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Puzzle Games (Games)

Tetris Turns 25 177

Posted by timothy from the where-were-you dept.
teh.f4ll3n writes "25 years ago a Russian (Soviet) researcher thought of one of the world's most popular games. It is now that we celebrate its 25th anniversary. 'Twenty-five years ago, inside the bowels of the Soviet Academy of Sciences in Moscow, a young artificial intelligence researcher received his first desktop computer — the Soviet-built Elektronika 60, a copy of an American minicomputer called a PDP-11 — and began writing programs for it.'"
Networking

Submission + - Do you recognize the six early warning signs (mcox.com)

Submitted by
Artemis
Artemis writes: "Do you recognize the six early warning signs of losing your job?

If you are a CIO and are noticing too many of the following signs, you may want to start looking for employment at a new organization.

It's not unusual for a job search to take over six months, especially if you are specialized or targeting a specific geographic area. Use the same advice for your career that you would in your disaster recovery plan: it's a lot easier to plan for disaster than recover after it strikes."
Windows

Submission + - Windows Vista SP1 Coming... (mcox.com)

Submitted by
Artemis
Artemis writes: "Microsoft has just announced the beta for Windows Vista SP1.

Find out: What is SP1? What is it not? When can I get my hands on the Beta of SP1? And what about SP1 itself — when will that be available? Besides these questions a time-line and a Windows Vista SP1 Whitepaper have also been released. Will SP1 be Vista's saving grace? Or will it be another Windows NT Service Pack 6 and cause the release of Vista SP1a?"
Security

Worm Threat Forces Apple To Disable Software? 201

Posted by Zonk from the batten-down-the-hatches dept.
SkiifGeek writes "After the debacle that surrounded the announcement and non-disclosure of a worm that targets OS X, the vulnerability in mDNSResponder may have forced Apple to remove support for certain mDNSResponder capabilities with the recently released Security Update 2007-007. 'Seeming to closely follow the information disclosed by InfoSec Sellout, Apple's mDNSResponder update addresses a vulnerability that can be exploited by an attacker on the local network to gain a denial of service or arbitrary code execution condition. Apple goes on to identify that the vulnerability that they are addressing exists within the support for UPnP IGD... and that an attacker can exploit the vulnerability through simply sending a crafted network packet across the network. With the crafted network packet triggering a buffer overflow, it passes control of the vulnerable system to the attacker. Rather than patching the vulnerability and retaining the capability, Apple has completely disabled support for UPnP IGD (though there is no information about whether it is only a temporary disablement until vulnerabilities can be addressed).'"
Space

Submission + - Newfound Planet Has Earth-Like Orbit (space.com)

Submitted by
Raver32
Raver32 writes: "The new planet, spotted using the Hobby-Eberly Telescope at the McDonald Observatory in West Texas, circles its bloated parent star every 360 days and is located about 300 light-years away, in the constellation Perseus. The red giant star is twice as massive and about 10 times larger than the sun. Its planet is about the size of Jupiter or larger and was discovered using the so-called wobble technique, in which astronomers look for slight wiggles in a star's motion created by the gravitational tug of orbiting planets. The discovery could help astronomers understand what will happen to our sun's brood of planets when it exhausts its store of hydrogen fuel and its outer envelope begins to swell. When that happens in an estimated 5 billion years, our sun will be so big that it will engulf the inner planets and most likely Earth. But long before that happens, life on our planet will have perished and its seas will have boiled away."
Biotech

Submission + - World's Highest Resolution HDTV Surgial Camera (docinthemachine.com)

Submitted by
docinthemachine
docinthemachine writes: "The world's highest resolution HDTV surgical video camera system has been developed and used for laparoscopic surgery. This system is unique in having a native chip resolution of 1920 x 1080p and the first ever (for surgery) 16:9 aspect ratio. The enhanced resolution allows the surgeron to see finer details and pathology. Surgical skills are aided by the resolution and wider field of view as well. The enhanced shadows and tonal range also provides enhanced visual clues for depth perception while working in a 2D environment. This system will be featured in the world's first ever broadcast of surgery in high definition in an upcoming national Geographic HD special. Details of the system are at http://docinthemachine.com/2007/07/31/hdsurgery/ with details of a new medical HD XDCAm blu-ray disk based recording system used to capture the footage at http://docinthemachine.com/2007/08/02/recordhd/"
Privacy

Submission + - Ruling by Secret US Court Allegedly Reduces Spying

Submitted by conspirator57
conspirator57 writes: TFA http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la- na-spying2aug02,0,5813563.story?coll=la-home-cente r states that the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (a court that no citizen can establish standing to appear before) has ruled against Executive requests for so-called "basket warrants" as violating the 4th amendment to the Constitution, namely that such warrants do not meet the clearly expressed criteria in the second half of the amendment. To accomplish this they must have looked startlingly like British general warrants which were the original motivation for the 4th amendment. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrant_(law) for more.

