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Music

iPod Casualties Offer New-In-Box Bargains 324

Posted by kdawson from the new-old-stock-market dept.
An anonymous reader writes "For the last few years makers from Creative to Virgin have proclaimed their latest digital audio player to be an iPod Killer, only to watch those portables flame-out in the marketplace. This doesn't mean there was anything wrong with them, in fact some were pretty decent. They just couldn't compete under all the iPod hype. It turns out that this pattern has created a huge sub-market of new-in-the-box stock, sold for pennies on the dollar to overstock vendors who then pawn them off cheap to the public. For the price of a basic iPod Shuffle you can now acquire some well-equipped units from a few years back. Examples include the 40GB Toshiba Gigabeat F40 and AlienWare's CE-IV with external speaker system."
Supercomputing

Submission + - Scorchin' in-memory db benchmark with 1 TB RAM

Submitted by
Tim's Journal
Tim's Journal writes: "I've been investigating machines with large amounts of RAM for quite a few months now. I'm convinced that the distributed-centralized computing paradigm oscillates, and that the next few years will bring about monster computers with, in particular, tons of RAM, but maybe fewer processors. My sleuthing this week led to the Altix 4700. Emerging out of the ashes of bankruptcy, it is SGI's new dream machine. They boast a mind-numbing 128TB of shared memory capacity decoupled from the number of processors. This is important. For a number of years, SGI has had their NUMA* technology, which essentially promises shared access to all RAM by all processors. In most multi-processor machines, each processor really has direct access to about 16GB RAM or so (multiplied by number of cores...). If you've ever done any sort of parallel computing, it makes a difference. Essentially you have N machines each with M GB of RAM, instead of N processors sharing N*M GB of RAM. Think about inverting matrices... or hosting databases in memory. The scoop today is a database benchmark on the University of Louisiana's 160-core Altix 4700. In particular, the database is an in-memory database system (IMDS), which means that the database is entirely hosted in memory. This is important, because there are a lot of optimizations that SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, do to compensate for the fact that databases sit on slow hard drives and memory is hard to come by. Fancy things like memcaches, etc. These all go away if you have enough memory to store the whole thing simply in RAM. Here are the goods:

For a simple SELECT against the 1.17 Terabyte, 15.54 billion row database, eXtremeDB-64 processed 87.78 million query transactions per second using its native application programming interface (API) and 28.14 million transactions per second using a SQL ODBC API. To put these results in perspective, consider that the lingua franca for discussing query performance is transactions per minute; In more complex JOIN operations, the benchmark report documents performance of 11.13 million operations per second with the native API, and 4.36 million operations per second using SQL ODBC; [emphasis mine]
In case you were wondering, IMDS speed >> database hosted on RAM drive. (I also asked this question.) You would expect it to be a little bit faster, but it turns out that all the extraneous operations when you don't plan on being in RAM really take up a lot of time. Of course, the benchmark comes directly from McObject's marketing department, so YMMV."
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - True cost of failed Illinois video game legslation

Submitted by Mr. Shotgun
Mr. Shotgun writes: Ars is running a story about how the Illinois state government is going to pay off the legal bills from their recently defeated video game crusade. FTA:

the state was scouring department budgets, looking for the $1 million it cost to defend the unconstitutional legislation in court. Yes, you read that right — the State of Illinois spent one meeeellion dollars of taxpayer money on the litigation even as the state budget was starved for cash in other, more pressing areas. And worse yet, they spent it on a bill which, when introduced, was plainly unconstitutional.


Another write up is available here.
Movies

Submission + - Did "Pirates" help save the 'Biz from pira

Submitted by photomonkey
photomonkey writes: CNN.com reports that Pirates: World's End took in $142M, setting the record for a Memorial Day Weekend premiere. Hollywood's take on the weekend is reported as more than $265M, up $18M from the last Memorial Day Weekend record set in 2004.

Sales thus far into the year are at $3.6B, up 6.4% over last year's.

In the same article, an industry analyst estimates that the summer gross could reach an unprecedented $4B.

Does this mean the end of the MPAA's cries of woe over 'piracy on the intertubes'?
Censorship

Submission + - Wikipedia shuts centiare shut down again

Submitted by
Garrett Minks
Garrett Minks writes: "If last years altercation between wywikibiz founder Greg Kohs and Jimmy Wales wasn't enough a select group of super users on wikipedia have recently decided to systematically erase any notion of the site even though it is in clear violation of policy to blank discussions and proposals without consensus. Proof of misconduct is very difficult for the lay user to find but a long time wikipedia user has uncovered how the hive really works when faced with something it deems unencyclopedic. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedi a:Administrators'_noticeboard/Incidents&diff=13418 4688&oldid=134184582 Is this incident trivial, maybe. But maybe it also shows the secret autocracy behind the "free encyclopedia any one can use". Most will follow Dorothy and pay no attention to the man behind the screen but a select few insiders are beginning to see the site crumble."
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Office 2007 VS OpenOffice v2.0 and Micro

