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Java

Ask Jazz Technical Lead Dr. Erich Gamma 83

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the sing-me-a-tune dept.
As IBM continues to build out Jazz, their community-oriented development site, technical lead Dr. Erich Gamma has offered to answer questions about Jazz or anything else in his realm of expertise. Among his many accomplishments, Erich worked with Kent Beck on the Java unit testing framework, JUnit, and was actively involved until JUnit 4. Dr. Gamma was also one of the fathers of Eclipse and the original lead on the Eclipse Java development tools. Feel free to fire away on Eclipse, Java, JUnit, the Rational suite, the Jazz site, or anything else you think Erich might be able to answer. Usual Slashdot interview rules apply. Update 19:05 GMT by SM: As pointed out by user Hop-Frog, Dr. Gamma is also co-author of the influential computer science textbook Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software.
Operating Systems

Moblin V2.0 Beta For Netbooks and Nettops 50

Posted by kdawson from the get-your-mobility-on dept.
superbubba writes "The Moblin steering committee is happy to release the Moblin v2.0 beta for netbooks and nettops for developer testing. With this release, developers can begin to experience and work with the source code of the visually rich, interactive user interface designed for Intel Atom based netbooks."
Linux Business

Submission + - Is Apple Killing Linux on the Desktop 1

Submitted by
Domains May Disappear
Domains May Disappear writes: "Chris Howard has an interesting commentary at Apple Matters on recent trends in OS market share that says that while OS X has seen continual growth, from 4.21% in Jan 2006 to 7.31% in December 2007 at the same time, Linux's percentage has risen from only 0.29% to 0.63%. The reasons? "Apple has Microsoft Office, Linux doesn't; Apple has Adobe Creative Suite, Linux doesn't; Apple has easily accessed and easy to use service and support, Linux doesn't; Apple is driven by someone who has some understanding of end-user needs, Linux is not," says Howard. "Early in the decade it seemed that if you wanted a Windows alternative, Linux was it. Nowadays, an Apple Mac is undoubtedly the alternative and, with its resurgence and its Intel base, a very viable one.""
Patents

Submission + - EFF Busts Bogus Online Testing Patent (eff.org)

Submitted by
Panaqqa
Panaqqa writes: "It's taking a while, but the EFF's Patent Busting Project is making progress. In the latest news, the USPTO has now officially rejected one of the 10 awful patents targeted, making the world safe again for administering tests over the Internet. This joins the reexamination of a patent on automated remote access of a computer over a network and the revokation of a patent on recording live performances to CD as notable successes for the EFF."
Software

Submission + - Whatever Happened to Eric Raymond? (linuxjournal.com)

Submitted by
Glyn Moody
Glyn Moody writes: "Once the the unofficial voice of open source, Eric Raymond has been pretty silent for the last few years. I asked him why, and for his thoughts on open source past, present and future. As well as telling me about the reasons for stealth mode, his biggest surprise in the ten years since the publication of Cathedral and the Bazaar, and why World Domination would be a "damned near-run thing either way", he also explained how the open source way can solve climate change, sea acidification, water shortages and resource depletion. Time for ESR to un-stealth?"
Real Time Strategy (Games)

Submission + - Dreams Are Virtual Reality Threat Simulation

Submitted by
Time Slows Down
Time Slows Down writes: "Psychology Today has an interesting story on a new theory of why we dream. Finnish psychologist Antti Revonsuo believes that dreams are a sort of nighttime theater in which our brains screen realistic scenarios simulating emergency situations and providing an arena for safe training. "The primary function of negative dreams is rehearsal for similar real events, so that threat recognition and avoidance happens faster and more automatically in comparable real situations," he says. We have 300 to 1,000 threat dreams per year — one to four per night and just under half are aggressive encounters: physical aggression such as fistfights, and nonphysical aggression such as verbal arguments. Faced with actual life-or-death situations — traffic accidents, terrorist attacks, street assaults — people report entering a mode of calm, rapid response, reacting automatically, almost without thinking. Afterward, they often say the episode felt unreal, as if it were all a dream. "Dreaming is a sensitive system that tries to pay much attention to the threatening cues in our environment," Revonsuo says. "Their function is to protect and prepare us.""
AMD

