Slashdot is powered by your submissions, so send in your scoop

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Linux Business

Submission + - thinkgeek sells toy: code for it, make money. (thinkgeek.com)

Submitted by
dsmall
dsmall writes: "ThinkGeek's latest catalog has the Neuros (see them at http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/drives/8af5/ )... The Neuros, a media device with a twist. It arrives without all the code to make it fully work. If you submit the code to make it work, you get paid.
From Neuros: "These bounties are a community style thing that is just a modest way to put a little money back into the Neuros community as a token for our appreciation. We hope and expect for people to collaborate, split bounties and credit and share information, etc. The deliverables and rules are sketchy and the interpretation is completely subject to the whim of the selection committee"
YouTube or Google video Browser Bounty: $1000
Flickr Photo Browser Bounty: $600
Implement a wireless remote using a WiFi PDA (or PSP) as the remote. Bounty: $500
TiVo style functionality for radio. Hook up the OSD to a FM/AM or Satellite receiver and do timed recordings or FF/RW and Pause Live Radio. Bounty: $700
Voip on the OSD. Plug a USB phone into the OSD and make calls without touching any of your PCs. Bounty: $500"
Might be interesting if you have too much time on your hands and are looking to make a quick Euro."
Sci-Fi

Submission + - Mayor of San Diego Hates Comicon Attendees (pinkraygun.com)

Submitted by
Lisa Fary
Lisa Fary writes: "As we all know, 2007's Comicon International in San Diego ended this past weekend. Comicon is probably San Diego's largest, 4-day revenue generator, but that didn't stop the Mayor of San Diego, Jerry Sanders, from stating "We've put up the superheroes and now we're on to the people with actual talent." on the Cantore in the Morning show on 91X, the Monday morning AFTER the convention ended (presumably, when he thought that any of those pesky comics and sci-fi geeks were safely out of earshot). It's actually a pretty crappy thing to say about any group that brings such large amounts of hotel, restaurant, parking, transportation and retail revenue in to the city Can you imagine if something similar were said regarding almost any other group?"
Music

Submission + - Eminem Sues Apple for iTunes Sales (macworld.co.uk)

Submitted by puk
puk writes: MacWorld UK is reporting that Eminem's publisher is suing Apple, alleging that his publisher did not have the right to authorize Apple's online sales of digital versions of Eminem's music through the iTunes Music Store and that therefore Apple is violating Eminem's copyright by doing so.

Of course, if this turns out to be the case, Universal may also be on the hook for the damages, if indirectly. Looks like another more case of trying to figure out whether old contracts authorize new activities...
Businesses

Submission + - DSS/HIPPA/SOX Unalterable Audit Logs

Submitted by analogrithems
analogrithems writes: Recently I was asked by one of the suits in my company to come up with a method to comply with the new PCI DSS policy that requires companies to have WORM logs or write once, read many. In short a secure method to make sure that once a log is written it can never be deleted or changed. So far I've only been able to find commercial and hardware based solutions. I'd prefer to use an open source solution. I know this policy is already part of HIPPA and soon to be part of SOX. It seems like their should be a way to do this with cryptography and checksums to insure authenticity, has anyone seen or developed a solution? How have other Slashdot users made compliance?
Star Wars Prequels

Submission + - $500 Lightsabers: As Close as You Can Get to Real

Submitted by ntmokey
ntmokey writes: The guys over at Popular Mechanics managed to get their hands on a pair of custom-made light sabers that go for $500 apiece. They're powered by Class II lasers and built tough enough to stand up to some real abuse. Before you point out how outrageous $500 is (or whip out the credit card, if you're a Star Wars fan), check out the video of associate editor Erik Sofge dueling it up with a fan in the basement of their office building. Pretty epic stuff — brace yourself for the tragic ending.
Databases

Submission + - Data fragmentation effects in mixed load database (targeted.org)

Submitted by
Dmitry Dvoinikov
Dmitry Dvoinikov writes: "This article discusses the effects that data fragmentation has on the database performance under a mixed load. The experiment on a PostgreSQL database that follows the theoretical part yields some numbers and graphs and shows how bad fragmentation is for I/O and shared buffer pool.

http://www.targeted.org/articles/databases/fragmen tation.html"
Businesses

Submission + - Canadian Supreme Ct Set Rules for Online Contracts

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Tyee reports that the Supreme Court of Canada has just issued a new online contracting decision that results in consumers clicking their rights away. The decision, involving a lawsuit against Dell Computer for failing to honor low-priced computers purchased on their website, confirmed Dell's ability to block a consumer class action lawsuit and the enforceability of contractual terms buried beneath distant hyperlinks.
Nintendo

Submission + - Penny-arcade teaches fair play at Gamestop...

