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Input Devices

Touchscreen Netbooks To Shine At CES 2009 109

Posted by timothy from the touchscreen-sans-tablet-seems-a-waste dept.
i4u writes "The new generation of netbooks debuting at CES 2009 will add touch and have twistable screens to use them in tablet or notebook style. Intel is set to introduce a new Classmate netbook with a twistable screen and touchscreen at the CES 2009. Back in October Asus said it was planning to introduce touchscreen Asus Eee netbooks in early 2009. Asus is exhibiting at the CES Unveiled pre-show that takes place on January 6th. Expect the Asus Eee Touch to be unveiled then. Gigabyte has outrun all of them with the Intel Atom-powered M912V that has been on the market for a while. Adding a touchscreen is rather easy. More difficult is to offer a touch-optimized UI. Let's see what the netbook vendors are going to invest on the software side."

Comment Re:Why does /. always side with the crook? (Score 1) 198

by MythMoth (#26207985) Attached to: Blood From Mosquito Traps Car Thief

There are lots of holes in the case. Here's one: - Was the mosquito flying around & sucking blood from pedestrians BEFORE it entered the car?

According to the article he's already admitted to being in the car. So in what way is that a hole in the case?

No, you shouldn't presume a party to be guilty unless they're proven guilty in a court of law. That has nothing whatsoever to the strength of the particular case as reported and everything to do with justice.
Space

Simulations May Explain Loss of Beagle 2 Mars Probe 98

Posted by timothy from the gremlins-are-everywhere dept.
chrb writes "Researchers at Queensland University have used computer simulations to calculate that the loss of the US$80 million British Beagle 2 Mars probe was due to a bad choice of spin rate during atmospheric entry, resulting in the craft burning up within seconds. The chosen spin rate was calculated by using a bridging function to estimate the transitional forces between the upper and lower atmosphere, while the new research relies on simulation models. Beagle 2 team leader Professor Colin Pillinger has responded saying that the figures are far from conclusive, while another chief Beagle engineer has said 'We still think we got it right.'"
Portables (Apple)

Should Apple Open Source the iPhone? 379

Posted by timothy from the would-sure-to-have-to-have-all-that-money dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Given the OpeniBoot project is just a breath away from getting Android onto the iPhone, maybe Apple should consider opening up the platform. This post has five reasons, but I think there are far more. Without open source, Apple will find itself in the same position as today's Microsoft in seven years."
The Internet

Bittorrent To Cause Internet Meltdown 872

Posted by CmdrTaco from the packet-schmacket dept.
Gimble writes "Richard Bennett has an article at the Register claiming that a recent uTorrent decision to use UDP for file transfers to avoid ISP 'traffic management' restrictions will cause a meltdown of the internet reducing everybody's bandwidth to a quarter of their current value. Other folks have also expressed concern that this may not be the best thing for the internet."
Portables

How About an iPhone OS Or Android-Based Netbook? 162

Posted by timothy from the upsides-and-downsides dept.
perlow (Jason Perlow of ZDNet) suggests that the current crop of netbooks might be missing the boat when it comes to getting maximum battery life and small-screen usability, and asks "Could Mac OS X iPhone or Google's Android be the key to mass adoption of the next generation of netbooks?" Android looks pretty nice, I admit, but so far I like having full-fledged Ubuntu on my own small computer. He's not the first one to think that the iPhone would be well-employed as the guts of an ultra-portable, though. (Note: it's only a model.)

Comment Re:I bet... (Score 1) 247

by MythMoth (#25731033) Attached to: How 10 Iconic Tech Products Got Their Names

Ah yes, that must explain why Apache is doing so terribly in terms of market penetration...

Most non-technical people have never heard of "patching" and the technical ones all know about Apache.

The GIMP certainly has a stupid name, but I sincerely doubt that it affects its take up anything like as much as the shere existing mindshare of PhotoShop. In fact I'll bet that the GimpShop hack improves its prominence more than a "pure" name change, and I'll bet that most of that is down to the obvious connection with PhotoShop not the sanitization of the user interface.
Security

For 3 Years, Scammers Ran Truckless Trucking Company 244

Posted by timothy from the trucker-in-the-middle dept.
mikesd81 writes "Wired reports Nicholas Lakes and Viachelav Berkovich are charged with computer fraud [PDF] for a man-in-the-middle attack that allegedly let them run a profitable trucking company without the hassle of driving a truck. For over three years the Russian immigrants hacked a Department of Transportation website called Safersys.org, which maintains a list of licensed interstate trucking companies and brokers. They then went on forums where brokers advertise cargo in need of transportation and negotiate a deal, for example, to transport cargo from American Canyon, California, to Jessup, Maryland, for $3,500. But instead of transporting the load, they would outsource the job to another trucking company posing as the legitimate company whose identity they'd hijacked. They would then invoice the company and take the money. When the company that owned the actual truck tried to contact the company that needed the goods delivered, they found they knew nothing about it. Over all they made nearly $500,000."
Microsoft

Microsoft To Release Cloud-Oriented Windows OS 209

Posted by timothy from the name-tba dept.
CWmike writes "Within a month, Microsoft will unveil what CEO Steve Ballmer called 'Windows Cloud.' The operating system, which will likely have a different name, is intended for developers writing cloud-computing applications, said Ballmer, who spoke to an auditorium of IT managers at a Microsoft-sponsored conference in London. Ballmer was short on details, saying more information would spoil the announcement. Windows Cloud is a separate project from Windows 7, the operating system that Microsoft is developing to succeed Windows Vista."
Patents

Can I Be Fired For Refusing To File a Patent? 617

Posted by kdawson from the if-you-don't-cooperate-your-replacement-will dept.
An anonymous reader writes "I am a developer for a medium-sized private technology company getting ready for an IPO. My manager woke up one morning and decided to patent some stuff I did recently. The problem is, I'm strongly opposed to software patents, believing that they are stifling innovation and dragging the technology industry down (see all the frivolous lawsuits reported here on Slashdot!). Now, my concern is: what kind of consequences could I bring on myself for refusing to support the patent process? Has anybody been in a similar position and what was the outcome?"
Announcements

Submission + - Beef up the Find command in Firefox (ibm.com)

Submitted by
jmalasko
jmalasko writes: "The Find command in Firefox locates the user-specified text in the body of a Web page. The command is an easy-to-use tool that works well enough for most users. Sometimes, however, a more powerful Find-like tool would make locating text easier. Learn how to build a tool that isolates relevant text in Web pages faster by detecting the presence and absence of nearby words."
Google

Submission + - Is Your GMail Notifier Suddenly Broken? (mattiasgeniar.be)

Submitted by
Mojah
Mojah writes: "Google has quietly introducted its "Always use HTTPs"-feature for GMail, to avoid XSS (Cross Site Scripting), but it seems as if most of its software (such as the Toolbar, or the GMail Notifier) haven't been updated yet, which results in broken software. It's a great security enhancing feature, but it is more than annoying to having to lose one of the major benefits of GMail; its notifier."
The Internet

Submission + - CSS considered irritating (geeklondon.com)

Submitted by
MythMoth
MythMoth writes: "I admire the aspirations of Cascading Style Sheets, but was it really meant to be so difficult? Are the deficiencies down to poor design, faulty implementations, my tiny brain, or wrong-headed expectations? Why are there so many fiendishly complex and ingenious workarounds for simple styling effects when they could and should be incorporated into the standard. GeekLondon raises a top-ten hit list of CSS nastiness and dons his asbestos trousers.

Disclosure: GeekLondon is MythMoth"

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