Fyz - Slashdot User

Submission + - Is America really that bad?

Submitted by Fyz on Monday January 15, 2007 @05:10PM

Fyz writes: Being an avid reader of Slashdot and other internet-based media while living in Europe, it is easy to get the impression that the US is not a very nice place. Everyday, a steady stream of insane lawsuits, insane convictions, insane laws, insane rules and insane pundits dominate the news I get from the media. I'm planning a longer stay in the US to do some postgraduate studies in physics, in part because my instincts tell me that it can't possibly be as bad as the impression the news gives me. Basically, I'm hoping to get a reality check. So my questions are these: Isn't the feeling "on the ground" very much different than portrayed in discussion on this site? And are the many stories of peoples rights being trampled on something you can relate to, or are they rare extremes?

Submission + - A timetable for nuclear fusion

Submitted by IAmTheRealMike on Sunday January 14, 2007 @07:44AM

IAmTheRealMike writes: This article offers an in depth but readable review of the current state of fusion research, along with a timetable for the future, a description of what still needs to be figured out and a fascinating look at what it'd take to scale up to worldwide commercial generation levels. Executive summary, by 2100 if all goes according to plan fusion might be able to generate 30% of Europes present day demand. The delay is largely due to tightly limited tritium supplies. Whilst a sustainable fusion reactor will produce tritium, it would do so only in small amounts so a reactor would take 2-3 years to produce enough tritium to "give birth" and start another one. It looks like even with the most optimistic assumptions, by the time Tokamak based fusion can meaningfully contribute we will likely be deep in the midsts of an energy crisis.

Submission + - Woman dies attempting to win a Wii

Submitted by

no reason to be here

on Sunday January 14, 2007 @04:36AM

no reason to be here writes: "CNN.com is currently running an article about a woman who died after participating in a radio station's "Hold your wee for a Wii" contest. Contestants in the contest were given bottles of water to drink every fifteen minutes, with the person who went the longest without going to the bathroom winning a Wii console. The coroner's office suspects that the most likely cause of death is water intoxication."

Submission + - Comet McNaught Visible in Broad Daylight

Submitted by AbsoluteXyro on Sunday January 14, 2007 @04:35AM

AbsoluteXyro writes: As the amateur astronomers among us already know, Comet McNaught has been gracing the early morning and late evening skies... as it approaches the Sun, some estimate it has the potential to become 40 times brighter than Venus, or a magnitude of -8.8! In fact, it has recently been reported at SpaceWeather.com that Comet McNaught is now visible in broad daylight! From the article: "It's fantastic," reports Wayne Winch of Bishop, California. "I put the sun behind a neighbor's house to block the glare and the comet popped right into view. You can even see the tail."

Submission + - Software Error Likely Killed MGS Spacecraft

Submitted by Aglassis on Thursday January 11, 2007 @05:11AM

Aglassis writes: NASA investigators have determined that a software update performed in June of 2006 may have doomed the 10 year old spacecraft. Apparently the software error caused the solar arrays to drive against a mechanical stop which then forced the spacecraft into safe mode. Unfortunately, after that the spacecraft's radiator was pointed at the sun which overheated the battery and destroyed it. Contact was lost with the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft in November of 2006. NASA will form an internal review board to formally determine the cause of the loss of the spacecraft and what remedial actions are needed for future missions.

Journal Journal: PC World Editor Slain at CA Home

Journal by d0ubleplus on Thursday January 11, 2007 @04:10AM

"A senior editor for PC World Magazine was fatally shot in his home in what authorities said Wednesday was a drug-related attack. Rex Farrance, 59, the San Francisco, California-based magazine's senior technical editor, was shot in the chest after four masked men broke into his home Tuesday evening, Pittsburg police said. The assailants also pistol-whipped Farrance's wife, Lenore Vantosh-Farrance, 56, a registered nurse

Submission + - Hotel WiFi Tracks You as You Surf

Submitted by

saccade.com

on Thursday January 11, 2007 @03:50AM

saccade.com writes: "During my last hotel stay, I thought it was a pretty strange that it took two browser re-directs before the hotel's Wi-Fi would show me the web page I browsed to. Picasa developer Michael Herf noticed the same the thing and dug a little deeper. He discovered: "...their page does some tracking of each new page you visit in your browser, outside what a normal proxy (which would have access to all your cookies and other information it shouldn't have, anyway) would do. This "adlog" hit appears to also track a "hotel ID" and some other data that identifies you more directly. Notably, I've observed these guys tracking HTTPS URLs, and of course you can't track those through a proxy.". Herf notes the WiFi service provider, SuperClick, advertises that it "allows hoteliers and conference center managers to leverage the investment they have made in their IP infrastructure to create advertising revenue, deliver targeted marketing and brand messages to guests and users on their network...""

