Comment Re:Smoking crater (Score 1) 177
If it is a cylinder from Mars we need to nuke it immediately.
From orbit?
DragonFly 2.4 Released 73
electrostaticcarrot writes "DragonFly — that fourth major BSD — has had its 2.4 release. The 'most invasive change' is the addition and usage of a DevFS for /dev; building on this, drives are now also recognized by serial number (along with /etc/devtab for aliases) as listed in /dev/serno. This is also the first release with a x86-64 ISO, stable but with limited pkgsrc support. Other larger changes include a ported and feature-extended (with full hotplug and port multiplier support) AHCI driver (and SILI driver based on it) originally taken from OpenBSD, major NFS changes, and HAMMER updates. A pkgsrc GIT mirror has also been set up and put in use to make future pkgsrc updates quicker and smoother. Here are two of the mirrors."
Submission + - Tolkien Trust Okays Hobbit Movie
saudadelinux writes: Last year, the Tolkien Trust which administers JRR's estate, bellowed stentoriously, "Youuuu shall not make The Hobbit!" and sued New Line Cinema for "a reported $220m (£133m) in compensation, based on breach of contract and fraud." New Line, chastened, has settled for an undisclosed sum of money. The Trust has given its blessing to New Line for Guillermo del Toro to film "The Hobbit" and for New Line to make other films based on Tolkien's work. Much rejoycing!
Comment Why Pay So Much For Language Support? (Score 2, Interesting) 821
On http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/products/compare-editions
there's a feature which only comes with the Ultimate edition: "Work in the language of your choice and switch between any of 35 languages."
It's interesting that Microsoft, with all its billions, only supports 35 languages -- at a serious premium. Compare this to volunteer-based projects such as KDE, which has (admittedly varying) levels of support for over 60 languages. For free.
Camara Goes On Offense Against the RIAA 316
whisper_jeff writes "Ars has an excellent write up outlining how Kiwi Camara (Jammie Thomas-Rasset's new lawyer) is following the 'Best Defense is a Good Offense' philosophy and going on the attack against the RIAA. Not content to just defend his client, he is laying siege against the RIAA's entire campaign and beginning the work of dismantling it from the bottom up, starting with the question of whether they actually do own the copyrights that were allegedly infringed. And, if you're thinking this is good for everyone who's been harassed by the RIAA, you'd be right — Camara, along with Harvard Law professor Charles Nesson, plans to file a class-action suit seeking to force the RIAA to return all the (ill-gotten) money they've earned from their litigation campaign."
We first discussed the efforts of Nesson and Camara to thwart the RIAA last month.
Download Taxes As a Weapon Against File-Sharing 451
An anonymous reader writes "An examination of a new "digital downloads" taxation law in Washington State suggests that files downloaded via file sharing programs may be covered by the law — meaning that you may be expected to pay taxes based on 'the value of the digital product ... determined by the retail selling price of a similar digital product.' Thus, if you were to download music or movies and not pay the taxes, would you be liable for tax evasion charges? How much do you want to bet the RIAA will push exactly that claim?"
When Your Backhoe Cuts "Black" Fiber 385
bernieS writes "The Washington Post describes what happens when a construction backhoe accidentally cuts buried fiber so secret that it doesn't appear on public maps — and what happens when the Men in Black SUVs appear out of nowhere. Apparently, the numerous secret fiber and utility lines used by government intelligence agencies are being dug up with increasing frequency with all the increased construction projects in the DC area. It's amazing how quickly they get repaired!"
Comment Slashdotting Your iPhone? (Score 5, Funny) 158
So what happens when you've got several thousand people trying to get on your phone's server?
Comment Hardcore Tornado Pr0n! (Score 2, Interesting) 112
I'm all for subtle instruments delicately probing the deepest tornadic secrets; there is much to be learned.
But dammit, I want hardcore tornado pr0n! I want the money shots from INSIDE a big, nasty, mile-wide wedge twister! I want on good video, what Will Keller described when he was caught in one. Thermodynamic and microphysical data are great, but GIVE US THE PR0N!!! :D
Comment Save Versus Dork At -5. (Score 1) 123
*rolls d20*
4
FAIL.
This is amazingly cool footage. Hopefully they'll put the entire thing up.
4
FAIL.
This is amazingly cool footage. Hopefully they'll put the entire thing up.
Comment Re:Just what I always wanted! (Score 1) 292
That you are using an old operating system incapable of dealing with this new hardware is not the fault of nVidia.
There's
a FUCKLOAD
of problems that are I'll never buy anything with an Nvidia card in it again.
There's
a FUCKLOAD
of problems that are I'll never buy anything with an Nvidia card in it again.
Submission + - Defective Nvidia Chips Slamming OEMs Hard
saudadelinux writes: Charlie Demerjian over at The Inquirer.net is following the sad story of Nvidia's teh fail recent hardware. Nvidia won't tell any single person the truth about what's going on, and OEMs like HP and Dell have to help eat the cost of Nvidia's mistakes.
Submission + - Survey: UNIX, Linux Improve; Windows Worsens
saudadelinux writes: "According to a summary of the Yankee Group's 2007-2008 Global Server Operating Reliability Survey on the Institute for Advanced Professional Studies site, IBM's AIX was the most reliable UNIX out there, in terms of uptime. Sun and HP did well, and RHEL and Debian improved dramatically. Ubuntu scored as high, the commercial UNIXes.
Windows Server 2000 and 2003's downtime increased, according to the poll. Perhaps Mr. Gates should study the downtime graph and GPL Windows, so it will improve ;-)"
Submission + - Which Lost/Stolen Laptop Trackers Do You Like? 2
saudadelinux writes: "I got held up at gunpoint in July, and my laptop was stolen. Fortunately, I was able to get a new one, and I'm typing this post on it.
There companies out which for a fee, install tracker software on your laptop. If it's stolen or lost, they track its whereabouts whenever it gets on the 'Net and work with local law enforcement and ISPs to find the machine. I'm wondering: does anyone use one of those services? Does anyone have a recommendation for which company to go with? I'm using a dual-boot Ubuntu/XP machine, and the couple of companies I've looked at do Windows-only. Are there Linux options? TIA, saudadelinux"
There companies out which for a fee, install tracker software on your laptop. If it's stolen or lost, they track its whereabouts whenever it gets on the 'Net and work with local law enforcement and ISPs to find the machine. I'm wondering: does anyone use one of those services? Does anyone have a recommendation for which company to go with? I'm using a dual-boot Ubuntu/XP machine, and the couple of companies I've looked at do Windows-only. Are there Linux options? TIA, saudadelinux"
Submission + - Did AT&T Censor Pearl Jam Show?
saudadelinux writes: AT&T cut 15 seconds of some impromptu, non-obscene, non-threatening anti-George Bush lyrics sung by Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, during a Lollapalooza web broadcast. AT&T insists it was a mistake, but it does make you wonder about big a Telco's ability and willingness to control what information you can access.
