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Submission + - Nanostructured materials empower energy advances

Submitted by
eeJones
eeJones writes: "Recent developments at the Center for Nanostructure Characterization and Fabrication at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Georgia aim to change the face of energy generation at both a micro and macro level. Both technology advancesone for hydrogen converters and the other for energy harvestinginvolve use of nanofabricated materials whose structure is critical to improved energy efficiency. http://www.electronicproducts.com/ShowPage.asp?Fil eName=olrc01.jun2007.html"
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft flip-flops on Vista virtualization

Submitted by
Geeky Gal
Geeky Gal writes: "Microsoft's Windows Vista team is eating crow after flip-flopping on its on-again, off-again decision to allow cheaper versions of Vista to be used in virtualized machines. The company was all set to announce June 20 that the lower-cost Vista Home Basic and Vista Home Premium could be used in virtual machines, and that it had lifted its prohibition on the use of information rights management, digital rights management and its BitLocker data encryption service in a virtual machine. A spokesman for the Vista team even told eWeek in a prebrief (http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2148526,00.a sp) that: "We are responding to virtualization enthusiast, partner, press and analyst feedback that end users should be able to make educated choices on security rather than Microsoft making those choices for them via the End User License Agreement." But then something happened that resulted in a 180-degree turnaround in Microsoft's position, with a company spokesperson telling eWEEK late on June 19 that "Microsoft has reassessed the Windows virtualization policy and decided that we will maintain the original policy announced last fall.""
Enlightenment

Submission + - Ray Kurzweil: The smartest futurist on Earth

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: From the Fortune article: Kurzweil, however, has something bigger on his mind than just making money — after half a lifetime studying trends in technological change, he believes he's found a pattern that allows him to see into the future with a high degree of accuracy. The secret is something he calls the Law of Accelerating Returns, and the basic idea is that the power of technology is expanding at an exponential rate. Mankind is on the cusp of a radically accelerating era of change unlike anything we have ever seen, he says, and almost more extreme than we can imagine. (The full story >> )
Privacy

Submission + - Phone Tracker To Keep Pupils Safe?

Submitted by Crisp
Crisp writes: The BBC has an article on a new system that tracks students locations via their mobile phones. From the article:

"A system that tracks students through their mobile phones is among the new technologies being developed to help improve security at America's universities — something increasingly of concern since the tragic events at Virginia Tech in April. College officials are increasingly looking to technology, from automated building lockdowns to campus-wide text messaging, to respond to campus emergencies."

This smells like a knee jerk reaction which could be abused with very little effort, under the front of safety. Is this genuinely for the safety of students or a stealth surveillance infrastructure setup?

NVIDIA's 8800 Ultra Provides Performance at a Price 88

Posted by CmdrTaco from the pixels-and-vectors-and-shading-oh-my dept.
Mighty Mouse writes "Hardware review sites across the web have published reviews on NVIDIA's GeForce 8800 Ultra. The response appears to be fairly lukewarm at the moment, mainly thanks to its incredibly high asking price. Bit-tech tested the 8800 Ultra in eight different games at three resolutions, finding it to be on average about 10% faster. TechReport's Scott Wasson reviewed the card using another good selection of games, while HotHardware had the chance to check out SLI performance."
Communications

Submission + - Slashdot, Too, Engaging in User Censorship?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In light of the recent controversy at digg.com over the censorship of the recently released HD-DVD decryption key, it is interesting to note that, under the very post that discusses digg's attempt at suppressing its users, many Slashdot users are still seemingly barred from moderation, due to a mass meta-moderation by the Slashdot administration over a controversial thread. As a long-time Slashdot reader, I have to question the hypocrisy of criticizing digg at the same time that you refuse to acknowledge censorship of your own users. When will the moderation capabilities of these users be returned, and why was it taken from them in the first place? If Slashdot is indeed supposed to be a "shining example" of freedom online, why is it so difficult for the administration to answer these simple questions in a public manner?
Privacy

Soldiers Can't Blog Without Approval 358

Posted by CmdrTaco from the how-else-will-we-know-what-they-ate-for-lunch dept.
denebian devil writes "Wired.com has obtained a copy of updated US Army rules (pdf) that force soldiers to stop posting to blogs or sending personal e-mail messages without first clearing the content with a superior officer. Previous editions of the rules asked Army personnel to "consult with their immediate supervisor" before posting a document "that might contain sensitive and/or critical information in a public forum." The new version, in contrast, requires "an OPSEC review prior to publishing" anything — from "web log (blog) postings" to comments on internet message boards, from resumes to letters home. Under the strictest reading of the rule, a soldier must check with his or her superior officer before every blog entry posted and every email sent, though the method of enforcing these regulations is subject to choices made by the unit commanders. According to Wired, active-duty troops aren't the only ones affected by the new guidelines. Civilians working for the military, Army contractors — even soldiers' families — are all subject to the directive as well, though many of the people affected by these new regulations can't even access them because they are being kept on the military's restricted Army Knowledge Online intranet. Wired also interviewed Major Ray Ceralde, author of the new regulations, about why this change has been made."
Security

