trisweb - Slashdot User

Comment How far we've come. (Score 1) 88

by trisweb on Tuesday November 04, 2008 @02:51AM (#25623113) Attached to: The Laptop Celebrates Its 40th Year

My laptop history:

1) At the age of 11, fervently desiring a WinBook that was shown in all those awesome computer ads in PC Magazine. It had interchangeable CD-drive bays and a floppy drive built in (very, very important). I continued to be frustrated with my parents' 486-33 instead.

2) Graduating high school, received gift of IBM ThinkPad R31 - PIII 1.13GHz. Lasted 6 years, then power supply died last year. It was a workhorse.

3) Hand-me-down 17" 9-pound Dell Centrino 1.4 GHz with 2GB RAM. It was a clunky brick.

4) Last week, bought new-version MacBook Pro 15". 2.4GHz Core2 Duo, 4GB RAM, etc. etc. Rumors of shiny screens killing babies are greatly exaggerated. Finally consolidating 3 computers into one, getting rid of the rest. This is the ideal computer at this time, from a guaranteed non-fanboy, having only owned this computer for a week. It's just quality.

The laptop is finally doing everything! Go miniaturization.

Submission + - Listpic bas been shut down (listpic.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday June 07, 2007 @05:30PM

An anonymous reader writes: Listpic, that indispensible tool for browsing Craigslist ads visually, has been shut down today without an explanation. I emailed Ryan Sit, the developer who created Listpic, and he said Craigslist slapped him with a cease-and-desist order. So why can't Craigslist do their own innovation? After using Listpic, I shudder at the thought of browsing the original Craigslist 1980s style lists of text headlines. Please give this the publicity it deserves, we need a lot of emails to Craigslist (polite ones) if we're going to stand a chance of getting this awesome innovative tool back.

Submission + - Airline adds real-time tracking using Google Maps

Submitted by

Gary

on Thursday June 07, 2007 @10:29AM

Gary writes: "American budget carrier JetBlue has joined hands with Google to provide real-time in-flight tracking via the wildly popular Google Maps software on the seat-back screens. Family and friends can also track the flight in real time on the airline's website."

Submission + - Bike or Car?

Submitted by WebfishUK on Thursday June 07, 2007 @09:23AM

WebfishUK writes: In my experience (read statistically insignificant sample), a greater proportion of professional software developers cycle to work than compared to other non-computing professionals. Is this just me being cyclecentric with a very small n or have others noticed this? Are we a greener bunch than our non-geek peers? How do you get to work?

Submission + - Firefox 3 Alpha 5 released

Submitted by

Anonymous Coward

on Thursday June 07, 2007 @07:41AM

Anonymous Coward writes: "Alpha 5 is now out with a lot of stuff to power some of the planned features for Firefox 3: new JavaScript features, FUEL 0.2, identity management, improvements to the download manager, support for web applications, better integration with Mac OS X and Places, the integrated history and bookmarks interface are some of the most relevant improvements. For some reason the URL is not accepted. Whatever, this is it: http://mozillalinks.org/wp/2007/06/firefox-3-alpha -5-is-out/"

Submission + - Fans go nuts, Jericho revived

Submitted by on Thursday June 07, 2007 @06:05AM

An anonymous reader writes: Recently, the TV show Jericho was cancelled abruptly after the first season. Viewers ordered thousands of pounds of nuts in the hopes of bringing the show back. Your prayers were answered.

Submission + - Mount Your Server Racks on the Wall

Submitted by

1sockchuck

on Tuesday May 22, 2007 @01:23PM

1sockchuck writes: "A New Zealand company is selling wall-mounted server racks that can hold up to five 1U servers, which are mounted vertically on a swinging hinge that allows easy access for cabling and maintenance. The unit can be bolted to a wall and includes an internal fan system for cooling. There's a video demo from the Interop show floor. The system was developed for a company that wanted servers available at a construction site. It's being marketed for remote branch offices and instant offsite backup for disaster recovery."

