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Linux Business

Submission + - What are your Linux Deal-Breakers?

Submitted by soundman
soundman writes: I've been a dedicated Ubuntu and Fedora user for the past 3 years. Recently, I've setup a surround sound system but found that even after hours of configuring ALSA, I still couldn't get it to work properly. Rebooting into Windows, it took under a minute to set it up with the vendor supplied GUI tool that came with my motherboard drivers. What are your Linux deal-breakers?
The Courts

Submission + - RIAA's attack on NewYorkCountryLawyer fails (p2pnet.net)

Submitted by
NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "p2pnet.net reports that the RIAA has egg on its face. When the Electronic Frontier Foundation requested permission to file an amicus curiae brief on behalf of Boston University students challenging the RIAA's ex parte discovery order, the RIAA lawyers attacked the blog "Recording Industry vs. The People" for its criticism of the RIAA as seeking to "abuse the American judicial system, distort copyright law, and frighten ordinary working people and their children" and then falsely claimed that the blog's author is an EFF attorney, this despite the fact that they know that the blog's author (known on Slashdot as NewYorkCountryLawyer) is a partner in a New York law firm and is not an EFF attorney. Judge Gertner apparently wasn't impressed, and granted the EFF's motion, rejecting the RIAA's objections, since she felt amici curiae might "shed light" on the "copyright law" and "computer technology" issues before her."
Cellphones

Submission + - SPAM: A 3G Linux phone for sub $US100

Submitted by
WirePosted
WirePosted writes: "NXP Semiconductors and Purple Labs have introduced a reference design for 3G Linux phone offering video telephony, music playback, high-speed Internet browsing and video streaming that they say will cost operators less than $US100."
Link to Original Source
The Courts

Submission + - RIAA's war against college students in a nutshell (p2pnet.net)

Submitted by
NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "p2pnet.net has put together a fascinating retrospective on the RIAA's war against college students, commenced February 28, 2007, describing the campaign as one to "force 'consumers' to buy what they're told to buy — corporate 'content,' as the Big 4 call their formulaic outpourings." In a scathing indictment not only of the major record labels but of those schools, administrators, and educators who have yet to take a stand against it, Jon Newton reviews a number of landmark moments in the 11-month old "reign of terror", including the announcement of the bizarre "early settlement" sale, the sudden withdrawal of a case in which a 17 year old Texas high school student had been subpoenaed while in class during school hours to attend a deposition the very next day during his taking of a standardized test, the call by Harvard law professors for the university to fight back when and if attacked, and the differing reactions by other schools."
Hardware Hacking

Hacking Asus EEE 150

Posted by CmdrTaco from the hack-on-this dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Torsten Lyngaas has published a set of instructions with photographs on his personal wiki that describe the steps he took to install $450 worth of extra hardware, including a GPS receiver, an FM transmitter, Bluetooth, extra USB ports, 802.11n, and an extra 4GB flash storage drive."
Music

U2's Manager Calls For Mandatory Disconnects For Music Downloaders 658

Posted by Zonk from the got-a-few-things-to-get-off-of-his-chest dept.
sleeplesseye writes "In a speech at the Midem music industry convention in Cannes, Paul McGuinness, longtime manager of the band U2, has called on Internet service providers to immediately introduce mandatory French-style service disconnections to end music downloading, and has urged governments to force ISPs to adopt such policies. McGuinness criticized Radiohead's 'In Rainbows' pay-what-you-want business model, saying that 'the majority of downloads were through illegal P2P download services like BitTorrent and LimeWire'. He also accused ISPs, telcos, device makers, and numerous specifically named companies such as Apple, Google, Yahoo!, Oracle, and Facebook of building 'multi billion dollar industries on the back of our content without paying for it', and of being 'makers of burglary kits' who have made 'a thieves' charter' to steal money from the music industry. The full text of his speech has been posted on U2's website."
The Military

World's Most Powerful Rail Gun Delivered to US Navy 615

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the wanting-what-you-can't-have dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The world's most powerful functional rail gun capable of accelerating projectiles up to Mach 8 has been delivered to the Navy. The new rail gun is a 32-megajoule Electro-Magnetic Laboratory Rail Gun. The Navy eventually hopes to have 64-megajoule ship mounted rail guns. 'The lab version doesn't look particularly menacing -- more like a long, belt-fed airport screening device than like a futuristic cannon -- but the system will fire rounds at up to Mach 8, drawing on tremendous amounts of electricity to generate the current for each test shot. That, of course, is the problem with rail guns: Like lasers, they're out of step with modern-day generators and capacitors. Eight and 9-megajoule rail guns have been fired before, but providing 3 million amps of power per shot has been a limitation.'"
Robotics

