 1. http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/files/my_space_lori_drew_indictment.pdf 2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7738982.stm 3. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/us/20myspace.html?ref=technology 4. http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/11/lori-drew-pla-2.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | A Web App For Real-Time Collaborative Writing | | from the write-on dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday November 21, @12:05 (Networking) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/21/1626208 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]adamengst writes in with good news for anyone who needs to collaborate remotely on a writing or editing project â coding too. It's especially good news for those using Windows and Linux. Mac users have had SubEthaEdit for a few years now. With [1]EtherPad, two or more people can edit a document and see all the edits simultaneously. EtherPad's main differences from SubEthaEdit: it's a Web application that de facto supports many platforms without the need for a central Mac OS X host; and it's free. Here is a [2]comparison of EtherPad and SubEthaEdit. Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/21/1626208 Links: 0. http://www.tidbits.com/adam/ 1. http://etherpad.com/ 2. http://db.tidbits.com/article/9869 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | RICO Class Action Against RIAA In Missouri | | from the take-'em-down-dano dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday November 21, @12:49 (The Courts) | | http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/21/1644213 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "In [1]Atlantic Recording v. Raleigh, an RIAA case pending in St. Louis, Missouri, the defendant has [2]asserted detailed counterclaims against the RIAA for federal RICO violations, fraud, violation of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, prima facie tort, trespass, and conspiracy. The claims focus on the RIAA's 'driftnet' tactic of suing innocent people, and of demanding extortionate settlements. The RICO 'predicate acts' alleged in the [3]42-page pleading (PDF) are extortion, mail fraud, and wire fraud. The proposed class includes all people residing in the US 'who were falsely accused ... of downloading copyrighted sound recordings owned by the counterclaim Defendants and making them available for distribution or mass distribution over a P2P network and who incurred costs and damages including legal fees in defense of such false claims' or 'whose computers used in interstate commerce and/or communication were accessed ... without permission or authority.' This is the second class action of which we are aware against the RIAA and the Big 4 recording companies, the first being [4]the Oregon class action brought by Tanya Andersen, which is presently in the discovery phase." Discuss this story at: http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/21/1644213 Links: 0. http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/ 1. http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/2007/01/index-of-litigation-documents.html#Atlantic_v_Raleigh 2. http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/2008/11/new-rico-class-action-claims-asserted.html 3. http://beckermanlegal.com/pdf/?file=/Lawyer_Copyright_Internet_Law/atlantic_raleigh_081120AmendedAnswerCounterclaims.pdf 4. http://www.p2pnet.net/story/15833 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | How To Help Our Public Schools With Technology? | | from the freedom-programmers dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday November 21, @13:32 (Education) | | http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/21/178219 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]armorer writes "I'm a programmer engaged to an inner-city public school teacher. I've been thinking for a long time now about what I can do to help close the technology gap, and I finally did something (very small) about it. I convinced my company to give me a few old computers they were replacing, refurbished them, installed Edubuntu on them, and donated them to her classroom. I also took some vacation time to go in, install everything, and give a lesson on computers to the kids. It was a great experience, but now I know first-hand how little technology these schools have. I only helped one classroom. The school needs more. (Really the whole district needs more!) And while I want to help them, I don't really know how. With Thanksgiving a week away and more holidays approaching, I suspect I'm not the only one thinking about this sort of thing. I know it's a hard problem, so I'm not looking for any silver bullets. What do Slashdot readers do? What should I be doing so that I'm more effective? How do you find resources and time to give back?" Discuss this story at: http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/21/178219 Links: 0. mailto:chainmail@gmail.com +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Final Judgment — SCO Loses, Owes $3,506,526 | | from the seems-charitable-to-sco dept. | | posted by timothy on Friday November 21, @14:15 (The Courts) | | http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/21/1849215 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Xenographic writes "SCO has finally lost to Novell, now that Judge Kimball has entered [1]final judgment against SCO. Of course, this is SCO we're talking about. There's still the litigation in bankruptcy court, which allowed this case to resume so that they could figure out just how much SCO owes, which is $3,506,526, if I calculated the interest properly, $625,486.90 of which will go into a constructive trust. And then there's the possibility that SCO could seek to have the judgment overturned in the appeals courts, or even the Supreme Court when that fails. Of course, they need money to do that and they don't really have much of that any more. Remember how Enderle, O'Gara and company told us that SCO was sure to win? I wonder how many people have emailed them to say, 'I told you so.'" Discuss this story at: http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/21/1849215 Links: 0. http://www.cyberarmy.net/ 1. http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20081120195227418 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | US Officials Flunk Test On Civic Knowledge | | from the you-are-what-you-elect dept. | | posted by samzenpus on Friday November 21, @15:06 (Politics) | | http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/21/1458214 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ A test on civic knowledge given to elected officials proved that [0]they are slightly less knowledgeable than the uninformed people who voted them into office. Elected officials scored a 44 percent while ordinary citizens managed an amazing 49 percent on the 33 questions compiled by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute. "It is disturbing enough that the general public failed ISI's civic literacy test, but when you consider the even more dismal scores of elected officials, you have to be concerned," said Josiah Bunting, chairman of the National Civic Literacy Board at ISI. The three branches of government aren't the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria? Discuss this story at: http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/21/1458214 Links: 0. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20081120/tod-us-officials-flunk-test-of-amerian-h-f62056d.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Worm Attack Prompts DoD To Ban Use of External Media | | from the sehr-klug dept. | | posted by timothy on Friday November 21, @15:12 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/21/201240 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "[0]The Pentagon has suffered from a cyber attack so alarming that it has taken the unprecedented step of [1]banning the use of external hardware devices, such as flash drives and DVDs [...] The attack came in the form of a global [2]virus or worm that is spreading rapidly throughout a number of military networks." Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/21/201240 Links: 0. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/11/20/pentagon-cyber-siege-unprecedented-attack/ 1. http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/11/army-bans-usb-d.html 2. http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/11/military-usb-ba.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Setting Up a Home Dev/Testing Environment? | | from the just-live-at-work dept. | | posted by timothy on Friday November 21, @15:31 (Databases) | | http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/21/2014250 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "I'm a Project Manager (hold the remarks) who recently decided that I want/need to get my dev skills more up-to-date, as more projects are looking for their PM's to be hands-on with the development. Looking around my house, I have quite the collection of older (read: real old â it's been a while) PCs â it's pretty much a PC graveyard. Nothing that would really help me set up a nice dev infrastructure for developing web/database apps. So, my question is as follows: Should I buy a number of cheaper PC's, or should I buy one monster machine and leverage (pick your favorite) virtual machine technology?" Discuss this story at: http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/21/2014250 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Microsoft Blames Add-Ons For Browser Woes | | from the sounds-semi-reasonable dept. | | posted by timothy on Friday November 21, @15:58 (Internet Explore| | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/21/2036222 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ darthcamaro writes "Running IE and been hacked? Don't blame Microsoft â at least that's what their security types are [0]now arguing. 'One of the things we've seen in the last two years is that attackers aren't even going after the browser itself anymore,' Eric Lawrence, Security Program Manager on Microsoft's Internet Explorer team, said. 'The browser is becoming a harder target and there are many more browsers. So attackers are targeting add-ons.' This kinda makes sense since whether you're running IE, Firefox, Safari or Chrome you could still be at risk if there is a vulnerability in Flash, PDF, QuickTime or another popular add-on. Or does it?" Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/21/2036222 Links: 0. http://blog.internetnews.com/skerner/2008/11/microsoft-dont-blame-us-blame.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | DARPA's IBM-Led Neural Network Project Seeks To Imitate Brain | | from the cats-are-smarter-than-people dept. | | posted by timothy on Friday November 21, @16:49 (Supercomputing) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/21/2137244 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "According to an article in the BBC, IBM will lead an [0]ambitious DARPA-funded project in 'cognitive computing.' According to Dharmendra Modha, the lead scientist on the project, '[t]he key idea of cognitive computing is to engineer mind-like intelligent machines by reverse engineering the structure, dynamics, function and behaviour of the brain.' The article continues, 'IBM will join five US universities in an ambitious effort to integrate what is known from real biological systems with the results of supercomputer simulations of neurons. The team will then aim to produce for the first time an electronic system that behaves as the simulations do. The longer-term goal is to create a system with the level of complexity of a cat's brain.'" Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/21/2137244 Links: 0. http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/mpapps/pagetools/print/news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7740484.stm?ad=1 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | After Columbine, Eric Holder Advocated Internet "Restrictions" | | from the but-that-was-then-and-this-is-now dept. | | posted by timothy on Friday November 21, @17:34 (Censorship) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/21/2224235 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ ErikTheRed writes "In an [0]audio clip [1]discovered by NewsBusters, then-Deputy Attorney General Eric Holder advocated federal censorship of the Internet. This was in the aftermath of the Columbine High School shootings. From the clip: 'The court has really struck down every government effort to try to regulate it. We tried with regard to pornography. It is gonna be a difficult thing, but it seems to me that if we can come up with reasonable restrictions, reasonable regulations in how people interact on the Internet, that is something that the Supreme Court and the courts ought to favorably look at.'" Holder is reported to be Barack Obama's [2]choice for Attorney General of the United States. Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/21/2224235 Links: 0. http://www.eyeblast.tv/public/video.aspx?v=e4qGQukUVr 1. http://newsbusters.org/blogs/kerry-picket/2008/11/21/new-ag-appointee-advocated-stifle-speech-web 2. http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2008/11/19/holder-obama%E2%80%99s-seasoned-pick-for-attorney-general/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Chinese Hacking of American Military Networks On the Rise | | from the secure-the-international-tubes dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Friday November 21, @18:23 (Government) | | http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/21/2319241 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Anti-Globalism writes with this excerpt from the Guardian: "China is stealing sensitive information from American computer networks and [1]stepping up its online espionage, according to a US congressional panel. Beijing's investment in rocket technology is also accelerating the militarization of outer space and lifting it into the 'commanding heights' of modern warfare, the advisory group claims. ... A summary of the study, released in advance, alleges that networks and databases used by the US government and American defense contractors are regularly targeted by Chinese hackers. 'China is stealing vast amounts of sensitive information from US computer networks,' says Larry Wortzel, chairman of the commission set up by Congress in 2000 to investigate US-China issues." The full study addresses these issues and others [2]relating to the US-China relationship (PDF). Discuss this story at: http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/21/2319241 Links: 0. http://www.corrupt.org/ 1. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/20/america-china-hacking-security-obama 2. http://www.uscc.gov/annual_report/2008/annual_report_full_08.pdf Copyright 1997-2008 SourceForge, Inc.. All rights reserved. ====================================================================== RE: Slashdot.com - Annette - 12-18-2008 Slashdot Daily Newsletter In this issue: * The Best Burglar Alarm In History * RIAA May Be Violating a Court Order In California * 64-Bit Java For Linux * Injectable Artificial Bone Developed * Torture in Games * In Japan, a Billboard That Watches You * God of War 3 Gameplay Unveiled * Adventure Game Interfaces and Puzzle Theory * Barack Obama Is One Step Closer To Being President * Experts Say To Switch Browsers In Light of IE Vulnerability * Intel Quad-Core Price and Performance Showdown * Realtek's Wireless Driver Drives Thoughts of an Apple Netbook * O'Reilly Interview Digs Into the Tech of Storm Chasing * Nepomuk Brings Semantic Web To the Desktop, Instead * Microsoft Knew About Xbox 360 Damaging Discs * Canadian Nuke Bunker To Be Converted Into Data Fortress * MySpace Verdict a Danger To Depressed Kids * 100 Years Ago, No Free Broadband Pneumatic Tubes * Court Nixes National Security Letter Gag Provision * Convergent Evolution Upends Honeyeaters' Taxonomy * Computer Models and the Global Economic Crash * SoHo NAS With Good Network Throughput? * CAN-SPAM Act Turns 5 Today — What Went Wrong? +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | The Best Burglar Alarm In History | | from the suck-it-Edison dept. | | posted by samzenpus on Monday December 15, @19:07 (Science) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/15/1734224 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Sportsqs writes "When Nikola Tesla [0]got creative with transformers and driver circuits at the turn of the 20th century he probably had no idea that others would have so much fun with his concepts over a hundred years later. One such guy is an Australian named Peter who runs a website called TeslaDownUnder, which showcases all his wacky Tesla ways, or rather [1]electrickery, as Peter calls it." Very cool stuff, I wish I would have had something like this to protect my comic books from my little brother when I was a kid. Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/12/15/1734224 Links: 0. http://www.magheap.com/article/45903/The-Best-Burglar-Alarm-in-History.aspx 1. http://tesladownunder.com/tesla_coil_sparks.htm#Pool +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | RIAA May Be Violating a Court Order In California | | from the play-nice-now dept. | | posted by kdawson on Monday December 15, @19:48 (The Courts) | | http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/16/0015248 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "In one of its 'ex parte' cases seeking the names and addresses of 'John Does,' this one targeting students at the University of Southern California, the RIAA obtained an order granting discovery â but with a wrinkle. [1]The judge's order (PDF) specified that the information obtained could not be used for any purpose [2]other than obtaining injunctions against the students. Apparently the RIAA lawyers have ignored, or failed to understand, that limitation, as an LA lawyer has reported that the RIAA is busy [3]calling up the USC students and their families and demanding monetary settlements." Discuss this story at: http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/12/16/0015248 Links: 0. http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/ 1. http://beckermanlegal.com/pdf/?file=/Lawyer_Copyright_Internet_Law/motown_doe_081006OrderGrantDiscoveryInjunctiveOnly.pdf 2. http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/2008_12_01_archive.html#2945347892160815508 3. http://laist.com/2008/12/15/record_companies_threaten_to_sue_us.php +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | 64-Bit Java For Linux | | from the tipping-point dept. | | posted by kdawson on Monday December 15, @21:48 (Java) | | http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/16/0037200 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ LWATCDR writes "First we got [0]64-bit Flash; then the beginnings of [1]64-bit Wine; now Sun is providing a [2]64-bit Java plugin. For most people there is nothing to hold you back from running 64-bit Linux." Discuss this story at: http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/12/16/0037200 Links: 0. http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/17/168212&tid=215 1. http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/14/2217258&tid=125 2. http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=NjkyOQ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Injectable Artificial Bone Developed | | from the no-op dept. | | posted by kdawson on Monday December 15, @23:50 (Medicine) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/16/0150212 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes in with the news that British scientists have invented artificial [0]"injectable bone" that flows like toothpaste and hardens in the body. This new regenerative medicine technology provides a scaffold for the formation of blood vessels and bone tissue, then biodegrades. The injectable bone can also deliver stem cells directly to the site of bone repair, the researchers say. "Not only does the technique reduce the need for dangerous surgery, it also avoids damaging neighboring areas, said [the inventor]. The technology's superiority over existing alternatives is the novel hardening process and strength of the bond... Older products heat up as they harden, killing surrounding cells, whereas 'injectable bone' hardens at body temperature â without generating heat â making a very porous, biodegradable structure." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/12/16/0150212 Links: 0. http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/2422/injectable-liquid-bone-developed +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Torture in Games | | from the ok-torture's-bad-but-killing's-fine-right dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Tuesday December 16, @01:32 (Games) | | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/16/0610204 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Recent comments from Richard Bartle, one of the developers for the first Multi-User Dungeon (MUD), stirred up discussion about [0]whether virtual torture is acceptable as part of modern games. Bartle was referring to a quest in the latest World of Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, in which players are instructed to extract information from an NPC. He [1]drew criticism for his view from a variety of sources, but Wired is now running a piece provocatively titled, "[2]Why We Need More Torture in Games." The author makes the case that the failure of most media to properly portray how horrible torture actually is (for example, on the TV show 24), and the increased focus on real-world topics like Guantanamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and waterboarding, could make games the perfect venue for demonstrating the "devastating repercussions" of torture. Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/12/16/0610204 Links: 0. http://www.youhaventlived.com/qblog/2008/QBlog191108A.html 1. http://www.youhaventlived.com/qblog/2008/QBlog261108A.html 2. http://www.wired.com/gaming/virtualworlds/commentary/games/2008/12/gamesfrontiers_1215 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | In Japan, a Billboard That Watches You | | from the don't-look-now dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday December 16, @02:34 (Privacy) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/16/0220209 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "At a Tokyo railway station above a flat-panel display hawking DVDs and books sits a small camera hooked up to some image processing software. When trials begin in January the camera will [0]scan travelers to see how many of them are taking note of the panel, in part of a technology test being run by NTT Communications. It doesn't seek to identify individuals, but it will attempt to figure out how many of the people standing in front of an advertisement are actually looking at it. A second camera, which wasn't fitted at the station but will be when tests begin next month, will take care of estimating how many people are in front of the ad, whether they are looking at it or not." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/12/16/0220209 Links: 0. http://www.goodgearguide.com.au/article/270798/japanese_billboards_watching_back?fp=&fpid=&pf=1 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | God of War 3 Gameplay Unveiled | | from the there-can-be-only-5-or-so dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Tuesday December 16, @03:41 (Games) | | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/16/075231 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Over the weekend, Sony used Spike's Video Game Awards to release new information and [0]a trailer for God of War 3, the [1]final installment of the God of War series that is planned for sometime in 2009. The press release [2]described a new game engine which brings "significant strides in giving players the realistic feel of actually being on the battlegrounds. With texture resolutions being quadrupled since God of War 2, God of War 3 will feature fluid, life-like characters, as well as dynamic lighting effects, a robust weapon system, and world-changing scenarios that will truly bring unmistakable realism to Kratos' fateful quest. Players will have a chance to join battles on a grand scale with [3]many more enemies on-screen and be able to interact with levels like never before." Gamecyte notes that the news [4]contradicts early rumors that the game might be an MMO. Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/12/16/075231 Links: 0. http://kotaku.com/5109840/spike-vgas-god-of-war-iii-trailer 1. http://www.psu.com/God-of-War-III-the-epic-conclusion-to-the-franchise-News--a0005765-p0.php 2. http://kotaku.com/5109985/god-of-war-3-will-have-four-times-the-texture-resolution 3. http://multiplayerblog.mtv.com/2008/12/15/we-count-31-guys-attacking-kratos-in-new-god-of-war-iii-trailer/ 4. http://www.gamecyte.com/god-of-war-iii-may-be-huge-but-its-no-mmo +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Adventure Game Interfaces and Puzzle Theory | | from the use-square-peg-on-round-hole dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Tuesday December 16, @05:19 (Classic Games| | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/16/0252236 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]MarkN writes "It seems like whenever broad topics of game design are discussed on Slashdot, a few people bring up examples of Adventure Games, possibly owing to the age and interests of our members. I'd be interested to hear the community's thoughts on a piece I wrote on Adventure Games, talking about the evolution they underwent in terms of interfaces, and [1]how the choice of interface affects some aspects of the puzzles and design. My basic premise is that an Adventure Game is an exercise in abstract puzzle solving â you could represent the same game with a parser or a point and click interface and still have the same underlying puzzle structure, and required player actions. What the interface does affect is how the player specifies those actions. Point and click games typically have a bare handful of verbs compared to parser games, where the player is forced to describe the desired interaction much more precisely in a way that doesn't lend itself to brute force fiddling. It's a point [2]Yahtzee has made in the past; he went so far as to design a [3]modern graphic adventure game with a parser input to demonstrate its potential." Read on for the rest of MarkN's comments. This story continues at: http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/16/0252236 Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/12/16/0252236 Links: 0. mailto:caveatlusor@gmail.com 1. http://www.strangehorizons.com/2008/20080804/newheiser-a.shtml 2. http://www.adventuregamers.com/article/id,522 3. http://www.fullyramblomatic.com/notes/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Barack Obama Is One Step Closer To Being President | | from the donkey-faithful-one-hundred-percent dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday December 16, @08:04 (United States) | | http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/16/0350219 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ At 3:00 Eastern time on Monday Dec. 15, 538 electors in state capitols across the US [0]cast the votes that actually elected Barack Obama the 44th President. Obama received, unofficially, 365 electoral votes (with 270 needed to win). The exact total will not be official â or Obama officially elected â until Congress certifies the count of electoral votes in a joint session on Jan. 6, 2009. The Electoral College was established in its present form in 1804 by the Twelfth Amendment to the US Constitution. Electors are not required to vote for the candidate who won their state â in fact, [1]24 states make it a criminal offense to vote otherwise, but no "faithless elector" has ever been charged with a crime. "On 158 occasions, electors have cast their votes for President or Vice President in a manner different from that prescribed by the legislature of the state they represented. Of those, 71 votes were changed because the original candidate died before the elector was able to cast a vote. Two votes were not cast at all when electors chose to abstain from casting their electoral vote for any candidate. The remaining 85 were changed by the elector's personal interest, or perhaps by accident. Usually, the faithless electors act alone. An exception was in 1836 when 23 Virginia electors changed their vote together. ... To date, faithless electors have never changed the otherwise expected outcome of the election." Discuss this story at: http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/12/16/0350219 Links: 0. