Submission + - The last DC power grid shutdown in NYC (nytimes.com)
cell-block-9 writes: Today the section of the old Edison DC power grid will be shutdown in Manhattan. I guess Tesla finally won the argument.
Submission + - German amateur cracks WWII mega-code in 46 second
JrOldPhart writes: "Another fiat for the radio/computer geek team!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071116/wl_nm/britain_germany_codebreaker_dc_1;_ylt=AgP7WztOUETnoN_c56IonDwE1vAI
While the re-created Colossus computer ground away, "Schueth's computer program actually managed to crack the hardest part of the challenge — deciphering the code of a Lorenz SZ42 encryptor, which has approximately 16 million million million permutations — in just 46 seconds.""
Submission + - Police swoop on 'hacker of the year' (smh.com.au)
AcidAUS writes: The Swedish hacker, Dan Egerstad, who perpetrated the so-called hack of the year, has been arrested in a dramatic raid on his apartment, during which he was taken in for questioning and several of his computers confiscated. Egerstad broke into the global communications network used by embassies around the world in August and gained access to 1000 sensitive email accounts.
Submission + - Paravirtualized Ubuntu shows performance promise
OSS_ilation writes: "Early testing has shown that Ubuntu, when run as a virtual guest taking advantage of the new paravirt-ops paravirtualization interface, runs faster and more efficiently that it would as an unmodified guest. Ubuntu, a Linux distribution maintained by corporate sponsor Canonical Ltd., is the first commercially shipping operating system to support the paravirt_ops standard. Paravirt_ops is an open interface that was developed by members of the Linux kernel community, including commercial vendors Red Hat, VMware, IBM and XenSource. It is designed to improve Linux virtualization performance by allowing the kernel to directly communicate with the hypervisor. It is based on the VMware's Virtual Machine Interface (VMI) proposed standard, and has been included in the mainline Linux kernel. Apparently, it delivers as advertised."
Submission + - Wal-Mart Plans to Restock Sold Out Linux PC (informationweek.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Good news for folks who want to get their hands on the sold-out, Linux-based Everex gPC from Wal-Mart. InformationWeek is reporting that the company plans to restock the $199 gPC in its online store.
The story adds that a Wal-Mart spokesman describes the gPC as "one of the top peforming desktop computers on Walmart.com over the last few weeks." Apparently, the gPC is also still available at some Wal-Mart brick-and-mortar stores, according to the story.
Submission + - The Nerd Handbook
RobK writes: A friend dropped this on my desk today and realized that there are many SOs (Significant Others) that do not grok the workings of us technophiles. The blog Rands in Repose has the kind of things they need to know to understand your behavior and actions.
I had trouble categorizing this post because I couldn't tell if it was best suited as 'Operating Systems' or 'Software' and settled on 'Funny'. I'm sure it's because I'm a control freak.
I had trouble categorizing this post because I couldn't tell if it was best suited as 'Operating Systems' or 'Software' and settled on 'Funny'. I'm sure it's because I'm a control freak.
Submission + - Russia to Build New Spacecraft by 2020 (techluver.com)
Tech.Luver writes: "Russia has launched a project to create a new generation of spacecraft and boosters, the head of national space administration said on Friday, making clear that they would not appear on orbit before 2020.
"A tender to design a new booster and spaceship has been announced," Itar-Tass news agency quoted Roskosmos chief Anatoly Perminov as saying. Leadership in space exploration was an issue of national pride in the Soviet Union, which was the first to launch a satellite and a human into space.
Although badly hit in the years of post-Soviet political and economic turmoil, the space sector remains one of a few where Russia remains competitive and on which it pins hopes to diversify its economy heavily reliant on oil and gas exports.
( http://techluver.com/2007/11/09/russia-to-build-new-spacecraft-by-2020/ )"
Submission + - Gorilla Stripper Shock In UK School (dcemu.co.uk)
wraggster writes: "A few days ago at my Childs School in Nottingham
a parent paid for a Gorilla surprise to make fun of her 16 year old son however
a mixup occured and a Policewoman showed up and stripped down to Bra and Panties
and asked the boy to rub cream over her bottom before the horrified teacher stepped
into stop it."
Submission + - Germany just decided to implement data retention (kreativrauschen.com) 3
G'Quann writes: "Starting next year, all communication providers in Germany will have to store all connection data for six months. This includes not only phone calls but also IP-addresses and e-mail headers. There had been a lot of protest against the new law, but it was ignored by the government. This sucks...
