×
OS X

Submission + - The True Challenges of Desktop Linux (gnome.org)

Submitted by olau
olau writes: Hot on the heels on the opinion piece on how Mac OS X killed Linux on the desktop is a more levelheaded analysis by another GNOME old-timer Christian Schaller who doesn't think Mac OS X killed anything. In fact, in spite of the hype surrounding Mac OS X, it seems to barely have made a dent in the overall market, he argues. Instead he points to a much longer list of thorny issues that Linux historically has faced as a contender to Microsoft's double-monopoly on the OS and the Office suite.
Java

Submission + - Java exploit patched? Not so fast (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by PCM2
PCM2 writes: The Register reports that Security Explorations' Adam Gowdiak says there is still an exploitable vulnerability in the Java SE 7 Update 7 that Oracle shipped as an emergency patch yesterday. 'As in the case of the earlier vulnerabilities, Gowdiak says, this flaw allows an attacker to bypass the Java security sandbox completely, making it possible to install malware or execute malicious code on affected systems.'
The Military

Submission + - US Army to Train Rats to Save Soldiers' Lives

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "The Department of Defense currently relies on dogs as the animal of choice for explosives detection but training dogs is expensive and takes a long time. Now the US Army is sponsoring a project to develop and test a rugged, automated and low-cost system for training rats to detect improvised explosive devices and mines. “The automated system we’re developing is designed to inexpensively train rats to detect buried explosives to solve an immediate Army need for safer and lower-cost mine removal,” says senior research engineer William Gressick. Trained rats would also create new opportunities to detect anything from mines to humans buried in earthquake rubble because rats can search smaller spaces than a dog can, and are easier to transport. Rats have already been trained by the National Police in Colombia to detect seven different kinds of explosives including ammonium nitrate and fuel oil, gunpowder and TNT but the Rugged Automated Training System (Rats) research sponsored by the US. Army Research Laboratory, plans to produce systems for worldwide use since mines are widespread throughout much of Africa, Asia, and Central America and demining operations are expected to continue for decades to restore mined land to civilian use. “Beyond this application, the system will facilitate the use of rats in other search tasks such as homeland security and search-and-rescue operations" adds Gressick. "In the long-term, the system is likely to benefit both official and humanitarian organizations.”"
Android

Submission + - Going all-Google to replace your PC and TV service (infoworld.com)

Submitted by
GMGruman
GMGruman writes: "James Curnow writes "Google's vision of computing involves tossing your PC or Mac and moving to a cloud-centric, all-Google ecosystem. Call it the Googleplex: a mix of the Chrome OS-based Chromebox PC or Chromebook laptop, one or more Android tablets — perhaps a 10-inch model for work and a 7-inch Nexus 7 for entertainment on the go — and a Nexus Q home entertainment system that you control via an Android device." So he takes the "Googleplex" for a test drive to see how well it delivers on the Android/Chrome OS vision."

Submission + - NCSoft Closes Paragon Studios (cityofheroes.com) 1

Submitted by samazon
samazon writes: Earlier today, City of Heroes community manager Andy Belford announced that NCSoft is shutting down Paragon Studios. Over 7,500 individuals were viewing the official CoH forums as of 3:00 PM EST, and this thread from Belford, AKA Zwilinger, notes that "In a realignment of company focus and publishing support, NCsoft has made the decision to close Paragon Studios. Effective immediately, all development on City of Heroes will cease and we will begin preparations to sunset the world’s first, and best, Super Hero MMORPG before the end of the year."

A petition has already been created to save City of Heroes.
HP

Submission + - HP Launches The Beta Release Of Open WebOS (techcrunch.com)

Submitted by puddingebola
puddingebola writes: HP done gone and released the open source version of WebOS. From the article:
Gone are the days of HP’s TouchPad and Palm ambitions, but HP is moving ahead with its plans to make webOS, its beleaguered mobile operating system, live on as open-source supported platform. Today it’s launching the beta release... The release will have 54 components available as open source, the blog says, some 450,000 lines of code under the Apache 2.0 license.
Open Source

Submission + - App.net's Crowdfunders: Taken For A Ride? (infoworld.com)

Submitted by
snydeq
snydeq writes: "At least 10,000 people believe in App.net's vision of a messaging platform for Web apps — but it's unclear whether those people will be peers or sharecroppers, writes Simon Phipps. 'Last week App.net reached the milestone of 10,000 users who signed up for a new — mostly yet to be written — social network that looks like an early reimplementation of Twitter. Signing up people to claim user names on an (not vaporware) alpha Web service may not seem surprising or novel, but this time there's a difference: Everyone who signed up for App.net paid $50 for the privilege,' Phipps writes. 'App.net has used the crowdfunding approach, but it's not the same kind of project. While superficially similar — there's an offer of immediate use of its Twitter-clone service and reservation of the user ID of your choice — it's much more speculative. It's crowdsourcing the seed capital for a new venture, crowdsourcing the design, crowdsourcing the testing, and crowdsourcing most of the software that interacts with the venture, all without actually giving anyone but the founder a true stake in the outcome.'"
Java

