Groghunter - Slashdot User

Journal Journal: Vertical Farming

Journal by MrMarket on Tuesday April 03, 2007 @03:00PM

New York Magazine has an interesting article about vertical farming, or growing food in skyscrapers. Dr. Dickson Despommier of Columbia University believes that "vertical farm" skyscrapers could help fight global warming. The article points out other uses: growing food in close proximity to cities, recycling urban waste, growing more food with less land and resources, sheltering food from pests without chemicals, and producing energy th

Submission + - US flag on the moon falen over

Submitted by

on Wednesday March 14, 2007 @06:38PM

An anonymous reader writes: Buzz Aldrin mentioned today (at a conference at the Technical Unversity in Delft, The Netherlands) that wile leaving the moon, they accidentally pushed the US flag over. He, Neil Armstrong and Michael Collins decided not to mention it because they suspected it to be a sensitive matter in the US.

Submission + - 150x compact flash raid

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday February 08, 2007 @04:23PM

An anonymous reader writes: Having just found out that CF (compact flash) to IDE adapaters are cheap 'cos they do nothing, has anyone on slashdot actually used 2 — 4 CF cards at 150x (about 22.5mb/s, apparently) with DMA support in a raid setup for a linux system? These cards at, say, 2gb a piece aren't too pricey, so I can't see any reason why you're not getting a 90mb/sec 8gb disk with 0 seek time using 4 cards. I'm not seeing many actual results on the web, which seems to tell me that it's just not worth it. Anyone actually have some first-hand experience? Don't get distracted with "limited write cycles" and stuff! With just system files on it, I can't see any problem. I'm just interested in some actual performance figures.

Submission + - Astro Breakdown Spells Changes for Mars Mission

Submitted by FloatsomNJetsom on Thursday February 08, 2007 @04:20PM

FloatsomNJetsom writes: Popular Mechanics has a fascinating story on what the Lisa Nowak astronaut lovetriangle/breakdown/attempted murder charges could mean for Mars Mission crew decisions: With a 30-month roundtrip, this isn't the sort of thing you'd want to happen in space. Scientists have been warning about the problems of sex on long-term spaceflight, and experts are divided as to whether you want a crew of older married couples, or a-sexual unitard-wearing eunuchs. But the big deal is that NASA's current archetype of highly-driven, task-oriented people might be precisely the wrong stuff for a Mars expedition. In addition, this is crazy, scientists might use genomics or even functional MRI in screening astronauts, in addition to facial-recognition computers to monitor mental health during the mission. "You're putting together the crew psych workup, aren't you HAL?"

Submission + - PCI-SIG releases external cable spec for PCIe

Submitted by Alvis Dark on Thursday February 08, 2007 @04:18PM

Alvis Dark writes: Ars Technica is reporting that the PCI Special Interest Group has released a new external cable specification for PCI Express. 'The External Cabling specification standardizes the use of PCIe technology over copper cable, defining connector retention, identification, labeling, cabling attributes, and identification. Included in the specification are standardized cables and connectors for the entire gamut of link widths from 1x to 16x and supports signaling rates of 2.5GTps (giga transactions per second). Most importantly, the specification is designed to be compatible with existing hardware and software.' Good for crowded PC cases, but even better for laptop owners.

Submission + - MIT's Millimeter Turbine to be ready this year

Submitted by

Iddo Genuth

on Thursday February 08, 2007 @03:47PM

Iddo Genuth writes: "After a decade of work, the first millimeter size turbine engine developed by researchers at MIT should become operational by the end of this summer. The new turbine engine will allow the creation of smaller and more powerful batteries than anything currently in existence. It might also serve as the basis for tiny powerful motors with applications ranging from micro UAVs to children's toys. In the more distant future huge arrays of hydrogen fueled millimeter turbine engines could even be the basis for clean, quiet and cost effective power plants."

Submission + - Is Wikipedia Becoming a Totalitarian State?

Submitted by

Anonymous Coward

on Thursday February 08, 2007 @03:19PM

Anonymous Coward writes: "The Wikipedia admins are deleting Esperanza. Esperanza is a massive Wikipedia subculture that invested years promoting quality, community and mentorship on Wikipedia. Powers that be at Wikipedia have decided Esperanza is non-Encyclopedic. Now disenfranchised Wikipedians are leaving Wikipedia in frustration. What is going on?"

