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Education

Helping Some Students May Harm High Achievers 1114

Posted by samzenpus from the stop-dragging-us-down dept.
palegray.net writes "According to a new study performed by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute in Washington, increased emphasis on helping students with a history of lower academic achievement results in lower performance for high achievers. This trend appears to be related to the No Child Left Behind Act. Essentially, programs designed to devote a large number of resources to assisting students who are deemed to be 'significantly behind' leave little room for encouraging continued academic growth for higher-performing students."
Education

Intel, Microsoft Despised the XO Laptop 521

Posted by kdawson from the immune-response dept.
gregsim writes "The Wall Street Journal today reports that the new XO laptop, centerpiece of the One Laptop Per Child project, is stimulating an active response from both Intel and Microsoft. The companies evidently feel threatened by the little upstart, intended to help third-world children. (The XO runs Linux and uses AMD chips.) Microsoft has cut their software to $3 each and Intel has designed their own laptop called the Classmate to sell between $230 and $300, nearly double the XO's price. Rather than defend the relative merits of his creation, professor Negroponte is crying foul and (if the article is to be believed) not even arguing the technical merits. The initial demand for the XO has fallen well below Mr. Negroponte's projections as Intel and Microsoft have successfully argued that their entries are superior. 45,000 have been ordered through the Give One, Get One campaign. I am happy that I ordered mine — it will be a landmark model in any case."
Wireless Networking

Submission + - Unlimited gall to cost Verizon $1 million (networkworld.com)

Submitted by netbuzz
netbuzz writes: Unlimited really means unlimited, even in advertising. So says the New York State Attorney General's Office in squeezing a $1 million settlement out of Verizon Wireless for disconnecting 13,000 of its customers who had the temerity to believe that the unlimited service they were promised came with unlimited service. Verizon's statement explaining the settlement is a gem, too.

http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/20981
Linux Business

Linspire Releases Controversial Version 6.0 202

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the like-free-but-not dept.
christian.einfeldt writes "Today, Linspire releases version 6.0, its first new GNU/Linux distro in more than two years. With version 6.0, Linspire is betting that its business model of including licenses for proprietary software and formats such as Quicktime, Windows Media Player, Flash, Real, and Microsoft OOXML will win enough market share among mainstream Apple and Microsoft users to offset the backlash from opponents of proprietary software and formats. Version 6.0 also includes the highly controversial Microsoft patent coverage that has incited wide-reaching negative press coverage in the Free Open Source Software press, forums and blogosphere. But from Linspire's perspective, it's all about those new GNU/Linux users. '"Today we continue the Linspire tradition by offering the choice of a better overall experience for users new to desktop Linux,'" said Larry Kettler, President and CEO of Linspire, Inc. "Linspire 6.0 further bridges the gap between open source and commercial software, combining the best from each into a single easy-to-use, familiar and productive operating system."'"
Linux

The Linux Identity Crisis 364

Posted by CmdrTaco from the wants-to-be-called-linuxette-now dept.
Jayze Calrtini writes "From an article from ZDNet:"If you've been following the current rift in the Linux community between Linus Torvalds and his minions squaring off against Con Kolivas and the mainstream Linux fanatics, you probably know that it's getting quite heated. You also probably know that these two entirely different ideas could create three possible paths Linux can take for the future: stay geeky and appeal to the advanced tech guru in all of us; go mainstream and leave the advanced functionality and reliable kernel behind to compete with Microsoft and Apple; or face a "civil war" that could lead to total Linux annihilation."
Security

BioShock Installs a Rootkit 529

Posted by kdawson from the drm-even-in-the-demo dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Sony (the owner of SecureROM copy protection) is still up to its old tricks. One would think that they would have learned their lesson after the music CD DRM fiasco, which cost them millions. However, they have now started infesting PC gaming with their invasive DRM. Facts have surfaced that show that the recently released PC game BioShock installs a rootkit, which embeds itself into Explorer, as part of its SecureROM copy-protection scheme. Not only that, but just installing the demo infects your system with the rootkit. This begs the question: Since when did demos need copy protection?"
Privacy

US Shuts Down Controversial Anti-Terror Database 238

Posted by Zonk from the one-less-affront dept.
coondoggie writes "The massive anti-terror database established by the US government has been criticized for keeping track of regular everyday citizens. Computerworld reports that as of September 17th, the database will be shut down. 'The Threat and Local Observation Notices or TALON, was established in 2002 by then-Deputy Defense Secretary Paul D. Wolfowitz as a way to collect and evaluate information about possible threats to U.S. service members and defense civilians all over the world. Congress and others protested its apparent use as an unauthorized citizen tracking database. The TALON system came under fire in 2005 for improperly storing information about some civilian individuals and non-government-affiliated groups on its database. The Air Force developed TALON... in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as a way to gather data on possible terrorist threats. Anti-war groups and other organizations, protested after it was revealed last year that the military had monitored anti-war activities, organizations and individuals who attended peace rallies.'"
Sony

