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Microsoft

France Leading Charge Against OOXML 242

Posted by kdawson from the ceci-n'est-pas-ouvert dept.
Bergkamp10 writes "As Microsoft's Office Open XML document format waits in ISO limbo, South Africa, Korea, and the Netherlands are now actively pursuing the alternative Open Document Format instead, said the ODF Alliance. The Alliance now claims 500 members, and by their count 13 nations have announced laws or rules that favor the use ODF over Microsoft's Office formats. Those nations include Russia, Malaysia, Japan, France, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, and Norway. The French have been the most aggressive in their rejection of Microsoft's standard; nearly half a million French government employees are being switched to OpenOffice. There has been no similar move in the US, though in a speech at Google last week Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama called for data to be stored in 'universally accessible formats.'"
Security

When Not to Use chroot 407

Posted by CowboyNeal from the trust-no-one dept.
Hyena writes "Linux guru Alan Cox is quoted as saying 'chroot is not and never has been a security tool' in a KernelTrap article summarizing a lengthy thread on the Linux Kernel mailing list. The discussion began with a patch attempting to 'fix a security hole' in the Unix chroot command, trying to improve the ability of chroot to contain a process. When it was pointed out that people have been using chroot as a security tool for years, another kernel hacker retorted, 'incompetent people implementing security solutions are a real problem.' A quick search on the terms 'chroot+security' quickly reveals that many people have long thought (wrongly) that chroot's purpose was for improving security."
United States

Torrentspy Disables Searching For US IPs 277

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the everyones-favorite-pariah dept.
dr_strang writes "Torrent indexing site Torrentspy.com appears to have disabled torrent searches for IPs that originate in the United States. Instead of a results page, users are directed to this page, which states: 'Torrentspy Acts to Protect Privacy. Sorry, but because you are located in the USA you cannot use the search features of the Torrentspy.com website. Torrentspy's decision to stop accepting US visitors was NOT compelled by any Court but rather an uncertain legal climate in the US regarding user privacy and an apparent tension between US and European Union privacy laws."
Programming

The Future of C++ As Seen By Its Creator 424

Posted by Zonk from the fun-name-to-say dept.
holden writes "In a rare public talk, C++ creator Dr. Bjarne Stroustrup discusses his ideal in programming languages, as well how he sees the next version (and beyond) of C++ developing. He explains the general selection criteria used for adding new features, some of the legacy of C++, and many other interesting topics. Especially interesting is during the Q&A he explains his views of the embrace and extend mentality some implementations, such as VC++, have taken."
Education

Intelligent Design Ruled "Not Science" 1497

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the take-a-religion-course-if-you-want-it dept.
blane.bramble writes "The Register is reporting that the UK government has stated there is no place in the science curriculum for Intelligent Design and that it can not be taught as science. 'The Government is aware that a number of concerns have been raised in the media and elsewhere as to whether creationism and intelligent design have a place in science lessons. The Government is clear that creationism and intelligent design are not part of the science National Curriculum programs of study and should not be taught as science.'"
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft to patent in-game stalking (newscientisttech.com)

Submitted by
b100dian
b100dian writes: "From NewScientist:

As spectator sports go, video games are no match for the football terraces or the racing stands. But Microsoft hopes to change that by giving its video games a "dynamic spectator mode", in which the footage is streamed to a third party who becomes a virtual observer but takes no part in the action.
Read the full dynamic spectator mode patent application.
Question: can you mention at least one existing game that already has this?"
NASA

Journal SPAM: Atlantis Launch 2

Journal by stoolpigeon

Earlier in the day there were quite a few clouds. We drove through some showers around 16:00 or so - but by 19:00 things were looking very nice. I had taken my daughter out to dinner, and the schedule was kind of tight. We left the restaurant, and out of habit, I went to hop on the 528 and head home. This was a mistake. Even though the launch was 30 minutes and over 50 miles away, the toll-road was a parking lot. I weaseled my way to the first available exit and carved a new route home.
Announcements

