xzaph - Slashdot User

Submission + - Aussies advance on silicon-based quantum computer

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 05, 2007 @07:16PM

An anonymous reader writes: Australian researchers have taken another step towards creating a silicon-based quantum computer, according to a ZDNet report.

By embedding phosphorus atoms in pure silicon, the Centre for Quantum Computing hopes to build transistors on the scale of a single atom — helping to extend Moore's Law well into the future. The organisation has used silicon to create a single quantum bit, or "qubit", which earned them a nomination for this year's Australian Museum Eureka Science Prize.

Submission + - Military, defensive technology, cloaking (ninemsn.com.au)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02, 2007 @12:28AM

An anonymous reader writes: Science fiction is getting closer to science fact according to an article posted at NineMSN.

British researchers have unveiled new technology that renders army tanks invisible to observers in the battle field, a British newspaper reports.

At top secret trials last week the Ministry of Defence demonstrated how the clever use of cameras and projectors can beam images of the surrounding landscape onto a tank.

Submission + - The Next 25 Years of Video Games (cracked.com)

Submitted by silvermorph on Friday November 02, 2007 @12:08AM

silvermorph writes: A couple of humorists play futurist for this article on the next 25 years of games and gaming tech. They predict what the world will be like when all these Slashdot articles about future tech come to fruition. And they're pretty sure we'll be using it to make hotter virtual bodies, terrible games, and interactive porn.

Submission + - Joel and the Bots are back! (cinematictitanic.com)

Submitted by AugstWest on Wednesday October 31, 2007 @08:52AM

AugstWest writes: Unfortunately it's in separate projects, but just after Jim Mallon (the man who owns all things MST3K) announced that he would be bringing back Tom Servo, Crow and Gypsy in animated Flash shorts on the web along with Paul Chaplin (a writer from the original MST3K), Joel Hodgson, the series creator, has announced that he will be launching a new venture called Cinematic Titanic. It will feature horrible movies riffed by the original cast of MST3K, including Josh Weinstein (the original Tom Servo), Trace Beaulieu (the original Crow), Frank Conniff (TV's Frank), Mary Jo Pehl (Pearl Forrester) and, of course, Joel himself. They've already got the rights to 12 movies, and will be releasing one a month starting in December for DVD purchase or download.

Submission + - EU thinktank urges full Windows unbundling

Submitted by leffeman on Sunday September 23, 2007 @04:42PM

leffeman writes: An influential Brussels think tank is urging the European Commission to ban the bundling of operating systems with desktop and laptop computers. The Globalisation Institute's submission to the Commission says that bundling 'is not in the public interest' and that the dominance of Windows has 'slowed technical improvements and prevented new alternatives entering from the marketplace.' It says the Microsoft tax is a burden on EU businesses: the price of operating systems would be lower in a competitive market. This is the first time a major free-market think tank has published in favour of taking action against Microsoft's monopoly power.

Submission + - Free software made mandatory in Indian State (newindpress.com)

Submitted by

Praveen Arimbrathodiyil

on Wednesday September 19, 2007 @04:11AM

Praveen Arimbrathodiyil writes: "The Free Software movement in Kerala got another boost when Free Software is made compulsory for practical exams in all Schools in the state. The Director of Public Instruction (DPI) has issued orders making free software compulsory. It says Linux Operating System should be used for IT education in eighth, ninth and tenth standards. Schools already have a choice to select Free Software (GNU/Linux) based platform or Microsoft based platform. Full Story"

Submission + - End of Moore's Law in 10-15 years? (wired.com) 1

Submitted by

javipas

on Wednesday September 19, 2007 @03:13AM

javipas writes: "In 1965 Gordon Moore — Intel's co-founder — predicted that the number of transistors on integrated circuits would double every two years. Moore's Law has been with us for over 40 years, but it seems that the limits of microelectronics are now not that far from us. Moore has predicted the end of his own law in 10 to 15 years, but he predicted that end before, and failed."

Submission + - To find DMCA violations you must violate the DMCA (ucsd.edu)

Submitted by meese on Monday September 17, 2007 @04:28AM

meese writes: staple is a tool that cryptographically binds data using an All-or-nothing transform. Why might that be interesting? Because it might allow for this scenario: to check for DMCA violations, a content owner would have to violate the DMCA themselves.

The basic transformation is keyless, but all the data is required to reverse it. The tool can also throw away part of its internal key, making the data decipherable only with the key or via brute force attack. If a content publisher, Alice, wants to check for copyright violations by another party, Bob, she could be thwarted: Bob could staple Alice's file with one of his own and discard part of the key. To check for copyright violation, Alice must brute force the stapled file (possibly violating the DMCA), which protects Bob's file. The FAQ has some more detail.

Submission + - More trouble on the Wiki acquisition front (bluegartrls.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 17, 2007 @03:59AM

An anonymous reader writes: Recently, Wikia's acquisition of The GuildWiki caused a bit of a stir — but that seems almost nothing in comparison to the latest development concerning Wikia and previously-independent gaming wikis. Apparently, ffxiclopedia.org's similar acquisition by Wikia was even shadier.

Slashdot Top Deals