TFA is very sympathetic to the Executive branch, going on to depict ways in which we're all less safe because of this ruling. Personally, I feel safer with more rulings like this one. Just wish the process were a bit more transparent.

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
Operating Systems

Old School Linux Remembered, Parts 0.02 & 0.03 163

Posted by CowboyNeal from the turn-back-the-clock dept.
eldavojohn writes "Following our last history lesson of Linux 0.01, the Kernel Trap is talking about the following announcements that would lead to one of the greatest operating systems today. A great Linus quote on release 0.02 (just 19 days after 0.01): 'I can (well, almost) hear you asking yourselves "why?". Hurd will be out in a year (or two, or next month, who knows), and I've already got minix. This is a program for hackers by a hacker. I've enjoyed [sic] doing it, and somebody might enjoy looking at it and even modifying it for their own needs. It is still small enough to understand, use and modify, and I'm looking forward to any comments you might have.'"
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Apple holds out on resellers 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Anecdotal evidence from Australian consumers indicates Apple are holding back stock from their resellers, while shipping from their online store in record time. A workmate ordered a MBP 8 weeks ago from a reputable reseller who has been saying each week 'apple say they have no stock, they won't tell us when our orders will be filled', yet people ordering from the Apple online store are receiving their laptops within 1-2 business days. My workmate canceled his order on wednesday and ordered online, he just received his laptop today (friday), after phoning the reseller they still have no word on when stock will be coming through. Forum posters from around the state indicate similar issues.
Microsoft

Submission + - Beta 2 of Visual Studio 2008 and .NET 3.5 released (mcox.com)

Submitted by
Artemis
Artemis writes: "Microsoft has announced the release of the second beta for both its IDE, Visual Studio 2008, and its platform, .Net 3.5. The betas for both Visual Studio 2008 and the smaller Visual Studio 2008 Express Editions are available to download for anyone who would like to try them out while in beta.

Visual Studio 2008 can be installed along-side Visual Web Developer 2008 Express or Visual Studio 2005, so you can try out 2008 without messing with your current environment. .NET 3.5 Beta 2 also include a go-live license which allows you to build and deploy applications into production.

Some of the new features of VS 2008 Beta 2 and .NET 3.5 Beta 2 are:
  • VS 2008 Multi-targeting support: Lets you target multiple versions of the .NET platform
  • VS 2008 Web Designer: A significantly improved HTML web designer — includes split-view editing, nested master pages, and much-improved CSS integration.
  • .NET 3.5 ASP.NET AJAX: The AJAX library is now built into the ASP.NET functionality in .NET 3.5
  • VS 2008 VB/C# Compilers: Now include keywords and capabilities for functional programming, which lets you write cleaner code. The compilers also now include support for LINQ (Language Integrated Query), which makes querying/working with data a first-class concept in .NET.
  • LINQ to SQL Improvements: LINQ to SQL is an built-in OR/M (Object Relational Mapper) in .NET 3.5. This allows you to model relational databases using a .NET object model. You can then query the database using LINQ and update/insert/delete data from it. LINQ to SQL fully supports transactions, views, and stored procedures.
"
Windows

Submission + - No "Logon Using Dial-up Connections" in Vi (mcox.com)

Submitted by
Artemis
Artemis writes: "If you're an IT Manager wanting to setup domain logins on a Windows Vista laptop and looking for the "Logon using dial-up connections" checkbox on the logon screen, look again. The option has been removed from that screen, but the functionality still exists, this post explains how to accomplish the same thing you could in Windows 2000 and XP in Vista.

In most IT departments it is quite common to setup a fleet of laptops as members of the domain and then have users logon to the domain using cached credentials when they are not connected to the corporate network. This works great except that since the laptop cannot contact a domain controller it cannot download the latest applicable Group Policy. Therefore the policy that is used is the one that was effective last time the laptop successfully contacted the domain controller during the logon process, which is probably not the most up-to-date Group Policy.

The way this is resolved in Windows 2000/XP is that a user checks the "Logon Using Dial-up Connections" checkbox at the logon screen. This forces Windows to dial a remote connection before attempting to logon to the domain. Since a remote connection now exists between the laptop and the domain when the logon attempt is taking place, Windows will download the current applicable Group Policy.

