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Graphics

Submission + - Linux based OpenGL development system without X

Submitted by
zelko
zelko writes: "myOS — Linux based OpenGL development system without X Minimalistic GNU/Linux system, stripped down of everything, but core necessary files to compile and run OpenGL/C code. It has simplified directory structure and cleaned up internal cross referencing. Programs compiled in myOS will run on any Linux with or without X. Copy of the OpenGL Red Book is included, together with 45 examples from the book. Examples are organized by chapters, each in separate folder, ready to compile, run and play with. Source code is modified to use Scitech drivers and is very similar to GLUT version in the Red Book. This little collection is really all one needs to learn OpenGL. In fact the whole system being very simple to use or analyze and understand, can be a tool to teach Linux basics and C/OpenGL programming. http://one.xthost.info/zelko/opengl.html"
User Journal

Submission + - Blood groups 'can be converted'

Submitted by mrneutron2004
mrneutron2004 writes: When someone is in need of blood, there sometimes isn't enough available. Motor vehicle accidents and major trauma can damage vital organs, leading to blood loss, and then shock. If blood can be given in a timely manner, it can give doctors the time they need to perform surgery and correct internal injuries. However, finding the right blood type to avoid rejection is a problem, thus patients are given 0- a universal blood type. With more blood available using this new technique, countless lives may be saved. For those against blood transfusions (Jehovah Witnesses), they are even working on "fake" blood. Scientists have developed a way of converting one blood group into another. The technique potentially enables blood from groups A, B and AB to be converted into group O negative, which can be safely transplanted into any patient. http://www.fastsilicon.com/latest-news/blood-group s-can-be-converted.html?Itemid=60
Censorship

Submission + - Thai government shuts down political chat rooms

Submitted by
patiwat
patiwat writes: "Less than a week after censoring Youtube, the military government of Thailand has shut down the Kingdom's most popular web discussion board, Pantip.com, for reasons of national security. Other webboards were warned not to allow political messages to be posted, lest they also be shut down. Thailand currently censors over 10,000 websites, including sites of the deposed government and sites containing censorship circumvention software and links anonymous proxy servers."
Google

Submission + - YouTube aids censorship

Submitted by cyberianpan
cyberianpan writes:
BBC Reports: The video-sharing website YouTube has offered to show Thailand how to block material deemed insulting to King Bhumibol Adulyadej. YouTube executives said they would not take down material that did not violate policies but would show authorities how to block individual items. YouTube's head of global communications, Julie Supan, said it would prefer Thailand to have the power to remove items rather than have the whole site blocked.
So what happens the "do no evil" ? Yes whilst YouTube/Google's offer of a masterclass on censorship is hardly doing the deed itself isn't it as bad: aiding , abetting & implicitly condoning ? At least in China the authorities asked them to do it, here they're volunteering.
The Courts

Should Chimps Have Human Rights? 1019

Posted by kdawson from the our-brothers'-keepers dept.
An anonymous reader writes "A Brazilian court has already issued a writ of habeas corpus in the name of a chimp. And now an Austrian court may well decide that a chimpanzee is a 'person' with what up until now have been called human rights." From the story in the Guardian/Observer: "He recognizes himself in the mirror, plays hide-and-seek and breaks into fits of giggles when tickled. He is also our closest evolutionary cousin. A group of world leading primatologists argue that this is proof enough that Hiasl, a 26-year-old chimpanzee, deserves to be treated like a human. In a test case in Austria, campaigners are seeking to ditch the 'species barrier' and have taken Hiasl's case to court. If Hiasl is granted human status — and the rights that go with it — it will signal a victory for other primate species and unleash a wave of similar cases."
The Almighty Buck

Circuit City and the American Dream 835

Posted by kdawson from the scrambling-for-less dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Circuit City said yesterday that it had fired 3,400 of its highest-paid sales staff — 8% of its employees — and will replace them with lower-paid workers. Sign On San Diego called this 'a risky strategy to cut costs that goes beyond the layoffs, buyouts and hiring freezes commonly used by struggling companies.' The fired workers have a chance to apply for lower-paying positions after a 10-week wait, the company said. Quoting a Circuit City spokesman: 'This is no reflection on job performance... We deeply regret the negative impact. Retail is extremely competitive, and if we're going to thrive and operate a successful company... we just have to control costs.' So: work hard, become the best in your field, and get fired so they can offer you a new job 10 weeks later at a lower salary."
Bug

Computer Foul-up Breaks Canadian Tax Filing System 129

Posted by samzenpus from the great-white-mix-up dept.
CokeJunky writes "During a weekend maintenance window, the Canada Revenue Agency (Fills the same role as the IRS south of the border) experienced data corruption issues in the tax databases. As a precaution, they have disabled all electronic filling services, and paper based returns will be stacking up in the mail room, as returns cannot be filed at all until the problem is fixed. Apparently on Monday they discovered tax fillings submitted electronically where the social insurance number, and the date of birth were swapped."
Communications

Submission + - What causes cell phone connection errors?

