Comment Video Games, of course (Score 3, Insightful) 1806
Wii Fit. If you're a geek looking for a half-way decent workout at home, that'll fit the bill quite nicely.
Submission + - Sports Algorithms and Better Product Recommendatio (droptome.com)
AnimusF6 writes: "Slashdot users howlingfrog(211,151) and animusf6 (765,091) recently launched a new site, DropToMe.com. It is a new kind of e-commerce website. We are taking a new approach at how product recommendations are calculated. Instead of following the traditional path of statistical data-mining, howlingfrog has developed an algorithm using techniques similar to those used to rank college sports teams.
We're starting to see some interesting results, but we need more data! So we're turning to you, the Slashdot community, to visit the site and create lists of products that you like to help us put our algorithm through some more strenous tests!"
Feed Science Daily: New Type Of Active Galaxy Discovered (sciencedaily.com)
Astronomers have discovered a new class of active galactic nuclei. By using Swift and Suzaku, the team has found that a relatively common class of AGN has escaped detection...until now. These objects are so heavily shrouded in gas and dust that virtually no light gets out.
Submission + - The molecule that might combat SARS 1
votenoone2008 writes: Researchers at Mayo Clinic in Rochester have discovered a molecule that could combat Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). It counteracts the enzyme that allows SARS to replicate and a patent filed by the researchers suggests that — since it resembles Tamiflu — it might also help combat Bird Flu. It was discovered through computer simulations and has yet to be trialled, but it could perhaps make a very useful drug.
"Crowd Farm" to Collect Energy? 357
Cain writes to mention that a couple of MIT students would like to harness the mechanical power of large groups of people. "A Crowd Farm in Boston's South Station railway terminal would work like this: A responsive sub-flooring system made up of blocks that depress slightly under the force of human steps would be installed beneath the station's main lobby. The slippage of the blocks against one another as people walked would generate power through the principle of the dynamo, a device that converts the energy of motion into that of an electric current."
Submission + - Which HDTV to buy?
loafula writes: I'm in the market for a new television. As far as getting the most bang for my buck, what should I go with; LCD or Plasma? I'd like to keep the price down as much as possible. How about these companies like Niko, Vizio, Scepter or Westinghouse? Do they make good products, or am I better off spending a few hundred more on a Panasonic or Sony?
Submission + - Cheif Justice Hospitalized (blogspot.com)
Mike Kuykendall writes: "MSNBC just reported that John Roberts has "fallen" and was taken to a nearby hospital near his summer home in Maine."
Submission + - RPG Player Kidnapped for Password
mattOzan writes: "A top RPG gamer was kidnapped in Brazil after responding to a "honeypot" date on Orkut with one of the kidnapper's girlfriends. The victim was held alone for five hours with a gun to his head as the gang of four tried to get his account password for GunBound, which they wanted to sell for US$8,000. After he refused to speak, the victim was eventually released. Brazilian police have captured the suspects, who range in age from 19 to 27."
Submission + - Skype also affected by supposed Firefox bug
juct writes: "The latest security problem associated with URL handling seems to be a Windows problem rather than one of Firefox. As heise Security found out, other applications like Skype and Miranda show the same behaviour as Firefox: if Internet Explorer 7 is installed on a Windows XP system, a click on certain URLs can launch other applications like the Windows calculator. Problematic protocols include mailto:, nntp:, news: snews: and telnet:."
Submission + - FCC to Rule on Wireless Auction (washingtonpost.com) 1
vthokie69 writes: "The FCC is expected to rule tomorrow regarding the open access requirement proposal for the upcoming radio spectrum auction. Lobbying has been intense on both sides of the issue with Google proposing requirements of open access and the conventional carriers such as AT&T and Verizon lobbying against it. The open access requirement looks promising with the FCC chairman and many members of congress supporting it. Apparently, AT&T reversed their position to support the FCC chairman's position after Google committed to spending at least 4.6 billion on the airwaves if their conditions were met."
Submission + - Electric car to change the industry?
An anonymous reader writes: CNNMoney.com is running an article about a Norwegian car company that is hooking up with Google, Tesla, and others to bring an electric car to market that might change the automotive industry the way Dell changed the computer industry.
Submission + - Turn The Deserts Green by Killing Desal Costs (wordpress.com)
cakilmer writes: "I visited the Annual American Membrane Technology Association meeting in Las Vegas last week. These membranes support water desalination. 15 or 20 new plants are in planning stage to be built along coastal California. But there's no new water sources for the southwest. People are still streaming in and the big Hoover dam is half full and falling. What to do? The answer is to invest the money to collapse the cost of water desalination and transport so water in the western deserts is as cheap as water on the East Coast. Is this doable? You bet."
Journal Journal: Slashdot OS X Icon
Now I love /. just as much as the next overly well adjusted techie, and I 've got no real solution to this but does anyone else think that the icon /. uses for OS X is a little out of date? Perhaps a little.. ahem.. blue? Suggestions?
Submission + - Slashdot readers missing out on important IT news? 1
SplatMan_DK writes: I have been a Slashdot reader for many years. I recently submitted a story about EU issuing an antitrust charge sheet against Intel. In other words: the EU is suing Intel over misuse of their near-monopoly on micro processors. The submitted story was ignored for 3 days, then finally rejected. Meanwhile the very same story has been big news on Groklaw, Cnet, News.com, CNN, BBC, Computerworld, and many others. My question is this: Why the hell is Intel getting sued for literally billions of dollars not newsworthy on Slashdot? And do the rest of you feel that you actually know what's going on in the IT world by reading Slashdot (because obviously you might actually be missing out on rather important stuff)? What other IT news portals (besides Slashdot) do you read in order to feel you are "in the loop"?
Submission + - 85-year-old man learns he needn't lease his phone
An anonymous reader writes: According to Bangor Daily News, a man from Hermon was still leasing his phone from AT&T. "Lloyd Overlock never had much reason to think about his telephone. The 85-year-old Hermon resident just paid his bills and knew the service was there if he needed it. But Overlock, who for five decades has been paying a monthly fee to lease his phone, found out recently that the arrangement is a pricey, outmoded throwback to the days of telephone industry monopoly." What's amazing is even when his niece, Roberta York, tried to cancel the service via customer services, the friendly operator on the other end attempted to dissuade her, "offering her uncle a 20 percent discount off his monthly rental fee and reminding York of the benefits of leasing. 'She said that if something goes wrong with that phone, they'd have a new one here the next business day,' she recalled. I was thinking to myself, 'If something goes wrong with that phone, I'll go to Wal-Mart and get one the next day.' But I didn't say it."
