edlinfan - Slashdot User

Submission + - New hard drive to work even when computer is off (itworld.com)

Submitted by jfruhlinger on Thursday October 11, 2007 @08:17PM

jfruhlinger writes: You've got a file on your laptop that you need to access — but you don't want to wait for your laptop to boot up to get at it. New technology from SST will make the contents of a hard drive accessible via a computer's USB port even when the computer is powered down.

Submission + - Ignorance is bliss. 1

Submitted by Ep0xi on Thursday October 11, 2007 @08:06PM

Ep0xi writes: From The daily Mail.

How the irregular verb is being 'drived' to extinction
By DAVID DERBYSHIRE — More by this author Last updated at 01:25am on 11th October 2007

The process beginned hundreds of years ago and bringed a huge change in our use of the language.

Now researchers believe more of the irregular verbs that make English such a rich and varied experience are heading for extinction.

In future, 'stank' will evolve into 'stinked', 'drove' will become 'drived' and 'slew' will turn into 'slayed', a team of linguists and mathematicians say. And if the simplification becomes really serious, 'begun' could change to 'beginned', 'brought' to 'bringed' and 'fell' to 'falled'.

The prediction comes from the first study of its kind into how irregular verbs have evolved in literature over the last 1,200 years.

Around 97 per cent of verbs in English are regular. That means in the past tense they simply take an '-ed' ending — so 'talk' becomes 'talked', and 'jump' becomes 'jumped'.

Irregular verbs, however, do their own thing. Some like 'wed' stay the same in the past tense while others like 'begin' take a different ending to become 'begun'.

The study, carried out at Harvard University, found that irregular verbs are under intense pressure to change into regular verbs as language develops.

The team identified 177 irregular verbs used in Old English and tracked their use over the centuries from the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf to the latest Harry Potter novel.

By the 14th century, only 145 were still irregular and by modern times, just 98 remained.

The less commonly used they are, the more they are likely to change, the team reports today in the journal Nature. The scientists predict that 15 of the 98 irregular verbs in the study will have evolved into regular verbs within the next 500 years. Verbs that they say are very likely to change are: bade to bidded; shed — shedded; slew — slayed; slit — slitted; stung — stinged; wed — wedded.

Verbs that are less likely to change are: broke — breaked; bought — buyed; chose — choosed; drew — drawed; drunk — drinked; ate — eated.

Submission + - Story on spammer Alexey Tolstokozhev a fake (taint.org)

Submitted by

wolfeon

on Thursday October 11, 2007 @07:40PM

wolfeon writes: "The story http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/11/2157244 posted today is a fake, sorry. After doing a simple google search, the facts were very clear on the following, http://taint.org/2007/10/11/203243a.html Please ignore the story and lets move on, this is a very bad practical joke. I was very excited and happy until I performed a google search and looked on the ROSKO list.

The story originated from this site, http://loonov.com/russian-viagra-and-penis-enlargement-spammer-murdered.htm The creation date of loonov.com is "11-oct-2007". Did anyone else see this before making comments or giving a thumbs up on firehose?"

Submission + - WebKit Coming to Windows Mobile?

Submitted by __aajbyc7391 on Thursday October 11, 2007 @07:31PM

__aajbyc7391 writes: A Silicon Valley stealth-mode startup, reportedly has developed a Windows Mobile version of WebKit, the open-source HTML rendering engine used by Apple in its Safari Web browser. Wake3's 'WebKit for Windows Mobile' is said to be available now to device manufacturers, wireless operators, and enterprises. Its support for AJAX and other Web 2.0 capabilities may make it a strong competitor to Microsoft's own IE Mobile, Opera's Opera for Devices, and Access's Netfront browsers.

Submission + - US faces US$100 billion fine for web gaming ban

Submitted by Stony Stevenson on Thursday October 11, 2007 @05:34PM

Stony Stevenson writes: A Brussels think-tank has accused the US government of reneging on commitments made to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) over internet gaming. The forum believes that the US could be liable for up to US$100 billion in trade concessions to European industries after placing illegal discriminatory trade restrictions on European gaming operators. The disputed concessions arise from Antigua's victory earlier this year when the WTO ruled that the US violated its treaty obligations by excluding online Antiguan gaming operators, while allowing domestic operators to offer various forms of online gaming.

As a result, all 151 WTO members are considering seeking compensation for the withdrawal equal to the size of the entire US land-based and online gaming market, estimated at nearly US$100 billion.

Submission + - Chinese internet censorship machine revealed

Submitted by Stony Stevenson on Thursday October 11, 2007 @05:26PM

Stony Stevenson writes: The Chinese government has instituted an elaborate system for Internet censorship that employs tens of thousands of censors and police responsible for maintaining control over the flow of information, a report released by international free press advocates showed. Entitled "China: Journey To The Heart Of Internet Censorship," the report issued by Reporters Without Borders outlines the inner workings of a bureaucracy that effectively clamps down on dissent, quashes articles the communist government deems unsuitable for publication, and uses online companies to distribute its own propaganda.

