boschmorden - Slashdot User

Submission + - New MMORPG Tries "Crowd Sourcing"

Submitted by

KingSkippus

on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @06:55PM

KingSkippus writes: "BBC news is reporting that publisher Acclaim Games is working with developer Dave Perry to develop Top Secret, a new MMORPG using 'crowd sourcing.' It will be a commercial game with a paid professional core team that works with a larger volunteer community to develop the code, stories, art, and audio in the game. Perry says, 'With 20,000 people signed up we are already the biggest development team in history. We will end up with 100,000 people on this team. If 1% is any good, we are good to go.' Could this be a missing link that brings us commercial-quality community-developed gaming?"

Submission + - Eavesdropping O.K. says Committee

Submitted by

ShoeUnited

on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @06:50PM

ShoeUnited writes: "I was reading today in the AP about an article that says it is ok for Pres. Bush to use electronic eavesdropping.

To quote the article:
"A White House privacy board has determined that two of the Bush administration's controversial surveillance programs do not violate citizens' civil liberties. After operating mostly in secret for a year, the five-member Privacy and Civil Liberties Board is to release its first report to Congress next week.""

Submission + - Including security codes in battery packs

Submitted by

Alan Smith, Sr.

on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @06:32PM

Alan Smith, Sr. writes: ""Battery packs are just one common consumer application that's making use of highly sophisticated hashing algorithms to validate their use." Thats a quote from the 3/5 EDN Is there really a reason to put a security system in a 9V battery? Com'on...lets be serious. Or..are they?"

Submission + - "Video Games made me do it" defence fails.

Submitted by

provigilman

on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @06:30PM

provigilman writes: " GamePolitics reports that the Oregon man using the "Video Games made me do it" defense has been sentenced to life in prison by the presiding Judge. 19 year old Patrick Morris had been charged with murder for the 2006 shotgun killing of a 15 year old boy as part of a bad drug deal."

Submission + - Will an open source router replace your Cisco ?

Submitted by

Tom

on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @06:28PM

Tom writes: "David Davis CCIE, CCNA, CCNP test drives Open-Source Router....."In my opinion, anything you want to do with a standard Cisco router, you can do with Vyatta for the most part, and you don't have to worry about the various Cisco IOS licenses.""

Submission + - SPAM: An architectural plan of the cell

Submitted by

FiReaNGeL

on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @06:28PM

FiReaNGeL writes: "Researchers at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the University of Colorado have now obtained the first 3D visualization of a complete eukaryotic cell at a resolution high enough to resolve the cytoskeleton's precise architectural plan in fission yeast. The image of this unicellular organism reveals remarkable insights into the fine structure of the cytoskeleton as well as its interactions with other parts of the cell. "Our 3D image of fission yeast can serve as a reference map of the cell for all biologists interested in its architecture," says Johanna Höög. "You can extract information about all sorts of cellular structures and processes from it or use it to place findings into the spatial context of the cell.""

Submission + - Pioneer in Global Warming Reasearch Now Skeptical

Submitted by The Underwriter on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @06:27PM

The Underwriter writes: Article from Canada's National Post, March 2, 2007

"Claude Allegre, one of France's leading socialists and among her most celebrated scientists, was among the first to sound the alarm about the dangers of global warming.

"Fifteen years ago, Dr. Allegre was among the 1500 prominent scientists who signed 'World Scientists' Warning to Humanity' (Wikipedia), a highly publicized letter stressing that global warming's 'potential risks are very great' and demanding a new caring ethic that recognizes the globe's fragility in order to stave off 'spirals of environmental decline, poverty, and unrest, leading to social, economic and environmental collapse.'"

In light of the volumes of research conducted since then, Dr. Allegre recently renounced his previous views. He now believes global warming is "over-hyped and an environmental concern of second rank."

" 'The cause of this climate change is unknown,' he states matter of factly. There is no basis for saying, as most do, that the 'science is settled.' "

Part 13 of the National Post's "Deniers" series, about scientists who contradict the majority opinion on climate science.