Journal Journal: Wearable Electronic for consumer

Journal by fashiongeek on Thursday January 11, 2007 @03:49AM

talk2myShirt http://www.talk2myshirt.com/blog/ is a collection of the latest product launches based on Wearable Electronic technologies. Such technologies allow the integration of some or all functions of our beloved gadgets like cell phones or iPod into our daily lifestyle = clothing and accessories like bags. It's a new way to interact with our products, make them even more fashionable and protect them from damage or being snatched.

Submission + - Does Income Inequality Matter?

Submitted by

theodp

on Thursday January 11, 2007 @01:34AM

theodp writes: "Alarmed by Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein's record-setting $53M bonus, Charles Wheelan (aka The Naked Economist) argues that income inequality matters. Wheelan notes that the Gini Coefficient (a measure of income inequality) for the U.S. has been moving away from countries like Japan and Sweden and closer to that of Brazil, where the murder rate is 5X that of NYC and crime is materially impacting GDP."

The Home Server Cometh 253

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday January 10, 2007 @11:58AM from the where-you-keep-your-treasure dept.

narramissic writes "Apart from Apple's 'I'm cooler than you' ad campaign, you don't hear much about the Windows versus Mac battle these days. The reason: Today's battle isn't about 'what brand of computer sits on the desk in your spare room, or even what operating system it runs, it's going to be about who gets to dominate the market for home servers that will control your entertainment, television, telephony, and your home automation system,' argues Dan Blacharski in a recent article."

Submission + - Europe to lower CO2 emissions even more

Submitted by

Blikkie

on Wednesday January 10, 2007 @10:07AM

Blikkie writes: "BBC reports that the European Union has decided that just following the Kyoto protocols wasn't enough, and has unilaterally decided to lower it's CO2 emissions for 2020 with 20% compared to 1990 emissions. EC President Jose Manuel Barroso said there must be a common European response to climate change. New policies were needed "to face a new reality" — to make European's energy supplies more secure, he said.

It is clear that this decision doesn't stem from altruism, and is much more inspired by the fact that fuel has stopped flowing once again. In the end it might turn out economically efficient though, with the fuel prices rising and rising over the past few years."

Submission + - What tech tools do you use?

Submitted by

Minupla

on Wednesday January 10, 2007 @08:30AM

Minupla writes: "I've been asked to put together a new IT dept in a regional office. Among other things, I'm going to need to put together a set of tools, both hardware and software for my department. So that got me to thinking "What things have other geeks found handy in doing their jobs?" So how about it? What tool in your kit would you never want to do without?"

Submission + - Preferred preservation method?

Submitted by

Bifurcati

on Wednesday January 10, 2007 @12:56AM

Bifurcati writes: "Preferred preservation method?

* Transfer of consciousness to The Matrix
* Liquid nitrogen, ready for thawing
* Black hole event horizon
* Canopic jar
* Corpse case mod"

Submission + - Analysis of the Apple iPhone

Submitted by Provataki on Tuesday January 09, 2007 @10:23PM

Provataki writes: Now that the initial dust of the iPhone's launch has settled down, here is a no-frills, objective analysis of the iPhone's feature-set and how it compares to other smartphones today. The author seems to like the device a lot and believes that will drive the industry in the coming years, but he also mentions the lack of a native (non-widget) SDK (which is what defines a "smartphone") and the old-style input method used (why didn't Apple go for something as innovative as this?). Stereo Bluetooth A2DP, MMS support and user-replaceable battery (a norm in the cellphone industry) are still a questionmark.

Submission + - 109th Congress Illegalizes Pretexting

Submitted by

DJCacophony

on Tuesday January 09, 2007 @09:14PM

DJCacophony writes: "In a little-noticed move that affects both corrupt business practices and social engineering (and therefore also private investigation) nationwide, the 109th U.S. Congress opted to illegalize "pretexting", the controversial practice of lying about ones own identity over the phone. The legislation was passed in the 109th Congress' last session, and overrules the decision against similar legislation made less than two weeks earlier by the California legislature after pressure from the MPAA, who had been practicing pretexting as a method for gathering informtion on filesharers. The practice had previously only been illegal in 12 states."

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