Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×

Submission + - IPv4 IANA free pool drops to 7 (2.7%) 1

Submitted by owendelong
owendelong writes: Today, IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority, the central registry that provides IP address blocks to the five Regional Internet Registries) issued 4 more /8s from the IPv4 free pool. Two went to ARIN and two to the RIPE-NCC (the RIRs for North America and Europe, respectively). This brings the global IPv4 free pool down to 7 /8s, 5 of which are reserved to be issued one each to the 5 RIRs when the other two are issued.

I expect that the other 2 will likely be issued to APNIC next month.

So, looks like the predictions that IPv4 free pool will go beyond 2010 may have been premature. As things currently stand, I expect IANA will be out of IPv4 somewhere around December 20th.

If you aren't already deploying IPv6 in your network, it's definitely time to start.
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Exec to Head Washington Tax Department (microsofttaxdodge.com) 1

Submitted by reifman
reifman writes: After earning an effective $100 million annual tax cut earlier this year in the legislature, nine year Microsoft veteran Suzan DelBene will now head the state's Department of Revenue. DelBene is a marketing executive with no formal tax law experience. DelBene's husband is President of Microsoft's Office division. While it's not necessarily a bad thing to have a businessperson responsible for setting tax policy, I believe this signals a complete takeover at Revenue by Microsoft-connected interests. Washington State is currently facing a $5.7 billion deficit. DelBene's most recent accomplishment is her unsuccessful bid to unseat GOP Congressman Rep. Dave Reichert.
Google

Submission + - Twelve Gmail Ideas to Revolutionize Email (Again) (techflash.com)

Submitted by newscloud
newscloud writes: Is it just me or is the user interface and our approach to working with email mostly unchanged in the past 20 years? We have Gist that scouts my inbox to keep me updated on news about my contacts, but that's not really useful unless I'm in sales. Here are twelve ideas for taking gmail to the next level and trying to change the way we live and work with email. Some of my personal favorites include smart navigation (#2), biodegradable messages (#6), plan my meetings (#4) and give me back my evenings and weekends (#9).
Microsoft

Submission + - Gates' Dad's Initiative Would Tax Microsoft's Rich (nwsource.com)

Submitted by newscloud
newscloud writes: On Wednesday, 84 year old William Gates Sr., Bill Gates' father, announced a ballot initiative in Washington State to establish an income tax on high earners which would raise $1 billion for education and public health. Ironically, if the initiative passes (initial polls show 66% approval), Microsoft's employees earning more than $200,000 annually will be picking up the tab for the company's aggressive lobbying and tax tactics. Earlier this month, led by Rep. Ross Hunter, a 17 year former Microsoft manager, and assisted by last minute threats by Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith, the Legislature gave Microsoft a $100 million annual tax cut and an estimated $1.25 billion amnesty on its 13 year Nevada tax dodge. To balance the state's $2.8 billion deficit, it cut $120 million from K-12 education and $73 million from university budgets. It also raised the general tax rate 20% on businesses and created new '7-11' taxes on the Average Joe on beer, soda and candy. Asked if his son was on board with the tax initiative, Gates Sr. said, improbably, they hadn't discussed it. 'I don't know what my son is going to do.

Submission + - Israel repeals iPad ban (haaretz.com)

Submitted by SillySilly
SillySilly writes: "The ban has been lifted: The Communications Ministry announced Saturday evening that starting Sunday it will allow Apple's iPad tablet computer into the country, following two weeks of confiscations and confusion."
Biotech

Submission + - Mapping the Fruit Fly Brain (sciencenews.org) 1

Submitted by Katatsumuri
Katatsumuri writes: A new computer-based technique is exploring uncharted territory in the fruit fly brain with cell-by-cell detail that can be built into networks for a detailed look at how neurons work together. The research may ultimately lead to a complete master plan of the entire fly brain. Mapping the estimated 100,000 neurons in a fly brain, and seeing how they interact to control behavior, will be a powerful tool for figuring out how the billions of neurons in the human brain work.

Submission + - Hasselblad cameras from 1957 get 39 Mepapixels (reghardware.co.uk)

Submitted by G3ckoG33k
G3ckoG33k writes: An article at The Register Hardware describes how Hasselblad film cameras dating back to 1957 can be brought to a new life using a digital "back-end" to get images at a super resolution of 39 Megapixels! The article writes "The CFV-39 digital back allows you to get those cameras out from the last century and use the V-System cameras with their beautiful glass once again, it simply fits in place of where the roll film used to be. Hasselblads have never been inexpensive, but talk about a return on investment. Here is a manufacturer looking after a fiercely loyal user-base and along with it offering what could be seen as the ultimate green camera system." Oh, by the way most pictures taken during the Apollo space program in the 1960s were taken with Hasselblad.

Submission + - Change in Experiment Will Delay Shuttle Launch

Submitted by necro81
necro81 writes: A $1.5 billion gamma ray experiment, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, that was to have launched aboard the space shuttle Endeavor to the International Space Station in July, has undergone a last minute design change that will change the launch date, pushing back the end of the shuttle program by at least several months. The change replaces the original liquid helium-cooled superconducting magnet with a more conventional one, which will reduce the risks involved (superconducting magnets can be problematic — just ask CERN) and will greatly extend the useful life of the spectrometer (the liquid helium coolant would have boiled away within a few years of launch). Although the conventional electromagnet is only 1/5th as strong, its increased lifespan should allow for substantially more science to be conducted, especially considering the ISS's extended mission life. As the change is still underway, the impact to the final shuttle schedule is not fully known.

