Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Sci-Fi

Submission + - Battlestar Galactica to end after 4th season (yahoo.com)

Submitted by thanksforthecrabs
thanksforthecrabs writes: After months of the Sci Fi channel denying rumors, there's official word that the upcoming season is the end of the road for Battlestar Galactica. The decision to end is reportedly a creative one. With Dr. Who and BG ending — what will nerds do with their new-found free time? http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070601/tv_nm/battlest ar_dc
Security

Submission + - Swimming Terrorists! (ishackingyou.com)

Submitted by
"Rafalski"
"Rafalski" writes: "Wired's Danger Room Blog is reporting that scientists at the Acoustical Society of America will present some ground-breaking achievements at next month's meeting. Apparently, they now have a way, using sonar and some advanced software techniques and lots of expensive equipment, to track potential underwater swimming terrorists in our ports! The article features what they call an "acoustic tripwire" which can analyze ambient noise at a choke-point port entrance, and detect suspicious activity and track it! This is all really interesting but — why wouldn't Johnny Jihad simply jump into the water inside one of these choke-points? Personally — I think we have bigger problems than terrorists with submersible bombs swimming into our ports to blow themselves up."
Biotech

Submission + - Get Your Genome Sequenced Here (forbes.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Forbes has a cover story on why new gene technologies are going to lead to a boom in tests that will tell you your risk of heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. "Soon all of us will be able to find out what ticking time bombs lie hidden inside our DNA ..." the article notes, "if we really want to know."

http://www.forbes.com/home/technology/2007/05/31/g enetic-testing-dna-tech-cx_mh_rl_0531dna_land.html

The reason for the boom: "Seven years later Moore's Law has come to gene hunting. Powering the revolution are new devices that speed-read DNA cheaper than ever before."

These new machines may make it possible to find out about your disease risk, and even to get your whole genome sequenced. A project at Harvard is seeking to sequence the DNA of thousands of people. See: http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2007/0618/052_5. html

Other features of interest:
-12 Gene Tests That Could Change Your Life: http://www.forbes.com/2007/05/31/gene-tests-availa ble-tech_cz_rl_mh_0531genetests.html

-Video of a woman who took a radical step after finding out she had a cancer-causing gene. http://www.forbes.com/video/?video=fvn/tech/jal_ca ncer053107

-A reporter gets genotyped:
http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2007/0618/052b.h tml
Power

Submission + - New Solar Cells Reach 40% Efficiency (physorg.com)

Submitted by
eldavojohn
eldavojohn writes: "A subsidiary of Boeing has created a photovoltaic device at 40% efficiency which surpasses current solar cell capabilities (which held a theoretical 37% limit). The article notes that current technologies focus on a single range of photons with single-junction silicon cells that are specific to our sun. The team that developed this new technology experimented both with expanding the range of sunlight wavelengths harnessed and utilizing "concentrator multijunction solar cells that use high intensities of sunlight, the equivalent of 100s of suns, concentrated by lenses or mirrors." Their research paper is available from the Journal of Applied Physics Letters. The best part is that the team predicts they can push this to 58% efficiency."
Biotech

Submission + - A "finger length" test for Technophobia?

Submitted by
donak
donak writes: "Linux World Australia has a story from PCWorld about a possible connection between testosterone and oestrogen in utero, and the ability of a person in either mathematics or language ... and also an indicator of possible technophobia
http://www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php?id=16464442 87&eid=-50

From the article:
"Testosterone has been linked to spatial skills and mathematical skills, [and] digit ratio has been linked to testosterone," said Brosnan, Head of the Department of Psychology at the University of Bath. "So the question then was — does digit ratio relate to mathematical abilities?"

Scientists believe that high levels of exposure to the male hormone, testosterone, while a child develops in its mother's womb, promote the development of the areas of the brain which are often associated with spatial and mathematical skills.

Similarly, the female hormone oestrogen is thought to do the same in the areas of the brain which are often associated with verbal ability.
—
I always thought the "relationship of digits" _is_ mathematics ..."
The Internet

Submission + - Say no to traffic shaping

Submitted by
kash2000
kash2000 writes: "UK based blog against Virgin Media and other ISP's who shape or throttle broadband downloads. broadband, virgin media, ISP, throttling, traffic management."
The Courts

Submission + - Finnish court rules: CSS protection ineffective

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In an unanimous decision released today, Helsinki District Court ruled that Content Scrambling System (CSS) used in DVD movies is "ineffective". The decision is the first in Europe to interpret new copyright law amendments that ban the circumvention of "effective technological measures". There is also a more detailed analysis (pdf) of the case.
First Person Shooters (Games)

