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Communications

Submission + - Growing Pains: Wikipedia's Awkward Adolescence

Submitted by
Esther Schindler
Esther Schindler writes: "Like a startup maturing into a real business, says this CIO article, Wikipedia's corporate culture seems conflicted between its role as a harmless nouveau-digital experiment and its broader ambitions.

Love it or hate it, Wikipedia is a powerful force. As the site matures, writes K.G. Schneider, optimizing that force in the pursuit of truth will mean that Wikipedia must learn from others as much as it teaches. The article examines some of the problems — without claiming that Wikipedia sucks or even involves a vacuum — and what might be done to address the issues. Do you think those solutions will work?"
Wireless Networking

Submission + - Handheld Cellphone Jammer

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A Hong Kong based company, Brando is selling a hand-held cellphone jammer which could block GSM phones within a 10 meter zone from the user. Jammers can be used only by the federal agencies after completing tons of paperwork but this device will be available to anyone as this company ships worldwide. It warns users to notify people if the jammer is being used in a public place, subtly ignoring the fact that it would be illegal in most countries. The device would block all four GSM frequencies, 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz.
Linux Business

Submission + - 10 Things Linux Distros Get Right that MS doesn't (warpedvisions.org)

Submitted by
Anti-Globalism
Anti-Globalism writes: "I use Windows and Linux every day. Theyre both competent operating systems, each with reasonable applications and windowing systems. I find myself more productive on a Linux system, though, because of a few very simple differences.

http://warpedvisions.org/2006/12/30/ten-things-linux-distros-get-right-that-ms-doesnt/"
Microsoft

Submission + - Black screen of darkness to haunt Vista pirates (computerworld.com.au)

Submitted by Sonny Bill William
Sonny Bill William writes: As of this week, Microsoft have activated a function in Vista called 'Reduced Functionality'. This is a specific function in Vista which effectively disables non genuine copies of Windows. Therefore, anyone who has a pirated copy of Vista will experience: A black screen after 1 hour of browsing; No start menu or task bar; No desktop. http://www.computerworld.com.au/index.php/id;1029262671
Power

Submission + - Scientists develop 40% efficient solar cells

Submitted by gtada
gtada writes: A story published on Physorg.com states 'Scientists from Spectrolab, Inc., a subsidiary of Boeing, have recently published their research on the fabrication of solar cells that surpass the 40% efficiency milestone — the highest efficiency achieved for any photovoltaic device. Their results appear in a recent edition of Applied Physics Letters.' How much longer until we all have paneled roofs?
Security

Submission + - Can forensics software detect Linux LiveCD usage?

Submitted by Scruffynerf
Scruffynerf writes: Regarding the recent thread today on /. regarding forensics software, and with the advent of online document storage systems, such as private Yahoo or MSN groups etc (or even GMail's systems), I'm wondering if forensics software can detect the use of LiveCD's to access illegal content that exists online. I guess that i'm wondering if forensics tools could detect evidence of illegal actions from the following situation: Laptop with a native XP (or Vista (with bitlocker on)) installation. User uses a sufficiently developed LiveDVD or LiveCD (say, Knoppix/Whoppix/Helix or even Ubuntu Ultimate) to access content online piggybacking across unsecured, or minimally secured wireless networks. How would/could investigators firstly locate the malicious user, and secondly that he may have been doing illegal activities? cheers Scruffy
Intel

Submission + - Twenty Five Intel CPU Coolers Tested (hexus.net)

Submitted by Kez
Kez writes: Over recent years coolers have grown increasingly exotic in design, striving for good cooling performance and low noise even with the most power hungry of CPUs. But sometimes that comes at a price, be it straining the motherboard's socket to its limit, or the wallets of PC enthusiasts. Investigating which coolers do their job well, without snapping your motherboard in two, HEXUS.net reviews 25 LGA775 coolers.
Windows

Submission + - Vista's 40 Million License Sales In Context

Submitted by Overly Critical Guy
Overly Critical Guy writes: Microsoft's figure of 40 million Vista OEM licenses sold has less impact when weighed against the expanded size of the PC market, according to IDC numbers. The myriad of factors involved in determining success in the market makes Microsoft's constant comparisons to Windows XP less reliable as a growth indicator — particularly with Microsoft refusing to reveal the number of actual activated Vista licenses.
Power

Submission + - Purdue Researchers Generate Hydrogen From Water +

Submitted by Control Group
Control Group writes: A team of researchers at Purdue University, led by Jerry Woodall, have have developed a method to extract hydrogen from water by using an aluminum/gallium alloy.

Hydrogen is generated spontaneously when water is added to pellets of the alloy, which is made of aluminum and a metal called gallium. The researchers have shown how hydrogen is produced when water is added to a small tank containing the pellets. Hydrogen produced in such a system could be fed directly to an engine, such as those on lawn mowers.
.

The key, they say, is the addition of the gallium, "because it hinders the formation of a skin normally created on aluminum's surface after oxidation." The gallium is not consumed by the process, meaning it can be reused. The aluminum, of course, oxidizes and must be recycled. While the current price of aluminum means this won't be cost-competitive with gasoline in the near term, in combination with fuel cell technology, immediate gains could be realized.
Programming

Submission + - Do Newer Processors Equate to Slower Applications?

Submitted by MartinJW
MartinJW writes: Bradley Jones presents an interesting point of view on why the advent of multi core processors may reduce the speed of our computers, rather than bring the boost we would initially assume. He touches on the onus developers have to make sure applications are designed to take full advantage of the new architectural paradigm or risk losing favour with their consumers.

From the article:
If you are upgrading to newer processors that have more cores, but slower speeds, then your applications may run slower unless you prepare them to run across multiple processors. While compiler builders such as Codegear (Borland) and Microsoft are sure to build features into their compilers to help with this speed issue, in many ways, the onus is on the developer. It is up to developers to change the design and architecture of their applications to take advantage of the added core. Sequential applications will take advantage of a single core only; if a design change isn't made, you won't gain any speed.

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