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Programming

Submission + - Why is software so hard?

Submitted by
Andrew Leonard
Andrew Leonard writes: "Salon's Scott Rosenberg has written a book exploring the software development process. As a hook for exploring questions such as "Why is writing software so hard" he spent four years tracking the team led by Mitch Kapor in their quest to create a new personal information management application, Chandler. My interview with Scott is up today. An excerpt is here."
Microsoft

Confidential Microsoft Emails Posted Online 479

Posted by CowboyNeal from the behind-the-curtain dept.
dos4who writes "From the class action 'Comes et al. v. Microsoft' suit, some very enlightening internal Microsoft emails are now made public. Emails to and from Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer, Jim Allchin, etc all make for some mind blowing reading. One of my favorites is from Jim Allchin to Bill Gates, entitled 'losing our way,' in which Allchin states 'I would buy a Mac today if I was not working at Microsoft.'"
Linux Business

Submission + - Novell won't be banned from distributing Linux

Submitted by Aim Here
Aim Here writes: In an earlier article, Slashdot quoted Reuters as claiming that the FSF might try to ban Novell from using Linux. Eben Moglen of the FSF has responded in an eweek interview, claiming he was quoted out of context, and that his quote in the article merely refers to the upcoming version 3 of the GNU General Public License. Was this all just an honest mistake, an eager journalist overhyping a weak story, or part of a wider campaign of sinister anti-FSF FUD?
Power

Submission + - Net Zero Fuel Infrastructure Solution

Submitted by
Sterling D. Allan
Sterling D. Allan writes: "By injecting a water-ethanol mixture called Aquahol that can be used on most any vehicle, and by producing ethanol from the prolific and multi-use sweet sorghum plant, Tectane's net result is no added emissions to the environment, at a cost savings. This past Wednesday they had a press conference in which they showed a 30-minute short version of a documentary film about their company, being produced by Nicholas Klein, best known for such Hollywood hits as The Million Dollar Hotel starring Mel Gibson and The Venice Project starring Dennis Hopper and Lauren Bacall. A vehicle running on this technology requires only a slight addition to the engine compartment to house the injection apparatus, which is said to increases mileage by between 20 and 40 percent, cutting emissions by 20 to 60 percent, while increasing horse power by 10 to 15 percent, and increasing the lifetime of the engine by 50 percent. It also removes the need for the catalytic converter, as well as environmentally destructive chemical additives to the fuel like MBTE. The modification enables almost all cars to run on any fuel, including low (75) octane gasoline, which is cheaper, requiring less refinement. The second part of the equation is in the ethanol production method that they promote, using sweet sorghum. The plant can grow without pesticides or expensive fertilizers, grows prolifically, with little water, producing two crops per season; and the entire plant can be used, not just a portion. The stalk fibers can be used as a substitute for wood composites, eliminating the need for deforestation for buildings. The grainy top can be used for animal feed. The pulp can be used for paper production, and has been by the paper company, Cascade, since 2003. The leftover biomass can be used in energy generation plants, being an ideal fuel since it is neither too dry nor too wet."
AMD

Submission + - AMD's 65nm Brisbane Core Athlon 64 X2, Slower?

Submitted by
Spinnerbait
Spinnerbait writes: "For AMD's 65nm process transition, cost and profit margins are a major factor of course, but not just from a manufacturing perspective. With the change over to 65nm, AMD has also sharpened their focus on power consumption and energy efficiency, which translates to lower operating costs as well. What AMD has not worked into the transition are any core performance enhancements. This performance showcase of the new AMD Brisbane core 65nm Athlon 64 X2 5000+ actually shows the CPU's higher cache latencies hampering performance slightly. Of course this process shrink is also in preparation for AMD's move to native single-chip quad core CPUs."
Privacy

Cory Doctorow on Shrinkwrap Licenses 125

Posted by CowboyNeal from the by-opening-this-page dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Web privacy advocate Cory Doctorow is on about shrinkwrap licenses, in his latest essay. They've always been onerous. Now, Doctorow says the new EULA in Vista and even the MySpace user agreement could put users at risk of being sued. He closes with: 'By reading this article, you agree, to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all [everything].'"
OS X

Submission + - Apple intentionally lets Shake get pirated?

Submitted by
noahgift
noahgift writes: "Why did Apple decide to take away licensing restrictions for Shake 4.1 (A compositing application heavily used in the entertainment industry)? Apple also did this a while ago with Final Cut Studio when it was trying to gain market share from Avid (the top player in professional editing software). Does Apple intentionally remove licensing restrictions to spread their product in the wild? Here is a post with screen captures of Shake 4.1 launching without a license"
Biotech

Submission + - Runner-Up of Man of the Year Jailed For Pedophilia

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Acclaimed geneticist William French Anderson, who was runner-up for Time Magazine's Man of the Year in 1995, was sentenced to a 14 year jail term for molesting his assistant's daughter. Prosecutors argued that Anderson began molesting the girl when she was 10. She has since suffered depression and considered suicide. Anderson's lawyers argued that he is too valuable to science and medical research to be put in jail. Many of Anderson's colleagues, including a Nobel Prize winner, have sent letters to the court in support of him. His lawyers will appeal the sentence.
Biotech

Researchers Use 'Decoy' Molecule to Treat Cancer 40

Posted by CowboyNeal from the as-good-as-the-real-thing dept.
Jerry Rivers writes "The Globe and Mail is reporting that scientists in British Columbia have successfully used a 'decoy' molecule to shrink advanced prostate tumors. Citing a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the the Globe story explains how the researchers are the first to find a way to block the process of androgen reception in cells and prevent, a key trigger in the onset of prostate cancer."
Biotech

Submission + - Killer bird flu invades England, wipes out turkeys

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: An outbreak of bird flu on a farm run by Europe's biggest turkey manufacturer Bernard Matthews is the highly pathogenic H5N1 version of the virus which can kill humans. It's a surprise because bird are not migrating now, in the middle of winter. So how did the virus get into the turkey sheds?
The Internet

The Top 100 Alternative Search Engines 108

Posted by Hemos
ReadWriteWeb writes "Search Engine Optimizer (SEO) Charles S. Knight has compiled a list of the top 100 alternative search engines. The list includes Artificial Intelligence systems, Clustering engines, Recommendation Search engines, Metasearch, and many more hidden gems of search. People use four main search engines for 99.99% of their searches: Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and Ask.com (in that order). But Knight has discovered, via his work as an SEO, that in the other .01% lies a vast multitude of the most innovative and creative search engines around."
Businesses

Paypal Won't Release Funds To Slain Soldier's Family 337

Posted by samzenpus from the why-think-when-you-have-policy dept.
robustyoungsoul writes "Popular sports blog Deadspin established the Adam Knox Fund for the purpose of raising money in honor of the fallen soldier who was killed in Iraq. They took the donations through a PayPal account. Turns out now, however, PayPal will not release the money due to the way the account was set up on their end."

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"The fundamental principle of science, the definition almost, is this: the sole test of the validity of any idea is experiment." -- Richard P. Feynman

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