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Slashdot's Disagree Mail Screenshot-sm 426

Everyone likes to belong to something. Whether it be for fun, a sense of belonging, or a need for attention, a group gives you a feeling of solidarity. Surrounding yourself with people that share common goals and ideas can be comforting. Sometimes however, you realize that you hate the people you've surrounded yourself with. Your religion doesn't allow you to read anything that has profanity or you've subscribed to Slashdot thinking you could learn more about hockey. This week's collection is composed of people who don't want to play, read, or be associated with us anymore. Read below to find out how bad they want out.
United States

Dell Tries To Trademark "Cloud Computing" 130

Ian Lamont writes "The Industry Standard reports that Dell is trying to trademark the term cloud computing . The phrase entered the tech lexicon years ago, but Dell's application (serial number 77139082) was made in early 2007 to the US Patent and Trademark Office, apparently in connection with data center products and services that it was promoting around that time. A quick search of Google News indicates that Dell itself did not use the term in press releases or discussions with indexed English-language media sources from 1996 to 2006. Dell is not the first company to attempt to trademark this term: The Standard notes that NetCentric, a company that provided 'carrier-class Internet fax technology,' also gave it a shot in the late 1990s, but was rejected."
Portables (Apple)

Submission + - Australia's Telstra to release iPhone 3G

base2_celtic writes: Telstra, the largest 2G and 3G mobile carrier in Australia, has announced that it will carry the Apple iPhone 3G on its "Next-G" network.

More information can be found at their launch page[telstra.com], which seems to be a "me too" copy of the existing Vodaphone and Optus (SingTel) launch pages.

This is big news for Australia, because Telstra offers coverage to rural and regional Australia via the Next-G network. There were entire states that Vodaphone and Optus had no way of covering.
Handhelds

Origin of the iPhone 230

rambilly brings us a story from Wired about the origin and development of the iPhone. From the article: "Steve Jobs had tasked about 200 of Apple's top engineers with creating the iPhone. Yet here, in Apple's boardroom, it was clear that the prototype was still a disaster. It wasn't just buggy, it flat-out didn't work. The phone dropped calls constantly, the battery stopped charging before it was full, data and applications routinely became corrupted and unusable. The list of problems seemed endless. At the end of the demo, Jobs fixed the dozen or so people in the room with a level stare and said, 'We don't have a product yet.' The effect was even more terrifying than one of Jobs' trademark tantrums. When the Apple chief screamed at his staff, it was scary but familiar. This time, his relative calm was unnerving. 'It was one of the few times at Apple when I got a chill,' says someone who was in the meeting."
Security

Submission + - Safari for Windows security patch released

base2_celtic writes: MacInTouch [macintouch.com] reports that Apple has released an updated version of Safari for Windows. The update addresses issues CVE-2007-3186, CVE-2007-3185 and CVE-2007-2391.

The update can be obtained via Apple's Software Update mechanism, or directly from the Safari download site [apple.com].

The release notes on MacInTouch don't credit anyone with the discovery of the issues, but the notes say that Apple is actively seeking security input:

As with all our products, we encourage security researchers to report issues to product-security@apple.com.
Space

Journal Journal: Second Test Launch of SpaceX Falcon 1

The second test launch of the SpaceX Falcon 1 rocket took place today at 6:10 pm PST. After successfully having completed launch, first stage separation (2m 51s), second stage ignition (2m 55s), fairing separation (3m 16s), and reaching an altitude of 300 km, the vehicle was seen entering what is referred to as roll oscillations (4m 30s). Shortly thereafter, telemetry was lost. The second stage is assum
Space

Submission + - SpaceX Falcon launched, but telemetry lost

base2_celtic writes: The SpaceX Falcon rocket (and its second stage, Kestrel) both fired successfully this morning. Lift-off occurred at 0110 GMT, with the Kestrel second stage firing at T + 2 mins 52 secs.

However, telemetry from the second stage was lost at T + 5 mins 5 secs.

SpaceFlight Now [spaceflightnow.com] is running a live feed of information as it comes to hand.
Security

Submission + - A better concpet for Web-of-Trust?

An anonymous reader writes: The StartCom Certification Authority introduced recently its StartSSL(TM) Web-of-Trust Network and with it an interesting mixture of classic PKI certification requirements for its notaries, but decentralized verification for its members. With this, StartCom aims to overcome the weak points of most Web-of-Trust scheme problems. A post at their WoT dedicated forum says:

One of the reasons why StartSSL WoT can be a better trusted Web-of-Trust network than others, is the fact, that notaries have to be Class 2 certified by StartCom. This allows to always track verifications done by one or more notaries to real and verified identities. We call this the bootstrapping of notaries, since one or two notaries can start to verify other members in any region of the world without relying on already existing other notaries (provided they can be verified successfully by StartCom).

Additionally, notaries have to be at least 18 years old and undergo an online test. The test is not too difficult, however it requires the notary to actually read and understand the WoT policy...
Announcements

Submission + - Call for Articles for Encyclopedia of AI

ergosum writes: "It seems that there is a current effort to edit the "Encyclopedia of Artificial Intelligence " that will "provide comprehensive coverage and definitions of the most important issues, concepts, trends and technologies in Artificial Intelligence." It will "be distributed worldwide among academic and professional institutions and will be instrumental in providing researchers, scholars, students and professionals with access to the latest knowledge related to Artificial Intelligence techniques." If you're interested "consider submitting a proposal on any of the proposed topics for this upcoming encyclopedia by submitting a brief (75-100 words) description of your proposed topic to us by no later than January 30, 2007 (Has been extended)." More info and list of topics: http://sabia.tic.udc.es/encyclopediaAI/Call_for_Ar ticles.htm"
The Media

Submission + - Senate bill bans Net & satellite radio recordi

kaufmanmoore writes: The new congress is the same as the old congress as Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), Joseph Biden (D-Del.) and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) reintroduced a bill that would require internet radio, music offered via digital cable, XM and Sirius to pay "fair market value" to use music libraries under members of the RIAA. FTA: "The proposal says that all audio services — Webcasters included — would be obligated to implement "reasonably available and economically reasonable" copy-protection technology aimed at preventing "music theft" and restricting automatic recording." The act also restricts "manual" recording saying that it should only be done "in a manner that is not an infringement of copyright." The full article is available from Cnet

Feed Get a Job! Apple's Hiring (wired.com)

Apple's iPod engineering division beefs up to get the iPhone out to eager consumers, posting more than 30 jobs in engineering and QA. In Cult of Mac.


Feed Futuristic Fridge Mimics Tree (wired.com)

The Tree House Fridge looks like a Wile E. Coyote prop -- a multi-chambered whatnot box rather than a big, cold rectangle. Separate branches hold meat, cheese, produce and other stuff -- cool! In Gadget Lab.


Feed Toyota Fights a Sea of Recalls (wired.com)

The company's attention to detail verges on OCD and consumer problems bring out more than ritual self-abasement. Toyota's first full-time quality chief cracks down to catch and fix glitches early. In Autopia.


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