Please create an account to participate in the Slashdot moderation system

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
VA

Submission + - DOT gets Between Airline Passangers and Doom

Submitted by
JonLesser
JonLesser writes: "On Dec. 8, 2005, Virgin America filed an application with the DOT to provide air service in the US. Shortly after the application was filed, Continental, American, United, and Delta filed the first of a wave of opposition briefs and legal motions to try to stop or slow down the DOT approval process.

VA set up a website in an effort to mobilize a grass-roots campaign to support their application. A key selling point for the public is the linux-based in-flight entertainment system. In a video on the website Charles Ogilvie, Director of In-Flight Entertainment and Partnerships, demos Doom and claims VA is planning to reach out to Linux game developers in search of more games for the system."

Feed Lawmaker Probes TSA Website Gaffe (feedburner.com)

From feed by wiredfeed
A service intended to help innocent travelers get off the No Fly List sends their personal info unencrypted to a Virginia company. Following a post on the Wired News blog 27B Stroke 6, a congressman asks the TSA to explain. By Ryan Singel.


NASA

Golf-Ball Sized Hail Damages Shuttle 118

Posted by CmdrTaco from the don't-make-me-stop-this-thing dept.
MattSparkes writes "The Shuttles March launch has been delayed to late April after golf-ball sized hail caused 7000 pits and divots in the foam that shields the fuel tank. NASA say it's the worst damage of its kind that they have ever seen, but hail is not a new problem for the agency. In 1982, a hailstorm damaged the sensitive heat shield tiles on the Columbia's wings. The damaged tiles then absorbed about 540 kilograms of rain. Once in space, the orbiter faced the Sun to allow the tiles to dry out."
United States

Submission + - CompUSA Closing More Than 50 Percent of Stores

Submitted by
Zurbrick
Zurbrick writes: "CompUSA, the computer and gadget retailer owned by Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, said on Tuesday it would close more than half of its U.S. retail locations over the next two to three months to focus on top performing locations.

CompUSA said in a statement it would close 126 of its stores and would receive a $440 million cash capital infusion, but it was not specific as to the source of the cash. The company also said it would cut costs and restructure.

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2099068 ,00.asp"
Businesses

Submission + - Tell your friends about Geek Squad's shenanigans!

Submitted by
Kevin_Torvalds
Kevin_Torvalds writes: "Yes, I'm sure everyone here knows about this, but someone doesn't... otherwise they wouldn't still be in business. Geek Squad, the well-known Best Buy tech support guys, are basically just an everyday, run-of-the-mill scam. They claim that they'll fix your computer, but at what cost? Well, it seems "O" found out. In this article, http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/27/142 3220 Geek Squad is shown to have a bit of a criminal element about them. They will tell customers that certain parts need to be replaced and this and that, when all that might need to be done is, say, a repair installation of Windows, and then they charge far more than a small repair shop would, and that without actually doing the job. Spread the word. The unknowing, vulnerable public needs to know. Friends don't let friends go to Geek Squad!"
Businesses

Submission + - New technique for recycling PCBs

Submitted by
MattSparkes
MattSparkes writes: "PCBs from discarded computers, cellphones and other devices could be recycled less harmfully using a technique developed by researchers in China. Unlike current methods, it can be used to reclaim metals such as copper without releasing toxic fumes into the air. Only a small numbers of PCBs are currently recycled."
Microsoft

Submission + - Ballmer To India: Cut Piracy, Create 50,000 Jobs

Submitted by Pranjal
Pranjal writes: In an interview in Tuesday's edition of the Times Of India, Ballmer says piracy is having "a huge negative impact" on economic growth in India. He also cites an unnamed study indicating that 70% of all software used in the country is pirated. Reducing that number by 10% would lead to the creation of 50,000 new jobs in India, Ballmer says in the interview. InformationWeek.com has a commentary on the news item — "...the concern, of course, is that a larger Microsoft presence in India would come at the expense of programming jobs in the U.S. Microsoft employees in Redmond may be hoping that India doesn't take its piracy problem too seriously — it may be the best job protection they have."
United States

Submission + - Gore accused of energy hypocrisy

Submitted by ems2004
ems2004 writes: Former US Vice-President Al Gore has been accused of hypocrisy for apparently guzzling energy while he lectures the world on climate change. A Tennessee-based free market think-tank said Mr Gore's home used more than 20 times the national average of gas and electricity.

Is the Microsoft/Novell Deal a Litigation Bomb? 342

Posted by Zonk from the pengui-bomb dept.
mpapet writes "According to WINE developer Tom Wickline, the Microsoft/Novell deal for Suse support may one day control commercial customers' use of Free Software. Is this the end of commercial OSS developers who are not a part of the Microsoft/Suse pact?" From the article: "Wickline said that the pact means that there will now be a Microsoft-blessed path for such people to make use of Open Source ... 'A logical next move for Microsoft could be to crack down on 'unlicensed Linux' and 'unlicensed Free Software,' now that it can tell the courts that there is a Microsoft-licensed path. Or they can just passively let that threat stay there as a deterrent to anyone who would use Open Source without going through the Microsoft-approved Novell path,' Wickline said." Bruce Perens dropped a line to point out that most of the content actually comes from his post.

A Buckyegg Breaks Pentagon Rules 137

Posted by Zonk from the gotta-break-some-eggs-to-well-you-know dept.
Roland Piquepaille writes "Chemists from Virginia and California have cooked a soup of fullerenes which produced an improbable buckyegg. The egg-shaped structure of their 'buckyballs' was a complete surprise for the researchers. In fact, they wanted to trap some atoms of terbium in a buckyball "to make compounds that could be both medically useful and well-tolerated in the body." And they obtained a buckyegg which both violates some chemistry laws and the FIFA soccer laws which were used until the last World Cup. Read more for additional references and a picture of this buckyegg carrying metal molecules."

The Nanopowers of Spinach 53

Posted by Zonk from the i-yam-what-i-yam-and-that's-all-that-i-yam dept.
Roland Piquepaille writes "Ohio University physicists have used a simple molecule of chlorophyll taken from spinach to develop a complex nanobiological switch. They used a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) to image chlorophyll-a and then injected it with a single electron to manipulate the molecule into four positions. The researchers say this biological switch might be used in future applications for green energy, technology and medicine. Read more for additional pictures and references about this spinach-based biological switch."

Robocabs Coming to Europe 176

Posted by Zonk from the automated-mass-transit dept.
Roland Piquepaille writes "Almost all of us can recall both good and poor memories of taxi rides when we arrived in a city we didn't know. This is why a short article from Spiegel Online, 'Bringing Robot Transportation to Europe,' caught my eye this morning. It briefly describes the European 'CityMobil' project which involves 28 partners in 10 countries at a cost of €40 million. This project plans to eliminate city drivers and three trial sites have already been selected. For example, in 2008, Terminal 5 in London's Heathrow airport will be connected to the car park by driverless electric cars along a 4-kilometer track. Read more for additional pictures and references about this project to make the roads in Europe's cities more efficient."

Nanocosmetics Used Since Ancient Egypt 252

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the lead-good-for-the-skin dept.
Roland Piquepaille writes "French researchers have found that Egyptians, Greek and Romans were using nanotechnology to dye their hair several thousands years ago. Nanowerk Spotlight reports they were using lead compounds which generated lead sulfide (PbS) nanocrystals with a diameter of only 5 nanometers. At a moment where many people wonder if the use of nanoparticles is safe, it's good to know that nanotechnology has been widely used for a very long time."

Slashdot Top Deals

If all else fails, lower your standards.

Close