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Education

Submission + - Georgia Tech drops WebCT for Sakai

Submitted by
JoshJ
JoshJ writes: "The Georgia Institute of Technology's contract with WebCT expires in December 2007. Tech's Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning decided to move to Sakai, an opensource alternative. ""We had a committee that evaluated over the summer whether or not to go with Vista, and since we're already paying for WebCT we didn't want to go with another licensed, proprietary solution because they're all pretty much the same," Donna Llewyn (director of CETL) said. She continued, ""We no longer have to go to a vendor and be held over a barrel. We can hire programmers and make it work for us. It's definitely an advantage that we can make it fit what we need." The full story can be found here."
Java

Submission + - The future of Open Source Java

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Thanks largely to the open sourcing of the JDK, 2007 promises to be the most exciting year in Java programming. With the developer community in the driver's seat, expect to see Java programming propelled forward, backward, and sideways, probably all at once. This article takes a look at what's ahead for Java in Open Source and predicts what is coming for the Java platform.
Networking

Submission + - MIT scientists reach fiber-optic breakthrough

Submitted by kcurtis
kcurtis writes: The AP (via boston.com) has a story about how MIT scientists have detailed a breakthrough in optics that could lead to cheaper, more efficient optic communications. From the story: "Like polarizing sunglasses that block light waves oriented in different directions, the MIT researchers created a clever device that splits the light beams as they pass through a circuit. The device then rotates one of the polarized beams, before both beams are rejoined on their way out of the circuit, retaining the signals' strength. But it's not just that device that the researchers are touting. They're also trumpeting the innovative method they devised to integrate the optical circuitry with electronic circuitry on the same silicon chip."
Privacy

Submission + - China Creates Massive Online ID Database

Submitted by schwaang
schwaang writes: While the US continues to hash out concerns over the Real ID Act, which aims to create a national ID by standardizing state driver's licenses, China Digital Times points out a story from Xinhua Daily News describing China's massive online ID database, which they sell will help prevent fraud. From the article:

Anyone can now send a text message or visit the country's population information center's website, to check if the name and the ID number of a person's identity card match. If they do match the ID cardholder's picture also appears, said the Ministry, adding that no other information is available to ensure a citizen's privacy is protected.

Completed at the end of 2006, China's population information database, the world's largest, contains personal information on 1.3 billion citizens.

Giving public accessing to the database is also designed to correct mistakes if an individual discovers that their name, number and picture don't match.
The Internet

Submission + - Why you should be concerned about Net Neutrality

Submitted by
gizmateer
gizmateer writes: "Net Neutrality is being argued heavily in congress, trade journals and all over the Internet. So, "What is Net Neutrality, and why should I care?"

For some, Net Neutrality could mean that companies providing internet connectivity will treat every packet flowing through their lines the same, no matter what the content, be it game data, bittorrent, streaming video, VOIP, forum posts, or standard browsing. For others, Net Neutrality means that packets will be given equal access on the network, no matter who the provider is (for example, the ISP won't block Yahoo but will block Google).

The writer of this article is against Net Neutrality in the first form but all for it in the second case. Personally, I'd go the opposite way."
Microsoft

Submission + - MS takes a page from the open-source playboook

Submitted by
linumax
linumax writes: "Officelabs is a new internal start-up that is attempting to use some of the methodologies of open-source software development to invigorate the company and generate excitement about new Microsoft products. Specifically, the people behind officelabs want to adopt the release early, release often approach that has worked well for open-source projects such as Linux and Firefox. The move echoes the announcements of Office Live and Windows Live, which both attempt to release lots of software on the web as often as possible."
Windows

Submission + - Windows Vista vs. Windows XP vs. Ubuntu Linux

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: There's a new OS in town, but can it compare to our comfy slippers, or even the diamond in the rough? MS Windows XP Professional is still a very viable OS, and apparently, outperforms or maintains pace with Vista in almost every test we have run with current hardware in place. Vista has the advantage of utilizing the performance a newer setup offers, XP is falling behind in that it is not as efficient with multiple processors or large amounts of memory. Other then the new hardware advantages, does Vista bring that much over XP? http://www.viperlair.com/articles/editorials/vista /versus/
Windows

Submission + - Vista followup already?

Submitted by DesertBlade
DesertBlade writes: Looks like Microsoft is planning it's next version of windows. Okay that is not suprising, BUT it is may be released by the end of 2009! Could Vista truly be the next Windows ME?
Linuxcare

Submission + - Head of LinuxChix Brazil looks to pass torch

Submitted by
lisah
lisah writes: "LinuxChix Brazil's Sulamita Garcia tells Linux.com that, despite an enjoyable four-year run as head of the chapter, it's time to move on and let someone else take over the reins. Involved in the Linux community since 1999, Garcia has been an avid supporter of women in the open source community but says there isn't necessarily as wide a gender gap as many would believe. '[A]fter working with LinuxChix and getting in touch with so many more women that I ever thought would exist in FOSS communities, I strongly believe there are a lot more than we think,' she says. 'They just tend to be a lot less vocal than men.'"
Biotech

Journal Journal: Temporary blood vessel shunt to be used to save limbs in war 157

Journal by Stile 65

The FDA has just approved for military use a shunt which allows partially-severed limbs to continue to get circulation. According to the article, "For most, it won't be a matter of saving a limb outright but rather salvaging the quality of a wounded leg or arm." This is because "The tubelike device is designed to connect the two ends of a severed blood vessel, providing a temporary bridge or shunt around a wound to restore blood flow to an
Operating Systems

Submission + - Where Are Operating Systems Headed?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Dr. Dobb's Michael Swaine breaks down the question of where operating systems are headed. Among his teasers: Is Vista the last version of desktop Windows? (Counterintuitively, he says no.); Did Linux miss it's window on the desktop? (Maybe.) And, most interestingly, are OSes at this point no longer necessary? Where do you weigh in on these Big 3 questions?
Biotech

Submission + - Microfluidic bubble logic

Submitted by
Renckens
Renckens writes: "The fine scientists from MIT have proposed an alternative to the electronic circuit using bubbles in microfluidics. Bubble logic AND/OR/NOT gates, as well as more advanced structures, have been demonstrated, allowing for Boolean logic through use of bubbles on chip. On lab-on-a-chip devices, this means that droplets of chemicals can now carry binary information as well as their chemical payload. This will allow the addition of a whole new toolset to the already impressive range of possibilities for biotechnological analysis. The stroy from MIT newsflash can be found in the url below. More interested users are referred to the full publication in Science: M. Prakash et al. — Science 315 p832 (2007).

http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/bubbles.html"
Censorship

Submission + - Ban from blogging due to "electronic missiles&

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: Web 2.0 news site 901am reports that Australian Olympic Athletes will be banned from Blogging at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics due to the risk that they may launch "electronic missiles". Australian Olympic Committee spokesman Craig Phillips said that Blogging would erode the sanctuary of the Olympic village and that athletes blogging would undermine team spirit.

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