rsmoody - Slashdot User

Submission + - MySpace sends music piracy to all-time high (blorge.com)

Submitted by Squirrels on Monday July 30, 2007 @11:20AM

Squirrels writes: Many believe (foolishly) that large social networking site MySpace, which allows users and artists to play their favorite songs on their pages, keeps users from downloading what they can go to MySpace and hear. Not so; in fact a recent survey by Entertainment Media Research revealed that nearly half of all social networking site users partake in illegal downloading of music.

Submission + - Thunderbird to Leave Mozilla Foundation

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 26, 2007 @04:34PM

An anonymous reader writes: MozillaZine is reporting that Mozilla Thunderbird is to move to a 'new separate organizational setting' as the Mozilla Foundation focuses more and more on Mozilla Firefox. Citing a blog post by Chief Lizard Wrangler Mitchell Baker, MozillaZine outlines the three possibilities for Thunderbird that are being considered: 'one is to create a entirely new non-profit, which would offer maximum independence for Thunderbird but is organisationally complex. A second option is to create a new subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation for Thunderbird, which would keep the Mozilla Foundation involved but may mean that Thunderbird continues to be neglected in favour of Firefox. A final option is to recast Thunderbird as community project, similar to SeaMonkey, and set up a small independent services and consulting company to continue development. However, there are concerns over how the Thunderbird product, project and company would interact'. Lead Thunderbird developer Scott MacGregor favours the third option.

Submission + - Dell catching on to the "No Trial ware" sc (dell.com)

Submitted by

certain death

on Wednesday July 25, 2007 @09:13AM

certain death writes: "It looks like Dell is finally catching on to the fact that people do NOT want a bunch of "Trial Ware" on new PCs. They are now offering a PC named "Vostro" that comes stripped of the crapware and with either Windows XP or Vista installed. The initial config is a bit short on memory, coming with only 512 megs, but it seems they are listening to people now. This may be in response to the fact that Wal-Mart has started providing low cost computers with only OpenOffice installed, and no Trial software. The base model starts at $399.00 and comes with a 19" LCD. This is still a bit more than the Wal-Mart model, but perhaps better quality hardware. That remains to be seen.

From the Dell advertisement:

You spoke. We listened. Introducing Dell Vostro — not just a new line of small business PCs, but a commitment to do more for your small business. They're powerful, completely customizable and backed by dedicated small business-trained technicians. Right now, get a Vostro 200 Mini Tower powered by an Intel® Pentium® Dual-Core Processor and complete with a 19-inch monitor for just $399. But hurry — this offer ends today!"

Submission + - BlueGene/L ranked 1st in top500 for the 4th time

Submitted by paleshadows on Friday July 20, 2007 @05:42PM

paleshadows writes: The top500 list ranks the top 500 most powerful supercomputers in the world. It is published semiannually since 1993. The new list indicates that, for the fourth straight time, IBM's BlueGene/L of LLNL claimed the No. 1 spot at ~281 TerFlops per second. But while the No. 1 is still unchallenged, the list shows a lot of shuffling and the largest turnover among list entries in the history of the top500 project. This graph enumerates the number of systems each vendor has within the list, indicating that IBM is the dominant player, but that HP rapidly closes the gap. Of the top 10, the first 8 are situated in the U.S., while No. 9 and 10 are populated by Spain and Germany, respectively. Japan's first entry is at No. 14 with the EarthSimulator, which ranked first until 2004 when it was knocked off the top by the first blue BlueGene/L system.

Submission + - (92 mpg) fuel economy

Submitted by NoPhD on Monday July 16, 2007 @10:17AM

NoPhD writes: Honda's new Accord 2.2 i-CTDi Sport has this week set no fewer than 19 world speed records and achieved 3.07 litres / 100 km (92 mpg) fuel economy to boot. Amongst the speed records set, which were all achieved in Production Car Class B (2000 — 2500 cc), were 133.04 mph (1 mile flying start), 84.25 mph (1 mile standing start) and an average speed of 130.38 mph over a 24-hour endurance period. These records were all set at Papenburg high-speed oval test track in north-west Germany on 1 and 2 May, and are all subject to FIA ratification. See More Here

Submission + - Talking to Microsoft with appropriate manners (rcpmag.com)

Submitted by fcarolo on Friday July 13, 2007 @03:17PM

fcarolo writes: The latest issue of Redmond Channel Partner presents an article aimed to teach good manners when you are a Microsoft partner going to a meeting with the guys from Redmond. It includes fine advice such as 'don't run Lotus Notes as your e-mail client', 'mention Vista' and, of course, 'above all, don't Google'.

Submission + - CUPS Purchased by Apple Inc. (cups.org)

Submitted by Rick Richardson on Wednesday July 11, 2007 @11:26PM

Rick Richardson writes: CUPS Purchased by Apple Inc.

In February of 2007, Apple Inc. acquired ownership the CUPS source code and hired me (Michael R Sweet), the creator of CUPS.

CUPS will still be released under the existing GPL2/LGPL2 licensing terms, and I will continue to develop and support CUPS at Apple.

