Heem - Slashdot User

Small Asteroid On Collision Course With Earth 397

Posted by kdawson on Monday October 06, 2008 @08:11PM from the big-kaboom dept.

musatov writes "There's talk on The Minor Planet Mailing List about a small asteroid approaching Earth with a 99.8% probability of colliding. The entrance to the Earth's atmosphere will take place October 7 at 0246 UTC (2:35 after this story goes live) over northern Sudan, releasing the energy of about a kiloton of TNT. The asteroid is assumed to be 3-4 meters in size; it is expected to burn up completely in the atmosphere, causing no harm. As a powerful bolide, it may put on quite a show in the sky. For those advanced enough in astronomy to observe, check the MPEC 2008-T50 and MPEC 2008-T64 circulars. NASA's JPL Small Body Database has a 3D orbit view. The story has been already picked up by CNN and NASA."

Artists Strive To Wrest Rights From Music Industry 287

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday October 06, 2008 @05:58PM from the industry-jenga dept.

eldavojohn writes "The funny thing about the RIAA & BPI is that the artists are just as tired as the fans with how online music is being handled. So they're trying something new called the Featured Artists' Coalition. FAC's site states in their charter: 'We believe that all music artistes should control their destiny because ultimately it is their art and endeavors that create the pleasure and emotion enjoyed by so many.' As digital releases are increasing, the artists aren't seeing any more money. With the advent of online distribution, are the traditional music industry functions of promotion, samples, radio, and marketing now nothing but costly overhead for the artists? From Iron Maiden to Kate Nash to Radiohead, some big names are backing this new organization."

Microsoft Treating "Windows-Only" As Open Source 383

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday October 04, 2008 @12:22PM from the a-rose-v0.092-BETA-by-any-other-name dept.

mjasay writes "The Register is reporting that Microsoft is hosting Windows-only projects on its 'open source project hosting site,' CodePlex. Miguel de Icaza caught and criticized Microsoft for doing this with its Microsoft Extensibility Framework (MEF), licensing it under the Microsoft Limited Permissive License (Ms-LPL), which restricts use of the code to Windows. Microsoft has changed the license for MEF to an OSI-approved license, the Microsoft Public License, but it continues to host a range of other projects under the Ms-LPL. If CodePlex wasn't an 'open source project hosting site,' this wouldn't be a problem. But when Microsoft invokes the 'open source' label, it has a duty to live up to associated expectations and ensure that the code it releases on CodePlex is actually open source. If it doesn't want to do this — if it doesn't want to abide by this most basic principle of open source — then call CodePlex something else and we'll all move on."

Oregon Judge Says RIAA Made 'Honest Mistake,' Allows Subpoena 175

Posted by Soulskill on Friday October 03, 2008 @07:41PM from the no-harm-no-foul-right? dept.

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "In Arista v. Does 1-17, the RIAA's case targeting students at the University of Oregon, the Oregon Attorney General's motion to quash the RIAA's subpoena — pending for about a year — has reached a perplexing conclusion. The Court agreed with the University that the subpoena, as worded, imposed an undue burden on the University by requiring it to produce 'sufficient information to identify alleged infringers,' which would have required the University to 'conduct an investigation,' but then allowed the RIAA to subpoena the identities of 'persons associated by dorm room occupancy or username with the 17 IP addresses listed' even though those people may be completely innocent. In his 8-page decision (PDF), the Judge also 'presumed' the RIAA lawyers' misrepresentations were an 'honest mistake,' made no reference at all to the fact, pointed out by the Attorney General, that the RIAA investigators (Safenet, formerly MediaSentry) were not licensed, rejected all of the AG's privacy arguments under both state and federal law, and rejected the AG's request for discovery into the RIAA's investigative tactics."

Submission + - Keith Urban Sues Keith Urban Over Domain Name

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 07, 2007 @04:18AM

An anonymous reader writes: Australian country singer Keith Urban has filed a lawsuit against a US painter of the same name, claiming that the lesser known Keith Urban's website KeithUrban.com infringes trademark and cyber-squatting laws.

The Australian singer's own website is located at KeithUrban.net. He wants the other website to be shut down and its domain name transferred to his ownership. He also seeks unspecified monetary damages.

http://www.dailydomainer.com/200759-keith-urban-su es-keith-urban-over-domain-name.html

Submission + - worm.whboy Receives First 5-Star Severity Rating

Submitted by

jimbojw

on Monday January 15, 2007 @05:00PM

jimbojw writes: "ShanghaiDaily.com reports:
The cyber bug, called worm.whboy because it originated in Wuhan, China, received the first five-star severity rating ever issued by the Shanghai Information Technology Service Center because it can attack local area networks in government bureaus and companies and damage their programs and databases.
It goes on to say:
The new worm can also prevent infected computers from operating antivirus software and any programs using the "exe" suffix.
Users will know their systems are infected if their executable file icons turn into images of pandas with burning joss sticks.
"

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