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Bug

Submission + - New Laser System Targets Mosquitoes (wsj.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In the Cold War the so-called "Star Wars defense system" proposed using lasers to destroy incoming Soviet missiles. In a 2007 brainstorming session aimed at combating malaria, Dr. Lowell Wood, the architect of that system, proposed modifying his original idea to kill mosquitoes. The cover of today's Wall Street Journal contains an article that highlights this initiative as well as a few others, like using a giant flashlight to disrupt mosquitoes' vision and using the insects to vaccinate, in the war against malaria. The system is intelligent enough to avoid noncombatants like humans and butterflies and can even tell the difference between females, the blood-drinkers, and males. My favorite quote: "We'd be delighted if we destabilize the human-mosquito balance of power."
Microsoft

Submission + - Vista developers forgot where the drivers are

Submitted by
Frustrated developer
Frustrated developer writes: "In a hurry to get Vista released it looks like the developers forgot to search the system folders while looking for device drivers. As a result many Vista users are left with USB mass storage devices, cameras etc. that used to work perfectly on Win XP but Vista cannot find any drivers for them. The drivers are all there of course, you just need to explicitly tell Vista to look in the damn windows\system32 folder!! From http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/winvista/1169 058238"
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - DocuColor Tracking Dot Decoding Guide

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The EFF has posted a nice little guide decoding the grid that is printed by the Xerox DocuColor series printer. The FBI and NSA use this to keep track of certain groups, like Greenpeace, here in the US. The article itself only covers the DocuColor series printers, but the EFF warns that this maybe used by other printers as well. Very interesting read, and also very scary knowing that whatever we print can possibly be tracked with exact date and times and the serial number of the printer used. Enjoy!
Security

Submission + - MySpace worm creator sentenced

Submitted by
Aidan Steele
Aidan Steele writes: "Remember Samy? The creator of the infamous worm was unfortunate enough to be the the target in MySpace's latest litgation. As was said in the earlier story, the script was "written for fun" and caused no damage. The source and technical explanation for the "attack" was not even released until after MySpace had patched the vulnerability. Apparently this was enough to get the 20 year old (19 at the time of writing the worm) three years of probation, three months of community service, pay restitution to MySpace and is also banned from the Internet. Clearly, disclosing security vulnerabilities doesn't pay."
Math

Submission + - Squaring With The Magic Triangle

Submitted by
Ace905
Ace905 writes: "Looking through some archives, I came across a recent article on 'How to Square With A Magic Triangle'. Although the topic sounds a little dry at first, I can't count the number of times I've had a very real and practical need to square-something in my house, or the office. From The Article itself, " There are thousands of reasons why you would have to square-something, [...] ex: You're buying a new house, and you want to check how straight the walls are ". I've found this _so useful_ with furniture, hanging pictures — it even inspired an algorithm I needed to create for a java based game. So I'm presenting the article here for all you slashdotter's to peruse. I find a little how-to once in a while is a nice break from the news blurbs on product releases, and *yawn* Vista."
Security

Submission + - Spyware could land teacher 40 year prison sentence

Submitted by GoMMiX
GoMMiX writes: According to an article on CNET, a teacher in Norwich, Conn. has been convicted of four counts of risk of injury to a minor because of pornographic images that popped up on her classroom computer.

From the article: "A substitute teacher in Norwich, Conn., faces up to 40 years in prison because of pornographic images that popped up on her classroom computer in 2004. Several students at Kelly Middle School in Norwich saw the images appear."

According to defense expert W. Herbert Hornet, "We analyzed the activity log and noted that there were spyware/adware programs installed on the hard drive."

""If there is an appeal and the defense is allowed to show the entire results of the forensic examination in front of experienced computer people, including a computer literate judge and prosecutor, Julie Amero will walk out of the court room as a free person."

Stories like this beg the question, when are the courts accountable for such gross negligance?

Mr. Herb Horner has also created a blog with more details on the case.
Windows

Submission + - Vista Voice Recognition Demo

Submitted by
Funhouse
Funhouse writes: "A few months ago we were wondering why Vista keeps getting delayed. It seems one of the major problems they had was with the Voice recognition module. Take a look at the final version and see the huge difference."
Displays

Submission + - Canon/Toshiba JV on SED Collapses Over Lawsuit

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: SED (Surface-conduction Electron-emitter Display) displays were supposed to be the brightest, most energy efficient TVs to hit the market, so Canon and Toshiba created a joint venture in 2004 to capitalize on the emerging technology. The resulting SED Inc. is now being sued by Nano-Proprietary, a company that licensed SED technology to Canon in 1999. The company says that the deal it signed with Canon doesn't extend to Toshiba. Rather than fight the lawsuit and prolong SED even further, Canon has decided to buy out Toshiba's stake in SED Inc.
Operating Systems

Submission + - Carmack Blasts Vista, Questions Direct X 10.

Submitted by
222
222 writes: "Apparently id's John Carmack is also having trouble finding a reason to upgrade to Vista. ""Nothing is going to help a new game by going to a new operating system. There were some clear wins going from Windows 95 to Windows XP for games, but there really aren't any for Vista," Carmack told Game Informer." He also seems to feel that Direct X 10 is more of a gimmick than anything. "They're artificially doing that by tying DX10 [DirectX 10] so close it, which is really nothing about the OS. It's a hardware-interface spec. It's an artificial thing that they're doing there." With this coming from an industry leader, will you be upgrading?"
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Reclusa Gaming Keyboard

Submitted by scdayo
scdayo writes: Overclockersclub.com — Today at the 2007 International CES in Las Vegas, Microsoft Corp. and Razer USA Ltd. set a new standard in gaming innovation with the new Microsoft® Reclusa gaming keyboard. Reclusa will help set gamers apart from their competitors with advanced features and best-in-class design elements such as ambient backlighting, Hyperesponse Gaming Key Action for maximum response with minimal latency, and two built-in gold-plated USB ports. Gamers will be able to improve their efficiency with 12 custom-programmable buttons that include two 360 Degree Jog-Dials and two Bumper Buttons conveniently located on each side of the keyboard for faster control and optimized gameplay.
AMD/OSTG

Vendor AMD Ignites Consumer Passions With New AMD LIVE! products

Submitted by OSTG Marketing
AMD is 'igniting consumer passion' with the AMD LIVE! notebook PC, AMD LIVE! Home Cinema and AMD LIVE! Home Media Server. Whatever your digital media needs are, AMD has plans to meet them...on the go, around the home, on the TV screen, regardless of file format or device form factor. "The AMD LIVE! notebook PC powered by AMD Turion 64 X2 dual-core mobile technology packs the same powerful media center features as the popular

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Understanding is always the understanding of a smaller problem in relation to a bigger problem. -- P.D. Ouspensky

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