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Hardware Hacking

Submission + - Repairing class 3B lasers

Submitted by
ParticleGirl
ParticleGirl writes: "A student sent me this email and I don't know the answer (or where to send her to find it.) Help an enthusiastic freshman-going-on-sophomore (and her prof!) out, and I will introduce her to Slashdot.

"I'm in the process of taking apart and fixing class 3B lasers.. certain wires are attached to various circuit boards and secured with a white putty type substance. For example the laser component is attached to the dmx circuit board with two prongs and around it was this white stuff.. of course to get it out and replace it i had to take the white putty off... now that it's replaced i need to secure the wire to the prongs on the dmx board. Do you know what this white putty stuff is and where I can get it?""
Privacy

Submission + - Your personal information is leaking (newscientist.com)

Submitted by
ParticleGirl
ParticleGirl writes: "New Scientist reports on a paper to be presented this summer which essentially details all the myriad ways that the Zune, the Nike+iPod Sport Kit, and the SlingBox Pro "leak" personal information. From the article: The researchers show that the Zune's wireless sharing could let strangers push content onto your player, while the Nike+iPod kit could let others track your location (we've written about that before). Even SlingBox's encryption mode let's others work out what you're watching, the paper suggests."
Censorship

Submission + - Users rage against China's 'Great Firewall'

Submitted by
ParticleGirl
ParticleGirl writes: "China's list of "restricted" sites is growing longer by the day, and more and more individuals are expressing their discontent. From the article: Liu Bin, an IT consultant with Beijing-based consulting firm BDA, "believes it will take a long time before the government loosens control over Web content, especially because the Internet-savvy middle class is unlikely to take to the streets — like the farmers of Bobai county — over lack of Web access." Will they take to the blogs? Would that make a difference?"
Censorship

Submission + - Users rage against China's 'Great Firewall'

Submitted by
ParticleGirl
ParticleGirl writes: "China's list of "restricted" sites is growing longer by the day, and more and more individuals are expressing their discontent. From the article: Liu Bin, an IT consultant with Beijing-based consulting firm BDA, "believes it will take a long time before the government loosens control over Web content, especially because the Internet-savvy middle class is unlikely to take to the streets — like the farmers of Bobai county — over lack of Web access." Will they take to the blogs? Would that make a difference?"
Upgrades

Submission + - DARPA Urban Challenge

Submitted by saldate
saldate writes: I was surprised that this was overlooked by Slashdot readers, I found it to be pretty cool and somewhat inspiring. The DARPA Urban Challenge (think of it as DARPA Grand Challenge v2.0) is pushing autonomous automotive travel to the next stage of development, the urban zone. Obviously, the initial target of the project is aimed at military application, but simultaneously paves the way for commercial use. Have a look at the video and articles below:

Video:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/ a/2007/06/15/BUROBOCARTEST15.DTL&o=0

Articles:
http://origin.mercurynews.com/news/ci_6147098?ncli ck_check=1
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/06/how_stanford s_r.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/15/technology/15rob ot.html?_r=1&em&ex=1182052800&en=5ff9a120cd2b0a2d& ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9584_22-6191180.html
http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/15/stanfords-junio r-volkswagen-passes-first-darpa-test/
http://news.com.com/2300-11394_3-6191150-1.html
Privacy

Submission + - On (Mis)Trusting Google Desktop (cio.com)

Submitted by
rabblerouzer
rabblerouzer writes: "Highly usable software, such as Google Desktop, can seem revolutionary, but the web-meets-desktop search capabilities are seductively porous and raise huge privacy concerns, says Hugh Thompson [see previous Slashdot submission for more of Thompson's "research"]. Documented flaws demonstrate how attackers can use the tool to access private information on the user's desktop. Worse yet, consider that Google Desktop keeps a sizable index and cache of historical data that by default is unencrypted: It retains previous versions of files, web-based email communications, browsing history, etc. and is largely invulnerable to overwriting and other deletion tools."
Slashdot.org

Submission + - Isaac Newton's papers calculating the apocalypse (usatoday.com)

Submitted by
the terminal of geoff goodfellow
the terminal of geoff goodfellow writes: "The Associated Press has a story out today on the three-century-old manuscripts by Isaac Newton calculating the exact date of the apocalypse, detailing the precise dimensions of the ancient temple in Jerusalem and interpreting passages of the Bible. The Newton Papers just went on display for the first time in public at the Jewish National and University Library in Israel and lay bare the little-known religious intensity of a man many consider history's greatest scientist. The fully digitized manuscripts and printed works can be viewed here, including the Apocalypse, that reached the conclusion that the world would end no earlier than 2060."
Enlightenment

Submission + - Producing Supermassive Contrails at 35,000-ft Plus

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Producing Supermassive Contrails at 35,000 Feet — Plus

Isn't this picture of a Boeing 747-206B (KLM Flight 9165) jet flying at 35,000 feet a beauty? It was taken by photographer and pilot Josef P. Willems on 21 May 2002 from 36,000 feet. But why are the contrails "supermassive"? In a very interesting comment EridanMan, a member at Digg.com, writes in part the "aircraft, in this case, is just a massive catalyst..where a 'typical' contrail is composed of simply the H20 created in the cumbustors, a super-saturated-contrail contains that plus tons of ambient H20 in the air that is simply 'waiting' for any excuse to become solid. Hence, ALL air which contacts the aircraft, forms a cloud, not simply the air that runs through the combustors....The result are these super thick, long-lived contrails, which some, ignorant of the basic laws of chemistry and physics, mistakenly believe to be somehow nefarious."