Submission + - The Year's Biggest IT Security Train Wrecks

Submitted by
talkinsecurity
talkinsecurity writes: "Man, there have been some royal screwups in IT security over the past year. When you put them all together in a list like this, it makes you wonder how these companies stay in business. This is a good, easy-to-read synopsis of the biggest security breaches and foulups since last May. Personally, I could think of a few they left off the list, like the .ani bug or about a million other Microsoft problems. But this is not bad, and could be useful if you ever have to show your boss or users what *could* happen at your company. http://www.darkreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=123 021&WT.svl=news1_1"
Microsoft

Submission + - Longhorn's Network-Performance Pitfall

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Longhorn, the next release of Windows Server, will include many TCP-related improvements. Network Computing notes that the network-stack enhancements, which include receive-side-window autotuning and the Compound TCP algorithm, won't come without one big gotcha. Namely, before you deploy Longhorn, or even Vista on the client side, you have to make sure you know how to use Longhorn's Quality of Services policies (and its QoS Group Policy Object) to prioritize traffic. That'll enable to you avoid congestion and recover from lost packets.
United States

Submission + - Top Ten US City Use of Renewable Energy

Submitted by
Abendigo Reebs
Abendigo Reebs writes: "http://www.sustainlane.us/articles/city_renewable_ energy.jsp Top Ten US City Use of Renewable Energy 1. Oakland, CA (17%) 2. Sacramento/SF/San Jose, CA (12%)* 3. Portland, OR (10%) 4. Boston (8.6%) 5. San Diego, CA (8%) 6. Austin, TX (6%) 7. Los Angeles, CA (5%) 8. Minneapolis, MN (4.5%) 9. Seattle, WA (3.5%) 10. Chicago, IL (2.5%) *tied SustainLane US City Rankings data 2006/2007 Which of the largest 50 US cities provide citizens with the highest percentage of power produced from renewable energy? SustainLane Government (www.sustainlane.us) determined the percentage of each city's electricity that comes from renewables such as solar, wind, geothermal, and small-scale hydro energy. Renewable energy sources produce electricity with no global climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions or regional air pollution that comes from burning fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas. Renewable energy technologies also produce regional jobs while limiting the importation of energy from other nations. Just over 33 percent of greenhouse gases produced in the United States came from electricity production in 2004, making it the leading category of such emissions over other areas such as transportation (27.9 percent), industry (19.6 percent) and agriculture (7 percent). The leading cities in renewable energy could have an advantage in any upcoming federal or state regulations aimed at regulating or eliminating greenhouse gas emissions or developing renewable energy standards. If the greenhouse gases that cause climate change get priced, cities with strong renewable energy programs could save a lot of money in the long run and their economies could gain a tax advantage. Oakland, California led the nation with 17 percent of its electricity being produced by energy sources such as solar, wind and geothermal energy. Oakland gets some of its wind energy power from one of the largest wind power generating facilities in the nation at nearby Altamont Pass. San Francisco, Sacramento and San Jose tied for second with 12 percent of their electricity coming from renewable energy sources. California cities rank high in general because of the state's Renewable Portfolio Standard, which set minimal requirements in 2002 for utility purchases of renewable energy for the state's electric grid. That standard requires a 20 percent renewable energy total for the state's utilities by 2020. Some U.S. cities have also set goals for increasing renewable energy ranging from Chicago's 20 percent goal by 2010, to Portland, Oregon's goal of obtaining 100 percent renewable energy by 2010. Other cities, such as Austin, Texas, and Portland, Oregon have leading residential and business green choice programs as part of city-owned utility service offerings. * To find and share reviews on renewable energy-related products and services in your city such as solar, bamboo, and compostable products, visit SustainLane.com, the largest community powered directory of green products, businesses and user reviews. If you're a green business, be sure to add your listing to our directory! * To learn more about what your city or state is doing in renewable energy, browse best practices submitted by government officials in Green Building/ Development, Economic Development, and Climate Change Policy at SustainLane Government. * Watch the latest episode of our animated series, The Unsustainables, to get the real story about going green."
Announcements

Submission + - Canada's Largest LAN Party

Submitted by
fpSphincter
fpSphincter writes: "http://www.fragapalooza.com/ — Canada's Largest LAN Party is coming to Edmonton Alberta! Now in our 11th year! Over 80 hours of gaming from July 26 — 29 2007. Join more than 1000 gamers for 4 solid days of intense gaming. Games played will include Counter Strike, Unreal Tournament, Warcraft III, C&C 3, Supreme Commander, Quake 4 and anything else you can think of. With fun tournaments like a 250 person Rock-Paper-Scissors contest, and the infamous Paper Airplane Throwing contest, Fragapalooza has something for everyone. Registration is now open."

Feed Sony fesses to "considering" larger capacity PS3 (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Gaming, Storage

It's the small moral victories that count, and after Sony ruined all of our fun the other week with that "we don't have any plans at the moment" non-denial denial of an 80GB PS3, it's nice to see 'em fess up to "considering" a larger drive for the console. That's really all the dirt we have at the moment, though. The comment was made by Satoshi Fukuoka, a Sony Computer Entertainment spokesman, and he didn't seem keen on elaborating. It could mean a new, higher-priced SKU (think the Elite) or a price drop to the 60GB model, which now stands alone in the USA and Europe, and insertion of the new, larger model at the current 60GB price point. It's anyone's guess, so take your best crack at it in the comments.

[Via Joystiq]

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