Submitted by zen611
zen611 writes: Gabe over at penny-arcade relates an experience at a Gamestop Pokemon tournament. (http://www.penny-arcade.com/2007/07/23#news_22209 )

'I noticed one of the kids there was actually quite a bit older than the rest of the group. Still probably half my age, but he towered over his opponents. I watched as he struck up conversations with the other children, inspecting their Pokemon and always finding them lacking. "I've EV trained my entire party." he said to a few of the kids who obviously had no idea what that meant. He showed of his multiple "shinies" to a couple of very impressed young men before explaining that he wasn't going to use them in the tournament because it just wouldn't be fair to everyone else. No, he would dominate them with a mixed bag of EV trained legendaries and obscure all stars culled from every single incarnation of the series. He was essentially being a little Douche.'

Needless to say, Gabe schools the little douche about fair play.

Check out the heart-warming end result: Good to know that lives are being changed over at penny-arcade! (http://www.penny-arcade.com/2007/07/23#news_22211 )
Anime

Submission + - Police kill filesharer in front of family

Submitted by Shadowruni
Shadowruni writes: On July 21st, 2007 theDattebayo[www.dattebayo.com/pr/40] staff was arrested at Otakon.

They've released subtitled (AKA fansubbed) copies of Naurto and Bleach online. The reason these even show on Cartoon network can likely be traced back to these guys making those shows available to American audiances.

The Dattebayo staff were arrested at the Baltimore Convention Center as they prepared for their panel as part of the Otakon Convention. Uniformed police officers, along with legal counsel of a complaintent company, approached the stage shortly before the presentation was to begin. Witnesses said that along with the arrest, the officers seized the laptop of one of the group members, which was intended to be used for presentation purposes.

When they arrived at the home of one of the staff members they were surprised to find that the member had removed all the hard drives from his computer and they now lay in pieces in a garbage bag. Frustrated officers then began to yell at that staff member and accused him of destroying evidence. When the staff member met their response with silence they decided to take him into custody. Family members looked on in shock as they tasered this individual repeatedly despite him not fighting back. Suddenly, the staff member began to convulse on the floor. Doctors would later say that the individual had suffered an epileptic seizure, possibly resulting from the repeated tasering. Officers claim they then mistook these convulsions for an attempt at escape and one of the officers fired his firearm, injuring the individual. The injured staff member, in handcuffs, was later transported to a local hospital where he is now in critical condition in the ICU.

He died at 2:43 AM the next morning, leaving behind a wide and two young children.
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - 85-year-old man learns he needn't lease his phone

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: According to Bangor Daily News, a man from Hermon was still leasing his phone from AT&T. "Lloyd Overlock never had much reason to think about his telephone. The 85-year-old Hermon resident just paid his bills and knew the service was there if he needed it. But Overlock, who for five decades has been paying a monthly fee to lease his phone, found out recently that the arrangement is a pricey, outmoded throwback to the days of telephone industry monopoly." What's amazing is even when his niece, Roberta York, tried to cancel the service via customer services, the friendly operator on the other end attempted to dissuade her, "offering her uncle a 20 percent discount off his monthly rental fee and reminding York of the benefits of leasing. 'She said that if something goes wrong with that phone, they'd have a new one here the next business day,' she recalled. I was thinking to myself, 'If something goes wrong with that phone, I'll go to Wal-Mart and get one the next day.' But I didn't say it."
The Internet

Submission + - Senators call for universal internet filtering (pressesc.com)

Submitted by
Anonymous Coward
Anonymous Coward writes: "US senators today made a bipartisan call for the universal implementation of filtering and monitoring technologies on the Internet in order to protect children at the end of a Senate hearing for which civil liberties groups were not invited. Senators call for universal Internet filtering Senators call for universal Internet filtering"
Announcements

Submission + - EU to change definition of "open standard"

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The EU is considering to change the definition of "open standards". It has a consultation process that is not publicized at all. Please submit opinions in favor of open standards, or else we will suddenly wake up to having lost a very important battle. On the form, ask for the use of open standards, as defined by the European Interoperability Framework for pan-European eGovernment Services (Version 1.0, 2004, page 9) for all information, be it in documents, video, sounds, etc. published on the websites of the European Commission. 34

Slashdot Top Deals

"It's the best thing since professional golfers on 'ludes." -- Rick Obidiah

Close