todopoderosita - Slashdot User

Submission + - Apple to allow virtual Mac OS X Server instances (tidbits.com)

Submitted by

Glenn Fleishman

on Wednesday October 31, 2007 @12:09PM

Glenn Fleishman writes: "Apple changed its license for Mac OS X Server 10.5 (Leopard Server) to allow virtualized instances. VMware and Parallels are poised to offer support. This probably presages a thoroughly overhauled Xserve product with greater capability for acting as a virtual machine server, too."

Submission + - Online ad tracking targetted by privacy groups (yahoo.com)

Submitted by

Technical Writing Geek

on Wednesday October 31, 2007 @11:47AM

Technical Writing Geek writes: "A coalition of privacy groups Wednesday called for creation of a "Do Not Track List," that would prohibit advertisers from tracking online movements of consumers.

Similar to the popular Do Not Call telephone lists, the Internet proposal comes as online advertising revenues are growing rapidly, providing critical revenue to startups and Web giants such as Google Inc. and Yahoo Inc.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071031/ap_on_hi_te/online_advertising_privacy;ylt=omg_wtf"

Submission + - QVC computer glitch scammer enters guilty plea (networkworld.com)

Submitted by

coondoggie

on Wednesday October 31, 2007 @11:41AM

coondoggie writes: "A computer glitch in home-shopping network QVC's computers let a woman scam the company for $412,000 and more then 1,800 items. That woman, Quantina Moore-Perry, 33, of Greensboro, NC pled guilty to the scam in Federal court this week and agreed to surrender the $412,000. Authorities said Quantina Moore-Perry of Greensboro, exploited a glitch in QVC's computer system where she would receive merchandise without being charged if she canceled an order immediately after placing it. Authorities said there was no evidence Perry caused the computer glitch, rather she just took advantage of it. Perry then took the 1,800 products she received and resold items on eBay from March to November 2005. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/21356"

Submission + - Photo of Bigfoot? (yahoo.com)

Submitted by $lingBlade on Wednesday October 31, 2007 @11:34AM

$lingBlade writes: Rick Jacobs of Ridgeway Pennsylvania setup a camera in the woods to photograph deer and other animals. On September 16th of 2007 His camera appears to have caught a photo of something resembling an ape or bear with a severe case of mange Here's the link:
http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Allegheny-National-Forest-Rick-Jacobs-Pennsylvania/photo//ydownload_ap/20071029/photos_net_ap_ts/1193702239//s:/ap/20071028/ap_on_fe_st/odd_bigfoot_in_pa;_ylt=AqqlHbJOrFpgfU2HUXVFUZUuQE4F

Submission + - Did Gas Kill Dinosaurs?

Submitted by

Ponca City, We Love You

on Wednesday October 31, 2007 @11:25AM

Ponca City, We Love You writes: "Nature reports that volcanic eruptions from the Deccan Flood Basalts in India that released huge amounts of sulphur dioxide gas to the atmosphere may have had more to do with wiping out dinosaurs 65 million years ago than the meteorite strike at Chicxulub on Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula. Marine sediments reveal that Chicxulub hit Earth 300,000 years before the mass extinction while the Deccan volcanism released vast amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere over a period of more than a million years raising worldwide temperatures. "On land it must have been 7-8 degrees warmer," says Princeton University paleontologist Gerta Keller. "The Chicxulub impact alone could not have caused the mass extinction, because this impact predates the mass extinction.""

Submission + - DirectX 10 is Dying (extremetech.com)

Submitted by ChristmasOnMars on Wednesday October 31, 2007 @11:13AM

ChristmasOnMars writes: ExtremeTech's Joel Durahm points out that DirectX 10 is a dog, noting that Microsoft made a lot of promises that aren't coming true. "I haven't noticed much of a performance improvement, or the promised visual splendor, that Microsoft seems to think DirectX 10 provides. So far, in most games, engaging DirectX 10 mode cripples them on all but the most powerful computers."

Submission + - Are We in a Speculative Bubble with Regard to Oil? (theoildrum.com)

Submitted by

Prof. Goose

on Wednesday October 31, 2007 @10:47AM

Prof. Goose writes: "Maybe the two most common explanations (or myths) about high oil prices are:

1. oil companies are manipulating prices
2. speculators are driving prices up

Of course, these two explanations are satisfying our natural impulse to find scapegoats rather than facing the depressing facts of fossil fuel depletion. Let's debunk them with some data.

http://www.theoildrum.com/node/3157"

Submission + - Link with hyper kids and artificial preservatives (itwire.com)

Submitted by

WaltonNews

on Monday September 10, 2007 @11:59AM

WaltonNews writes: "Sodium benzoate and other food preservatives and colorings have been linked with hyperactivity in children. Although such ingredients have been thought in the past to produce adverse behavior in children, this study is considered the first scientific evidence of its kind."