Submitted by
chewjekhui
chewjekhui writes: "Hi, welcome to the full review of Microsoft Office 2007. I would discuses about all the features of Office 2007. I would divide the article into a few parts. Each part would compare features of PowerPoint 2007, PowerPoint 2003 and their rival's OpenOffice. Visit http://saferpc.blogspot.com/2007/05/microsoft-offi ce-2007-vs-openoffice-v20.html for the full review"
Enlightenment

Submission + - 10 Ways To Get 70% Better Gas Mileage

Submitted by
ryanshamus
ryanshamus writes: "http://ryanshamus.com/automobiles/10-ways-to-get-7 0-better-gas-mileage/ So I've decided to post something today that will be of value to anyone and everyone that comes across my blog. They say to give readers something valuable and they'll come back. So amidst the rising (sometimes out of control) gas prices around the country and even around the world, below are 10 ways to get 70% better gas mileage! I drive roughly 60 miles each day on average, so for all of those out there that are in the same pool as me, then hopefully this will help you put a few bucks back in your pocket. After writing this, I added up a rough estimate (percentage wise) of how much gas you can save by following these easy tips. The answer? You'll see at the end of this article. 1. Tighten that gas cap! Did you know that all the people that forget to tighten their gas caps cause an annual loss of 147,000,000 gallons of gas due to evaporation? Insane. Remember, the gas will escape if you give it a chance, so tighten that cap down hard! 2. Pump up those tires! Driving on under-inflated tires can cause a staggering 15% loss in overall gas mileage. "Tires that have low pressure offer more resistance so the engine is going to work harder to keep the car at 60," says Brian Moody, road test editor at Edmunds.com. Check them once a week if possible..it only takes a few minutes of your time and proper inflation could save you a lot of money! 3. CHECK YOUR AIR FILTER. This may be one of the most important things to do in saving your gas mileage. Dirty air filters cause the engine to work a lot harder and will eat up a lot of your gas mileage. A $10 clean filter could give you upwards of 10% more miles per gallon. That's like getting 10% off every time you fill up! Get it changed every 3,000 miles (usually when you get your oil changed). Trust me on this one! 4. Use the right oil. An easy way to get a 1-2% boost in gas mileage is to use the right oil for your automobile. Read the manufacturer's guide and see what they recommend. Also when you know which grade/weight of oil to use — look for ones that also say "energy conserving" on the label. These oils have special friction reducing additives that will also help. 5. Slow down, speedy! Nearly everyone that drives is guilty of speeding at one point or another, but driving fast can be very costly! Check this out — by driving 70mph in a 55mph zone, you are burning a mind-blowing 17% extra gas. Whoa! Obey the speed limit, it's not only there to save your life, but to also save your checking account. 6. Time for a tune-up! Having an engine that feels like you do on Saturday morning can really make a difference in how much gas mileage you get. Keeping your engine happy by performing routine maintenance (including checking spark plugs, as misfiring plugs can waste up to 30% of your gas mileage) can boost your miles per gallon by about 4%. 7. Clean out your damned trunk already! By carrying excess weight in your automobile, you are wasting gas every second that you drive. Did you know that for every 100 pounds of excess weight, you are losing between 1-2% of your miles per gallon? That adds up pretty quick. While you're at it, go on a diet! 8. Turn off your meat locker. Look, I'm just as guilty as the next person, but running that A/C on full blast as soon as you hop in the car/truck can plummet your gas mileage by 10-20%! Try rolling down all the windows and opening the sunroof first. Utilize the summer breeze as your coolant. After all, it's free. 9. Kill the idle. Wanna know how to get ZERO miles per gallon? Leave your car running while parked. When you idle, you're car is burning gas and getting you no where! Make sure you turn it off for those quick runs into the grocery store or bank, it'll really add up in the end. 10. Clearing the roof. Do you still have that Christmas tree tied on the top? Or how about the luggage rack from vacation last year? Take it off now! By having stuff on top that you don't need, you are increasing air drag, which eats about 5% of your gas mileage. So find room inside the car for grandma, as she is wasting money being tied on top of the roof. After totaling all of these percentages and factors, (and keep in mind this is on the conservative side) — by following these tips you can get up to 70% better gas mileage than you get right now! That's assuming that you are breaking all of these rules, and it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of people were. I know I'm guilty of not following at least 7 of them. So remember me when gas hits $5.00 per gallon and you'll thank me. Money is fine :)"
Spam

Submission + - Does SPF really work?

