chazR - Slashdot User

Submission + - Java 6 Released

Submitted by

Espectr0

on Tuesday December 12, 2006 @08:09PM

Espectr0 writes: "Sun has officially released Java SE 6. With a development cycle of over two years, and frequent releases to the public, the release is the first one after Sun's commitment to release the complete Java SE (language, compiler and libraries) in the first half of 2007. Java 6 is focused on the desktop users this time, with a range of features, including double buffering , performance tweaks and desktop integration."

Submission + - Vista's TCP/IP Promises and Perils

Submitted by

boyko.at.netqos

on Tuesday December 12, 2006 @07:17PM

boyko.at.netqos writes: "More information on Vista's TCP/IP stack from Network Performance Daily, this time from Robert Maercklein and Zach Belcher: "...security policy will come from a centralized source. When you get your DHCP lease, your computer will report to the stack what OS you're using, what version level, what patches, what anti-virus software that's active — all that kind of stuff. It will have the ability to restrict your network access if you have a down-level machine... We could see a lot of our customers with much higher WAN network utilization because of this new TCP/IP stack... CTCP can be enabled/disabled from the command prompt but there has been no mention of tuning parameters which leads us to ask the question: How are you supposed to configure this setting in Vista?... What worries us... is that Microsoft is basing this on packet round trip time. The round-trip time from the client-side will have the server processing time in it; but the clients aren't likely going to be the running the CTCP at first. If you have a server-to-server backup running, for example, CTCP may think its part of the round-trip time and it'll throw the delay window through the roof...""

Submission + - FTC Moves to Stop Astroturfing

Submitted by

Marketers Anonymous

on Tuesday December 12, 2006 @07:14PM

Marketers Anonymous writes: "The Washington Post is reporting that a recent FTC staff letter said that paid marketers must disclose their company affiliation when engaged in Word-of-Mouth Marketing (AKA astroturfing). Hopefully, this will curb advertising practices many people find dishonorable, such as Sony's recent YouTube campaign, or the telecom's anti-Net Neutrality commercials, although it won't put a complete stop to them so long as they make it clear that they're paid commercial endorsements. Further details can be found in the FTC Staff Opinion Letter [PDF]."

Submission + - Hacker Cracks UCLA Computers, Data On 800,000

Submitted by

4foot10

on Tuesday December 12, 2006 @06:21PM

4foot10 writes: "A hacker has infiltrated a University of California, Los Angeles, database containing the personal information on 800,000 people, the school said Tuesday, in one of the worst computer breaches ever at a U.S. university."

Submission + - Earth's Atmosphere Is Shrinking

Submitted by

Dotnaught

on Tuesday December 12, 2006 @05:46PM

Dotnaught writes: "Carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels will produce a 3 percent reduction in the density of Earth's outermost atmosphere by 2017, according to a team of scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research and The Pennsylvania State University. The good news? A thinner atmosphere will mean satellites and space junk can stay in orbit longer due to the reduced drag and rockets will require less fuel to place satellites."

Submission + - Gifts for the "Intelligent Designer"

Submitted by

ptorrone

on Tuesday December 12, 2006 @04:05AM

ptorrone writes: "We (MAKE) asked a few really smart makers of fashion, hardware, software and electronics to tell us what is on their wish list this holiday season (we like to call them intelligent designers) and boy did they come up with some good ones! Check out the dozens of ideas and gifts they put together that may just help you figure out what to give that special intelligent designer. Yes, we're trying to reclaim the name — intelligent design."

Submission + - Huge test of 21 personal firewalls

Submitted by mork on Tuesday December 12, 2006 @03:50AM

mork writes: Comprehensive Leak test of 21 personal firewalls. Leak tests imitate common methods used by trojans or spyware to send your information from your computer. Windows Firewall XP SP2 fails every test, so the fears that the days of third party firewall software was over seem groundless. Surprisingly the two top programs are both freeware.

iTunes Sales 'Collapsing' 651

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Tuesday December 12, 2006 @03:29AM from the nothing-definitive dept.