Submission + - Entry Level Astronomy 2

Submitted by

brobak

on Monday September 10, 2007 @11:31AM

brobak writes: "I'm getting ready to move into a new home on a couple of acres of rural property a significant distance from any large source of light pollution. I've always been interested in astronomy in general, and I was thinking that putting my dark skies to use by picking up decent telescope and learning a bit about the skies over my head. I have been doing a decent amount of web research, but I thought that the Slashdot community would be the perfect place to get opinions on entry level equipment, websites, and books.

The overall budget for this project is going to be around $1,000, and observations will be made from the back of my home primarily. I am particularly interested in the subject of astrophotography, but I understand that may be outside the scope of the initial budget. I would welcome any and all of your comments and suggestions for getting started in this fascinating hobby.

PS — I've already signed up for my local astronomy clubs next monthly meeting."

Submission + - Apple Cripples iPod Touch, Eliminates "Add" (gizmodo.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 10, 2007 @09:50AM

An anonymous reader writes: According to photos, support discussions and their own description pages, Apple has removed the ability to add events in the iPod touch's Calendar application, even while it uses the same operating system and application frameworks as the iPhone. The article shows captures from the modified US features page compared to the international pages, which haven't been changed yet, as well as analysis on this kind of artificial product segmentation similar to Microsoft's Windows marketing strategy.

Submission + - Solar craft flies through two nights

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 10, 2007 @09:06AM

An anonymous reader writes: A solar-powered, unmanned craft has flown for 54 hours — a record for both unmanned aerial vehicles and solar craft. None before has managed to spare engouh solar energy to fly through more than one night. A video shows the 18m carbon fibre wing being launched.

Submission + - Microsoft Patents Uncrackable DRM

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 10, 2007 @08:20AM

An anonymous reader writes: Microsoft has just received a little-known patent for a "Stealthy audio watermarking," which is seemingly uncrackable, since it uses spread-spectrum technology to hide its traces within music files. As the patent's abstract explains it: "The watermark identifies the content producer, providing a signature that is embedded in the audio signal and cannot be removed. The watermark is designed to survive all typical kinds of processing and malicious attacks." True, watermarking is not the same as file encrpyption. However, an end-to-end music system could use watermarking to verify ownership. Does this mean it might be time to revise the DRM scorecard?

Submission + - Earth's Largest Telescope in Danger of Shut-Down

Submitted by slashdotter on Monday September 10, 2007 @08:06AM

slashdotter writes: Earth's largest radio telescope, located in Puerto Rico, is in danger of closing for lack of money.The National Science Foundation has told Cornell University, which operates the facility, that if it cannot find $4 million in outside funding in the next three years,it will be shut down, The Washington Post reported Sunday.

Submission + - FBI targets online auction sites' criminal element (networkworld.com)

Submitted by

coondoggie

on Friday August 31, 2007 @02:28PM

coondoggie writes: "The FBI has made a number of big busts using the eBay and other online auction sites this year. Now today comes news that it played a big role in the indictment of an Alabama man for wire fraud. Joseph Davidson, has been charged in U.S. District Court with wire fraud in connection with an eBay scheme in which he allegedly received approximately $77,000 for stolen goods sold on the auction site. "Online auction houses present an opportunity for a thief to turn a stolen item into cash. Thieves should know that law enforcement can surf sites too in investigating crime," the FBI said. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/18955"

Submission + - IBM stores data on an atom (infoworld.com)

Submitted by

InfoWorldMike

on Friday August 31, 2007 @02:27PM

InfoWorldMike writes: "IBM has demonstrated how to perform computer functions on single atoms and molecules, a discovery that could someday lead to processors the size of a speck of dust, the company said Thursday. Researchers at IBM's Almaden Research Center in California developed a technique for measuring magnetic anisotropy, a property of the magnetic field that gives it the ability to maintain a particular direction. Being able to measure magnetic anisotropy at the atomic level is a crucial step toward the magnet representing the ones or the zeroes used to store data in binary computer language. In a second report, researchers at IBM's lab in Zurich, Switzerland, said they had used an individual molecule as an electric switch that could potentially replace the transistors used in modern chips. The company published both research reports in Friday's edition of the journal Science."

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