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Oracle

Submission + - Oracle Linux adopters labelled 'idiots'

Submitted by
atbarboz
atbarboz writes: "One of the first converts to Oracle's support for Linux said it has endured a public backlash since its decision to drop Red Hat.
Melbourne company Opes Prime Stockbroking told ZDNet Australia that in the weeks following its announcement to adopt Oracle Linux, upset Linux enthusiasts phoned, e-mailed and wrote about the company online to complain at the decision. "People called us out of the blue to tell us we were idiots," said Opes executive director Anthony Blumberg.
Does it behove the linux community to act like fanatics and fanboys?"
Security

Submission + - Cellphone firewall

Submitted by
Matthew Sparkes
Matthew Sparkes writes: "Previously cellphones have remained largely free from viruses because they had been unable to connect to the internet. Now though, most phones are equipped to surf. Although the mobile surfing experience may be terrible, it is still a possible infection point. Nokia has come up with a firewall which is part of the mobile network itself. It protects mobile devices that connect to the network by setting up "pinholes" through which they can send and receive legitimate data to and from the internet. Data recognised as belonging to a trusted application is allowed to pass through but unknown packets are automatically blocked."
Movies

Submission + - Movie-goer alleges assault by security.

Submitted by Arthur Hansen
Arthur Hansen writes: Movie security or thug?

http://www.sltrib.com/search/ci_5574372 — Salt Lake Tribune Story

Local movie-goer alleges security guard hired by the Studio behind Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles assualted her while she was turning her cell phone to vibrate to keep her from taking pictures. Security guard alleges that "he could have twelve witnesses that said he did not hurt her."

Local police were contacted, but nothing has come of this.
Education

Submission + - Automated Tests in an Educational Environment

Submitted by
Tokimasa
Tokimasa writes: "At my university, all Computer Science lab and project submissions are first graded by an automated system before they reach the hands of the instructor or grader. This system performs tasks such as checking for plagiarism (it has an archive of code samples stored for a small period of time plus all of the instructor and TA written code since the system was made), compiling, and performing diff checks on the output (for command line code).

However, I feel that this system is flawed.
  • If the output of the submission isn't exactly what is expected, then an error is generated. The problem might be as small as a typographical error or a missing newline.
  • As I found out with my last project submission, the system can not process multiple packages or the inclusion of libraries outside of those provided by the language (including libraries that I made).
  • Some instructors and TAs use the system as a be-all, end-all and put little to no effort into reviewing the code and running their own tests.


In an educational environment, how much emphasis should be put on making output match the desired output exactly for all output (granted, some output should be consistent)? How much should instructors rely on automated tests that they have not written? How much leeway should a student be given on program design?"
Power

Submission + - Why do smart people disagree on peak oil so much?

Submitted by
Prof. Goose
Prof. Goose writes: ""There continues to be considerable disagreement on both the timing and the magnitude of Peak Oil, though last week's US GAO report(pdf) should be helpful in shrinking that gap. Part I of this 3 part series summarized some of the recent discussion of why some are very concerned about Peak Oil and others are relatively unconcerned. We also discussed why there needs to be a clear definition of Peak Oil so that policymakers discuss 'apples and apples'. This post will continue to examine areas of disagreement between the two camps, and will particularly focus on what I perceive to be the largest disconnect in energy, financial and government circles — that of the difference between gross and net production of finite sources."

Here's a link: http://www.theoildrum.com/node/2367"
PlayStation (Games)

Submission + - Guitar Hero announced Rock Band,

Submitted by figgen
figgen writes: Gamers and music fans alike have been eagerly awaiting the details of Harmonix Music System's next project. Today, the development team behind Guitar Hero announced Rock Band, a PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 title that expands on the formula of its monster hit by adding drumming and singing. With MTV onboard as a partner, Harmonix was able to sign deals with the major forces in the music publishing industry and has access to the master recordings of music from popular artists. Electronics Arts is also involved, and will use its global reach to help distribute the game. GameSpot had a chance to chat with Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos and EA Partners vice president David DeMartini to get more details on this ambitious project http://www.gamespot.com/news/6168398.html
Graphics

Submission + - The Day ATI Killed Vista

Submitted by
Tim Lahey
Tim Lahey writes: "It had to happen eventually. BSODs are part of every Windows users' experience. This is why everyone should use Linux or MacOS.

