maubp - Slashdot User

Astronomers Locate Solar System Very Similar To Our Own 101

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday April 08, 2008 @05:26AM from the i-think-it-is-awfully-pretty-out-there dept.

Smivs writes "Astronomers from St Andrews University in the UK have discovered a planetary system which looks much like our own. Dr Martin Dominik told BBC news: 'We found a system with two planets that take the roles of Jupiter and Saturn in our Solar System. These two planets have a similar mass ratio and similar orbital radius and a similar orbital period. The newfound planetary system, which orbits the star OGLE-2006-BLG-109L, is more compact than our own and is about five thousand light-years away. The OGLE planets were found using a technique called gravitational micro-lensing, in which light from the faraway planets is bent and magnified by the gravity of a foreground object, in this case a another star.'" Update: 04/08 12:26 GMT by Z : This story is talking about a subject we have already discussed.

EU Recommends Slashing Search Data Retention 93

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday April 08, 2008 @03:18AM from the tracks-in-the-snow dept.

Wayland writes "The European Union's Article 29 Working Group has completed its PDF report on data protection and search engines. The group recommends that search engines only be allowed to hold onto search data for six months. 'To hang onto data for longer, search engine operators will need to show that such data is "strictly necessary" to offer the service. Google and others have long said that they need to retain data in order to refine search results, prevent click fraud, and launch new services like spell check (which, in Google's case, was built from user search data). In addition, the data that is kept will need to be guarded more closely. The working group concluded that IP addresses could be used to identify individuals; if not by the search engine itself, then by law enforcement or after a subpoena.'"

Submission + - Facebook Relaunches Internet Inside Facebook (newscloud.com)

Submitted by

NewsCloud

on Tuesday November 06, 2007 @06:18PM

NewsCloud writes: "Facebook isn't just for people anymore. Facebook launched profile pages for businesses today: "Just like a Facebook user, businesses can start with a blank canvas and add all the information and content they want, including photos, videos, music and Facebook Platform applications. Outside developers have created a range of applications to enhance Facebook Pages, such as booking reservations or providing reviews of restaurant pages, buying tickets on a movie page or creating a custom t-shirt." Isn't this sort of like the Internet but inside Facebook (think AOL circa 1999)? Facebook is also launching a new advertising mechanism for friends to refer each other to their favorite businesses. i.e. if you click on the penile enlargement ad, your friends may read about it in your mini-feed."

Submission + - Darwin 9.0 Code Released (macnn.com)

Submitted by mr100percent on Tuesday November 06, 2007 @03:00PM

mr100percent writes: MacNN reports that Apple has released the source code to Darwin 9.0, the backbone of OS X 10.5 Leopard. x86 and PPC versions are available. According to Apple's developer mailing list, some key drivers are missing however.

Submission + - RFID Chips In School Uniforms

Submitted by blurker on Tuesday November 06, 2007 @02:42PM

blurker writes: According to this Information Week article, a school in the UK is testing a student-tracking system based on RFID chips implanted in their uniforms: Ten schoolchildren in the United Kingdom are being tracked by RFID chips in their school uniforms as part of a pilot program. If the program proves successful as a way to hasten registration, simplify data entry for the school's behavioral reporting system, and ensure attendance, Trevor Darnborough, whose company, Darnbro, filed for a patent on securing RFID tags to clothing, hopes other schools will be interested, according to the Doncaster Free Press.

Submission + - Google will drive searchers to new iTunes rival

Submitted by maubp on Tuesday August 21, 2007 @01:07PM

maubp writes: According to Forbes and the BBC, some of the world's biggest record labels including Universal and SonyBMG have begun selling music through a new download service, challenging Apple by offering DRM free mp3 music at 99 cents per song. Gbox will also be getting traffic from an ad campaign on Google (who will not be getting a cut of any sales).

Sadly (from the average Slashdot reader's point of view) Gbox are only supporting Windows XP and Vista right now...

Submission + - DIY Geomapping your entire town - hackers vs (openstreetmap.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Sunday August 12, 2007 @04:29PM

An anonymous reader writes: Google and Microsoft are mapping major U.S. cities. But what about smaller towns. How many years do we have to wait if not forever. Could we map our own towns using inexpensive off the shelf hardware and software. There is an open source map software project http://openstreetmap.org./ But what about integrating cameras and GPS to collect data. How can small groups map their own towns? What cameras and GPS to collect bulk data?

— - —

Microsoft's Local SUV Armada vs Google's Streetview Fleet http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/battlemodo/microsofts-l ocal-suv-armada-vs-googles-streetview-fleet-283648 .php

Google Streetview Camera Car Fleet Set to Invade America http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/eye-on-you/google-stree tview-camera-car-fleet-set-to-invade-america-27922 2.php

Google Streetview Camera Vehicles Spotted All Over US http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/pics/google-streetview- camera-vehicles-spotted-all-over-us-283159.php

Submission + - First Useful Third-Party iPhone App (macdaddyworld.com)

Submitted by LKM on Sunday August 12, 2007 @04:18PM

LKM writes: At this weekend's C-4 developer conference, Glen and Ken Aspeslagh wrote a two-way videoconferencing app for the iPhone, using the iPhone toolchain. With a periscope-style mirror, the iPhone's user can see the screen at the same time as being filmed.