Submission + - Dell Suddenly Discontinues E1405/640m Laptop

Submitted by halcyon1234
halcyon1234 writes: As of sometime last night, Dell stopped offering the E1405/640m model. Shopping carts containing the 640m were deleted, and all links to the popular, portable laptop no longer work. Sales reps say the product either at the end of life. Some customer service reps admit that Dell is no longer able to purchase the parts needed to build the 640m, but they have not been specific as to which suppliers or parts. A replacement model is expected sometime in the coming weeks. Until then, anyone who has ordered a 640m, or is looking to have their 640m serviced, is out of luck.
Upgrades

Submission + - Buying a new laptop - Apple with BootCamp or PC?

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: So here's the deal — I've finally decided (cheap as I am) that it's time for a new notebook. However, it's been such a long time since I actually purchased one (I usually, as many of you probably do, just get by with whatever I can garbage-pick and squeeze another year out of) that I don't really know what the best way to go is. The low-end MacBook is no slouch and provides a fast processor, good expandability and features in an appealing package at a good price. However, I've also been looking at some of Dell's mid-range business offerings (the D620 in particular) and I can't decide. With the MacBook, I can run Boot Camp and have the best of both worlds — or so it seems — for a lower price. The question really comes down to this: have any of you made this same half-hearted switch, and if so — what problems have you encountered? Does the Mac really run well under Windows? Does it even matter? I await your replies.
Software

Submission + - New Pidgin pixmaps

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: Well, these days the Pidgin (former Gaim) team has come up with some new images to represent the IM app we all know and love. My anonymous opinion is that they suck... badly. What does the slashdot crowd think? Is it to late to help the Pidgin developers with some cool and web twooish ideas?
Sony

New Sony DVDs Not Working In Some Players 651

Posted by kdawson from the DRMed-out dept.
An anonymous reader writes "It seems that the most recent DVDs released by Sony — specifically Stranger Than Fiction, Casino Royale, and The Pursuit of Happyness — have some kind of 'feature' that makes them unplayable on many DVD players. This doesn't appear to be covered by the major media yet, but this link to a discussion over at Amazon gives a flavor of the problems people are experiencing. A blogger called Sony and was told the problem is with the new copy protection scheme, and they do not intend to fix it. Sony says it's up to the manufacturers to update their hardware."

Pthreads vs Win32 threads 385

Posted by Hemos from the different-situations,-different-needs dept.
An anonymous reader writes "It's interesting when different people have different opinions. While I was searching for something on Intel's website, I came across an article on why Windows threads are better than Posix threads. Curiously, I also came across this article on why Posix Pthreads are better that Win32 threads. The thing is, both of these articles are written by the same author!

So who is right (metaphorically speaking?), or what has changed since the first article was written?"
Networking

Submission + - OneTeam, Mozilla/XUL Instant Messaging Client

Submitted by
HumanTorch
HumanTorch writes: "A new Mozilla/XUL based IM Client has been announced. There have been several trials in the past, but the development team seems to be serious in building the "Firefox of Instant Messaging" by leveraging a plugin development community. The client also aims at corporate Instant Messaging, with features targetting productivity, by providing control on who and when people can interrupt you.

What do you feel would be the killer feature in a new corporate oriented IM client ?"
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft e-mails show Mac OS X Envy

Submitted by MCSEBear
MCSEBear writes: Information Week reports that Microsoft e-mails submitted as evidence in the state of Iowa's anti-trust case show definite OS X envy among Microsoft execs.

In 2004 after Apple demonstrated details of Mac OS X Tiger: "Lenn Pryor, former director of Microsoft's platform evangelism, said Spotlight, the new Mac OS X 10.4 search tool that Apple chief executive Steve Jobs highlighted at the conference, was "amazing. It is like I just got a free pass to Longhorn-land today." Pryor now works for Skype.

[Jim] Allchin agreed. "I don't believe we will have search this fast," he wrote in an e-mailed reply June 30, 2004."

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