Submission + - Security Pros Advise Users To Ditch Java (infoworld.com)

Submitted by
snydeq
snydeq writes: "The 'write once, run anywhere' software platform has become a favorite of cyber attackers. Is it time for users to kill their Java? Security firms think so. None too gentle with Oracle's Java following the revelation this week that attackers are using two Java vulnerabilities to compromise selected targets, security pros are advising users to uninstall the Java plug-in in your browser and don't use services that require the software."
Space

Submission + - Simple Sugar Detected Surrounding a Binary Star (nationalgeographic.com)

Submitted by eldavojohn
eldavojohn writes: Slashdot has covered organic compounds in meteorites as well as in stellar ejecta but now scientists are claiming to have found sugar — glycoaldehyde to be exact — surrounding a star with the aid of the radio telescope Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA) in Chile. The results were peer reviewed in The Astrophysical Journal Letters and a PDF release of the paper is available. From an explanation of how they detected this: 'The gas and dust clouds that collapse to form new stars are extremely cold and many gases solidify as ice on the particles of dust where they then bond together and form more complex molecules. But once a star has been formed in the middle of a rotating cloud of gas and dust, it heats the inner parts of the cloud to around room temperature, evaporating the chemically complex molecules, and forming gases that emit their characteristic radiation as radio waves that can be mapped using powerful radio telescopes such as ALMA.'
Science

Submission + - Glass shape influences how quickly we drink alcohol

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In the category of science you can use, a recent paper in PLOS One reports on the affect of glass shape on the speed of consumption of alcoholic beverages. Drinkers consumed alcoholic beverage from a straight glass 60% more slowly than from a curved glass. This effect was only observed for a full glass and not a half-full glass, and it was not observed for a non-alcoholic beverage. Not surprisingly, there was a positive association between total drinking time and mis-estimation of the amount of alcohol consumption.
Apple

Submission + - Steve Jobs reincarnated as a warrior-philosopher, Thai group says (foxnews.com)

Submitted by Velcroman1
Velcroman1 writes: When Apple founder Steve Jobs died after a long fight with cancer last year, software engineer Tony Tseung sent an email to a Buddhist group in Thailand to find out what happened to his old boss now that he’s no longer of this world. This month, Tseung received his answer. Jobs has been reincarnated as a celestial warrior-philosopher, the Dhammakaya group said in a special television broadcast, and he’s living in a mystical glass palace hovering above his old office at Apple’s Cupertino, Calif. headquarters.

Submission + - Promiscuity Alters DNA and Boosts Immunity in Mice 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Scientists from the University of California, Berkeley found that promiscuous mice have significantly stronger immune systems than monogamous mice, suggesting that promiscuous mice may have developed more robust immunity to protect them against the disease-causing bacteria they are exposed to from mating with multiple partners.
Science

Submission + - Dogs Rid Beaches of Microbes (sciencemag.org) 1

Submitted by sciencehabit
sciencehabit writes: If you spent time at the beach this summer, you probably encountered seagulls screeching overhead and eating trash. You probably also encountered their poop. Seagull droppings can carry disease-causing microbes like Escherichia coli and Enterococcus, which can contaminate beaches and water. Now scientists have found a way to fight back: Release the hounds. In a new study, researchers show that unleashing dogs keeps the seagulls away—and the water at the beach free of microbes.
Network

Submission + - FCC to review the relative value of low, high, and super-high spectrum licenses (extremetech.com)

Submitted by
MrSeb
MrSeb writes: "The FCC is reviewing the rules it has for spectrum license ownership, particularly on how much spectrum any one company can hold. The FCC is considering this rework because the rules do not currently account for the properties of different frequencies of spectrum. There are three main classes of spectrum for cellular wireless networks: low band, high band, and super high band — but at the moment, they are all valued equally. Given that low band spectrum is valued favorably against high band and super high band spectrum in the market, and that AT&T and Verizon have by far the most low band spectrum, it makes sense for the FCC to adjust its rules in order to more accurately determine how much spectrum any one company needs."
Games

Submission + - ArenaNet Suspends Digital Sales of Guild Wars 2 (ign.com)

Submitted by kungfugleek
kungfugleek writes: Throughout the launch of subscription-free MMO Guild Wars 2, ArenaNet has stated that the player-experience is their top priority and, if necessary, they would suspend digital sales to protect their servers from crushing loads. While the launch has been considerably more stable than most big-budget MMO's in recent months, some players, especially those in Europe, have experienced trouble logging in and getting booted from servers. So yesterday, ArenaNet held true to their word, and temporarily suspended digital sales from their website. Personally, I think this is an incredible show of customer-centered focus. To turn down purchases, especially first-party purchases, where the seller gets a higher percentage of the sale, during a major title's first week of sales, would be inconceivable by other companies. Is this a bad move for ArenaNet? Will there be enough of a long-term payout to make up for the lost sales? And does this put pressure on other major studios to follow suit in the face of overwhelming customer response?
Wireless Networking

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Mobile Ad-Hoc Wireless Mesh Network for Fire Department Vehicles

Submitted by Texaskilt
Texaskilt writes: I am looking to put together a mobile mesh network for my volunteer fire department and would like some recommendations from the Slashdot crowd.

