Kushy - Slashdot User

PHP Optimized for Windows Server 2008 182

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday March 04, 2008 @12:22PM from the dogs-and-cats-living-together dept.

Stony Stevenson writes "It used to be that popular PHP applications would run more poorly on Windows Server than on a Linux or Unix servers, for which PHP had been optimized. Specialist in the PHP language Zend Technologies now says that's no longer the case. The Zend Core commercially supported form of PHP has been certified by Microsoft as ready to run 'with performance and stability' on Windows Server 2008, said Andi Gutmans, co-founder and CTO of Zend. Previously, PHP 'didn't run as well as it should on Windows,' said Gutmans, despite the fact that 75% to 80% of PHP users were developing on Windows workstations."

OLPC Mesh Networking Tester Explains How It Works 92

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday March 04, 2008 @10:25AM from the who-doesn't-love-a-good-mesh dept.

An anonymous reader writes "James Cameron is an engineer working on the OLPC project, specifically testing the wireless network capabilities of the OLPC XO laptop. Cameron lives in a small town called Tooraweenah in a remote region of the Australian outback. There is little noise in the spectrum in the area, so it's perfect for testing the wireless networking capabilities of the XO as it mirrors the kind of rural, spacious environment the XO is intended to be deployed in. Cameron breaks down exactly how the OLPC XO's mesh networking works, including the cheap US$35 solar powered mesh nodes that can be mounted on top of a tree to further the network's reach. Testing in the Australian outback, Cameron discovered that the range of the XO could go up to 1.6km 'quite easily' at 1.5m above ground. 'Assuming a range of 1.6km holds true, (the mathematical formula for area of a circle) Pi R squared tells us one well placed mesh node will cover up to eight square kilometers.' The article also includes numerous pictures of the mesh nodes and testing of the XO."

Aging Security Vulnerability Still Allows PC Takeover 282

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday March 04, 2008 @09:44AM from the there-are-issues-here-and-perhaps-they-should-be-investigated dept.

Jackson writes "Adam Boileau, a security consultant based in New Zealand has released a tool that can unlock Windows computers in seconds without the need for a password. By connecting a Linux machine to a Firewire port on the target machine, the tool can then modify Windows' password protection code and render it ineffective. Boileau said he did not release the tool publicly in 2006 because 'Microsoft was a little cagey about exactly whether Firewire memory access was a real security issue or not and we didn't want to cause any real trouble'. But now that a couple of years have passed and the issue has not resolved, Boileau decided to release the tool on his website."

Daylight Saving Time Wastes Energy 550

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday March 04, 2008 @02:27AM from the back-to-nature's-clock dept.

An anonymous reader writes "With the time approaching when we'll be changing our clocks again, the Wall Street Journal is running a timely article on a study done by a UC-Santa Barbara economics professor and a Ph.D. student. The study unambiguously concludes that Daylight Saving Time not only doesn't save any energy, it actually wastes energy and costs more. The study used energy company records from Indiana before and after that state mandated DST for all of its counties, and calculated that the switch cost Indiana citizens $8.6M per year. 'I've never had a paper with such a clear and unambiguous finding as this,' the professor said."

Submission + - Speed of light exceeded by German physicists? (telegraph.co.uk)

Submitted by Tibore Escalante on Thursday August 16, 2007 @04:08PM

Tibore Escalante writes: Two physicists in Germany claim that they've exceeded "c":

"'We have broken speed of light'"; Telegraph.co.uk

Quote: "The pair say they have conducted an experiment in which microwave photons — energetic packets of light — travelled "instantaneously" between a pair of prisms that had been moved up to 3ft apart.

Dr Nimtz told New Scientist magazine: "For the time being, this is the only violation of special relativity that I know of.""

Submission + - Couple trys to name baby '@'

Submitted by linuxwrangler on Thursday August 16, 2007 @03:43PM

linuxwrangler writes: A Chinese couple has applied to name their baby @. The Chinese often use an English-like pronunciation of '@' with a pronounced 'T' which is similar in Mandarin to "love him". It is not-yet known if the government, which recently banned use of Arabic numerals, foreign languages, and non-Chinese symbols in names, will accept baby @.

Submission + - German scientists claim to exceed lightspeed (zdnet.com)

Submitted by Bombula on Thursday August 16, 2007 @03:22PM

Bombula writes: A team of German scientists claims to have caused photons to breakn the lightspeed barrier via quantum tunneling. The article is short on details, but suggests in the long-run this could hold the promise of superfast networking. Don't anyone hold your breath, though...

Submission + - Germans break Light Speed Barrier (telegraph.co.uk)

Submitted by

Velcroman98

on Thursday August 16, 2007 @03:21PM

Velcroman98 writes: "Germans claim to have broken the speed of light thereby nulifying everything we believe sacred about physics. Get your Flux Capacitors ready, you'll get there before you leave!"

Submission + - Speed of Light "Exceeded"

Submitted by konohitowa on Thursday August 16, 2007 @02:59PM

konohitowa writes: Two German scientists claim to have performed an experiment in which microwave photons exceeded the speed of light. From the story: "The pair say they have conducted an experiment in which microwave photons — energetic packets of light — travelled "instantaneously" between a pair of prisms that had been moved up to 3ft apart." Having seen claims such as these in the past, it will be interesting to see what mistake this particular pair made. And yes, I'm definitely assuming they're misinterpreting their results.

Submission + - DirecTV to offer Internet over power lines. (hollywoodreporter.com)

Submitted by

dss902

on Thursday August 16, 2007 @02:55PM

dss902 writes: "DirecTV Group, in a move designed to further cater to customers who want their video service bundled with other products, struck a deal with Current Group for offering high-speed Internet services over power lines."

Submission + - 'We have broken speed of light'

Submitted by

sporkme

on Thursday August 16, 2007 @02:51PM

sporkme writes: "Physicists from the University of Koblenz in Germany claim to have violated special relativity using quantum tunneling to move microwave photons more than three feet "instantaneously." This would mean that the particles exceeded the speed of light by traversing the space between two prisms at a speed higher than 186,000 miles per second.

The original New Scientist article is available to subscribers."

Submission + - Citrix to purchase XenSource (reuters.com)

Submitted by C_Kode on Thursday August 16, 2007 @02:48PM

C_Kode writes: It seems that Citrix is going to purchase XenSource for around $500 million. This could be bad news as there are rumors of someone else buying Citrix. We've been testing XenSource and VMWare. While VMWare appears to be the better product, XenSource is more affordable. The sell of XenSource draws new questions into what we are going to do.

Submission + - Super ocean pathway discovered: Tasman Outflow (itwire.com)

Submitted by

WaltonNews

on Thursday August 16, 2007 @12:23PM

WaltonNews writes: "A major underwater current called the Tasman Outflow has been discovered by Australian scientists. It helps to regulate the Earth's climate by providing water flow between three oceans in the southern hemisphere."

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