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Comment Re:LOL: Bug Report (Score 1) 421

Real Disadvantages: You risk data loss with any application that stores critical data using either (1) a truncate/write method or (2) a write/rename method without a asking the OS to sync it's data. I think that far fewer than 95% of applications fall under (2) and every filesystem will have issues with (1).

For (1) there is nothing the OS can do for the application, just about any file system would loose data in this case depending on how long it caches the writes in memory and if the application has a chance to finish writing all of the data. (1) is clearly bad application code at fault. Ext4 does increase the write-delay for the data but any way you use (1) is asking for problems if the system crashes/the disk fills up/etc.

For (2) the file system could implement atomic rename operations but that would be at a slight performance loss when the application didn't need this atomic operation. This is more of a do-what-I-mean-not-what-I-say workaround as I don't see too many situations where (2) would be used without expecting atomic operation. If the application didn't care about possible data loss in the file (1) works well. The real fix however is to call sync() in the application code in this situation, it makes the code more portable across posix filesystems.

Comment Re:S3 has always been a synonym for "avoid" (Score 1) 132

There was a patch (not by S3) for the XFree86 driver that disabled VESA mode probing. It would make S3 chipsets "work" with VESA drivers if you got your mode lines just right in the config file. Even then there were some other bugs, you had to start the kernel in framebuffer mode and you could not go back to a console once X was started.

The stated reason from S3 for not supporting VESA probing was that it was used in the past to obtain firmware from the chipset and that Windows (9x) did not probe for VESA modes (even when using VESA drivers).

I like to think that linux support from manufactures has come a long way since then but it looks like some still don't care.

Comment Re:Well... (Score 1) 931

The flaw with this is that he would still be legally allowed to keep his own transcript of the performance, just not make copies. Oh, and live performances can not technically be copyrighted in the US (but you still need permission from the artist to distribute to avoid the anti-bootlegging provisions). Copyright only exists (in the US) for something placed on tangible media.

Comment Re:Mystery Pits (Score 1) 552

All those things (and many more) are just tales?

Quite frankly, yes. AFIAK most waste in the US is sold to Areva for reprocessing into usable material. Most uranium mines have been non-operational for several years due to the low price of uranium on the market, this might change in the near future however. In the US the NEC is quite strict on tracking where waste is shipped.

Full disclosure: I work in Richland, WA where Hanford is located. I do not work at Hanford myself but I know people who do.

Comment Re:Fuel economy (Score 1) 1114

If the thermometer was in the radiator then you would see this. The thermostat will shut off most of the water cycling through the radiator and cycle it internally through the engine only. This keeps the engine running at optimal temp and gets it warm faster when it is cold out. The dash thermometers in older injection cars are not coupled to the thermal sensor that controls fuel mixture but rather to the water temperature in either the radiator or the engine (found this out myself when my thermal sensor went bad).

If it was extremely cold out you might be able to cool off the engine significantly while it was running downhill at idle. The result would be that the fuel mixture would run a bit richer than normal for a short bit while the engine warmed back up. A normal engine has a fairly high heat capacitance and doesn't have that high of surface area, it would take quite a bit of cold moving air to cool it down.

Music

Senate Majority Leader Takes On File Sharing 591

An anonymous reader writes "Colleges are up in arms — and the entertainment industry is ecstatic — over Sen. Harry Reid's plan to crack down on file sharing by students. Floor votes could be imminent." A commenter on the post said, "Unfortunately we are likely to see neither sense nor principle from the Democrats on this issue, as Hollywood is their biggest cash machine."
Portables

Submission + - ASUS $199 Linux Laptop

walterbyrd writes: "New Eee laptop is supposed to compete with OLPC — but it will be available to anybody. It uses flash memory for storage 4GB for $199, and 8GB for $299."
It's funny.  Laugh.

Submission + - Pentagon developed 'laughing bullets'

plasmadroid writes: It might sound like a joke, but documents unearthed by New Scientist show that the Pentagon actually funded research into 'non-lethal' bullets that would also hit a target with a dose of laughing gas. That way, they'd not only be stunned but incapacitated by fits of giggles. Another idea was to put stink bombs inside rubber bullets. I guess it would work, but the idea of crowds of rioters giggling uncontrollably while being pelted with rubber bullets is truly bizarre...
Power

Submission + - Compressed Air Car

FridayBob writes: Yesterday, a Belgian newspaper published this article (translation) about a new car that runs on nothing but compressed air. Apparently, it can run for about 200km on a tank of air filled up to a pressure of 300 bar (4351 psi). Special filling stations can refill an empty tank in only 3 minutes, but the car can also refill itself in six hours using an electrical outlet and its own on-board compressor. The car was developed by MDI (lots of info), a company set up by French engineer, Guy Nègre (ex-Formula One), that makes its money by selling patents and manufacturing licenses. It will become available in Belgium some time next year for a minimum price of only EUR 4,000 ($5,402). The Indian company, Tata, have also bought a manufacturing license and plan to sell a model for as little as EUR 1,835 ($2,478). This Wikipedia article has some interesting information regarding the air engine. Until a good enough battery appears with which to run an electric car, this seems like an excellent solution.
Linux

Linus Warms (Slightly) to GPL3 234

lisah writes "Though Linus Torvalds isn't exactly tripping over himself to endorse the GPLv3 draft, he continues to warm up to it little by little and says the newest version is 'a hell of a lot better than the disaster that were the earlier drafts.'"
Microsoft

Microsoft Vista, IE7 Banned By U.S. DOT 410

An anonymous reader writes "According to a memo being reported on by Information week, the US Department of Transportation has issued a moratorium on upgrading Microsoft products. Concerns over costs and compatability issues has lead the federal agency to prevent upgrades from XP to Vista, as well as to stop users from moving to IE 7 and Office 2007. As the article says, 'In a memo to his staff, DOT chief information officer Daniel Mintz says he has placed "an indefinite moratorium" on the upgrades as "there appears to be no compelling technical or business case for upgrading to these new Microsoft software products. Furthermore, there appears to be specific reasons not to upgrade."'"

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