Comment Did they really called it a "feminine accessory"? (Score 1) 48
Reminds me of all the jokes when the "iPad" name was announced (and before!).
And Bloom County's chartreuse flame thrower.
Submission + - A Better Alternative to ISP DNS (opendns.com)
gmgartner writes: "The article "25 web Sites to Watch" on the PC World site had a few worthy sites, not 25, but that's just my opinion. One that really got my attention was www.opendns.com. As a parent, it's nice to have content filtering that I don't have to configure and monitor — and pay for. As an IT consultant to small businesses, I see an excellent solution for companies looking to reduce the amount of non-work related web surfing that goes on in the work place — believe me when I say that this happens a lot more than bosses would know or admit. OpenDNS claims to have faster response times to, giving me a better internet experience. I'm not sure by which metrics this is measured, but I have notice a bit quicker response time in my day to day activities — just like when I was a kid: I could run faster with my new sneakers!"
Submission + - First US "Twin-Format" HD DVD Disc Reviewe
An anonymous reader writes: There's a new high-def disc format in town — the triple layer HD DVD/DVD "twin-format" disc. While the format made its debut earlier this year in Japan, the first US-released twin disc hits store shelves on June 26, with the release of the anime title, 'Freedom 1.' High-Def Digest got a sneak peek, and gives the disc a tentative thumbs up.
Submission + - Patent Granted for Fault Injection (patentstorm.us)
techlists writes: "A Patent on Fault Injection (#7,185,232) has been granted by our friends at the patent office. This could seriously and negatively impact software/hardware testing across the industry. According to the filing, "A method of testing a target in a network by fault injection, "The method may further include, receiving a feedback from the target to determine fault occurrence.". They've been asked to comment, but will they say anything?""
Submission + - Mickey Mouse previous art
uliafklasaeras writes: Iron Age Vikings created Mickey Mouse 1000 years ago as Swedish archaeologists have discovered. May we finally have the ultimate legal weapon to bring down this Disney icon and, especially, its pernicious effects on copyright extension?
Submission + - BBC On-Demand to exclude Apple and Linux users
startling writes: The BBC Trust has published its provisional conclusions regarding DRM for its On-Demand content.
From a PDF on the BBC website:
"The BBC Executive proposes a digital rights management solution which would require consumers to be using Windows XP (or above) and Windows Media Player 10 (or above) to be able to access seven-day TV catch-up over the internet... Our understanding is that the BBC Executive aspires to offer an alternative DRM framework, which would enable Apple and Linux users to access the service, but has yet to identify a satisfactory solution. In either case, we will expect this to have been addressed within 24 months."
That means the BBC would effectively be giving Microsoft a monopoly for up to two years! More information on the BBC website.
"The BBC Executive proposes a digital rights management solution which would require consumers to be using Windows XP (or above) and Windows Media Player 10 (or above) to be able to access seven-day TV catch-up over the internet... Our understanding is that the BBC Executive aspires to offer an alternative DRM framework, which would enable Apple and Linux users to access the service, but has yet to identify a satisfactory solution. In either case, we will expect this to have been addressed within 24 months."
That means the BBC would effectively be giving Microsoft a monopoly for up to two years! More information on the BBC website.
Submission + - Media companies presume guilt on Bittorrent
kripkenstein writes: "The big media companies immediately assume you are guilty by your mere presence on a Bittorrent swarm, an interesting report reveals. Turns out companies like BayTSP will send shutdown notices to ISPs without any evidence of copyright infringment; all they feel they need in the form of evidence is that you are reported by the tracker to be in the swarm. As the report states,
The report also has other interesting details about how companies like BayTSP operate."For my investigation, I wrote a very simple BitTorrent client. My client sent a request to the tracker, and generally acted like a normal Bittorrent client up to sharing files. The client refused to accept downloads of, or upload copyrighted content. It obeyed the law. [...] With just this, completely legal, BitTorrent client, I was able to get notices from BayTSP.
To put this in to perspective, if BayTSP were trying to bust me for doing drugs, it'd be like getting arrested because I was hanging out with some dealers, but they never saw me using, buying, or selling any drugs.
Journal Journal: Office 2007 Not Finished
Has anyone noticed that Microsoft did not finish Office 2007. The new ribbon interface at the top of the application is complete however, when you click on anything that requires a dialog box to open, the interface is the same as older applications. They did not even bother to change the color scheme to match the applications look. I would think that if the selling point is a new improved "experience" that you would want that experience to be throughout the application.
