Follow Slashdot blog updates by subscribing to our blog RSS feed

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Patents

Submission + - Red Hat's Secret Patent Deal (gigaom.com)

Submitted by Bruce Perens
Bruce Perens writes: When patent troll Acacia sued Red Hat in 2007, it ended with a bang: Acacia's patents were invalidated by the court, and all software developers, open-source or not, had one less legal risk to cope with. So, why is the outcome of Red Hat's next tangle with Acacia being kept secret, and how is a Texas court helping to keep it that way? Could the outcome have placed Red Hat in violation of the open-source licenses on its own product?
Google

Submission + - FTC Ended Google Probe Just Days After Fundraiser (biggovernment.com)

Submitted by bonch
bonch writes: Days before the FTC dropped its investigation into Google's wifi data-harvesting, executives at Google hosted a $1.8 million Democratic party fundraiser with an appearance by President Obama. Coincidence? Elsewhere, the British Government re-opened their investigation last weekend, and States Attorneys General continue their probes into Google's alleged privacy violations. Google CEO Eric Schmidt recently said, 'The average American doesn't realize how much of the laws are written by lobbyists.'
Google

Submission + - Google Docs now does LaTeX processing (appspot.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Collaborative working on academic papers for many computer scientists and mathematicians used to be a bind as there was little support for change tracking, or simultaneous editing using LaTeX file editors. But now some clever clogs has brought together Google Docs as a file repository, Google Apps as an editor and Amazon EC2 to host the LaTeX environment. Now you can edit, share and compile your LaTeX documents online, there's even a split pane preview. It's only beta, but it's already very accomplished.
Microsoft

Submission + - Teacher fired after objecting proprietary software

Submitted by usrbinsh
usrbinsh writes: Teacher, also vice principle, of Moscow high school #572 objected the mandatory order of Moscow City Department of Education. The order instructs each school to use particular software to assist students in cramming mandatory Unified State Exam (it's somewhat similar to GED).The hosting software is Windows based and requires IE on a client to run properly. Apparently the school's computer environment is Linux based. The teacher found that Firefox unable to talk to training host system, and voiced the concern to the Department of Education appealing to the law signed by President Medvedev that encourages using Open Source Software in education. The Department of Education ignored the concern. The teacher filed complaint addressing it directly to the Russian President. Apparently the complaint went down the chain of command, back to the Department of Education, which retaliated by firing concerned teacher. The cheese part: wife of the head of the software vendor that created training ware is noted as proponent of and lobby for Microsoft in education of City of Moscow. Also, per her input, the Department adopted such technical requirements as using Apple MacBook and MacMini with preinstalled Windows XP. The source in Russian, more detailed; in English
Apple

Submission + - Apple Debates Open, Linux Gets Best of Both Worlds

Submitted by jennifercloer
jennifercloer writes: Let’s face it — Steve Jobs and Apple have shown that blending software and hardware together in an elegant way can produce amazing results. Apple calls this their “integrated approach” and uses that to criticize the “open approach.” Our response is to help the Linux community have the best of both worlds with tools that allow anyone to take “open software” and create a custom “integrated experience” quickly. And while I can’t predict what the next iPhone or breakthrough consumer device will be, I do know that if the community comes together and develops tools that make it easier to create that device using upstream open source components, then what we’re announcing today will have have been successful — and so will Linux.
Security

Submission + - BA boss slams US airport security (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: The chairman of British Airways has said some "completely redundant" airport security checks should be scrapped and the UK should stop "kowtowing" to US security demands.

Practices such as forcing passengers to take off their shoes should be abandoned, Martin Broughton said.

And he questioned why laptop computers needed to be screened separately.

"We all know there's quite a number of elements in the security programme which are completely redundant and they should be sorted out."

Colin Matthews, chief executive of BAA, said security at Heathrow and its other airports was "defined by the authorities" and consisted of "one requirement laid on top of another".

