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Books

Submission + - GUI Design Book Recommendations? 8

Submitted by jetpack
jetpack writes: I've always hated writing user interfaces, and graphical user interfaces in particular. However, I suspect that is largely because I have no clue how to write a *good* one. By this, I don't mean the technical aspects, like using the APIs and so on. I mean what are the issues in designing an interface that is clean, easy to understand and easy to use? What are things to be considered? What are things to be avoided? What are good over-all philosophies of UI design?

To this end, I'd like to pick up a book or two (or three) and get my learn on. I'd appreciate some book suggestions from the UI experts in the Slashdot crowd.
The Internet

China's New Internet Plan 259

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the i-don't-want-to-wash-the-people's-internet dept.
eldavojohn writes "The internet in China is diverging rapidly from the state that the rest of the world enjoys it. Recent news of China's leader, Hu Jintao, has revealed a strategy to distort it even further. Jintao is tackling the issue his Communist party is having with the youth of China that are too young to remember Chairman Mao and the fanaticism the populace had for him. A strategy he is proposing is 'cleaning up' China's internet & lacing it with a little propaganda like the need to 'Consolidate the guiding status of Marxism in the ideological sphere' online. The meeting notes also declared that 'Development and administration of Internet culture must stick to the direction of socialist advanced culture, adhere to correct propaganda guidance.'"

Feed Recoll: A search engine for the Linux desktop (slashdot.org)

From feed by lcfeed
Desktop search engines are all the rage these days. While Beagle may be the most popular desktop search engine for Linux, there are alternatives. If you are looking for a lightweight and easy-to-use yet powerful desktop search engine, you might want...
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft plot 'gaming device network'

Submitted by
jasoncart
jasoncart writes: "The latest revelation in from the US Patent & Trademark Office reveals that Microsoft are already busy plotting the expansion of their Xbox empire, having filed a number of patents related to their plans for the future.

The patent hints at a new console "system" that will lie at the heart of a gaming-media network, bringing together distributed computing between consoles and handheld devices (such as the Zune), which can share games, media and other functionality across a huge networks of gadgets."
Biotech

Submission + - When the Earth was purple

Submitted by Ollabelle
Ollabelle writes: It's always been a bit of a mystery why plants absorb red and blue light while reflecting green when the sun emits the most visible light in the green part of the spectrum. Now a theory has come up with one possible answer: that the first chlorophyll-utilizing microbes evolved to exploit the red-and-blue reflected light of older green-absorbing microbes, eventually out-competing them through greater efficiency and the rise of oxygen. http://www.livescience.com/environment/070410_purp le_earth.html [note to editor: I'm baffled how to tag this story to science, and nothing else. All the "topics" seem to be anything except 'off topic'. Thanks for any insight you can give.]
Security

Submission + - Is Anti-Virus software dead?

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: After stumbling over several unanimous recommendations against using viral scans for your email (which somewhat shattered my security world view), I started to notice a bigger and bigger movement which argues against the use of anti-virus software altogether, as it is ineffective against the main threats of malware, counter-productive (as it eats up system resources), and seems to be more of a "good-luck charm" than anything else.

I have to admit that, even though I deal with loads of suspicious software, I can't even remember when I got the last real virus warning.

So — is it time to dump your anti-virus software, go "commando", and free yourself from the shackles of these system drags?

Feed Scientists Create Nano Nose Aimed At Sniffing Out Diseased Cells (sciencedaily.com)

From feed by sdfeed
Scientists have created a kind of molecular nose that uses nanoparticle-based sensors to sniff out and identify proteins. The sensors, which can be trained to detect a wide variety of proteins, could eventually serve as a medical diagnostic tool by sniffing out the proteins made by sickly cells.

Feed Recoll: A search engine for the Linux desktop (newsforge.com)

From feed by nffeed
Desktop search engines are all the rage these days. While Beagle may be the most popular desktop search engine for Linux, there are alternatives. If you are looking for a lightweight and easy-to-use yet powerful desktop search engine, you might want to try Recoll Recoll. Unlike Beagle, Recoll doesn't require Mono, it's fast, and it's highly configurable. Recoll is based on Xapian, a mature open source search engine library that supports advanced features such as phrase and proximity search, relevance feedback, document categorization, boolean queries, and wildcard search.
PC Games (Games)

Submission + - Do PC Games Have A Brighter Future?

Submitted by Hoi Polloi
Hoi Polloi writes: The New York Times has this article that seems to contradict all of the gloom and doom over the future of PC gaming.

This quote is especially interesting:

...in the first two months of 2007, domestic retail sales of PC games reached $203 million, a 48 percent increase over the $136.8 million in the period a year earlier.

Feed Sony's Phil Harrison talks PS3 homebrew possibilities (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Gaming

Given some of the bold statements that Sony's Phil Harrison has made, hinting at possible PlayStation 3 homebrew plans doesn't seem all that remarkable, but it's still nice to hear it coming from the source. While he unfortunately didn't get very specific, he certainly seemed to be open to the idea in a recent interview with Slashdot, saying that he fully supports "the notion of game development at home using powerful tools available to anyone," adding that he believes it's "a vital, crucial aspect of the future growth of our industry." He then went on to earn himself a bit of cred by talking about his Commodore 64 coding past, also citing Sony's Net Yaroze homebrew development kit for the PS1 as evidence of the company's openness to the idea. Let's just hope that any homebrew effort on the PS3 doesn't demand the same premium price that the Net Yaroze did.

[Via Gamesindustry.biz]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

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

Feed USB BB gun sports barrel-mounted webcam, ensures home security (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Household

While there's certainly a variety of options to keep watch and protect your property from curious intruders, the latest branch of vCrib gives a new meaning to being on guard. Crafted by the designer of the Virtual Crib home automation software, the USB BB gun sports automatic firing, manual reloading, and the ability to fire based on commands given remotely on a PC. Moreover, the weapon actually packs a webcam on the barrel, allowing users to login via computer, tilt / swivel the gun with simple mouse flicks, and fire away if you spot any intruders within its broad line of sight. It shouldn't need mentioning that we'd make absolutely sure our landlord was cool with mounting a remotely-controlled weapon in the window, but if you need to take home security into your own hands (without actually being at home), be sure to click on through to see this controversial creation spittin' hot fury.

Continue reading USB BB gun sports barrel-mounted webcam, ensures home security

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Star Wars Prequels

Star Wars, the Lost Interviews 133

Posted by CmdrTaco from the i-should-get-screenwriter-credits-this-time dept.
smooth wombat writes "Coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the Release of Star Wars, Ballantine Books is publishing J.W. Rinzler's "The Making of Star Wars", which bills itself as "The Definitive Story Behind the Original Film." The book is the result of Rinzler's discovery of interviews that Charles Lippincott, Lucasfilm's VP marketing and merchandising in the mid-'70s, conducted with the film's principals between 1975 and 1978."
Amiga

Submission + - New Amiga hardware to be released.

Submitted by baryon351
baryon351 writes: Finaly a wait is over. Amiga Inc. have announced new PowerPC hardware for running AmigaOS to be unveiled next week. First off a base level $500 design, and second a power user $1500 design. The systems have been under development for the last 12 months between Amiga Inc. and ACK Software Controls; availability and final price of the systems will be announced soon.

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