Submission + - Novartis is Challenging Indian Patent Law

Submitted by Jim_Maryland on Tuesday January 30, 2007 @07:03PM

Jim_Maryland writes: As pharmaceutical company Novartis proceeds with its legal challenge against the Indian government in a court hearing in Chennai today, nearly a quarter of a million people from over 150 countries have expressed their concern about the negative impact the company's actions could have on access to medicines in developing countries. The Indian Network for People with HIV/AIDS (INP+), the People's Health Movement, the Centre for Trade and Development (Centad), together with the international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), called on the company again today to immediately cease its legal action in India

Many developing countries rely on affordable medicines produced in India, and such medicines constitute over half the AIDS drugs used in the developing world. India has been able to produce affordable versions of medicines patented elsewhere because until 2005 the country did not grant pharmaceutical patents.

Read on at doctorswithoutborders.org

This is an ongoing practice for Novartis...

Novartis was one of the 39 companies that took the South African government to court five years ago, in an effort to overturn the country's medicines act that was designed to bring drug prices down. Now Novartis is up to it again and is targeting India.

Is this just another case of greed or should companies be able to lock out competition to make up for drug development?

The international petition urging Novartis to drop the case is ongoing. To sign the petition and for more information, visit: Petition India

Submission + - A correction to recent story: "Hubble cam. los

Submitted by

Involved astronomer

on Tuesday January 30, 2007 @06:49PM

Involved astronomer writes: "Hello! I'm sorry if this is not the proper forum in which to offer a correction (or at least an addendum) to one of your stories! I'm a grant-funded astronomer at the Space Telescope Science Institute (www.stsci.edu) in Baltimore. I read the story you just posted about the loss of ACS (the Advanced Camera for Surveys) on Hubble. I am very concerned that the article conveys the wrong idea about HST. While HST's science capacity is diminished with the loss of ACS, HST lives on and will continue to produce world-class science, even before its servicing mission in Sept. 2008, which will upgrade the instrument suite with the most sophisticated imagers in history. So, I'd like to point out these facts: 1. A fuse blew on ACS side two electronics — This will LIKELY (we're not 100% sure yet) render the Wide-field channel and the High-resolution channel (e.g. 2/3rds of the camera) inoperable. The solar blind channel will likely be returned to operation. 2. While we have lost (2/3rds) of ACS, NICMOS and WFPC2, two fantastic imagers, are still operational. WFPC2 is responsible for many of the gorgeous images that grace many of your desktop wallpapers. 3. ACS had an expected lifetime of 5 years. It met that lifetime. The loss of ACS, while of course disappointing, is not necessarily a shock. 4. Servicing mission 4 is currently scheduled for Sept. 2008. It will upgrade HST to never-before-seen scientific capability and productivity. The Wide-Field Camera 3, which will be installed then, will essentially be an even more sophisticated successor to ACS. In short, the reports of Hubble's demise are GREATLY exaggerated. She will continue to produce world-class science and incredible images. While we are disappointed with the (apparent) loss of ACS, HST will live on well into the next decade. It would be really nice if your article could be updated to include at least a few of these encouraging facts! You can view one of our press releases on this here: http://hubblesite.org/acs/ You may confirm my involvement with HST science operations by emailing me at grant@stsci.edu if you wish! thanks! -Grant"

Submission + - Koreans advised to "avoid Vista" for now

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday January 24, 2007 @01:27PM

An anonymous reader writes: The Chosonilbo reports that several government ministries in South Korea are advising users not to install Windows Vista, at least until popular online services can be made compatible. The problem is that ActiveX is pervasive in the Korean webspace, employed by everyone from web games to online banking. Upgrading to Vista is expected to render many of these services unusable. Portions of the popular "Hangul" word processor, a major competitor to Office in that country, are also not functioning under Vista. The Ministry of Information is planning to publish compatibility information for popular websites, and urging users to carefully research the implications of upgrading.

