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Networking

Should Network Cables Be Replaced? 524

Posted by timothy from the depends-where-you-work dept.
Jyms writes "As technology changes, so hubs routers and switches are upgraded, but does the cabling need replacing, and if so, how often? Coax gave way to CAT 5 and CAT 5e replaced that. If you are running a 100Mbit/s network on old CAT 5, can that affect performance? Do CAT 5(e) cables get old?"
Portables

First Android-Based Netbook, Set-Top Box 114

Posted by timothy from the every-glovebox-could-have-one dept.
An anonymous reader writes "China based Skytone famous for making skype headsets have brought out a $100 device, the Alpha-680 netbook running Google Android for its OS. The device has Wi-Fi, Ethernet, USB ports and an SD card slot. After watching the video though, I get a feeling that the boot time is somewhat long. IMO good enough for browsing." Also on the Android front, ruphus13 points out what the maker claims is the first "fully realized" non-mobile Android device (though I think there were some other non-mobile gadgets on diplay at CES), a set-top box from Motorola based on Android. According to the linked post, it's "capable of playing DVDs and CDs, transferring music and video to a mobile device, and ripping and storing files" and "will have a full-featured Chrome-like browser."
Image

The Taste Of Space Screenshot-sm 81

Posted by samzenpus from the what-wine-does-it-go-with dept.
It turns out that space tastes like raspberries and not Tang or freeze-dried ice cream as one might suspect. Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy were searching for evidence of amino acids in space when they found ethyl formate, the chemical used in to make raspberry flavoring. The astronomers used the IRAM telescope in Spain to analyze electromagnetic radiation emitted by a hot and dense region of Sagittarius B2 that surrounds a newborn star. Astronomer Arnaud Belloche said, "It [ethyl formate] does happen to give raspberries their flavour, but there are many other molecules that are needed to make space raspberries."
Communications

Brazilian Pirates Hijack US Military Satellites 359

Posted by CmdrTaco from the because-they-can dept.
blantonl writes "Brazilians all over the country are using modified amateur radio equipment to communicate with each other using US Military communications satellites — effectively creating their own CB radio network on the backs of the US Military. Recent efforts to crack down have resulted in arrests of some of the users, however the behavior still continues today."
Windows

Windows 7 Starter Edition — 3 Apps Only 695

Posted by CmdrTaco from the because-they-can dept.
CrustyFace writes "Cybernit reports that the Starter Edition version of Windows 7 will only allow the user to run 3 applications at once. Targeted at notebooks, this doesn't seem like such a bad limitation, however it is a bold move from Microsoft, and it will be interesting to see how the operating system sells."
Google

Highlights From the 2009 Google Summer of Code 72

Posted by CmdrTaco from the they-skipped-the-lowlights dept.
mask.of.sanity writes "Over a 1000 students were accepted into the fifth year of the program from 70 countries and will work on about 150 open source projects with mentor organisations. The program, created in 2005, has exposed some 2500 students to "real-world" software development and opened employment opportunities within mentor organisations and in fields relevant to their academic study. The United States scored the lion's share with 212 accepted students; 101 from India; 55 from Germany; 44 from Canada, 43 from Brazil. The Dominican Republic, Iceland, Luxembourg and Nigeria were new entrants to the program each with a single accepted student. Check out the slideshow summary of some project highlights, with hyperlinks back the detailed project pages."
Security

Computer Spies Breach $300B Fighter-Jet Project 330

Posted by CmdrTaco from the we're-still-number-one-at-this dept.
suraj.sun writes "Computer spies have broken into the Pentagon's $300 billion Joint Strike Fighter project — the Defense Department's costliest weapons program ever — according to current and former government officials familiar with the attacks. Similar incidents have also breached the Air Force's air-traffic-control system in recent months, these people say. In the case of the fighter-jet program, the intruders were able to copy and siphon off several terabytes of data related to design and electronics systems, officials say, potentially making it easier to defend against the craft."
Transportation

Do We Need Running Shoes To Run? 776

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the kenyans-have-it-right dept.
prostoalex writes to tell us The Daily Mail has an interesting look at current research in the field of running and injuries related to running. Most of the evidence pointed at a lack of any need for running shoes. Some of the more interesting points: the more expensive the running shoes, the greater the probability of getting an injury; some of the planet's best and most intense runners run barefoot; Stanford running team, having access to the top-notch modern shoes sent in for free by manufacturers, after a few rounds of trial and error still chose to train with no shoes at all."
Power

Vatican To Build 100 Megawatt Solar Power Plant 447

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the go-big-or-go-home dept.
Karim Y. writes "The Vatican is going solar in a big way. The tiny state recently announced that it intends to spend 660 million dollars to create what will effectively be Europe's largest solar power plant. This massive 100 megawatt photovoltaic installation will provide enough energy to make the Vatican the first solar powered nation state in the world! 'The 100 megawatts unleashed by the station will supply about 40,000 households. That will far outstrip demand by Pope Benedict XVI and the 900 inhabitants of the 0.2 square-mile country nestled across Rome's Tiber River. The plant will cover nine times the needs of Vatican Radio, whose transmission tower is strong enough to reach 35 countries including Asia.'"

Comment Re:Lots o' power (Score 1) 274

by carlmenezes (#27650697) Attached to: Energy-Beaming Space Collector To Also Alter Weather?
But thats the way we as a race seem to work - use technologies without understanding their consequences in the hope that by the time the consequences manifest, we'll be in a position to deal with them or they won't affect us - the "Shoot first, ask questions later" approach. May have worked for us till now...not sure about the future.
Security

Google Open Sources Updater 174

Posted by CmdrTaco from the step-in-the-right-direction dept.
Jamie noticed the news that Google Update is now Open Source. The article acknowledges the privacy and security concerns of an application that is always running in the background of your machine, and authorized to install new software. And Google made the logically obvious conclusion that releasing the source code would alleviate those concerns.

Comment Re:Failure in what sense? (Score 1) 609

by carlmenezes (#27472607) Attached to: North Korea Missile Launch Fails
The info I got was from a pretty detailed article in the NZ Herald print edition (http://www.nzherald.co.nz). The article seems to have dissappeared into the archives, or I've not searched hard enough. I was wondering the same too. The newspaper article however, had a picture of the rocket and the third stage was mentioned to be a solid fueled one capable of carrying a 500kg payload. The third stage was carried inside a shell at the top of the second one. So I'm not sure what happened to the third stage - but I suspect the rocket never carried one.

Comment Re:Failure in what sense? (Score 4, Interesting) 609

by carlmenezes (#27470511) Attached to: North Korea Missile Launch Fails
Sheldon Cooper, is that you? This is Leonard. I disagree. The Taepodong 2 that they launched was a 3 stage rocket capable of delivering a 500kg payload. That's enough for a nuke. The first stage landed in the ocean west of Japan. The second stage landed in the ocean east of Japan. So that says they had a successful launch, successful separation of the first and second stages and a successful flight of the second stage - over 200 seconds of continuous flight. That's quite a bit considering their previous test blew up only 40 seconds after launch - the first stage exploded. Now, do you still think they didn't learn from their mistakes? Sure, there might be a nut in the seat of power, but don't let that discredit their scientists' and engineers' capability.

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