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Operating Systems

Submission + - Mac Leopard Server preview (computerworld.com)

johannacw writes: "This operating system could open a whole new market for Apple — as a small-business and home-office server that intuitively supports both Mac and Windows clients. But large companies have lots to like, too; our writer believes Leopard Server's directory services pieces could be "revolutionary.""
Input Devices

Submission + - Tivo your day

ZeroMaker writes: Apparently Apple filed for a patent for "Presentation of audible media in accommodation with external sound". With this system you would be able to hear external sounds while wearing your iPod earbuds but it also offers this tidbit. "...stored external sound can be presented with a full range of media playback features (e.g., forward, backward, pause, replay)". All the parts already exist someone just needs to make it easy to tivo (verb) your day. humm...
Software

Submission + - DUI Defendant Wins Right to Source Code

freshman_a writes: The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in favor of a man, charged with a DUI, who claimed he needed the source code to the Intoxilyzer 5000EN to fight charges in court. From an article at the Pioneer Press:

"That's the gist of the decision, that it's discoverable," said Underdahl's attorney, Jeffrey Sheridan, of Eagan. "The problem is, the manufacturer of the thing thinks they can hold it back and not tell anybody how it works. For all we know, it's a random number generator."
Censorship

Submission + - AT&T Removes anti-Bush Lyrics From Webcast (rollingstone.com)

Walter Wart writes: "AT&T removed the lyrics ""George Bush, leave this world alone." and "George Bush find yourself another home." from Pearl Jam's Lollapalooza broadcast. AT&T claims that its content monitor had done so "by mistake". This has serious implications for political expression in an increasingly corporatized Internet. Pearl Jam said that it highlights the need for Net neutrality."
Microsoft

Submission + - Mac users' Internet experience to remain seamless 2

thefickler writes: Mac users will continue to see the Internet as it was intended, thanks to the renewal of a font licensing agreement between Microsoft and Apple. At TypeCon2007 Microsoft and Apple announced they have renewed their font licensing agreement, giving Apple users ongoing use of the latest versions of Microsoft Windows core fonts.

Back in 1996 Microsoft started the "Core fonts for the Web" initiative. The idea of this initiative was to create a a standard pack of fonts that would be present on all or most computers, allowing web pages to be displayed consistently on different computers. While the project was terminated in 2002, some of the fonts defined as core fonts for the web have gone on to become known as "web safe fonts", and are therefore widely used by Internet developers.
Biotech

Submission + - New antibiotics for pathogenic attacks of bacteria (heraldbiz.com)

allengineering writes: "A team of research directed by the pr. KIM Kyung-Gyu of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Sungkyunkwan discovered the structure of the protein Rse B playing an essential part in the transmission of the signals of stresses resulting from the pathogenic attacks of bacteria. The article is been published in the edition of May of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the the USA (PNAS). This projection should make it possible to develop new antibiotics."
The Courts

US Attorney General Questions Habeas Corpus 1151

spiedrazer writes "In yet another attempt to create legitimacy for the Bush Administration's many questionable legal practices, US attorney General Alberto Gonzales actually had the audacity to argue before a Congressional committee that the US Constitution doesn't explicitly bestow habeas corpus rights on US citizens. In his view it merely says when the so-called Great Writ can be suspended, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the rights are granted. The Attorney General was being questioned by Sen. Arlen Specter at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Jan. 18. THe MSM are not covering this story but Colbert is (click on the fourth video down, 'Exact Words')." From the Baltimore Chronicle and Sentinel commentary: "While Gonzales's statement has a measure of quibbling precision to it, his logic is troubling because it would suggest that many other fundamental rights that Americans hold dear (such as free speech, freedom of religion, and the right to assemble peacefully) also don't exist because the Constitution often spells out those rights in the negative. It boggles the mind the lengths this administration will go to to systematically erode the rights and privileges we have all counted on and held up as the granite pillars of our society since our nation was founded."
Nintendo

Submission + - Wiitar Hero

Tiger writes: "I've YouTubed some videos to demonstrate a script I wrote for GlovePIE, which lets you use a Wii Remote and Nunchuk to play Frets On Fire (a PC Guitar Hero clone). I've got a link to download the GlovePIE script at my site, RhythmGamer, as well as links to everything else needed to become a "Wiitar Hero."

