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Submission + - Travel Back in Time Not Possible

Submitted by anthemaniac
anthemaniac writes: Time travel has long been one of those "theoretically possible" things that makes Sci-Fi thrive. But while going forward in time is still perhaps possible, going back has been all but ruled out, according to an article (and accompanying videos) at LiveScience. Chiming in are four scientists who think about this a lot: Brian Greene, Charles Liu, Michio Kaku and J. Richard Gott. Liu flatly states: "It is not possible for you and me to travel backward in time."
Networking

Submission + - Linux RDP Server with shadowing, CeBIT 2007

Submitted by
Michael Lacher
Michael Lacher writes: "Thinstuff s.r.o. today announced the release of version 1.1 of the Thinstuff Touch RDP Server. With this release the Terminal Server solution for Linux gains, among other features, support for shadowing and international keyboard layouts. Trial versions and further information can be found at the company website http://www.thinstuff.com/products/rdp-server/.

We would also like to invite you to CeBIT 2007 to get a personal impression of Thinstuff Touch RDP Server. You can find us on following stands:
  • LXPN: Linux Park" Hall 5, Stand G58/1
  • ETCF: European Thin Client Forum" Hall 4, Stand A04
Visit us at our stand to get a 50% discount on all Thinstuff products! (Valid from March 15 to 31)"
Microsoft

Microsoft WGA Phones Home Even When Told No 403

Posted by CmdrTaco from the huge-shocker-here dept.
Aviran writes "When you start WGA setup and get to the license agreement page but decided NOT to install the highly controversial WGA component and cancel the installation, the setup program will send information stored in your registry and the fact that you choose not to install WGA back to Microsoft's servers."
Data Storage

Submission + - TrueDisc Error Correction for Disc Burning

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Macintouch site http://www.macintouch.com/ has a link to a new piece of software — TrueDisc http://www.truedisc.com/ — which claims to make data burned to recordable discs more reliable. More specifically it uses interleaved redundant cells to rebuild data should part of the disc be scratched. On the developer's blog http://blog.truedisc.com/?p=4 they say they plan to create an open-source implementation of the TrueDisc system, now that it is not going to be included in the Blu-ray/HD-DVD standards. Have any Slashdot readers experience with the software, and what alternatives are already available?
Education

Google's Academic TB Swap Project 190

Posted by CmdrTaco from the hey-look-it's-chris dept.
eldavojohn writes "Google is transferring data the old fashioned way — by mailing hard drive arrays around to collect information and then sending copies to other institutions. All in the name of science & education. From the article, 'The program is currently informal and not open to the general public. Google either approaches bodies that it knows has large data sets or is contacted by scientists themselves. One of the largest data sets copied and distributed was data from the Hubble telescope — 120 terabytes of data. One terabyte is equivalent to 1,000 gigabytes. Mr. DiBona said he hoped that Google could one day make the data available to the public.'"
Biotech

Submission + - Anti-Matter's Potential in Treating Cancer

Submitted by
eldavojohn
eldavojohn writes: "The BBC is taking a look at how atomic physicists are developing cancer treatments. A step past radiotherapy, the CERN institute is publishing interesting results: "Cancer cells were successfully targeted with anti-matter subatomic particles, causing intense biological damage leading to cell death." The press release from last year is finally sparking interest in the medical community."
Programming

Submission + - Good Beginner's Book for Object Oriented Design?

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: What are the best books for someone new to object oriented programming and design? I have a decent amount of experience in structured programming. Is there a good language neutral book, and are there any good books specific to C++, C#, and/or Java? I want something that focuses on real world design issues, not just the particulars of a language.
Space

Submission + - A hole in the earth's crust?

