Catch up on stories from the past week (and beyond) at the Slashdot story archive

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft will not sue over Linux patents

Submitted by Nero Nimbus
Nero Nimbus writes: In an official statement emailed to ZDNet UK, Microsoft confirmed that it would not litigate for now.

"If we wanted to go down that road we could have done that three years ago," said a Microsoft spokesperson. "Rather than litigate, Microsoft has spent the last three years building an intellectual property bridge that works for all parties — including open source — and the customer response has been tremendously positive. Our focus is on continuing to build bridges."
Security

Submission + - First OpenOffice virus emerges

Submitted by
Slinkysausage
Slinkysausage writes: "Pop the champagne corks, Microsoft. Yes, it's another round of FUD from an anti-malware vendor that has gotten hold of a proof-of-concept virus that has never been spotted in the wild. STILL, it is kinda interesting: the worm exploits a vulnerability in the "StarBasic" scripting language included in OpenOffice to drop scripts in platform-appropriate languages onto the host computer. For example, on Windows it drops Javascript files as well as using MiRC to propagate, on OS X, Rubyscript, and on Linux, Python and Pearl. APC Magazine has the lowdown including part of the indecent picture the virus shows ... of a man in a bunny suit doing a gal in the woods."
The Internet

Submission + - So we just closed all our libraries. Good or bad?

Submitted by
mrcpu
mrcpu writes: "Voters in Jackson County, OR just pulled the plug on funding their library system, opting to close all the branches (all built brand new within the last few years, 15 of 'em), rather than cutback. Of course, this has created much division in a couple areas. One is that "I have the Internet, what do I need a library for"? With pro's and con's to each side. The other issue was the funding mechanism, with the loss of some federal funding, the county leaders decided to attempt to strongarm a levy with no backing. But be that as it may, in this day,
and age, are libraries useful? Do we still need them? Do you buy most of your books? Have you been to a non-school/university library recently? Did using a library change your life in any significant way? Or are they an anachronism, and a throwback to a day when information wasn't readily available?"
Microsoft

Submission + - Eben on the Microsoft Patent Threat

Submitted by ballmerfud
ballmerfud writes: I am sure that by now everyone is tired of hearing about the Microsoft patent FUD, but Eben Moglen, professor of law and head honcho at the Software Freedom Law Center, touched on this issue just last week in a speech he gave in San Diego. Eben's statement is so eloquent and succinct that it might be worthwhile for those who haven't found it by other means to hear it. In this clip he explains the in-depth mechanics of the MS patent threat and specifically how it relates to the Novell deal. The intent is essentially to threaten open source developers while simultaneously evading any backlash from enterprise customers (and even make a buck from it). This may be nothing new to many here, but Eben explains it beautifully. http://www.redhatmagazine.com/2007/05/14/summit-20 07-eben-moglen-on-microsofts-summer-of-fear/
Biotech

Submission + - SPAM: Herpes could save your life from plague

Submitted by
FiReaNGeL
FiReaNGeL writes: "Mice with chronic herpes virus infections can better resist the bacterium that causes plague and a bacterium that causes one kind of food poisoning, researchers report in this week's Nature. Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis attributed the surprising finding to changes in the immune system triggered by the long-term presence of a latent herpes virus infection. In latent viral infections, the virus is present for the lifetime of the host in a relatively quiescent form that does not cause overt symptoms."
The Internet

Submission + - Internet Captures Half/50% of Spare Time

Submitted by
Ant
Ant writes: "This eMarketer article reports that broadband users spend almost half their spare time in a typical weekday online according to a report. The average broadband user spent an hour and 40 minutes of her typical weekday spare time online. Over half of that time online was devoted to entertainment and communication. The study also noted a range of users' spare time activities, and found that e-mail and personal Web surfing trumped TV/televsion viewing. Seen on Digg."
Google

Submission + - Google creates 'uber' search site

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — In its biggest revamp ever to its home page, Google on Wednesday launched its version of universal search, a redesign that will list in one place search results from a variety of media.

Combined with its other new features, universal search not only makes it easier to find relevant information in one place, it will put even more pressure on Google's competitors.

Instead of using separate search pages for photos, video, news, archived news, scanned books and other sources relevant to, say, "Steve Jobs," Google's universal search users will find links to all of those sources in a single search attempt.

"Now with universal search we can provide a more holistic answer," Marissa Mayer, Google's vice president of search products and user experience, said during a "Searchology" media event at the company's Mountain View, Calif., headquarters.

To illustrate further, Mayer searched for the classic black-and-white horror film Nosferatu. The first result was a link to a popular film site, IMDB, and the second was a link to the actual movie, which can be played on the page in a window. A search for "I have a dream" will display results related to Martin Luther King Jr.'s famous civil rights speech, as well as to a video of the speech. The results also will include video from other sources such as video-sharing site Metacafe.

http://news.com.com/Google+creates+uber+search+sit e/2100-1038_3-6184416.html?tag=nefd.top
Editorial

Submission + - The Long Term Effects of Plastics on the Earth

Submitted by
lostraven
lostraven writes: "Nearly 40% of our ocean surface contains floating heaps of predominately plastic? So it seems, at least according to Charles Moore and the Algalita Marine Research Foundation. And the effects that plastics potentially have on life both on and off shore are alarming. From studies of how bisphenol A affects insulin output to findings of dead seabirds "packed with plastic", the "60 billion tons" of plastic created each year effects much of the biosphere. While the article leans slightly towards being an opinion piece, it serves to point out that manufacturers and consumers should be more aware of the effects plastic has on the Earth and its inhabitants."
Slashdot.org

Submission + - More Operation Ore fallout

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The BBC is running a story which further investigates foul-ups at Operation Ore (previously on Slashdot), in which 7,000 people whose credit card details were found on a child porn website were automatically arrested. The problem, alleges the BBC, is that (a) credit card fraud was rife, so lots of people were wrongly accused, but (b) many of the wrongly accused may have accepted a police caution in order to end the matter quickly and discretely. Many committed suicide, but we'll never know the guilty/innocent ratio there. Meanwhile the police claim the fact that some genuine pedophiles were arrested makes it all OK. I don't know about my fellow slashdotters, but this story scares the bejesus out of me.

Slashdot Top Deals

On the eighth day, God created FORTRAN.

Close