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Common lisp has OO (defined as some macros). So in lisp, you can make it any kind of language you want. OO/ not-OO / whatever else you care to think of.No need to create a new language
AlexGr writes: In a recent article by Jeff Gould he talks about the proprietary nature of Linux in the hands of companies like Oracle and Red Hat. What I found most interesting was this: "A recent Red Hat marketing newsletter (http://partnernews.redhat.com/pop/rh0610/static/25198/html/en_eng.html) sternly instructs Red Hat channel partners that customers who choose not to renew their RHEL subscriptions "must de-install Red Hat Enterprise Linux software from the servers with the expired subscriptions". GPL fans will point out that this injunction is mere table-pounding intimidation that has no legal force, but that's beside the point. As far as Red Hat is concerned, no one is entitled to use RHEL without paying for it, and they're not shy about letting people know where they stand."
pupitetris writes: Newton may prove himself right again when he stated that we should better find the forces that explain the movement of the stars, rather than claiming the existence of misterious and undetectable substances: S. Mendoza and X. Hernandez, two mexican astrophysicists, postulate a modification to the equation of the theory of gravity that explain the current observations of large-scale phenomena that couldn't be previously explained using gravity alone, while still retaining consistency with medium and small scale observations. This renders the Dark Matter theory unnecessary, and provides a cleaner and more ellegant solution to outer-space observations that have startled scientists for decades.
AutomatedEducator writes: Through an odd series of events I've found myself about to embark on writing about Tech in Education for a major Asia-Pacific news provider. My qualifications are pretty scant — I've been teaching for a few years (Social Science subjects), have a geeky streak and like writing. I've hammered out the first piece — an 800-word crowd pleaser on iPhone apps I find useful as a teacher. But I'd really like to hear from the Slashdot community about what subjects you'd like to see me cover. Fire away!
destinyland writes: Reports are surfacing of a Facebook-backed smartphone running Google's Android system, built by INQ (who also manufactures a phone for Skype). GigaOm's Om Malik says he's been aware of the project "for quite some time," and Bloomberg News reported that Facebook Inc. will release two AT&T smartphones in 2011, first in Europe and then in America. (Adding that 25% of Facebook users access the social networking site with their wireless devices.) "Like some people would love to have a Hello Kitty phone or a Batman phone, there are undoubtedly buyers waiting with bated breath for a phone that says Facebook on it..." notes one technology blog. "The buying public seems to be entranced with the idea of the phrase 'Facebook phone' so rumors persist."
Ponca City, We Love You writes: "PC World reports that Netflix has expanded its licensing deal with NBC Universal to stream shows like "Saturday Night Live," "30 Rock," and "Battlestar Galactica." Netflix will add episodes from every season of SNL's 35-year run, as well as day-after broadcasts for the upcoming 2010, 2011, and 2012 seasons. The service will also add 75 episodes of Syfy's "Battlestar Galactica," as well as the series "Destination Truth" and "Eureka." "This agreement adds meaningfully to the wide variety of content that can be streamed from Netflix and breaks new ground in our relationship with NBC Universal," says Ted Sarandos, chief content officer for Netflix. Last week chief executive Reed Hastings announced that Netflix was thinking about offering a streaming-only service in the US as Netflix expanded its business into Canada, where it is offering a $7.99 per month streaming-only service."
David Hume writes: Haaretz is reporting that "Israeli bloggers have recently released a new Android application geared toward informing users whether or not their potential purchases were manufactured in one of the Israeli settlements in the West Bank." The Buy No Evil Android app is free. (Bar code download) As reported in the LiveLeak article, "New app makes boycotting West Bank settlements a touch easier," the bloggers behind the new application are Noam Rotem, Itamar Shaltiel, and Boris Boltianski, who run the "Activism is Open-Source" (English) blog. The message announcing the app states, "Buying a product means supporting the producer, and while we do not advocate a consumer ban, we do believe that people should be aware of which manufacturers they support."
Peter Cus writes: English lacemaking manufacturer, to compete on quality, has reverted to 19th-Century Leavers machines. These machines use Jacquard punch cards. Ian Elm, thought to be the last of the card punchers, says young people don't want factory work.
Hugh Pickens writes: "Members of 4chan aren't known for doing things that are cute and heart-warming and when they decide to go after someone, it's typically to subject them to ridicule. But not this time. Someone at 4chan decided that the Internet should get together and wish 90-year-old WWII veteran William J. Lashua a happy birthday, and soon Lashua's local branch of the American Legion was deluged by birthday calls from people as far away as Sweden. The account someone set up for Mr. Lashua's birthday on facebook had 3,956 "likes" and over 500 comments, most of which wished him a happy birthday and thanked him for his military service. It's not clear how 4chan originally came across a photo of Lashua, but a member of the site posted a snapshot of a flyer that was on the bulletin board at a store in Ashburnham, Massachusetts asking for guests to attend the nonagenarian's birthday on at the American Legion hall and the post took off. In contrast to their usual behavior, 4chan members "were giving him nice phone calls and sending him nice notes" and discouraging those who wanted to do something stupid or mean. "They were all being.. well, shucks, awful nice.""
An anonymous reader writes: Facebook portrayed as a progressive company, first tramples your privacy and is now removing ads that support the legalization of marijuana that were posted to encourage young people to vote. These ads being removed from Facebook is a blow to the organization’s efforts to get pot legalized in California. Find out why Facebook did this and what kind of company is Facebook?... more at techvideobytes.com
KentuckyFC writes: In 1978, the CalTech mathematician Robert McEliece developed a cryptosystem based on the (then) new idea of using asymmetric mathematical functions to create different keys for encrypting and decrypting information. The security of these systems relies on mathematical steps that are easy to make in one direction but hard to do in the other. The most famous example is multiplication. It is easy to multiply two numbers together to get a third but hard to start with the third number and work out which two generated it, a process called factorisation. Today, popular encryption systems such as the RSA algorithm use exactly this idea. But in 1994, the mathematician Peter Shor dreamt up a quantum algorithm that could factorise much faster than any classical counterpart and so can break these codes. As soon as the first decent-sized quantum computer is switched on, these codes will become breakable. Since then, cryptographers have been hunting for encryption systems that will be safe in the post quantum world. Now a group of mathematicians have shown that the McEliece encryption system is safe against attack by Shor's algorithm and all other known quantum algorithms. That's because it does not depend on factorisation but gets its security from another asymmetric conundrum known as the hidden subgroup problem which they show is immune to all known quantum attacks (although the work says nothing about its safety against new quantum (or classical) attacks).
Flash Modin writes: The world's largest cosmic ray detector, the Pierre Auger Observatory, has found natural particle accelerators living in our own galaxy. The UCLA astronomers say these ultra-high-energy cosmic rays are being shot from exploding stars. While such explosions have been seen in other galaxies, this is the first such detection anywhere in our neighborhood. The scientists realized they were detecting something bizarre when they noticed their detectors were gathering far more nuclei than any known theory could account for."When the data came out, they were so unexpected that many people started questioning the applicability of known laws of physics at high energy," UCLA Physicist Alexander Kusenko said in a press release. "The common lore has been that all ultra-high-energy cosmic rays must come from outside the galaxy." The solution is that while nuclei from stellar explosions usually disintegrate very fast, these nuclei were trapped in a galactic magnetic field where they traveled for millions of years before striking the earth's upper atmosphere.