Submission + - Chiditarod 2007: Chicago's mini-Burning Man

Submitted by

bflora

on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @06:26PM

bflora writes: "Chicago hosted its second annual Chiditarod this past Saturday, drawing over 200 costumed competitors hoping to win the prized mahogony trophy. 5-man teams were responsible for pulling a shopping cart across 5-miles of the city's streets dogsled-style, collecting canned goods as they raced. First team to cross the finish line with 15 lbs. of canned goods wins. A few other rules:

Teams had to stop off at 4 checkpoints/bars along the way to "water the dogs". They had to drink for 20 minutes. This became problematic for some teams as the day wore on.

Cheating a.k.a. sabotage was HIGHLY encouraged.

There was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles squad (complete with April O'Neil), an Abe Lincoln and Secret Service team, Team Zissou (in matching red skullcaps) and a team that came all the way from Columbus, OH dressed in full-body bunny suits-"The Buck Funnies." Unsurprisingly, the event was promoted on the Burning Man listserv.

And then there were the "Corporate Dalliances," a ragtag quintet of scruffy IT professionals who came to win and cheated their way to victory by handing out phony maps, duct taping competitors to street signs and finally hiding another team's shopping cart in a backalley snowbank.

This video tells their epic, thrilling story."

Submission + - Egyptian jailed for blogging

Submitted by Guzzitza on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @06:18PM

Guzzitza writes: Abdel Karim Suleiman, a 22-year-old blogger and former law student at al-Azhar Islamic university, became the first Egyptian jailed for his blogging when he was handed a four-year prison sentence. http://www.theage.com.au/news/web/egyptian-blogger s-beware/2007/03/06/1173156498381.html/

FTA: "Suleiman accused the conservative Sunni institution of promoting extremist thought and described some companions of the Prophet Mohammed as "terrorists". He also compared President Hosni Mubarak to the dictatorial Pharaohs of ancient Egypt."

Abdel Karim Suleiman was handed a 4 year prison sentence,as a result the international group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has added Egypt to its list of internet Black Holes.

Feed Wall Street Begins to Heal (wired.com)

From feed by wiredfeed on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @06:12PM

Investors got a good scare, but they're coming back to recoup their losses. Plus: Blockbuster CEO wants his bonus.... Semiconductor sales are up.

Feed Navy Researches Vomit Beam (wired.com)

From feed by wiredfeed on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @06:12PM

Set phasers to "puke"? The military works on a weapon that makes people so dizzy they fall over and throw up. It can supposedly shoot through walls, too. In Danger Room.

Submission + - Apple TV: also a casual games console system?

Submitted by

njkid1

on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @06:07PM

njkid1 writes: "Announced just two months ago, Apple TV is Apple's newest attempt in bringing downloadable iTunes content from computers to television screens. But sources at AppleInsider have stumbled upon some code in the latest version of iTunes revealing that the Apple TV might also double as a console for casual game!http://www.gamepro.com/news.cfm?article_id=10 4328&AFC-HSUIT&ATTR=DIGG"

Submission + - An eBay for Money

Submitted by

friedo

on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @05:59PM

friedo writes: "After launching about a year ago and growing primarily through word-of-mouth, the web-based lending site Prosper.com has caught the eye of the mainstream media. So far, Prosper has originated more than $36 million in loans, with interest payments (and risk) going directly to users who bid as little as $50 on individual loans in a reverse Dutch-auction for the lowest interest rate. Any US resident can be a lender, and bid based on the borrowers' Experian credit history and personal story."

Helping Dell To Help Open Source 177

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @05:34PM from the skunkworks dept.

Glyn Moody writes "Dell's IdeaStorm is turning into a fiasco — for Dell, and for open source as well. Instead of just shouting at the company to sell pre-installed GNU/Linux systems, how about helping them find a way to do it? Here's a suggestion that I've posted on the IdeaStorm site: that Dell set up an independent business unit for GNU/Linux systems, just like The Innovator's Dilemma tells us to do when faced with a disruptive technology."

Submission + - Shane Caraveo talks PHP, FastCGI and IIS

Submitted by

brashquido

on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @05:26PM

brashquido writes: "Shane Caraveo, the man responsible for porting PHP to Windows and writing the first PHP ISAPI and FastCGI modules for IIS speaks about PHP, FastCGI and IIS. Among the more interesting points is that Shane only ported PHP to Windows so he could check his scripts for typos before uploading them to his Solaris server. Shane also shares his experiences working with the likes of Rasmus, Zeev, Andi, and Stig, and discusses his views on the future of PHP on IIS and what he sees as being the bigger challenges facing the development of PHP on IIS."

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