wanderingknight - Slashdot User

Submission + - Western Digital Sells DRM'ed External Hard Drive (wired.com)

Submitted by wanderingknight on Tuesday December 11, 2007 @12:25PM

wanderingknight writes: Western Digital's 1TB MyBook external hard drives won't share media files over network connections (UPDATE: Don't install the "required" client software! See workaround below). From the product page: "Due to unverifiable media license authentication, the most common audio and video file types cannot be shared with different users using WD Anywhere Access." It doesn't matter what the files are: If you try to share these formats over a network, Western Digital assumes not just that you're a criminal, but that it is its job to police users. Workarounds: The manual's appendix and online support site provide setup instructions for SAMBA, allowing access over IP instead of with the DRM-infested and poorly-reviewed client app, elsewhere claimed to be "required. Samba not enough? Gut the firmware and install made-to-measure Linux: An entire community of folks is here to help you hack your MyBook: mybookworld.wikidot.com.

Submission + - Torvalds on where Linux is headed in 2008

Submitted by Stony Stevenson on Sunday November 25, 2007 @08:59PM

Stony Stevenson writes: In this new interview, Linus Torvalds is excited about solid-state drives, expects progress in graphics and wireless networking, and says the operating system is strong in virtualisation despite his personal lack of interest in the area.

From the article: "To get some perspective on what lies ahead in 2008, we caught up with Linus Torvalds via email. His responses touched on the Linux development process, upcoming features, and whether he's concerned about potential patent litigation."

Torvalds on Linux biggest strength: "When you buy an OS from Microsoft, not only you can't fix it, but it has had years of being skewed by one single entity's sense of the market. It doesn't matter how competent Microsoft — or any individual company — is, it's going to reflect that fact. In contrast, look at where Linux is used. Everything from cellphones and other small embedded computers that people wouldn't even think of as computers, to the bulk of the biggest machines on the supercomputer Top-500 list. That is flexibility. And it stems directly from the fact that anybody who is interested can participate in the development, and no single entity ends up being in control of where it all goes.

Submission + - COD 4 price doubles on Steam for Australian gamers (on.net)

Submitted by ginji on Sunday November 25, 2007 @08:12PM

ginji writes: Activision has made Valve increase the price of Call of Duty 4 on Steam for Australian customers from USD49.95 (The same price US customers get it for) to USD88.50 saying that the original price was a mistake and it was supposed to be this the entire time.

For exactly the same content, delivered by exactly the same servers, at exactly the same cost to Activision, this price rise seems to be purely to make more money off the game through increased sales in brick and mortar stores, and those that are now stupid enough to buy it on Steam. The new price when converted into AUD, is above the recommended retail price of the physical media, and you don't get the manual or an actual DVD.

Submission + - Comcast targets unlicensed anime torrents (animesuki.com) 3

Submitted by

SailorSpork

on Saturday November 17, 2007 @01:19PM

SailorSpork writes: "According to the linked thread on the forums of AnimeSuki, a popular anime bittorent index site, Comcast has begun sending DCMA letters to customers downloading unlicensed (meaning that no english language company has the rights to) fan-subtitled anime shows via bittorrent. The letters are claiming that the copyright holder or an authorized agent are making the infringement claims, though usually these requests are also sent to the site itself rather that individual downloaders.

My question is have they really been in contact with Japanese anime companies, or is this another scare tactic by Comcast to try and reduce the bandwidth use of their heavier customers now that their previous tactics have come under legal fire?"

Submission + - GIMP 2.4 Released 3

Submitted by Enselic on Wednesday October 24, 2007 @01:40PM

Enselic writes: After almost three years since the release of GIMP 2.2, the GIMP developers have just announced the release of GIMP 2.4.

The release notes speaks of scalable bitmap brushes, redesigned rectangle/ellipse selection tools, redesigned crop tool, a new foreground selection tool, a new align tool, reorganized menu layouts, improved zoomed in/zoomed out image display quality, improved priting and color management support and a new perspective clone tool.

Submission + - 2.6.24-rc1 Adds Up to Be Biggest Ever (kerneltrap.org)

Submitted by

eldavojohn

on Wednesday October 24, 2007 @01:14PM

eldavojohn writes: "The latest release candidate of the Linux kernel is massive. One reader pointed out it is 1,565,010 lines of code & Linus Torvalds noted, "In short, we just had an unusually large amount of not just x86 merges, but also tons of new drivers (wireless networking stands out, but is by no means the only thing — we've got dvb, regular wired network, mmc etc all joining in), and a fair amount or architecture stuff, filesystems, networking etc too." Well, hopefully all these improvements — especially the wireless improvements — bring the Linux kernel one step closer to the general public."

Submission + - Italian government draft law for Web-censorship (beppegrillo.it) 1

Submitted by feanor981 on Sunday October 21, 2007 @04:10PM

feanor981 writes: Italian government, led by a leftist coalition, proposed a draft law (complete text here, in italian) that would virtually enable complete censorship of every web site and blog, also non-commercial one, by means of heavy bureaucratic requirements on every content published to the Web.