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i5uzTpibgiqcSURUWPVvUQRzYSIQD953FPDO0 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faithless_elector +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Experts Say To Switch Browsers In Light of IE Vulnerability | | from the here's-my-number-if-the-place-burns-down dept. | | posted by timothy on Tuesday December 16, @08:52 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/16/1319217 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ It appears that the [0]exploit in IE briefly mentioned a few days ago is causing a serious reaction: [1]SteveAU writes "Microsoft has begun flooding media outlets with information [2]advising users to switch to an alternate browser while a serious security flaw is being patched. The flaw, which affects all versions of Microsoft Internet Explorer, is manifested via malware and [3]has infected over 6,000 sites thus far. Microsoft states: 'The vulnerability exists as an [4]invalid pointer reference in the data-binding function of Internet Explorer. When data binding is enabled (which is the default state), it is possible under certain conditions for an object to be released without updating the array length, leaving the potential to access the deleted object's memory space. This can cause Internet Explorer to exit unexpectedly, in a state that is exploitable.'" According to the BBC report, though, Microsoft itself is only asking that users be "vigilant while it investigated and prepared an emergency patch"; it's outside experts who say to dump IE (at least for now). Update: 12/16 21:11 GMT by [5]KD : Microsoft will issue an [6]emergency critical update for IE tomorrow. Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/12/16/1319217 Links: 0. http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/10/206216&tid=172 1. mailto:ohkie@hotmail.com 2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7784908.stm 3. http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Hackers-Compromise-Legit-Web-Sites-to-Target-Microsoft-IE-Flaw/ 4. http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9123338 5. http://slashdot.org/~kdawson/ 6. http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/ms08-dec.mspx +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Intel Quad-Core Price and Performance Showdown | | from the horses-for-courses dept. | | posted by timothy on Tuesday December 16, @09:11 (Intel) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/16/1349257 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]ThinSkin writes "The folks over at ExtremeTech have had enough time on their hands to [1]benchmark Intel's entire quad-core lineup to determine which has the best performance for the dollar. While prices range from $183 to $1399, the real bargain is with Intel's latest Core i7 architecture which outpaced many other more expensive processors. For comparison's sake, Intel's fastest dual-core CPU was thrown into the mix and was, at times, not even competitive, which suggests that we're beginning to see more and more multi-threaded applications take advantage of four cores." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/12/16/1349257 Links: 0. http://www.extremetech.com/ 1. http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2336852,00.asp +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Realtek's Wireless Driver Drives Thoughts of an Apple Netbook | | from the can't-get-there-from-here-in-cupertino dept. | | posted by timothy on Tuesday December 16, @09:47 (Portables (Appl| | http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/16/141209 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Slatterz writes "With Macworld 2009 mere weeks away, one rumour that seemingly won't die is the idea of a Mac OS X Netbook PC. Asking a company to provide OS X drivers for their netbooks has, up until now, been met with silence, and probably a little quaking on the vendor side as they wait for the heavy footsteps of Apple's army of lawyers. It seems, however, that Realtek, who provide the WiFi chip found in the MSI Wind U100, are [0]dipping their toes into the legally iffy world of the Hackintosh. Forum users at MSIWind.Net asked politely for drivers, and after a lot of patience, [1]Beta drivers were provided." Discuss this story at: http://mobile.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/12/16/141209 Links: 0. http://www.pcauthority.com.au/News/131177,macworld-2009-rumour-mill-windkintosh.aspx 1. http://forums.msiwind.net/mac/great-news-regarding-rtl8187se-wifi-module-t3986-160.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | O'Reilly Interview Digs Into the Tech of Storm Chasing | | from the started-with-just-a-bicycle-and-some-crayons dept. | | posted by timothy on Tuesday December 16, @10:34 (Earth) | | http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/16/156231 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]blackbearnh writes "If you've watched the Discovery Channel series 'Storm Chasers,' you'll be familiar with Dr. Joshua Wurman and his Doppler on Wheels radar, which he uses to study tornadoes up close and personal every spring. O'Reilly Media spent some time last week speaking to Dr. Wurman about what it takes, technologically, [1]to operate a weather radar in 100-mile-per-hour winds in the middle of a lightning storm. They also talked about the value of this kind of research to both tornado and hurricane research, and how having a film crew around during missions affects the science." Discuss this story at: http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/12/16/156231 Links: 0. http://www.oreilly.com/ 1. http://broadcast.oreilly.com/2008/12/engineering-tornado-intercepts.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Nepomuk Brings Semantic Web To the Desktop, Instead | | from the semantic-researchers-play-better-tag dept. | | posted by timothy on Tuesday December 16, @11:20 (GUI) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/16/1546219 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "Technology Review has a story looking at [0]Nepomuk â the semantic tool that is [1]bundled with the latest version of KDE. It seems that some Semantic Web researchers [2]believe the tool will prove a breakthrough for semantic technology. By encouraging people to add semantic meta-data to the information stored on their machines they hope it could succeed where other semantic tools have failed." Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/12/16/1546219 Links: 0. http://nepomuk.semanticdesktop.org/xwiki/bin/view/Main1/ 1. http://nepomuk.kde.org/ 2. http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/21840/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Microsoft Knew About Xbox 360 Damaging Discs | | from the dribbling-it-like-a-ball-may-also-cause-problems dept. | | posted by timothy on Tuesday December 16, @12:09 (The Courts) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/16/1644242 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Kelly writes "An [1]unsealed document in a Washington lawsuit filed last week at Seattle, Microsoft was well aware that the [2]Xbox 360 was prone to damaging game discs even before the console was introduced in November 2005. Microsoft had three solutions for solving the issue, but all three solutions were rejected due to technical concerns or on the basis of cost. Microsoft settled on a cost-free fourth solution: a warning was added to Xbox 360 manual, which essentially placed the blame on users instead of the hardware." The scratching-disks problem was [3]mentioned a few years back, too. I wonder whether more people would prefer a slight discount on the price of a console to the ability to reorient it while a disk was playing inside. Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/12/16/1644242 Links: 0. http://stupidstuff.org/ 1. http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/library/motion_xbox.pdf 2. http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/156941.asp 3. http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/01/02/1038202&tid=211 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Canadian Nuke Bunker To Be Converted Into Data Fortress | | from the canada-has-nukes? dept. | | posted by timothy on Tuesday December 16, @13:02 (Data Storage) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/16/1743250 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]miller60 writes "A hosting firm has purchased a nuke-resistant bunker in Novia Scotia, and [1]plans to convert it into a data fortress for financial firms. Bastionhost hopes to attract European financial firms wary of housing sensitive data in the US due to the USA Patriot Act. The facility is one of a series of [2]'Diefenbunkers' built during the tenure of Prime Minister John Diefenbaker to keep the Canadian government running in the event of a nuclear attack. While not all of these underground data bunker projects work out, a similar nuke-proof bunker in Stockholm, Sweden was recently converted into a [3]stylish high-tech data lair for an ISP." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/12/16/1743250 Links: 0. http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/ 1. http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2008/12/16/bastionhost-buys-nova-scotia-data-bunker/ 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diefenbunker 3. http://royal.pingdom.com/2008/11/14/the-worlds-most-super-designed-data-center-fit-for-a-james-bond-villain/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | MySpace Verdict a Danger To Depressed Kids | | from the don't-need-no-more-reasons dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday December 16, @13:50 (The Courts) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/16/1818247 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Slashdot regular Bennett Haselton summarizes his essay this way: "Debate over the Lori Drew verdict has focused overwhelmingly on whether the ruling was technically correct, but there is another serious issue: the perverse incentives that this ruling creates for victims of online harassment." Read on for his essay. This story continues at: http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/16/1818247 Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/12/16/1818247 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | 100 Years Ago, No Free Broadband Pneumatic Tubes | | from the when-brooklyn-was-a-considerable-city dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday December 16, @14:38 (The Internet) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/16/1920201 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]TheSync writes "The Division of Labour blog spotlights a report written 100 years ago by a commission appointed by the Postmaster General, that came to the conclusion: 'That it is [1]not feasible and desirable at the present time for the Government to purchase, to install, or to operate pneumatic tubes.' Here is a scan of the [2]original NYTimes article. If only we had gotten the free government Intertubes in 1908!" Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/12/16/1920201 Links: 0. http://www.t11s.com/ 1. http://divisionoflabour.com/archives/005405.php 2. http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?_r=1&res=980CE5DC113EE233A25755C1A9649D946997D6CF +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Court Nixes National Security Letter Gag Provision | | from the speak-we-will dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday December 16, @15:28 (Censorship) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/16/1944252 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ 2phar sends news that on Monday a federal appeals court [0]ruled unconstitutional the gag provision of the Patriot Act's National Security Letters. Until the ruling, recipients of NSLs were legally forbidden from speaking out. "The appeals court invalidated parts of the statute that wrongly placed the burden on NSL recipients to initiate judicial review of gag orders, holding that the government has the burden to go to court and justify silencing NSL recipients. The appeals court also invalidated parts of the statute that narrowly limited judicial review of the gag orders â provisions that required the courts to treat the government's claims about the need for secrecy as conclusive and required the courts to defer entirely to the executive branch." Update: 12/16 22:26 GMT by [1]KD : Julian Sanchez, Washington Editor for Ars Technica, sent this cautionary note: "Both the item on yesterday's National Security Letter ruling and the RawStory article to which it links are somewhat misleading. It remains the case that ISPs served with an NSL are forbidden from speaking out; the difference is that under the ruling it will be somewhat easier for the ISPs to challenge that gag order, and the government will have to do a little bit more to persuade a court to maintain the gag when it is challenged. But despite what the ACLU's press releases imply, this is really not a 'victory' for them, or at least only a very minor one. Relative to the decision the government was appealing, it would make at least as much sense to call it a victory for the government. The lower court had struck down the NSL provisions of the PATRIOT Act entirely. This ruling left both the NSL statute and the gag order in place, but made oversight slightly stricter. If you look back at the hearings from this summer, you'll see that most of the new ruling involves the court making all the minor adjustments that the government had urged them to make, and which the ACLU had urged them to reject as inadequate." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/12/16/1944252 Links: 0. http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Court_sides_with_ACLU_strikes_down_1216.html 1. http://slashdot.org/~kdawson/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Convergent Evolution Upends Honeyeaters' Taxonomy | | from the whole-new-family dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday December 16, @16:17 (Biotech) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/16/2011239 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]grrlscientist writes in with a beautiful piece of science, beautifully explicated. The poignant bit is that the birds in question are all extinct. "Every once in awhile, I will read a scientific paper that astonishes and delights me so much that I can hardly wait to tell you all about it. Such is the situation with a newly published paper about the Hawai'ian Honeyeaters. In short, due to the remarkable power of convergent evolution, [1]Hawai'ian Honeyeaters have thoroughly deceived taxonomists and ornithologists as to their true origin and identity for more than 200 years." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/12/16/2011239 Links: 0. http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/ 1. http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2008/12/when_is_a_honeyeater_not_a_hon.php +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Computer Models and the Global Economic Crash | | from the not-able-rightly-to-comprehend dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday December 16, @17:03 (The Almighty Bu| | http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/16/2048235 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Anti-Globalism passes along a review in Ars of some recent speculation on the [1]role of interconnected computer models in the global economic crash. "If Ritholtz, Taleb, Mandelbrot, and the rest of the computer modeling and financial engineering naysayers are correct about the big picture, then we really are arguably in the midst a bona fide computer crash. Not an individual computer crash, of course, but a computer crash in the sense of Sun Microsystems' erstwhile marketing slogan, 'the network is the computer.' That is, we have all of these machines in different sectors of the economy, and we've networked all of them together either directly (via an actual network) or indirectly (by using the collective 'output' of machines in one sector as input for the machines in another sector), and like any other computer system the whole thing hums along nicely... up until the point when it doesn't." Discuss this story at: http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/12/16/2048235 Links: 0. http://www.corrupt.org/ 1. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20081215-axioms-downturns-and-a-global-computer-crash.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | SoHo NAS With Good Network Throughput? | | from the small-office-home-office dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday December 16, @17:55 (Networking) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/16/2250232 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "I work at a small business where we need to move around large datasets regularly (move onto test machine, test, move onto NAS for storage, move back to test machine, lather-rinse-repeat). The network is mostly OS X and Linux with one Windows machine (for compatibility testing). The size of our datasets is typically in the multiple GB, so network speed is as important as storage size. I'm looking for a preferably off-the shelf solution that can handle a significant portion of a GigE; maxing out at 6MB is useless. I've been looking at SoHo NAS's that support RAID such as [0]Drobo, [1]NetGear (formerly Infrant), and BuffaloTech (who unfortunately doesn't even list whether they support OS X). They all claim they come with a GigE interface, but what sort of network throughput can they really sustain? Most of the numbers I can find on the websites only talk about drive throughput, not network, so I'm hoping some of you with real-world experience can shed some light here." Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/12/16/2250232 Links: 0. http://www.drobo.com/ 1. http://www.readynas.com/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | CAN-SPAM Act Turns 5 Today — What Went Wrong? | | from the calling-mister-hormel dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday December 16, @18:52 (Spam) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/12/16/2349242 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ alphadogg writes "Five years ago, the US tech industry, politicians, and Internet users were wringing their hands over the escalating problem of spam. This prompted Congress to pass a landmark anti-spam bill known as the CAN-SPAM Act in December 2003. Fast forward five years. The number of spam messages sent over the Internet every day has grown more than 10-fold, topping 164 billion worldwide in August 2008. Almost 97% of all e-mails are spam, costing US ISPs and corporations an estimated $42 billion a year. [0]What went wrong here?" Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/12/16/2349242 Links: 0. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/100608-can-spam.html RE: Slashdot.com - Annette - 03-22-2009 In this issue: * Windows Home Directory Encryption? * Australia's Vast, Scattershot Censorship Blacklist Revealed * Mass Effect 2 Announced For Early 2010 * Building Your Own Solar Panel In the Garage * Tribes 1 Returns In-Browser At GDC Next Week * Breach Exposes 19,000 Active US, UK Credit Cards * TomTom Sues Microsoft For Patent Infringement * If We Have Free Will, Then So Do Electrons * Kentucky Officials "Changed Votes At Voting Machines" * 17 Million People Stopped Buying CDs In 2008 * Phenom IIs, Core I7-920 Win Out In Value Analysis * Red Hat Claims Patent On SOAP Over CGI * Texas Legislature Considers Open Document Formats * From an Unrelated Career To IT/Programming? * Apple and AT&T Sued, Again, Over 3G * Tai Chi Scooter Promises Fun and Falls * Taxpayers Fund AIG Lawsuit Against US * Robot Fish To Hunt Down Pollution * A Look at Excessive Portable Storage * Fermilab Discovers Untheorized Particle * Piracy Case Could Change Canadian Web Landscape * Internet Could Act As Ecological Early Warning System * Obama Administration Promises "Thorough Review" of USTR Policies * Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch Provokes Bomb Scare * FSF Files Amicus Brief In RIAA Case * Oracle's Take On Red Hat Linux +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Windows Home Directory Encryption? | | from the we-see-you-anonymous-reader dept. | | posted by timothy on Thursday March 19, @22:48 (Data Storage) | | http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/20/0159230 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "Home directory encryption has been available on Linux for a while now, and it is definitely a smart, useful feature as it is not usually necessary to encrypt the entire drive, just the private documents and software profiles in the home directory. Windows is getting better about keeping everything that needs to be private in the user's home folder. Is there a similar solution for Windows to securely, and preferably transparently, encrypt the home directory only? (Preferably open source so that the code is available for peer review)." Discuss this story at: http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/03/20/0159230 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Australia's Vast, Scattershot Censorship Blacklist Revealed | | from the please-don't-click-here dept. | | posted by timothy on Thursday March 19, @22:59 (Censorship) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/19/2321259 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]mask.of.sanity writes "Australia's [1]secretive Internet filter blacklist held by its communications watchdog has been leaked, revealing the government has understated the amount of banned Web pages by more than 1000. Multiple [2]legitimate businesses and Web sites have been banned including two bus companies, online poker sites, multiple Wikipedia entries, Google and Yahoo group pages, a dental surgery and a tour operator. Andrew Twaits, CEO of [3]Betfair, a billion-dollar business blocked by the blacklist, was [4]furious the government has potentially annexed tens of millions of dollars in revenue after the Betfair.com gambling site was blacklisted. The blacklists were reportedly leaked by a Web filter operator to wikileaks which has [5]published the full list of banned URLs. Outraged privacy advocates say the government has effectively lied about the amount of URLs included in the blacklists, totaling more than 2300, and the type of content which it would ban. [6]The leak follows a series of attacks on the watchdog in which irate users successfully lobbied for web sites to be banned, only to be threatened with an $11,000 fine for publishing the link contained in the PR response. It was also revealed the [7]watchdog can ban Web sites at a whim, with no accountability." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/03/19/2321259 Links: 0. mailto:imNOTgettingFINEDforTHIS@fuckCONROY.gov 1. http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/296161/australia_web_blacklist_leaked?fp=16&fpid=1 2. http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/296165/betfair_banned_by_acma 3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Betfair 4. http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/296165/betfair_banned_by_acma?fp=16&fpid=1 5. http://www.wikileaks.com/wiki/Australian_government_secret_ACMA_internet_censorship_blacklist,_6_Aug_2008#March_19_2009 6. http://www.techworld.com.au/blog/broadbandvoice/2009/03/acmas_blacklist_a_bigots_battleground 7. http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/295977/australia_internet_filter_ruled_by_single_bureaucrat?fp=39&fpid=27794 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Mass Effect 2 Announced For Early 2010 | | from the allegedly-no-holds-barred dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Friday March 20, @00:12 (Games) | | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/20/0322255 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Bioware has confirmed rumors that [0]development for the sequel to Mass Effect is well under way, and they're planning on a release in early 2010. They mentioned PC and Xbox 360 versions of the game, but [1]no information was given about a possible PS3 version. CVG has a write-up of what [2]we know about Mass Effect 2 so far. Quoting: "In the shooting department the developer's official announcement promises 'intensified combat' and 'expanded weapon options.' We're hoping some of the work goes on improving the game's shooting mechanics, which were solid enough but could certainly do with some polishing to meet 2010 standards â especially in the cover system department. As for 'expanded weapon options,' we can only assume this refers to the in-depth gun tweaking and customisation options available in Mass Effect 1." Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/03/20/0322255 Links: 0. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/mass-effect-2-officially-announced 1. http://www.videogamer.com//news/ea_no_info_on_ps3_mass_effect_2_at_this_time_2.html 2. http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=211099 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Building Your Own Solar Panel In the Garage | | from the prices-have-edge-cases-too dept. | | posted by timothy on Friday March 20, @02:07 (Power) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/20/0220227 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]jeroen8 writes "A Dutch guy was able to [1]build his own solar panel in his garage using materials that were a third as expensive as the mass produced solar panels currently available on the European market. He bought his solar cells on eBay and used them to create his own panel. His output price is only 1.20 Euro per Watt Peak (Wp). This makes you wonder if we are paying too much for mass-produced solar panels, which should, in theory, be a lot less expensive than something you create in your garage." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/03/20/0220227 Links: 0. http://www.olino.org/us/ 1. http://www.olino.org/us/articles/2009/03/19/building-my-own-solar-panel +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Tribes 1 Returns In-Browser At GDC Next Week | | from the a-fad-has-begun dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Friday March 20, @03:34 (First Person Shoo| | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/20/0330220 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "GarageGames purchased the IP rights to the entire Starsiege Tribes universe, and next week at GDC they'll be showing off their updated version of [0] Tribes 1 running in a browser, using all the original artwork. Afterwards, it will be available to play standalone or via the [1]Instant Action website. While you wait, you can play Fallen Empire Legions in your browser, which is based on the Tribes 2 engine. Their blog entry about the [2] Tribes 1 preview at GDC has further details." Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/03/20/0330220 Links: 0. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=22828 1. http://www.instantaction.com/ 2. http://blog.instantaction.com/2009/03/live-from-gdc.