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United States

Submission + - Pentagon Sought To Build A 'Gay Bomb'

Submitted by nam37
nam37 writes: CBS 5 has an interesting article about a strange U.S. military proposal to create a hormone bomb that could purportedly turn enemy soldiers into homosexuals and make them more interested in sex than fighting.

"The Ohio Air Force lab proposed that a bomb be developed that contained a chemical that would cause enemy soliders to become gay, and to have their units break down because all their soldiers became irresistably attractive to one another," Hammond said after reviwing the documents.
Programming

Submission + - Listpic bas been shut down (listpic.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Listpic, that indispensible tool for browsing Craigslist ads visually, has been shut down today without an explanation. I emailed Ryan Sit, the developer who created Listpic, and he said Craigslist slapped him with a cease-and-desist order. So why can't Craigslist do their own innovation? After using Listpic, I shudder at the thought of browsing the original Craigslist 1980s style lists of text headlines. Please give this the publicity it deserves, we need a lot of emails to Craigslist (polite ones) if we're going to stand a chance of getting this awesome innovative tool back.
Software

Submission + - OSSv4 to be opensourced (opensolaris.org)

Submitted by
mriya3
mriya3 writes: "A post by Dev Mazumdar on opensolaris.org forums, reveals that 4Front Technologies is planning to opensource OSS v4.0. From the post: "The rumors are true, we're planning on open sourcing Open Sound (on June 14th). We will be offering the source code under CDDL to Solaris and GPLv2 for Linux BSD, OpenServer etc. (...) More details and source code will be made available on June 14th.". Open Sound System finally _open_?"
Software

Submission + - DivX is offering their pro version free right now

Submitted by
John McNeil
John McNeil writes: "You can download the pro version of DivX for free. All that seems to be required is a valid e-mail address to e-mail the serial number to, and you're set. I got a serial for Windows and it works fine, looks like they also have Mac offered for free as well. Make sure you watch for the defualt checked newsletter subscription option on the screen where you enter your e-mail if you don't want to get their monthly mailbox food. Get this while you can.
Windows Link: http://www.divx.com/dff/
Mac Link: http://www.divx.com/dff/?version=mac"
The Courts

Submission + - UK Government Comments on OpenDocument

Submitted by
Stocktonian
Stocktonian writes: "The Prime Minister's Office has issued a response to a petition asking the government to promote the use of the Open Document Format within the UK government. Quote from the response "The UK Government champions open standards and interoperability through its e Government Interoperability Framework (eGIF). Where possible the Government only uses products for interoperability that support open standards and specifications in all future IT developments.""
Sony

Submission + - Sony to cut game workers in U.S.

Submitted by poffenvis
poffenvis writes: On the heels of recording a $1.8-billion annual loss in its game division, Sony Corp. on Wednesday announced layoffs at its U.S. PlayStation operations. Sony Computer Entertainment America would not disclose the number of workers affected. Company executives speaking on condition of anonymity said that as many as 50 people, or 3% of the 1,600 employees in its Foster City, Calif., office, would lose their jobs.

For rest of the article? click the link LA times article
Data Storage

Submission + - Would you use LightScribe? How about on DualLayer?

Submitted by BiloxiGeek
BiloxiGeek writes: Well forget the DualLayer idea according to Verbatim.

After recently purchasing a LightScribe enabled burner I ran into a rather significant drawback. Yes it burns pretty much any CD or DVD media. The LightScribe feature is nice and beats the heck out of the sharpie marker and my chicken-scratch penmanship. Now for the problem; I created some iso images of a data DVD close the max of a dual layer DVD. Before I burn I run out to the local stores to find some LightScribe Dual Layer DVD-R's and find that those just don't exist.

Now I'm feeling a little ticked off (ok, I didn't research this aspect of LightScribe beforehand).

I emailed Verbatim to ask when Dual Layer DVD-R's will be available and they told me they have no plans for DL DVD media.

Quote:
The current LightScribe products are available in CD-R, DVD+R and DVD-R only.
There are no plans at this time for a DVD+R DL or DVD-R DL LightScibe product.
Unquote.

