Comment Re:Meh.. (Score 1) 258
Surely not any more ridiculous than having to re-code your applications in Objective C and having to deal with Cocoa.
FreeBSD 7.0 Bests Linux In SMP Performance 288
cecom writes "After major improvements in SMP support in FreeBSD 7.0, benchmarks show it performing 15% better than the latest Linux kernels (PDF, see slides 17 to 19) on 8 CPUs under PostgreSQL and MySQL. While a couple of benchmarks are not conclusive evidence, it can be assumed that FreeBSD will once again be a serious performance contender. Some posters on LWN have noted that the level of Linux performance could be related to the Completely Fair Scheduler, which was merged into the 2.6.23 Linux kernel."
Update: 03/06 21:32 GMT by KD : An anonymous reader sent in word that Linux kernel developer Nick Piggin reran the benchmark today and came to a different conclusion: In his benchmark Linux was faster than FreeBSD.
Comment Re:stupid slashdot 'editors' (Score 4, Informative) 224
"Registrar" would make more sense, but check out this provision of the copyright code (17 U.S.C. 701):
So it seems that the copyright act itself refers to her as the Register of Copyrights. The Oxford English Dictionary contains this use as "register, n. 2":All administrative functions and duties under this title, except as otherwise specified, are the responsibility of the Register of Copyrights as director of the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress. The Register of Copyrights, together with the subordinate officers and employees of the Copyright Office, shall be appointed by the Librarian of Congress, and shall act under the Librarian's general direction and supervision.
a. The keeper of a register; a REGISTRAR. (In common use c 1580-1800.)
Submission + - McCarthyism 2.0?
An anonymous reader writes: The Register is running an interesting follow up story (previously mentioned on
Slashdot) of the bomb scare in Boston this past Wednesday. For those of you who don't know, Boston was brought to a standstill on Wednesday by what amounts to a marketing misunderstanding when people mistook promotional neon signs as bombs. The
blogosphere was abuzz with questions of the validity of these "bombs." What is dangerous here is the fact that these two non-American marketing freelancers may ultimately be punished (and possibly deported) when they very likely had no intent, nor even any reason to believe, that this marketing campaign would cause this type of commotion. If there intent was to create a marketing stunt where they designed a number of props that looked like bombs then this is something that should definitely be prosecuted. And, if these gorilla marketing agents knew that they were causing this scare and did not speak up, then this too should be prosecuted. Bomb threats should not be taken lightly, in all likelihood the city of Boston did the right thing. However, in their vigilance, these occasional bomb threat misfires will occur.
What is scarier here are the implications: "The government has ceased with even the formality of asking questions, instead deciding to take the most punitive route possible." Though it is very important that Mayor Menino is "going to take this seriously," this may very well be a situation where the city of Boston feels it has to prosecute-to-the-max because it has egg on its face. Taken a step further, if the government starts prosecuting without being thoughtful first, at what point does one go to jail because their neighbor "felt threatened" over the box of old electronic junk you accidentally left on your curb?
What is scarier here are the implications: "The government has ceased with even the formality of asking questions, instead deciding to take the most punitive route possible." Though it is very important that Mayor Menino is "going to take this seriously," this may very well be a situation where the city of Boston feels it has to prosecute-to-the-max because it has egg on its face. Taken a step further, if the government starts prosecuting without being thoughtful first, at what point does one go to jail because their neighbor "felt threatened" over the box of old electronic junk you accidentally left on your curb?
Submission + - Anti-Scientology Activist Keith Henson Arrested
kulakovich writes: "One of the founders of the L5 Society, Cryonics advocate, and well known anti-Scientology activist Keith Henson, was taken into custody yesterday in Arizona, on an outstanding warrant for picketing a Scientology office back in 2001. There is much concern over his current condition at this time due to medication requirements as well as fear for his well-being. He and his family had been receiving death-threats prior to the arrest. The Extropy Institute immediately set up a Henson Legal Defense Fund on his behalf. Henson is also known for his work with the US Congress on Lunar policy in the early 80s."