Submission + - AMD Phenom Black Edition overclocking bleak (pcper.com)

Submitted by
Vigile
Vigile writes: "AMD is attempting to improve the image of their newest processor release, the Phenom series, by introducing enthusiast-friendly Black Edition CPUs. The Phenom BEs come with fully unlocked multipliers and allow users to control the core frequency, northbridge frequency and voltages so they can try overclocking them or running them at ultra-low power levels. Unfortunately the amount of overclocking headroom in the CPUs is apparently very low with two samples tested by PC Perspective only able to go from a stock 2.3 GHz clock speed up to 2.5 GHz reliably. Add this to their already well documented TLB problems and Phenoms first breath of air is tasting mighty sour."
Music

Submission + - Amazon MP3 Now Offers Warner Music DRM-free

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: This makes Amazon's MP3 download store the first to offer DRM-free music from Warner Music and brings Amazon's library up to 2.9 million songs, all without restrictions. And Warner's catalog includes some of the most popular artists: Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Madonna, Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers, etc. http://www.techconsumer.com/2007/12/27/amazon-mp3-one-ups-apple-gets-warner-music-mp3s-drm-free/
The Media

Submission + - Congress Creates Copyright Cops (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes: "Not satisfied with pitiful potential penalties of $150,000 for infringing upon a $0.99 song, Congress is proposing new copyright cops in the "PRO IP" Act of 2007, specifically the creation of the Office of the United States Intellectual Property Enforcement Representative (USIPER). They also feel that the authorities need the authority to seize any computers used for infringement and to send copyright cops abroad to help other countries enforce US laws. MPAA boss Dan Glickman praised the bill saying that, "films left costs foreign and domestic distributors, retailers and others $18 billion a year," though Ars points out that it allegedly costs the studios only $6 billion. However, even with the support of most of the top members of the House Judiciary Committee, the bill may require more work before it passes: USIPER needs a cooler acronym that doesn't sound like a combination of usurper and Lucifer."
The Military

Submission + - India tests ballistic missile interceptor

Submitted by Gerhardius
Gerhardius writes: India has tested a Ballistic Missile Interceptor. The interceptor, designated AAD-02, successfully engaged an modified Prithvi SRBM over the Bay of Bengal. Deployment of the system could take 5-7 years.. Depending upon the scope of coverage of such a system, this could lead to an increase in tensions with Pakistan. While there may be other non-missile options for Pakistan in deploying nukes, deployment of an ABM system by India would reduce the effectiveness of Pakistan's missile force. Not much in the Western news services about this, but reports from India http://www.thehindu.com/2007/12/07/stories/2007120750160100.htm and China http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/06/content_7211694.htm
The Media

Submission + - A Shocking Report Inside The Ron Paul Conspiracy (latimes.com)

Submitted by
Andrew Malcolm
Andrew Malcolm writes: "A shocking report: Inside the Ron Paul conspiracy Maybe you've heard rumors about an explosive newspaper expose on a major political figure that would rock the political world just as the presidential voting is about to begin... We haven't either. But we do know that today is when this newspaper blows the top off of the Ron Paul Conspiracy, that vast unorganized protest movement that has silently become one of the more interesting political phenomena of the current election season... goto http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2007/11 to read more"
United States

Submission + - Senate Bill 1959 to Create Thoughtcrime (newstarget.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: "The end of Free Speech in America has arrived at our doorstep. It's a new law called the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act, and it is worded in a clever way that could allow the U.S. government to arrest and incarcerate any individual who speaks out against the Bush Administration, the war on Iraq, the Department of Homeland Security or any government agency (including the FDA). The law has already passed the House on a traitorous vote of 405 to 6, and it is now being considered in the Senate where a vote is imminent." Source: http://www.newstarget.com/022308.html
PlayStation (Games)

Submission + - PS3 starts claw back after topping Wii in Japan (itwire.com)

Submitted by
WirePosted
WirePosted writes: "There are signs that Sony's flagship games console the PlayStation 3 may have turned the corner and is starting to overtake Nintendo's successful Wii console in sales. At least that's the story in Japan from the latest sales figures. However, things aren't looking too bad for the PS3 in the US either, since the US$399 40GB model hit the shelves. Is this just a temporary spike or a real come back for PS3?"

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