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Comment News for nerds? (Score 4, Interesting) 267

by SgtKeeling (#43953957) Attached to: Are You a Geek or a Nerd?
The Slashdot tagline used to be: "News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters". I no longer see this on the front page, and it's not even in the page title. A conversation about what Slashdot is, what it used to be, and what it's becoming, notwithstanding, I would expect the 'Nerd' option to be the highest, as the site is (or at the very least, used to be) 'news for nerds'.

Submission + - ISS laptops switching from Windows XP to Debian

Submitted by SgtKeeling
SgtKeeling writes: Dozens of Windows XP laptops on the International Space Station are being switched to Debian 6. A manager involved in the switch said, "We needed an operating system that was stable and reliable – one that would give us in-house control. So if we needed to patch, adjust or adapt, we could." The Linux Foundation provided two development courses to help with developing apps related specifically to the needs of the ISS.
In 2008 Slashdot noted a story about a virus on the ISS laptops which had come up on an astronaut's USB flash drive.

Submission + - Android Jelly Bean Hits 33% Adoption, ICS Falls To 25%, Gingerbread Still On 36%

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Google today updated its Platform Versions Web page for Android, and it looks like the latest version is finally on its way to snatching first place. Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) and Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) are steadily growing and together have surpassed the 30 percent mark, while Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), and the rest of prior Android versions are either down or flat.
Mars

4-Billion-Pixel Panorama View From Curiosity Rover 101

Posted by samzenpus from the take-a-look dept.
A reader points out that there is a great new panorama made from shots from the Curiosity Rover. "Sweep your gaze around Gale Crater on Mars, where NASA's Curiosity rover is currently exploring, with this 4-billion-pixel panorama stitched together from 295 images. ...The entire image stretches 90,000 by 45,000 pixels and uses pictures taken by the rover's two MastCams. The best way to enjoy it is to go into fullscreen mode and slowly soak up the scenery — from the distant high edges of the crater to the enormous and looming Mount Sharp, the rover's eventual destination."
Space

Submission + - New Comet Discovered—May Become "One of Brightest in History" (nationalgeographic.com)

Submitted by intellitech
intellitech writes: From the article: 'If astronomers' early predictions hold true, the holidays next year may hold a glowing gift for stargazers—a superbright comet, just discovered streaking near Saturn. Even with powerful telescopes, comet 2012 S1 (ISON) is now just a faint glow in the constellation Cancer. But the ball of ice and rocks might become visible to the naked eye for a few months in late 2013 and early 2014—perhaps outshining the moon, astronomers say. The comet is already remarkably bright, given how far it is from the sun, astronomer Raminder Singh Samra said. What's more, 2012 S1 seems to be following the path of the Great Comet of 1680, considered one of the most spectacular ever seen from Earth.'
Linux

Submission + - Slackware 14.0 is released! (slackware.com)

Submitted by SgtKeeling
SgtKeeling writes: After 5 release candidates, a new version of Slackware has been released. From the website, 'Yes, it is that time again! After well over a year of planning, development, and testing, the Slackware Linux Project is proud to announce the latest stable release of the longest running distribution of the Linux operating system, Slackware version 14.0! We are sure you'll enjoy the many improvements. We've done our best to bring the latest technology to Slackware while still maintaining the stability and security that you have come to expect. Slackware is well known for its simplicity and the fact that we try to bring software to you in the condition that the authors intended. We will be setting up BitTorrent downloads for the official ISO images. Stay tuned to http://slackware.com/ for the latest updates.'
Music

Submission + - 52 Ways to Cheat an Artist by Warner Records (digitalmusicnews.com)

Submitted by Hodejo1
Hodejo1 writes: In 2007, James Taylor initiated an audit of his royalty payments dating back to 2004. In that three-year span, Taylor and his accounting firm, Gelfand, Rennert & Feldman, LLC, found underpayments totaling $1,692,726. His label, Warner Brothers deftly accomplished this via 52 alleged ways all listed here. This includes such dubious tactics as applying royalty rates lower than the contract stipulates and charging manufacturing costs as 'recording costs' so they can be applied against royalties. Taylor's auditors also found a 'suspense account' at Warner Music that held an unspecified amount of Taylor's royalties. When pressed for its purpose, Warner denied the account existed, and declined to offer any details on which products or payments were included in this alleged account. As one reader posted on Digital Music News "Wow, what are the chances they didn't do exactly the same thing to all their artists?" Of course, labels still continue to claim they serve the artists when they call every new technical innovation in music theft.
Security

Industry Groups Bid To Control New Business-Specific TLDs 55

Posted by timothy from the concentrated-interest-diffuse-objections dept.
Gunkerty Jeb writes "Two financial industry groups, the American Bankers Association (ABA) and the Financial Services Roundtable, announced on Thursday that they have applied to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to operate two top level Internet domains, .bank and .insurance, on behalf of the financial services industry. In a published statement, the groups said that they had applied for .bank and .insurance to 'provide the highest security for the millions of customers conducting banking and insurance activities online.' The move comes as the U.S. Congress is set to begin hearings on e-banking fraud on Friday."
Internet Explorer

Microsoft Upgrading Windows Users To Latest Version of MSIE 476

Posted by timothy from the great-and-powerful-oz dept.
helix2301 writes "Microsoft will be upgrading all Windows XP, Vista and 7 users to the latest IE silently. They are doing this because they have found a large number of non-patched systems. Microsoft pointed out that Chrome and Firefox do this regularly. They will start with Australia and Brazil in January, then go world-wide after they have assured there are no issues."

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