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237583 submission

Submission + - $199 Linux laptop (hothardware.com)

Submitted by

mr_mischief

on Monday July 30, 2007 @02:44PM

mr_mischief writes: "According to Hot Hardware's recent review, Asus is getting ready to unleash a $199 compact notbook running Linux. This is entirely different from this recent $150 Linux laptop story which many Slashdot readers believ to be a scam.

There's a dual-mode menu which offers a simple system for novice computer users, and a slightly more advanced version for others. It's not aimed squarely at the same market as the One Laptop Per Child project's XO, and is expected to be sold to end suers worldwide. It's targeted at new users who don't own a computer or at people who want a cheap, small laptop for basic tasks.

The reviewed version has a 7" screen and a cramped keyboard to match, but a 10" version is available for $100 more. It offers built-in wired and wireless networking,four USB 2.0 ports, and a three-hour battery life. The storage options are a bit cramped, as you only get 4 GB of onboard storage (8 GB on the $299 model) and no optical drive. As the review says, though, USB 2.0 can make up for that if you like, and the lack of moving drive parts makes the machine run dead quiet."

237575 feed

Feed Engadget: Lil' Nick Neg recycles old PCs for those in need (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed on Monday July 30, 2007 @02:32PM

Filed under: Desktops, Laptops

He may not yet have the resources to build his own PCs and sell them on the cheap, but 15-year old Jacob Komar looks like he could well be a young Nick Neg in the making. As ABC News reports, Komar has already prevented some 1,500 PCs from ending up on the scrap heap since starting his "Computers for Communities" organization in 2001, with him performing all the necessary repairs and finding new homes for them among those in need. Now all he needs is a rivalry with another, bigger company trying to muscle in on his territory, to be followed by the inevitable announcement that the two have made up and will now be working together.

[Via The Inquirer, photo courtesy of ABC News]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

237453 story

Japanese Auto Makers Teaming Up To Create Standard OS 266

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday July 30, 2007 @02:29PM from the specialized-mechanics-heard-weeping dept.

CNet is reporting that Japanese car manufacturers are teaming up to develop a standard automotive operating system. "Just as computer operating systems [...] allow multiple applications to communicate with one another, an automotive operating system enables different driving systems to work together. The standard automotive operating system from Japan will include everything from fuel injection, brakes and power steering to power windows. Currently, certain mechanical car parts are interchangeable from model to model. Smart car parts that operate off a common software standard would enable that kind of convenience to continue, while allowing them to communicate more easily with other smart components in a car."

237557 feed

Feed The Register: Mario worm targets retro gamers (theregister.com)

From feed by registerfeed on Monday July 30, 2007 @02:13PM

VXers deploy Donkey Kong ruse

Infected emails doing the rounds on the net on Monday promise the chance to run one of the classic Super Mario Bros games by clicking on an attachment.

237551 feed

Feed Science Daily: Wider Buffers Are Better (sciencedaily.com)

From feed by sdfeed on Monday July 30, 2007 @02:13PM

Riparian buffers -- the vegetated border along streams and wetlands -- may decrease the amount of nitrogen that enters water bodies and the width of these buffers may have a positive relation to a decrease in nitrogen levels.

237547 feed

Feed Science Daily: New Aerogels Could Clean Contaminated Water, Purify Hydrogen For Fuel Cells (sciencedaily.com)

From feed by sdfeed on Monday July 30, 2007 @02:12PM

Scientists have identified a new technique for cleansing contaminated water and potentially purifying hydrogen for use in fuel cells, thanks to the discovery of a innovative type of porous material.

237545 feed

Feed Science Daily: Researchers Find Pathway That Controls Cell Size And Division (sciencedaily.com)

From feed by sdfeed on Monday July 30, 2007 @02:12PM

Researchers have discovered through genetic analyses a metabolic pathway in bacteria comprised of just three genes, all known to be players in metabolism. This pathway was previously shown to be involved in synthesizing modified membrane lipids but the new data indicates it also has a major role in cell division. This is the first identification of a pathway responsible for regulating bacterial cell size.

237543 feed

Feed news.com: Fake petroleum on tap at industrial microbe conference (com.com)

From feed by cnetfeed on Monday July 30, 2007 @02:12PM

Blog: Can microbes help us get off fossil fuel? Maybe.