Submission + - Sprint to Offer WiMAX-enabled N800 Tablet

Submitted by __aajbyc7391 on Tuesday August 07, 2007 @10:21PM

__aajbyc7391 writes: Sprint will offer a Mobile WiMAX-enabled version of Nokia's N800 Internet Tablet to North American customers next year, LinuxDevices reports. The new device will support Sprint's grand scheme of making WiMAX-based 4G wireless services available to over 100 million people during 2008. Sprint says Intel, Motorola, and Samsung are working on Mobile WiMAX chipsets, while LG, Samsung, Nokia, ZTE, and ZyXEL are developing consumer devices that will be usable on its new 4G network. According to Dr. Ari Jaaksi, Nokia's director of open source, WiMAX could change the cellular landscape, depending on how it's priced. First deployments will be in Chicago, Baltimore, and Washington DC, followed by 16 other metropolitan areas in the U.S.

Submission + - Aussie Nightclubs 1500% increase in copyright fees

Submitted by psy on Wednesday July 11, 2007 @03:56AM

psy writes: "Nightclub promoters are outraged at a 1500 percent increase in the cost [to APRA] of playing copyrighted music to large crowds, saying customers will suffer along with proprietors and staff. Clubs used to pay a copyrighted music licence fee of 7c a person per night, but from today the figure will soar to $1.05 a person. The figure is based on capacity, so a club that holds 500 will pay $510 — even if only 100 people turn up. Organisers of dance parties have also been hit with the new fees, with the original charge of 20c per person jumping to $3.07. When DJs are meant to be the people helping to sell music and increase CD sales through free advertising, this seems like a backwards move.

Submission + - EFF reports more USA PATRIOT act abuse

Submitted by A Name Similar to Di on Tuesday July 10, 2007 @11:56AM

A Name Similar to Di writes: From the EFF website:

In the wake of the inspector general's report, EFF filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit seeking fundamental information about the FBI's misuse of the NSL authority, and a federal judge recently ordered the Bureau to release information responsive to EFF's request on a rolling basis.

On Friday, July 6, the FBI made its first disclosure of 1,138 pages of documents, all of which you can view here. (Please keep in mind that this is the first of many sets of documents we'll be receiving, so this material does not present a complete picture.) Here's what we've spotted that we think is most interesting so far.

Submission + - Sad Kermit and the Future of Copyright (affdoublethink.com) 1

Submitted by

sockit2me9000

on Monday July 09, 2007 @06:12PM

sockit2me9000 writes: "Excellent article that talks to the original creator of the "Sad Kermit" meme and analyzes the future of copyright, fair use, and what actually constitutes "acceptable" use. Great article if you want to explain to non-geeks the larger repercussions of copyright on the internet."

Submission + - Elderly Woman Jailed for Not Watering Lawn

Submitted by i_like_spam on Monday July 09, 2007 @05:02PM

i_like_spam writes: BBC news is running a story about Betty Perry, a 70-year-old resident of Orem, Utah. Betty was cited and sent to jail for not watering her lawn. Like many other communities around the country, Orem (aka 'Family City USA') has rules mandating that residents maintain and water their lawns. In terms of privacy, is it right for communities to enforce lawn maintenance? And, in this day and age of energy and water conservation, shouldn't well-manicured lawns be a thing of the past?

Submission + - Unremovable DRM Encoding: Be afraid - Very Afraid. (nerds-central.com) 1

Submitted by

Alex Turner

on Saturday July 07, 2007 @12:28PM

Alex Turner writes: "As I have come up with this idea, you can bet your bottom dollar that the music industry guys have to. Hey — if they have not — shame on them. The principle is based on the fact that humans are very good at telling the differences between the shape and tone of sound, but very bad at estimating time. However, computers are awe-inspiringly good at analysing time.

Encoding data into an audio stream in such a way that a human can not hear the encoded data, but a computer can detect, is simply a matter of messing with time. See here for the complete story"

Submission + - Charter ISP hijacking DNS

Submitted by

koalemos

on Thursday July 05, 2007 @10:00PM

koalemos writes: "Charter.net ISP is currently hijacking DNS queries a la Verisign's $100 million dollar bad idea. Any unresolved DNS request, e.g. "abc123.fred", is currently being resolved to Charter's web search feature at 206.112.100.132.

The short term way to fix the DNS hijack is to block access to 206.112.100.132 at your router and then to change your DNS servers from Charter's to more reputable ones, however, Charter's behavior is nonetheless completely dishonest and quite possibly illegal. My question is; how widespread is this practice of ISPs hijacking DNS?"

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