Ideally, the network would consist of cheap wireless routers (Linksys WRT-type) mounted on each vehicle. From there, tablets or other wireless devices could connect to the router. When the vehicles are in the station, the routers would auto-connect to the WiFi network to receive calls for service and other updates. When out on a call, the router would form an ad-hoc network with other vehicles on the scene. If a vehicle came into range of an Internet "hotspot", it would notify other vehicles and become a gateway for the rest of the "ad-hoc" networked vehicles.

I've looked at Freifunk for this, but would like some other options. Recommendations please?
Earth

Submission + - The science that links (or doesn't) climate change to wildfires (thebulletin.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Given that this is predicted to be a record-breaking wildfire year, this is an interesting point: "Global fire models project that 38 percent of the planet will see increased fire activity over the next 30 years, while 8 percent will see decreased activity, but there is low agreement between the models about fire trends for the remaining 54 percent of the planet."
Facebook

Submission + - Data-Mine Your Own Facebook Data with Wolfram Alpha (slashdot.org)

Submitted by
Nerval's Lobster
Nerval's Lobster writes: "Ever wanted to mine your own Facebook data? Wolfram Alpha is offering you the chance.

Wolfram Alpha bills itself as a “computational knowledge engine.” In contrast to other search engines such as Google and Bing, which return pages of blue hyperlinks in response to queries, Wolfram Alpha offers up objective data: type in the name of a person, for example, and you might receive their dates of birth and death, a timeline, and a graph of Wikipedia page hits.

Now Wolfram Alpha's offering a new feature that can spit back years of your personal Facebook data sliced, diced, visualized and analyzed."
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft's DMCA takedown blitz smells of Windows 8 censorship (networkworld.com)

Submitted by colinneagle
colinneagle writes: Out of the blue, a number of reputable online publications, including BetaNews, Hardware Canucks, PowerArchiver, NGOHQ, and Technize (among many others), received DMCA takedown orders from Google that claim on Microsoft’s behalf that the sites were infringing on various Microsoft copyrights.

There was something odd about the takedown orders, however. The URLs in questions contained things like screenshot galleries and news posts that simply linked to the trial editions and release previews of Windows 8. Many of the sites also hosted user-generated comments though, many of which were quite negative in regards to Windows 8, which sparked some heated discussion that this was a strategic move by Microsoft to get negative sentiments delisted by Google prior to Windows 8’s launch.

Compounding the problem, publications are assumed guilty until proven innocent in these situations. Once a DMCA takedown request is submitted, whether the URL in question actually contains questionable material or not, the URL is removed from Google’s search results, which will adversely affect the site’s traffic. The sites have to fill out a DMCA Counter Notification form to counter the original notice and simply hope for the best.
Space

Submission + - Optical SETI Gets a Major Upgrade (planetary.org)

Submitted by
DevotedSkeptic
DevotedSkeptic writes: "The Planetary Society Optical SETI Telescope in Harvard, Massachusetts just got a major upgrade of its electronics. The telescope, which has been operating the only all-sky optical SETI survey since its opening in 2006, is run by Harvard University Professor Paul Horowitz and his team. The telescope scans the sky every clear night with a 72-inch primary mirror, looking for laser pulses as short as one billionth of a second that could be transmitted by distant extraterrestrials. When observing, it has been able to process 1 terabit (trillion bits) of data every second, that’s as much as in all the books in print every second.

One of the things causing false triggers of the system has been Cherenkov radiation, light given off when charged cosmic particles plunge through the Earth’s atmosphere faster than the speed of light in the atmosphere. What was needed was a new, even more amazing, set of back-end electronics that could not only sift data quickly, but also store more of it than previously possible so that the streaks of light from Cherenkov radiation or other sources can be sorted out from the points of light that might emanate from an alien signal. Curtis Mead’s impressive designs for electronics boards meet those needs.

The boards, made possible by Planetary Society members, have now been fabricated, thoroughly tested in the lab, and were just recently installed on the telescope. But, wait, it gets better. The Harvard team also upgraded the photomultiplier tube detectors with new models that are more sensitive and that extend out into the infrared (to 950 nanometers wavelength). Since we don’t know what wavelength an extraterrestrial civilization might transmit at, observing at a wider range of wavelengths will improve our chances."

Slashdot Top Deals