Catch up on stories from the past week (and beyond) at the Slashdot story archive

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×

Comment Yup, the review nails it. (Score 1) 356

by dazlari (#25880531) Attached to: Anathem
Just like the reviewer, I struggled getting through Cryptonomicon, but made it satisfied at just having made it. I totally lost it in the Baroque Cycle, thankfully early on it would seem. Now another singular novel, time to give it another shot, and once again comes the drudgery...
Oh well. It seems to me that in writing In The Beginning was the Command Line Stephenson has suckered us all in to hoping that some lighter intellectual entertainment is to be had elsewhere in his writing... eventually. With Snow Crash he sealed the deal. Now we're in for the long haul, despite everthing else. I feel a little ripped off. I must stop buying the damn books, get a library card, or something.
  1. Make a book about the command line to get lots of Nerds on board.
  2. Write and sell as much crap as you like.
  3. Profit.

It may not be his intention but it's how I feel.
Portables (Apple)

Apple's New MacBooks Have Built-In Copy Protection 821

Posted by timothy from the presumption-from-on-high dept.
raque writes "Appleinsider is reporting that the new MacBooks/MacBookPros have built-in copy protection. Quote: 'Apple's new MacBook lines include a form of digital copy protection that will prevent protected media, such as DRM-infused iTunes movies, from playing back on devices that aren't compliant with the new priority protection measures.' Ars Technica is also reporting on the issue. Is this the deal they had to make to get NBC back? Is this a deal breaker for Apple or will fans just ignore it to get their hands on the pretty new machines? Is this a new opportunity for Linux? And what happened to Jobs not liking DRM?"
Data Storage

Submission + - Scientists build ultrafast next-gen MRAM (itnews.com.au)

Submitted by schliz
schliz writes: Scientists in Germany have developed next-generation Magnetic Random Access Memory (MRAM) that is said to operate as fast as fundamental speed limits allow. By storing large amounts of data at high speeds and preserving stored data even when powered down, the technology could enable instant-boot computers and mobile devices, researchers say.
The Courts

Submission + - SPAM: Internet Fraud: Many Complaints, Few Repercussions

Submitted by
narramissic
narramissic writes: "Unless you're peddling child porn, there's not much chance you'll see the inside of a courtroom for Internet-related crime, according to research released Tuesday. The Center for American Progress and the Center for Democracy and Technology compared the number of complaints that state attorneys general offices receive to how many lawsuits the states bring against spammers, spyware creators and other online fraudsters. Not all states report such numbers, but the 20 that do said that they received 20,000 Internet-related complaints in 2006 and 2007. Yet during that same time period, attorneys general brought only 168 Internet-related cases to court, with 60 percent of those related to child porn, the researchers found."
Link to Original Source
Windows

Submission + - Gated BSOD'd at Olympics Openning Ceremony

Submitted by dazlari
dazlari writes: The BSoD featured at the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony! According to this Sydney Morning Herald article "Numerous bloggers observed the cameo played by the ...BSoD.The screen was projected onto the roof of the National Stadium during the grand finale to the four-hour spectacular as veteran Chinese gymnast Li Ning, suspended 70 metres above the stadium floor, 'jogged' towards the Olympic torch."
Software

Submission + - Mac Apps on Linux?

Submitted by termdex
termdex writes: My organization's media department has many creative specialists working on Macs. Unfortunately, the downturn in the economy has meant cutbacks, and the finance department has cut our new computer budget by a third. As such the media group has gone without a Mac purchase for close to two years. To reduce licensing costs I'm advocating for the adoption of Linux and other OSS programs in my organization. For Windows applications that we can't live without Wine has made a big impression with management. However, the media group won't accept Linux desktops without a similar way to run MacOSX applications (Final Cut Pro, Aperture, iWork, iTunes, etc) on Linux. At one point, Mac-on-Linux (MoL) allowed for running a complete MacOS9 session on PowerPC Linux, but since the switch to Intel processors the project has slowed development. However, the switch to Intel architecture should allow for Wine-like execution of MacOSX Universal Binaries on operating systems that also run on x86 processors. What projects or solutions exist that allow running MacOSX applications on Linux?
Science

