arobadog - Slashdot User

Submission + - SPAM: IC3 issues FBI fraud warning

Submitted by

coondoggie

on Tuesday January 15, 2008 @01:20PM

coondoggie writes: "The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) today issued a warning that it has receieved reports of fraudulent schemes misrepresenting FBI agents, officials and/or FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III. The fraudulent e-mails give the appearance of legitimacy due to the usage of pictures of the FBI Director, seal, letterhead, and/or banners. The types of schemes utilizing the names of FBI agents, officials, or the Director's name are typically lottery endorsements and inheritance notifications.Some observers think 2008 is going to be nasty year for security-related problems. Look for a rising number of compromised Web sites that quietly attack unsuspecting visitors, "parasitic" malware that eats desktop files, and a stream of exploits targeting high-profile events such as the 2008 Olympics and the U.S. presidential elections, experts warn. [spam URL stripped]"
Link to Original Source

Submission + - Vista's changes rob Creative of PC audio crown 4

Submitted by Dr. Damage on Tuesday January 15, 2008 @12:59PM

Dr. Damage writes: Creative has ruled PC sound almost since the beginning, but Vista's new audio layer changes the game by essentially killing off 3D positional audio acceleration. The Tech Report has reviewed a pair of post-Vista sound cards, with surprising results. Motherboard maker Asus saw the opening and created perhaps the best consumer-level sound card yet, the Xonar D2X, with quality components, an EMI shield, color-illuminated ports, the best objective measurements and subjective listening test scores we've ever seen, and (finally!) a PCI Express x1 connector. Could the Sound Blaster era finally be over?

Submission + - 50% growth in solar production in 2007 to 3.8 GW (earthpolicy.org)

Submitted by

mdsolar

on Tuesday January 01, 2008 @11:18AM

mdsolar writes: "Solar cell production experienced 50% growth worldwide producing 3.8 GW of cells in 2007. In the US, installation of solar power grew by 83% in 2007 over 2006 but the US fell to fifth place in solar cell production as Taiwan pulled into fourth place after Japan, China and Germany. The US holds a large lead in thin film solar production. Expanding polysilicon supplies are expected to bring the cost of solar panels to $2/Watt by 2010. The cost of production for thin film panels is expected to be below $1/Watt by 2010; competitive with coal power."

Submission + - Lifesaving hospital hygiene checklist banned (nytimes.com) 2

Submitted by on Monday December 31, 2007 @01:18PM

An anonymous reader writes: From the article:
Johns Hopkins University published a simple five-step checklist designed to prevent certain hospital infections. It reminds doctors to make sure, for example, that before putting large intravenous lines into patients, they actually wash their hands and don a sterile gown and gloves.

The results were stunning. Within three months, the rate of bloodstream infections from these I.V. lines fell by two-thirds. The average I.C.U. cut its infection rate from 4 percent to zero. Over 18 months, the program saved more than 1,500 lives and nearly $200 million.

Yet this past month, the Office for Human Research Protections shut the program down.

Submission + - Microwave Converts Waste to Fuel (peswiki.com)

Submitted by

sterlingda

on Sunday December 30, 2007 @02:28AM

sterlingda writes: "Global Resource Corp's High-Frequency Attenuating Wave Kinetics (HAWK) recycler extracts oil and gas in seconds from most everyday objects like tires, plastic cups, as well as from shale, coal, and tar sands. Microwaves tuned to an optimum frequency separate the component parts which can be burned or condensed into liquid fuel, using only a small portion of the energy produced."

Submission + - Follow-up on EvE's Boot.ini Issue

Submitted by Krinsath on Thursday December 13, 2007 @09:14PM

Krinsath writes: CCP, publishers of Eve Online, have posted a Dev Blog detailing the circumstances leading up to the deletion of XP's boot.ini file, which was earlier covered on Slashdot. The blog is decently detailed about how the mistake occurred (a new installer from their normal one), how they responded and what CCP has learned from it. While fairly dry, it is to the company's credit that they're being open about one of the more serious bugs to crop up in gaming's recent history.

