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Media (Apple)

Submission + - iPhone SDK rules block Skype, Firefox, Java. (cnet.com) 1

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: Apple's iPhone software development kit is already drawing complaints due to the strict terms of service. Voice over IP apps like Skype that attempt to use the cellular data connection will be blocked. Competing web browsers Firefox and Opera are forbidden. Even Sun is now backpedaling on its recent announcement of a java port, noting that there are some legal issues. Critics are already comparing Apple's methods to Comcast's anti-net neutrality filtering, and Microsoft's Netscape-killing antitrust tactics. Could Apple face government regulators? CNET has more.
Medicine

Submission + - Brain Ischemia - slow progress (sullydog.com)

Submitted by
Geoffrey.landis
Geoffrey.landis writes: "Researchers have been slowly building up a picture of exactly what occurs during a stroke (or, in medical jargon, "brain ischemia," defined as "a pathophysiological state in which cerebral blood flow to the brain is insufficient to meet the metabolic demands"), and the mechanisms by which it damages the brain. For the most part we're talking real science here, which is to say a slow and painstaking accumulation of understanding, and not the headline-making moments of "eureka," right or wrong, which are so beloved by journalists. Nevertheless, there is real progress going on here. Jonathon Sullivan of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Wayne State University has just put up a site summarizing the most recent understanding, including both the technical details that will interest biochemistry nerds, and also a good summary of recent science readable for the rest of us.

One of the hard-won new insights that Sullivan elucidates is the idea that the most devastating events of brain ischemia occur not during the actual oxygen deprivation, but happen when oxygen is reintroduced to the blood-starved brain. (in his words, "Ischemia Cocks the Hammer, Reperfusion Pulls the Trigger.")

Sullivan blames the problem on the peroxynitrite radical, O=NOO-. (Which can be pronounced "O Noo!" if you like). Quoting the text: "You are looking at a truly evil molecule. If we didn't have it caged in this little white box right now, it would jump right out of the screen and nitrosylate your face." (although that's not the only molecule Sullivan doesn't like. About the calpain molecule, he says, "calpain is like one of those white supremacy biker dudes on an overdose of meth. He goes insane and starts tweaking on all kinds of molecules.")

Bottom line is that while he says that there's no silver bullet, he notes that there are many promising strategies that work better than "take a lot of aspirin and hope for the best." Two approaches that look promising for the future include hypothermia and insulin injection, separately or in combination."
GNU is Not Unix

Submission + - OpenOffice.Org Now Under LGPLv3 (sun.com)

Submitted by
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes: "Sun has moved OpenOffice.org to the LGPLv3 license. They cite worry over software patents as being one of their main reasons for this move, saying 'Upgrading to the LGPLv3 brings important new protections to the OpenOffice.org community, most notably through the new language concerning software patents. You may know that I am personally an opponent of software patents, and that Sun has already taken steps in this area with a patent non-assert covenant for ODF. But the most important protection for developers comes from creating mutual patent grants between developers. LGPLv3 does this.'"
Novell

Submission + - De Icaza regrets Novell/Microsoft pact (thestandard.com)

Submitted by
Ian Lamont
Ian Lamont writes: "Novell Vice President and GNOME architect Miguel de Icaza sounded off at a MIX 08 panel on a number of topics. First, he claimed that he was 'not happy' with Novell's cross-patent licensing agreement with Microsoft, saying that if he had his way, the company would have stayed with the open-source community. He also said that neither Windows nor Linux are relevant in the long term, thanks to Web 2.0 business models:

'They might be fantastic products ... but Google has shown itself to be a cash cow. There is a feature beyond selling corporate [software] and patents ... it's going to be owning end users."
He also tangled with Mike Schroepfer, a Mozilla engineering executive, about extending patent protection for Moonlight to third parties. However, de Icaza did say that Novell has done the best it could to balance open-source interests with patent indemnification."
Programming

Submission + - What are the best programming blogs?

Submitted by
anthroguy
anthroguy writes: "I've been reading Slashdot for years and enjoy it as a cross-reference for nerdy news, but I'm wondering something: what are the best blogs on programming — or otherwise — on the internet at the moment that we should all be reading (to submit to Slashdot, if worthy, of course)?"
Graphics

Submission + - AMD's Hybrid Graphics Unveiled, Tested (extremetech.com)

Submitted by
ThinSkin
ThinSkin writes: "The combination of AMD's ATI graphics division and AMD's CPU division means that AMD often fights a two-front war, directly competing against Intel in the CPU business as well as Nvidia in graphics. AMD's Hybrid Graphics technology allows them to fight against both companies at the same time, offering customers their 780G chipset that allows integrated graphics to work more efficiently with the CPU. In addition, inserting an additional card works the same as CrossFire, which, like Nvidia's SLI, was only capable by having two discrete graphics cards installed on a motherboard. ExtremeTech has put the 780G chipset through a series of gaming and synthetic benchmarks to see just how beneficial this technology is. The results indicate that Hybrid Graphics isn't yet ideal for the power-hungry gamer, as driver revisions need to be ironed out at this early stage, but performance looks promising."
Media