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Breach Exposes 19,000 Active US, UK Credit Cards | | from the need-two-part-authentication dept. | | posted by timothy on Friday March 20, @05:12 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/20/0845232 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ pnorth writes "A defunct payment gateway has [0]exposed as many as 19,000 credit card numbers of US and UK consumers in a major worldwide breach. The data, held in Google cache, includes credit card numbers, CVVs, expiry dates, names and addresses. The credit card numbers are for accounts held with Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Solo, Switch, Delta and Maestro/Cirrus. Within the address bars of the cached pages are URLs of e-commerce sites that have become victims of the breach. They include clothing, science, health, sports and photo imaging stores. The cause appears to be a [1]known issue with the Google search engine, in which the pages of defunct web sites containing sensitive directories remain cached and available to anyone." Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/03/20/0845232 Links: 0. http://www.itnews.com.au/News/99250,aussie-stumbles-on-19000-exposed-credit-card-numbers.aspx 1. http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/24/136207&tid=172 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | TomTom Sues Microsoft For Patent Infringement | | from the gentlemen-do-not-consult-each-other's-patents dept. | | posted by timothy on Friday March 20, @08:08 (Patents) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/20/0215215 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]CWmike writes "GPS device maker [1]TomTom has shot back at Microsoft with a claim of patent infringement, after the software giant [2]raised concerns in the Linux community with a recent lawsuit against TomTom. In a suit filed earlier this week, TomTom alleges that Microsoft infringes on four patents in mapping software Microsoft Streets and Trips. TomTom is asking for triple damages for willful infringement, since it says it had notified Microsoft about its alleged infringement. Microsoft said it was reviewing TomTom's filing and that it remains committed to a licensing solution and has been for more than a year." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/03/20/0215215 Links: 0. http://www.computerworld.com/ 1. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9130099 2. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9128730 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | If We Have Free Will, Then So Do Electrons | | from the hard-to-pin-down dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday March 20, @08:48 (Math) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/20/1229233 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ snahgle writes "Mathematicians John Conway (inventor of the Game of Life) and Simon Kochen of Princeton University have proven that if human experimenters demonstrate 'free will' in choosing what measurements to take on a particle, then the axioms of quantum mechanics require that [0]the free will property be available to the particles measured, or to the universe as a whole. Conway is giving [1]a series of lectures on the 'Free Will Theorem' and its ramifications over the next month at Princeton. A followup [2]article strengthening the theory (PDF) was published last month in Notices of the AMS." Update: 03/19 14:20 GMT by [3]KD : jamie points out that we [4]discussed this theorem last year, before the paper had been published. Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/03/20/1229233 Links: 0. http://arxiv.org/abs/quant-ph/0604079 1. http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S23/69/84A24/index.xml?section=announcements 2. http://www.ams.org/notices/200902/rtx090200226p.pdf 3. http://slashdot.org/~kdawson/ 4. http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/16/189248&tid=228 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Kentucky Officials "Changed Votes At Voting Machines" | | from the smoking-gun dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday March 20, @09:29 (The Courts) | | http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/20/1322210 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ The indispensible jamie found a report out of Kentucky of exactly the kind of shenanigans that voting-transparency advocates have been warning about: a circuit court judge, a county clerk, and election officials are among eight people [0]indicted for gaming elections in 2002, 2004, and 2006. As described in [1]the indictment (PDF), the election officials divvied up money intended to buy votes and then changed votes on the county's (popular, unverifiable) ES&S touch-screen voting systems, affecting the outcome of elections at the local, state, and federal levels. Discuss this story at: http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/03/20/1322210 Links: 0. http://www.bradblog.com/?p=7001 1. http://media.kentucky.com/smedia/2009/03/19/17/clayindict.source.prod_affiliate.79.pdf +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | 17 Million People Stopped Buying CDs In 2008 | | from the off-a-cliff dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday March 20, @10:09 (Music) | | http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/20/1342220 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Houston 2600 sends along an Ars Technica writeup on the continuing downward trend in the traditional music business: NPD's annual survey found that [1]17 million CD customers dropped out last year. Among the good news is that streaming services such as Pandora are growing fast. "While overall music sales were up 10 percent in 2008, the year saw a drop not only in CD sales, but also in the number of customers actually purchasing music. But according to a new report, the act of listening to music is actually on the rise. ... NPD's annual Digital Music Study found that there were 17 million fewer CD customers in 2008 than in past years. CD sales have been dropping for quite some time, and while 1.5 billion songs were sold digitally last year, the number of Internet users paying for digital music only increased by 8 million in 2008." Discuss this story at: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/03/20/1342220 Links: 0. http://www.hou2600.org/ 1. http://arstechnica.com/media/news/2009/03/report-yep-cd-sales-keep-falling-but-new-trends-may-help.ars +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Phenom IIs, Core I7-920 Win Out In Value Analysis | | from the computes-per-buck dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday March 20, @10:49 (AMD) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/20/1410244 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "We've all seen processor benchmarks, but how do today's enthusiast CPUs look when you account for performance per dollar? Using a smorgasbord of charts, scatter plots, and performance tests, The Tech Report attempted to single out the [0]highest-value offerings out of 16 popular Intel and AMD processors. The results might surprise you: AMD's 45nm Phenom IIs (both triple- and quad-core) prove to be strikingly competitive with Intel's Core 2 Quads. And, on the high end, Intel's $266 Core i7-920 turns out to be a compelling step up despite the higher costs of Core i7 platforms in general." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/03/20/1410244 Links: 0. http://techreport.com/articles.x/16570 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Red Hat Claims Patent On SOAP Over CGI | | from the wash-your-mouth-out dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday March 20, @11:29 (Patents) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/20/1420223 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]WMGarrison writes "[1]US Patent 7453593 claims command-line processing by a web server of SOAP requests, resulting in XML responses, from and to a remote client. The HTTP Common Gateway Interface (CGI) operates precisely as described in Claim 1. If you POST a SOAP document and return an XHTML response or a SOAP document, this infringes Claim 2, since both XHTML and SOAP are XML languages. This patent thus claims to own the processing of SOAP documents by CGI programs." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/03/20/1420223 Links: 0. http://www.digitalmajority.org/ 1. http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7453593.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Texas Legislature Considers Open Document Formats | | from the rising-tide dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday March 20, @12:07 (Software) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/20/1457243 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader notes that a legislator in Texas has introduced a bill to [0]require open document formats in all state government business. The bill is carefully worded such that only ODF could pass its test as "open." The story is covered by the Fort Worth Star Telegram, which is [1]careful to be even-handed, giving Microsoft's spokesman equal time. A ZDNet blogger notes that the bill, introduced by a Democrat in a state whose politics is dominated by Republicans, faces chances that "...fall [2]somewhere east of slim and west of none." Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/03/20/1457243 Links: 0. http://www.legis.state.tx.us/tlodocs/81R/billtext/html/HB00481I.htm 1. http://www.star-telegram.com/metro_news/story/1266591.html 2. http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=3745 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | From an Unrelated Career To IT/Programming? | | from the long-jump dept. | | posted by kdawson on Friday March 20, @12:47 (Programming) | | http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/20/1518248 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "I hate my career of the past few years. For a long time I've wondered what I'd do after I broke even and could get into something new, and I keep coming back to computers. I'd like to get into software, since I always enjoyed coding. I have some background with C++ so I'm not starting entirely from scratch. My problem is my degrees and past employment have no practical application to the field. Where should I start? I have friends in both IT and software development who might be able to pull some strings and get me an interview or two for entry-level positions, but what can I do to make myself hireable in a short period of time? Is it possible to pick up enough of what I'd need within a couple months? If so, what and how?" Discuss this story at: http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/03/20/1518248 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Apple and AT&T Sued, Again, Over 3G | | from the overly-litigious dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday March 20, @13:32 (The Courts) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/20/1555220 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Macworld is reporting that Apple and AT&T are being sued, again, for the [0]lack of delivery on their 3G network. This follows a long line of other lawsuits in San Jose, San Diego, Alabama, Florida, Texas, and New York "The lawsuit charges the companies with Negligence, Breach of Express Warranty, Breach of Implied Warranty of Merchantability, Unjust Enrichment, Negligent Misrepresentation, Violation of the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act and Other Similar State Statutes, and Breach of Contract. Dickerson is seeking to force Apple and AT&T to correct its labeling and advertising, as well as to recover compensatory, statutory and punitive damages." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/03/20/1555220 Links: 0. http://www.macworld.com/article/139520/2009/03/3glawsuit.html?lsrc=rss_main +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Tai Chi Scooter Promises Fun and Falls | | from the thinning-the-herd dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday March 20, @14:02 (Transportatio| | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/20/1719228 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ In a bold move for natural selection, a mechanical engineer at Purdue University has created a [0]new take on the Segway. Removing pesky confusing handlebars, the new "Tai Chi Scooter" has an optical encoder that monitors the angular displacement of the electric motor, requiring you to manipulate your center of balance to drive the scooter. Unfortunately you will not be able to purchase this and begin breaking your own limbs anytime soon as the creator says he has no plans to market the scooter. Someone buy the rights to this and mass produce it quickly so we can thin the herd. Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/03/20/1719228 Links: 0. http://blog.wired.com/cars/2009/03/students-build.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Taxpayers Fund AIG Lawsuit Against US | | from the should-have-let-them-die-when-we-had-the-chance dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday March 20, @14:24 (The Courts) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/20/1621248 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ AIG, now infamous for their executive bonuses, has decided that the $200 billion they received from the government is not nearly enough and is [0]suing the government for the return of $306 million in tax payments. "AIG is effectively suing its majority owner, the government, which has an 80 percent stake and has poured nearly $200 billion into the insurer in a bid to avert its collapse and avoid troubling the global financial markets. The company is in effect asking for even more money, in the form of tax refunds. The suit also suggests that AIG. is spending taxpayer money to pursue its case, something it is legally entitled to do. Its initial claim was denied by the Internal Revenue Service last year." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/03/20/1621248 Links: 0. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/20/business/20aig.html?_r=1 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Robot Fish To Hunt Down Pollution | | from the uncanny-trench dept. | | posted by samzenpus on Friday March 20, @15:02 (Robotics) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/20/1419251 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "According to the Financial Times, scientists are building [0]a shoal of robot fish to be let loose in the port [of Gijon, Spain] to check on the quality of the water. The fish are equipped with tiny chemical sensors capable of detecting pollutants in the water. These let them home in on the sources of hazardous pollutants, such as leaks from vessels or undersea pipelines. Modeled on carp and costing about £20,000 ($29,000) each to make, the fish are to be lifelike in appearance and swimming behavior so they will not alarm their fellow marine inhabitants." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/03/20/1419251 Links: 0. http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/4166d8d4-14b6-11de-8cd1-0000779fd2ac.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | A Look at Excessive Portable Storage | | from the makes-my-keys-really-hard-to-carry-around dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday March 20, @15:15 (Data Storage)| | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/20/1718245 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Tom's Hardware has an interesting look at [0]portable storage devices that fall a little outside of the normal bell curve. The reviewed items include Buffalo's all-flash portable storage drive, Chaintech's flash SSD w/ an additional USB port, and LaCie's state-of-the-art RAID drive based on two 2.5" drives. LaCie's drive seemed to come out on top for usability and performance with the main downside being the $600 pricetag and lack of adequate backup software, but all had interesting advantages. Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/03/20/1718245 Links: 0. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-external-hdd,2131.html#xtor=RSS-182 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Fermilab Discovers Untheorized Particle | | from the surprise-particles dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday March 20, @16:02 (Science) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/20/1753247 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]alevy writes to mention that scientists at Fermilab have [1]detected a new, completely untheorized particle. Seems like Fermi has been a hotbed of activity lately with the discovery of a new single top quark and [2]narrowing the gap twice on the Higgs Boson particle. "The Y(4140) particle is the newest member of a family of particles of similar unusual characteristics observed in the last several years by experimenters at Fermilab's Tevatron as well as at KEK and the SLAC lab, which operates at Stanford through a partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy. 'We congratulate CDF on the first evidence for a new unexpected Y state that decays to J/psi and phi,' said Japanese physicist Masanori Yamauchi, a KEK spokesperson. 'This state may be related to the Y(3940) state discovered by Belle and might be another example of an exotic hadron containing charm quarks. We will try to confirm this state in our own Belle data.'" Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/03/20/1753247 Links: 0. mailto:alex.levy1@gmail.com 1. http://www.universetoday.com/2009/03/18/new-particle-throws-monkeywrench-in-particle-physics/ 2. http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/13/156216&tid=14 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Piracy Case Could Change Canadian Web Landscape | | from the embrace-file-sharing-already dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday March 20, @16:49 (The Courts) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/20/1814203 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]meatheadmike writes to tell us that a recent Canadian court case brought against the Canadian Recording Industry Association by isoHunt Web Technologies, Inc, could [1]drastically change the web landscape in Canada. "The question before the British Columbia Supreme Court is if a site such as isoHunt allows people to find a pirated copy of movies such as Watchmen or The Dark Knight, is it breaching Canadian copyright law? 'It's a huge can of worms," said David Fewer, acting director of the Canadian Internet Policy and Public Interest Clinic at the University of Ottawa. 'I am surprised that this litigation has gone under the radar as much as it has. I do think this is the most important copyright litigation going on right now.'" Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/03/20/1814203 Links: 0. http://mikeskov.com/ 1. http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Piracy+case+could+change+Canadian+landscape/1407312/story.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Internet Could Act As Ecological Early Warning System | | from the keep-your-crowd-source-off-of-mine dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday March 20, @17:30 (The Internet)| | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/20/2049228 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Wired is reporting that ecologists think the internet could act as an [0]early ecological warning system based on data mining human interactions. While much of this work has been based on systems like Google Flu Trends, the system will remain largely theoretical for the near future. "The six billion people on Earth are changing the biosphere so quickly that traditional ecological methods can't keep up. Humans, though, are acute observers of their environments and bodies, so scientists are combing through the text and numbers on the Internet in hopes of extracting otherwise unavailable or expensive information. It's more crowd mining than crowd sourcing." Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/03/20/2049228 Links: 0. http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/03/ecodatamining.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Obama Administration Promises "Thorough Review" of USTR Policies | | from the transparency-just-another-buzzword-so-far dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday March 20, @18:18 (Government) | | http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/20/2055211 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ After all of the uproar surrounding some of the Obama administration's recent decisions, trade officials have promised a [0]thorough review of the USTR policies regarding transparency. In an effort to ensure that the review includes all possible angles, the USTR is urging groups to make other proposals as well. "KEI is very impressed with the USTR decision to undertake a review of USTR transparency efforts. They are taking this much further than simply reviewing policies on the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), or recent controversies over the secrecy surrounding the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) negotiations. The review offers the possibility of more transformative changes, including pro-active measures to enhance transparency, covering all aspects of USTR operations, including multilateral, plurilateral, regional, bilateral and unilateral trade policies and negotiations. We are also grateful that USTR is offering to have a continuing dialogue on this issues. KEI will offer additional suggestions on transparency to USTR, and we encourage others to do so also." Discuss this story at: http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/03/20/2055211 Links: 0. http://www.keionline.org/blogs/2009/03/20/ustr2review-transparency/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch Provokes Bomb Scare | | from the how-does-it-um-how-does-it-work dept. | | posted by samzenpus on Friday March 20, @18:38 (It's funny. Laug| | http://entertainment.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/20/142234 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Bomb disposal teams were called in and a nearby pub evacuated after water company engineers mistook [0]a Monty Python film prop for a hand grenade. After nearly an hour of examination by bomb experts, they counted to three. No more. No less. Three was the number they counted, and the number they counted was three. Four they did not count, nor two, except to proceed to three. Five was right out. Once the number three had been reached, being the third number, they declared that the grenade was actually a copy of the "Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch" used in the film Monty Python And The Holy Grail. A police spokeswoman confirmed that the device was a toy and that it had been no danger to the public. Discuss this story at: http://entertainment.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/03/20/142234 Links: 0. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5018294/Pub-evacuated-after-Monty-Python-prop-mistaken-for-grenade.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | FSF Files Amicus Brief In RIAA Case | | from the can't-believe-the-riaa-still-thinks-this-is-a-wise-cours| | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday March 20, @19:04 (The Courts) | | http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/20/2129208 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "The Free Software Foundation has [1]requested permission to file an amicus curiae brief in an RIAA case, [2]SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, defending the defendant's Due Process defense to the RIAA's claim for statutory damages. In [3]the brief [PDF], FSF cites some of the leading authorities for the defense, including the 2003 decision of the US Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit in Parker v. Time Warner, which held that excessive statutory damages are subject to the same due process test applicable to punitive damage awards by juries. Additionally, the brief cites three district court decisions, including [4]UMG v. Lindor, and two law review articles â all of which deal specifically with Copyright Act statutory damages applicable to infringement of an MP3 file â to like effect." Discuss this story at: http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/03/20/2129208 Links: 0. http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/ 1. http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/2009_03_01_archive.html#482796224750289579 2. http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/2007/01/index-of-litigation-documents.html#SONY_v_Tenenbaum 3. http://beckermanlegal.com/pdf/?file=/Lawyer_Copyright_Internet_Law/sony_tenenbaum_090320FSFAmicusBrief.pdf 4. http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/2006/11/judge-grants-marie-lindors-motion-to_09.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Oracle's Take On Red Hat Linux | | from the more-of-a-flavor-than-a-distro dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Friday March 20, @19:56 (Oracle) | | http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/20/2243203 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ darthcamaro writes "For nearly three years, Oracle has had its own version of Red Hat Enterprise Linux, claiming the two versions are essentially the same thing. But are they really? As it turns out, there are [0]a few things on which Oracle and Red Hat do not see eye-to-eye, including file systems and virtualization. The article quotes Wim Coekaerts, Oracle's director of Linux engineering, saying, 'A lot of people think Oracle is [1]doing Enterprise Linux as just basically a rip off of Red Hat but that's not what this is about. ... This is about a support program, and wanting to offer quality Linux OS support to customers that need it. The Linux distribution part is there just to make sure people can get a freely available Linux operating system that is fully supported.'" Discuss this story at: http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/03/20/2243203 Links: 0. http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/3811456/Is+Oracle+Forking+Red+Hat+Linux.htm 1. http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/27/1120216&tid=249 RE: Slashdot.com - Annette - 04-30-2009 Slashdot Daily Newsletter In this issue: * USB-Based NIC Torrents While Your PC Sleeps * Konami Cuts and Runs From Iraq War Game * Twitter Considered Harmful To Swine-Flu Panic * Europe Funds Secure Operating System Research * Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 Confirmed For the PS3, 360 * Developing World Is a Profit Sink For Web Companies * The Frontier of the MMO Genre * Why Digital Medical Records Are No Panacea * Second Swedish ISP Starts Scrubbing IP Addresses * A No-Touching 3D Computer Interface * EFF Sues Apple Over BluWiki Legal Threats * Competition Seeks Best Approaches To Detecting Plagiarism * Crowd-Source Translation Software For Free Content? * Google To Remove "Inappropriate" Books From Digital Library * Cablevision To Offer 101 Mbps Down, No Caps * Town Fights Cricket Plague With Led Zeppelin * Oracle Buy Renews Call To Spin Off OpenOffice.org * Phorm "Edited and Approved" UK Government Advice * Senator Arlen Specter Becomes a Democrat * A $99 Graphics Card Might Be All You Need * Tokyo Scientists Create Mobile Slime * Should the US Go Offensive In Cyberwarfare? * Apple May Bring a Non-iPhone To Verizon Wireless * OIN Posts Details of Microsoft's Anti-Tom Tom Patents * Miro Asks Users To "Adopt" Lines of Source +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | USB-Based NIC Torrents While Your PC Sleeps | | from the talking-in-your-sleep dept. | | posted by kdawson on Monday April 27, @21:47 (Networking) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/27/2310234 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]jangel sends us to WindowsForDevices.com for news on a prototype device created by researchers from Microsoft and UC San Diego. It's a [1]USB-based NIC that includes its own ARM processor and flash storage, and can download files or torrent while a host PC is sleeping. As a result, its inventors say, the "Somniloquy" device slashes power usage by up to 50x. The device requires a few tweaks on the host OS side save state before sleeping. The prototype works with a Vista host but the hardware comprising the NIC is based on a Linux stack. Here is the [2]research paper (PDF). Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/04/27/2310234 Links: 0. http://www.windowsfordevices.com/ 1. http://www.windowsfordevices.com/news/NS7625324099.html 2. http://mesl.ucsd.edu/yuvraj/research/documents/Somniloquy-NSDI09-Yuvraj-Agarwal.pdf +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Konami Cuts and Runs From Iraq War Game | | from the surge-of-protest-is-working dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Monday April 27, @23:45 (The Military) | | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/27/2317203 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Less than a month after [0]the announcement of Six Days in Fallujah , a video game based upon a real-life battle between US Marines and Iraqi insurgents in 2004, Konami has decided that it is too controversial, and [1]abandoned plans to publish the game. The developer, Atomic Games, has not commented on Konami's decision other than to say an announcement will be made soon. Konami told a Japanese newspaper, "After seeing the reaction to the video game in the United States and hearing opinions sent through phone calls and e-mail, we decided several days ago not to sell it." While the game did receive a great deal of criticism, [2]others were optimistic, including several outspoken veterans of the Iraq war. One of the major complaints was that in researching the battle, Atomic Games reportedly [3]interviewed several insurgents. This prompted speculation that the insurgents were compensated for their help, though Atomic later [4]denied that was the case. Konami's decision also may have been influenced by the fact that they seemed to represent it as entertainment, whereas Atomic's president, Peter Tamte, was more [5]hesitant to describe it as "fun." He said, "The words I would use to describe the game â first of all, it's compelling. And another word I use â insight." Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/04/27/2317203 Links: 0. http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/07/0455231&tid=265 1. http://www.gamespot.com/news/6208618.html 2. http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/12/0552207&tid=265 3. http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/04/14/insurgents-contributing-quotsix-days-fallujahquot-says-developer 4. http://kotaku.com/5229698/the-fate-of-six-days-in-fallujah 5. http://www.joystiq.com/2009/04/13/joystiq-interview-six-days-in-fallujah/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Twitter Considered Harmful To Swine-Flu Panic | | from the you-have-the-flu-swine dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday April 28, @02:36 (Social Networks) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/28/000200 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]judgecorp writes "Twitter is being criticized for [1]spreading panic about swine flu. This is not just knee-jerk Luddism 2.0: it's argued that Twitter's structure encourages ill-informed repetition, with little room for context, while older Web media use their power for good â for instance Google's [2]Flu Trends page (which we [3]discussed last winter), and the introduction of a Google [4]swine flu map." On a related note, reader [5]NewtonsLaw suggests that it might be a good idea, epidemiologically speaking, to [6]catch the flu now vs. later. Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/04/28/000200 Links: 0. http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/ 1. http://neteffect.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/04/25/swine_flu_twitters_power_to_misinform 2. http://www.google.org/flutrends/ 3. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/11/232225&tid=158 4. http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&t=p&msa=0&msid=106484775090296685271.0004681a37b713f6b5950&ll=32.639375,-110.390625&spn=15.738151,25.488281&z=5 5. mailto:dontspam@yahoo.com 6. http://aardvark.co.nz/daily/2009/0428.shtml +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Europe Funds Secure Operating System Research | | from the software-heal-thyself dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday April 28, @05:28 (Operating Systems)| | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/27/2324216 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]narramissic writes "A Dutch university has received a $3.3 million grant from the European Research Council to fund 5 more years of work on a Unix-type operating system, called [1]Minix, that aims to be more reliable and secure than either Linux or Windows. The latest grant will enable the three researchers and two programmers on the project to further their research into a making Minix [2]capable of fixing itself when a bug is detected, said Andrew S. Tanenbaum, a computer science professor at Vrije Universiteit. 'It irritates me to no end when software doesn't work,' Tanenbaum said. 'Having to reboot your computer is just a pain. The question is, can you make a system that actually works very well?'" Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/04/27/2324216 Links: 0. http://www.itworld.com/ 1. http://www.minix3.org/ 2. http://www.itworld.com/operating-systems/67026/europe-funds-secure-operating-system-research +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 Confirmed For the PS3, 360 | | from the hey-why-not dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Tuesday April 28, @07:34 (PlayStation (Gam| | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/28/0931243 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]RyuuzakiTetsuya writes "According to Kotaku, [1] Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is making its way to the PS3 and the Xbox 360. It's based on the Dreamcast code, and it includes Online play and widescreen support. A demo will be available Thursday on the Playstation Network, and the full game will retail for $15 on each of the respective online services. A [2]gameplay trailer is available as well." Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/04/28/0931243 Links: 0. http://.taiki..at..cox.net./ 1. http://kotaku.com/5230220/marvel-vs-capcom-2-confirmed-with-hd-online-support-demo-coming 2. http://kotaku.com/5230275/marvel-vs-capcom-2-in-play +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Developing World Is a Profit Sink For Web Companies | | from the international-paradox dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday April 28, @08:17 (The Internet) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/28/0014237 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ The NYTimes is running a piece on the dilemma faced by Web entrepreneurs, particularly in social media companies: the [0]developing world is spiking traffic but not contributing much to revenues. The basic disconnect when Web 2.0 business models meet Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East is that countries there are not good prospects for the advertisers who pay the bills. "Call it the International Paradox. Web companies that rely on advertising are enjoying some of their most vibrant growth in developing countries. But those are also the same places where it can be the most expensive to operate, since Web companies often need more servers to make content available to parts of the world with limited bandwidth. And in those countries, online display advertising is least likely to translate into results. ... Last year, Veoh, a video-sharing site operated from San Diego, decided to block its service from users in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, citing the dim prospects of making money and the high cost of delivering video there. 'I believe in free, open communications,' Dmitry Shapiro, the company's chief executive, said. 'But these people are so hungry for this content. They sit and they watch and watch and watch. The problem is they are eating up bandwidth, and it's very difficult to derive revenue from it.' ... Perhaps no company is more in the grip of the international paradox than YouTube, which [an analyst] recently estimated could lose $470 million in 2009, in part because of the high cost of delivering billions of videos each month." Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/04/28/0014237 Links: 0. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/technology/start-ups/27global.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | The Frontier of the MMO Genre | | from the they-don't-even-have-regular-socks dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Tuesday April 28, @08:35 (Games) | | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/28/0948213 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Eurogamer is running a feature about what they call "frontier" MMOs, games that are on the fringe of a market flooded with attempts to replicate the success of Everquest and World of Warcraft. Many publishers already have more MMO projects than they know what to do with, and often [0]leave the more unusual and unique games out in the cold, preferring to stick with familiar IP or a tried-and-true approach. "Like any gold-rush, the MMO market also attracts a different kind of adventurer: the fearless, inexperienced, determined and solitary dreamer, making a go of it on nothing but their own resources and pluck. The online distribution and direct revenue streams â be they subscriptions or micro-transactions â make it theoretically possible to make a mint in MMOs without any help from the gaming establishment at all." They take a brief look at several such games currently in development, including Earthrise, Gatheryn, and Global Agenda. Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/04/28/0948213 Links: 0. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/mmos-wild-frontier-article +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Why Digital Medical Records Are No Panacea | | from the stop-shaking-the-bandwagon-you dept. | | posted by timothy on Tuesday April 28, @09:06 (Medicine) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/28/1229225 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]theodp writes "As GE, Google, Intel, IBM, Microsoft and others pile into the business of computerized medical files in a stimulus-fueled frenzy, BusinessWeek reminds us that [1]electronic health records have a dubious history. Under the federal stimulus program, hospitals can get several million dollars apiece for tech purchases over the next five years, and individual doctors can receive up to $44,000. There's also a stick: The feds will cut Medicare reimbursement for hospitals and practices that don't go electronic by 2015. But does the high cost and questionable quality of products currently on the market explain why barely 1 in 50 hospitals have a comprehensive electronic records system, and why only 17% of physicians use any type of electronic records? Joe Bugajski's chilling [2]The Data Model That Nearly Killed Me suggests that may be the case." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/04/28/1229225 Links: 0. mailto:theodp@aol.com 1. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_18/b4129030606214.htm 2. http://www.syleum.com/2009/03/17/healthcare-data-model/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Second Swedish ISP Starts Scrubbing IP Addresses | | from the you-may-borrow-the-hashed-list-though dept. | | posted by timothy on Tuesday April 28, @09:29 (Privacy) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/28/1254249 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Marzubus writes "Tele2, a popular Swedish ISP, has [1]started to remove IP addresses from its logs. This is the second ISP in Sweden to adopt this new privacy protection strategy." We discussed not long ago when [2]another ISP, Bahnhof, started doing the same. Perhaps this is the corporate equivalent of [3]joining the Pirate Party. Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/04/28/1254249 Links: 0. mailto:marzubus@gmail.com 1. http://www.thelocal.se/19114/20090428/ 2. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/17/1549239&tid=123 3. http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/17/2041208&tid=219 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | A No-Touching 3D Computer Interface | | from the in-development dept. | | posted by timothy on Tuesday April 28, @09:45 (Input Devices) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/28/1245214 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Justin Schunick points out a [1]video demonstration of a 3D input system which senses the user's hand position, but without requiring the user to touch a controller or wear a trackable position indicator. From the provided description: "Utilizing the theory of electrostatics, we have designed a low-cost human-computer interface device that has the ability to track the position of a user's hand in three dimensions. Physical contact is not required and the user does not need to hold a controller or attach markers to their body. To control the device, the user simply waves their hand above it in the air." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/04/28/1245214 Links: 0. mailto:jschunick@gmail.com 1. +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | EFF Sues Apple Over BluWiki Legal Threats | | from the fight-fight-fight dept. | | posted by timothy on Tuesday April 28, @10:33 (The Courts) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/28/141259 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Hugh Pickens writes "The Electronic Frontier Foundation has [1]filed suit against Apple to defend the First Amendment rights of BluWiki, a noncommercial, public Internet 'wiki' site operated by OdioWorks. Last year, BluWiki users began a discussion about making some Apple iPods and iPhones interoperate with software other than Apple's iTunes. [2]Apple lawyers demanded removal of the content (pdf) sending a letter to OdioWorks, alleging that the discussions constituted copyright infringement and a violation of the DMCA's prohibition on circumventing copy protection measures. Fearing legal action by Apple, OdioWorks took down the discussions from the BluWiki site but has now [3]filed a lawsuit to vindicate its right to restore those discussions (pdf) and seeking a declaratory judgment that the discussions do not violate any of the DMCA's anti-circumvention provisions, and do not infringe any copyrights owned by Apple. 'I take the free speech rights of BluWiki users seriously,' said Sam Odio, owner of OdioWorks. 'Companies like Apple should not be able to censor online discussions by making baseless legal threats against services like BluWiki that host the discussions.'" [4]Random BedHead Ed adds ZDNet quotes EFF's [5]Fred von Lohmann, who says that this is an issue of censorship. 'Wikis and other community sites are home to many vibrant discussions among hobbyists and tinkerers. It's legal to engage in reverse engineering in order to create a competing product, it's legal to talk about reverse engineering, and it's legal for a public wiki to host those discussions.'" Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/04/28/141259 Links: 0. http://hughpickens.com/ 1. http://www.eff.org/cases/odioworks-v-apple 2. http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/odio_v_apple/Exhibit%20A.pdf 3. http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/odio_v_apple/Final%20Complaint.pdf 4. http://www.edholden.com/ 5. http://government.zdnet.com/?p=4705 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Competition Seeks Best Approaches To Detecting Plagiarism | | from the upsetting-the-market-in-online-term-papers dept. | | posted by timothy on Tuesday April 28, @11:20 (Education) | | http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/28/1449221 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]marpot writes "Does your school/university check your homeworks/theses for plagiarism? Nowadays, probably Yes, but are they doing it properly? Little is known about plagiarism detection accuracy, which is why we conduct a [1]competition on plagiarism detection, sponsored by Yahoo! We have set up a corpus of artificial plagiarism which contains plagiarism with varying degrees of obfuscation, and translation plagiarism from Spanish or German source documents. A random plagiarist was employed who attempts to obfuscate his plagiarism with random sequences of text operations, e.g., shuffling, deleting, inserting, or replacing a word. Translated plagiarism is created using machine translation." Discuss this story at: http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/04/28/1449221 Links: 0. http://www.webis.de/ 1. http://www.webis.de/pan-09/competition.php +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Crowd-Source Translation Software For Free Content? | | from the just-transcode-to-esperanto dept. | | posted by timothy on Tuesday April 28, @12:07 (Social Networks) | | http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/28/154209 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]yahyamf writes "I have a lot of free educational content in the form of audio lectures and text, which I'd like to translate into as many languages as possible. I would also want to transcribe the audio and create audiobooks from the text. There are already several volunteers willing to contribute, but I need some web based software to manage all the work. [1]Facebook is already doing something like this, but it is only for their content. I've also looked at [2]Damned Lies, which is part of the Gnome project, but it doesn't seem to handle audio. Are there any other open source translation projects out there that I can customize and build upon?" Discuss this story at: http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/04/28/154209 Links: 0. mailto:mfyahya@gmail.com 1. http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=4329892722 2. http://l10n.gnome.org/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Google To Remove "Inappropriate" Books From Digital Library | | from the limited-resources dept. | | posted by timothy on Tuesday April 28, @12:49 (Books) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/28/1613214 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Miracle Jones writes "In [1]an interview with Professor (and former Microsoft employee) James Grimmelmann at the New York Law School, who is both setting up an online clearinghouse to discuss the Google book settlement and drafting an amicus brief to inform the court about the antitrust factors surrounding "orphan books," he revealed that Google will be able to moderate the content of its book scans in the same way that they moderate their YouTube videos, leaving out works that Google deems "inappropriate" from the 7 million library books it has scanned. The Fiction Circus has called for a two-year long rights auction that will ensure that these "inappropriate" titles do not get left behind in the digital era, and that other people who are willing to host and display these books will be able to do so. There is only one week left for authors and publishers to "opt out" of the settlement class and retain their rights or raise objections, and [1]Brewster Kahle's Internet Archive has been stopped from jumping on board Google's settlement as a party defendant and receiving the same legal protections that Google will get. A group of authors, including Philip K. Dick's estate, [2]has tried to delay the settlement for four more months until they get their minds around the issue." In related news, Google is [3]seeking a 60-day extension to the period in which it's attempting to contact authors to inform them of their right to opt-out of the terms of the settlement. Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/04/28/1613214 Links: 0. mailto:ticktickticktick@g%5B%5Dl.com%5B'mai'ingap%5D 1. http://www.fictioncircus.com/news.php?id=356&mode=one 2. http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6654551.html?desc=topstory 3. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10228345-93.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Cablevision To Offer 101 Mbps Down, No Caps | | from the like-a-drug dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday April 28, @13:38 (Networking) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/28/1628233 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]nandemoari alerts us to news over at DSLReports that Cablevision will be offering subscribers [1]101-Mbps download service, a new US record. That's fast enough to download an HD movie in less than 10 minutes. The package, known as "Ultra," will launch on May 11 and will cost $99.95 a month. Upload speed is 15 Mbps and there are no monthly limits. Cablevision is also doubling the speed of its Wi-Fi service, which is available free to subscribers using hotspots across the Northeast. "...the company will be launching a new 'Ultra' tier on May 11. The new tier features speeds of 101Mbps downstream and 15Mbps upstream for $99.95 a month. That's an unprecedented amount of speed at an unprecedented price, suggesting that Cablevision just took the gloves off in their fight against Verizon FiOS. ... Cablevision spokesman Jim Maiella confirmed for me that the $99.95 price is unbundled, and the new tier does not come with any kind of a usage cap or overage fees." Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/04/28/1628233 Links: 0. http://www.infopackets.com/ 1. http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/cablevision-101mbps-for-9995-102133?nocomment=1 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Town Fights Cricket Plague With Led Zeppelin | | from the certain-mariah-carey-notes-make-dolphins-abduct-and-eat-| | posted by samzenpus on Tuesday April 28, @14:11 (Music) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/28/1633208 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ The residents of Tuscarora, Nevada are getting ready to fight the annual invasion of mormon crickets with [0]the power of Rock-N-Roll. Trial and error has shown that the crickets don't think much of Led Zeppelin or the Rolling Stones. The residents circle the town with boomboxes at regular intervals to drive off the millions of crickets. "It is part of our arsenal. You'll wake up and there'll be one sitting on your forehead, looking at you." says Laura Moore, an unemployed college professor and one of the town's 13 residents. The crickets devastate crops, cause slicks on the highway and evidently love rap. Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/04/28/1633208 Links: 0. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124052112850249691.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Oracle Buy Renews Call To Spin Off OpenOffice.org | | from the now-to-tempt-all-liberty-procured dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday April 28, @14:28 (Software) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/28/1639201 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]ericatcw writes "Some OpenOffice.org insiders say Oracle's purchase of Sun is [1]reinvigorating the long-stymied push to spin off the open-source project into a 100% independent foundation. Freeing itself from Sun's (and soon to be Oracle's) orbit will attract more developers and more vendor support, [2]two perennial problems due to Sun's tight grip on the project, say supporters, who wonder which foundation model might work best: Mozilla, Apache or Linux. Others prefer to take their chances under Larry Ellison, saying Oracle's take-no-prisoners salesforce and grudge against Microsoft could benefit OpenOffice.org. [3]Version 3.0 of the Microsoft Office competitor has garnered 50 million downloads in the last six months." Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/04/28/1639201 Links: 0. mailto:eric_lai@computerworld.com 1. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9132204 2. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=printArticleBasic&articleId=9037499 3. http://blogs.computerworld.com/review_of_final_openoffice_3_why_buy_microsoft_office +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Phorm "Edited and Approved" UK Government Advice | | from the odd-bedfellow dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday April 28, @15:17 (Privacy) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/28/1759254 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Barence was one of several readers to send in word that the UK Home Office [1]checked whether its interpretation of the law suited Phorm, before issuing advice on the legality of the controversial advertising service. The Home Office and Phorm entered a dialogue about the company's services back in August 2007, at Phorm's request. In an email sent to Phorm in January 2008, a Home Office official writes: 'I should be grateful if you would review the attached document, and let me know what you think.' After Phorm made deletions and amendments to the document, the Home Office sent another email to the company stating: 'If we agree this, and this becomes our position do you think your clients and their prospective partners will be comforted.' From the BBC: "Baroness Sue Miller, Liberal Democrat spokeswoman on Home Affairs, told BBC News: 'My jaw dropped when I saw the Freedom of Information exchanges. ... Anything the Home Office now says about Phorm is completely tainted.'" Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/04/28/1759254 Links: 0. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/ 1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8021661.stm +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Senator Arlen Specter Becomes a Democrat | | from the crossing-the-aisle dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday April 28, @15:52 (Democrats) | | http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/28/1917216 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Akido37 was one of many readers letting us know that [0]US Sen. Arlen Specter has changed parties to become a Democrat. This gives the Democrats 59 seats in the Senate, and 60 if and when Al Franken gets seated from Minnesota. However, Specter said in his announcement that he [1]will not be an automatic 60th vote for breaking Republican filibusters. While the senator's move seems to have surprised many Republicans, [2]it is understandable to moderate Republican Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine, who said, "You haven't certainly heard warm encouraging words of how they [Republicans] view moderates. Either you are with us or against us." Specter noted that in his home state of Pennsylvania, 200,000 formerly Republican voters switched party allegiance last year. Discuss this story at: http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/04/28/1917216 Links: 0. http://voices.washingtonpost.com/thefix/senate/specter-to-switch-parties.html 1. http://www.politicspa.com/Specter%20Switches.htm 2. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0409/21798.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | A $99 Graphics Card Might Be All You Need | | from the market-beater dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday April 28, @16:03 (AMD) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/28/1823234 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Vigile writes "With the release of AMD's latest budget graphics card, [0]the Radeon HD 4770, the GPU giant is bringing a lot of technology to the table. The card sports the world's first 40nm GPU (beating out CPUs to a new process technology for the first time), GDDR5 memory, and 640 stream processors, all for under $100. What is even more interesting is that as PC gaming has evolved it appears that a $99 graphics card is all you really need to play the latest PC titles â as long as you are comfortable with a resolution of 1920x1200 or below. Since so few PC gamers have screens larger than that, could the world of high-end PC graphics simply go away?" Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/04/28/1823234 Links: 0. http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=700 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Tokyo Scientists Create Mobile Slime | | from the godzilla's-newest-foe dept. | | posted by samzenpus on Tuesday April 28, @16:42 (Science) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/28/1645238 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Sockatume writes "Shingo Maeda and colleagues at Waseda University have [0]created a polymer gel that walks under its own chemical power. The team exploited the oscillating Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction to create periodic changes in the size of the polymer, and built a tensed structure that would amplify those small movements into a horrifically potent gait. The current version only walks across a notched surface, but the team are working on a terrible new form that will cross smooth surfaces like a snail. The team say they intend to apply it in the self-assembly of small structures. Suddenly, I can't stop screaming." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/04/28/1645238 Links: 0. http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn16910-chemical-caterpillar-points-to-electronicsfree-robots.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Should the US Go Offensive In Cyberwarfare? | | from the mutually-assured-mayhem dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday April 28, @16:50 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/28/205203 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ The NYTimes has a piece analyzing the policy discussions in the US around the question of what should be [0]the proper stance towards offensive cyberwarfare. This is a question that the Bush administration wrestled with, before deciding that the outgoing president didn't have the political capital left to grapple with it. The article notes two instances in which President Bush approved the use of offensive cyberattacks; but these were exceptions, and the formation of a general policy was left to the Obama administration. "Senior Pentagon and military officials also express deep concern that the laws and understanding of armed conflict have not kept current with the challenges of offensive cyberwarfare. Over the decades, a number of limits on action have been accepted â if not always practiced. One is the prohibition against assassinating government leaders. Another is avoiding attacks aimed at civilians. Yet in the cyberworld, where the most vulnerable targets are civilian, there are no such rules or understandings. If a military base is attacked, would it be a proportional, legitimate response to bring down the attacker's power grid if that would also shut down its hospital systems, its air traffic control system, or its banking system?" Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/04/28/205203 Links: 0. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/us/28cyber.html?_r=1&ref=global-home&pagewanted=print +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Apple May Bring a Non-iPhone To Verizon Wireless | | from the media-pad dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday April 28, @17:40 (Handhelds) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/28/2029216 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]The Narrative Fallacy writes "According to BusinessWeek, [1]Verizon Wireless is in talks with Apple to distribute two new iPhone-like devices that are not iPhones. (Apple has created prototypes.) AT&T's contract with Apple, which has not been made public, is believed to cover all models of the iPhone, but only the iPhone. So if Apple builds something that isn't an iPhone â and perhaps doesn't even make cellular calls â they won't be violating their exclusivity contract with AT&T, which runs through at least 2010. One device is a smaller, less expensive calling device described by a person who has seen it as an 'iPhone lite.' The other is a media pad, said to be smaller than a Kindle but with a bigger screen, that would let users listen to music, view photos, watch high-definition videos, and [2]make calls over a Wi-Fi connection. (And read books?) Apple could use the prospect of an iPhone-esque device as leverage to prevent Verizon Wireless from introducing the Palm Pre, or at least to delay its introduction on Verizon's network. 'The media pad category might go to Verizon,' said one person who has seen the device. 'We are talking about a device where people will say, "Damn, why didn't we do this?" Apple is probably going to define the damn category.'" Reader stevegee58 writes with word that Verizon may be playing both ends against the middle. Marketwatch reports that [3]Microsoft and Verizon are in talks to develop a touch-screen mobile phone that would run on Windows Mobile. Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/04/28/2029216 Links: 0. http://narrativefallacy.com/ 1. http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2009/tc20090427_328264.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_news+%2B+analysis 2. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2346071,00.asp 3. http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Microsoft-Verizon-reportedly-making-smartphone/story.aspx?guid=%7B848ADF8A-444D-4A2F-BC73-78F9F4C9CB8B%7D +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | OIN Posts Details of Microsoft's Anti-Tom Tom Patents | | from the does-this-filesystem-make-me-look-fat dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday April 28, @18:30 (Patents) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/28/215254 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ number6x writes "LinuxDevices.com is reporting that the Open Invention Network has [0]posted the details of three of the eight patents used by Microsoft in the Tom Tom suit (which [1]Tom Tom settled last month), asking the community for prior art. These patents cover aspects of the FAT file system. You can find them on [2]Post-Issue.org â see numbers 5579517, 5758352, and 6256642. OIN CEO Keith Bergelt believes that these three patents are of tenuous validity and will probably not survive a review. Bergelt believes that there's a good chance that the USPTO may well invalidate them before the end of the year. Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/04/28/215254 Links: 0. http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS9914086320.html 1. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/30/1853219&tid=109 2. http://www.post-issue.org/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Miro Asks Users To "Adopt" Lines of Source | | from the pray-you-don't-get-refactored dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday April 28, @19:20 (Software) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/04/28/2158203 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ soDean writes "The FOSS video player / downloader Miro is asking its users to support development by [0]'adopting' a line of source code for $4 a month. Each adopted line of code comes personalized with a little avatar character that will grow older over the year. PCF, which makes Miro, says they think [1]the project is the first of its kind and they believe it's a chance to 'to have a truly bottom up funding base.'" Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/04/28/2158203 Links: 0. https://www.getmiro.com/adopt/ 1. http://www.getmiro.com/blog/2009/04/adopt-a-line-of-miro-code/ RE: Slashdot.com - Annette - 05-11-2009 Slashdot Daily Headline Mailer The Grid, Our Cars, and the Net from the one-idea-to-link-them-all dept. posted by kdawson on Saturday May 09, @20:32 (Power) http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/09/2035243 MPAA Says Teachers Should Camcord For Fair Use from the bend-over-backwards-and-insert-here dept. posted by kdawson on Saturday May 09, @22:53 (Education) http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/09/2020223 Trademarks Considered Harmful To Open Source from the say-pretty-please dept. posted by kdawson on Sunday May 10, @01:13 (Linux Business) http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/09/213258 PlayStation-Based Mobile Handset a Possibility from the since-the-psp-is-way-too-big dept. posted by Soulskill on Sunday May 10, @02:41 (Handhelds) http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/10/0449258 Time For Voice-Mail To Throw In the Towel from the surging-unemployment-among-voice-actors dept. posted by kdawson on Sunday May 10, @04:38 (Communications) http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/09/2049240 In France, Fired For Writing To MP Against 3 Strikes from the nous-sommes-desolees dept. posted by kdawson on Sunday May 10, @08:03 (Censorship) http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/09/229217 A Look Back At the World's First Netbook from the paperweight-before-its-time dept. posted by Soulskill on Sunday May 10, @09:19 (Portables) http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/10/1141248 New Pattern Found In Prime Numbers from the benford-and-sons dept. posted by Soulskill on Sunday May 10, @10:34 (Math) http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/10/1322207 DoJ Budget Request Details Advanced Surveillance, Biometrics from the you-can-trust-us dept. posted by Soulskill on Sunday May 10, @11:50 (Privacy) http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/10/1444259 Warrantless GPS Tracking Is Legal, Says WI Court from the it's-one-o'clock,-do-you-know-where-your-citizens-are dept. posted by Soulskill on Sunday May 10, @13:05 (Transportation) http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/10/1549252 Cone of Silence 2.0 from the would-you-believe-you-will-no-longer-be-able-to-hear-me dept. posted by kdawson on Sunday May 10, @14:22 (Privacy) http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/10/1755250 Open Source Textbooks For California from the byzantine-doesn't-begin-to-describe dept. posted by kdawson on Sunday May 10, @15:36 (Education) http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/10/1815215 RIAA Filed 62 New Cases In April Alone from the what-part-of-stop-do-you-not-understand dept. posted by kdawson on Sunday May 10, @16:51 (The Courts) http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/10/1932247 Mobile Wi-Fi Hot Spot from the boy-in-a-bubble dept. posted by kdawson on Sunday May 10, @18:09 (Wireless Networking) http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/10/2015227 RE: Slashdot.com - Annette - 05-16-2009 Slashdot Daily Headline Mailer Dean Kamen Awarded Patent For Robot Competition Rules from the what-about-battlebots dept. posted by samzenpus on Wednesday May 13, @20:16 (Patents) http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/13/2220203 Texas Makes Zombie Fire Ants from the what-could-go-wrong dept. posted by samzenpus on Wednesday May 13, @22:20 (Biotech) http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/13/2233257 An Australian Space Agency At Last? from the up-and-down-under dept. posted by samzenpus on Thursday May 14, @00:48 (Space) http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/13/2310254 Java Program Uses Neural Networks To Monitor Games from the automating-the-automation dept. posted by Soulskill on Thursday May 14, @02:13 (Java) http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/14/0447244 Gates Foundation Funds "Altruistic Vaccine" from the needles-with-a-heart dept. posted by samzenpus on Thursday May 14, @03:46 (Medicine) http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/14/0318207 Video Game Adaptation In the Works For A Song of Fire and Ice from the goons-everywhere-rejoice dept. posted by Soulskill on Thursday May 14, @05:52 (Books) http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/14/050259 Cory Doctorow Says DIY Licensing Will Solve Piracy from the well-that-was-easy dept. posted by samzenpus on Thursday May 14, @07:58 (The Internet) http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/14/0320234 Flash Drive Roundup from the how-can-they-be-smaller-and-bigger dept. posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday May 14, @08:44 (Data Storage) http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/14/1236234 The Hidden Secrets of Online Quizzes from the i-thought-it-just-cluttered-my-facebook dept. posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday May 14, @09:32 (Privacy) http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/14/1243206 Remote Kill Flags Surface In Kindle from the because-they-can dept. posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday May 14, @10:14 (Media) http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/14/1356253 The More Popular the Browser, the Slower It Is from the software-always-gets-slower dept. posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday May 14, @10:58 (The Internet) http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/14/1410200 Successful Launch of ESA's Herschel and Planck from the round-and-round-they-go dept. posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday May 14, @11:43 (Space) http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/14/1432249 Gamepark Releases the GP2X Wiz from the for-the-obscurantists dept. posted by timothy on Thursday May 14, @13:05 (Portables (Games)) http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/14/174208 NY Bill Proposes Fat Tax On Games, DVDs, Junk Food from the this-government-is-delicious-really-delicious dept. posted by timothy on Thursday May 14, @13:57 (Government) http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/14/1739258 Confirmed Gmail / Google App Outage from the were-you-there-when-it-happened dept. posted by timothy on Thursday May 14, @14:40 (The Internet) http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/14/1822200 Study Shows Cocaine And Other Drugs In Spanish Air from the can-you-smell-the-party dept. posted by samzenpus on Thursday May 14, @14:41 (Science) http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/14/1556244 AMD Breaks 1GHz GPU Barrier With Radeon HD 4890 from the sheer-necessity dept. posted by timothy on Thursday May 14, @15:06 (Graphics) http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/14/1838208 Court Orders Breathalyzer Code Opened, Reveals Mess from the take-a-sober-look-at-this dept. posted by timothy on Thursday May 14, @15:33 (The Courts) http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/14/1758234 MySQL Founder Starts Open Database Alliance, Plans Refactoring from the database-shakeup dept. posted by timothy on Thursday May 14, @16:16 (Databases) http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/14/1921243 Guatemalan Twitter User Arrested For "Inciting Panic" from the rebroadcast-as-necessary dept. posted by timothy on Thursday May 14, @16:38 (Social Networks) http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/14/2017246 What Can I Do About Book Pirates? from the see-how-you-feel-after-writing-a-book dept. posted by timothy on Thursday May 14, @17:07 (Books) http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/14/2037236 Daydreaming Is Really Complex Problem-Solving from the how-about-daydreaming-about-girls dept. posted by timothy on Thursday May 14, @17:30 (Medicine) http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/14/2123235 Apple Hires Former OLPC Security Director from the yes-but-get-the-screen-tech-too dept. posted by timothy on Thursday May 14, @18:01 (Security) http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/14/2124236 GPS Accuracy Could Start Dropping In 2010 from the how-to-blackmail-for-tax-dollars dept. posted by timothy on Thursday May 14, @18:50 (Earth) http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/14/2223226 Phoenix BIOSOS? from the which-layer-does-what dept. posted by timothy on Thursday May 14, @19:47 (Operating Systems) http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/14/2254252 RE: Slashdot.com - Annette - 06-08-2009 Slashdot.org lets "anonymous" post the discussions over there can be quite lively Slashdot Daily Newsletter In this issue: * Hackers Claim $10K Prize For StrongWebmail Breakin * German Interior Ministers Seek Ban On Violent Games * How Software Engineering Differs From Computer Science * Human Laughter Up To 16 Million Years Old * New Display Keeps an Eye On the Viewer * Scribblenauts Impresses Critics * The Pirates Will Always Win, Says UK ISP * Ballmer Threatens To Pull Out of the US * Court Case Against VeriSign, .Com Monopoly Revived * The Perils of DRM — When Content Providers Die * New Denial-of-Service Attacks Threaten Wireless Data Networks * Hacker Jeff Moss Sworn Into Homeland Security Advisory Council * Solution For College's Bad Network Policy? * Is Arizona's Internet Voting System Safe Enough? * Vicariously Tour the National Ignition Facility * 9th Circuit Says Feds' Security Checks at JPL Go Too Far * China's First Mars Probe Ready To Launch +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Hackers Claim $10K Prize For StrongWebmail Breakin | | from the worth-their-while dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Friday June 05, @21:54 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/05/2349206 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ alphadogg writes "Telesign, a provider of voice-based authentication software, challenged hackers to break into its StrongWebmail.com Web site late last week. The prize: $10,000. On Thursday, a group of security researchers claimed to have won the contest, which [0]challenged hackers to break into the Web mail account of StrongWebmail CEO Darren Berkovitz and report back details from his June 26 calendar entry. The hackers, led by Secure Science Chief Scientist Lance James and security researchers Aviv Raff and Mike Bailey, provided details from Berkovitz's calendar to IDG News Service. In an interview, Berkovitz confirmed those details were from his account. However, Berkovitz could not confirm that the hackers had actually won the prize. He said he would need to check to confirm that the hackers had abided by the contest rules, adding, 'if someone did it, we'll kind of put our heads down.'" Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/05/2349206 Links: 0. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/060409-hackers-claim-10000-prize-for.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | German Interior Ministers Seek Ban On Violent Games | | from the ach-mein-gamin dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Friday June 05, @23:59 (Government) | | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/06/0154229 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ GamePolitics reports that "Germany's 16 Interior Ministers have banded together to ask the Bundestag (Germany's equivalent of Parliament) to [0]ban the production and distribution of violent video games. Moreover, the ministers hope to see this accomplished before Germany's new elections take place on September 27th." Violent games became a national issue in Germany [1]earlier this year after Far Cry 2 was scapegoated for a shooting. Germany-based game developer Crytek could be forced to move or outsource if the ban goes through. Spiegel Online has the [2]original story ([3]Google translation). Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/06/0154229 Links: 0. http://www.gamepolitics.com/2009/06/05/germany039s-interior-ministers-ask-bundestag-total-ban-violent-games 1. http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/23/2041219&tid=10 2. http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,628800,00.html 3. http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&sl=de&tl=en&u=http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,628800,00.html&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | How Software Engineering Differs From Computer Science | | from the read-comprehend-debug dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Saturday June 06, @02:05 (Programming) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/06/0210229 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]cconnell sends in a piece he wrote for Dr. Dobb's which "argues that software development will [1]never be a fully formal, rigorous discipline, and the reason is that software engineering involves humans as central to the process." Quoting: "Software maintainability, for example, is the ability of people to understand, find, and repair defects in a software system. The maintainability of software may be influenced by some formal notions of computer science â perhaps the cyclomatic complexity of the software's control graph. But maintainability crucially involves humans, and their ability to grasp the meaning and intention of source code. The question of whether a particular software system is highly maintainable cannot be answered just by mechanically examining the software. The same is true for safety. Researchers have used some formal methods to learn about a software system's impact on people's health and property. But no discussion of software safety is complete without appeal to the human component of the system under examination." Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/06/0210229 Links: 0. http://www.chc-3.com/ 1. http://www.ddj.com/architect/217701907 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Human Laughter Up To 16 Million Years Old | | from the a-pierolapithecus-catalaunicus-walks-into-a-bar dept. | | posted by samzenpus on Saturday June 06, @03:45 (It's funny. Lau| | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/05/172247 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "Published today in the journal Current Biology, a new study shows that [0]laughter is not a unique human trait, but a behavior shared by all great apes. Tickle a baby chimpanzee and it will giggle just like a human infant. This is because laughter evolved millions of years ago in one of our common ancestors, say scientists." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/05/172247 Links: 0. http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/2794/human-laughter-16-million-years-old +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | New Display Keeps an Eye On the Viewer | | from the apparently-it-watches-the-watchers dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Saturday June 06, @05:11 (Displays) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/06/0259239 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Al writes "Researchers at Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems (IPMS) [1]have developed an OLED display that doubles as a camera. The idea is to use it in lightweight heads-up displays that track users' eye movements, affording some form of gaze-control. The researchers will demonstrate a prototype at the Society for Information Display conference in San Antonio this week. The current version has a simple monochromatic display: it is 1.25 centimeters on each side, with a resolution of 320 by 240 pixels. The team at Fraunhofer IPMS has also partnered with Novaled, an OLED company that manufactures high-quality white diodes, and plans to make color prototypes using the technology." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/06/0259239 Links: 0. http://www.technologyreview.com/ 1. http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/22754/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Scribblenauts Impresses Critics | | from the right-tool-for-the-job dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Saturday June 06, @07:04 (Puzzle Games (Ga| | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/06/0710236 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Despite of all the announcements for popular, big-budget game franchises at this year's E3, one of the most talked-about titles is a puzzle game for the Nintendo DS called Scribblenauts. In a [0]hands-on preview, Joystiq described it thus: "The premise of the game is simple â you play as Maxwell, who must solve various puzzles to obtain Starites spread across 220 different levels. To execute the aforementioned solving, you write words to create objects in the world that your cartoonish hero can interact with. It's a simple concept that's bolstered by one astounding accomplishment from developer 5th Cell: Anything you can think of is in this game. (Yes, that. Yes, that too.)" They even presented it with a test of 10 words they [1]wouldn't expect it to know or be able to represent, including lutefisk, stanchion, air, and internet, and the game passed with flying colors. The game will also allow players to [2]edit and share levels. A [3]trailer is available on the Scribblenauts website, and [4]actual gameplay footage is posted at Nintendorks. Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/06/0710236 Links: 0. http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/05/hands-on-scribblenauts/ 1. http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/05/scribblenauts-passes-our-ten-word-challenge-with-flying-colors/ 2. http://kotaku.com/5265732/scribblenauts-has-a-little-bit-of-lbp 3. http://www.scribblenauts.com/trailers.html 4. http://www.nintendorks.com/index.php?itemid=324 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | The Pirates Will Always Win, Says UK ISP | | from the except-in-pittsburgh dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Saturday June 06, @08:16 (The Internet) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/06/0544202 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ TheEvilOverlord writes "The head of UK ISP TalkTalk, Charles Dunstone, has made the comment ahead of the communications minister's Digital Britain report that [0]illegal downloading cannot be stopped. He said 'If you try speed humps or disconnections for peer-to-peer, people will simply either disguise their traffic or share the content another way. It is a game of Tom and Jerry and you will never catch the mouse. The mouse always wins in this battle and we need to be careful that politicians do not get talked into putting legislation in place that, in the end, ends up looking stupid.' Instead he advocates allowing users 'to get content easily and cheaply.'" Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/06/0544202 Links: 0. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jun/05/dunstone-carphone-warehouse-results-pirates +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Ballmer Threatens To Pull Out of the US | | from the tax-schmax dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Saturday June 06, @09:18 (Microsoft) | | http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/06/1153217 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]theodp writes "Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is [1]threatening to move Microsoft employees offshore if Congress enacts President Obama's plans to [2]curb tax avoidance by US corporations. 'It makes US jobs more expensive,' complained billionaire Ballmer. 'We're better off taking lots of people and moving them out of the US as opposed to keeping them inside the US.' According to 2006 reports, Microsoft transferred $16 billion in assets to secretive Dublin subsidiaries to shave billions off its US tax bill. 'Corporate tax is part of the overall advantage of doing business in Ireland,' [3]acknowledged Ballmer in 2005. 'It would be disingenuous to say otherwise.'" Discuss this story at: http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/06/1153217 Links: 0. mailto:theodp@aol.com 1. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aAKluP7yIwJY 2. http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/05/04/2031252&tid=103 3. http://www.siliconrepublic.com/news/news.nv?storyid=single5503 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Court Case Against VeriSign, .Com Monopoly Revived | | from the do-not-pass-go dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Saturday June 06, @10:21 (The Internet) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/06/1328201 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ netczar writes "According to a post by John Levine on CircleID, as well as other sources, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has [0]reversed a lower court decision which threw out an antitrust lawsuit [1]several years ago by the Coalition for ICANN Transparency (CFIT) against VeriSign. Levine writes: 'Back in 2005 an organization called the Coalition for ICANN Transparency burst upon the scene at the Vancouver ICANN meeting, and filed an anti-trust suit against VeriSign for their monopoly control of the .COM registry and of the market in expiring .COM domains. They [2]didn't do very well in the trial court, which granted Verisign's motion to dismiss the case. But yesterday the Ninth Circuit reversed the trial court and put the suit back on track.'" Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/06/1328201 Links: 0. http://www.circleid.com/posts/20090605_appeals_court_revives_cfit_anti_trust_suit_against_verisign/ 1. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/01/30/1736259&tid=95 2. http://domainnamewire.com/2009/06/05/verisign-gets-walloped-in-court-com-domain-prices-could-fall/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | The Perils of DRM — When Content Providers Die | | from the involuntary-renting dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Saturday June 06, @11:22 (Media) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/06/1426235 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "If you purchase music or movies online, [0]what happens if the vendor goes out of business? Will you have trouble accessing your content? The question came up recently after HDGiants â provider of high-quality audio and video downloads â filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. A consumer says his content became locked inside his PC. Walmart customers suffered a similar fate last year when the [1]retailer shut down its DRM servers (a [2]decision they reversed after many complaints). And if Vudu dies? Your content may be locked in a proprietary box forever. Time to start buying discs again?" Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/06/1426235 Links: 0. http://www.cepro.com/article/what_happens_to_your_digital_content_if_the_provider_goes_out_of_business/ 1. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/09/27/1521238&tid=141 2. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/10/10/1215209&tid=141 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | New Denial-of-Service Attacks Threaten Wireless Data Networks | | from the filling-the-ether dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Saturday June 06, @12:27 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/06/157243 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ alphadogg writes "Forget spam, viruses, worms, malware and phishing. These threats are apparently old school when compared to [0]a new class of denial-of-service (DOS) attacks that threaten wireless data networks. The threats were outlined in a talk in NYC Thursday by Krishan Sabnani, vice president of networking research at Bell Labs, at the Cyber Infrastructure Protection Conference at City College of New York. Sabnani said they are the result of inherent weaknesses in Mobile IP, a protocol that uses tunneling and complex network triangulation to allow mobile devices to move freely from one network to another. 'We need to especially monitor the mobile networks â with limited bandwidth and terminal battery â for DOS attacks,' Sabnani said, adding that the newest DOS attacks on wireless networks involve repeatedly establishing and releasing connections. These attacks are easy to launch and hard to detect, he said." Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/06/157243 Links: 0. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/060509-wireless-dos-threats.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Hacker Jeff Moss Sworn Into Homeland Security Advisory Council | | from the different-kind-of-expertise dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Saturday June 06, @13:31 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/06/1549237 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Wolfgang Kandek writes "Hacker Jeff Moss, founder of computer security conferences DEFCON and Black Hat, has been [1]sworn in as one of the new members of the Homeland Security Advisory Council ([2]HSAC) of the DHS. Moss, who goes by the handle 'the Dark Tangent' says he was surprised to be asked to join the council and that he was nominated to [3]bring an 'outside perspective' to its meetings. He said, 'I know there is a new-found emphasis on cybersecurity, and they're looking to diversify the members and to have alternative viewpoints. I think they needed a skeptical outsider's view because that has been missing.'" Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/06/1549237 Links: 0. mailto:wkandek@qualys.com 1. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10258634-83.html 2. http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1244227862914.shtm 3. http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/06/hacker-dark-tangent-joins-dhs-security-council/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Solution For College's Bad Network Policy? | | from the must-be-monoculture-compatible dept. | | posted by timothy on Saturday June 06, @14:33 (Education) | | http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/06/1749232 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]DAMN MY LIFE writes "I'm going to Central Michigan University in the fall. Upon examination of their poorly organized [1]network [2]usage [3]policies, I'm worried that using their internet service will expose my web browsing habits, emails, and most importantly, passwords. Another concern I have is the '[4]Client Security Agent' that students are required to install and leave on their systems to use the network. Through this application, the IT department scans everyone's computer for what they claim are network security purposes. Of course, scanning a person's hard drive can turn up all kinds of things that are personal. Do all colleges have such extreme measures in place? Is there any way that I can avoid this? There are no wireless broadband providers available in the area, I already checked." Discuss this story at: http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/06/1749232 Links: 0. mailto:damnmylife@tempemail.com 1. https://cm1rr.cmich.edu/registration/acceptableuse.htm 2. http://www.it.cmich.edu/it/policies_computing.asp 3. http://oit.cmich.edu/it/policies_home.asp 4. https://cm1rr.cmich.edu/remediation/CSAstart.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Is Arizona's Internet Voting System Safe Enough? | | from the bear-alternatives'-problems-in-mind dept. | | posted by timothy on Saturday June 06, @15:38 (Government) | | http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/06/193239 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]JMcCloy writes "[1]Kevin Poulsen, senior editor at Wired News, asks readers '[2]Is internet voting safe?' and has a poll at the end of the article. So far, 32% responding actually think that internet voting is worth it, risks and all. It is scary how easily people can be persuaded to trust a system that is so vulnerable." The system described, used in Arizona in last year's election process, isn't just checking a box and clicking a button, but Poulsen lays out some scenarios by which it could be subverted. Discuss this story at: http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/06/193239 Links: 0. http://www.ncvoter.net/ 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Poulsen 2. http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/06/cfp-evote/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Vicariously Tour the National Ignition Facility | | from the semi-disturbing-place-name dept. | | posted by timothy on Saturday June 06, @16:44 (Power) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/06/2030208 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Dave Bullock writes "The National Ignition Facility (NIF) has been [1]discussed [2]several [3]times over the years on Slashdot and just recently [4]fired all of its 192 lasers. LLNL scientists predict NIF will attain ignition (controlled nuclear explosion) in 2010. For now, [5]take a look at the photos I shot of NIF for Wired.com when I toured it earlier this year." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/06/2030208 Links: 0. http://eecue.com/ 1. http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/28/2210229&tid=14 2. http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/05/23/2215208&tid=126 3. http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/23/2232253&tid=232 4. http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/03/11/029239&tid=232 5. http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2009/05/gallery_nif +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | 9th Circuit Says Feds' Security Checks at JPL Go Too Far | | from the and-you-thought-that-documents-were-sensitive dept. | | posted by timothy on Saturday June 06, @17:54 (Privacy) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/06/2147233 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]coondoggie writes with an excerpt from Network World which explains that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals "this week ruled against the federal government and in favor of employees at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in their case which centers around background investigations known as Homeland Security Presidential Directive #12 (Nelson et al. vs NASA). The finding reaffirms the JPL employees claims' that [1]the checks threaten their constitutional rights. The stink stems from HSPD #12 which is in part aimed at gathering information to develop a common identification standard that ensures that people are who they say they are, so government facilities and sensitive information stored in networks remains protected." At issue in particular: an employee's not agreeing to "an open ended background investigation, conducted by unknown investigators, in order to receive an identification badge that was compliant with HSPD#12" was grounds for dismissal. Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/06/2147233 Links: 0. http://networkworld.com/ 1. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/42468 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | China's First Mars Probe Ready To Launch | | from the kazakhstan-facility-of-space-object-tossing-very-nice de| | posted by timothy on Saturday June 06, @19:01 (Mars) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/06/221243 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ henrypijames writes "At the [0]Shanghai Aerospace Exhibition last week, China's first Mars probe [1]Yinghuo-1 was the [2]main attraction. The newly completed probe will soon be sent to Moscow for some further testing, before a joint launch with Russia's own probe [3]Phobos-Grunt from [4]Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan this October." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/06/221243 Links: 0. http://www.shairshow.com/en/home.asp 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yinghuo-1 2. http://news.xinhuanet.com/video/2009-05/29/content_11454448.htm 3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phobos-Grunt 4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baikonur_Cosmodrome RE: Slashdot.com - Annette - 06-17-2009 fascinating, as usual: Slashdot Daily Newsletter In this issue: * Does Bing Have Google Running Scared? * Better Tools For Disabled Geeks? * Family's Christmas Photos Hawk Groceries In Prague * A Visual Expedition Inside the Linux File Systems * ESRB Eyeballing Ratings For iPhone Games * Administration Wants To Scale Back Real ID Law * The Science of Folding@home * Mono Squeezed Into Debian Default Installation * CIA Officers Are Warming To Intellipedia * Fifteen Classic PC Design Mistakes * Real Nanotechnology Getting Closer, Says Drexler * "Burning Walls" May Stop Black Hole Formation * The "Hidden" Cost Of Privacy * NVIDIA Launches Five New Mobile GPUs * Drupal 6: Ultimate Community Site Guide * Broke Counties Turn Failing Roads To Gravel * Ubisoft CEO Says Next Gen Consoles Closer Than We Think * Introducing the Warpship * Herschel Space Telescope Opens For the First Time * Canada Telecoms Launch Mobile Payment Service * Virgin-Universal Deal Offers Unlimited Music, Goes After File Sharers * Jet Stream Kites Could Power New York City * The Next Ad You Click May Be a Virus +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Does Bing Have Google Running Scared? | | from the or-perhaps-maraschino dept. | | posted by kdawson on Sunday June 14, @20:22 (Microsoft) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/14/2040209 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ suraj.sun alerts us to an anonymous-source story up at the NY Post, not what we would normally consider a leading source of tech news, claiming that [0]Microsoft's introduction of Bing has alarmed Google. "...co-founder Sergey Brin is so rattled by the launch of Microsoft's rival search engine that he has assembled a team of top engineers to work on urgent upgrades to his Web service, The Post has learned. Brin, according to sources..., is himself leading the team of search-engine specialists in an effort to determine how Bing's crucial search algorithm differs from that used by [Google]. 'New search engines have come and gone in the past 10 years, but Bing seems to be of particular interest to Sergey,' said one insider, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The move by Brin is unusual, as it is rare these days for the Google founders to have such hands-on involvement in day-to-day operations at the company, the source added." CNet's [1]coverage of the rumor begins with the NY Post and adds in Search Engine Land's speculation on what the world of search would look like if [2]Yahoo exited the field. Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/14/2040209 Links: 0. http://www.nypost.com/seven/06142009/business/fear_grips_google_174235.htm 1. http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10264417-75.html 2. http://searchengineland.com/bartz-continues-torpedoing-yahoo-search-20705 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Better Tools For Disabled Geeks? | | from the all-in-the-wrist dept. | | posted by kdawson on Sunday June 14, @22:37 (Input Devices) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/14/2143205 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]layabout writes "We've seen tremendous advances in user interfaces over the past few years. Unfortunately, those UIs and supporting infrastructure exclude the disabled. In the same timeframe there has been virtually no advance in accessibility capabilities. It's the same old sticky keys, unicorn stick, speech recognition, text-to-speech that kind-of, sort-of, works except when you need to work with with real applications. Depending on whose numbers you use, anywhere from 60,000 to 100,000 keyboard users are injured every year â some temporarily, some permanently. In time, almost 100% of keyboard users will have trouble typing and using many if not all mobile computing devices. My question to Slashdot: Given that some form of disability is almost inevitable, what's keeping you from volunteering and working with geeks who are already disabled? By spending time now building the interfaces and tools that will enable them to use computers more easily, you will also be ensuring your own ability to use them in the future." Follow the link for more background on this reader's query. This story continues at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/14/2143205 Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/14/2143205 Links: 0. mailto:ynotlayabout@gmail.com +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Family's Christmas Photos Hawk Groceries In Prague | | from the smiling-happy-faces dept. | | posted by kdawson on Monday June 15, @01:46 (The Internet) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/14/193227 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Hugh Pickens writes "The Telegraph reports that Jeff and Danielle Smith sent a photo of themselves with their two young children to family and friends as a Christmas card, and posted the image on her blog and a few social networking websites. Then, last month, a friend of the family was vacationing in the Czech Republic when he spotted a full size [1]poster of the Missouri family's smiling faces in the window of a local supermarket in Prague, advertising a grocery delivery service. The friend snapped a few pictures and sent them to the Smiths, who were flabbergasted. Mario Bertuccio, who owns the Grazie store in Prague, admitted that he had found the photo online but thought it was computer-generated and promised to remove it, and 'We'll be happy to write an e-mail with our apology,' he says. Meanwhile Mrs. Smith has [2]received 180,000 visitors and over 500 comments on her blog since she posted the story. She says she is glad the photo wasn't used in an unseemly manner. 'Interesting. Bizarre. Flattering, I suppose,' writes Mrs. Smith. 'But quite creepy.'" Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/14/193227 Links: 0. http://hughpickens.com/ 1. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5507113/Beware-photos-online-US-familys-Christmas-card-photo-used-as-advertisement-in-Prague.html 2. http://www.extraordinarymommy.com/blog/are-you-kidding-me/stolen-picture/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | A Visual Expedition Inside the Linux File Systems | | from the data-porn dept. | | posted by kdawson on Monday June 15, @04:54 (Operating Systems) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/15/015207 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]RazvanM writes "This is an attempt to visualize the relationships among the Linux File Systems through the lens of the external symbols their kernel modules use. We [1]took an initial look a few months back but this time the scope is much broader. This analysis was done on [2]1377 kernel modules from 2.6.0 to 2.6.29, but there is also a [3]small dip into the BSD world. The [4]most thorough analysis was done on [5]Daniel Phillips's tree, which contains the latest two disk-based file systems for Linux: [6]tux3 and [7]btrfs. The main techniques used to established relationships among file systems are [8]hierarchical clustering and [9]phylogenetic trees. Also presented are a set of [10]rankings based on various properties related to the evolution of the external symbols from one release to another, and complete [11]timelines of the kernel releases for Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD. In all there are 78 figures and 10 animations." Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/15/015207 Links: 0. http://razvan.musaloiu.com/ 1. http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/02/11/2035211&tid=198 2. http://cs.jhu.edu/~razvanm/fs-expedition/building.html 3. http://cs.jhu.edu/~razvanm/fs-expedition/bsd.html 4. http://cs.jhu.edu/~razvanm/fs-expedition/tux3.html 5. http://git.kernel.org/?p=linux/kernel/git/daniel/linux-tux3.git 6. http://tux3.org/ 7. http://btrfs.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Main_Page 8. http://cs.jhu.edu/~razvanm/fs-expedition/tux3.html#hclust 9. http://cs.jhu.edu/~razvanm/fs-expedition/tux3.html#pars 10. http://cs.jhu.edu/~razvanm/fs-expedition/2.6.x.html#rankings 11. http://cs.jhu.edu/~razvanm/fs-expedition/timelines.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | ESRB Eyeballing Ratings For iPhone Games | | from the why-not-go-for-flash-games-too-while-you're-at-it dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Monday June 15, @06:37 (Cellphones) | | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/15/0248208 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Kotaku reports that the ESRB is thinking about expanding their game ratings to [0]include games sold on the App Store. They realize that [1]evaluating every single game is not feasible, but they may still be underestimating the amount of work they'd be taking on, and it could negatively affect some developers. Quoting: "'ESRB has seen increases in rating submissions each year since its founding and has always been able to keep pace,' the ESRB's Eliot Mizrachi told us. 'We have rated more than 70 mobile games to date and will undoubtedly rate more in the future as the market grows.' Seventy? Over the past, what, four or five years? It's a piddling number when you think of the hundreds of games available through the App Store. Further, many of them are mobile adjuncts to console releases, a different sort of beast from iPhone games. Not all of those need or deserve a rating; but if Apple brings in the ESRB to rate games, with the idea that it'll help parents control what their kids buy for their iPods, then unrated games are likely to be blocked by such filters. The incentive would definitely be there to get a game rated. And what of the cost? Getting a game rated isn't a free service; the ESRB levies a fee that covers the cost of looking through the code and rating the game." Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/15/0248208 Links: 0. http://kotaku.com/5289370/esrb-on-iphone-games-we-can-handle-this 1. http://kotaku.com/5281765/should-apple-iphone-games-be-rated-esa-says-yes +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Administration Wants To Scale Back Real ID Law | | from the square-root-of-minus-identity dept. | | posted by kdawson on Monday June 15, @08:02 (Privacy) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/15/0134220 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ The Washington Post is running a story on the Obama Administration's attempt to get a [0]scaled-back version of Bush's Real ID program passed and implemented. We've been discussing the Real ID program from its [1]earliest days up through the [2]states' resistance to its "unfunded mandate." "Yielding to a rebellion by states that refused to pay for it, the Obama administration is moving to scale back a federal law passed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that was designed to tighten security requirements for driver's licenses... Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano wants to repeal and replace the controversial, $4 billion domestic security initiative known as Real ID... The new proposal, called Pass ID, would be cheaper, less rigorous, and partly funded by federal grants, according to draft legislation that Napolitano's Senate allies plan to introduce as early as tomorrow. ...the Bush administration struggled to implement the 2005 [Real ID] law, delaying the program repeatedly as states called it an unfunded mandate and privacy advocates warned it would create a de facto national ID." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/15/0134220 Links: 0. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/13/AR2009061302036_pf.html 1. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/05/11/0119205&tid=158 2. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/06/1912250&tid=158 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | The Science of Folding@home | | from the i-prefer-napping@hope dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 15, @08:49 (Medicine) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/15/1240252 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]mr_sifter writes "As previously discussed, computers running Folding@home now contribute over 1 petaflop of processing power to research into protein folding, making Folding@home the most successful example yet of a distributed computing app. It's also at the forefront of GPGPU computing, with both Nvidia and ATI keen to push how well their graphics chips perform when folding. So the technology is great, but [1]what about the science? This feature looks at how the Folding project was developed, how it's helping researchers and the thorny question of how long it might be until the software running on your PC or PS3 actually produces real world results." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/15/1240252 Links: 0. http://www.thewiredjester.co.uk/ 1. http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2009/06/15/what-is-folding-and-why-does-it-matter/1 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Mono Squeezed Into Debian Default Installation | | from the gonna-need-a-better-girdle dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 15, @09:29 (Debian) | | http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/15/1251228 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]pallmall1 writes "OS News reports that Debian developer Josselin Mouette got Tomboy accepted as a dependency for gnome in the next release of Debian (codenamed Squeeze). While that may seem like nothing big (except for the 50 MByte size of the Tomboy package), Tomboy requires Mono â meaning that [1]Mono will now be installed by default. Apparently, Debian doesn't have the same concerns over using specifications patented by Microsoft and licensed under [2]undisclosed terms that Red Hat [3]does. Perhaps Debian doesn't believe that Microsoft might do something [4]like Rambus did." Discuss this story at: http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/15/1251228 Links: 0. mailto:pallmall@mail.com 1. http://www.osnews.com/story/21660/Mono_Part_of_Debian_s_Default_Desktop_Install_ 2. http://www.itwire.com/content/view/25215/1090/1/0/ 3. http://blog.internetnews.com/skerner/2009/06/fedora-is-concerned-about-mono.html 4. http://www.channelregister.co.uk/2009/05/14/ftc_drops_rambus_antitrust_case/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | CIA Officers Are Warming To Intellipedia | | from the i'm-warming-a-turkey-sandwich dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 15, @10:13 (Government) | | http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/15/1334203 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Hugh Pickens writes "The [1]CIA is adopting Web 2.0 tools like collaborative wikis but not without a struggle in an agency with an ingrained culture of secrecy. 'We're still kind of in this early adoptive stage,' says Sean Dennehy, a CIA analyst and self-described 'evangelist' for [2]Intellipedia, the US intelligence community's version of the popular user-curated online encyclopedia Wikipedia adding that 'trying to implement these tools in the intelligence community is basically like telling people that their parents raised them wrong. It is a huge cultural change.' Dennehy says Intellipedia, which runs on secure government intranets and is used by 16 US intelligence agencies, was started as a pilot project in 2005 and now has approximately 100,000 user accounts and gets about 4,000 edits a day. 'Some people have (supported it) but there's still a lot of other folks kind of sitting on the fence.' Dennehy says wikis are 'a challenge to our culture because we grew up in this kind of "need to know" culture and now we need a balance between "need to know" and "need to share."' A desire to compartamentalize information is another problem. 'Inevitably, every person, the first question we were asked is "How do I lock down a page?" or "How do I lock down a page so that just my five colleagues can access that?"' The [3]growth of Intellipedia has so far largely been fueled by early adopters and enthusiasts says Chris Rasmussen, a social-software knowledge manager and trainer at the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. 