He added: "There's European requirements, there's UK requirements, and... US requirements laid on top of that.

"We could certainly do a better job for customers if we could rationalise all of that into a single, coherent process, and I'd love to have the chance to do that."

Submission + - fitted wardrobes (bravolondon.co.uk)

Submitted by Golden7
Golden7 writes: Bravo London is one of UK’s foremost experts in bespoke fitted bedrooms and home office furniture. Offering fitted bedroom furniture and fitted wardrobes in London and the UK, we pride ourselves in our custom designs to suit the size and shape of your room.
Entertainment

Submission + - The Hobbit to be filmed in NZ (stuff.co.nz)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: John Key, Prime Minister of New Zealand has confirmed this afternoon that The Hobbit will be filmed in NZ, after weeks of uncertainty. From the article:

The future of the $670m production hung in the balance after an actors union issued a no-work order on the films last month.Talks were held overnight with studio executives from Warner Brothers to resolve concerns about industrial laws in New Zealand.
Education

Submission + - Time to Rethink the School Desk?

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: As part of its reimagine the 21st-century classroom project, Slate asks: Is the best way to fix the American classroom to improve the furniture? While adults park their butts in $700 Aeron chairs, kids still sprawl and slump and fidget and dangle their way through the day in school furniture designed to meet or beat a $40 price point. 'We've seen in adults that if you put them in the right chair, their performance increases,' says Harvard's Jack Dennerlein. 'Is the same true for children? I can't see why not.' For school districts with deep pockets, there are choices — a tricked-out Node chair from IDEO and Steelcase can be had for $599.

Submission + - Vatican Warns Against 'Excessive Zeal' for IP (arstechnica.com) 3

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Vatican has written an encyclical warning that 'excessive zeal' for IP rights is harmful. They're not against IP per se, but they are concerned with the problems caused by things like drug patents, which leave the citizens of poor countries unable to afford medicine. In essence, they're arguing that a 'fair regime of intellectual property rights should aim toward the good of all' and that current regimes fall short.
Security

Submission + - Mozilla pays 12-year-old $3000 for critic bug find (geek.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In the world of open source software bug hunting age is clearly not a factor. Alex Miller, a 12-year-old tech wiz from San Jose is proof of that after just receiving $3,000 from Mozilla. The check came in the post and was a reward for tracking down a critical security flaw in the Firefox web browser.

Mozilla recently increased the bounty for finding such bugs from $500 to $3,000 in an attempt to make it more worthwhile for people to spend their time looking for them. Alex set about tracking down any bug he could with 90 minute sessions each day. The first bug he submitted did not qualify for the reward, but 10 more days of hunting located a critical security flaw and the check was in the post.

According to Brandon Sterne, security program manager at Mozilla, what Alex achieved is not something just anyone can do:

        The space of people that are contributing in this area is pretty small. This is a very niche technical area.

Comment iPhone doesn't matter much (Score 1) 347

by jipn4 (#29933089) Attached to: Android 2.0 — Competition Against the iPhone and the Rest

Despite Apple's insane press coverage and a Silicon Valley-centric view of reporters, the iPhone is still only 1/6 of the market in smartphones. A spectacular success for a newcomer, but not market domination. Even iPod, Apple's most successful product, has less than 1/4 market share. Apple has never managed to dominate a market. At best, they hit a peak at 15-20% and then slowly decline. In the end, there are only so many people willing to pay $500-$900 for an iPhone (and that's what it costs, whether it's hidden in subscription fees or paid up front).

Android, on the other hand, has the potential for some really low-cost devices ($100-$200), and its greater openness both towards carries and towards applications mean that it will likely overtake the iPhone in a couple of years.

Of course, the iPhone won't be "killed", just like the Mac won't be killed. Apple's market share dropped from an all-time high of 15% to a couple of percent and now is back at 3-4% worldwide, but it never disappeared.

Slashdot Top Deals

Today is a good day for information-gathering. Read someone else's mail file.

Close