Satai - Slashdot User

Submission + - DirectX 10 is Dying (extremetech.com)

Submitted by ChristmasOnMars on Wednesday October 31, 2007 @11:13AM

ChristmasOnMars writes: ExtremeTech's Joel Durahm points out that DirectX 10 is a dog, noting that Microsoft made a lot of promises that aren't coming true. "I haven't noticed much of a performance improvement, or the promised visual splendor, that Microsoft seems to think DirectX 10 provides. So far, in most games, engaging DirectX 10 mode cripples them on all but the most powerful computers."

Submission + - GNOME supporting Microsoft OOXML as ISO standard? (archive.org)

Submitted by

christian.einfeldt

on Sunday October 28, 2007 @01:29AM

christian.einfeldt writes: "According to long-time OpenDocument Fellowship member Russell Ossendryver, it appears that GNOME founder Miguel de Icaza's widely-publicized praise for OOXML as a 'superb standard' is being followed up with on-going support by the GNOME Foundation in 'resolving' the thousands of criticisms leveled against the purported Microsoft OOXML standard. In an open letter in his blog, Ossendryver calls on the GNOME Foundation to explain its apparent attempts to 'resolve' the criticisms, which is a pre-condition to acceptance of Microsoft OOXML as a second office productivity standard by the world ISO committee. Ossendryver urges the GNOME Foundation to halt its apparent support for OOXML as a standard and to put its efforts behind enhancing adoption of the genuinely open standard, the OpenDocument Format (ODF), which was approved by the world standards bodies as ISO/IEC standard 26300 on 2 May 2006."

Submission + - Turbolinux, Microsoft patent cross-licensing (eweek.com)

Submitted by

willdavid

on Tuesday October 23, 2007 @01:12PM

willdavid writes: "By Peter Galli (eWeek): The agreement is the first between Microsoft and a Linux server and desktop platform distributor in Asia. Linux vendor Turbolinux is expanding its relationship with Microsoft with a patent cross-licensing agreement with the software maker. The deal, which was announced by the two companies Oct. 22, is the first between Microsoft and a Linux server and desktop platform distributor in Asia. Turbolinux is headquartered in Tokyo. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,2204865,00.asp"

Submission + - San Diego emergency site down as fires burn

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 22, 2007 @01:41AM

An anonymous reader writes: Two large fires are burning out of control in San Diego county with 0% containment and winds of up to 40mph are quickly spreading the blaze. According to reports tens of thousands of acres are burning in a situation resembling the 2003 cedar fires, and mandatory evacuation has already been ordered for all of Ramona. But residents looking towards the San Diego County's emergency website for information are out of luck — the site has already been down for hours.

Didn't anybody foresee that in the case of an actual county-wide emergency the website might receive a lot of visitors? Does your region have an emergency website, and would it stand up to the traffic an actual emergency is likely to generate?

Side: Please do not attempt to visit the emergency website unless you are an affected San Diego resident because you may prevent others accessing important emergency information. For this reason I have omitted the URL from this summary.

Facebook Goes To 64 Bit User IDs 144

Posted by Zonk on Saturday October 20, 2007 @11:34PM from the internet-users-on-mars-or-europa-can-expect-to-sign-up-soon dept.

NewsCloud writes "Facebook has announced to developers that they are moving to a 64 bit user ID in November. At 32 bits, the current ID allows nearly 4.3 billion user accounts. Yet, despite having only 47 million users today, Facebook's move to 64 bits will allow it to have more than 18 quintillion (18,446,744,074,000,000,000) user accounts. Of course, there are currently only about 6.5 billion people in the world. Is Facebook setting their sights beyond Earth or just trying to avoid what happened when Slashdot ran out of space for comment IDs last year. Perhaps they are planning to implement personas."

Submission + - Google Woos Recruits with its C++, Hitler Know-How 1

Submitted by

theodp

on Sunday October 14, 2007 @10:57PM

theodp writes: "Accounts of the opening of a Hitler-themed cafe in Mumbai last year noted India's curious and growing fascination with Hitler. And an earlier Times of India survey found significant numbers of Indian college students rated Hitler as an ideal model for an Indian leader. Which might explain why the Internship Opportunities page at Google India Jobs has been sporting this oh-so-politically-incorrect testimonial for Hitler-savvy Google employees: 'Q. Why do you like working at Google? A. ...there are always people who know more than you, be it C++, Java, Cryptic crosswords or even Hitler' (screenshot)."

