pitonyak - Slashdot User

Submission + - Ubuntu Media Center to use Elisa instead of MythTV

Submitted by clevelandguru on Wednesday May 16, 2007 @02:42PM

clevelandguru writes: Canonical is working on a Media Center Editon of Ubuntu. Recently, the Ubuntu Media Center Team made a decision to use Elisa instead of MythTV. Elisa is still in development and lacks lot of features that are in MythTV, but It has a very impressive user interface. Here are some screenshots of Elisa. Elisa uses GStreamer Multimedia Framework which is legally appealing compared to FFmpeg that MythTV uses.

Submission + - Judge in internet case: "What's a 'web site'?&

Submitted by

mcgrew

on Wednesday May 16, 2007 @02:19PM

mcgrew writes: "A British judge in the trial of three men in a terrorism case where the internet was central to the case admitted he didn't know what a "web site" was. The Reuters article says that "Violent Islamist material posted on the Internet, including beheadings of Western hostages, is central to the case."

"The trouble is I don't understand the language. I don't really understand what a Web site is," the judge said.

From TFA: "Concluding Wednesday's session and looking ahead to testimony on Thursday by a computer expert, the judge told Ellison: 'Will you ask him to keep it simple, we've got to start from basics'.""

Submission + - Torvalds Responds To Recent Linux Patent Claims.

Submitted by

Happy To Be Free

on Tuesday May 15, 2007 @04:13PM

Happy To Be Free writes: "Information Week response from Lead Kernel Developer Linus Torvalds on recent Microsoft allegations that Linux infringes on Microsoft patents. Torvalds states "It's certainly a lot more likely that Microsoft violates patents than Linux does. If the source code for Windows could be subjected to the same critical review that Linux has been, Microsoft would find itself in violation of patents held by other companies," he said. It is important to note that fundemental OS theory was done by IBM over fifty years ago, and that IBM probably owned thousands of really fundemental patents. So according to him, and many of us users, Microsoft should name the patents it claims have been violated so the claims can be tested in court or so open-source developers can rewrite code to avoid the violation all together. It is widely accepted that Microsoft would rather have Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt floating through the ether than name which patents, if any, are being infriged upon. In a parting shot Torvalds posed the question, "Don't you think that if Microsoft actually had some really foolproof patent, they'd just tell us and go, 'nyaah, nyaah, nyaah!'""

Submission + - Optimize AIX 5L: Monitoring your CPU, Part 3

Submitted by

BlueVoodoo

on Tuesday May 15, 2007 @04:01PM

BlueVoodoo writes: "Understand performance tuning: controlling thread usage and CPU binding. This article addresses key tools and utilities you can use to analyze threads and administrate your processes."

Submission + - OIN Stands Ready to Sue Microsoft over Patent FUD

Submitted by

Litigious Bastards Redux

on Tuesday May 15, 2007 @03:42PM

Litigious Bastards Redux writes: "OIN, a patent trust created by IBM, Novell and others to protect Linux, has just issued a press release saying that they stand ready to sue Microsoft to protect Linux. Although Microsoft has stirred up a lot of controversy about how Linux infringes upon their patents, they still haven't listed the actual patents they believe Linux has infringed upon. So far, analysts think that Microsoft fears the legal trouble the GPLv3 could cause for them, are only making noise so that they can make private deals with companies to slow Linux adoption, or that they are being pushed to litigate instead of competing or innovating because migrating to Vista is a pain in the ass and Office's lock-in is being broken by ODF. Only one thing is clear so far: actually litigating these patents would turn Microsoft into another SCO."

Submission + - Torvalds Responds To Microsoft Patent Claims

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 15, 2007 @02:59PM

An anonymous reader writes: Linux Torvalds has a sharp retort to Microsoft executives' statements in a Fortune article that Linux violates 235 Microsoft patents. In an emailed response to InformationWeek's Charlie Babcock, Torvalds writes: "It's certainly a lot more likely that Microsoft violates patents than Linux does." He added: "Basic operating system theory was pretty much done by the end of the 1960s. IBM probably owned thousand of really 'fundamental' patents...The fundamental stuff was done about half a century ago and has long, long since lost any patent protection."