'We are struggling to take it to the next level.'" Discuss this story at: http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/15/1334203 Links: 0. http://hughpickens.com/ 1. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iu6iOvDlOcujzvTPLiTWvBiOia4w 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intellipedia 3. http://www.gcn.com/Articles/2009/02/18/Intellipedia.aspx +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Fifteen Classic PC Design Mistakes | | from the i've-made-seven-so-far-today dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 15, @10:45 (Hardware) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/15/147251 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Harry writes "Once upon a time, it wasn't a given that PC owners should be able to format their own floppy disks. Or that ports should be standard, not proprietary. Or that it was a lousy idea to hardwire a PC's AC adapter, or to put the power supply in the printer so that a printer failure rendered the PC unusable, too. Over at Technologizer, Benj Edwards has taken a look at some of the [1]worst design decisions from personal computing's early years â including ones involving famous flops such as the PCJr, obscure failures such as Mattel's Aquarius, and machines that succeeded despite flaws, like the first Mac. In most instances â but not all â their bad decisions taught the rest of the industry not to make the same errors again." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/15/147251 Links: 0. mailto:harry@technologizer.com 1. http://technologizer.com/2009/06/14/fifteen-classic-pc-design-mistakes/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Real Nanotechnology Getting Closer, Says Drexler | | from the so-is-fusion-i-hear dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 15, @11:30 (Sun Microsystems) | | http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/15/1341210 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]destinyland writes "Sun Microsystems has helped fund a [1]198-page nanotechnology roadmap â but [2]how close are we to real nanotechnology? A science writer asked four nano pioneers, including K. Eric Dexler ("progress is accelerating") and Ralph Merkle ("the exponential trends continue to be exponential") Though we don't have Star Trek replicators yet, the article lists some surprising recent nano developments (artificial tissue, nanoparticle sheets, ultrathin diamond nanorods). And the roadmap's scientists are envisioning targeted cancer therapies, super-efficient solar cells, high-density computer memory chips and even responsive "smart" materials."" Discuss this story at: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/15/1341210 Links: 0. http://www.destinyland.org/ 1. http://e-drexler.com/d/07/00/1204TechnologyRoadmap.html 2. http://www.hplusmagazine.com/articles/nano/how-close-are-we-real-nanotechnology +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "Burning Walls" May Stop Black Hole Formation | | from the sounds-like-my-chili dept. | | posted by CmdrTaco on Monday June 15, @12:12 (Space) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/15/155242 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]KentuckyFC writes "Black holes are thought to form when a star greater than 4 times the mass of the Sun explodes in a supernova and then collapses. The force of this collapse is so great that no known force can stop it. In less massive stars, the collapse cannot overcome so-called neutron degeneracy, the force that stops neutrons from being squashed together. Now a Russian physicist says another effect may be involved. He points out that quantum chromodynamics predicts that when neutrons are squashed together, matter undergoes a phase transition into "subhadronic" matter. This is very different from ordinary matter. In subhadronic form, space is essentially empty. So the phase change creates a sudden reduction in pressure, forcing any ordinary matter in the star to implode into this new vacuum. The result is a massive increase in temperature of this matter that creates a "burning wall" within the supernova. And it is this [1]burning wall that stops the formation of a black hole, not just the degeneracy pressure of neutrons. This should lead to much greater energies inside a supernova than had been thought possible until now. And that's important because it could explain the formation of [2]high energy gamma ray bursts that have long puzzled astrophysicists." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/15/155242 Links: 0. http://arxivblog.technologyreview.com/ 1. http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/23677/ 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamma_ray_burst +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | The "Hidden" Cost Of Privacy | | from the if-you-can't-handle-it-get-out-of-the-business dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday June 15, @12:57 (Privacy) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/15/1459225 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Schneier points out an article from a while back in Forbes about the [0]"hidden" cost of privacy and how expensive it can be to comply with all the various overlapping privacy laws that don't necessarily improve anyone's privacy. "What this all means is that protecting individual privacy remains an externality for many companies, and that basic market dynamics won't work to solve the problem. Because the efficient market solution won't work, we're left with inefficient regulatory solutions. So now the question becomes: how do we make regulation as efficient as possible?" Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/15/1459225 Links: 0. http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/06/the_hidden_cost.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | NVIDIA Launches Five New Mobile GPUs | | from the too-many-options dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday June 15, @13:40 (Graphics) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/15/1522236 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Engadget is reporting that NVIDIA has released [0]five new mobile GPUs to fill some imagined gap in the 200M series lineup. These new chips supposedly double the performance and halve the power consumption of the older chips, but still no word on why they think we need eight different GPU options. "The cards are SLI, HybridPower, CUDA, Windows 7 and DirectX 10.1 compatible, and all support PhysX other than the low-end G210M. Of course, with integrated graphics like the 9400M starting to obviate discrete graphics in the mid range -- even including Apple's latest low-end 15-inch MacBook Pro -- we're not sure what we'll do with eight different GPU options, but we suppose NVIDIA's yet-to-be-announced price sheet for these cards will make it all clear in time." Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/15/1522236 Links: 0. http://www.engadget.com/2009/06/15/nvidia-pops-out-five-new-mobile-gpus-to-fill-invisible-gaps-in-i/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Drupal 6: Ultimate Community Site Guide | | from the read-all-about-it dept. | | posted by samzenpus on Monday June 15, @14:22 (The Internet) | | http://books.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/15/1331252 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Michael J. Ross writes "Among the more popular and better-regarded content management systems (CMSs), [1]Drupal is distinguished partly by its building-block approach, in which a website 's functionality is built up in pieces, each of which is a module (either core or contributed). The opposite approach â using far fewer but more encompassing modules â is generally preferred by non-developers who do not relish integrating a sizable collection of modules or trying to modify the underlying code. Nonetheless, anyone who wishes to build a Drupal-based social website, can learn how to do so in a new e-book titled Drupal 6: Ultimate Community Site Guide." Read below for the rest of Michael's review. This story continues at: http://books.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/15/1331252 Discuss this story at: http://books.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/15/1331252 Links: 0. http://www.ross.ws/ 1. http://drupal.org/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Broke Counties Turn Failing Roads To Gravel | | from the let-civilization-collapse-initiative dept. | | posted by samzenpus on Monday June 15, @14:38 (Transportation) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/15/1641219 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ To save money, more than 20 Michigan counties have decided to turn [0]deteriorating paved roads back to gravel. Montcalm County estimates that repaving a road costs more than $100,000 a mile. Grinding the same mile of road up and turning it into gravel costs $10,000. At least 50 miles of road have been reverted to gravel in Michigan the past three years. I can't wait until we revert back to whale oil lighting and can finally be rid of this electricity fad. Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/15/1641219 Links: 0. http://www.wwmt.com/articles/roads-1363526-mich-counties.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Ubisoft CEO Says Next Gen Consoles Closer Than We Think | | from the better-faster-stronger dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday June 15, @15:07 (Games) | | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/15/1654225 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot tells CNBC that he believes the [0]next generation of video game systems isn't as far away as the public has been led to believe. Guillemot noted that public demand for the best machine possible, as well as coming competition from companies such as [1]OnLive could spur Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo to roll out new systems sooner than they want. That's not good news for publishers, though, as he says games in the next generation will likely cost $60 million to create." Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/15/1654225 Links: 0. http://www.cnbc.com/id/31331241 1. http://games.slashdot.org/story/09/03/24/135212/New-Service-Aims-To-Replace-Consoles-With-Cloud-Gaming +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Introducing the Warpship | | from the fastest-ship-in-the-west dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday June 15, @15:51 (Space) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/15/1658255 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]astroengine writes "Dr. Richard Obousy, a guy who has put [1]modern science into the warp drive, has designed [2]his very own warpship. Now, for the first time, he's shared it with the world. It might not be the sleek Starship Enterprise, but its structure has been [3]optimized to harness local 'dark energy,' generating a warp bubble so faster-than-light velocities are possible." Now, the only question is: will the ship achieve faster-than-light travel...or will the company hit those speeds once it has enough money from investors? Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/15/1658255 Links: 0. http://www.astroengine.com/ 1. http://www.richardobousyconsulting.com/warp_drive.html 2. http://dsc.discovery.com/space/slideshows/warpship/ 3. http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2008/07/28/warp-speed-engine.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Herschel Space Telescope Opens For the First Time | | from the hey-big-guy-open-your-eyes dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday June 15, @16:30 (Space) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/15/188206 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]davecl writes "The Herschel space telescope, the largest ever launched into space, has [1]opened its instrument cover allowing its three instruments to observe for the first time. BBC news has the main coverage, while there is more coverage on the [2]SPIRE instrument team website, and on the [3]mission blog. I'm part of the SPIRE instrument team and the excitement as we move towards our first observations is building fast. The PACS and SPIRE instruments will see first light in the next few days." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/15/188206 Links: 0. http://davecl.wordpress.com/ 1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8099105.stm 2. http://herschel.cf.ac.uk/news/134 3. http://herschelmission.wordpress.com/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Canada Telecoms Launch Mobile Payment Service | | from the can-i-request-money-all-day dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday June 15, @17:12 (Cellphones) | | http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/15/1928251 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]GregDz11 writes to inform us that Canada's three main wireless companies will be launching a service that allows customers to [1]send, request, and receive money via their mobile phones. "The service, called Zoompass, will be managed by Enstream, a joint venture the three carriers first established in 2005, when it was called Wireless Payment Services, to investigate the potential of mobile commerce. [...] Money can be drawn from an account the user sets up or from their credit card. Each withdrawal will cost 50 cents from the account, or 3.5 per cent of the transaction if from a credit card. (As a result, sending dollar amounts under $15 are actually cheaper to do using a credit card.)" Discuss this story at: http://mobile.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/15/1928251 Links: 0. mailto:gregdiaz11@gmail.com 1. http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/06/12/zoompass-mobile-payment-enstream-phone-wallet.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Virgin-Universal Deal Offers Unlimited Music, Goes After File Share| | from the something-for-something dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday June 15, @18:03 (Music) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/15/1940201 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ suraj.sun writes "The UK's Virgin Media could start [0]suspending persistent file sharers on a temporary basis, using information provided to it by Universal Music. The ISP announced on Monday that it would, before Christmas, launch an all-you-can-eat music download service for its users, based on a monthly subscription fee. The tracks will all be DRM-free. 'In parallel, the two companies will be working together to protect Universal Music's intellectual property and drive a material reduction in the unauthorized distribution of its repertoire across Virgin Media's network,' a statement read. 'This will involve implementing a range of different strategies to educate file sharers about online piracy and to raise awareness of legal alternatives. They include, as a last resort for persistent offenders, a temporary suspension of internet access.' DTecNet has already been working with UK content companies for some time to do [1]much the same thing, and is also working with RIAA in the United States." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/15/1940201 Links: 0. http://pressoffice.virginmedia.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=205406&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1298879&highlight= 1. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10256481-93.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Jet Stream Kites Could Power New York City | | from the kites-and-keys dept. | | posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday June 15, @18:46 (Power) | | http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/15/2035209 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Damien1972 writes to tell us that researchers from the Carnegie Institution and California State University claim that a [0]fleet of kites could harvest enough energy to run New York and other major cities, especially if they are affected by polar jet streams. "Using 28 years of data from the National Center for Environmental Prediction and the Department of Energy, Ken Caldeira of the Carnegie Institution's Department of Global Ecology and Cristina Archer of California State University, Chico compiled the first global survey of wind energy available at high altitudes in the atmosphere. They found that the regions best suited for harvesting this energy align with population centers in the eastern U.S. and East Asia, although they note that 'fluctuating wind strength still presents a challenge for exploiting this energy source on a large scale.'" Discuss this story at: http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/15/2035209 Links: 0. http://news.mongabay.com/2009/0615-wind.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | The Next Ad You Click May Be a Virus | | from the simple-solution-suggests-itself dept. | | posted by kdawson on Monday June 15, @19:33 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/15/2056219 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Jay notes a Wall Street Journal report about [1]ad networks unintentionally selling empty space to malware loaders (the link is to a syndicating site that doesn't require a subscription to view). The submitter comments: "The labeling of the fake ad sellers as hackers is pretty bogus; there's no hacking involved. Simply sign up for one of these networks, create your fake site, put up another company's creative, and you're good to go." The incidents being reported go back a few months, but the pattern of this criminal activity seems to be coming clear only recently."EWeek.com, a technology news site owned by Ziff Davis Enterprise, in February displayed an ad on its homepage masquerading as a promotion for LaCoste, the shirt maker. The retailer hadn't placed the ad â a hacker had, to direct users to a Web site where harmful programs would be downloaded to their computers, says Stephen Wellman, director of community and content for Ziff Davis." Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/15/2056219 Links: 0. http://www.warriorsoflegend.com/ 1. http://www.totaltele.com/view.aspx?ID=446406&Page=0 RE: Slashdot.com - RotWyler - 06-19-2009 Slashdot Daily Newsletter In this issue: * Apple Finally Patches Java Vulnerability * Climate Change Bill Includes IP Protections * Kilometer-High Waves Flow In Saturn's Rings * Auto Warranty Robocall Scammers Busted * Defining an Interactive Physical MMO For the iPhone * SCO Springs a Prospective Buyer * AT&T, Verizon Moving Into Gaming * Bing Gets Porn Domain To Filter Explicit Content * Hackers Find Remote iPhone Crack * Sun Kills Rock CPU, Says NYT Report * Erlang's Creator Speaks About Its History and Prospects * Opera 10.0 Released, With Integrated Web Server Functionality * China's Green Dam, No Longer Compulsory, May Have Lifted Code * Fertility Clinic Bows To Pressure, Nixes Eye- and Hair-Color Screening * NASA To Trigger Massive Explosion On the Moon In Search of Ice * Ideal, and Actual, IT Performance Metrics? * A Black Day For Internet Freedom In Germany * Buckyballs Polymerized Into Buckywires * Passengers Cheat Flu Scan With Fever Reducers * Windows 7 Licensing a "Disaster" For XP Shops * Palm Pre Does Not Get US Tethering Either * Revived Microbe May Hold Clues For ET Lifeforms * Researchers Build a Browser-Based Darknet * HTML 5 Takes Aim At Flash and Silverlight * Statistical Suspicions In Iran's Election +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Apple Finally Patches Java Vulnerability | | from the gentlemen-restart-your-sandboxes dept. | | posted by kdawson on Monday June 15, @20:23 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/15/2352200 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ macs4all writes "[0]Apple has finally addressed the Java vulnerability that nearly everyone else patched months ago. Available now for OS X [1]10.4 and [2]10.5, and through Apple's Software Update service, this update patches a flaw in the Java Virtual Machine that could potentially allow a malicious Java applet to execute arbitrary code on the machine. Apple had previously advised users to turn off Java temporarily in their Web browsers." Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/15/2352200 Links: 0. http://db.tidbits.com/article/10352 1. http://support.apple.com/downloads/Java_for_Mac_OS_X_10_4__Release_9 2. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3581 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Climate Change Bill Includes IP Protections | | from the quick-let's-patent-carbon-sequestration dept. | | posted by kdawson on Monday June 15, @22:04 (Earth) | | http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/15/2237201 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ moogsynth writes "Buried in section 329 of the [0]Foreign Relations Authorization Act (H.R. 2410), voted in recently, are measures to oppose any global climate change treaty that weakens the IP rights in the green tech of American companies. [1]Peter Zura's patent blog notes that 'the vote comes in anticipation of the upcoming negotiations in December as part of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change. ... Previously, there was [2]sufficient chatter in international circles on compulsory licenses, IP seizures, and the outright abolition of patents on low-carbon technology, that Congress felt it necessary to clarify the US's IP position up front.'" Discuss this story at: http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/15/2237201 Links: 0. http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:h2410: 1. http://271patent.blogspot.com/2009/06/congress-introduces-ip-protections-for.html 2. http://cleanip.com.au/2009/04/20/the-debate-surrounding-patents-and-low-carbon-technology-is-heating-up/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Kilometer-High Waves Flow In Saturn's Rings | | from the surfing-the-A-ring dept. | | posted by kdawson on Monday June 15, @23:07 (Space) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/16/0251224 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader sends along a Cosmos Magazine piece on the discovery by NASA's Cassini probe of [0]vertical structures in Saturn's rings, 150 times as high as the rings are thick. The structures were seen because a once-every-15-years orientation of the rings caused vertical features to cast visible shadows. "NASA's Cassini probe has uncovered for the first time towering vertical structures in Saturn's otherwise flat rings that are attributable to the gravitational effects of a small moon. 'We thought that this vertical structure was pretty neat when we first saw it in our simulations,' said John Weiss, the paper's lead author at the Cassini Imaging Central Laboratory for Operations in the U.S. city of Boulder, Colorado. 'But it's a million times cooler to have your theory supported by such gorgeous images. It makes you suspect you might be doing something right,' added teammate and co-author Carolyn Porco." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/16/0251224 Links: 0. http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/2813/15-km-high-waves-found-flow-saturns-rings +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Auto Warranty Robocall Scammers Busted | | from the cell-phones-911-and-do-not-call dept. | | posted by kdawson on Monday June 15, @23:45 (Communications) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/15/232211 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ ectotherm writes "The nice people behind the recorded phone messages stating 'By now you should have received your written note regarding your vehicle warranty expiring...' â the ones who instantly hang up when you ask for the name of the company â [0]have been busted. Fox News did a little background digging on the four people charged." Don't know about you, but I received three or four postcards in the mail from these scammers, as well as uncountable robocalls. The FTC says they cleared $10M since 2007. Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/15/232211 Links: 0. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,526357,00.html?mrp +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Defining an Interactive Physical MMO For the iPhone | | from the enhanced-reality dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Tuesday June 16, @01:08 (Cellphones) | | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/16/0313257 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ already-living-in-a-virtual-world writes "On his blog, mispeled writes about a new type of game he'd like to see for the iPhone. It's interesting stuff: '... the integration of a true gaming platform with the capabilities of a phone is unique, at least for the quality of the gaming experience offered. For all intents and purposes, the iPhone is a new system. And [0]new systems demand that new gameplay mechanics be explored. For a long time I've been a fan of the MMORPG genre, and the iPhone offers several MMO-type games, especially those in the facebook, social-networking style. However, what I've yet to see is a game that takes advantage of the iPhone's location services, the GPS-like capability of the phone. Tons of applications use it, but no games, as far as I've seen. Why not? Motion sensing is all the rage on the consoles â the Wii popularized it, but now Microsoft and Sony are jumping on the bandwagon. But the iPhone, because it's portable, offers something more. And I want those offerings taken advantage of. I want to play an MMO that knows where I am and links my physical location to a virtual location. I want to create a game that gives the planet Earth a virtual overlay, interactable via a mobile (read: the iPhone) interface.'" Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/16/0313257 Links: 0. http://mispeled.wordpress.com/2009/06/15/virtualphysical-locations/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | SCO Springs a Prospective Buyer | | from the from-what-dark-orifice dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday June 16, @02:34 (The Courts) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/15/2317205 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ clemenstimpler sends a link to Groklaw, which has been following the proceedings dealing with the conversion of SCO's bankruptcy to Chapter 7 (i.e., liquidating the company). [0]SCO has announced a prospective buyer. "...SCO has suggested it has a buyer. That doesn't mean it will avoid Chapter 7 of course, nor does it mean that the bankruptcy court will OK the suggested sale. But it likely does mean more delay, which is what this is likely all about. SCO very much wants to wait until the appeals court rules in SCO v. Novell. ... Hearing set for July 16 with backup for July 27. SCO has already moved to make it July 27. combo hearing on convert and sale. Frankly, it would not totally amaze me if the three entities that filed motions to convert were to appeal this. If not, SCO got its desired delay." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/15/2317205 Links: 0. http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=20090615122117389 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | AT&T, Verizon Moving Into Gaming | | from the stop-wiretapping-my-railgun dept. | | posted by Soulskill on Tuesday June 16, @03:54 (Communications) | | http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/16/0336243 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Verizon announced today that they are working on a service to [0]deliver games through their broadband service for a monthly fee. The service will begin this summer in New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Along similar lines, IndustryGamers reports that AT&T is "investing millions in gaming." In addition to revamping the games section of their website, they are also working on an IPTV service and trying to [1]find a way to unify the gaming experience across mobile platforms, computers, and consoles. "[AT&T's Executive Director of Gaming, Glenn Broderick, said,] 'What we're doing is trying to incentivize [gaming companies] to take some risks by tethering mobile games to console or PC experiences.' ... He continued, 'We're putting a ton of money into back-end systems for both mobile and the broadband site... We're making serious investments in the games space because it's now seen as a huge strategic initiative for AT&T. And before it just wasn't; it wasn't on the executive agenda.' Broderick also is optimistic that cloud-based gaming services like OnLive that provide games on demand will take off in the next 5-10 years, and he sees AT&T and its network as a big player in that." Discuss this story at: http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/16/0336243 Links: 0. http://www.joystiq.com/2009/06/15/verizon-to-offer-gametap-esque-service-in-the-northeast-starting/ 1. http://www.industrygamers.com/news/interview-att-investing-millions-in-gaming/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Bing Gets Porn Domain To Filter Explicit Content | | from the still-no-sex-in-india dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday June 16, @05:26 (Microsoft) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/15/2245215 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ sopssa writes "Bing has set up a [0]separate domain just for porn images and videos. '[The] general manager of Microsoft Bing said in a blog post that potentially explicit images and video content now will be coming from one separate domain â explicit.bing.net. 'This is invisible to the end customer, but allows for filtering of that content by domain which makes it much easier for customers at all levels to block this content regardless of what the SafeSearch settings might be.' When Bing was first launched, there was some online chatter about explicit images popping up when videos were 'previewed' in the search results. This means the thumbnails and videos are served from that domain, allowing easy filter of them in corporate and school networks. Users still normally use www.bing.com. Instead of heavily filtering the results, this is quite a good move." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/15/2245215 Links: 0. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9134395 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Hackers Find Remote iPhone Crack | | from the jailbreaking-via-mortar dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday June 16, @08:13 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/16/0017221 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Al writes "Two researchers have found a way to [1]run unauthorized code on an iPhone remotely. This is different than '[2]jailbreaking,' which requires physical access to the device. Normally applications have to be signed cryptographically by Apple in order to run. But Charles Miller of Independent Security Evaluators and Vincenzo Iozzo from the University of Milan found more than one instance in which Apple failed to prevent unauthorized data from executing. This means that a program can be loaded into memory as a non-executable block of data, after which the attacker can essentially flip a programmatic switch and make the data executable. The trick is significant, say Miller and Iozzo, because it provides a way to do something on a device after making use of a remote exploit. Details will be presented next month at the Black Hat Conference in Las Vegas." The attack was developed on version 2.0 of the iPhone software, and the researchers don't know if it will work when 3.0 is released. Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/16/0017221 Links: 0. http://www.technologyreview.com/ 1. http://www.technologyreview.com/communications/22782/ 2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jailbreak_(iPhone) +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Sun Kills Rock CPU, Says NYT Report | | from the what-we-meant-was dept. | | posted by timothy on Tuesday June 16, @09:05 (Sun Microsystems) | | http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/16/1244240 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ BBCWatcher writes "Despite Oracle CEO Larry Ellison's [0]recent statement that his company will continue Sun's hardware business, it won't be with Sun processors (and associated engineering jobs). The New York Times reports that [1]Sun has canceled its long-delayed Rock processor, the next generation SPARC CPU. Instead, the Times says Sun/Oracle will have to rely on Fujitsu for SPARCs (and Intel otherwise). Unfortunately Fujitsu [2]is decreasing its R&D budget and is unprofitable at present. Sun's cancellation of Rock comes just after Intel [3]announced yet another delay for Tukwila, the next generation Itanium, now pushed to 2010. HP is the sole major Itanium vendor. Primary beneficiaries of this CPU turmoil: IBM and Intel's Nehalem X86 CPU business." Discuss this story at: http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/16/1244240 Links: 0. http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1137256/oracle-sun-hardware-business 1. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/15/sun-is-said-to-cancel-big-chip-project/ 2. http://www.fujitsu.com/downloads/IR/finance/2008Full/pdf/all.pdf 3. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13556_3-10246293-61.html +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Erlang's Creator Speaks About Its History and Prospects | | from the still-coy-on-the-meaning dept. | | posted by timothy on Tuesday June 16, @09:28 (Programming) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/16/1313257 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Seal writes "[0]Erlang, originally created at Ericsson in 1986, is a functional programming language which was released as open source around 10 years ago and flourished ever since. In this Q&A, Erlang creator Joe Armstrong talks about its [1]beginnings as a control program for a telephone exchange, its flexibility and its modern day usage in open source programs. 'In the Erlang world we have over twenty years of experience with designing and implementing parallel algorithms. What we lose in sequential processing speed we win back in parallel performance and fault-tolerance,' Armstrong said. He also mentions how multi-core processors pushed the development of Erlang and the advantages of hot swapping." Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/16/1313257 Links: 0. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erlang_(programming_language) 1. http://www.cio.com.au/article/307418/-z_programming_languages_erlang +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Opera 10.0 Released, With Integrated Web Server Functionality | | from the two-way-street dept. | | posted by timothy on Tuesday June 16, @09:49 (The Internet) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/16/1324225 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]sherl0k writes "[1]Opera 10.0, dubbed Opera Unite, has been released. Built into the Web browser is a full-fledged Web server, complete with nifty little gadgets such as a 'fridge' that people can post notes onto, a chat room, a widget to stream your music library anywhere, and a built-in file-sharing mechanism. It also scores 100/100 on the [2]Acid3 test." Readers [3]fudreporter and TLS point to [4]The Register's report on the new release and a [5] 5-minute video demo, respectively. Update: 06/16 15:18 GMT by [6]T: Roar Lauritzsen of Opera Software writes to point out that "release" isn't quite the right word here; though you can download it, version 10.0 is still in beta, and the version with Unite is a labs (experimental) release. Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/16/1324225 Links: 0. http://edgeemu.net/ 1. http://unite.opera.com/ 2. http://acid3.acidtests.org/ 3. http://www.fudreport.com/ 4. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/16/opera_unite/ 5. http://www.netbooknews.com/311/replace-your-server-with-opera-united/ 6. http://www.monkey.org/~timothy/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | China's Green Dam, No Longer Compulsory, May Have Lifted Code | | from the when-the-levee-breaks dept. | | posted by timothy on Tuesday June 16, @10:39 (Censorship) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/16/1422235 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]LionMage writes "Much has been made previously of how China's Green Dam software [1]must be installed on all new PCs in China, and of more recent revelations that [2]the software may create exploitable security vulnerabilities or even [3]provide the Chinese government with a ready-made botnet to use for potentially nefarious purposes. (One of those prior articles even discusses how Green Dam incorporates blacklists from CyberSitter.) Now the BBC is reporting that Solid Oak's CyberSitter software may have had [4]more than just a compiled blacklist lifted from it. Solid Oak is claiming that [5]actual pieces of their code [6]somehow ended up in Green Dam. From PC Magazine's article: 'Solid Oak Software, the developer of CyberSitter, claims that the look and feel of the GUI used by Green Dam mimics the style of CyberSitter. But more damning, chief executive Brian Milburn said, was the fact that the Green Dam code uses DLLs identified with the CyberSitter name, and even makes calls back to Solid Oak's servers for updates.'" Relatedly, reader Spurious Logic writes that Green Dam [7]won't be mandatory after all, according to an unnamed official with China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/16/1422235 Links: 0. http://lionmage.livejournal.com/ 1. http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/06/08/053230/Chinese-Government-To-Mandate-PC-Censorware 2. http://it.slashdot.org/story/09/06/11/1347219/Chinese-Govt-Spyware-Puts-Computers-At-Risk 3. http://it.slashdot.org/story/09/06/11/1912240/Is-China-Creating-the-Worlds-Largest-Botnet-Army 4. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8101978.stm 5. http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2244163/china-green-dam-block-pc 6. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2348705,00.asp 7. http://www.crn.com/software/217900033;jsessionid=OD3ICOTVW3MWCQSNDLPSKHSCJUNN2JVN +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Fertility Clinic Bows To Pressure, Nixes Eye- and Hair-Color Screen| | from the gets-pretty-creepy-doesn't-it? dept. | | posted by timothy on Tuesday June 16, @11:24 (Biotech) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/16/158207 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]destinyland writes "A fertility service in L.A. and New York screens embryos for breast cancer, cystic fibrosis, and 70 other diseases â and lets couples pick the sex of their babies. But when their pre-implantation diagnostic services began including the baby's eye and hair color, even the Pope objected â and the [1]Great Designer Baby Controversy began. '[W]e cannot escape the fact that science is moving forward,' the fertility service explained â before capitulating to pressure to eliminate the eye and hair color screenings." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/16/158207 Links: 0. http://www.destinyland.org/ 1. http://www.hplusmagazine.com/articles/bio/great-designer-baby-controversy-%E2%80%9909 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | NASA To Trigger Massive Explosion On the Moon In Search of Ice | | from the smashing-darling-smashing dept. | | posted by timothy on Tuesday June 16, @12:13 (Moon) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/16/1556254 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]Hugh Pickens writes "NASA is preparing to launch the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, which will fly a Centaur rocket booster into the moon, [1]triggering a six-mile-high explosion that scientists hope will confirm whether water is frozen in the perpetual darkness of craters near the moon's south pole. If the spacecraft launches on schedule at 12:51 p.m. Wednesday, it will hit the moon in the early morning hours of October 8 after an [2]86-day Lunar Gravity-Assist, Lunar Return Orbit that will allow the spacecraft time to complete its two-month commissioning phase and conduct nearly a month of science data collection of polar crater measurements before colliding with the moon just 10 minutes behind the Centaur." (Continues, below.) This story continues at: http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/16/1556254 Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/16/1556254 Links: 0. http://hughpickens.com/ 1. http://www.siliconvalley.com/ci_12590357 2. http://lcross.arc.nasa.gov/targeting.htm +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Ideal, and Actual, IT Performance Metrics? | | from the spin-the-dial-shake-the-8-ball dept. | | posted by timothy on Tuesday June 16, @13:00 (Businesses) | | http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/16/1630230 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ An anonymous reader writes "Recently it was revealed that our company measures IT performance by the time it takes to close trouble tickets. I consider IT's primary goal to be as transparent to the user as possible, thus this metric was rather troubling to me. Shouldn't we be focused on reducing calls, rather than simply closing them quickly? My question is: How is your IT performance measured, and how do you think it should be measured?" Discuss this story at: http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/16/1630230 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | A Black Day For Internet Freedom In Germany | | from the sun-going-down dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday June 16, @13:50 (Censorship) | | http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/16/1657255 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Several readers including [0]erlehmann and [1]tmk wrote to inform us about the [2]dawning of Internet censorship in Germany under the usual guise of protecting the children. "This week, the two big political parties ruling Germany in a coalition held the final talks on their proposed Internet censorship scheme. DNS queries for sites on a list will be given fake answers that lead to a page with a stop sign. The list itself is maintained by the German federal police (Bundeskriminalamt). A protest movement has formed over the course of the last several months, and over 130K citizens have signed a petition protesting the law. Despite this, and despite criticism from all sides, the two parties sped up the process for the law to be signed on Thursday, June 18, 2009." Discuss this story at: http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/16/1657255 Links: 0. http://dieweltistgarnichtso.net/ 1. http://notes.computernotizen.de/ 2. http://netzpolitik.org/2009/the-dawning-of-internet-censorship-in-germany/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Buckyballs Polymerized Into Buckywires | | from the buck-for-your-thoughts dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday June 16, @14:36 (Science) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/16/1719257 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]KentuckyFC writes "Scientists have found a way to join [1]buckyballs together so that they form buckywires. The wires form when buckyballs are dissolved in an aromatic hydrocarbon called 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene. The solvent [2]links the balls together to make wires shaped like a string of pearls, which then precipitate out. This relatively simple procedure opens the door to industrial-scale manufacture. Buckywires ought to be efficient light harvesters because of their great surface area and the way they can conduct photon-liberated electrons. But perhaps the area of greatest interest is drug delivery. The researchers suggest that buckywires ought to be safer than carbon nanotubes because the production method is entirely metal-free. This contrasts with the production of nanotubes, which are formed in a reaction catalyzed by metallic nanoparticles." Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/16/1719257 Links: 0. http://arxivblog.technologyreview.com/ 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fullerene 2. http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/23682/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Passengers Cheat Flu Scan With Fever Reducers | | from the take-two-aspirin-and-infect-me-in-the-morning dept. | | posted by samzenpus on Tuesday June 16, @14:36 (Medicine) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/16/1629200 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ Nguyen Van Chau, head of Ho Chi Minh City's Health Department, has revealed that many sick passengers who flew to Ho Chi Minh City [0]used fever reducers to fool temperature scanners at the airport. The government has confirmed 26 people infected with H1N1 flu, 23 of whom came by air after traveling in the United States or Australia. State media reports that the discovery of these scanner cheaters led to the detection of several infected cases later. Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/16/1629200 Links: 0. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090615/od_nm/us_flu_fever;_ylt=Aqfx0y80KQg7bJc.RdUE5iISH9EA +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Windows 7 Licensing a "Disaster" For XP Shops | | from the punished-for-cautious-waiting dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday June 16, @15:22 (Windows) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/16/1756229 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]snydeq writes "Enterprise licensing for Windows 7 could cause [1]major headaches and add more cost to the Windows 7 migration effort, InfoWorld reports. Under the proposed license, businesses that purchase PCs with Windows 7 pre-installed within six months of the [2]Oct. 23 launch date will be able to downgrade those systems to XP, and later upgrade back to Windows 7 when ready to migrate users. PCs bought after April 22, 2010, however, can only be downgraded to Vista â no help for XP-based organizations, which would be wise to wait 12 to 18 months before adopting Windows 7, so that they can test hardware and software compatibility and ensure their vendors' Windows 7 support meets their needs. XP shops that chose not to install Vista will have to either rush their migration process or spend extra to enroll in Microsoft's Software Assurance program, which allows them to install any OS version â for about $90 per year per PC." Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/16/1756229 Links: 0. http://www.infoworld.com/ 1. http://www.infoworld.com/d/windows/microsofts-looming-windows-7-licensing-disaster-xp-users-639 2. http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/05/01/1234221/Windows-7-Launch-Date-Leaked-mdash-23-Oct-2009?art_pos=3 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Palm Pre Does Not Get US Tethering Either | | from the cutting-the-cord dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday June 16, @16:11 (Cellphones) | | http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/16/1928236 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ fermion writes "The Register is reporting that [0]Palm has sent a note to the Pre Dev Wiki asking it to [1]stop discussing tethering. Palm is worried that its US carrier partner, Sprint, is none too eager to have users tether the game-changing tetherable smart phone. While the communication was informal, not legal, the development forum is evidently eager to avoid any possibility of lawsuits, so has rapidly agreed. Perhaps, like the iPhone, the Pre is going have a [2]vigorous underground. What is interesting is that the Pre, like the iPhone (allegedly), can be tethered outside of the US; but even those customers are being denied apparently lawful information to satisfy the US exclusive agents." Discuss this story at: http://mobile.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/16/1928236 Links: 0. http://predev.wikidot.com/tethering 1. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/15/pre_tethering/ 2. http://www.palmprehacks.net/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Revived Microbe May Hold Clues For ET Lifeforms | | from the calling-agent-smilla dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday June 16, @16:58 (Biotech) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/16/1935236 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ krou writes "Science Daily is reporting that a microbe, Herminiimonas glaciei, buried some 3 km under glacial ice in Greenland, and believed to have been frozen for some 120,000 years, has [0]been brought back to life ([1]abstract). The microbe, some ten to fifty times smaller than E. coli, was brought back over several months by slowly incubating it at gradually increasing temperatures. After 11.5 months, the microbe began to replicate. Scientists believe that it could help us understand how life may exist on other planets. Dr. Jennifer Loveland-Curtze, who headed up the team of scientists from Pennsylvania State University, said: 'These extremely cold environments are the best analogues of possible extraterrestrial habitats. ... [S]tudying these bacteria can provide insights into how cells can survive and even grow under extremely harsh conditions, such as temperatures down to -56C, little oxygen, low nutrients, high pressure and limited space.' She also added that it 'isn't a pathogen and is not harmful to humans, but it can pass through a 0.2 micron filter, which is the filter pore size commonly used in sterilization of fluids in laboratories and hospitals. If there are other ultra-small bacteria that are pathogens, then they could be present in solutions presumed to be sterile. In a clear solution very tiny cells might grow but not create the density sufficient to make the solution cloudy.'" Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/16/1935236 Links: 0. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090614201734.htm 1. http://ijs.sgmjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/59/6/1272 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Researchers Build a Browser-Based Darknet | | from the easy-come-easy-go dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday June 16, @17:48 (Security) | | http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/16/205232 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ ancientribe writes "At Black Hat USA next month, researchers will demonstrate a way to [0]use modern browsers to more easily build darknets â underground private Internet communities where users can share content and ideas securely and anonymously. HP's Billy Hoffman and Matt Wood have created Veiled, a proof-of-concept darknet that only requires participants have an HTML 5-based browser to join. No special software or configuration is necessary, unlike with darknets such as Tor. Veiled is basically a 'zero footprint' network, in which groups can rapidly form and disappear without a trace. The researchers admit darknets are attractive to bad guys, too, but they say they think these more easily set-up and dismantled nets will be more popular for mainstream (and legit) users." In somewhat related news, reader cheesethegreat informs us that [1]version 0.7.5 of FreeNet has hit the tubes. Discuss this story at: http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/16/205232 Links: 0. http://www.darkreading.com/security/encryption/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=217801293 1. http://freenetproject.org/ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | HTML 5 Takes Aim At Flash and Silverlight | | from the crowding-out-the-proprietary dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday June 16, @18:37 (Programming) | | http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/16/2030204 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]snydeq writes "While Adobe, Microsoft, and Sun duke it out with proprietary technologies for implementing multimedia on the Web, [1]HTML 5 has the potential to eat these vendors' lunches, offering Web experiences based on an industry standard. In fact, one expressed goal of the standard is to move the Web away from proprietary technologies such as Flash, Silverlight, and JavaFX. 'It would be a terrible step backward if humanity's major development platform [the Web] was controlled by a single vendor the way that previous platforms such as Windows have been,' says HTML 5 co-editor Ian Hickson, a Google employee. But whether HTML 5 and its Canvas technology will displace proprietary plug-ins 'really depends on what developers do,' says Firefox technical lead Vlad Vukicevic. It also depends on Microsoft, the only company involved in the HTML 5 effort that is both a browser developer and an RIA tool developer. 'That's a big elephant in the room for them because you can imagine the Silverlight team [whose] whole existence is to add [this] functionality in. [But] if Internet Explorer puts it already in there, why do we have Silverlight?' asks Mozilla's Dion Almaer." The RIA guys are quoted as saying they're not worried, because HTML 5 + CSS 3 is 10 years out. Are they just whistling in the dark? Discuss this story at: http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/16/2030204 Links: 0. http://www.infoworld.com/ 1. http://www.infoworld.com/print/79291 +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Statistical Suspicions In Iran's Election | | from the funny-smell dept. | | posted by kdawson on Tuesday June 16, @19:24 (Math) | | http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/06/16/2137203 | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ [0]hoytak writes "An expert in electoral fraud, professor [1]Walter Melbane, has released a [2]detailed analysis (PDF) of available data in Iran's controversial election ([3]summary here). While he did not find significant indications of fraud, he does note that all the deviations from the predicted model are in Ahmadinejad's favor: 'In general, combining the 2005 and 2009 data conveys the impression that a substantial core of the 2009 results reflected natural political process... [These] stand in contrast to the unusual pattern in which all of the notable discrepancies between the support Ahmadinejad actually received and the support the model predicts are always negative. This pattern needs to be explained before one can have confidence that natural election processes were not supplemented with artificial manipulations.'" In related news, [4]EsonLinji notes reports in the [5]Seattle PI and [6]other [7]sources that the US State Department has asked Twitter to delay system maintenance to prevent cutting off Iranians who have been relying on the service during the post-election crisis. And if you would like to help ease the communication crunch, reader RCulpepper tips a blog post detailing [8]how to set up a proxy server for users with Iranian IP addresses. Discuss this story at: http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=09/06/16/2137203 Links: 0. http://www.washington.edu/~hoytak/ 1. http://www-personal.umich.edu/~wmebane/ 2. http://www-personal.umich.edu/~wmebane/note14jun2009.pdf 3. http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/06/more-statistical-analysis.html 4. http://blog.phlebasconsidered.net/ 5. http://blog.seattlepi.com/thebigblog/archives/171381.asp?from=blog_last3 6. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/technology/twitter/5552733/Twitter-maintained-service-during-Iranian-elections-after-US-State-Dept-request.html 7. http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hVfx9nWcGKwoXsxpAQZFJhNwGVsAD98RVV7G0 8. http://blog.austinheap.com/2009/06/15/how-to-setup-a-proxy-for-iran-citizens/ |