Submission + - Michigan Wi-Fi Freeloader Faces Felony Charge

Submitted by Aaron on Tuesday May 22, 2007 @01:13PM

Aaron writes: Broadband Reports has an interesting piece up about a Michigan man who was charged with felony "Unauthorized use of computer access" for using free Wi-Fi outside of a cafe. The charge comes with a maximum of five years in prison and/or a $10,000 fine. The interesting bit being that neither the man, the cafe, nor the police chief who chatted him up repeatedly had any idea he was committing a crime. At least not until the police officer decided to do some research and find a law he interpreted as being broken, anyway.

Submission + - Energy efficiency in the data center

Submitted by jcatcw on Tuesday May 22, 2007 @01:08PM

jcatcw writes: In Computerworld's Grill, Rocky Mountain Insitute's Amory B. Lovins claims that a watt of energy saved is worth $20 to $27 to a business and that U.S. data centers are missing comprehensive integration of efficiency technologies that are available.

The next big step will be when one or more major operators puts all these parts together to realize the ninefold or greater savings that we outlined. In fact, I now think we can do even better, because both the IT and the support equipment are proving to be more efficient than we thought possible.

Submission + - What is the best console controller of all time?

Submitted by Mateo Slovinsky on Tuesday May 22, 2007 @12:59PM

Mateo Slovinsky writes: Is the XBox 360's controller the best controller of all time? CNet seems to think so in its line up of the top five gamepads of all time. "Did you expect the Wii? Sorry. It's a brilliant piece of innovation, that's not in question, but there simply aren't enough games to judge it against the best controllers ever. The Xbox 360 pad has proven itself over a longer time and on a wider selection of titles — and it has its own claims to originality."

Submission + - Study: Illegal Downloading Among Youth Drops

Submitted by

Aviran

on Tuesday May 22, 2007 @12:03PM

Aviran writes: "The results of a recent nationwide survey released by the Business Software Alliance (BSA) show that illegal downloading of digital copyrighted works by youth (ages 8 to 18) has dropped by 24 percent in the last three years. The survey, first conducted in 2004, indicated that 60 percent of survey participants reported downloading software, music, movies, or games without paying for it; in 2006 the percentage of those who downloaded without paying dropped to 43 percent; and in 2007 the percentage decreased to 36 percent."

Submission + - Handheld scanner that can "see" damage

Submitted by

sie

on Tuesday May 22, 2007 @10:05AM

sie writes: "Physorg have a story on a new device developed by MIT that can 'see' damage in concrete bridges and other structures. The device uses FAR-NDT (far-field airborne radar nondestructive testing) and allows for immediate, onsite feedback."

Submission + - Sheets of Stretchable Silicon

Submitted by moscowde on Tuesday May 22, 2007 @09:39AM

moscowde writes: Researchers have shown that ultrathin sheets of silicon can stretch in two dimensions — opening up the possibility of electronic eyeballs and smart surgical gloves. http://www.technologyreview.com/Nanotech/18731/

Google Wins Nude Thumbnail Legal Battle 204

Posted by CowboyNeal on Thursday May 17, 2007 @08:03PM from the over-for-now dept.

eldavojohn writes "Google is currently fighting many fronts in its ability to show small images returned in a search from websites. Most recently, Google won the case against them in which they were displaying nude thumbnails of a photographer's work from his site. Prior to this, Google was barred from displaying copyrighted content, even when linking it to the site (owner) from its search results. The verdict: "Saying the District Court erred, the San Francisco-based appeals court ruled that Google could legally display those images under the fair use doctrine of copyright law." This sets a rather hefty precedence in a search engine's ability to blindly serve content safely under fair use."

Submission + - Lightning in a gun: U.S. Navy funds powerful laser

Submitted by

coondoggie

on Thursday April 26, 2007 @02:08PM

coondoggie writes: "First we had the cloaking device now apparently the military is going to get a real live phaser gun. The company that makes what it calls "directed energy weapons, " Ionatron, today announced it had won an almost $10 million contract from the U.S. Navy to continue developing of its Laser Induced Plasma Channel (LIPC) technology. According to the company's Website, its devices produce " man-made lightning" to disable people or vehicles that threaten our security." Basically is a short pulse laser that can be directed at a target with ferocious intensity. The company also notes that the gun is available in lethal and non-lethal versions. http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/1456 6"

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