background image - Slashdot User

Submission + - Poll Idea - Fear

Submitted by while1noop on Wednesday February 28, 2007 @11:52PM

while1noop writes: Here's an idea for a poll:

Which strikes the most fear?
a) Microsoft
b) RIAA
c) Apple
d) MPAA
e) IRS
f) SCO

Submission + - Pornography being "scrubbed" using DNS

Submitted by

ScrubIT

on Wednesday February 28, 2007 @11:52PM

ScrubIT writes: "Hi Guys, Just wanted to drop you a quick note and let you know of a new service we are providing for free that we are pretty excited to launch. ScrubIT.com has made publicly available a FREE recursive DNS service that blocks pornography and malicious websites. It is an excellent service for families and employers who don't want to worry about what they will be confronted with on the internet. Additionally, in private BETA is the ability to customize your personal DNS and selectively block and allow sites that you choose. Now, I realize the porn industry is going to be none to happy about this one, but it's about time someone stood up and did something. Let us know what you think."

Submission + - New York bans use of the word "Nigger"

Submitted by

LordLucless

on Wednesday February 28, 2007 @11:48PM

LordLucless writes: "The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that New York City is banning the use of the word "nigger". There is no penalty for using the word, but the city hopes that the moratorium will discourage its use nonetheless. Is this a futile PC gesture, or does it present the specter of more draconian measures in the future?"

Submission + - Bill Gates' Talks About 640k in 1989

Submitted by

ilovebillyg

on Wednesday February 28, 2007 @11:45PM

ilovebillyg writes: "Apparently Bill Gates gave a talk back in 1989 to the University of Waterloo, and it has only recently been digitized. Among other things, Bill talks about how in 1981, he thought that 640k would be ok for at least 10 years. Is this the source of the oft quoted Gates quote on 640k? He also covers lots of other topics, including OS/2, software piracy, the history of the software industry, and his role at Microsoft."

Submission + - The Microsoft OOXML Contradictions Revealed

Submitted by

Andy Updegrove

on Wednesday February 28, 2007 @11:38PM

Andy Updegrove writes: "Someone was kind enough to send me the package of materials distributed by ISO/IEC JTC 1 earlier today to its members.The package contains each of the responses filed during the ISO Fast Track Contradictions period for Ecma 376, the specification based upon Microsoft's OOXML formats, as well as the responses prepared by Ecma to those responses. Earlier, Microsoft had downplayed reports by myself and others that the great majority of the responses were negative, suggesting that most or many were either neutral, or in fact "laudatory." In fact, the actual responses demonstrate that 14 of 20 responses — more than 2/3s — were clearly negative, two indicated divisions of opinion among the members of the national bodies submitting them, three were inconclusive or neutral, and one offered no objections.What happens next? The transmittal note from JTC1 indicates that after internal consultation, next steps will be communicated to the National Bodies "in the very near future." But given the degree of opposition and concern expressed by a significant percentage of those national bodies entitled to vote up or down on adoption, it's fair to say that Microsoft has its work cut out for it, if it wants to see OOXML achieve the same degree of international standards status as ODF. http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/articl e.php?story=2007022819130536"

Submission + - March is Boycott the RIAA month

Submitted by

FreeKill

on Wednesday February 28, 2007 @10:45PM

FreeKill writes: "
Recent aggressive moves by the RIAA have prompted the folks at Gizmodo to declare the month of March as Boycott the RIAA Month complete with an Anti-RIAA manifesto."
From the Article:

"Gizmodo is declaring the month of March Boycott the RIAA month. We want to get the word out to as many people as humanly possible that we can all send a message by refusing to buy any album put out by an RIAA label. Without their millions of dollars to throw at lawyers, the RIAA is toothless. They get their money from us, the consumers, and if we don't like the way they're behaving, we can let them know with our wallets.
"

Submission + - How the Web Almost Never Was

Submitted by

on Wednesday February 28, 2007 @10:12PM

An anonymous reader writes: I remember in the early 1990's when the web was being developed; Yahoo! was only 1 page, and there was believed to be only 100 web pages (not sites) in the whole world. The web had no ad banners, no PPC, and no commercial use. Domain name registration was free. Everyone believed the Internet was primarily used by college students. Some groups, like the RIAA, claimed the web & FTP sites were primarily used to transfer illegal music and therefor the world wide web should be shut down. This true story parallels the RIAA's current campaign against P2P sites, and explains why P2P technology (such as DNS) is necessary for the future of the web.

Submission + - Stevens' (R-Tubes) Website Says Visitors==Aliens?

Submitted by

Series of Tubes

on Wednesday February 28, 2007 @09:56PM

Series of Tubes writes: "Apparently Sen. Stevens (R-Alaska) has been trying to get a bit more computer savvy after his infamous "series of tubes" speech, but he's found a really strange way to do it. According to the Washington Post's blog, if you enter the wrong password when trying to visit Stevens' official reelection website, you get told that "Through a series of highly sophisticated and complex algorithms, this system has determined that you are not presently authorized to use this system function. It could be that you simply mistyped a password, or, it could be that you are some sort of interplanetary alien-being that has no hands and, thus, cannot type." And the 401 Unauthorized error message only gets weirder..."

Submission + - ODF Legislation: And California Makes Four

Submitted by

Andy Updegrove

on Wednesday February 28, 2007 @09:35PM

Andy Updegrove writes: "A legislator in California has decided that it's time for California to become the latest U.S. State to get on the open formats bandwagon. If all of the bills filed in the last few weeks pass, California, Texas and Minnesota will all require, in near-identical language, that "all documents, including, but not limited to, text, spreadsheets, and presentations, produced by any state agency shall be created, exchanged, and preserved in an open extensible markup language-based, XML-based file format." What type of formats will qualify? Again, the language is very uniform (the following is from the California statute): "When deciding how to implement this section, the department in its evaluation of open, XML-based file formats shall consider all of the following features: (1) Interoperable among diverse internal and external platforms and applications; (2) Fully published and available royalty-free; (3) Implemented by multiple vendors; (4) Controlled by an open industry organization with a well-defined inclusive process for evolution of the standard. " Meanwhile, while ODF is enjoying a romp to multiple statehouses, Ecma is about to release its reactions to the 20 responses filed commenting on its Microsoft OOXML-based Ecma standard.
http://www.consortiuminfo.org/standardsblog/articl e.php?story=20070228080638136"

Slashdot Top Deals