Catch up on stories from the past week (and beyond) at the Slashdot story archive

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Apple

Submission + - Barnes & Noble's Nook HD Tablets Face iPad, Kindle Fire HD (slashdot.org)

Submitted by
Nerval's Lobster
Nerval's Lobster writes: "It’s proven a busy month for mobile-device releases. First Nokia whipped back the curtain from the Lumia 820 and 920, its first Windows Phone 8 devices. The very next day, Amazon unveiled its new line of Kindle devices, including the Kindle Fire HD. Not to be outdone, Apple executives took to a stage in San Francisco the next week to show off the iPhone 5, complete with a larger screen and faster processor.

But September’s not over yet, and the releases keep coming: Barnes & Noble has launched a pair of HD tablets, the Nook HD and Nook HD+, designed to maintain the bookseller’s toehold in the tablet space. The question is whether the Nook, even with upgraded hardware and new services, can successfully punch above its weight against the iPad and Kindle Fire, which are widely perceived as the dominant devices in the tablet market."
Android

Submission + - Barnes & Noble Now Recruiting Windows 8 Engineers for New Nooks (the-digital-reader.com)

Submitted by Nate the greatest
Nate the greatest writes: Everyone is all excited today about the new B&N Nook HD and Nook HD+, a pair of beautiful Android tablets with 7" and 9" screens. But while we're all paying attention to the new gadgets B&N is already looking to the next generation. There's a new job posting on one of B&N's websites today. They're recruiting a new Director of Engineering for Windows 8. The new guy's job will be to work to integrate the nook platform with Widows 8 as well as Microsoft's other ecosystems. It's not completely clear yet what this means but one can always dream. MetroNook, anyone?
Apple

Submission + - Phil Schiller: iPhone 5 scratches and chips are normal (geek.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: For any brand new product that you’ve paid hundreds of dollars to purchase, damage out the box is totally unacceptable. But as far as Apple is concerned, it looks like you’re just going to have to accept the iPhone 5 is prone to damage.

That’s the view of Phil Schiller at least, Apple’s president of marketing. He’s probably been getting more than a few emails from iPhone 5 owners complaining about the damage to the aluminum casing, so he decided to respond to one of them. His explanation is not going to make many people very happy. Schiller briefly explains that aluminum will scratch or chip and “that is normal.” That’s all he had to say on the matter and it suggests he thinks iPhone 5 owners just need to accept it is going to happen.

Comment Re:Window 8 game plan - tablets first? (Score 2) 671

by mkkohls (#40948055) Attached to: CowboyNeal Weighs In On the Windows 8 "Metro" GUI

I have no way of knowing, but I would guess Microsoft expects Windows 8 to be adopted by Surface/tablet users first. Windows 7 will be the enterprise desktop of choice for some time. If things go according to Microsoft's plan, a few years from now users will be comfortable with the UI formerly known as Metro. Then the enterprise will migrate to Windows 9+ with whatever refinements it has. Whether this works or not, we shall see.

That makes logical sense except for the fact that after windows 8 ships you won't be able to get a regular desktop with 7 in the normal routes. They positioned it wrong for that.
United States

Submission + - The U.S.'s Insane Attempt to Build a Harbor with a Two Megaton Nuclear Bomb

Submitted by pigrabbitbear
pigrabbitbear writes: Its destructive force aside, the atomic bomb represented the pinnacle of American scientific development in the mid-20th century. And even as scientists like J. Robert Oppenheimer seemed rather horrified at what they’d unleashed, others became more consumed by the scientific possibilities of the atomic age. The most famous proponent of nuclear was Edward Teller, the father of the hydrogen bomb and one of the inspirations for Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove.

As the world’s superpowers raced towards mutually-assured destruction, Teller became more enthusiastic about finding potential non-weapon uses for the phenomenal power of splitting or fusing the atom. Teller liked nuclear energy; his final paper, in 2006, would detail how to build an underground thorium reactor. But as the Cold War heated up, Teller became obsessed with using actual atomic bombs for civil engineering. Thanks to that type of numbers-driven thinking — if a bomb is as powerful as a million tons of TNT, why not use it to reshape the Panama Canal? — as well as Teller’s incessant prodding, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) created Project Chariot. The mission: to create a new port in northwestern Alaska using a series of underwater nuclear explosions.
Network

Submission + - When Is a Terrorist Not a Terrorist? (homelandsecuritynet.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: When is a terrorist, not a terrorist? Is it when Washington says so? How about if Washington refuses to say anything at all? In this particular case, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s office and the White House have indicated that it is a case of not wanting to upset the Taliban and in the same breath not wanting to offend the Pakistan military and security establishment[i]. The answer may be, when the ‘militant organization’ was previously a tool of the CIA against Russia in Afghanistan.
Apple

Submission + - The Future of Apple OSX (blogspot.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The future of Apple OSX will exclude end user programming. Only certified Apple App programmers will be able to develop and run native program.

Resistance is futile.

Submission + - Anonymous to Revive Demonoid, Avenge Closure (anonpr.net)

Submitted by hypnosec
hypnosec writes: Anonymous, the notorious hactivist group, has sworn to avenge the closure of Demonoid through actions on responsible authorities and to revive the torrent sharing and tracking site. Anonymous, through its common DDoS tactics and operation codenamed #OpDemonoid, hammered several Ukrainian government-owned websites rendering them offline for some time. The group’s long term goal is to restore Demonoid and its operationsby getting mirror sites hosted across the globe by members and ultimately creating a group called “open-source Demonoid”.
Upgrades

Submission + - Are Laptops Really Upgradable? 1

Submitted by
Heliar1956
Heliar1956 writes: "O.K., I’ve noted the discussions about the “upgradability” of the new Mac Book Pro Retina and the Macbook airs, and want to ask, “Is it really feasible to upgrade a laptop?” I think the answer is no, depending on how old it is and what you’re upgrading.

A secondary question is how much usable life would you expect out of a significant upgrade like in my example below?

I have a 5-year old Sony Vaio VGN FZ140E, which was a high-end laptop when I purchased it, not a mid-level or bargain. The specs are 200 GB hard drive, 2 GB memory, a bad battery, and Windows Vista, stable but corrupt enough not to update since February 2012. It works fine and currently I’m just using it to browse on the nightstand, mostly because of the dead battery.

I believe a nice upgrade would be a 250-ish GB SSD, at least 2 GB more memory, a battery, and Windows 7, all of which would amount to roughly $500-$650 depending on how you source parts. Such an upgrade would make it usable for mobile computing again at some level.

Can you reasonably put $500-$650 into a 5-year old laptop and what do you get? I know that resale value will not increase or increase by a tiny amount. Note these models were also known for getting hot, especially batteries (some spectacular failures).

I’ve also noted no one seems to discuss the upgradability of cell phones, and upgrading MacBook Airs seem to be a non-topic anymore.

Comments? Suggestions?

Cheers, Steve"
Education

Submission + - Hacker Highschool teaches students the importance of information security (opensource.com)

Submitted by
ectoman
ectoman writes: "Pete Herzog, co-founder of the Institute for Security and Open Methodologies (ISECOM), recently announced that the organization has begun work on the next iteration of Hacker Highschool, a set of of license-free security and privacy awareness materials that educators in elementary, middle, and high schools can use to teach students the importance of information security. Herzog explains that teaching kids to be hackers not only keeps them safer online but also helps them build better worlds. "It might sound strange," he writes, "but every industry and profession could benefit from an employee as creative, resourceful, and motivated as a hacker.""

Slashdot Top Deals

Get hold of portable property. -- Charles Dickens, "Great Expectations"

Close