Is Computer Programming a Good Job for Retirees? 147
braindrainbahrain asks: "Ask Slashdot has been rife with career advice lately, so maybe I can get some too. I hit a milestone recently, the big five oh, and the realization of retirement is starting to settle in. The trouble is, I don't want to sit around, play golf, or even travel that much. I work in a technical field, but I have always enjoyed programming. Indeed, I do it as a hobby. I wonder what you readers would think about programming as a post retirement job. It seems well suited for a retiree, one could do contract work for a few months of the year, in some cases work from home even. By way of background, I have worked in hardware engineering for a very long time, and have pursued graduate study almost regularly (two Masters degrees so far). Should I begin preparing for a post-retirement career in computer science?"
Submission + - Vista the iPod Killer
JMB writes: You know how we all thought the Zune was Microsoft's attempt to kill off the iPod? Not so. According to this item on Apple's site all you have to do is upgrade to Vista and your iPod goes ka-boom. From the article: 'Ejecting an iPod from the Windows System Tray using the "Safely Remove Hardware" feature may corrupt your iPod.' Now that's a feature!
Submission + - McDonalds beat Starbucks in Coffee Taste Test
Submission + - Apples reasons why a Mac is better than Vista.
antirelic writes: "I just got this advertisement from Apple in my email.
"It's time to get a Mac. If you're thinking of upgrading to Vista, you'll probably need a new computer. Why not get a Mac? It's simpler, more secure, and way more fun. And it works with the stuff you already have, like printers and cameras. So before you upgrade anything, you owe it to yourself to check out a Mac."
Is any of this true? Is a Mac more secure than Vista and really easier to use and more secure?"
Submission + - Runner-Up of Man of the Year Jailed For Pedophilia
An anonymous reader writes: Acclaimed geneticist William French Anderson, who was runner-up for Time Magazine's Man of the Year in 1995, was sentenced to a 14 year jail term for molesting his assistant's daughter. Prosecutors argued that Anderson began molesting the girl when she was 10. She has since suffered depression and considered suicide. Anderson's lawyers argued that he is too valuable to science and medical research to be put in jail. Many of Anderson's colleagues, including a Nobel Prize winner, have sent letters to the court in support of him. His lawyers will appeal the sentence.
Submission + - Alex Ionescu blog suspended after Vista DRM crack
An anonymous reader writes: http://www.daniweb.com/blogs/entry1289.html 4 days ago security researcher Ionescu described how he had managed to crack DRM protection in Vista by accident. Today his blog and domain account are suspended. Has pressure been applied by Microsoft to censor the truth?
Computer's Heat May Unmask Anonymized PCs 146
Virtual_Raider writes "Wired is carrying a story about a method developed by security researchers to identify computers hiding behind anonymity services. From the article: 'His victim is the Onion Router, or "Tor" — a sophisticated privacy system that lets users surf the web anonymously. Tor encrypts a user's traffic, and bounces it through multiple servers, so the final destination doesn't know where it came from. Murdoch set up a Tor network at Cambridge to test his technique, which works like this: If an attacker wants to learn the IP address of a hidden server on the Tor network, he'll suddenly request something difficult or intensive from that server. The added load will cause it to warm up.'"
PC World's 20 Most Innovative Products of 2006 233
Craig Sender writes "PC World has put together a list of their choices for the 20 Most Innovative Products of 2006. The List includes Office 2007, Nintendo Wii, Sony Reader, Sony PlayStation 3, the BlackBerry Pearl, and some other interesting choices."
Linux/Mac/Windows File Name Friction 638
lessthan0 writes "In 1995, Microsoft added long file name support to Windows, allowing more descriptive names than the limited 8.3 DOS format. Mac users scoffed, having had long file names for a decade and because Windows still stored a DOS file name in the background. Linux was born with long file name support four years before it showed up in Windows. Today, long file names are well supported by all three operating systems though key differences remain. "
Notebook with Huge 20 Inch Screen Reviewed 307
An anonymous reader writes "Trusted reviews has a look at the Acer Aspire 9800. This massive machine has a 20.1" screen, two 120GB hard drives in a RAID 0 array, super-multi DVD burner, analogue and digital TV tuners and an Intel Core Duo dual core CPU. And at over 17lb you can even use it for weight training!"