Here's a short summary with links to more detailed (but German) sources."
Here's a short summary with links to more detailed (but German) sources."
Submission + - Google to launch free Psychonauts with ads (gigaom.com)
Wagner James Au writes: "Om Malik reports that "Google's (GOOG) long-rumored, game-focused advertising initiative is
going to come to life later this month, according to sources familiar
with the Mountain View, Calif-based company's plans... The second step in Google's game-focused advertising strategy will take
place in December, when the company will, I'm told, will offer an
ad-supported version of the PC game Psychonauts. The "gamer's game" from veteran adventure game designer Tim Schaefer and
co-written by Erik "Old Man Murray" Wolpaw is now "out of print" and
can only be downloaded via Valve's Steam network."
Submission + - London Stock Exchange Down Due to Glitch
mormop writes: If like me you feel slightly ill when you see the Microsoft get the FUD adverts you may smile a little after reading that the London Stock Exchange that has achieved unprecedented reliability by switching to server 2003 was today shut down for an unprecedented period of time by computer failure.
To quote TFA, a stockbroker who did not wish to be named said: "We are paralysed. Nothing like this has happened before. I am extremely annoyed."
How much does several hours lost trading cost? I know you shouldn't mock the afflicted but somehow I just can't stop myself.
Click here for TFA
How much does several hours lost trading cost? I know you shouldn't mock the afflicted but somehow I just can't stop myself.
Click here for TFA
Submission + - TiVo Series 3 Finally Adds Missing Features (tivo.com)
Selikoff writes: "When the TiVo Series 3 launched, new owners were shocked to learn that many of the features of the box were locked or disabled. Well, it should come as a welcome change that a year later, these features have finally been activated. In the latest service update, TiVo Series 3 boxes now support external storage devices using the eSata port as well as TiVoToGo software that allows downloading of programs to a Windows computer (mac version is still limited). TivoToGo had been available in Series 2 boxes but was immediately disabled in Series 3 do to licensing issues with HD content.
It's nice to see previously available features finally unlocked in Series 3 boxes, it's too bad it took a full year for the update. It's also worth noting TiVo sells a proprietary version of TivoToGo which allows you to convert the downloaded content into a more usable format (rather than a Tivo DRM-locked file) for transfer to a variety of devices such as Sony PSP, Palm Treo, Creative Zen, and Apple iPod."
It's nice to see previously available features finally unlocked in Series 3 boxes, it's too bad it took a full year for the update. It's also worth noting TiVo sells a proprietary version of TivoToGo which allows you to convert the downloaded content into a more usable format (rather than a Tivo DRM-locked file) for transfer to a variety of devices such as Sony PSP, Palm Treo, Creative Zen, and Apple iPod."
Submission + - SCO Threatens to Sue Itself (groklaw.net)
Groklaw Reader writes: "SCO's bankruptcy is nothing if not interesting. In trying to explain why it gave away one of its patents to a subsidiary right before filing for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection and why this isn't "fraudulent" it has offered an interesting legal filing to explain itself. Apparently, SCO wants to force the Court's hand in approving their plan to weasel out of this, otherwise SCO will be forced to sue itself. One can only hope."
Submission + - MLB Fans Who Bought DRM Videos Get Hosed
Billosaur writes: "Found via BoingBoing, Major League Baseball has just strengthened the case against DRM. If you downloaded videos of baseball games from MLB.com before 2006, apparently they no longer work and you are out of luck. MLB.com, sometime during 2006, changed their DRM system. Result: game videos purchased before that time will now no longer work, as the previous DRM system is no longer supported. When the video is played, apparently the MLB.com servers are contacted and a license obtained to verify the authenticity of the video; this is done by a web link. That link no longer exists, and so now the videos will no longer play, even though the MLB FAQ says that a license is only obtained once and will not need to be re-obtained. The blogger who is reporting this contacted MLB technical support, only to be told there are no refunds due to this problem."
Submission + - Visual Studio 2008 to be release in November
Supergibbs writes: "Yesterday Microsoft officially stated that Visual Studio 2008 and the .NET Framework 3.5 will be released by the end of November. Visual Studio 2008 is a major release with support for the .NET Framework 3.5, Silverlight and LINQ plus new features like CSS and Javascript intellisense."