Knowing that you can save the cost of labels and ink, print snazzier looking labels for your homebrewed CD's and DVD's but will be limited to single layer capacity DVD's, would you buy a LightScribe drive and the media for your next computer, or get a 12-pack of Sharpie markers?
Television

Submission + - F.C.C.'s fines for indecency struck down

Submitted by herostratos
herostratos writes: United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York struck down government policy that allows stations and networks to be fined if they broadcast shows containing obscene language, even if it is a "fleeting expletive" uttered on a live program. Four TV networks (Fox, CBS, NBC and ABC) had filed the lawsuit against the Federal Communications Commission. Judges pointed out that "In recent times even the top leaders of our government have used variants of these expletives in a manner that no reasonable person would believe referenced sexual or excretory organs or activities." (e.g. Cheney's version of "get lost" to Senator Patrick Leahy on the floor of the United States Senate three years ago.)
Movies

Submission + - DreamWork's Linux rendering farm

Submitted by
stoilis
stoilis writes: "(Via LWN) Linux Journal takes a look at how Linux helps make movies. "All the big film studios primarily use Linux for animation and visual effects. Perhaps no commercial Linux installation is larger than DreamWorks Animation, with more than 1,000 Linux desktops and more than 3,000 server CPUs.""
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft threating its own MVP

Submitted by
jonfr
jonfr writes: "The Register is telling a story of a hobbyist programmer how did develop a software that did make Microsoft software better. But he did develop a program called TestDriven.NET, but it allows unit tests to be run directly from within Microsoft IDE. In the beginning Microsoft was pleased with this, so pleased that they did give him a MVP status and a awards. However, that did not last as a executive called Jason Weber started to contact him and make threats and demands, along with take down notice.

"However, his cherished status did not last. In December 2005, he started getting emails from a Microsoft executive called Jason Weber. The problem was that TestDriven.NET supported the Express edition of Visual Studio. Express is the cut-down version that anyone can download for free from the Microsoft website. It is limited in various ways, and is intended only for hobbyists and students. Everyone else is supposed to shell out for the paid-for versions. In fact, as a .NET hobbyist himself, Cansdale says he used Express to develop TestDriven.NET. Ironically, he only got access to a fancier version of Visual Studio as part of his MVP goody-bag. But MS doesn't want you supporting Visual Studio Express with your add-ons. Weber wrote to Cansdale that he had violated Express licence agreements: that he was accessing APIs not available to those who only had the Express version of Visual Studio, or that he had reverse engineered APIs — also forbidden. Cansdale said from the off — and has stuck by this — that he only used APIs in the public domain, published on Microsoft's MSDN website for all to see. He invited Weber to be specific about the API/licence term that was violated."

I do not understand how Microsoft can expect to get away with this type of behavior."
Music

Submission + - themesong-a-thon: your own theme (randygarcia.com)

Submitted by
threv
threv writes: "randy garcia, head of nophi recordings, an independent, DRM-free electronic label based out of Atlanta) is holding a DRM-Free "themesong-a-thon":

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Robots and Geeks of all Denomination: THE 2007 R.GARCIA THEMESONG-A-THON IS HERE!
Premise:
Have you ever noticed how superheroes, TV characters, and generally bad-ass people walk to the beat of their own theme song?
Well... my aim is to give that same ability to the "everyman." Think of how badass you would be walking to the Piggly Wiggly with 60 seconds of pure ghetto funk under you...or how laid you could get if you commissioned a totally sweet slow jam for your old lady. Hell, I can even rock you a heavy-metal anthem for your MMORPG clan. Think of the possibilities!!!
I will accomplish this by offering, for a $50 base fee, the following:

1.) A custom instrumental theme-song of one minute in length You will own all of the rights, royalties, master recordings and source files upon completion. The song in question will be written and recorded with your choice of available instrumentation (see the gear list,) and in the style or mood of your choosing.

2.) A .zip file or cdr containing the following:
a.) Your Song in .wav, .aiff and .mp3 format
b.) all of the source files for your song, in whatever format I used.
c.) A digital certificate of authenticity indelibly linking you to your song
d.) A picture of a pony, or a kitty, or something — possibly doing something cute (optional)


3.) A lifetime of customer support. (I'll always be a phone call or email away to tell you how badass you are when you bust into a room, guns-a-drawn and themesong-a-blaring!)

I will, for an additional fee:
1.) Extend your song / write additional parts $50 per minute
2.) Add lyrics and vocals, $50 (probably sung poorly)

And for those who are light in the pockets: I can, and will provide you with an original, "randomly generated" 30 second song of my choosing for just $20.

First come, first served, turnaround times will be based solely on workload, so get to me quick!

Last year's Themesong-O-Rama yielded some cool jams. This year I hope to push the envelope a little more and get some crazier requests."
Businesses

Submission + - Do private companies have to keep their email?

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: So I'm an IT intern at a medium-sized manufacturing business. In short, my superiors have asked me to research if privately-held corporations have to archive all of their email.

Have any laws pertaining to archiving/backing up emails been recently passed or proposed in light of any headline corporate scandals?

Or, more simply put, is it legally ok for employees and administrators at private companies to permanently delete their emails?

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