The law proposal suspiciously comes after harsh criticism received by italian political establishment in a mass-protest laid out in Italy in September, 8 called "V-Day", entirely organized through the web by cyber-activists.

Mass media, mainly controlled or influenced by italian political leaders (RAI, the state television controlled by the government, has about 50% share, while about the other half is held by Mediaset, property of past-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, leaving just breadcrumbs to third-party tvs), are silently ignoring the law draft without reporting anything about it.

Read the whole story here (in english).

Submission + - Microsoft involved in patent case against RedHat ?

Submitted by Hymer on Sunday October 21, 2007 @04:06PM

Hymer writes: Groklaw has some interesting info about the patent case against RedHat and Novell. It seems that Microsoft may be involved... big surprise.

Submission + - Apple iPhone May Cause Sterility (redherring.com)

Submitted by

scott mitchell

on Tuesday October 16, 2007 @01:00AM

scott mitchell writes: "Apple's hot-selling iPhone may be reducing the Mac faithful's gene pool. That's because those ubiquitous ear buds contain toxics that could hinder human reproduction, according to a report."

Submission + - Apple iPhone contains hazardous chemicals

Submitted by Stony Stevenson on Tuesday October 16, 2007 @12:33AM

Stony Stevenson writes: The environmental advocacy group Greenpeace says Apple's new iPhone contains a number of hazardous chemicals that could become significant pollutants.

"Apple is not making early progress toward its 2008 commitment to phase out all uses of these materials, even in entirely new product lines," Greenpeace said in a report published Monday. The group said the iPhone, which Apple introduced earlier this year amid considerable hype, contains chlorinated plastic polyvinyl chloride and "brominated flame retardants" that can be harmful to the environment.

Submission + - Bill Gates Denied Visa to Nigeria (gizmodo.com) 1

Submitted by

Xight

on Saturday October 13, 2007 @02:43PM

Xight writes: "Gizmodo recently wrote an article about Nigeria recently denying Bill Gates a visa to travel there on his recent trip to Africa proving that money can't get you everything. Whats even more amusing is that he was at "initially denied the Microsoft kingpin's application on the premise that they required proof he would not reside in Nigeria indefinitely, causing a strain on social services and a general nuisance for immigration.". I guess those Nigerian 419 scams really do pay off for them."

Submission + - Schools Placing at 99th Percentile for Cheating 3

Submitted by

theodp

on Saturday October 13, 2007 @01:29PM

theodp writes: "Time reports that sometimes No-Child-Left-Behind really means No-Test-Scores-Left-Behind, creating opportunities for data forensics firms like Caveon (check out their Ten Most Wanted Cheaters poster). Take Houston's Forest Brook H.S., which was a shining example of school reform. In 2005, after years of rock-bottom test scores, 95% of its 11th graders passed the state science test. Teachers were praised and the school was awarded a $165,000 grant by the governor. But an investigation found a host of irregularities and last year's testing was monitored by an outside agency. Test scores plunged and only 39% passed science."

Submission + - In Microsoft Patent Application, Lion Tames You! 1

Submitted by

theodp

on Saturday October 13, 2007 @02:01AM

theodp writes: "Remember how the press gushed over Bill Gates' plans for a spam-less future? Well, some of the details are on display in Microsoft's recently published patent application for Order-Based Human Interactive Proofs (HIPS), and the annoying little puzzles that are the CAPTCHAs of the future may leave you less than wowed. For example, take Microsoft's exemplary maze (please!), which you may be asked to navigate while avoiding things that are dangerous — such as a lion and a canon — to prove you're Human and worthy of e-mail access (path D-A-F-O-B-H-K should be your final answer!)."

Submission + - iTunes ... out (apple.com)

Submitted by

MS'F'K

on Tuesday October 02, 2007 @03:51PM

MS'F'K writes: "Consumers, recording artists, and labels who are disgusted with Apple's contract terms can stop fretting. With the latest update to iTunes, almost no one can connect to the iTunes store any more. There seems to be a fix for Mac users, though forums show that it isn't always successful. The "fix" for PCs is much less ambiguous: it doesn't work at all. In an almost Mac-free household, we feel it. My wife lives by iTunes, or used to. She would update it faithfully when so directed. I, on the other hand, had so many bad experiences with iTunes updates that immediately upon getting one that worked, I refused any more. I think mine is version -3.2 (put out before it was written). Apple will send you a two page e-mail of instructions for the PC fix, and they're very nice about it. It will keep PC owners occupied, I'm sure, until the next release of iTunes. There's nowhere to go but up, so look forward to the next round. Meantime, I'll use my coal-fired version, and be smiling..."

Submission + - Microsoft launches Browser-based Word and Excel? (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by JCWDenton on Monday October 01, 2007 @07:02AM

JCWDenton writes: In a bid to spin its web-based version of Office into contention with rival internet behemoth Google, Microsoft has said it will begin accepting applications for beta testing its web apps later this year.

There is one significant difference, however: unlike Google apps, Microsoft said users of its new service can only create or edit online documents if they have Office software already installed on their machines.

Microsoft said features of its Office Live Workspace would include allowing users to upload more than 1,000 documents to free personal websites.

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