The report, much of which is based on information provided by an unidentified Chinese technician who works for the government's Internet sector, reveals that to control the information flow over such a vast network, three leading government agencies have evolved over the last several years: the Internet Propaganda Administrative Bureau, the Bureau of Information and Public Opinion, and the Internet Bureau, the report said. In Beijing, where most of China's leading commercial Web sites are based, a powerful local agency has been established called the Beijing Internet Information Administrative Bureau.

In general, the Internet Propaganda Administrative Bureau issues licenses to commercial Web sites, which entitles them to provide news stories and reproduce reports disseminated by official media. The licenses, however, do not allow for independent news gathering and publishing.

Submission + - In Case of Death, Disclose Passwords

Submitted by cdoggyd on Thursday October 11, 2007 @03:58PM

cdoggyd writes: Last year, a man, who kept his address book strictly online, died without telling anyone his passwords. This caused problems for his daughter when she tried to notify his contacts. I remember discussion of a "death clock" system that required user interaction at specific intervals to prevent it from disclosing information like passwords. This would have solved the problem for Mr. Talcott's daughter. Does anyone have the actual name and additional information on this system?

Submission + - Online Petition: Aliens, Contact Us Now! (alien-petition.org)

Submitted by on Thursday October 11, 2007 @03:15PM

An anonymous reader writes: This online petition wants to convince extraterrestrial life to contact now officially human mankind. It is widely accepted by many scientists that extraterrestrial life exists. Also an increasing number of people made observations of extraterrestrial activities. But an official message from this form of life is still pending. This petition asks for participation worldwide and creates a nice map with the comments of its visitors from all over the world. The project seems to end on December 15th, 2007. On that day everybody is invited to report every unexplainable activity in their forum.

Submission + - Windows Update Forces Anchors to Parking Lot

Submitted by

abe ferlman

on Thursday October 11, 2007 @10:28AM

abe ferlman writes: "Pittsburgh TV Station WPXI built a shiny new newsroom, but on their ribbon-cutting weekend their broadcast was forced out into the parking lot due to a Windows Update glitch. Reporters read the news off dead-tree media in front of a chain link fence while they waited for the update to finish."

Submission + - Microsoft forces automatic updates yet again 2

Submitted by

Bryant

on Wednesday October 10, 2007 @09:11PM

Bryant writes: "Microsoft has done it again with another forced update and reboot for Windows Vista users on patch tuesday. This comes despite people setting Automatic Updates so that the updates do not install without a user's consent."

Submission + - Reading Between Mozilla's Spin (wordpress.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday October 09, 2007 @11:04PM

An anonymous reader writes: Worried about Thunderbird? Think open source is failing the Mozilla community? Can't quite understand what's going on? The Fake Lizard reads between the lines of the Mozilla Corporation's Mitchell Baker's latest post about Thunderbird. Is that crazy reptile right on or just being harsh? Does it matter? What is going on within Mozilla that's causing people to write posts like this?

Submission + - Openoffice offered with latest Java update

Submitted by

phantomfive

on Tuesday October 09, 2007 @10:03PM

phantomfive writes: "Sun is offering Open Office free with the latest Java update. Most people have Java installed on their computers, and they will probably notice this. The update message says: "To get a FREE copy of OpenOffice, the global standard in free Microsoft Office compatible productivity software, just click the More Information link below.""

Submission + - AT&T reverse course on terms of service (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by Pa Bell on Tuesday October 09, 2007 @09:55PM

Pa Bell writes: AT&T relented and will change language of its controversial Terms of Service, just one week after saying it wouldn't change the language. '"We are revising the terms of service to clarify our intent, and the language in question will be revised to reflect AT&T's respect for our customers' right to express opinions and concerns over any matter they wish," an AT&T spokesperson said. "We will also make clear that we do not terminate service because a customer expresses their opinion about AT&T." When asked about a hypothetical future situation in which a subscriber might criticize AT&T, the spokesman said that AT&T's record in this department speaks for itself, as the company claims to have never terminated a subscriber's account as a result of criticism aimed at the company. "We have never and will never terminate a customer's service for criticizing AT&T," the spokesperson promised.'

Submission + - How many LEDs

Submitted by

gosand

on Tuesday October 09, 2007 @09:18PM

gosand writes: "How many lighted LEDs can you see right now?
none
1 to 5
6 to 10
11 to 15
16 to 20

21+"

Submission + - Toyota unleash adver-gaming on Xbox LIVE (angry-gamer.net)

Submitted by Anonymous Reverse Driver on Tuesday October 09, 2007 @09:04PM

Anonymous Reverse Driver writes: Toyota have released a game based on their Yaris brand of cars on Xbox LIVE Arcade for free. The verdict? They ruined it by turning it into a futuristic shoot 'em up. From the review: "Imagine trying to play the bonus stage from Sonic 2 (running through tubes while collecting stuff) while simultaneously playing Panzer Dragoon. Unlike french fries and ice cream, it's not a weird combination that somehow makes sense once you try it. It's just annoying and stupid."

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