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Submission + - Linux systems send more spam than Windows (zdnet.co.uk) 2

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Tech Brief blog on BBC is running news that, according to Symantec, Linux systems averagely send out 5 times as much spam as Windows systems.

As the averagely computer illiterate Ubuntu Linux user I wonder what that might mean. I used to think Linux systems could not be zombified. Or is it that my fellow Linuxers purposefully send out spam? Or is it FUD? I'm curious to know /.'s opinion about this.
Firefox

Submission + - Wild Fox, Firefox with h.264 HTML 5 support (sourceforge.net)

Submitted by Elledan
Elledan writes: Only two countries in the world have software patents which make it impossible to freely use video codecs such as AVC (h.264). This has led to projects such as Firefox not including AVC support with the HTML 5 video tag in all their releases, resulting in the rest of the world having to indirectly suffer the effects of software patents as well. To rectify this situation at least somewhat, I have created the Wild Fox project which aims to release Firefox builds with the features previously excluded due to software patents, which will be available to those in non-software patent encumbered countries. Any developers who wish to join the project are more than welcome.

Submission + - Obama sends nuclear experts to tackle BP oil spill (telegraph.co.uk) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The US has sent a team of nuclear physicists to help BP plug the "catastrophic" flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico from its leaking Deepwater Horizon well, as the Obama administration becomes frustrated with the oil giant's inability to control the situation. The five-man team – which includes a man who helped develop the first hydrogen bomb in the 1950s – is the brainchild of Steven Chu, President Obama's Energy Secretary.

Submission + - Portal Available For Free (steampowered.com)

Submitted by tsj5j
tsj5j writes: In celebration of Steam's recent Mac release, Valve has made Portal completely free till May 24th with no strings attached (besides the requirement of the free Steam client). This isn't a trial, you get to keep it as long as you download it within the promotional period. As Portal has scored great reviews from critics, it's certainly worth a download.

Submission + - Lidar finds overgrown Maya pyramids (nytimes.com)

Submitted by AlejoHausner
AlejoHausner writes: A team of archeologists scanned the jungle of Belize with lidar. Although most of the reflections came from the jungle canopy, some light reflected off the ground surface. Using this, suddenly hidden pyramids, agricultural terraces, and ancient roads are revealed, at 6-inch resolution. The NY Times has the story.

Submission + - Attacking the oil spill the "down home" way (nwfdailynews.com)

Submitted by artisteeternite
artisteeternite writes: As BP, the federal government, and other counties use chemicals and all sorts of fancy equipment to attempt to clean up the oil spill in the Gulf, Walton County in the Florida panhandle is tackling it the "down home" way. They plan to use hay in the water to attract the oil (see fantastic video) before it hits their pretty white beaches; hoping to either collect it with boats, or roll it away from the beach with seaweed rakes. This defies instructions from the state of Florida and some say the hay used in Santa Barbara in the 60s didn't work. However, Walton County officials say the state hasn't given them a better solution, and the hay in Santa Barbara was used after it already was on the beaches.

Submission + - Seeing the forest for the trees (mit.edu)

Submitted by swframe
swframe writes: "A new object recognition system developed at MIT and UCLA looks for rudimentary visual features shared by multiple examples of the same object. Then it looks for combinations of those features shared by multiple examples, and combinations of those combinations, and so on, until it has assembled a model of the object that resembles a line drawing. Long (Leo) Zhu, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology" from http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-05/new-software-breaks-images-smaller-parts-simplifying-object-recognition.
I've been working on something similar and I think this accomplishment looks very promising.