It seems to me that t
Submission + - Low Power, High Performance 10G
rss writes: "Solarflare, one of the contenders in the 10Gig Ethernet market have just released details of their curiously different Solarstorm product. They advocate a different approach compared to normal TCP offload by doing "partial offload" — the usual stateless offload (IP,UDP and TCP Checksum) is done in hardware but the actual TCP/IP stack runs on the host processor instead of on the NIC as with traditional offload. They claim 2.2W power consumption on their Base-T NIC compared to 10-15W for traditional offload. I must say this idea appeals to me. Could hardware-offload be the killer app for multicore?"
Submission + - Is the U.S. Readying for Ian Attack on Iran?
applemasker writes: Vanity Fair runs a long (but well-written and compelling piece) arguing that the Bush-Cheney team is taking the playbook used in the run-up to Operation Iraqi Freedom and applying it again — this time with Iran in the crosshairs. According to the neocons, Iraq is only the first step of a broader vision for the region. From the article: " 'Attacking Iraq when it had no W.M.D. may have been the wrong step,' says Uzi Arad, the former Mossad intelligence chief. 'But then to ignore Iran would compound the disaster. Israel will be left alone, and American interests will be affected catastrophically.' The article goes on to cite recent subtle shifts in U.S. force dispositions, the growing role of Strategic Command (which oversees nuclear weapons and missile defense) and the deployment of a second aircraft carrier group and minesweepers to the Gulf) to lend credence to its sources who are quoted as saying that "I've heard from sources at the Pentagon that their impression is that the White House has made a decision that war [with Iran] is going to happen."
Submission + - Inkscape 0.45 released
Simarilius writes: "Version 0.45 of the vector art package Inkscape 0.45 was officially released Monday and is available for download now for a range of platforms.
This release brings the exciting new features developed by the Google Summer of Code 2006 participants, as well as tons of other improvements across the board. Most notably is the new Gaussian Blur feature, which allow softly and naturally blurring Inkscape objects like path, shapes, groups, text, and images. Gaussian blur enables a wide range of photorealistic effects: arbitrarily shaped shades and lights, depth of field, drop shadows, glows, etc. Also, blurred objects can be used as masks for other objects to achieve the "feathered mask" effect.
Some great examples of what it can do are available in the screenshot gallery."
Submission + - How to Properly Clean your LCD Screen
[Geeks Are Sexy] writes: "You've probably seen some of those expensive LCD cleaning solutions in computer stores right? Think you need those to properly clean your screen? The answer to this is : absolutely not. Mixing up your own cleaning solution is very easy and will actually save you quite a few bucks. Here's an article showing you how to clean your LCD screen with home products."
Submission + - U.S. doesn't sign ban on disappearances
An anonymous reader writes: Jamey Keaten, writes:
Nearly 60 countries signed a treaty on Tuesday that bans governments from holding people in secret detention, but the United States and some of its key European allies were not among them.
The signing capped a quarter-century of efforts by families of people who have vanished at the hands of governments.
"Our American friends were naturally invited to this ceremony; unfortunately, they weren't able to join us," French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told reporters after 57 nations signed the treaty at his ministry in Paris.
Full Story:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070207/ap_on_re_eu/fr ance_un_disappeared;_ylt=AmvBtfSe6.HGN0Rvsa45QoN0b BAF
Nearly 60 countries signed a treaty on Tuesday that bans governments from holding people in secret detention, but the United States and some of its key European allies were not among them.
The signing capped a quarter-century of efforts by families of people who have vanished at the hands of governments.
"Our American friends were naturally invited to this ceremony; unfortunately, they weren't able to join us," French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told reporters after 57 nations signed the treaty at his ministry in Paris.
Full Story:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070207/ap_on_re_eu/f
Submission + - Lucid Movement - A high-speed video blog.
An anonymous reader writes: I wanted to let you know about a new video blog that may be of interest to other Slashdot readers.
Lucid Movement — A gallery of High-Speed / Slow Motion videos.
http://www.lucidmovement.com/
From the site about:
"Lucid Movement is a daily updated video blog that was created to display the wonder of the world through the lens of a high-speed / slow motion camera. In addition to displaying these videos this site acts as a video reference for artists and researchers by including information on how the shot was created including specific camera settings etc. Lucid Movement also serves as a resource for prospective camera buyers. By listing the manufacturer and model of camera, camera buyers can look at footage from the camera they are interested in getting to judge if the quality/features are what they are looking for."
Submission + - Glass Walkway over the Grand Canyon
hac writes: "Afraid of heights? In March 2007, you will be able to walk over the rim and into the Grand Canyon, with glass separating you from a 4000 foot fall.
How long until someone sets a record for wireless transmission within the Canyon?""The Skywalk will jut out 70 feet (21 meters) from the canyon rim, allowing tourists to go for a stroll with nothing between their feet and the Colorado River — 4,000 feet (1,220 meters) below — except for four inches (ten centimeters) of glass. "
