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Media

Submission + - Internet campaign aims to save Vancouver theatre

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: CBC.ca is covering an internet campaign to save a historic Vancouver theater and turn it into a state of the art media center for the city. "Jhayne Holmes is fighting to save the Raja Theatre in East Vancouver with an internet endeavor that has the goal of turning the 475-seat theater into a multidisciplinary arts center she calls Heart of the World, which will help satisfy Vancouver's need for performance space." They also plan to do podcasts of all performances so that the whole world can share in their productions and creations.
The Internet

Submission + - UN offical says org. not taking over internet

Submitted by kaufmanmoore
kaufmanmoore writes: Hamadoun Toure, the new head of the UN's International Telecommunications Union says that he does not plan to take over governance of the internet and leave it up to groups like ICANN. In his statement he says that the ITU will instead focus on bridging the digital divide, internet security and standardize broadband communications. When asked about Chinese censorship Toure said that issue is beyond the mandate of the ITU. The full article is here
Music

Submission + - Senate bill S.256 aims to restrict internet radio

Submitted by JAFSlashdotter
JAFSlashdotter writes: If you enjoy MP3 or OGG streams of internet radio, it's time to pay attention. This week US Senators Lamar Alexander, Joseph Biden, Dianne Feinstein, and Lindsey Graham in their collective wisdom have decided to reintroduce the "Platform Equality and Remedies for Rights Holders in Music (PERFORM) Act". This ARS Technica article explains that PERFORM would restrict our rights to make non-commercial recordings under the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992, and require satellite and internet broadcasters to use "technology to prevent music theft". That means goodbye to your favorite streaming audio formats, hello DRM. The EFF said pretty much the same when this bill last reared its ugly head in April of 2006. It's too soon to get the text of this year's version (S.256) online, but it likely to resemble last year's S.2644, which is available through Thomas. Last year's bill died in committee, but if at first you don't succeed...
Portables

Submission + - Dell accused of selling defective notebooks-again

Submitted by crowbarsarefornerdyg
crowbarsarefornerdyg writes: Dell's in the courts again, except this time Sony isn't to blame. The lawsuit stems from overheating Inspiron laptops. I own one (I inherited it, ok!) and it has overheated since we got it. Dell's answer? Keep it cleaned out. From TFA:

'A lawsuit filed in Ontario Superior Court alleges that Dell notebooks suffer from design defects that cause premature failure of the motherboard due to overheating.

The suit, which seeks class-action status, was filed on behalf of an Ontario owner of an Inspiron PC, according to articles by the Canadian Press and the Associated Press. It claims that Dell knew or should have known of the defects but sold the notebooks anyway.'

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/01/12/inspiron_d efect_lawsuit/
NASA

Software Error Likely Killed MGS Spacecraft 199

Posted by kdawson from the off-by-one dept.
Aglassis writes "NASA investigators have determined that a software update performed in June of 2006 may have doomed the 10-year-old spacecraft. Apparently the software error caused the solar arrays to drive against a mechanical stop which then forced the spacecraft into safe mode. Unfortunately, after that the spacecraft's radiator was pointed at the sun which overheated the battery and destroyed it. Contact was lost with the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft in November 2006. NASA will form an internal review board to determine formally the cause of the loss of the spacecraft and what remedial actions are needed for future missions."
Microsoft

Submission + - UK schools at risk of Microsoft lock-in

Submitted by Robert
Robert writes: UK schools and colleges that have signed up to Microsoft Corp's academic licensing programs face the 'significant potential' of being locked in to the company's software, according to an interim review by the UK government agency responsible for technology in education. The British Educational Communications and Technology Agency report also states that most establishments surveyed do not believe that Microsoft's licensing agreements provide value for money.
It's funny. Laugh.

Journal Journal: You have been... Goatsed?

Journal by Noryungi

About 2,500 people have had a (very) nasty surprise recently when they looked at their MySpace page. Let's just say a small image was replaced by... another small image. Only, the second one was from the infamous "Goatse.cx" (You remember THAT one, don't you?). But what exactly happened? Jason Scott, the owner of textfiles.com explains all -- or is it confesses all?. The email received are hilarious. Well worth a read and a chuckle
The Media

Submission + - PC World editor killed in his home

Submitted by smooth wombat
smooth wombat writes: Rex Farrance, PC World Magazine's senior technical editor, was shot dead by masked gunmen who had broken into his home on Tuesday evening. His wife, Lenore Vantosh-Farrance, was pistol whipped. She was able to call 911 but the assailants fled before the police arrived.