Bizarre Properties of Glass Allow Creation of "Metallic Glass" 265

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the wonder-woman-unavailable-for-comment dept.
VindictivePantz writes to mention that scientists have discovered some bizarre properties of glass and are already applying that knowledge to create what is being called "metallic glass." "The breakthrough involved solving the decades-old problem of just what glass is. It has been known that that despite its solid appearance, glass and gels are actually in a 'jammed' state of matter — somewhere between liquid and solid — that moves very slowly. Like cars in a traffic jam, atoms in a glass are in something like suspended animation, unable to reach their destination because the route is blocked by their neighbors. So even though glass is a hard substance, it never quite becomes a proper solid, according to chemists and materials scientists."
Space

Submission + - Pioneer anomaly seems 70% real (planetary.org)

Submitted by Tablizer
Tablizer writes: The so called "Pioneer Anomaly" is a slight acceleration of the now-defunct Pioneer probes that doesn't match gravity models, suggesting a mysterious force. Researchers have been subtracting out known forces, such as power-cell heat, to isolate the mysterious portion.

Pioneer Anomaly Project Director Slava Turyshev presented preliminary results of the thermal modeling efforts at a meeting of the American Physical Society. ...The magnitude of the Pioneer Anomaly is so very tiny that it could conceivably result from the uneven radiation of heat from the spacecraft...Turyshev reported that the [heat] model can generate an acceleration that amounts to about 30% of the Anomaly for that distance [25AU] from the Sun.
Books

Submission + - French Fine Amazon for Free Shipping

Submitted by strech
strech writes: Arstechnica reports that France is fining Amazon for offering free shipping on some orders. A French high court ruled in December that the practice violated a law preventing discounting the price of a book more than 5% off of the publisher's recommended price. Amazon has decided to pay the fine, rather than drop free shipping. The fine currently stands at 1000 € per day but is automatically reconsidered after 30 days, after which it could be raised dramatically.
Technology (Apple)

Submission + - Apple Breaks Law with Policy on iPhone Unlocks (phonenews.com)

Submitted by
Anonymous Coward
Anonymous Coward writes: "Apple's recent decision to void warranties for folks that unlocked their iPhones may wind up with Apple in some hot legal waters. Apple appears to have broken a key warranty law relevant to SIM unlocks.

It appears that Apple will have to change its policy on SIM unlocks, or be in clear violation of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act... a law decades old."
Programming

Submission + - Apple Discourages iPhone Unlocking Programs

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "Apple has released the following statement on the iPhone:

Apple has discovered that many of the unauthorized iPhone unlocking programs available on the Internet cause irreparable damage to the iPhone's software, which will likely result in the modified iPhone becoming permanently inoperable when a future Apple-supplied iPhone software update is installed. Apple plans to release the next iPhone software update, containing many new features including the iTunes Wi-Fi Music Store (www.itunes.com), later this week. Apple strongly discourages users from installing unauthorized unlocking programs on their iPhones. Users who make unauthorized modifications to the software on their iPhone violate their iPhone software license agreement and void their warranty. The permanent inability to use an iPhone due to installing unlocking software is not covered under the iPhone's warranty.
"
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - A Bank For Geeks

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: I just received a notice from my current bank indicating that they are forcing upon me a new privacy policy. The only reason that they've sent me this notice is because it is the law. And they're certainly meeting the absolute bare requirements for meeting the requirements of this law: I can opt-out, but only if I mail them a letter with all of my personal details, including my account numbers and social security number! As a geek, this is obviously the last straw and I'd like to make the switch to a legitimate bank. What are other geeks using?

Slashdot Top Deals

All seems condemned in the long run to approximate a state akin to Gaussian noise. -- James Martin

Close