Submission + - Turbo Squid Officially Launches GameFlood

Submitted by
backwerds
backwerds writes: "Turbo Squid Officially Launches GameFlood, Unites Developers and Gamers Under Mod and Map Making Marketplace
Innovative business approach builds community of developers and gamers to extend the playability of the most popular PC titles
New Orleans, Louisiana: May 24, 2007: Turbo Squid, the world's largest online marketplace for 3D models, today announced that it has officially launched GameFlood, the premier destination for playing and creating add-on videogame content, including mods and maps. The new GameFlood portal and platform will dramatically improve the experience for players of add-on content, while also serving to bridge the gap between 3D modelers, add-on developers, and game publishers. GameFlood provides a secure hosting environment for playing and sharing mods and maps designed for the world's most popular PC games, including first-person shooters, real-time strategy, and role-playing games.
Current titles supported by GameFlood include: Half-Life 2, Call of Duty 2, Battlefield 2, Unreal Tournament 2004, Counter Strike: Source, FEAR, Oblivion, and many others, as well as games from the Command & Conquer, Grand Theft Auto, Doom, Total War, Warhammer 40,000, Neverwinter Nights, and Age of Empires series. Additional modifiable titles are being added to the site on an ongoing basis.

"The launch of GameFlood is the culmination of our vision for giving PC gamers quick and easy access to world-class add-on content, while at the same time providing the tools and community that talented developers need to produce top-quality user-generated content," said Matthew Wisdom, CEO of Turbo Squid. "GameFlood harnesses the strength of Turbo Squid's community of artists, matches them up with developers, and provides them with resources to create mods, maps, and other cutting-edge add-on content. We're proud to introduce this platform to address the unmet needs of the market and offer a compelling destination for all members of the gaming community."

GameFlood has been built to benefit everyone involved in the production, distribution, and consumption of add-on game content. For gamers, GameFlood's no-hassle, managed downloads and quality-tested catalogue of mods and maps will streamline the experience of finding and playing great new content. GameFlood provides developers with access to Turbo Squid's extensive pool of 3D models and artists, as well as free project management and bug-tracking tools. And GameFlood is working together with publishers to facilitate partnerships with the most talented developers in the mod and mapmaking community; eventually, these partnerships will allow publishers to provide ongoing support for existing titles without having to worry about the internal commitment, expense, or administrative hassles they have come to expect. In this way, GameFlood is empowering mod and map developers to professionalize the work that they love, and helping those developers provide gamers with a steady stream of world-class content for the finest PC games in the world.
About GameFlood GameFlood, a division of Turbo Squid, is the premier online destination for 3D artists, developers, and gamers to create, customize and play third-party video game content. GameFlood is working to revolutionize the way that add-on content is created and played, leveraging the talents of Turbo Squid's community of artists (the largest 3D artist community in the world), helping those artists team with talented developers, and providing those teams with the tools they need to create exciting new video game experiences. To learn more about GameFlood, visit http://www.gameflood.com/
About Turbo Squid Founded in 2000, Turbo Squid is dedicated to the management and distribution of digital products and other relevant content for 3D and 2D designers and creative professionals. Turbo Squid provides a global market for digital products by enabling individual and corporate users to list, promote and sell their content to users around the world. In 2003, Turbo Squid was named as the exclusive publisher and worldwide distributor for the Autodesk Certified Animation Plug-in Program. Turbo Squid is a privately held and venture-backed company. More information can be found at the company's web site http://www.turbosquid.com/
# # #

Contacts

GameFlood
Drew Gunning — Marketing Coordinator
dgunning@turbosquid.com
(504) 208-5162

Kohnke Communications (on behalf of GameFlood)
Quinn Wageman — Account Executive
quinn@kohnkecomm.com
(212) 730-9744"
The Internet

Submission + - Is "Personal" Computing Dead?

Submitted by jg21
jg21 writes: Yahoo!'s Jeremy Zawodny recently asked What the heck is Web 2.0 anyway? and received a set of responses reminiscent of those garnered by The Reg back in 2005, which famously concluded, based on its readers' responses, that Web 2.0 was made up of 12% badger's paws, 6% JavaScript worms, and 26% nothing. Nonetheless, as Social Computing (SoC) widens and deepens its footprint, we seem to be witnessing the death of "Personal" Computing. SoC has already, for better or for worse, become an academic field of study.
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft eyes Yahoo

Submitted by rdd
rdd writes: The New York Post has a story on a possible takeover of Yahoo by Microsoft. It comes in the wake of the Google / Doubleclick deal that has probably caused some concern within Microsoft. A takeover of Yahoo could provide them with a better position in many areas they are currently behind in. Yahoo includes strong internet names like Flickr and a healthy advertising section. They are also developing web-based office applications that could be pitted against Googles Docs & Spreadsheets.

Slashdot Top Deals

If you have a procedure with 10 parameters, you probably missed some.

Close