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Portables

Submission + - The demise of the Nokia E90 communicator

Submitted by S3D
S3D writes: Nokia is not quite famous for the great smartphone design, but in the case of E90 Communicator hardware looks nice. However where Nokia completly failed is software side — the The Register think. The first mistake was replacing business oriented S80 platform with consumer oriented S60. S60 is designed for one-thumb actions — not an adequate choice for full-keyboard communicator. The article go on listing deficiencies and missing features, concluding that Nokia, trying to impress gadget bloggers completely forgot core market of business users. Immature 3rd party application market for Symbian make it unlikely those deficiencies will be fixed.
Software

Submission + - Nissan turns to high-tech to stop drink driving

Submitted by StonyandCher
StonyandCher writes: As part of its drive to reduce road deaths and injuries, Nissan Motor has installed in a car three prototype high-tech systems designed to stop drink driving.

The first attempts to directly detect alcohol in the driver's sweat and gear shift lever. A second system in the car uses a camera mounted in front of the driver to monitor eye movement. If the driver is drowsy it triggers the seat belt to tighten and this movement will hopefully snap the driver out of their drowsiness or prompt them to take a rest. A third system monitors the path of the vehicle to ensure it's traveling in a straight line and not weaving about the road, as is common with a drunken driver.
The Courts

Submission + - Supreme Court rules Ebay sale binding. (smh.com.au)

Submitted by Slurpee
Slurpee writes: The NSW Supreme court has ruled that making an offer of sale on Ebay is legally binding. In other words — you can't change your mind. In a case that reached the NSW Supreme Court, Peter Smythe sued Vin Thomas after he changed his mind on the sale of a 1946 World War II Wirraway plane after the eBay auction had ended. "It follows that, in my view, a binding contract was formed between the plaintiff and the defendent and that it should be specifically enforced," Justice Rein said in his decision. The judgment sets a precedent for future cases and means eBay sales could now be legally binding (At least in Australia).
Privacy

Submission + - Anonymous email hid knife-wielding iPod scammer? (blorge.com)

Submitted by
destinyland
destinyland writes: "A Fox News affiliate is warning about an anonymous email service and its role in a recent Craig's List attack in which a knife-wielding scammer lured a woman to a park late at night. The site "operates outside the Untied States [sic] and European legal systems," according to the fear-mongering article — since the site is based in Japan. Though the site's promotional copy is also playing up its potential for aiding law breakers. "By law AnonymousSpeech.com only reports to official Japanese government agencies," their front page boasts. "This makes it extremely expensive and troublesome for foreign private parties to obtain information about our subscribers...""
Privacy

Submission + - Ruling by Secret US Court Allegedly Reduces Spying

Submitted by conspirator57
conspirator57 writes: TFA http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la- na-spying2aug02,0,5813563.story?coll=la-home-cente r states that the US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (a court that no citizen can establish standing to appear before) has ruled against Executive requests for so-called "basket warrants" as violating the 4th amendment to the Constitution, namely that such warrants do not meet the clearly expressed criteria in the second half of the amendment. To accomplish this they must have looked startlingly like British general warrants which were the original motivation for the 4th amendment. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warrant_(law) for more.

TFA is very sympathetic to the Executive branch, going on to depict ways in which we're all less safe because of this ruling. Personally, I feel safer with more rulings like this one. Just wish the process were a bit more transparent.

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
Television

Submission + - A funny critique of Simpsons haters... (tvsquad.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Jay Black over at TV Squad has angered the geek-a-toids by calling out everyone who has ever hated on the Simpsons to put up or shut up. It's a great and funny read — make sure you check out the comments section where every single critique of the article is, itself, exactly what Jay is mocking.
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - Elton's war on the web (smh.com.au)

Submitted by timboc007
timboc007 writes: Elton John (not exactly a regular on Slashdot!) wants to shut down the internet. From the article, he is quoted as saying "I do think it would be an incredible experiment to shut down the whole internet for five years and see what sort of art is produced over that span." Anybody want to sign up for this 'incredible experiment'?
Quickies

Submission + - Hidden Image Found in Da Vinci's Last Supper (telegraph.co.uk)

Submitted by
Tech.Luver
Tech.Luver writes: "Telegraph reports, " New claims that Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper contains a hidden image of a woman holding a child are provoking a storm of interest on the internet. The figure allegedly appears when the 15th Century mural painting is superimposed with its mirror image, and both are made partially transparent. According to Slavisa Pesci, an Italian amateur scholar, the resulting composite picture shows a figure clutching what appears to be a young child. ""
Music

Submission + - Multiformat Listening Test at 64kbps 1

Submitted by
prospective_user
prospective_user writes: "Do you think you have good ears? Think again.

The community at Hydrogenaudio has prepared a Public Listening Test for comparison of the most popular audio codecs (AAC, Vorbis, and Microsoft's WMA included) in a battle to see how they stand at compressing audio at 64kbps.

Many of the participants right now have expressed their surprise at being unable to determine which is the original and which is the compressed version of 18 samples covering a vast amount of musical styles.

The results of this test (and other that are conducted at Hydrogenaudio) will be used by the developers of the codecs to further improve the "transparency" and let this kind of test be even harder.

Everyone is invited to participate and show how good your listening is!"
Biotech

Submission + - Chernobyl Mushrooms Feeding on Radiation

Submitted by cowtamer
cowtamer writes: According to a National Geographic Article certain fungi can use ionizing radiation to perform "radiosynthesis" using the pigment melanin (the same one in our skin that protects us from UV radiation). It is speculated that this might be useful on long space voyages where energy from the Sun is not readily available.
Space

Submission + - ISS life support systems in trouble

Submitted by timboc007
timboc007 writes: The Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that key life-support systems on the International Space Station have failed. Whilst it is expected, at this stage, that they may be repaired, the worst-case scenario would be evacuation of all ISS crew. From the TFA:

The failure occurred in computers on the Russian segment of the 16-nation space station — computers that control navigation and critical life-support systems on the huge orbital base. Without them, the station cannot maintain proper orbit and the crew cannot stay on board.
In Soviet ISS, it seems, computers reboot YOU!

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