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

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Power

MSI Develops a Heat-Driven Cooler 173

Posted by Soulskill from the it's-not-easy-being-green dept.
V!NCENT tips us to a write-up about an addition to MSI's Ecolution motherboard which harvests heat from the chipset to power a fan. The device is based on a Stirling engine. The heat from the chipset expands a trapped gas, which pushes against a piston to generate power. The article contains a YouTube video of how the device works. According to MSI, the device has 70% efficiency.
Operating Systems

Submission + - Nintendo's curious reasearch OS in javascript

Submitted by
Ayanami Rei
Ayanami Rei writes: "From The Ajaxaian, Nintendo apparently is working on an open source research operating system (translated SourceForge page here). It's an x86 kernel written in C++ with some basic drivers so far, bootable in QEMU and bochs. A particularly interesting feature of this work is that the entire userland is written in Javascript. They even bundled a Squeak interpreter running in the JavaScript environment as a demonstration. Firefox has demonstrated that JavaScript can be a capable language for developing graphical applications and interfaces. Nintendo's WiiShop is certainly written in it; could other Wii channels or other portions of the system be web technology powered, and what does this portend for future Nintendo products?"
Television

Submission + - Jack Thompson Blames Games for VA-Tech Shooting

Submitted by Cheeziologist
Cheeziologist writes: In an interview on Fox News today, Jack Thompson, notorious critic of the supposed effects of video games on children and young adults, claimed that "he [the gunman] immersed himself in counter-strike [and] half-life" and that it was the influence of these video games that caused the gunman to open fire on the Virginia Tech campus, killing approximately 30 people.
The Internet

The Top 100 Alternative Search Engines 108

Posted by Hemos
ReadWriteWeb writes "Search Engine Optimizer (SEO) Charles S. Knight has compiled a list of the top 100 alternative search engines. The list includes Artificial Intelligence systems, Clustering engines, Recommendation Search engines, Metasearch, and many more hidden gems of search. People use four main search engines for 99.99% of their searches: Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and Ask.com (in that order). But Knight has discovered, via his work as an SEO, that in the other .01% lies a vast multitude of the most innovative and creative search engines around."

Drugs Eradicate the Need For Sleep 772

Posted by CmdrTaco from the we-already-discovered-meth dept.
MattSparkes writes "New Scientist is running an article on lifestyle drugs that claim to help you function on little or no sleep. I'm dubious, but the interviewee in the article claims they work well. 'Yves (not his real name), a 31-year-old software developer from Seattle, often doesn't have time for a full night's sleep. So he swallows something to make sure he doesn't need one.'" But, sleep is where I'm a Viking!

Sys-Admins Reading the Bosses Mail? 398

Posted by CmdrTaco from the well-of-course-they-are dept.
PetManimal writes "Computerworld has an article about IT staff who have access to corner-office email. Systems administrators, database administrators, storage administrators and higher level IT super users are the types who may access sensitive executive information; one source quoted in the article says that in a company with 1,500 employees, there might typically be five to 10 administrators who have this access. As for how many abuse these priviledges, it's hard to tell, but rogue admins out for workplace revenge or personal gain can wreak havoc: '... Experts agree that the severity of these occurrences generally makes them more harmful than external attacks. One of the biggest obstacles to eliminating unauthorized access is determining how many people have it. Access lists are particularly difficult to formulate in both mature companies, where the number and power of administrators have expanded over periods of years, and small companies, where rapid growth leads to undocumented tangles of administrators who are able to maintain their access because nobody has time to assess their status.'"

Modding Nokia Cameraphone To Be Mouse 89

Posted by Hemos from the one-less-thing-in-my-backpack dept.
ozg333 writes "This guy had the very clever idea of modding a Nokia mobile phone to work as a mouse by using the built in camera. It uses the phone's built-in Bluetooth to link to the PC, so cool! There is also a video of it in action. I can't wait to get one of these, it would mean one less device to carry when I'm travelling."

MS Proposes JPEG Alternative 633

Posted by Zonk from the standard-was-getting-stale dept.
automatix writes "Microsoft's new competitor to the omnipresent JPEG format has been shown at WinHEC and is discussed on CNET. The Windows Media Photo format has many promises associated with it. The program manager is claiming 'We can do it in half the size of a JPEG file.'. While 'the philosophy has been that licensing should not be a restriction', it is interesting that the specification requires a click-through agreement to even read it."

130 Filesharer Homes Raided in Germany 431

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the paid-to-watch-an-ass dept.
Flo writes "Today, 130 homes have been raided in Germany under the allegation of filesharing. Law enforcement agencies had been monitoring an eDonkey-Server for two months. 3500 identified users are being investigated. Searches took place when users shared more than 500 files. Partners of the music industry helped identifying copyrighted material, but monitoring of the servers was solely done by law enforcement."

Wired Releases Full Text of AT&T NSA Document 559

Posted by Hemos from the the-full-monty-of-information dept.
ifitzgerald writes "This morning, Wired News released the full text of the AT&T NSA wiretap documents that are currently under court seal. From the article: 'AT&T claims information in the file is proprietary and that it would suffer severe harm if it were released. Based on what we've seen, Wired News disagrees. In addition, we believe the public's right to know the full facts in this case outweighs AT&T's claims to secrecy. As a result, we are publishing the complete text of a set of documents from the EFF's primary witness in the case, former AT&T employee and whistle-blower Mark Klein -- information obtained by investigative reporter Ryan Singel through an anonymous source close to the litigation. The documents, available on Wired News as of Monday, consist of 30 pages, with an affidavit attributed to Klein, eight pages of AT&T documents marked "proprietary," and several pages of news clippings and other public information related to government-surveillance issues.'"

UK Government Wants Private Encryption Keys 822

Posted by Zonk from the my-keys-not-yours dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Businesses and individuals in Britain may soon have to give their encryption keys to the police or face imprisonment. The UK government has said it will bring in the new powers to address a rise in the use of encryption by criminals and terrorists." From the article: "Some security experts are concerned that the plan could criminalise innocent people and drive businesses out of the UK. But the Home Office, which has just launched a consultation process, says the powers contained in Part 3 are needed to combat an increased use of encryption by criminals, paedophiles, and terrorists. 'The use of encryption is... proliferating,' Liam Byrne, Home Office minister of state told Parliament last week. 'Encryption products are more widely available and are integrated as security features in standard operating systems, so the Government has concluded that it is now right to implement the provisions of Part 3 of RIPA... which is not presently in force.'"

Slashdot Top Deals

Understanding is always the understanding of a smaller problem in relation to a bigger problem. -- P.D. Ouspensky

Close