Military Robots to Gain Advanced Sight 71

Posted by Soulskill from the stay-on-target dept.
coondoggie brings us a NetworkWorld report discussing iRobot's plans to include Laser Radar technology in their military robots. Quoting: "Specifically the robot-maker is licensing Advanced Scientific Concepts' 3-D flash Ladar which uses laser beams to scan and process targets. The system has the ability to create a virtual 3D picture of an entire area. IRobot ... believes the technology will provide new navigation and mapping capabilities for future generations of robots and unmanned ground vehicles and pave the way for autonomous vehicles to lead convoys into dangerous territory, search contaminated buildings for casualties, or enable bomb squads to safely investigate suspicious objects."
Privacy

Web Hosting For Privacy Activists? 285

Posted by kdawson from the haven-in-a-data-storm dept.
BritishColumbian writes "I'm thinking about setting up a Web site driven by user submissions. I was wondering which locations have the most liberal (i.e., libertarian) privacy laws. There are some great hosts in the US, however there have been so many FBI requests for user data that I don't want a server hosted under US jurisdiction. Does anyone have any thoughts/suggestions as to a suitable jurisdiction? It doesn't look like Sealand's HavenCo is guaranteed to be privacy-friendly any more."
Wireless Networking

Massive WiMax Network for India 145

Posted by CmdrTaco from the well-bully-for-them-then dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Engadget reports that the largest Indian telecom company is planning to build a mobile WiMax network covering three states on the subcontinent capable of serving 250 million people. State-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited is leaning on Soma Networks to build the broadband-speed network in response to government requirement that 20 million broadband lines be in service by 2010." Meanwhile I can't even get cable. Maybe it's time to move to India.
Biotech

Scientists Claim Infrared Helmet Could Reverse Alzheimer's Symptoms 201

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the feeling-light-headed dept.
penguin_dance writes "Ready to put on your thinking cap? There's a report out of the UK regarding an 'experimental helmet which scientists say could reverse the symptoms of Alzheimer's disease within weeks of being used'. The helmet is to be worn for ten minutes every day and stimulates the growth of brain cells using infra-red light. The article explains, 'Low level infra-red red is thought to stimulate the growth of cells of all types of tissue and encourage their repair. It is able to penetrate the skin and even get through the skull.' Human trials are due to start this summer." I wont make any nomad-based predictions, but I'll remain on the skeptic side of the fence for now.
Science

Teen Takes On Donor's Immune System 231

Posted by Zonk from the you-will-be-assimilated dept.
Leibel writes "The Australian ABC News is reporting that a 15-year-old Australian liver transplant patient has defied modern medicine by taking on her donor's immune system. Demi-Lee Brennan had a liver transplant. Nine months later, doctors at Sydney's Westmead Children's Hospital were amazed to find the teenager's blood group had changed to the donor's blood type. They were even more surprised when they found the girl's immune system had almost totally been replaced by that of the donor, meaning she no longer had to take anti-rejection drugs. 'Dr. Michael Stormon says his team is now trying to identify how the phenomenon happened and whether it can be replicated. "That's probably easier said than done... I think it's a long shot," he said. "I think it's a unique system of events whereby this happened. "We postulate there's a number of different issues - the type of liver failure that she had, some of the drugs that we use early on to suppress the immune system and also that she suffered an infection with a virus called CMV, or cytomegalovirus, which can also suppress the immune system."'"
Businesses

MIT Student Plans to Take on RIAA 169

Posted by Zonk from the go-fightin'-nerds dept.
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "MIT's online newspaper, The Tech, reports that a student named as a John Doe by the RIAA is planning to fight back against their questionable legal tactics. The anonymous student told The Tech that he is 'the victim of a fishing expedition by the RIAA,' and is 'disappointed that MIT isn't going to step up ... Other schools like Boston University and the University of Oregon have resisted RIAA subpoenas of student records more actively than MIT has, he said'. Maybe his attorneys will be able to get some assistance from some of the Harvard Law School students in Professor Nesson's 'Evidence' class, who have been assigned — as part of their coursework — the drafting of a motion to quash an RIAA subpoena."
Idle

Film School Masterpiece Screenshot-sm

Posted by samzenpus from the girls-are-not-to-be-trusted dept.
samzenpus writes "Film school movies are often bleak, brooding and angry. This one isn't bleak."
Hardware Hacking

14-Year-Old Turns Tram System Into Personal Train Set 380

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the no-volume-control-on-this-tv dept.
F-3582 writes "By modifying a TV remote a 14-year-old boy from Lodz, Poland, managed to gain control over the junctions of the tracks. According to The Register the boy had 'trespassed in tram depots to gather information needed to build the device. [...] Transport command and control systems are commonly designed by engineers with little exposure or knowledge about security using commodity electronics and a little native wit.' Four trams derailed in the process injuring a number of passengers. The boy is now looking at 'charges at a special juvenile court of endangering public safety.'"

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