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Sun Microsystems

Submission + - Java DST Patch Breaks DST

Submitted by
Christopher_G_Lewis
Christopher_G_Lewis writes: "This is just coming out, but Sun's DST patch "may break backward compatibility for the Eastern, Hawaiian, and Mountain time zones, under certain circumstances." DST: Daylight Saving Time Changes (2007) There's a Sun alert, but only for subscribed members: Sun Alert 102836 for Java. The introduction of Olson Timezone (TZ) data, version 2005r or greater, may break backward compatibility for the Eastern, Hawaiian, and Mountain time zones, under certain circumstances. This issue is also outlined in Sun BugIDs 6466476 and 6530336, listed at: 6466476 6530336"
Windows

Submission + - Vista eats 684 megabytes of RAM for no reason?

Submitted by
JAB Creations
JAB Creations writes: "We all know Vista is memory hungry but can anyone here please explain to me why Vista with all of it's services, startup applications, and virtual memory disabled still uses 684 megabytes of memory when it's critical processes only add up to 20-30 megabytes tops? This was using Vista Ultimate 64-Bit edition. Bad programming? Intentional waste to force "upgrades"? Both? Get ready to reinstall XP if you bought the upgrade version and infected your computer. Adding death to injury DirectX 10 has yet to materialize in to a game (or an affordable video card for the masses) and 3D audio is missing for the vast majority of us right now (in Vista) anyway. Time to test more Linux distros!"
Microsoft

Submission + - MS posts .NET 3.0 to Microsoft Update

Submitted by
punkrokk
punkrokk writes: "I was installing a test server and found .NET 3.0 in windows update. The Microsoft NET Framework 3.0 is the managed code programming model for Windows. Version 3.0 enhances version 2.0 with new technologies for building applications with visually compelling user experiences, seamless communication across technology boundaries, and the ability to support a wide range of business processes."
Databases

Submission + - Jim Gray is Missing

Submitted by
K-Man
K-Man writes: "Jim Gray, Turing Award winner and developer of many fundamental database technologies, was reported missing at sea after a short solo sailing trip to the Farallon Islands near San Francisco. The Coast Guard is still searching for his vessel, and there have been no distress calls or signals of any kind."
Databases

Submission + - Eight Bells - Jim Gray died.

Submitted by xx_chris
xx_chris writes: Jim Gray of Microsoft apparently died at sea, single-handing his sailboat Tenacious around the Farallon Islands off of San Francisco.
Portables (Apple)

Submission + - Macbook Pro Display only capable of 262,144 Colour

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: People have been noticing the Apple Macbook Pros have grainy displays. Apparently the problem lies in that the Macbook Pro's display is only capable of displaying 262,144 colours at a time. Beyond that it dithers, thus the graininess. For any old Amigans out there, they'll remember that number from HAM8! This link explains the nature of the problem in greater detail. How sad that Apple's flagship notebook display is defective by design.
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - What to do with 1-lane PCI Express?

Submitted by Very Long Time Anonymous Coward
Very Long Time Anonymous Coward writes: I've recently put together my new PC from scratch, filling up the PCI slots with audio and firewire cards, and a graphics card in the 16-lane PCI Express slot. But my micro ATX motherboard also came with a PCI Express slot with a single lane. I've looked around on the net and the only cards I can find are Gigabit ethernet, which just about every new motherboard you can buy supports anyway. What do you do with your empty single lane PCI Express slot?
Sony

Submission + - Sony all too happy to void your warranty?

Submitted by Hej
Hej writes: According to this post on the AVS Forum, a customer who bought a Playstation 3 had the warranty voided because he used 3rd party cables to hook it up to his television. From the thread, "Just got off the phone with Sony Support. Because I have a generic brand of component cables, instead of officially licensed Sony components, Sony has voided the warranty on my PS3 and will only replace it for $150 dollars! ... So now my system boots up and sits there with a blank screen. Thank god I kept the receipt." Original AVSForum.com thread here. I'm curious if this is just a case of a customer service rep taking things a bit too literally, or if Sony is actually that eager to screw over their customers. Any Slashdotters with similiar stories of warranty woe?
Slashdot.org

Submission + - US Government Deals Serious Blow to Online Poker

Submitted by walnutmon
walnutmon writes: In late 2006 the Safe Port Act was passed, this included a piggy-backed law that made moving money to and from online gambling sites illegal. However, some sites including Pokerstars, Bodog, and other online poker rooms continued to operate using intermediary funding sources such as FirePay and Neteller.

Today a very serious blow has bean dealt to online poker players.

After the arrests of two top officials from Neteller.com, they are no longer processing payments from Americans to any gambling sites. This made up a whopping 64% of neteller.com's business. Neteller was a convenient way to get around the sneaky law, and now online poker players will have very little to turn to. From the article:

"This is the first piece of news that will really hurt the likes of Pokerstars and Full Tilt," said analyst Tejinder Randhawa at Evolution Securities.

"If you look at the gambling chat rooms, you'll see NETeller was one of the main payment methods," he added.

According to gambling portal Gambling911.com, Full Tilt Poker depended on NETeller for 75 percent of transactions, and the world's biggest site, Pokerstars, used NETeller for around 60 percent of wagers.
There are many players who play online for the fun of the game; however, there are also many who have played online poker professionally to make a steady income. Sell your poker books, and look to a more American way of making a living. The safety of our ports depends on it.
Toys

Submission + - Credit Card Fraud at Retailers

Submitted by Anonymously Mad
Anonymously Mad writes: My fiance's debit card was stolen from her car and used at a EBgames where an employee bypassed whatever is needed to avoid putting in a PIN (which is not written on anything *DUH*). They attempted to use a credit card first for the purchase, but the fraud protection kicked in at the $700 charge (She has never purchased a Video Game in her life, I do the buying). When I spoke to the Manager, he said "The guy had ID", stating he remembered the transaction; my fiance is most indeed female and looks like one (long hair, lipstick and all). The manager is either in on it, doing generic lying to cover up an employee who did it, or lying to cover a stupid mistake. EBgames/Gamestop corporate's response is that they will cooperate with any investigation police bring to them, whenever that will be seeing as how it was $700 across county lines in a large city with other crime problems. The issue is: The employee was a willing participant in credit card fraud. People make, I would guess thousands of dollars of purchases with EBgames/Gamestop daily using credit cards and now at least on person at a location to whom you would hand your card is committing fraud with cards like that. The question is: Should the brick and mortar locations be held to the same expectation of fraud protection as their cyberspace counterparts? Clearly, there is a physical hole in the security policy as corporate has no oversight for employee malfeasance.
The Internet

Submission + - Pay Per Visit advertising: Advertisers dream come

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Pay per click advertising is a great way for advertisers to drive targeted audience to their website. Extending this further, can a "pay per visit" advertising model be devised for the real world? In this model advertisers will shell out ad dollars only if the target audience happens to visit the particular business or avail a certain service. URL : http://amanthan.blogspot.com/2007/01/pay-per-visit -advertising-advertisers.html
Security

Submission + - Sniffing traffic on Ethernet Undetected

Submitted by
produke
produke writes: "Sniffing On Ethernet Undetected

Very cool article with an innovative technique to capture packets (sniffing) off of a communication wire (in this case ethernet) using a packet capturing program like ethereal. The technique described is supposedly undetectable but nevertheless makes for a very entertaining read."

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