237535 submission

Submission + - "No Child Left Behind" but no child readin (pressesc.com)

Submitted by

Buck Fush

on Monday July 30, 2007 @02:11PM

Buck Fush writes: "Reading ability of children in the US has declined since the No Child Left Behind was approved in 2002 and progress in raising test scores has slowed since the law's enactment, according to an article in Educational Researcher."

237531 submission

Submission + - Computer company CEOs lead the world in narcissism (networkworld.com)

Submitted by

coondoggie

on Monday July 30, 2007 @02:06PM

coondoggie writes: "If you have a hard time getting your CEO's head through the office door, you should prepare your self and your company for a business rollercoaster ride from hell. That's the conclusion of a Pennsylvania State study that measured the level of narcissism exhibited by 111 CEOs of computer software and hardware companies and compared it to the subsequent strategies and performance of those companies. The Penn State researchers used five indicators to measure CEO narcissism: the prominence of the CEO's photograph in the company's annual report, the frequency of the CEO's name appearing in company news releases, the use of first person singular pronouns (I, me, mine, my and myself) by the CEO in interviews, and the CEO's cash and non-cash pay compared to the company's second-highest executive. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/17969"

237523 submission

Submission + - Apple is sued for soldering battery

Submitted by fermion on Monday July 30, 2007 @02:03PM

fermion writes: The reports are everywhere about the first class action lawsuit against the Apple iPhone. The suit claims that the battery is not user replaceable, that consumers were not told that the battery was soldered to the board, and that the battery will exhaust itself in 300 charges. I certainly understand that those people who bought phones in the first mad rush might have not noticed that they were buying a sealed unit, but after that Apple had plenty of iPhones out, and from what I saw there was plenty of time to play with it. The fact that all iPods are sealed units, and it costs a pretty penny to replace the battery, seems to have no effect on the suit. A second topic, that the AC adapters are bad, seem totally with merit as Apple seems to have difficulty making reliable AC adaptors. IMHO, this is a testament to the incredible sales number for the iPhone, as in only one month, there has been enough phones sold to get the attention of the lawyers.

237519 journal

Journal Journal: Resolved in Court- Bill Gates paid the thief who stole CP/M

Journal by Marxist Hacker 42 on Monday July 30, 2007 @01:56PM

Apparently, despite Tim Patterson's denial, QDOS "ripped off" CP/M, specifically in the user interface, which in 1980 was the defining characteristic of software copyright law. QDOS of course was sold by Patterson to Bill Gates, who used it as the basis of PC Dos 1.0 and MS DOS, which was the creation of the monopoly that eventually became Windows.

237511 submission

Submission + - State directs sex victims to sex chat (zdnet.com)

Submitted by Cocoshimmy on Monday July 30, 2007 @01:49PM

Cocoshimmy writes: It seems as though the Florida attorney general has been redirecting sex assault victims to a sex chat line. Apparently the government victim helpline number was changed but they didn't update their website and the old number was bought by an adult entertainment company. They finally discovered this when an 8 year old girl came to her mother crying after calling the number.

237509 journal

Journal Journal: PBS Ombudsman on Bill Moyers/Impeachment 4

Journal by pudge on Monday July 30, 2007 @01:48PM

I am apparently one of the very few people who agrees with the PBS Ombudsman that Bill Moyers recent broadcast about impeachment was not properly informative by virtue of leaving out many arguments against impeachment.

My first letter is printed there. I followed this up with another letter, included below. Getler responded, "Thanks, again, for another useful observation."

237507 submission

Submission + - How many files does a modern OS really need? 2

Submitted by mopomi on Monday July 30, 2007 @01:47PM

mopomi writes: I'm setting up a home-office for my SO. Part of the company's requirement for the home-office is that the computer have an anti-virus package installed (because it will be connected directly to their network via a VPN). Since we don't like to use Windows for day-to-day work, we're running the VPN and remote display software under Suse 10.1. To be technically compliant with the AV requirement, I found and installed software from a big-name AV vendor (company is irrelevant). Last night I ran the AV scan on the entire system (bar /proc and /dev). This includes the Windows XP partition that is used for gaming.

The software scanned nearly three million files (with no positives!). My (somewhat rhetorical) question: Why are there so many files on modern operating systems? is every file necessary? is every tenth? how much of this is cruft?

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