Games Workshop Forbids Warhammer Fan Films 251

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wednesday July 11, 2007 @02:19PM from the wont-last-after-WAR-is-released dept.

EikeHein writes "Made by dozens of fans over a period of several years and featuring impressive special effects, the feature-length Warhammer 40.000 epic DAMNATUS ranks among the most elaborate fan productions ever made — and yet may never see the light of day. Despite initially giving a go-ahead to the project, UK-based Warhammer franchise owner Games Workshop has come around to forbid distribution of the film just as it was being readied for release. What's more, they've amended their IP Policy to forbid any such projects in the future. At the heart of the matter appears to be Continental European copyright law, which grants the German film makers certain irrevocable rights to their creation which they cannot sign away. Given that the owners of the other two SF mega-franchises, Star Trek and Star Wars, have been able to come to terms with such issues and arguably benefit greatly from the media attention paid to popular fan productions, it would seem that Games Workshop still has to learn a thing or two about how to capture fan enthusiasm for their benefit."

Submission + - ultra-thin/light MacBook Pro before years' end (macscoop.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 10, 2007 @08:33PM

An anonymous reader writes: MacScoop's sources claim ultra-thin and light laptop is coming before the end of this year: "Compared to the original 12 inch PowerBook, which is Apple's smallest notebook released so far, the new notebook is said to be half as thick, or something between 0.6 and 0.7 inch (15 to 18 millimetres). It will also be, by far, the lightest computer Apple ever released, or less than 3 pounds (1.36Kg), sources told MacScoop"

Submission + - AOL driving AIM users nuts with non-stop alerts (infoworld.com)

Submitted by Anonymous on Tuesday July 03, 2007 @03:35PM

Anonymous writes: AOL is blasting upgrade alerts to AIM users who refuse to upgrade to the IM software's new version. The update alert can't be turned off. You close it and it reappears minutes later. It also interrupts your work by periodically positioning itself as the primary active window.

Submission + - Sun Open Sources Solaris Cluster

Submitted by

fragmentate

on Monday July 02, 2007 @02:53PM

fragmentate writes: "

Sun announces the open sourcing of Solaris Cluster, an integrated software platform that provides high availability clustering and disaster recovery to key business applications. Called Open High Availability (HA) Cluster, the open sourced code will be made available to developers in three phases through a new HA Clusters community on OpenSolaris.org. With Open HA Cluster, Sun provides community members with a solid technology base to support innovation on cluster and high availability systems. Donating this cluster code to the OpenSolaris Project further cements Sun's position as the top contributor of code to the open source software community.

"

Submission + - Newly Declassified Window Film Keeps Out Hackers, (sciam.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday July 02, 2007 @02:33PM

An anonymous reader writes: A newly declassified window film from CPFilms Inc. (Solutia Inc.) will give war drivers a run for their money. As printed in a recent issue of Scientific American: Once manufactured under an exclusive contract with the U.S. government, this recently declassified window film is now available to the public. But don't expect to see it on store shelves anytime soon. Currently, it's only available directly from the manufacturer, and at prices that will likely make it prohibitive for all but the wealthiest home owners. The two-millimeter-thick coating can block Wi-Fi signals, cell phone transmissions, even the near-infrared, yet is almost transparent, making it no more intrusive than conventional window treatments. It can keep signals in (preventing attempts to spy on electronic communications) or out, minimizing radio interference and even the fabled electronics-destroying electromagnetic pulse (EMP) generated by a nuclear blast.

Submission + - Thompson to Join GOP Contest (kiplinger.com)

Submitted by

David Greenspan

on Monday July 02, 2007 @02:21PM

David Greenspan writes: "Later this month Senator and actor Fred Thompson, (from Law and Order and other tv shows) will officially announce that he is running for President of the United States on the GOP ticket. "The former senator and actor has hired his production staff, orchestrated the advance publicity and carefully worked his audience, which is desperate for a star to lead the GOP out of its funk." Kiplinger"

Submission + - Nintendo market value now higher than Sony (videogamesblogger.com)

Submitted by

Wowzer

on Monday June 25, 2007 @07:48AM

Wowzer writes: "Nintendo's stock is now worth $53 billion and as a result Nintendo has surpassed Sony, who are currently worth $52 billion, in market value. The Wii continued to outsell the PS3 on average by two to one, since both console's launches in November 2006. From the article: "Nintendo sold 251,794 Wii machines in May in Japan, topping PlayStation 3 sales by a five-to-one margin. — Sony last month sold 81,600 PlayStation 3 units in America, while Nintendo sold 338,000 Wii's. So the PlayStation 3 trailed the Wii by four-to-one in May.""

Submission + - Windows Server 2008 turning towards the dark side! (microsoft.com)

Submitted by

Jubei

on Monday June 25, 2007 @05:50AM

Jubei writes: "Has anyone checked out the beta of Microsoft Server 2008? I haven't but according to Microsoft's web site Windows Server 2008 comes with "Windows PowerShell is a new command-line shell with more than 130 tools and an integrated scripting language" and also "Server Core is a new installation option for selected roles that includes only the necessary components and subsystems without a graphical user interface". Is it me or is or is Microsoft turning towards a unix-like server solution?"

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