Satai - Slashdot User

Submission + - New 64-bit Operating System Released (losethos.com)

Submitted by

losethos

on Saturday December 01, 2007 @11:34PM

losethos writes: "LoseThos is a free, open-source 64-bit PC operating system written from a clean slate. It features graphics, links and trees in source code and at the command-line. The command-line feeds into a C compiler line by line so you don't have a crappy shell like linux — you have a real programming language at the command line. See videos for a truely unique interface. Instead of icons, you have unbounded scalable vector graphics which send a macro to the command line. Version 3.13 has been release. It has compiler optimizations and much faster disk access."

Submission + - Embryonic Star Captured With Jets Flaring (techluver.com)

Submitted by

Tech.Luver

on Thursday November 29, 2007 @05:08PM

Tech.Luver writes: "A developing star wrapped in a black cocoon of dust is seen sprouting giant jets in a new image from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. The stellar portrait, seen in infrared light, offers the first glimpse at a very early stage in the life of an embryonic sun-like star — a time when the star's natal envelope is beginning to flatten and collapse, and streams of gas are escaping. The observations will ultimately help astronomers better understand how stars and their planets form. ( http://techluver.com/2007/11/29/embryonic-star-captured-with-jets-flaring/ )"

Submission + - Visually browsing wikipedia

Submitted by

mgogoulos

on Friday November 23, 2007 @10:44AM

mgogoulos writes: "Every day Wikipedia proves it's value as a great education and knowledge resource. Yet, there is only one way to browse it's plethora of information, and this some times can become frustrating, especially when we are only interested to get a quick idea on a search keyword. Indywikia is an open source project that aims to explore different ways of browsing the wikipedia universe. It is a GUI application that gives emphasis to the images, which are displayed in tenths on the main screen as thumbnails that get expanded to their native size once clicked. If there are not enough images, indywikia displays images of related links, that become our search items when clicked, thus providing a way to visually browse wikipedia! The text is presented on a basic structure, that is titles, their content and links."

Submission + - MPAA University 'Toolkit' Raises Privacy Concerns

Submitted by

NewbieV

on Friday November 23, 2007 @10:20AM

NewbieV writes: "On the heels of the MPAA's efforts to eliminate peer-to-peer file sharing in colleges and universities, The Washington Post is reporting on a new development:

The Motion Picture of Association of America is urging some of the nation's largest universities to deploy custom software designed to pinpoint students who may be using the schools' networks to illegally download pirated movies. A closer look at the MPAA's software, however, raises some serious privacy and security concerns for both the entertainment industry and the schools that choose to deploy the technology.

The University Toolkit (website), also known as peerwatch, uses xubuntu, Snort, ntop and Apache to gather data and phone home. More from the article:

Steve Worona, director of policy and networking programs at EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association that promotes the use of information technology in higher learning, said he'd like to think that "no university network administrator in their right mind would install this toolkit on their networks." But he said some campus IT personnel may fail to dig too deeply into what the device actually does before installing it.

"

Submission + - Actual time travel with OS X's Time Machine (odelbee.com)

Submitted by

Odelbee

on Sunday November 04, 2007 @01:34PM

Odelbee writes: "A hidden feature in OS X's Time Machine backup system allows you to restore not only your files, but your physical, emotional – even spiritual – condition at the time you were working on those files."

Submission + - ODF Infighting Dooming us to Microsoft Dominance? (eweek.com)

Submitted by FreeMichael61 on Sunday November 04, 2007 @01:06PM

FreeMichael61 writes: Is this the beginning of the end? None less than the Open Document Foundation (ODF) has condemned the open document format to irrelevance. The Foundation's VP, Sam Hiser told eWEEK that ODF is a "sideline drama, only useful insofar as it has provided a foil for [Microsoft's] OOXML [Office Open XML]." Microsoft knows what to do with that kind of opening. Its format guru, Jason Matusow, responded that "when it comes down to the real world of meeting their needs, even the organization that has a charter to promote ODF decided that a different format was better for it." ODF provided and ceremonial sword and knelt over it; Microsoft simply gave them a gentle shove. Adieu ODF?

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.'

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