$499 PlayStation 3 Confirmed 555

Posted by Zonk from the finally-come-down-a-bit dept.
Gamespot is reporting that the rumoured price drop from earlier this week is a reality. Starting on July 10th, the current 60GB model will sell for $499. Coming to US shores in August is the 80GB version only available in South Korea at the moment, which will retail for $599. They're bundling that unit with Motorstorm, so it's not just another 20 gigs for $100. "The price drop further indicates that, after a slow start, Sony is now aggressively trying to expand its customer base in the US. The move comes none too soon. According to the latest figures from industry-research firm the NPD Group, the PS3 only sold 82,000 units in the US in May, compared to the Xbox 360's 155,000 units and the Wii's 338,000 units." So, is this it? Will this price drop make you buy a PS3, or are you still holding off for the big games this fall?

Feed Engadget: Verbatim acquires SmartDisk's external HDD, digital imaging assets (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Storage

It's been quite awhile since we've seen anything substantial emerge from SmartDisk, and it looks like the last time may actually have been the last. Verbatim and its parent company, Mitsubishi Kagaku Media (MKM), have purchased "substantially all of the assets of SmartDisk's external hard drive and digital imaging business." The acquisition essentially includes everything (right down to patents and engineering expertise) in those two divisions, which should compliment Verbatim's well recognized data storage lineup nicely. Although the purchase price wasn't revealed -- nor were details about how the branding would work out in future product releases -- the two have indeed official shook hands and the exchange of assets is well underway.

[Via PCWorld]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Wireless Networking

Submission + - Feasibility of State-Wide WiFi? (greenvilleonline.com)

Submitted by
crtrue
crtrue writes: "The House here in South Carolina approved a bill several months ago to explore the possibility of blanketing the state in a wireless signal. The idea revolves around using the ETV public television towers as the backbone, probably having both a free, low bandwidth signal and a higher, paid one to help pay for the project / make the state some cash. It seems like fantasy to me, and I'm sure I'm not the only one with a "Put Up or Shut Up" attitude. Still, a good chunk of this state is rural, so this would be really nice in places where the only option realistically available is dial-up. I would also kill to be able to drive across the state and not have to worry about finding public hotspots. So, Slashdot, is there any way this system could work? Or, as I fear, is the idea either too unrealistic or prohibitively expensive to take off the ground?"

Feed Russian ATM runs on unactivated copy of Windows (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Granted, we'd be a tad more surprised about this if it wasn't found in Russia, but this one defies logic regardless. While we're unsure if tricksters have figured out a way to siphon unthinkable quantities of cash from this particular ATM, the owners should be ashamed of themselves for running a (presumably pirated) unactivated copy of Windows on the public banking machine. Of course, there's quite a few workarounds for this problem if you take the time to look, but seriously, who skimps on a product activation code when running a multi-million (billion?) dollar banking operating?

[Via TheRawFeed]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Programming

Does GPL v3 Alienate Developers? 430

Posted by Zonk from the get-thee-hence dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Via Wired, a blog post in which BMC Software's Whurley and Google's Greg Stein agree that the GPL v3 is currently on a path that will alienate developers. Stein has an interesting theory called 'license pressure' which is similar to 'pricing pressure'. 'Due to pressure from developers, all software is moving towards permissive licensing" translation, the GPL and developers are moving in opposite directions ... Developers care about the licenses on the software they use and incorporate into their projects, they like permissive licenses, and they will increasingly demand permissive licenses.'"
The Internet

AT&T CEO Attacks Network Neutrality 358

Posted by CmdrTaco from the does-america-even-understand-why-this-matters dept.
Verteiron writes "The former CEO of AT&T, Ed Whitacre, had some interesting remarks to make about Net Neutrality during his parting speech. Choice quotes include his plans for getting anti-neutrality legislation through: "Will Congress let us do it?" Whitacre asks his colleagues. "You bet they will — cuz we don't call it cashin' in. We call it 'deregulation.' " More information on AT&T's attitude problem and a video of the speech are available. There's no sign that his replacement is any better."
Space

Astronomers Again Baffled by Solar Observations 299

Posted by CowboyNeal from the back-to-the-drawing-board dept.
SteakNShake writes "Once again professional astronomers are struggling to understand observations of the sun. ScienceDaily reports that a team from Saint Andrew's University announced that the sun's magnetic fields dominate the behavior of the corona via a mechanism dubbed the 'solar skeleton.' Computer models continue to be built to mimic the observed behavior of the sun in terms of magnetic fields but apparently the ball is still being dropped; no mention in the announcement is made of the electric fields that must be the cause of the observed magnetic fields. Also conspicuously absent from the press releases is the conclusion that the sun's corona is so-dominated by electric and magnetic fields because it is a plasma. In light of past and present research revealing the electrical nature of the universe, this kind of crippling ignorance among professional astrophysicists is astonishing."

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