Watch ATI butcher Vista with a single driver . Best of all, one of the cause was Microsoft's own Visual C++ package.

This is a quote from the article "Recently, we wrote about how the ATI Radeon X1950 GT graphics card had managed to obtain Vista certification without a working driver. Well, the first working driver for the Radeon X1950 GT finally appeared on March 28, 2007. Time to pop the champagne, eh? Well, not quite. Let us take you on an amazing journey with ATI's new Catalyst 7.3 driver set. Then tell us whether you think ATI software engineers should be given a raise for their superb efforts or shot like rabid dogs.""
Communications

Mobile Carriers Cry "Less Operating Systems" 217

Posted by Hemos from the less-qq-more-pew-pew dept.
A NYTimes story says "Multiple systems have hampered the growth of new services, mobile phone executives say. " The story does a good job of capturing some of the changing dynamics in the mobile OS market — but rightly raises the point that given the sheer size of the mobile market, it's unlikely we're going to see the homogenization we have in the desktop market.
Biotech

Drug Selectively Removes Rats' Memory 64

Posted by Hemos from the there-is-nothing-to-see-here dept.
rednuhter writes "Nature online is reporting scientists have used drugs to selectively remove one memory while not affecting another. Musical tones were played to the rats and at the same time the subjects were given a mild electric shock. Half the study group were given the drug (not approved for use in humans) and then the experiment was repeated with a new tone. The following day the rats that had not been given the treatment were afraid of both tones while the treated half were only afraid of the second tone: the memory of fear of the first had been erased."
User Journal

Journal Journal: Visit the firehose if you can 10

Journal by benhocking
There's an entry on Halliburton and Dubai that desperately needs to see the light of day. I want to hear someone actually try to defend Halliburton on this one. Really, I do.
Encryption

Submission + - HD-DVD and Blu-Ray keys continue falling

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: arnezami at Doom9 has released a program that appears to reveal most of the keys needed to decrypt both HD DVD and Blu-ray discs. Along with other users determined to safely backup and fairly use the high-definition content they purchase, arnezami and friends have greatly advanced the work begun by muslix64 only three months ago.
The Internet

Submission + - Netelligence - Life. Connected.

Submitted by
cyberneticist
cyberneticist writes: "Hi everyone, I've recently created a service called Netelligence at http://www.netelligence.co.uk/ or login directly at http://my.netelligence.co.uk/. I am at the stage I am inviting people to join the beta test program. I am a one-man programmer/designer that is hoping this could be my new career, so was wondering if anyone here has any opinions over the service — for example, would any of you pay to have your details stored online like this, accessible from your mobile / cell phone and any internet terminal? To be able to access your computer from anywhere? The cost of a monthly subscription will be £4.99, but it is currently free for Beta Testers to use."
Music

Submission + - Royalty Rates Rock Internet Radio

Submitted by
Bucc5062
Bucc5062 writes: "With all the attention on DRM, DCMA, *IAA arm twisting and their effect on the music industry, an area of digital music that is been less talked about, but important to diversification of music listening is Web Radio or streaming radio. Congress has started to impose higher and higher fees on each song "performed" such that within a year, smaller internet radio stations may have to go off line.


Those affected by the new rates, which change the royalty paid to a song's performers from a percentage of revenue to a per-song, per-listener fee, include not just Web-only outfits mimicking traditional radio stations, but also more specialized digital music services such as Pandora (pandora.com) and the Internet streams of traditional broadcast stations. "It's absurd," said Hanson. "Under this, our royalty would go to $600,000 for the year, which means we would be bankrupted."

SaveTheStream.org http://savethestreams.org/ has established a site to information and promote the fight against these rate hikes. The Chicago Tribune http://www.chicagotribune.com/technology/columnist s/chi-0703070314mar07,0,6077662.column?coll=chi-bu siness-hed covers this lesser known but important story. Internet radio is a grass roots system to hear music from around the world or the local home front. It needs to be saved."
Linux Business

Submission + - Helping Dell to Help Open Source

Submitted by
Glyn Moody
Glyn Moody writes: "Dell's IdeaStorm is turning into a fiasco — for Dell, and for open source too. Instead of just shouting at the company to sell pre-installed GNU/Linux systems, how about helping them find a way to do it? Here's a suggestion that I've posted on the same site, about setting up an independent business unit for GNU/Linux systems, just like The Innovator's Dilemma tells us to do when faced by a disruptive technology. So, what do people think?"

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