Submission + - Vonage Mass Outage

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 23, 2007 @11:32AM

An anonymous reader writes: It appears that Vonage is currently having a major service outage since early this morning. For my area code and exchange in Texas, I am not able to send or receive calls. This includes both within vonage (which MAY work) and outside of the vonage network.

Their website currently states:

Some customers are presently experiencing an intermittent issue affecting their ability to make and receive calls.

Our engineers are aware of this issue and are working to resolve it as soon as possible.

Please check your web account for updates. We apologize for any inconvenience and thank you for your patience in this matter.

If anyone knows more details, please post.

Submission + - Streamburst Talks to BBC

Submitted by

Gareth Mitchell

on Tuesday January 23, 2007 @11:23AM

Gareth Mitchell writes: "Download and keep your favourite TV programme. Unique watermarking technology means that wherever the clip ends up, it's traced to you. That's the message from Streamburst's CEO David Parsons and CTO Robert Bjarnason in their first media interview on subject, given exclusively to Gareth Mitchell on the BBC's Digital Planet today (Tuesday). At last — an approach to DRM that treats users like us, like grown ups. It might be a while before Hollywood knocks on Streamburst's door but Parsons and Bjarnason say that the technology is ideal for independent film makers who want their work to be seen by a wider audience, whilst maintaining control of their intellectual property. Download the full interview on the Digital Planet podcast at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4849402.stm"

Submission + - Top 5 Sexiest Geek Girls Alive

Submitted by

themurph2099

on Thursday January 18, 2007 @10:54AM

themurph2099 writes: "From the site: You know, there is very little in this world better than Hot Girls....especially Hot Geek Girls. In 2006 several Hot Geek Gals were in the spotlight on websites, on podcasts, and on TV — and we here at Forever Geek would like to showcase some of these lovely ladies by selecting our Top 5 Sexiest Geek Girls Alive."

Submission + - ISOHunt Shutdown

Submitted by tgignac on Wednesday January 17, 2007 @11:41AM

tgignac writes: isoHunt Shut Down January 16, 2007 Thomas Mennecke isoHunt has been one of the long time staples of the BitTorrent/IRC/Usenet search engine genre. It's longevity has been exceptional among this crowd, lasting upwards of three years without hindrance. This is no small feat considering the site's administrator, Gary Fung, is the recipient of an MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) lawsuit which was filed in February of 2006. The eventual legal complaint was preceded by several email exchanges between Fung and the MPAA. isoHunt and the MPAA engaged in what could be considered an amicable debate on the merits of copyright laws in the digital age, however the movie industry's patience wore out once it was clear Fung's position was solidified. On February 23rd, 2006, the MPAA filed seven lawsuits that included nine sites; including ed2k-it.com, BinNewz.com, and of course isoHunt.com "Website operators who abuse technology to facilitate infringements of copyrighted works by millions of people are not anonymous — they can and will be stopped," said John G. Malcolm, Executive Vice President and Director of Worldwide Anti-Piracy Operations for the MPAA. "Disabling these powerful networks of illegal file distribution is a significant step in stemming the tide of piracy on the Internet." While most of these indexing sites capitulated, isoHunt.com decided to hold the line. The status quo remained intact for isoHunt.com, at least until today. File-sharing fans were not greeted by the typical search engine that resides on isoHunt.com — instead a stark message was left by Fung: "Lawyers from our primary ISP decided to pull our plug without any advance notice, as of 14:45 PST. No doubt about our lawsuit brought by the MPAA. We will be back in operation once we sort out this mess with our ISP, or we get new hardware ready from another ISP (already working on that)." Gary Fung told Slyck.com a temporary site is already up, however the traffic load is placing an exceptional burden on the server. This should be a temporary setback however, as Fung is working diligently to restore the site. With some patience and luck, isoHunt.com could be restored by morning. The amount of time will depend whether isoHunt.com's current ISP restores the site, or whether Fung will have to shop elsewhere for hosting.

Submission + - Preventing a Brute Force Attack

Submitted by

nywanna

on Wednesday January 17, 2007 @11:39AM

nywanna writes: "Brute force attacks (or dictionary attacks) are extremely common. Brian Sullivan looks at several things we can do to protect our websites from brute force attacks as well as several things that you should never do."

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