Comment Re:Default is way older (Score 1) 339
Hell, even the spanish inquisition had a default verdict.
Well, I didn't expect the spanish inquisition to come up in this context!
nobody expects the spanish inquisition!
Comment Interesting (Score 1) 67
This is actually quite interesting. With China putting a lot of prestige in being "better than the west", they may actually be able to pull of something good with this one (and hopefully, later missions). There is nothing like a bit of competition to get the party started. Their Changâ(TM)e 1 probe was a sucess, so why not this one ? they have at least proved themselves capable of space exploration, and the more space exploration, the better!
Comment Norwegian oil model (Score 5, Informative) 291
They could consider following the same model the Norwegian government used when oil was discovered in the sea outside Norway; create a lithium fund managed by the government, paid by taxes and exploration fees from the companies wanting to mine the lithium. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norwegian_Oil_Fund. It worked for Norway, it might work for Bolivia too.
U.C. System and Springer Agree To CC-Licensed Journal Articles 54
NeoSkink writes "The University of California and Springer Science+Business Media have reached an agreement to provide open access for articles submitted by UC-affiliated authors. In a press release, the UC writes: 'Under the terms of the agreement, articles by UC-affiliated authors accepted for publication in a Springer journal beginning in 2009 will be published using Springer Open Choice with full and immediate open access. There will be no separate per-article charges, since costs have been factored into the overall license. Articles will be released under a license compatible with the Creative Commons (by-nc: Attribution, Non-commercial) license. In addition to access via the Springer platform, final published articles will also be deposited in the California Digital Library's eScholarship Repository.'"
Comment Re:What web browsers support the Windows 7 Beta do (Score 1) 848
tried with IE now, it installs some kind of activex download manager. That was probably the reason Firefox couldn't handle it.
Comment Re:What web browsers support the Windows 7 Beta do (Score 1) 848
strange. This is on an almost clean windows XP install. Pushing the "Download now" button produces some loading and activity on the status bar, then stops and nothing happens.
It would be ironic if it was because of load problems on the servers, but i doubt it on a saturday night (and everything else is snappy on the site)
Comment What web browsers support the Windows 7 Beta downl (Score 1) 848
"Internet Explorer 7 and Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2 support the Windows 7 Beta download experience. "
It's even an experience just to download it, one that my Firefox seems not to enjoy.
I really hope this is better than vista. With XP gone from retail, this will probably be the OS installed and upgraded to on the few windows computers I manage.
Slashdot's Disagree Mail
100
Ernest Hemingway's micro-story, "For sale: baby shoes, never worn," is one of my favorite examples of how less is sometimes more. Sometimes a few sentences say it all; you don't always need a hundred pages to convey an idea. Most of the mail I get is brief and to the point. Others are just brief. To be honest, I appreciate the short, crazy email more than the long rants, and they can be just as funny. Read below for this week's mail snippets.
Ford To Introduce Restrictive Car Keys For Parents 1224
thesandbender writes "Ford is set to release a management system that will restrict certain aspects of a car's performance based on which key is in the ignition. The speed is limited to 80, you can't turn off traction control, and you can't turn the stereo up to eleven. It's targeted at parents of teenagers and seems like a generally good idea, especially if you get a break on your insurance." The keys will be introduced with the 2010 Focus coupe and will quickly spread to Ford's entire lineup.
How Kernel Hackers Boosted the Speed of Desktop Linux 380
chromatic writes "Kernel hackers Arjan van de Ven and Auke Kok showed off Linux booting in five seconds at last month's Linux Plumbers Conference. Arjan and other hackers have already improved the Linux user experience by reducing power consumption and latency. O'Reilly News interviewed him about his work on improving the Linux experience with PowerTOP, LatencyTOP, and Five-Second Boot."
Comment Re:This interests me. (Score 1) 374
Last year, I bought a HTC P4350 smartphone, mostly for the gadget factor and the fact that it had a touchscreen and a full qwerty keyboard. After about 6 months of getting frustrated, not getting the sync to work with linux and a lot of problems with windows mobile simply hanging all the time, I downgraded to a sony ericsson el cheapo cellphone. Now I use this, connected via bluetooth to my EEE 701, giving me a lot more screen and a lot more keyboard; this probably at the same price as I paid for the HTC when it was new. I also have an Ipod Touch, that I use a lot for surfing when at home, and when I'm in near wifi (at school etc), but the typing on that touchscreen is simply to painful to keep it going for any long ssh sessions. I long for the day of foldable screens and keyboards :)
Submission + - Toshiba Kills HD DVD, Official (gizmodo.com)
An anonymous reader writes: It's official. HD DVD has been pronounced officially dead by Toshiba on Tuesday February 19, 2008, even before the press conference has started: 'Toshiba Corporation today announced that it has undertaken a thorough review of its overall strategy for HD DVD and has decided it will no longer develop, manufacture and market HD DVD players and recorders. This decision has been made following recent major changes in the market. Toshiba will continue, however, to provide full product support and after-sales service for all owners of Toshiba HD DVD products.' The Format War is over.
Submission + - Create a back end for a graphical Ajax application
An anonymous reader writes: Back end processing — server-side scripts and programs — can't always be tossed into an Ajax application and behave well. This article explains how a good server-side script complements Ajax behavior.
A Brief History of Slashdot Part 2, Explosions 216
When last we left off, Slashdot had grown beyond my ability to maintain it as a hobby,
as well as beyond the simple DEC Alpha Multia 166 that had served it so well for the
first week or two, and then immediately buckled under the traffic. Here in Part 2,
we ride the wave of Slashdot's growth from early '98 until whenever my wrists get tired
enough that I stop yakking until next week.
Ex-HP CEO Carly Fiorina Hired By Fox News 256
neutrino38 writes "The International Herald Tribune reports that Fox News hired Carly Fiorina, ex-HP CEO. Such an interesting move will certainly bring support to those who viewed her as the over-hyped CEO who killed the original corporate engineering culture know as 'the HP way.'
The article, off course, does not elaborate on this aspect of things. Slashdot has previously reported her demise from HP and some comments mentioned some HP employee dancing in the cubicles then."