Investigators are suggestng the attack was drug related. From the article:

"We have substantial reason to believe that the victim and his wife were involved in the possession and, potentially, the distribution of illegal narcotics," said Pittsburg police Inspector John Conaty, who declined to specify what type of drugs were involved.
Links

Submission + - Tragic Early Death of Boy Genius

Submitted by BayaWeaver
BayaWeaver writes: Is there a moral to this tragic story? Boy goes to Caltech at the age of 12, gets his Ph.D from Cornell in string theory (under Brian Greene, a boy genius himself), and then things seem to have gone downhill after that. He is treated in a hospital for depression at 25, dies at age 30 and his family won't say why. Here is the story from the New Straits Times in Malaysia.
"Boy genius Chiang Ti Ming, who died on Saturday, was buried yesterday at the Jalan Sikamat Christian Cemetery. The cause of his death is unknown and family members were tight-lipped at the funeral. Chiang made the headlines in 1989 when, as a 12-year-old, he was accepted into the prestigious California Institute of Technology (Caltech) to study physics. He went on to pursue a doctorate in the field of Super String Theory in 1992 at Cornell University, an Ivy League institution.Not much was known about Chiang after his initial "fame", though in 1993, he suffered a personal tragedy when his four-year-old sister Eei Wern drowned at the swimming pool of the Seremban International Golf Club. In 2002, it was reported that he was admitted to a hospital in Kuala Lumpur after suffering from depression."
If there a lesson to be learnt here, what would that be? Don't go to Caltech when you are 12yo? Don't waste the best years of your life doing string theory? Was the poor kid pushed too far too fast? One can only imagine the overwhelming pressure the boy must have felt to perform. Perhaps he should have been left alone to find his way and not be pushed to what is very possibly a dead end
User Journal

Journal Journal: Server death, the sequel... 4

Journal by Cyberdyne

*sniff* Alas, poor Server!

My current server, home to some of my websites, some e-mail and half my DNS service, has decided it would make life more fun if it rebooted spontaneously every few minutes. Nothing in the logs, just unsolicited rebooting - possibly a power supply issue of some sort. (All I know is SMART shows the hard drive is OK; I'd expect most memory or CPU problems to give different symptoms, but being eight time zones away makes diagnostics rather limited.)
Hardware Hacking

Methods of Learning to Build Electronic Circuitry? 134

Posted by Cliff from the beyond-resisters-and-capacitors dept.
Peristaltic asks: "I've seen some cool articles in Instructables detailing how to create various electronic gadgets. A couple of these as well as the odd DIY kit have come to life on my kitchen table. While it's satisfying to see the things work after time spent soldering, I would love to be able to take the next step beyond the basics of component functionality, i.e. a resistor does -this-; a capacitor does -that-. Forest Mimm's books have been helpful towards this end, but it's time to move forward. Every month or so, I read here on Slashdot a plea for help getting started with, or expanding someone's knowledge of programming. OK, I'd like to make that plea for help with electronics theory & circuit building. I've found plenty of references on the web, Amazon, etc., but can someone who's already taken this trip outline what has and hasn't worked for them?"
User Journal

Journal SPAM: Iran starstruck by UFO phenomenon 1

Journal by Jeremiah Cornelius

UFO fever is gripping Iran after dozens of Unidentified Flying Object sightings in the last few days.

State television has shown pictures of a sparkling white disc which it says was filmed over Tehran on Tuesday.

Other UFOs have been spotted in several northern and north-western cities moving quickly through the atmosphere emitting brightly coloured rays.

Scientists say the sightings are a result of natural phenomena, but many people say they are spy planes.
Portables

Submission + - Microvision Turns Cellphone Into Digital Projector

Submitted by Art Vanderlay
Art Vanderlay writes: Microvision will unveil at CES an ultra-miniature full-color digital projection display designed to be embedded into handheld electronic devices such as cellphones, PDAs, or multimedia handhelds. This would allow images to be projected onto a nearby surface, such as a wall, whiteboard or desktop. Pricing or availability not yet set, you can be sure it won't be cheap.

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I tell them to turn to the study of mathematics, for it is only there that they might escape the lusts of the flesh. -- Thomas Mann, "The Magic Mountain"

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