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20 Things You Won't Like About Vista 771

Posted by Zonk from the keep-counting dept.
feminazi writes "Computerworld's Scot Finnie details 20 things you won't like in Windows Vista, with a visual tour to prove it. He says that MS has favored security over end-user productivity, making the user feel like a rat caught in a maze with all the protect-you-from-yourself password-entry and 'Continue' boxes required by the User Account Controls feature." From the article: "In its supreme state of being, Microsoft knows precisely what's best for you. It knows that because its well-implemented new Sleep mode uses very little electricity and also takes only two or three seconds to either shut down or restart, you want to use this mode to 'turn off' your computer, whether you realize it or not. It wants to teach you about what's best. It wants to make it harder for you to make a mistake."

Slashdot CSS Redesign Winner Announced 882

Posted by CmdrTaco from the don't-need-me-any-more dept.
The winner of the contest is Alex Bendiken. He will receive a new laptop as well as bragging rights as the creator of the new look of Slashdot. You can see his winning design in a near complete form now. Feel free to comment on any compatibility issues. We plan to take this live in the next few days. There will undoubtedly be a few minor glitches, but please submit bug reports and we'll sort it out as fast as possible. Also congratulations to Peter Lada, our runner up. He gets $250 credit at ThinkGeek. Thanks to everyone who participated- it was a lot of fun.

Voyager 2 Detects Peculiar Solar System Edge 272

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the magnet-on-a-really-long-string dept.
ClickOnThis writes "CNN reports that Voyager 2 has detected evidence of the magnetic edge of the solar system (aka the heliopause) at 76 AU (1 AU = 93 million miles), much closer to the Sun than the location of 85 AU found by Voyager 1. From the article: 'This implies that the heliosphere, a spherical bubble of charged low-energy particles created by our Sun's solar wind, is irregularly shaped, bulging in the northern hemisphere and pressed inward in the south. [...] The researchers think that the heliosphere's asymmetry might be due to a weak interstellar magnetic field pressing inward on the southern hemisphere.'"

Vista Beta 2 has Major Problems 683

Posted by CmdrTaco from the so-does-every-version-of-windows dept.
WebHostingGuy writes "In a review by Gary Krackow from MSNBC who reviewed Vista Beta 2 over the last week he had very disappointing problems. "for me [it] was one of the worst operating system experiences that I've ever encountered." Built-in audio and wireless didn't work on his Levono laptop. It took four days to get the first installation."

Microsoft Employees May Lose Admin Rights 502

Posted by Zonk from the root-to-moot dept.
daria42 writes "As Microsoft moves its internal desktop systems to Windows Vista, the company is contemplating whether to change a long running tradition and take away admin rights from its employees in order to improve security." From the article: "'We haven't made that final determination yet. We would like to absolutely look at scenarios where we can look at elements of User Access Control -- that is the feature in Vista -- so that we can start moving in that direction ... It is a tough balance and every company has to decide what is right for them,' said Estberg. However, Estberg said that for the moment, the company will continue to leave the responsibility of installing software with its employees."

Vonage going IPO 221

Posted by Hemos
Diashto writes "I just recieved voicemail on my Vonage phone saying that Vonage is going IPO, and that certain customers may be eligible to purchase common stock at IPO pricing. More information is is available on their IPO site."

Cox May replace its own DVRs with TiVos 223

Posted by Hemos from the eat-a-box dept.
Controlio writes "According to a posting by user BrettStah on the TiVo Community Forums, Cox Cable is currently circulating a survey to gauge customer's interest in TiVo services. From the survey, 'While Cox currently offers its own DVR service, the Cox DVR may soon be powered by TiVo, and include the features that TiVo owners have come to expect. If Cox were to offer digital cable service with a TiVo branded DVR for about the same price as you are currently paying for satellite service each month, how likely would you be to switch from satellite TV to Cox cable that featured this TiVo branded DVR service?'"

RIM Chairman Wants Changes to U.S. Patent Law 245

Posted by Zonk from the with-good-reason dept.
florescent_beige writes "The Globe and Mail is reporting that James Balsillie '... called on U.S. lawmakers yesterday to fix a system that he says boxed the company into one of the largest legal settlements in U.S. history.' Although this will do nothing to change the $612.5M(US) settlement RIM was forced to sign with NTP, Mr. Balsille says he wants to help 'assure that no other company experiences what we endured over the past five years.' Mr Balsillie's rhetoric was direct: he said RIM's treatment at trial was like '... a judge in a murder case pondering execution while ignoring DNA evidence that exonerates the accused ... RIM was virtually held up for ransom by NTP...'"

How Bill Gates Works 424

Posted by CmdrTaco from the day-in-the-life-of dept.
ZZeta writes "What's a day like for the richest man on Earth? In this Fortune interview, Bill Gates explains what he does on his average workday. Most interesting? He is not into some of Outlook's features, such as to-do lists and email notification. Also, he works with three monitors and is looking forward to buying a digital whiteboard next year." I was interested in how he gets his e-mail filtered. Hey Bill, if you read this, I'll totally put you on my e-mail whitelist!

Scrutinizing a Stem Cell Trial 54

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the under-the-microscope dept.
Wired News has an interesting discussion of a clinical stem cell trial with the CEO of Geron, a California based stem cell company. The author takes time to discuss some of the process and hurdles that are faced by a company who wishes to engage in early clinical trials. From the article: "After an hour of speaking to Okarma, fears of a half-baked trial dissipated. He readily answered my many questions. If he didn't have the animal data to answer a query, he didn't try to dance around that fact. Okarma outlined a structured but malleable trial. I initially had reservations about safety, but Okarma emphasized that if the animal data is not good, the study will not move forward until problems are addressed."

Want to Experience Zero G? Stay in Bed 132

Posted by CmdrTaco from the done-and-done dept.
mrogers writes "New Scientist Space is reporting that the health effects of microgravity can be reproduced by staying in bed. Inclining the bed at an angle of 6 degrees with the head at the lower end produces bone and muscle loss, decreases in cardiovascular activity, and reduced capacity to exercise similar to those produced by prolonged spaceflight. (Valeri Polyakov was not available for comment at the time of going to press.)"
User Journal

Journal Journal: A car stereo that can kill you? Cool

Journal by frieked

Submitted this story, it got rejected:
Troy Irving's 18-year-old Dodge Caravan has a hell of a sound system: 72 amplifiers--you got it, 72--and 36 big 16-volt batteries to put out the 130,000 watts of power needed to rumble his nine 15-inch subwoofers. To put that into perspective, the most powerful production-car audio I know of is the $230,000+ 2003 Aston Martin Vanquish's 1,200-watt system. Irving carries
Software

Journal Journal: Neoware ThinPC

Journal by frieked

Demoing Neoware ThinPC this week and EzRemote manager portal edition ...and I must say they are pretty nifty. Meant to take an old slow old computer which is not really useful anymore and turn it into a thin client. It's biggest downfall I think is the price...at $100 per license it's a bit pricey. Less expensive than buying a new computer though

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