Submission + - Variety declares VHS dead
An anonymous reader writes: Variety has written an obituary for the VHS format only 3 years after it was surpassed in popularity by the DVD.
Submission + - Sun JRE plus new DST means work for IT
netbuzz writes: "Next year's changes to the start and end dates for Daylight Savings Time promise to create many an additional hassle for IT professionals. Especially troublesome will be bringing applications that use Sun's Java Runtime Engine up to speed. While the issue has been public knowledge for some time, the recent passage of the last time change under the old rules has whipped up a fresh round of discussion regarding the breadth and depth of what needs to get fixed.
http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/9254 "
Submission + - ZFS on FreeBSD
setantae writes: "Pawel Dawidek announced the first ZFS on FreeBSD patch set for testing. With the ZFS on FUSE project floundering on the early VFS operations and Apple's port merely vapourware, this is a great opportunity for those who still have a Sun allergy to try out the latest in easy storage administration."
Submission + - Google Sponsors the LinuxBIOS project
Rockgod writes: "From the article:
"The LinuxBIOS project aims to take down the last barrier in Open Source systems by providing a free firmware (BIOS) implementation. LinuxBIOS celebrates its Sixth anniversary this year, and has an installed base of over 1 million LinuxBIOS systems. With the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project, that number is expected to exceed 10 million users in 2007. LinuxBIOS supports 65 mainboards from 31 vendors in v1 and another 56 mainboards from 27 vendors in v2
Submission + - Wireless power
prime38 writes: "Using old physics principles, researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology say they have developed a way to transfer power wirelessly. The concept could be used to transfer power the distance of many meters.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6129460.stm"
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6129460.stm"
Submission + - Electronic voting machines missed 18k votes
ndogg writes: "Electronic voting machines are being blames for an 18,000 undercount of votes in the Florida county of Sarasota. That's nearly 13% of all the voters — a rather significant margin, especially in a race with a margin of 368 votes in favor of the winner, Vern Buchanan. Of course, there is a call for a recount, but without a paper trail, what are they recounting?"
Submission + - Software Quality Assurance Engineer to Development
noobcake writes: I'll be graduating with a Master's in Computer science with only a couple months under my belt as a software intern. My concentrations in my master's is networking/distributed systems and software engineering.
I have been offered a job as a SQA engineer and my professor advised me that I may be pigeonholed into QA and it will be hard for me to move into software engineering/development. I have 3 questions for /.
1. Is this true?
2. Am I shooting myself in the foot by taking a job in SQA?
3. If I do take this job are there things I can do besides asking to help in development so I can add "development" onto my resume on top of QA/testing? Thank you
I have been offered a job as a SQA engineer and my professor advised me that I may be pigeonholed into QA and it will be hard for me to move into software engineering/development. I have 3 questions for
1. Is this true?
2. Am I shooting myself in the foot by taking a job in SQA?
3. If I do take this job are there things I can do besides asking to help in development so I can add "development" onto my resume on top of QA/testing? Thank you
Submission + - 10 Reasons NOT to Buy a DSLR
Kurtis writes: "As a follow-up to my article, 10 Reasons to Buy a DSLR (which was posted here on Slashdot last week), and some of the feedback I received, this article will outline some of the reasons why a DSLR might NOT be right for you. I present: 10 Reasons NOT to Buy a DSLR."
Submission + - A Wiki About Every Website
CaspianXI writes: A new website, AboutUs.org, has launched an effort to build a wiki containing every site on the Internet. This week, they announced that it has closed a Series A round of funding and raised $1 million. According to TechCrunch's article: The site is a wiki directory of web sites, mostly populated automatically but with a healthy amount of traffic and a growing number of edits being made daily. If you look up your website on AboutUs, youll probably find an entry there.
Submission + - Physics promises wireless power
Spluch writes: "Plugs and wires could soon become obsolete as researchers in the US have come up with a relative simple system that is capable of powering devices such as laptop computers or MP3 players wirelessly. From BBC: The answer the team came up with was "resonance", a phenomenon that causes an object to vibrate when energy of a certain frequency is applied."
Submission + - Z80 8-Bit CPU Formed on Glass Substrate World
Anonymous Coward writes: "Sharp Corporation, and Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd. have successfully integrated an 8-bit Z80*1 CPU onto a glass substrate designed for LCD displays, based on their jointly developed CG- Silicon*2 technology; a world first.
CG (Continuous Grain) Silicon technology is the core technology behind System LCDs, next-generation functional devices developed jointly by the two companies in 1998. CG-silicon maintains atomic-level continuity at the crystal grain boundaries, thereby enabling electrons to travel through the semiconductor approximately 600 times faster than conventional amorphous silicon and approximately three times faster than low-temperature polysilicon."
Submission + - Moore's Law is dead, says Gordon Moore
An anonymous reader writes: Moore's Law is dead, according to Gordon Moore, its inventor.
http://www.techworld.com/opsys/news/index.cfm?News ID=3477
Submission + - Consumer Reports Warns Against Extended Warranties
Freshly Exhumed writes: In its first ever public education ad campaign, Consumer Reports is telling consumers to just say "no" to warranties pushed by the nation's retailers. In a full page ad beginning today they are taking direct aim at a very lucrative money-maker for consumer goods retailers, calling extended warranties a 'lousy deal for consumers'. Justin Barber, a spokesman at Best Buy Co., defended warranties, saying in a statement: 'We understand the plans are not for everyone. It is up to the customer to decide if the service plan will meet their individual lifestyle needs.'
Submission + - Huge meteorite may have hit only 5,000 years ago!
biogeochick writes: Think Deep Impact or Armageddon...
A giant wave circles the globe, creating a flood myth in every civilization it touches... No it's not science fiction, a science article today in the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/14/science/14WAVE. html?ei=5070&en=cb1feb5f1b4a7fdc&ex=1164171600&emc =eta1&pagewanted=all) describes new research identifying the crater and tsunami evidence of a giant meteorite impact not more than 5,000 years ago. The supposed impact would have hit off the coast of Madagascar and caused a huge wave, up to 600ft high, to slam into shorelines around the globe! The implications for climate would have been immense. This could help to explain ambiguous climatic trends around the middle of the last interglacial. If it turns out to be bunk, at least there will be some more fine cinema to look forward to...
Submission + - Gears of War: The Movie
An anonymous reader writes: Well sort of. Julian Murdoch over at Gamers With Jobs loves his new XBOX 360 and EPIC's new Gears of War first person shooter so much, he's written a short screenplay about it. He takes us into his therapist's office:
Must reading if you've ever gone over the deep end for a game.CUT TO: CLOSE UP, RABBIT
Oh give it a rest doc, it's NEVER about my mother.
No, it's... it's a game again.
Shot lingers then
CUT TO: MEDIUM SHOT
DOC winces, removes his glasses, pinches his nose, sighs.
Oh Julian. I thought we'd worked past this.