Now that's great and everything, but Vista poses a new situation — mainly, where the heck is that checkbox? It's not there, but it's feature is — here is how to accomplish the same thing that checkbox does in XP in Windows Vista.

Now your users will be able to logon to the domain with the Vista laptop using a remote connection and the current Group Policy, not cached credentials. While the solution here is interesting, it would also be nice to know why this change was made."
Windows

Submission + - Log on automatically in Windows Vista (mcox.com)

Submitted by
Artemis
Artemis writes: "If you have a single-user PC and would rather have it automatically log on than display the Welcome Screen, this post is for you. Obviously do not do this on a computer that contains secure or confidential information. Also, don't follow the instructions for some older versions of Windows that involve editing the registry and adding your username & password to it. Those methods leave your username and password in unencrypted plaintext, and while having your computer automatically log on isn't the safest thing, there is no reason to store your password in plaintext when you can avoid it. Best of all, this way is much easier than editing the registry and stores your password as an encrypted LSA secret.

From the search/run box in the Start Menu, type netplwiz. Clear the check box for 'Users must enter a username and password to use this computer. The 'Automatically Log On' dialog box will appear, enter your username and password here and click 'OK'. This is the username and password Vista will use to automatically log on with every time it starts. Next time you start your PC it should load directly to the desktop!"
Networking

Submission + - New Ethernet standard:not 40Gbps,not 100, but both (mcox.com)

Submitted by
Artemis
Artemis writes: "When Ethernet was originally created in 1974 it was a 3Mbps technology from Bob Metcalfe at Xerox PARC that few thought would beat out technologies such as Token Ring from the big boys like IBM. But Metcalfe left Xerox to found 3com and promote Ethernet, while also boosting the speed from 3Mbps to 10Mbps, compared to Token Rings 6Mbps. Now a days 1Gbps networks are becoming standard and 10Gbps networks are creeping in to specialized situations. But the Higher Speed Study Group (HSSG) is not satisfied. They have approved a Project Authorization Request (PAR) for a new standard, IEEE 802.3ba, which will give Ethernet speeds of up to 100Gbps.

When IEEE 802.3ba was originally proposed their were multiple possible speeds that were being discussed, including 40, 80, 100, and 120Gbps. While there options were eventually narrowed down to just two, 40 and 100Gbps, the HSSG had difficulties decided on the one specific speed they wanted to become the new standard. HSSG chair John D'Ambrosia told PC World that although he "wouldn't say there was a fight, I would say their was an education going on, and it got heated at times." During the discussions two different groups formed, one which wanted faster server-to-switch connections at 40Gbps and one which wanted a more robust network backbone at 100Gbps. The higher speed required more expensive and power-hungry equipment, you can find out more about it from this presentation [PDF].

Unable to come up with a consensus the HSSG decided to standardize both 40Gbps and 100Gbps speeds as the IEEE 803.23ba standard. Each speed will use different connection equipment. 40Gbps can be 1 meter long on the backplane, 10 meters for copper cable and 100 meters for fiber-optics. The 100Gbps standard includes specifications for 10 kilometer and 40 kilometer connections over single-mode fiber.

According to D'Ambrosia this is the first time the specification group has approved two different speeds in the same specification. If IEEE approves the specification it could be completed by 2010 with devices that support is soon thereafter."
Software

Submission + - Minimize anything to the System Tray in 111 KB (mcox.com)

Submitted by
Artemis
Artemis writes: "Here is another great little utility that adds some functionality that I wish was already built in to Windows. RBTray is a very small (111 KB) GPL/Open Source program that lets you minimize any application to the System Tray by simply right-clicking the applications Minimize button or pressing Windows+T. RBTray's site is hosted at SourceForge, you can download either the installer version or the binary-only version. Absolutely no configuration is necessary. The source code is also available for anyone who would like to contribute."
Quickies

Submission + - 2000 Uses for WD-40 (mcox.com)

Submitted by
Artemis
Artemis writes: "The Tacoma Wheelman's Bicycle Club (TWBC) has compiled a list of 2000 unofficial uses for WD-40. Here are their Top 10:
  1. Use to loosen rusty nuts and screws, clean garden tools
  2. Cleans piano keys
  3. Keeps wicker chairs from squeaking
  4. Lubricates small rolling toys
  5. Keeps garden tools rust-free
  6. Cleans patio door glide strip
  7. Removes crayon from clothes dryer (make sure to unplug dryer first)
  8. Removes scuff marks from ceramic tile floor
  9. Keeps metal wind chimes rust-free
  10. Removes crayon from walls
"

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