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Another Look at 1930's Cyclogyro Plane Design 142

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the crashlo-burno dept.
trogador writes to mention that a group of researchers is taking another swing at the idea of a cyclogyro design for a UAV. Even though the cyclogyro design was invented in the 1930's there are no records of a successful flight. "Cyclogyros have the potential to be highly maneuverable flying robots due to their method of operation, making them potentially more suitable for complex tasks than helicopters and other micro air vehicles (MAVs) with less maneuverability. The biggest challenge in designing the cyclogyros is varying the angle of attack of the rotating wings. This ability would enable the plan to change altitude, hover, and fly in reverse. To achieve this quick angle variation, the researchers introduced an eccentric (rotational) point in addition to a rotational point connected to a motor."
Power

Submission + - Daylight Savings Time Increased Energy Consumption

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: An article in the Toronto Globe and Mail (here) reports that the change to extend Daylight Savings Time in an effort to save energy backfired. It seems that electrical usage (as reported here earlier) didn't significantly change, but what is new is that fuel usage for cars and trucks increased more than seasonally adjusted figures would allow.
Novell

Submission + - Microsoft and Samsung sign Linux patent deal

Submitted by AceJohnny
AceJohnny writes: Microsoft continues with its patent FUD tactic it used with Novell, now striking a deal with Korean giant Samsung. Since the Novell affair, Microsoft had also inked a deal with Fuji-Xerox. Microsoft still hasn't explicited which patents Linux is violating.
Linux Business

Submission + - Linux sponsered Indy 500 car campaign

Submitted by fedaykin42
fedaykin42 writes: The Tux500 program was created with a simple goal: "to collect community donations to enter a Linux sponsored car in the 2007 Indianapolis 500." For those that don't know, the Indy 500 is one of the world's most viewed sporting events. With approximately 350,000 spectators at the Speedway, over 5.5 million in the U.S., and an estimated 344 million international viewers, this is a great opportunity to get the Linux name out there. The team is actively working to raise enough money to have "Primary Sponsership", which means not only a large logo on the side of the car but also "Team Linux" in the race team name. Donations can only be accepted through May 21, 2007, so fire up your paypall accounts and let's see a very big Tux going 200mph!
Microsoft

Submission + - Head of Vista, Jim Allchin: "I would buy a Mac

Submitted by moonbirds
moonbirds writes: ComputerWorld is reporting that Windows Vista Chief, Jim Allchin, co-president of Microsoft's Platforms and Services division wrote in a 2004 e-mail to Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer that "he would buy a Mac if he wasn't working for Microsoft." The e-mail was presented as evidence late last week in the Iowa antitrust trial, Comes v. Microsoft Corp. As in past antitrust trials against Microsoft, much of the evidence came in the form of e-mails from Allchin and other Microsoft executives. Ironically, Allchin himself is quoted in two internal memos directing employees to get rid of all e-mails after 30 days. "This is not something you get to decide," he wrote on Jan. 23, 2000. "This is company policy. Do not think this is something that only applies to a few people. Do not think it will be okay if I do this, it hasn't caused any problems so far. Do not archive your mail. Do not be foolish. 30 days." Iowa's counsel also presented evidence designed to show that an ostensibly charitable program from Microsoft for developing countries and schools was actually designed to ensure that Windows remained preinstalled on PCs to discourage competition from the open-source Linux operating system. The so-called Education Government Incentive (or EDGI) program, appears "to be based on Microsoft generosity, but in fact the program is intended only for use where Linux is a threat," according to Roxanne Conlin, co-counsel for Iowa.
Announcements

Submission + - Invention: Light Razor!

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: NewScientist reports ( http://www.newscientisttech.com/article.ns?id=dn10 772&feedId=online-news_rss20 ) that Philips is patenting a device that uses light to painlessly remove hair follicles, doing away with shaving for weeks at a time. The full patent application can be viewed here: http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=P TO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2F srchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220060247740%22.PGN R.&OS=DN/20060247740&RS=DN/20060247740
Programming

Submission + - Cobol compilers for today's computers

Submitted by innocent_white_lamb
innocent_white_lamb writes: The recent discussions of COBOL have piqued my interest in playing around with and learning COBOL. I have found some COBOL compilers but very little discussion about them. Does anyone have an opinion on the best COBOL compilers to use, books to learn from, online resources, freely available subroutines and the like?
Censorship

Clinton Prosecutor Now Targeting Free Speech 571

Posted by kdawson from the whitewater-in-alaska dept.
Virchull tells us about a case the Supreme Court has agreed to hear, in which former special prosecutor Kenneth Starr will take the side of an Alaska school board against a student who displayed a rude banner off school property. The banner read "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" and it got the student suspended. He and his parents sued the school board for violating his First Amendment rights. The case is nuanced: while the student did not display the banner on school property, he did do so during a school function. Starr is said to be arguing the case for free.
User Journal

Journal Journal: Friend or Foe, Moderation, etc.

Journal by Hacksaw

I've been reading slashdot for a long time. I have to say that I am impressed. It has evolved into a pretty nice system. I still lament the problem of late posting*, but the moderation system seems to work fairly well. I keep my filter at 4 or above (except when moderating) and rarely see dumb comments. So, bravo to the designers.
User Journal

Journal Journal: Profound or sophomoric?

Journal by Hacksaw

An empty page is daunting in its limitlessness. I could write the great American novel. Or a prize winning poem. A touching or enraging news story.

Or I could just talk about a meta issue is such a way as to sound important, but ultimately convey nothing of importance.

Which is this?
User Journal

Journal Journal: Journalism

Journal by Hacksaw

The saddest thing about Slashdot is that most of the people who post comments think their comments are important. Obviously, they decided to write that comment rather than doing something more useful with their time like coding or reading a book.

Here's a tip, folks: if you aren't an expert in the field in question, you'd probably do best to not comment at all.

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I have hardly ever known a mathematician who was capable of reasoning. -- Plato

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