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Submission + - Thailand replicates AIDS drugs instead of buying

Submitted by unchiujar
unchiujar writes: "Thailand's health ministry says it has approved the production of cheaper versions of patented anti-Aids and heart disease drugs.

Health Minister Mongkol Na Songkhla said the step was necessary to make the cost of the medicines — Kaletra and Plavix — more affordable.

The move was criticised by pharmaceutical companies but drew praise from Aids campaigners."
Windows

Submission + - Windows Vista Slower Than XP In Gaming Benchmarks

Submitted by
bonch
bonch writes: "Techgage benchmarks show that Windows XP beats Vista in gaming benchmarks. Tests included Half-Life 2, Quake IV, and 3D Mark and showed a framerate drop in Vista using finalized NVidia drivers. The primary conclusion is that Vista is not an operating system for gamers at this point in time."
Privacy

Restrictions On Social Sites Proposed In Georgia 349

Posted by kdawson from the shoulder-surfing dept.

A state senator in Georgia, Cecil Staton, has introduced a bill that would require parents' permission before kids could sign up at a social networking site such as MySpace and Facebook, and mandate that the sites let parents see all material their kids generate there. Quoting: "[Senate Bill 59] would make it illegal for the owner or operator of a social networking Web site to allow minors to create or maintain a Web page without parental permission [and require] parents or guardians to have access to their children's Web pages at all times. If owners or operators of a company failed to comply with the proposed law, they would be guilty of a misdemeanor on the first offense. A second offense would be a felony and could lead to imprisonment for between one and five years and a fine up to $50,000 or both." The recently offered MySpace parental tools fall short of the bill's requirements. This coverage from the Athens Banner-Herald quotes Facebook's CPO saying that federal law forbids the company to allow anyone but the account creator to access it..
Robotics

Submission + - New Air Force drones have payload of F-16s

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: Call them UAVs, drones, remote-controlled aircraft, or robotic air vehicles-it's clear that this new generation of weaponry increasingly is playing a key role in the U.S. arsenal. And what we've seen so far is nothing compared with what's in the pipeline. In early production today is a kind of Predator on steroids-the MQ-9 Reaper. Six times heavier than the current Predator, the Reaper is capable of holding a payload of missiles and bombs equal to that of an F-16 fighter-and can linger in the same area for as long as 24 hours. See story for photos: www.usnews.com/badguys
Operating Systems

Submission + - Version control for config files, scripts etc....

Submitted by TokyoCrusaders92
TokyoCrusaders92 writes: Like a lot of other organizations (800 staff, 5000 students) we have a mix of windows, novell & linux...primarily linux...for our IT infrastructure. We now have a multitude of config files, firewall rule bases, shell scripts etc which are managed by multiple people / groups. Recently we started using RCS for version control of the firewall rulebase but this doesn't seem like it would scale up to larger groups of users. What are other people using to manage their config files....nice features would include version control, logging, multiple users, secure authentication, integrity checking...?
Programming

Submission + - ScrabbleBot - New Leap in AI

Submitted by
weasel
weasel writes: "A new Scrabble AI engine has just been polished; it actively tries to steal your potential words instead of just scoring for itself. How long until shooters and other video games build up the same level of nefariousness? Or is it a bit too frustrating to be considered a good gaming concept?"
PlayStation (Games)

Submission + - Nvidia Shares Affected by Weaker Playstation 3 Dem

Submitted by kog777
kog777 writes: Growing signs of weaker demand for Sony's new Playstation 3 video game system may be impacting some of its design partners, a new report indicates, with graphics system provider Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA), feeling Wall-Street heat today. A series of reports last week pointed to longer than expected shelf-time for Sony's Playstation 3 video-game console, as well growing inventories across the country, raising concern about possible slower demand for the new system.
Space

Hubble Telescope's Main Camera Shuts Down 131

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the always-on-the-fritz dept.
anthemaniac writes "Space.com is reporting that the aging observatory's primary camera, the ACS, has been in safe mode since the weekend. From the article: 'An initial investigation indicates the camera has stopped functioning, and the input power feed to its Side B electronics package has failed.' The camera has shut down before and been revived."
Databases

Submission + - Database pioneer Jim Gray lost at sea

Submitted by elmiller
elmiller writes: Jim Gray, database pioneer, hasn't returned from a Sunday morning solo sailing trip to the Farallon Islands outside San Francisco's Golden Gate. The Coast Guard searched all night Sunday evening, with no success and no signals of any kind from Dr. Gray's sailboat. Updates at the SF Chronicle web site (current story is here).
Microsoft

Microsoft to Get Tough on License Dodgers 564

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the ready-aim-fire dept.
An anonymous reader writes "PC Advisor reports that Microsoft is going to start getting tough with certain small business customers. They are going to examine their small customer license database — any discrepancies and it will call you for an audit. If you refuse it will send in the BSA and the legal heavies. "

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