strangel - Slashdot User

Submission + - Foreign OTAKU to publish Anime guidebook in Japan

Submitted by

May

on Thursday March 22, 2007 @06:14PM

May writes: "An Otaku from Hong Kong, moved to Japan to master "Otaku Way", is to publish an official guidebook of a Japanese anime, "RED GARDEN" (http://anime.excite.co.jp/redgarden/index.html) on March 26. The book is sold and distributed by a Japanese publisher. He works as the first non-Japanese editor as well as writer specialized in Otaku culture in Japanese publishing industry, while pursuing his PhD at a Japanese University to study Otaku culture. He can be said as a person who realized dream of Otakus in overseas."

Submission + - Teens create most magical square ever

Submitted by Arrawa on Thursday March 22, 2007 @05:57PM

Arrawa writes: Three Dutch teens created the most magical square ever and astonisch math experts. In this (Dutch languaged) video they explain why it is so remarkable.

Submission + - Ron Paul uses the Internet to fight for Presidency

Submitted by unagi_roll on Thursday March 22, 2007 @05:52PM

unagi_roll writes: Who the hell is Ron Paul? Ron Paul begins his 2008 presidential campaign and is quickly gaining momentum on the Internet. Fox News asked the underdog about his tactics yesterday. How does he have the largest Myspace following? Why does he continue to fight despite the odds? — fox news video Ron Paul's Platform announced on CNN — video

How To Make the DS Even Better 82

Posted by Zonk on Thursday March 22, 2007 @05:46PM from the add-a-totally-wicked-spoiler dept.

Next Generation has up an interesting piece considering ways to make the ultra-successful Nintendo DS even better. Thoughts include streamlining the needlessly complicated 'friend code' system, adding internal flash ram to the device, and rolling out a virtual console system ala the Wii. Their best idea, I think, is to use the GBA slot on the system for a cartridge including all of these new elements: "The advantage over typical 'system upgrades', like the ram expansion for the N64 or the PS2 hard drive, is that this cartridge should have little direct effect on game software; it would simply transform the DS into a more useful and personal tool. Such an update would also weed out the necessity to offer a whole new DS model, further annoying people who felt forced to upgrade to the DS Lite - itself only a cosmetic adjustment."

Submission + - Zune Vs. Apple's Monopoly on the Media

Submitted by

Dotnaught

on Thursday March 22, 2007 @05:45PM

Dotnaught writes: "Zune was the number two selling hard drive-based digital music player in December and January, but it's a distant number two and it's not gaining ground against Apple — its market share gains are coming at the expense of smaller competitors. Beyond the challenge of convincing consumers to buy a Zune, Microsoft faces a battle for public perception. When Google News thinks "Zune" is a typo and current iPod news stories online outnumber Zune stories 25-to-1, what can Microsoft do to get better press?"

Submission + - Bill Gates to finally receive his Harvard degree

Submitted by

coondoggie

on Thursday March 22, 2007 @05:32PM

coondoggie writes: "It's not like he needs it to beef up his résumé, but the world's richest college dropout finally is getting his degree. Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, will speak at Harvard University's commencement ceremony in June and, like all commencement speakers, will receive an honorary degree from the institution. It's hard to guess if Gates, the wealthiest person in the world and co-founder of a company that brought in $44 billion in revenue last year, cares. But the programming whiz who once dropped out of Harvard will likely feel some sense of satisfaction. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/032207-bill- gates-to-finally-receive.html"

Submission + - PTO Rejects Instant Live Patent

Submitted by

Jivecat

on Thursday March 22, 2007 @05:29PM

Jivecat writes: "Instant Live, a service of the concert promotion company Live Nation, makes recordings of live concerts that are rapidly burned onto CDs to be sold to the audience before they leave the venue. It's a nice service for fans, but Live Nation holds the patent for a technology that places markers between songs so they can be written as separate tracks rather than one big track — in effect giving them a monopoly on in-concert recordings. Now, thanks to the efforts of the EFF and a patent attorney, who found prior work of similar technology, the U.S. Patent Office has revoked Live Nation's patent. This is good news for those who consider Live Nation to be the Evil Empire when it comes to concert promotion."

Submission + - Single human gene gives mice tri-color vision

Submitted by

maynard

on Thursday March 22, 2007 @05:28PM

maynard writes: "Scientists from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Howard Hughes Medical Institute working in collaboration have published a study in the peer reviewed journal Science showing that mice transgenetically altered with a single human gene are then able to see in full tri-color vision. Mice without this alteration are normally colorblind. The scientists speculate that even mammalian brains from animals that have never evolved color vision are flexible enough to interpret new color sense information with just a simple addition of new photoreceptors. Such a result is also indicated by a dominant X chromosome mutation that allows for quad-color vision in some women. From the article:

The experiments were designed to determine whether the brains of the genetically altered mice could efficiently process sensory information from the new photoreceptors in their eyes. Among mammals, this more complex type of color vision has only been observed in primates, and therefore the brains of mice did not need to evolve to make these discriminations.