Submitted by
Intelopment
Intelopment writes: "My Domain name has recently been used a lot as the REPLY field by some inconsiderate spammer and my ISP has suggested that I consider using the Open SPF service (http://openspf.org/) as a way to stop spammers from using my domain name for their REPLY field. From what I can tell it requires the receiving mail server to actually participate in the SPF service, which is where I get my doubts. Does anyone have any experience with this service? Does it work? Are many ISPs using openSFP?"
Businesses

Submission + - Lawmakers Push for Big Subsidies for Coal Process

Submitted by
gollum123
gollum123 writes: "Even as Congressional leaders draft legislation to reduce greenhouse gases linked to global warming, a powerful roster of Democrats and Republicans is pushing to subsidize coal as the king of alternative fuels ( http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/business/29coal. html?_r=1&hp&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin ). Prodded by intense lobbying from the coal industry, lawmakers from coal states are proposing that taxpayers guarantee billions of dollars in construction loans for coal-to-liquid production plants, guarantee minimum prices for the new fuel, and guarantee big government purchases for the next 25 years. Among the proposed inducements winding through House and Senate committees: loan guarantees for six to 10 major coal-to-liquid plants, each likely to cost at least $3 billion; a tax credit of 51 cents for every gallon of coal-based fuel sold through 2020; automatic subsidies if oil prices drop below $40 a barrel; and permission for the Air Force to sign 25-year contracts for almost a billion gallons a year of coal-based jet fuel. The political momentum to subsidize coal fuels is in odd juxtaposition to simultaneous efforts by Democrats to draft global-warming bills that would place new restrictions on coal-fired electric power plants. The move reflects a tension, which many lawmakers gloss over, between slowing global warming and reducing dependence on foreign oil."
Programming

Submission + - A Windows-Based Packaging Mechanism

Submitted by
FishWithAHammer
FishWithAHammer writes: "As part of my Google Summer of Code project, I'm working with WinLibre to develop a vaguely Debian-esque software download system for Free/open source software on the Windows platform. My reasoning is that open-source software suffers from poor presentation. Most computer laymen, even those aware of open source software, often don't have any idea how to go looking for it — their Google-fu is lacking — but would use it were it easier to access. What I have proposed is both a Debian-style packaging mechanism (capable of using Windows Installer MSIs or not, as the user wishes) and a software "catalog" that takes the best aspects of Synaptic and Linspire's Click-N-Run system. Seamless, simple installation and removal of programs in as straightforward a way as apt-get (there will be a command-line tool as well). I'm posting to Slashdot to get the ideas of you lot who, while you may not be the target audience, can certainly provide insights that can be of value.

There are areas that I'm personally not familiar with, and while I have done some research I would like the opinions of Slashdotters on some others. While at first I intend to set it up so that WinLibre (and I) run only one repository, I am curious as to how this sort of tool could be most useful to network administrators. Customizable repositories will be available; the code will be under the GPL, after all, so it'd be a little hard for them not to be available.

I'm also interested in the ideas of those who might be in a position to roll together packages. I intend to package a number of open-source language interpreters with the core software to allow special pre- and post-install scripts, as well as removal scripts. C#Script, Perl, and Python are definites, as is a Cygwin sh interpreter. We will have some program requirements — chief among them that no registry changes may be made by the program — but some of them, I fear, will require some flexibility; some programs really do require a way to edit the registry, for example, and I am considering offering some sort of tracked way to make registry changes so they can be rolled back on uninstallation of the program.

I'd love to hear what Slashdotters think of this. Think of it as a wishlist, but you don't get any damn ponies.

Ed Ropple (FishWithAHammer)"
Space

Submission + - New images of deep Martian caves

Submitted by untree
untree writes: The Astronomy Picture of the Day today is an image recently taken by the HiRISE instrument on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. More information is available on the Planetary Society blog, including a description of the paper (pdf) that describes this series of caves.

From the image description:

"Black spots have been discovered on Mars that are so dark that nothing inside can be seen. Quite possibly, the spots are entrances to deep underground caves capable of protecting Martian life, were it to exist."


And for fans of traditional units of measure, this cave entrance is about the size of a football field.
Censorship

Submission + - Store Burns Books to Protest Decline in Reading

Submitted by
Frosty Piss
Frosty Piss writes: "Tom Wayne amassed thousands of books in a warehouse during the 10 years he has run his used book store, Prospero's Books. But wanting to thin out his collection, he found he couldn't even give away books to libraries or thrift shops, which said they were full. So Wayne began burning his books protest what he sees as society's diminishing support for the printed word. 'This is the funeral pyre for thought in America today,' Wayne told spectators outside his bookstore as he lit the first batch of books. The fire blazed for about 50 minutes before the Fire Department put it out because Wayne didn't have a permit to burn them."

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