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Mars

Submission + - Global warming ... on Mars

PCM2 writes: "Scientists from Nasa say that Mars has warmed by about 0.5C since the 1970s. This is similar to the warming experienced on Earth over approximately the same period. Since there is no known life on Mars it suggests rapid changes in planetary climates could be natural phenomena."
Censorship

Submission + - Get Sued for Linking to Cingular.com

Desktop Nexus writes: "The official Terms and Conditions of Cingular now restrict the anchor text you can use to link to Cingular's homepage. Harry Maugans discovered a paragraph of the TOS that states:

You are granted a limited, nonexclusive right to create a hypertext link to the homepage of the Sites, provided such link does not portray Cingular Wireless or any of its products and services in a false, misleading, derogatory, or otherwise defamatory manner. [...] This limited right may be revoked at any time.
I'm sure this is not legally standing, however it is amusing they'd attempt to restrict your links."
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Didn't Issue FairUse4WM Takedown Notices

terrencefw writes: "Having been the top ranked download site for the FairUse4WM Windows DRM remover utility, I've not yet had my takedown notice. What's more, I don't think Microsoft ever sent any. The origins of the takedowm notices that other sites have received just doesn't fit with a Microsoft-orchestrated operation. There's been no comment from Microsoft on the subject other than vague reassurances to vendors that they'll fix their crummy DRM and the lawsuit against the author, Viodentia, but they've dropped the case against him too."
Wireless Networking

Submission + - FCC Rules update July 20, 2007 -- 802.11a concerns

mwilliamson writes: "The FCC is will soon require protocol changes to 802.11a to automatically avoid interference to military and weather RADAR systems using the 5 GHZ spectrum. At best, this will probably require a firmware update on your access points. More information can be found at(PDF): http://www.cisco.com.nyud.net:8080/application/pdf /en/us/guest/products/ps5861/c1244/cdccont_0900aec d801c4a88.pdf

Quoting from this article: "In order to operate in the 5 GHZ bands radios must comply with two features that are part of the 802.11h specification-Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) and Transmitter Power Control (TPC). DFS dynamically instructs a transmitter to switch to another channel whenever a particular condition (such as the presence of a radar signal) is met. Prior to transmitting, a device's DFS mechanism monitors its available operating spectrum, listening for a radar signal. If a signal is detected, the channel associated with the radar signal will be vacated or flagged as unavailable for use by the transmitter... [SNIP]...All WLAN products that ship in Canada and the US on or after July 20, 2007 must meet the DFS for FCC requirements.""
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - E-Gold Taken Down by Feds for Money Laundering

loqi writes: Citing child pornographers and online scammers as the beneficiaries of an effectively anonymous payment system, the U.S. Department of Justice has filed charges of conspiracy and money laundering against the online payment system E-Gold. With advances in cryptographic techniques like Brands credentials and transparent servers, will money laundering laws continue to be enforceable?
Patents

Submission + - Navy's Sound Weapon

An anonymous reader writes: Wired News reports that the Navy has patented a new "sound weapon" that would use acoustic beams to blast things out of the water:

Imagine a day when a submarine could blast a target to smithereens using nothing more than acoustic energy. That's the idea behind a recently granted U.S. Navy patent for a cavitation weapon. The powerful weapon would use sonar to generate "acoustic remote cavitation," i.e. a big pressure bubble, that would destroy everything from torpedoes to mines. As the patent describes:



A method is disclosed of generating a predetermined field of cavitation around a remote target in an underwater environment. The method includes the steps of identifying a remote target location, generating at least two acoustic beams, each at a high power output, from an underwater acoustic source, and controlling the generated acoustic beams to intersect with each other at the remote target location and thereby create a destructive cavitation field at the intersection of the beams. The acoustic source and target can be located in unconfined underwater space and at a distance of at least 100 m apart.
Space

Submission + - Mars warming... could it be man made?