Submitted by Anonymous Cell Phone User
Anonymous Cell Phone User writes: Earlier today, I called a friend on my cell phone and was connected to "Tom", a stranger. I knew I didn't have the wrong number because my friend's number was saved in my phone. I tried the same number again and got my friend this time. My friend told me he had just gotten a call from somebody wanting to speak to Tom, but his caller ID had said that the call was from me. This has happened to me a few times, both when I tried calling somebody on a landline from my cell phone and also when somebody tried to call me on my cell phone from a landline (it might also have happened between two cell phones once, but I'm not sure about that). The information in the caller ID seems to always match the intended call, but the voices get switched. I have had this happen with a Cingular/ATT contract in the USA and with a Vodaphone pay-as-you-go card in Germany (different phones). I am wondering if this error is due to a limitation of the GSM protocol or how it's implemented. I'm hoping that there's some cell phone / telecommunications expert here that can shed some light on the issue. Can anybody here explain how/why these errors happen?
Microsoft

Submission + - Has Microsoft Patented A Successor To Clippy?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: IWeek blogger Alex Wolfe theorizes that Microsoft might be searching for a successor to 'Clippy, the iconic paperclip which was featured in Office from 1997 until the folks at Redmond got tired of the ridicule and retired it in 2004. The most promising candidate may be an eye with a rotating iris. What's equally notable is that Microsoft seems to be taking a page from its attempt to trademark the English word "Windows," and has patented the icon for a camcorder. Do you think this is the typical patent work of a big company, or has Microsoft got something up its sleeve here?
Space

Asteroid Highlighted as Impact Threat 297

Posted by Zonk from the please-bring-your-seatbacks-and-traytables dept.
Maggie McKee writes "The asteroid Apophis has been traversing the void of space for untold years; in just a few decades time it will make a very close pass to Earth, and could make an unwelcome stop on our planet's surface. Even still, it's nothing to get too worked up about. The 20-million-tonne object has a 1 in 45,000 chance of hitting the Pacific Ocean in early April of 2036. If it did hit, it could trigger a tsunami that would do an untold amount of damage to the California coastline and many other places on Earth. Despite the low level of the threat, it's still a real enough danger to prompt the United Nations to develop a protocol about the scenario. We'll get a closeup look at the object in 2029, and at that point we should have a better idea of what 2036 will bring us."
Google

Submission + - Google Bought, Burned NC Seniors' Homes

Submitted by
theodp
theodp writes: "Nicholas Carr has a nice roundup of the latest Googlegate News, including the heartwarming story of how NC government officials acting on Google's behalf hounded the elderly into selling their homes, keeping prices down by using a nonprofit front funded by Google to conceal the search giant's identity from folks like Eugene and Violet Anderson, both 86. As former homeowners took up residence in apartments and doublewides, the local fire department burned down a number of their homes to make way for Google, whose tax incentives are now being pegged at $260M."
PC Games (Games)

Submission + - Build A World

Submitted by
queenb**ch
queenb**ch writes: "A new open source development is roaming the net. They've found a home over at BuildaWorld.net. They're taking the Delta3D engine and turning it into something a bit more user friendly and ready to build a game with. It's getting the networking components added back in along with avatar inventory and a user interface. That should make it ready for a RPG or FPS game. Their "mission statement" and "purpose" is as follows... Now a small bird told me that they're getting close to releasing the network code and that the avartar inventory and UI won't be far behind it. You can visit them at http://www.buildaworld.net/ for more information.

Mission Statement

We are an alliance of smaller teams that are working to build a rules-independent world-independent Free Software-licensed game engine that we can share.

Purpose

Our purpose is for several teams to come together to create tools that let you build your own virtual world, roleplaying game, or whatever else you can imagine. Our purpose is to create a game engine and at least one "reference world."

1 — The license must permit anyone to use, modify, and distribute work based on our products.

2 — All decisions will be made by participating teams, not by a few individuals.

3 — Creation, administration, and maintenance of the demonstration shards will be shared by participating teams.

4 — The reference world will demonstrate that the game engine functions.

5 — The reference world will serve as a working "HOWTO" with examples of some basic tasks."
Programming

Submission + - Is Homebrew coming of age?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: I saw this on Evil Avatar today. A blog called the pensive gamer has taken a look at how close we are to having homebrew readily available without hacks and modchips on all three consoles. While today's post looked at Xbox 360 (xna coding), they also looked at the Wii (web) and PS3 (linux and web). http://blogs.spouting-tech.com/thepensivegamer/200 7/02/here_comes_home_2.html
Biotech

Submission + - Automatic frozen rose photos

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The server at http://rose.makesad.us/ provides one new frozen rose photo everyday, using an innovative python application to automatically select "sad" frozen rose photos from Flickr. It has already been noticed by livejournal. Perhaps this is a new sign, pointing towards content aggregation sites that automatically grade their content based on emotions evoked?
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - Amazing Cancer Drug Found; Scientist Annoyed.

Submitted by
sporkme
sporkme writes: "A scientist was frustrated when the compound she was working with destroyed her sample of cancer cells. Further research revealed that the substance was surprisingly well suited as a cancer treatment. From the article:

"I made a calculation error and used a lot more than I should have. And my cells died," Schaefer said. A colleague overheard her complaining. "The co-author on my paper said,' Did I hear you say you killed some cancer?' I said 'Oh', and took a closer look." They ran several tests and found the compound killed "pretty much every epithelial tumor cell lines we have seen."
Lab test results on hapless mice have resulted in the destruction of colon tumors without making the mice sick. The PPAR-gamma compound is expected to be especially useful in combating treatment-resistant types of cancer."

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