Submission + - Associated Press: Fair use? What's fair use? (snappedshot.com) 1

Submitted by Spetiam
Spetiam writes: The Associated Press clamps down on fair use: "We have been informed that the Associated Press takes issue with our use of their images on this website, and until I'm able to resolve this matter with them amicably, I'm going to have to take the site offline...I'm somewhat befuddled on this point, and hope that some of you can help clarify this for me. How in the world can one provide analysis, commentary, and criticism on news photographs, if they are forbidden from actually showing said photograph? Did the Associated Press crack down on people who clipped newspapers out and shared them with their co-workers? Did they crack down on the thousands of fax-lists that powered New York through the 80's? And is this even relevant? I'd love to hear what you think." The take-down letter from the AP lawyer is scanned and posted for your perusal.
Security

Submission + - Virtual Border fence doesn't work

Submitted by lelitsch
lelitsch writes: The Washington Post reports that the initial pilot of the Virtual Border Fence planned by the DHS and subcontracted to Boeing has been a miserable failure. A lot of things sound like death march software development projects. Some choice quotes include "did not work as planned or meet the needs of the U.S. Border Patrol", "DHS officials do not yet know the type of terrain where the fencing is to be constructed", and "the design will not be used as the basis for future . . . development".
Networking

Submission + - Researchers transmit optical data at 16.4 Tbps

Submitted by Stony Stevenson
Stony Stevenson writes: The goal of 100 Gbps Ethernet transmission is closer to reality with the announcement Wednesday that Alcatel-Lucent researchers have recorded an optical transmission record along with three photonic integrated circuits. Carried out by researchers in Bell Labs in Villarceaux, France, the successful transmission of 16.4 Tbps of optical data over 2,550 km was assisted by Alcatel's Thales' III-V Lab and Kylia, an optical solution company. The researchers utilized 164 wavelength-division multiplexed channels modulated at 100-Gbps in the effort.
Cellphones

Submission + - Bill could force Apple, AT&T to unlock iPhone 1

Submitted by quantumghost
quantumghost writes: When T-Mobile began selling Apple's iPhone in Germany last fall, a legal skirmish ensued, forcing the wireless carrier to sell it untethered to a contract — at $1,460, no less. T-Mobile eventually persuaded a court that the two-year contract was legal. Now that same kind of European rule would be imported into the United States — meaning AT&T would be legally required to sell a contract-free iPhone — if a new Democratic proposal in the U.S. House of Representatives becomes law.

http://www.news.com/8301-10784_3-9879554-7.html
Music

Submission + - Swedish Record Labels Back Filesharing

Submitted by
Klatoo55
Klatoo55 writes: "A coalition of seven independent record labels in Sweden has joined to form The Swedish Model, a pro-filesharing discussion platform that seeks to restore focus on music and develop a coherent business model to take the music industry into the years to come. Torrentfreak shares some additional info on the site as well as interviews with the labels involved."
Robotics

Submission + - Terrorists Will Use Killer Robots

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Pentagon and other military forces are increasing their use of military robots, but so will terrorists and militants, predicts a robotics expert. Noel Sharkey says that terrorists will copy the tactics of military forces, and start using low-cost, ready-made components to construct autonomous robot weapons. He estimates that a GPS-guided drone with autopilot costs about 250 pounds ($490), well within the reach of militant groups. The militant Lebanese group Hezbollah flew a reconnaissance drone over Israel in 2004.
The Internet

Submission + - Comcast, net neutrality advocates clash (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by
milsoRgen
milsoRgen writes: "A civil but tense tone prevailed at today's Federal Communications Commission's hearing on how to address concerns that Comcast and other ISPs degrade P2P traffic. Comcast executive vice president David L. Cohen was the star of the show, and he knew it. "It's a pleasure to be here as a participant and hopefully not the main course for your meal," Cohen told all five Commissioners and a lively audience during the event's first panel discussion, held at Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts."
Space

Submission + - Astronomers Say Dying Sun Will Engulf Earth

Submitted by iamlucky13
iamlucky13 writes: A minor academic debate among astronomers is the final fate of the earth. As the sun ages and enters the red giant stage of its life, it will heat up, making the earth inhospitable. It will also expand, driven by helium fusion so that its outer layers reach past the earth's current orbit. Previously it had been believed that the sun would lose enough mass to allow earth to escape to a more distant orbit, lifeless but intact. However, new calculations, which take into account tidal forces and drag from mass shed by the sun, suggest that the earth will have sufficiently slowed in that time to be dragged down to its utter destruction in 7.6 billion years. It looks like the earth destruction manual can update Fallback Method 3 with the good news.

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