But what about the "Plus" in the title? For the answer look at this beautiful and even more incredible photo, shot over Alaska, USA, by USAF Staff Sgt. Kevin L. Bishop on 1 August 1989, of contrails created by four fighter jets — specifically USAF F-15 Eagle fighters intercepting Soviet Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 jet fighters (the photo's via has additional pictures and the fascinating story). It appears these fighter jets are flying well over 35,000 feet, possibly closer to 50,000 feet above Earth.

Vortices, says EridanMan while observing that the Boeing 747 contrails also show lift-induced vortexes, "are truly beautiful (and dangerous) artifacts of simple fluid dynamics. Pilots...Just think about this picture [Boeing 747-206B, KLM Flight 9165] next time you hear 'caution, wake turbulence...' and give it the respect it deserves;)"
The Internet

Submission + - Mapping the Net, Node by Node (technologyreview.com)

Submitted by
indiejade
indiejade writes: "To the Big Node: little node Department Creating a unique functional mapping of the Internet, one that plots topography as well as function, was the goal of researchers at the Bar Ilan University in Israel. Their findings rank nodes according to efficiency. "The increased use of peer-to-peer communications could improve the overall capacity of the Internet and make it run much more smoothly," their study concluded.

"A dense core of 80 or so critical nodes surrounded by an outer shell of 5,000 sparsely connected, isolated nodes that are very much dependent upon this core. Separating the core from the outer shell are approximately 15,000 peer-connected and self-sufficient nodes. Take away the core, and an interesting thing happens: about 30 percent of the nodes from the outer shell become completely cut off. . . . Three distinct regions are apparent: an inner core of highly connected nodes, an outer periphery of isolated networks, and a mantle-like mass of peer-connected nodes. The bigger the node, the more connections it has."
The mapping, which was based on data from the assistance of 5,000 online volunteers, was published in a recent issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences magazine."
Communications

A Whitelist for Phone Calls? 151

Posted by Cliff from the i'd-settle-for-a-blacklist-on-my-cell-phone dept.
javacowboy asks: "I've been getting lots of strange phone calls lately. Most of the time, my phone would ring less than three times and then stop before I can answer. Then, a couple of nights ago, I got a call at 3am in the morning. It had stopped ringing by the time I woke up. *69 revealed a number with an area code of 632, which does not exist. I called the number, and the call would not complete past the area code. I want a product or service with which I can set up a -whitelist- of numbers that I allow to make my phone ring. Any number not on the list, or an unlisted phone number, tries to call me, and the phone doesn't ring at all. I would pay as much for this service as I would pay to have my number removed from the phone directory. Is something like this possible? If so, how would I do it?"
Businesses

Submission + - Amazon cuts Royal Mail delivery contract (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The BBC reports that Amazon has announced an end to part of its delivery contract with the Royal Mail, specifically the delivery of non-first-class postage such as that sent by Amazon's popular "Super Saver" delivery. Royal Mail, having recently lost its government-sponsored monopoly on the UK postal service, is already in some financial trouble and on the verge of its first strike in over a decade. The loss of the Amazon contract may be a sign that the Royal Mail is faltering, possibly to be overtaken by new businesses with better funding in the future.
Google

Google Spends Money to Jump-Start Hybrid Car Development 352

Posted by Zonk from the to-the-googmobile dept.
slugo writes "Internet search giant Google (GOOG) hopes to speed the development of plug-in hybrid cars by giving away millions of dollars to people and companies that have what appear to be practical ways to get plug-in hybrid automobiles to market faster. 'While many people don't associate Google with energy, analysts say the fit isn't all that unnatural. Renewable energy, unlike coal or nuclear, will likely come from thousands or tens of thousands of different locations. Analysts have long said that one of the big challenges will be managing that flow into and out of the nation's electric grid, and that companies that manage the flow of information are well placed to handle that task.'"
Microsoft

Submission + - What's behind Microsoft's open-source deals?

Submitted by
zakeria
zakeria writes: "Microsoft views its string of deals with Linux vendors — the latest being Linspire, announced this week — as part of a broader companywide push to improve interoperability. That's the word from Tom Robertson, Microsoft's general manager of interoperability and standards, and Jean Paoli, its general manager of interoperability and XML architecture (and a co-creator of the original XML standard). On Friday, the pair published an open letter, again calling on the industry to give the Office Open XML document format a fair shake as a standard. "

Comment Re:This is going to be interesting (Score 1) 223

by ParticleGirl (#19566045) Attached to: Ancestry.com To Add DNA Test Results
Nah it goes much higher than 10%. It seems to depend on the culture/social status of the mother but 30% isn't at all uncommon. To be honest the numbers are such that paternity should really be checked as a matter of routine.

Why? Why should paternity be checked as a matter of routine? This system seems to have been functioning for centuries-- it seems that many (most?) men and women have sex outside of their marriage at one point or another, and most of the time it goes unnoticed by their partners, and children are raised by their mother and her partner. If this is so pervasive, so inherent to human nature; and if our social system of paired parenting is so pervasive, so inherent to human cultures... why rock the boat?

* Disclaimer: I do not condone cheating and would dump my partner if he did. I am, however, an anthropologist, and I know that what we think of as normal or right in a culture isn't usually what actually happens in that culture. And that most of the time we are happier not acknowledging the difference.

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