Bill Nortman writes: "According to NASA scientists in the article (TimesOnline) Mars has seen the same rate of warming as the earth. So can we deduct from this that a few man made object we have sent to the red planet have caused it to heat up? I think not! This just clearly shows the amount of heat being given off by the sun as changed rapidly in recent time. So if the real cause of global warming is increase solar activity what can we do? Actually I think alot. For example, we could change it that all new roofs on house be made of high reflective substances which will reflect more light, like the ice caps. We could do the same for cars and even parking lots. The lighter the color the more reflection back into space and the less absorbed. We; as the government by the people for the people, could install large pieces (rolls) of reflective materials over large less-inhabited areas (such as deserts). We could really return a lot of energy back into space, thus reducing the effects of the warming sun.."
Software

Submission + - GnuCash now available for Windows

keeblerelf writes: Open source personal and small-business financial accounting software GnuCash (http://www.gnucash.org/) used to be one of the most difficult programs to install on Linux. If it wasn't included in your distribution of choice, installation probably required compiling and installing around 20 different dependencies... not fun.

Until recently, a Windows version seemed unlikely...

But with beta version 2.1.0, GnuCash is now available in a Windows self-installing executable. I installed it on my wife's Windows laptop yesterday and it seems quite stable for a beta version.

The current stable version (2.0.5) can be installed on Mac OSX using the Fink installer (http://finkproject.org/) or on Debian Linux with "aptitude install gnucash gnucash-docs" (as root of course). GnuCash can also be installed on Ubuntu fairly easily ( http://www.ubuntugeek.com/install-gnucash-financia l-accounting-software-in-ubuntu.html).

GnuCash is a great free program with features that rival its ad-infested, monopoly-owned rivals. Why not try it out?

PS — It looks like now there is a complete suite of open source software that runs on both Windows and Linux. There is OpenOffice.org for an office suite (sans Outlook), Evolution (or Thunderbird with Lightning) for an Outlook replacement, Firefox for a web browser, the GIMP for photo editing, PidginIM for instant messaging (formerly called Gaim, but renamed to avoid a trademark dispute), and now GnuCash for accounting.

If you're thinking about switching to Linux, switching to these applications first could be a great way to prepare yourself and your data for the move.
Slashdot.org

Submission + - Slashdot blocked at Admirals Club

An anonymous reader writes: Much to my surprise, I discovered that slashdot.org is blocked at the public Internet terminals in the American Airlines' Admirals Club, at least the one at Terminal D in DFW. The most shocking part was the "reason" displayed by the filtering software: "Hate/Violence". Should I also mention that another "competing" site was not blocked at all?...
Security

Submission + - Lightning in a gun: U.S. Navy funds powerful laser

coondoggie writes: "First we had the cloaking device now apparently the military is going to get a real live phaser gun. The company that makes what it calls "directed energy weapons, " Ionatron, today announced it had won an almost $10 million contract from the U.S. Navy to continue developing of its Laser Induced Plasma Channel (LIPC) technology. According to the company's Website, its devices produce " man-made lightning" to disable people or vehicles that threaten our security." Basically is a short pulse laser that can be directed at a target with ferocious intensity. The company also notes that the gun is available in lethal and non-lethal versions. http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/1456 6"
The Courts

Submission + - RIAA "Ex Parte" Procedures Attacked in Fre

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "The widely reported Sacramento, California, case of SONY v. Merchant, which received international attention when a Visalia, California, lawyer penned a strongly worded letter to the RIAA's lawyer that caused the RIAA to beat a hasty retreat and promptly withdraw its case, has heated up as the RIAA went to a different court, this time going to Fresno rather than Sacramento, and tried a different tack, this time proceeding "ex parte" against fictional "John Does" so that they would not have to give the Merchants notice of what they were doing. Defendants have now launched a full scale attack (pdf) on the RIAA's tactic of bringing secret "ex parte" proceedings against improperly joined, multiple John Does, and demanding that notice be given of any applications to the Court prior to their being made (pdf). Defendants have also attacked the frivolousness of the RIAA's evidence, and argue that the RIAA's joinder of various "John Does" in a single case is in violation of the 2004 order issued by a federal court in Fonovisa v. Does 1-41."
Google

Submission + - Google Maps has Traffic Information

An anonymous reader writes: Has nobody else noticed that Google Maps now has Traffic information?

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