The new abilities of the genetically engineered mice indicate that the mammalian brain possesses a flexibility that permits a nearly instantaneous upgrade in the complexity of color vision, say the study's senior authors, Gerald Jacobs and Jeremy Nathans.
"

Submission + - Linux on the desktop-problem solved!

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22, 2007 @05:26PM

An anonymous reader writes: It seems that Steven Goodwin (www.bluedust.com) has a really novel solution for Linux vs Dell vs the Desktop. He suggests packaging Linux as if it were a Mac, with custom hardware, and a specially built kernel. http://www.freesoftwaremagazine.com/node/2151 I can see this getting the old granny set, but it would kill off Linux if it ever came to pass.

Submission + - Which IT careers are hot and which are not?

Submitted by necromante on Thursday March 22, 2007 @05:25PM

necromante writes: I've been working on different IT positions through my career: Support, some networking, DBA, web development, project management, even working on the client side for a little while. However I don't feel like I am really an specialist on any of those subjects and I feel I need to focus on a particular field. So I decided to ask Slahdot for some feedback before taking my decision. Is there any IT career that I should consider more than the others? Which are the emerging fields? Any industry in particular? Which careers on IT are actually more in demand and which ones not? Or is a better path to focus on moving into management? By the way, I am writing from Canada. I do understand that this also depends everyones tastes, likes and dislikes. However I would like to have a better idea of which are the available options. I hope the results of this discussion can benefit other Slashdot readers. Thank you for your time!

Submission + - SAP's TomorrowNow Support Service At Heart of Orac

Submitted by Anonymous on Thursday March 22, 2007 @05:19PM

Anonymous writes: Charging "corporate theft on a grand scale," Oracle has filed a wide-ranging lawsuit against its top rival, SAP. The lawsuit, which focuses on SAP's TomorrowNow, a third-party provider of support services for Oracle's PeopleSoft, J.D. Edwards and Siebel product lines, alleges that SAP has systematically, illegally accessed Oracle's customer-support Web site and taken for its own use "thousands" of Oracle software products and other proprietary support materials.

ICANN Set To Review Accreditation Policy 31

Posted by Zonk on Thursday March 22, 2007 @05:17PM from the at-least-something-will-come-of-this dept.

tinkertim writes "ICANN is re-evaluating the scope and purpose of its accreditations, apparently sparked by the recent collapse of garage domain name registrar Registerfly. In a press release dated March 21, 2007, President and CEO of ICANN, Dr Paul Twomey is quoted as saying : 'What has happened to registrants with RegisterFly.com has made it clear there must be comprehensive review of the registrar accreditation process and the content of the RAA.' Dr. Twomey is blaming (in part) 'weaknesses in the RAA' for severe and undue hardships that many registrants encountered when trying to transfer names away from the failing registrar, Registerfly. Many new points to be discussed include allowing registrants to view the performance of registrars in an 'independent comparative way', as well as new language to allow ICANN to forcibly intercede in the face of wide spread, persistent and consistent complaints. 10 good points for discussion are listed by Dr. Twomey in the release, who invites all ICANN stakeholders to participate in re-evaluating the RAA. Registerfly, the catalyst for this re-write does not officially lose their accredited status until March 31, 2007, and continues to display the ICANN seal on their web site."

Submission + - Rosetta benchmarks show Photoshop weakness

Submitted by on Thursday March 22, 2007 @05:11PM

An anonymous reader writes: Here's an interesting Rosetta performance comparison that uses Geekbench 2 on an iMac to measure the performance difference between native applications and Rosetta applications. If you take a look at the benchmarks that emulate applying filters in Photoshop (blur and sharpen image) you'll see why Photoshop feels so slow on a Intel-based Mac. It's a good thing a universal version of Photoshop will be available next week!

Submission + - Palm granted a stay in patent suit

Submitted by Kumba on Thursday March 22, 2007 @05:07PM

Kumba writes: As announced here, Palm was granted a stay in their patent suit against NTP. Quote from Mary Doyle, Palm's Senior VP and general counsel: "We are extremely pleased with the Court's decision to grant a stay. We hope and expect that the PTO's review of NTP's patents will confirm the decision of the examiners to reject them all and so avert the need for further litigation of this matter"

FFXIII Exclusivity Under Discussion 120

Posted by Zonk on Thursday March 22, 2007 @05:05PM from the we-have-a-problem dept.

In an interview between a French-language newspaper and Sony Computer Entertainment France president Georges Fornay, he revealed that FFXIII's exclusivity is still under discussion. Gamespot reports, and attempted to check with Square-Enix about the reality of this situation. If the high-profile RPG's exclusivity is not a lock for the PS3, it could be a crushing blow for Sony's future plans. "The development costs of games have exploded, and it has become more difficult to have exclusives, outside of our own games. But we have for launch day [in France] 30 games, including MotorStorm, Resistance: Fall of Man, and Virtua Fighter 5. Moreover, we are expecting 200 games [for the PS3] by the end of 2007...As far as Final Fantasy XIII goes, I can tell you that the exclusivity is in discussion."

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