Submitted by Rockin' Green
Rockin' Green writes: There's a hole in the earth's crust, according to this story by the Associated Press (via Yahoo). Normally, the earth's crust is a thick layer of hot lava. But in one spot, three miles below the ocean and 2,000 nautical miles off the Canary Islands, the normal crust is missing — replaced by the dark green rock from the earth's mantle, the layer below the crust. "It is like a window into the interior of the Earth," Bramley Murton, a geophysicist who is taking part in the six-week mission, said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070306/ap_on_sc/seabe d_expedition;_ylt=Ai0v_8.DZ1WEjHhooLUyhQ_MWM0F
Links

Submission + - Breathtaking, Beautiful Portraits of Sol

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: Without our Sun — that massive, bright, hot star only 150 million kilometers (93 million miles) from us — life on our home planet Earth ( larger images ), as we know and understand it, would not exist. At specific times every day and without fail Sol, or, if you prefer Helios, interacts with our home in a more artistic manner. These solar paintings are appreciated by all; a welcome addition to life's beauty component. Using film and digital cameras, photographers around the world have captured these unique-each-time moments. And here is what they've seen: the spectacular, awe-inspiring, rising and setting of our Sun.
PC Games (Games)

Submission + - Another LEGO MMOG Enters the Scene?

Submitted by
gdc'o'matic
gdc'o'matic writes: "In a modern David versus Goliath, game studio startup Suva Interactive announced the upcoming release of a LEGO-inspired massively multiplayer game titled Block Realm. Block Realm is one of the first software titles to use Microsoft's newly released XNA platform which is targeted to enthusiasts and independent game studios. This news comes on the heels of a similar massively multiplayer game announced by developer NetDevil, who plans to use the Unreal Engine 3.0. Can a game studio using managed code touting short development cycles compete against the stalwart unmanaged engines that currently dominate the market? NetDevil's planned release date is in 2008 and Block Realm beta sign-up begins March 26th, 2007."
Editorial

Submission + - Factory soot leads to increased pacific storms.

Submitted by Cryolithic
Cryolithic writes: From the Vancouver Sun

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html ?id=e28e0f63-8add-4f03-aa2e-f64a8499bad5&k=5988

Soot from the factories of Asia is changing weather across the Pacific Ocean and causing storms like the December howler that clobbered Vancouver's Stanley Park, a new study says.

"The intensified Pacific storm track is climatically significant," and is the first time climate scientists have been able to measure the effect of "aerosols" — minute airborne particles — on climate, the team writes.
Businesses

Submission + - Best Buy redefines "best"

Submitted by
Uknowwhoibe
Uknowwhoibe writes: "http://www.kantor.com/2007/03/03/best-buy-creates- scam-site-to-trick-customers/ So Best Buy was apparently caught red-handed screwing over its customers. George Gombossy of the Hartford Courant gets the major-league kudos for exposing this. (And Gnomic gets a hat tip from me for pointing it out!) See, Best Buy had a secret intranet it used to trick customers. Note that the word is intranet — that is, an internal Web site. According to Gombossy, if a customer went to a sales person and commented that he thought such-and-such an item was cheaper online, the sales guy would pull up a Web site that looked like the real Best Buy Web site, but was in fact an internal site where the prices were higher. ...even when one informs a salesperson of the Internet price, customers have been shown the intranet site, which looks identical to the Internet site, but does not always show the lowest price. Thus the sales guy could say something like, "Actually, sir, it's more expensive on the Web." You had to be the kind of person who would either A) print out the Web page and bring it in to the store, or B) check the price online when you got home. Based on what his office has learned, [Connecticut State Attorney General Richard] Blumenthal said, it appears the consumer has the burden of informing Best Buy sales people of the cheaper price listed on its Internet site, which he said "is troubling." Further, Best Buy had denied that such a site existed. What I want to know is, has Best Buy also created spoofs of its competitors' sites? That way, a sales guy could say, "Let's see what Circuit City has it for" and pull up a higher — but fake — price. That would make the customer think Best Buy had better prices, and the store could avoid matching a competitor's price. Hmm."

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