Submission + - x264 Project Announces Blu-ray Encoding Support (multimedia.cx) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The x264 project has announced the first free software encoder to be able to generate Blu-ray compliant video. In addition, the announcement comes with a torrent of an x264-encoded Blu-ray disc containing entirely free content, such as the Open Movie Project videos. While there are still no free software Blu-ray authoring tools, hopefully this will change now that video and audio are taken care of so that everyone will be able to make their own Blu-rays without expensive proprietary software. Additionally, it seems the Criterion Collection is a friend of free software, having sponsored the effect to confirm x264's compliance with the Blu-ray spec.
User Journal

Journal Journal: partially-delayed write RAID 1 for hybrid storage? 2

Journal by drinkypoo

I'm using a netbook with a very slow hard disk (for a hard disk) and an even slower flash memory reader. I'd like to be able to have a RAID1 that was oriented more towards performance than data integrity, though it would provide benefits for the latter as well. The idea is to both read and write to whichever disk is not currently busy. Is anyone out there experimenting with anything like this? I wouldn't imagine I'd be able to pick it up and run it today, but it sounds cool, so I'm curious. I
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Threats to Legislature Seal Huge Tax Cut (microsofttaxdodge.com) 1

Submitted by newscloud
newscloud writes: As the Washington State Legislature wound down its special session to close a $2.8 billion fiscal deficit, Microsoft's General Counsel Brad Smith successfully used a carefully timed press conference making veiled threats about tax rates as a concern regarding future job expansion in Washington State. Led by Finance Chair Rep. Ross Hunter, a 17 year former Microsoft manager, the Legislature gave Microsoft two huge gifts: a $100 million annual tax cut and an estimated $1.25 billion in amnesty on its 13 year Nevada tax dodge. To make ends meet, the Legislature cut $120 million from K-12 education and $73 million from university budgets. It also raised the general tax rate on businesses from 1.5% to 1.8% and created new '7-11' taxes on the Average Joe on beer, soda and candy. The benefits of 4,700 at-risk unemployed people with disabilities will expire in the coming year. No word on how cash-strapped Washington plans to address Smith's concerns about its educational system and transportation infrastructure. On Wednesday, Gates' father, Bill Sr. announced a citizen initiative to replace the business tax with an income tax on high earners (>$200,000/yr). Asked if his son was on board with the tax initiative, Gates Sr. said, improbably, they hadn't discussed it. 'I don't know what my son is going to do.' Governor Gregoire said this isn't over: once the budget is signed into law, 'there will be real cuts, there will be real people losing jobs.' Yesterday, Microsoft reported record quarterly revenue. It now has $39.6 billion in cash and short term investments.
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Wins $100M/yr Tax Cut and $1.25B Amnesty (microsofttaxdodge.com)

Submitted by reifman
reifman writes: After Slashdot reported this story, a lot of commenters said the Washington Legislature wouldn't actually do it. Well, it has. Struggling to close a $2.8 billion fiscal deficit, the Washington State Legislature ended its recent special session with two huge gifts for Microsoft: effectively a $100 million annual tax cut and amnesty on its 13 year Nevada tax dodge. To make ends meet, the Legislature cut $120 million from K-12 education and $73 million from university budgets. It also raised the service tax rate on all businesses from 1.5% to 1.8% and created new '7-11' taxes on the 'Average Joe' on beer, soda and candy. Over the next twelve months, the benefits of 4700 at-risk unemployed people with disabilities will expire. Yesterday, Gates' father, Bill Sr. announced a state initiative to replace the business service tax with an income tax on high earners of $200,000 and greater. Asked if his son was on board with the tax initiative, Gates said they hadn't discussed it. "I don't know what my son is going to do." Today, Microsoft reported record quarterly sales of $14.5 billion. It now has $39.6 billion in cash and short term investments. The governor has said this isn't over, once the budget is signed into law, 'there will be real cuts, there will be real people losing jobs.'
Space

Submission + - Airforce's Mystery Spaceship X-37B to Launch Tonig (foxnews.com)

Submitted by suraj.sun
suraj.sun writes: Airforce's Mystery Spaceship X-37B to Launch Tonight:

The United States Air Force's novel robotic X-37B space plane is tucked inside the bulbous nose cone of an unmanned rocket and poised for an evening blastoff from Florida tonight on a mission shrouded in secrecy.

The spacecraft, called the Orbital Test Vehicle, is poised to launch atop an Atlas 5 rocket from a seaside pad at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. Liftoff is slated for sometime during a nine-minute window that opens at 7:52 p.m. EDT.

Live Launch: http://interactive.foxnews.com/livestream/live.html?chanId=1

Fox News: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/04/22/air-forces-mystery-robot-spaceship-launch-nasa/

Slashdot Top Deals

The rule on staying alive as a program manager is to give 'em a number or give 'em a date, but never give 'em both at once.

Close