Alien54 writes to tell us The Register is reporting that based on reported revenues this year iTunes sales are plummetting. From the article: "Secretive Apple doesn't break out revenues from iTunes, but Forrester conducted an analysis of credit card transactions over a 27-month period. And this year's numbers aren't good. While the iTunes service saw healthy growth for much of the period, since January the monthly revenue has fallen by 65 per cent, with the average transaction size falling 17 per cent. The previous spring's rebound wasn't repeated this year."

Submission + - Debian Etch 4.0 Frozen

Submitted by

ajdlinux

on Tuesday December 12, 2006 @03:07AM

ajdlinux writes: "Andreas Barth officially announced that Debian's testing distribution, 'Etch', to be released as 4.0, has now frozen, somewhat behind schedule (the original release date was intended for December 4.) Judging by previous releases, I would guess that Etch will be released within two months — what do you think?"

Submission + - Arctic sea ice at tipping point?

Submitted by

Aryabhata

on Tuesday December 12, 2006 @02:28AM

Aryabhata writes: ""The Arctic may be close to a tipping point that sees all-year-round ice disappear very rapidly in the next few decades." BBC reports based on the latest data presented at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. The report suggests the ice is no longer showing a robust recovery from the summer melt. As per one of the simulation models, by 2040 only a small amount of perennial sea ice will remain along the north coasts of Greenland and Canada."

Feed So This Manatee Walks Into the Internet (nytimes.com)

From feed by nytfeed on Tuesday December 12, 2006 @02:12AM

In a pre-emptive strike inspired as much by FCC regulations as by the laws of comedy, NBC bought the license to hornymanatee.com, for $159, after the Dec. 4 installment of "Late Night With Conan O'Brien."

Submission + - How Craigslist is keeping up Internet ideals

Submitted by

prostoalex

on Tuesday December 12, 2006 @02:11AM

prostoalex writes: "CBS MarketWatch discusses whether Craig Newmark and CraigsList.org are missing out by not "monetizing" their traffic or selling out to large corporations: "Their noble stance gives entrepreneurs from San Francisco a great name. Despite the many unfortunate examples of greed, Internet entrepreneurs aren't all about getting rich quick and cashing out. At an entrepreneur's roots is a vision to provide a service that helps alleviate a pain point. The money thing always muddied the waters down the road. The attitude at Craigslist is a nice reminder of how entrepreneurs' ideals can still remain intact, no matter how odd they may seem in a world that worships money." CraigsList is currently #7 e-commerce site on the Internet with 13 mln unique visitors monthly, and only charges for real estate listings by professional brokers. No word on whether that income is enough to pay 24 salaries and data center fees for hosting a major Internet site."

Submission + - The World's First Independent Mouse Benchmark

Submitted by

Steve Kerrison

on Monday December 11, 2006 @05:53AM

Steve Kerrison writes: "Pro gaming website ESReality has devised and performed a unique benchmarking system for mice. Doing away with the subjective opinions of 'mouse x feels more responsive than mouse y', part of the testing shows how a mouse responds to varying speeds of movement from the user, and the point at which wildly moving the mouse will result in shooting a rocket at your own feet. In the first outing for this new benchmark, seventeen mice have been reviewed, with a few surprise results."

Submission + - VW Touareg tows a 747

Submitted by

lovek9s

on Monday December 11, 2006 @05:22AM

lovek9s writes: "With the V10 TDI clean enough now for California and on sale, VW is rolling out the heavy iron for their marketing spin. See:

http://www.jalopnik.com/cars/news/tugging-the-heav y-stuff-more-on-the-touareg-747-tow-219232.php"

Submission + - Map of the Internet

Submitted by

Wellington Grey

on Monday December 11, 2006 @03:43AM

Wellington Grey writes: "Author of the popular webcomic xkcd has put up a hand made map of the internet as today's comic. He also has an interesting blog entry detailing some of the work that went into it, such a pinging servers and creating a method of fractal mapping to display related regions as contiguous sections on the grid."

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