Elf-friend - Slashdot User

Submission + - PC World Editor Quits Over Publisher Interference

Submitted by

DenmaFat

on Wednesday May 02, 2007 @10:53PM

DenmaFat writes: "Wired's Epicenter is reporting that PC World editor-in-chief Harry McCracken has resigned after newly ensconced publisher Colin Crawford demanded he kill a tongue-in-cheek story criticizing Apple. The story by a former PC World editor downplays the problems at PC World, but word on the street is that Crawford has the magazine's print edition in his cross hairs."

Submission + - Refusing Vista EULA?

Submitted by

Sasayaki

on Wednesday May 02, 2007 @10:40PM

Sasayaki writes: "I recently purchased a Compaq Presario C500 notebook in Brisbane, Australia which came bundled with Microsoft Windows Vista. However, I wish to install Ubuntu as my Operating System. To that end I wish to reject the Windows Vista EULA which is presented to me when I turn on said notebook, yet I find there is no way for me to do so; when the EULA is displayed to me in the "Set Up Windows" stage of installation, I am presented with what I interpret to be a standard Vista EULA and then a second HP EULA. There is no obvious way to refuse either of these license terms; the only options I am presented with are two checkboxes (one for each EULA) and a greyed out button labelled 'Next'. The two checkboxes read: "I accept the license terms (required to use Windows)" and "I accept the license terms (required to use your computer)". Reading the second (HP specific) EULA carefully, it makes it clear that I cannot use this laptop without agreeing to the Vista EULA. Specifically, ".... YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THIS EULA. IF YOU DO NOT ACCEPT THESE LICENSE TERMS, YOUR SOLE REMEDY IS TO RETURN THE ENTIRE UNUSED PRODUCT (HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE) WITHIN 14 DAYS FOR A REFUND SUBJECT TO THE REFUND POLICY OF YOUR PLACE OF PURCHASE." Naturally (since I still have the notebook) I still have not accepted the terms of the EULA. I crawled Microsoft's website at www.microsoft.com, searching for some recourse for myself and those like me who wish to reject the EULA and receive a refund on the Microsoft Vista Operating System when I do not agree to the EULA's conditions, but did not find anything (unsurprisingly). Can any slashdotters offer any suggestions where I might go to receive said refund?"

Submission + - Australia Gets a Do Not Call Register

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 02, 2007 @10:14PM

An anonymous reader writes: After much wrangling and fighting, Australia has finally started taking submissions on its new Do Not Call register. Telemarketers calling numbers present on this list, as of the end of May, will be subject to fines ranging from $AU1000 up to over (*places pinky beside mouth*) ONE MILLION DOLLARS (*removes pinky*). There are concerns that the new register doesn't go far enough — that people should opt in to telemarketers' calls, and also quibbling over the exemption of political, religious, and charitible organisations.

But still, an excellent start. Note that the server for the register is running slow as this submission is being typed up — it seems that this move is mildly popular amongst the population.

Microsoft Drops Hints on IE8 309

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday May 02, 2007 @10:04PM from the new-and-improved dept.

benuski writes "Lost in the hype about Microsoft's new Siverlight platform, there has been some information surfacing about IE8. It will include improvements in RSS, CSS, and AJAX support, and will follow Firefox 3 in supporting microformats. Also, the developers are going to try and improve UI customization, which is one of the main criticisms of IE7."

Submission + - PV Silicon breakthrough wins MIT prize

Submitted by

Sterling D. Allan

on Wednesday May 02, 2007 @09:19PM

Sterling D. Allan writes: "Silicon shortages have logjammed the solar industry, causing otherwise feasible plants to shut down or lay off workers, even though the demand has been skyrocketing. Silicon production worldwide is at around 40,000 tons per year, while the present demand is approaching 75,000 tons/year. Tuesday, a new silicon producer came out of stealth mode, winning MIT's Ignite Clean Energy '07 Business Presentation Competition. Reaction Sciences, Inc (RSI) Silicon would cut production cost to a third, plant costs to 1/10 and plant build time by 1/2. "Most Silicon plants make electronic grade '8 Nines' (99.999999%) purity needed for semiconductors, using the Siemens process. A National Renewable Energy Laboratory study found that solar Silicon purity only needs to be six nines (99.9999% pure), with emphasis on Boron, Phosphorus, and select metals. RSI has created a new proprietary process that makes only solar-grade silicon of six nines purity, without needing all the costly equipment and tri-chlorosilane gases used with metallurgical Silicon feedstock.""

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