Here are the videos:
"You Really Got Me"
"Stellar"
"Fat Lip"
"Bang Bang"
"Take Me Out"
"Ace of Spades""
Education

Submission + - Better than a TI?

aaronbeekay writes: "Hey guys, I'm a sophomore in high school taking an honors chem course. I'm being forced to buy something handheld for a calculator (I've been using Qalculate! and GraphMonkey on my Thinkpad until now). I see people all around me with TIs and think "there could be something so much better." The low-res, monochrome display just isn't appealing to me for $100-150. Is there something I can use close to the same price range with better screen, more usable, and more powerful? Which calcs do you guys use? I'm hoping for this to last through college."
Security

Submission + - Competition to select a replacement for SHA-1

SHA who? writes: "In the light of recent attacks on SHA-1, NIST is preparing for a competition to select the next set of Hash Functions. The public competition will be much like the development process for Advance Encryption Standard (AES). As a first step in this process, NIST is publishing draft minimum acceptability requirements, submission requirements, and evaluation criteria for candidate algorithms, and requests public comment by April 27, 2007.
P.S. NIST has ordered the Federal Agencies to stop using SHA-1 and instead use SHA-2 family of hash functions."
United States

Submission + - India to overtake United States by 2050

aimlesswanderer666 writes: "Productivity growth will help India sustain over 8% growth until 2020 and become the second largest economy in the world, ahead of the US, by 2050, Goldman Sachs has said scaling up estimates of the country's prospects in its October 2003 research paper widely known as the BRICs report.."
Media (Apple)

Submission + - iTunes: Music with borders

gsn writes: Slate has an article detailing the restrictions that prevent you from buying music on iTunes across national borders. iTunes appears to have a "look but don't touch" policy which allows you to browse music from other countries, but forbids you from paying for it with a U.S. credit card. This artificial trade restriction allows the recording industry to maintain different pricing in different countries, but prevents access to some really great music. Can we ever hope to see unified pricing across the board? Will the 'i' ever mean international?
Mozilla

Submission + - Learn by doing XForms in Firefox

An anonymous reader writes: Using the experimental Mozilla XForms extension, you can process XForms in your browser today. While not yet deployed widely enough for use on the public Internet, XForms may be suitable for some intranet applications. This article demonstrates basic XForms processing as currently supported by Firefox and the Mozilla XForms plug-in. XForms is not only a more powerful means of designing and laying out forms than using classic HTML; it's a much easier way to do it too.
Biotech

Submission + - How to get stem cells from the placenta, at home!

Anna Sebestyen writes: "Attila Csordas has a protocol on how to isolate millions of amniotic stem cells from the placenta, even at home, in the garage. "The placenta is a very valuable human tissue, although the proper recycling of it is not placentophagy, but the isolation of stem cells from its amnion layer, and storing them for later regenerative purposes for the whole family. Human amniotic epithelial cells (HAECs) from the placenta are alternative replacements of human embryonic stem cells, and have the potential to differentiate to all three germ layers in vitro. These cells are very close to those earlier and broadly multipotent amniotic fluid-derived stem cells, which made the big buzz lately on the web, published by De Coppi, Atala et al. in Nature Biotechnology. Here I would like to show, although I do not provide any warranty, that isolating stem cells from the placenta is not more difficult than making a steak, and with proper preparation, investment and timing you can do it even at home or in a rent lab. The process is ethically non-controversial since the placenta is usually discarded after birth. Today, stem cell therapy is just a promising possibility, but in the not so distant future, self-aware citizens may manage their own stem cells, grow them in the garage, and store them in the fridge. If so, it could be a form of autonomous medical self-insurance. We are at the dawn of the bioDIY movement backed by open source science for anybody. Here is the algorithm at the cartoon and below are the detailed, although not self-including textual protocol...""
Privacy

Submission + - GPS-Enabled Unmentionables?

leftistcoast writes: "A friend of mine came across this site and forwarded it along to me as a joke (the joke being that I should write a paper on the privacy issues raised by such a product). With the growth in the popularity of GPS-enabled products, the nigh-constant Amber Alerts and the torrent of other horror stories involving children panicking the parenting-age public, the advent of Tracking Panties seems inevitable, if disturbingly perverse. But the marketers of these undergarments clearly have a broader audience in mind: wandering wives and lustful daughters. With references to "chastity belts of the past" right on the main page, this product seems like a giant leap back for womens rights in addition to being a serious infringement on privacy rights.

From the article:

"This amazing device will answer all of your questions! These panties can give you her location, and even her temperature and heart rate, and she will never even know it's there! Unlike the cumbersome and uncomfortable chastity belts of the past, these panties are 100% cotton, and use cutting-edge technology to help you protect what matters most.""

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