Submission + - Jerry Falwell

Submitted by zophyx on Tuesday May 15, 2007 @02:55PM

zophyx writes: The Reverend Jerry Falwell died suddenly today.
The Rev. Jerry Falwell found unconscious in office at Liberty University
Falwell, 73, was rushed to a Lynchburg, Virginia, hospital
He is a nationally known voice for conservative Christian views

Submission + - Buy my software or I'll sue you!

Submitted by

jandrese

on Tuesday May 15, 2007 @02:51PM

jandrese writes: "LONDON (Thomson Financial) — Microsoft Corp and Apple Inc could face a possible lawsuit for failing to include measures to control access to copyrighted material in products such as Vista OS, iTunes and the iPod, two companies have warned.

Media Rights Technologies and BlueBeat.com have issued cease and desist letters to both companies and to Adobe Systems Inc and Real Networks — which produce the Adobe Flash Player and Real Player respectively — for actively avoiding their X1 SeCure Recording Control, which they said is an effective copyright protection system.

I guess DRM companies have gotten so used to suing their customers that suing potential customers seems like a good idea."

Submission + - Samsung puts finishing touches on DDR3 memory

Submitted by

HostAdmin

on Monday May 14, 2007 @04:19PM

HostAdmin writes: "Buckle your seatbelts, boys and girls! DDR3 is almost here (well, 2009 is "almost here", isn't it?)

DDR3 is the long-awaited successor to DDR2 memory, now the most common memory type used in PCs. The newer chips will offer data transfer speeds up to 1.6Gbps, twice the memory bandwidth of DDR2. That means better performance for both 3-D graphics and multithreaded applications that tap the power of multi-core processors. The chips will also consume less power — around 1.5 volts compared to 1.8 volts for DDR2 — which means longer notebook battery life, Samsung said.
"

Submission + - Hackers hacking over hacked hackers-haven

Submitted by MrShaggy on Monday May 14, 2007 @03:32PM

MrShaggy writes: The folks over at the PirateBay, are admitting that they have been hacked. User-names and passwords. Although they are encrypted they are urging members to update their passwords, not only on that site, but on any other website that you might have used the same pass on.

Here is the link in the Inquirer;http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?a rticle=39591 http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=39 591

Submission + - dpreview acquired by Amazon

Submitted by pete-wilko on Monday May 14, 2007 @02:54PM

pete-wilko writes: dpreview, long time website dedicated to honest reviews of digital cameras and accessories, as well as providing numerous forums for discussion, has been bought out by Amazon.com. Press release can be found here: http://www.dpreview.com/news/0705/07051402amazonac quiresdpreview.asp

Submission + - Verizon DSL Throttling Access to Skype?

Submitted by Gabriel Landau on Monday May 14, 2007 @01:44PM

Gabriel Landau writes: I've been trying to download Skype all weekend to talk to my friend in Prague from my home Verizon DSL connection. Every time I went to http://www.skype.com/download, the page took nearly forever to load, and the connection timed out before it loaded completely. Assuming their server was under heavy load all weekend, I came into work this morning and checked the site again; it loaded very quickly through my office T1 (non-Verizon). I just checked my home computer again, and the page still times out. Is Verizon intentionally throttling all traffic to Skype servers to force customers to use their own for-pay services? Is this behavior illegal and anti-competitive?

Submission + - Study: Bike helmets expose riders to further risk.

Submitted by doug141 on Monday May 14, 2007 @11:55AM

doug141 writes: A British scientist has shown that wearing a bicycle helmet actually exposes cyclists to further risk. Drivers passed an average of 8.5 cm (3 1/3 inches) closer with the helmet than without. The researcher was struck by both a bus and a truck in the course of the experiment. Will bicycle helmet laws suffer a backlash? How much should legislators weigh science?

Submission + - How far should screening go?

Submitted by SlashSquatch on Monday May 14, 2007 @11:43AM

SlashSquatch writes: My sister is getting screened for a programming position with a financial firm. I was alarmed to hear she'll be getting fingerprinted at the sheriff's office as part of the screening process. Instantly I conjure up scenes of frame-ups and corporate scandals. I want to know, should this raise a flag? Would you submit to fingerprinting, blood tests and who knows what else (genetic code screening etc), for a programming position?

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