Catch up on stories from the past week (and beyond) at the Slashdot story archive

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Announcements

Submission + - JoyBubbles, '60s & '70s phone phreak, dead at (nytimes.com)

Submitted by
ZenWarrior
ZenWarrior writes: ""Joybubbles (the legal name of the former Joe Engressia since 1991), a blind genius with perfect pitch who accidentally found he could make free phone calls by whistling tones and went on to play a pivotal role in the 1970s subculture of "phone phreaks," died on Aug. 8 in Minneapolis."

"In an article in Esquire in 1971, the writer Ron Rosenbaum called Joybubbles the catalyst uniting disparate phreaks. Particularly after news accounts of his suspension from college in 1968 and conviction in 1971 for phone violations, he became a nerve center of the movement.""
Software

Submission + - Universities move to GMail, GoogleApps (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by
Anonymous Coward
Anonymous Coward writes: "According to ArsTechnica, five U.S schools have begun using GoogleApps on campus. The switch is partly due to the request from students for better mail systems, namely, GMail. The author speaks with IT Professionals at a few of the Universities, as well as a student, to get the inside scoop on why schools are making the move to GoogleApps."
Microsoft

Submission + - Skype Blames Microsoft Windows Update for Network (gizmodo.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: After recovering from a major crash this weekend Skype is now pointing fingers, saying that "the disruption was triggered by a massive restart of our users' computers across the globe within a very short timeframe as they re-booted after receiving a routine set of patches through Windows Update." Their official statement sounds like the BBC announcing the Nazi invasion of Poland.
Announcements

Submission + - Venezuelans Gain 30 Minutes

Submitted by chirone
chirone writes: President Hugo Chavez has announced that Venezuela's official time will be put ahead by half an hour starting January 1. "Its about the metabolic effect, where the human brain is conditioned by sunlight," Chavez said in a rambling, seven hour discussion on his radio show "Alo, Presidente" with Science and Technology Minister Hector Navarro.
Businesses

Submission + - Fantasy Football? Not any more! (independent.co.uk)

Submitted by
AskChopper
AskChopper writes: "A nice article on a website started up with the intention of everyone pooling their cash to buy a football club. http://sport.independent.co.uk/football/news/artic le2878781.ece

Please note the Independent article refers to myfootballclub.com and it should be http://www.myfootballclub.co.uk/ Football.com is just a dead site with ads on it (and I haven't linked its URL for that very reason).

Anyone fancy a slice of Leeds United (currently the top club of choice for the subscribers) for £35?"
Space

Submission + - Aerogel Hailed As New Wonder Material (timesonline.co.uk) 1

Submitted by
Twinbee
Twinbee writes: "The amazing properties of the space-age material aerogel have been known for some time, but only now is it beginning to be manufactured for widespread use. Highlights of the news article include resistance from a blowtorch at more than 1,300C, and how "6mm of aerogel was left almost unscathed by a direct dynamite blast". Perhaps the most obvious use for the 'super-sponge' like material is for insulation, whether we're talking about mountain boots, house insulation, or any winter wear.

Quote: "However, it has failed to convince the fashion world. Hugo Boss created a line of winter jackets out of the material but had to withdraw them after complaints that they were too hot.""

Feed Engadget: No early release for Windows Home Server (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Desktops

Unfortunately for those hoping for an August 27th release for Windows Home Server, it won't be happening: this "general availability date" was actually referring to tech support for system builders. Hopefully peeps won't have to wait too long for the box, as it's still on track for its original September / October launch schedule. Until then, why not check out the announcement post, along with our gallery of the software in action.

[Thanks, Arneh and Daniel S.]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Data Storage

Submission + - Padlock USB Flash Drive, Built-In Security Keypad

Submitted by
MojoKid
MojoKid writes: "With data and identity theft so prevalent today, an ever increasing number of users are concerned about securing their personal data. Memory manufacturer, Corsair just launched a new product that may hold the key to easy and convenient data security, literally and figuratively. The Corsair Flash Padlock functions much like any other USB thumbdrive, but it features a built-in keypad for entering a PIN code that locks or unlocks the data stored on the device. Without the PIN, the data cannot be accessed. This article highlights the main features of the Corsair Flash Padlock and profiles its performance. The product certainly works as advertised, but transfer speeds aren't stellar."
NASA

NASA Finds Star With a Tail 233

Posted by samzenpus from the streaking-across-the-universe dept.
Andrew Stellman writes "NASA astronomers held a press conference announcing that a new ultraviolet mosaic from NASA's Galaxy Evolution Explorer shows a speeding star named Mira that's leaving an enormous trail of "seeds" for new solar systems. Mira is traveling faster than a speeding bullet, and has a tail that's 13 light-years long and over 30,000 years old. The website has images and a replay of the teleconference."
United States

Submission + - 9/11/07: General Strike (strike911.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: 'A general strike has been proposed for 9/11/07 in the USA. No work, school or shopping. The General Strike is a national call to action, from citizens to other citizens. It is not about a single issue. It is not an anti-war protest, a civil rights protest, an election fraud protest. It is not about torture, surveillance, corporate media, the 9/11 coverup, or the environment. This strike is about all these issues and more.' At the time of submitting, there are 4786+3374 diggs and 3783 members in the facebook group.
Links

Submission + - Ethics of website adverts

Submitted by
frisket
frisket writes: "I run a number of pro bono tech information sites. I've been approached by a (perfectly genuine) internet marketeer wanting to pay for a link. My suspicion is that they are just looking to boost their page rank, rather than actually get leads or business. I already fund the sites from Google Adsense, but there's no conflict. So I though I'd ask /.ers: do I bow to the almighty $ or keep my site aloof?"
The Internet

Submission + - Don't Kill The Trolls, But Feed Them (seorefugee.com) 2

Submitted by
Henk van Ess
Henk van Ess writes: "Voelspriet.nl has initiated an idea to rid communities (be it forums, blogs, whatever) of trolls. Not get rid of them by banning them or nuking their posts, no, by accepting their trolly messages and keeping them at ease. The smart thing is that this anti-troll plug-in only shows the trolly stuff to the troll itself. That way, the other community members need not suffer. The idea was presented today on Dutch radio in Radio Online. A free beta plug-in for Wordpress will be available soon."

Slashdot Top Deals

Intel CPUs are not defective, they just act that way. -- Henry Spencer

Close