Submission + - RIAA protests Oregon AG discovery request (blogspot.com) 2

Submitted by

NewYorkCountryLawyer

on Thursday December 13, 2007 @05:29PM

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "The RIAA is apparently having an allergic reaction to the request by the State Attorney General of Oregon for information about the RIAA's investigative tactics, in Arista v. Does 1-17, the Portland, Oregon, case targeting students at the University of Oregon. See The Oregonian, December 1, 2007 ("UO suspects music industry of spying") and p2pnet, November 29, 2007 ("RIAA may be spying on students: Oregon AG"). Not only are the record companies opposing the request (pdf), they're asking the Judge not to even read it. (pdf)"

Submission + - Has anyone gotten the GPL code for the Samsung TVs 2

Submitted by Daniel Lamblin on Monday December 10, 2007 @05:10AM

Daniel Lamblin writes: When I got my Samsung LN-T3242H 32" 720P LCD HD TV It came with a copy of the GPL, and a statement saying that some software used in the product is covered by the GPL and other software by LGPL. There was also a USB port on the back from which new firmware could be loaded. This excited me and I emailed the address specified with a request for the code, and anything they were willing to give as documentation with it. I believe the GPL specifies that there must be a usable way to build the source too. Well, two requests later, I had no reply. I emailed a Samsung engineer formerly involved in GPL related work, and he forwarded my request to the right people. It seemed. The last I heard, and they did try to keep me updated, was that they're getting it together for me, I should have it soon, and they need to talk to people in Monta Vista. This was in October. I got the TV in June and made requests starting then.

Apparently several, if not all, Samsung TV models have a reference to using some GPL code. This goes back about to 2005, maybe more. Has anyone's request for the source been honored? I understand maybe my TV has slightly different code, and they may be using a VCS to find the right branch, but it would make me feel better knowing that this isn't a black-hole and that someone's actually gotten some code out of Samsung regarding their TV using GPL & LGPL.

PS edit as needed.

Submission + - Dyslexia is Rampant Among Entrepreneurs

Submitted by

Hugh Pickens

on Saturday December 08, 2007 @08:31PM

Hugh Pickens writes: "Five years ago Fortune magazine published a story about dyslexic business leaders including Craig McCaw, who pioneered the cellular industry; Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Atlantic Airways; Charles Schwab, founder of the discount brokerage firm; and Paul Orfalea, founder of the Kinko's copy chain. Now a study of entrepreneurs in the United States by Julie Logan, professor of entrepreneurship at the Cass Business School in London, has found that 35 percent of the entrepreneurs she surveyed identified themselves as dyslexic. "We found that dyslexics who succeed had overcome an awful lot in their lives by developing compensatory skills," Logan says. "If you tell your friends and acquaintances that you plan to start a business, you'll hear over and over, 'It won't work. It can't be done.' But dyslexics are extraordinarily creative about maneuvering their way around problems." Mr. Orfalea, who left Kinko's seven years ago, and who now dabbles in a hodgepodge of business undertakings, is almost proud of having dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. "I get bored easily, and that is a great motivator," he said. "I think everybody should have dyslexia and A.D.D.""

Submission + - Nanotube-Excreting Bacteria Allow Mass Production (eurekalert.org)

Submitted by

Invisible Pink Unicorn

on Friday December 07, 2007 @05:59PM

Invisible Pink Unicorn writes: "Engineers at the University of California, Riverside have found semiconducting nanotubes produced by living bacteria — a discovery that could help in the creation of a new generation of nanoelectronic devices. According to the lead researcher, 'We have shown that a jar with a bug in it can create potentially useful nanostructures.' This is the first time nanotubes have been shown to be produced by biological rather than chemical means. This research began when they observed something unexpected happening while attempting to clean up arsenic contamination using the metal-reducing bacterium Shewanella. In a process that is not yet fully understood, the bacterium secretes polysacarides that seem to produce the template for the arsenic-sulfide nanotubes. These nanotubes behave as metals with electrical and photoconductive properties useful in nanoelectronics. The article abstract is available from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences."

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