Submission + - Grad student suspended after pro-gun-rights e-mail

Submitted by fredklein on Thursday October 11, 2007 @11:51PM

fredklein writes: A Minnesota university has suspended one of its graduate students who sent two e-mail messages to school officials supporting gun rights.
"Hamline University also said that master's student Troy Scheffler, who owns a firearm, would be barred from campus and must receive a mandatory "mental health evaluation" after he sent an e-mail message arguing that law-abiding students should be able to carry firearms on campus for self-defense."
When informed that suspending him violated the school's freedom of expression policy, the University changed their tune: Now they claim he's being suspended because of "anonymous allegations" they received, and they can't tell him (or the press) what those allegations are, or who his accusers are. With all the talk of 'Big Brother' throwing people into detention centers without knowing the charges, are we overlooking 'Little Brothers' closer to home?

The World's Languages Are Fast Becoming Extinct 939

Posted by kdawson on Monday October 01, 2007 @12:06AM from the culture-drain dept.

Ant sends news of a report, released a couple of weeks back by the Living Tongues Institute for Endangered Languages in Oregon, on the alarming rate of extinction of the world's languages. While half of all languages have gone extinct in the last 500 years, the half-life is dropping: half of the 7,000 languages spoken today won't exist by the year 2100. The NY Times adds this perspective: "83 languages with 'global' influence are spoken and written by 80 percent of the world population. Most of the others face extinction at a rate, the researchers said, that exceeds that of birds, mammals, fish and plants."

Submission + - KDE4 beta 3 delayed for one week.

Submitted by Volanin on Tuesday September 25, 2007 @04:15PM

Volanin writes: KDE4 developer Sebastian Kuegler states: 'It has just been decided that the Beta 3 will be out one week later than originally planned. This is mainly due to some changes in how plasma work that we'd like to see in the new Beta. Highlights of that will be a working panel implementation.'

Submission + - OpenSource Ethernet Sniffing Project Abandoned

Submitted by mikeeusa2 on Tuesday September 25, 2007 @01:00PM

mikeeusa2 writes: The free/opensource switched ethernet lan sniffer, Ettercap, had been confirmed abandoned by one of it's programmers:

From The developer "NaGA" Subject: Re: LibNet nolonger works well with ettercap, many users (All?) hit into this error due to newer libnet installations. Date: Tue, 25 Sep 2007 09:43:02 +0200 (CEST) Ettercap support has been dropped 2 years ago. Sorry, but there won't be any change for this. If someone finds a solution for this by his own, we will pleased to add the patch on the website for download.

A fork is needed to continue this useful project.

Submission + - Tux Racer is Back (extremetuxracer.com)

Submitted by

cpicon92

on Sunday September 23, 2007 @02:23PM

cpicon92 writes: "One of the most influential Linux games of all time is back in Extreme Tux Racer. This new game is based off of Planet Penguin Racer and has a new campaign, better graphics, and a high score list, with even more improvements planned. Check it out at http://www.extremetuxracer.com/ ."

Submission + - New version of Gmail being tested

Submitted by

morpheus83

on Sunday September 23, 2007 @02:10PM

morpheus83 writes: "Gmail was launched on April 1, 2004, and has revolutionized the way many of us use email. The interface has remained largely untouched since it launched, but get ready, it's soon to undergo a change in what they describe as a "New Version". Only a select few people have access to use the new interface — mainly employees and trusted people outside the company called "Trusted Testers". Unfortunately, there are no leaked screenshots to look at yet."

Submission + - NBC to offer Free Video Download Service

Submitted by Damocles the Elder on Wednesday September 19, 2007 @11:56PM

Damocles the Elder writes: Apparently NBC realized that people on the internet do watch TV, because after breaking up with Apple over iTunes pricing schemes, they're setting up their own free service. FTA:

NBC first contracted with Amazon to offer its programs for sale to downloading devices like MP3 players. Now it is establishing its own downloading service, which NBC executives say they expect to become a viable competitor to iTunes. "With the creation of this new service, we are acknowledging that now, more than ever, viewers want to be in control of how, when and where they consume their favorite entertainment," said Vivi Zigler, the executive vice president of NBC Digital Entertainment. "Not only does this feature give them more control, but it also gives them a higher quality video experience."

Submission + - Dan Lyons Repents Over SCO Reporting

Submitted by

Groklaw Reader

on Wednesday September 19, 2007 @11:18PM

Groklaw Reader writes: "Dan Lyons, long known for his stories claiming that SCO's cases had merit, has finally repented. With SCO in bankruptcy, he's finally admitted that "the geeks were right" and it's time for him to "eat crow." While it might just be a cynical ploy to troll for more page views, he could just as easily do that without admitting error—Maureen O'Gara, for example, still believes in SCO, even after all this. Besides, why pass up an opportunity to say "I told you so!"?"

Submission + - Northwest Passage Open for Shipping

Submitted by

tekiegreg

on Saturday September 15, 2007 @12:38PM

tekiegreg writes: "It's official, whether by Global Warming or natural effect, one can now get to Asia from Europe via the Arctic. The commercial implications are high of course, but are the environmentalists finally going to be vindicated on the amount of damage global warming has caused?"

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