Submission + - Hollywood Nervous about Kagan's Views on Fair Use 1

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "Eriq Gardner writes in the Hollywood Reporter that Hollywood may have reason to be nervous about President Obama's nomination of Elena Kagan to be the next US Supreme Court justice. As dean of Harvard Law School from 2003 to 2009, Kagan was instrumental in beefing up the school's Berkman Center for Internet & Society by recruiting Lawrence Lessig and others who take a strongly liberal position on "fair use" in copyright disputes. And Kagan got an opportunity to showcase her feelings on IP when the US Supreme Court asked her, as US Solicitor General, to weigh in on the big Cablevision case. "After Cablevision announced in 2006 that it would allow subscribers to store TV programs on the cable operator's computer servers instead of on a hard-top box, Hollywood studios went nuts, predicting that the days of licensing on-demand content would be over," writes Gardner. Kagan's brief compared remote-storage DVRs to VCRs (PDF), brought up the Sony/Betamax case, and lightly slapped Cablevision on the wrists for not making fair use a bigger issue. "It sounds to us like Kagan would love the Court to determine when customers have a fair-use right to copy, which should cheer those on the copy-left at the EFF, and worry many in the entertainment industry." Of course, this isn't quite enough evidence to predict what kind of Supreme Court justice Kagan will make and on the minus side, she has surrounded herself with entertainment industry advocates in the Justice Department, including her assistant, Ginger Anders, who worked on an amicus brief in the Cablevision case for a coalition that included the RIAA. Still Kagan's record on the issue of fair use makes us wonder if somewhere in Hollywood today, a lawyer is muttering these words: "Why did Obama pick Kagan after everything we've done for him?""

Submission + - Funding both sides of the copyright war?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: I work for a restaurant in Canada and we're faced with a conundrum. We've been approached by SOCAN (which seems to behave in Canada much as the RIAA does in the states) and told that we must pay them a yearly license fee if we're to continue to play music (or at least, music that SOCAN has "authority" over) in our space. The alternatives to paying appear to be 1) refusing to pay and carrying on as usual (with the associated lawsuit/bankruptcy risk); 2) paying them and carrying on with business as usual; 3) Refusing to pay and making use of a legally recognized alternative, such as standalone radio, silence, or music (perhaps some creative commons stuff) which they do NOT have authority over; 4) Paying them, carrying on with business as usual, but ALSO paying an equal or greater amount to a group that is fighting these people. I guess I have two questions. Which of these options is most realistic in a climate where both business interests and progressive interests are important?. Is option #4 viable and useful, or would it be like handing guns to two groups of people, with one group being in the hills, well positioned, ready to snipe anyone who dares approach and the other one struggling to penetrate that position?

Submission + - Bayawak: A Lizard Almost as Big as Komodo Dragon (factoidz.com)

Submitted by P2trick
P2trick writes: Ever heard of a monitor lizard (local name: bayawak, halo) in the Philippines almost as big as the endangered Komodo Dragon (Varanus komodoensis) of Indonesia? After DNA analysis was conducted, Filipino researchers from the National Museum and American researchers from the University of Kansas concluded that the monitor lizard Varanus bitatawa is a new species.
Linux

Submission + - MythTV 0.23 Released (mythtv.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: After six months of our new accelerated development schedule, MythTV 0.23 is now available. MythTV 0.23 brings a new event system, brand new python bindings, the beta MythNetvision internet video plugin, new audio code and surround sound upmixer, several new themes (Arclight and Childish), a greatly improved H.264 decoder, and fixes for analog scanning, among many others. Work towards MythTV 0.24 is in full swing, and has be progressing very well for the last several months. If all goes according to plan, MythTV 0.24 will bring a new MythUI OSD, a nearly rewritten audio subsystem capable of handling 24 and 32 bit audio as well as up to 8 channels of output, Blu-ray disc and disc structure playback, and various other performance, usability, and flexibility improvements.
Graphics

Submission + - NVIDIA Drops Support For Its Open-Source Driver (phoronix.com) 2

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: While NVIDIA is not open-source friendly contrary to public outcries over the years, they have traditionally supported the xf86-video-nv driver to provide basic mode setting support and other basic functionality. However, with the "Fermi" and future products, even that open-source support will cease to exist. NVIDIA has announced they are dropping this open-source support for future GPUs and really ending it altogether. NVIDIA's recommendation is to just use the generic X.Org VESA driver to navigate their way to NVIDIA.com so that they can install the proprietary driver. Fortunately there is the Nouveau project that provides a 2D and 3D video driver for NVIDIA's hardware, but NVIDIA fails to acknowledge it nor support their efforts in any form.
Piracy

Submission + - Rapidshare Aims To Convert Pirates Into Customers (torrentfreak.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The file-hosting service Rapidshare is seeking major entertainment industry partners for an online store where links to infringing material will redirect to. The plan is an attempt to bridge the gap between copyright holders and users of the site who distribute infringing material.

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