irishdaze - Slashdot User

First Evidence Of Under-Ice Volcanoes In Antarctica 186

Posted by Zonk on Monday January 21, 2008 @05:18AM from the a-touch-extreme dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The first evidence of a volcanic eruption from beneath Antarctica's ice sheet has been discovered by members of the British Antarctic Survey. The volcano on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet began erupting some 2,000 years ago and remains active to this day. Using airborne ice-sounding radar, scientists discovered a layer of ash produced by a 'subglacial' volcano. It extends across an area larger than Wales."

Submission + - "Hot or Not" for Website Design (commandshift3.com)

Submitted by irishdaze on Friday December 14, 2007 @11:24PM

irishdaze writes: "CommandShift3 is like Hot or Not. Except, instead of clicking on hot babes, you click on hot websites." ~ from the site

This site gives you a seeming never ending stream of head-to-head website screen-shot matchups, and you pick the one you like best by clicking on it. Two more screen-shots are presented, click, repeat. A 10-click history on the bottom of the page lets you know how your opinion on each comparison stacks up against those of other visitors. Your vote on each match-up is all but instantaneous because it's based only on aesthetics, so this thing is a bit of idle fun to keep your hands busy while waiting on or doing something else.

An added bonus: You can add websites anonymously, and, if you provide an e-mail address, can get the weekly match-up status of any site you submit. I've already added slashdot.org.

Submission + - Cisco shareholders hate human rights

Submitted by Stony Stevenson on Thursday November 15, 2007 @11:44PM

Stony Stevenson writes: A shareholder resolution calling on Cisco Systems to actively ensure that its technology sold overseas is not used to censor Internet content from citizens was rejected, although support for the motion increased sharply. The resolution called for Cisco to publish a report to shareholders detailing "concrete steps the company could reasonably take to reduce the likelihood that its business practices might enable or encourage the violation of human rights, including freedom of expression and privacy." Just over half of the Cisco shareholders voted against the proposal. Cisco has repeatedly denied any responsibility for how its networking equipment is used by governments of countries such as China, Saudi Arabia, and Vietnam, which have been cited for spying on their citizens and restricting access to information via the Internet.

Submission + - Comcast Just Won't Learn

Submitted by JjcampNR on Thursday November 15, 2007 @11:35PM

JjcampNR writes: Moments after announcing the availability of Tivo powered Comcast DVR boxes, the serial port on most Comcast digital cable boxes manufactured by Motorola were disabled. After a large volume of calls to Comcast by a hoard of angry Tivo users (most Series 2 Tivo boxes use the serial connection to change channels on the cable box) word from Comcast support is that new firmware was the reason for the crippling of the serial port. While Comcast is currently blaming the issue on Motorola for releasing the firmware, the timing of this awfully convenient. My Tivo Series 2 box has worked perfectly through the serial port on a number of Motorola cable boxes over the last few years. With the current list of dirty tricks growing longer by the day, increased pressure from Verizon, and revenue down 50% for the last quarter, how long can Comcast continue to ignore customers to make up for their own shortcomings?

Submission + - FBI Raids Liberty Dollar

Submitted by

Smeedoo

on Thursday November 15, 2007 @10:56PM

Smeedoo writes: "The FBI has apparently decided that Liberty Dollar was taking too many liberties with their printing of private currency and raided them today. Liberty dollar has posted a page detailing the raid and what was taken (everything)."

Submission + - British nukes protected solely by bicycle locks

Submitted by StationM on Thursday November 15, 2007 @09:30PM

StationM writes: Newsnight at BBC2 has revealed that British were secured only by a bicycle lock and 'trust' in the integrity of the officers in charge of the weapons. "Newsnight has discovered that until the early days of the Blair government the RAF's nuclear bombs were armed by turning a bicycle lock key...The Royal Navy argued that officers of the Royal Navy as the Senior Service could be trusted:

"It would be invidious to suggest... that Senior Service officers may, in difficult circumstances, act in defiance of their clear orders".

Neither the Navy nor the RAF installed PAL (Permissive Active Link) protection on their nuclear weapons.

The RAF kept their unsafeguarded bombs at airbases until they were withdrawn in 1998."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/7097101.stm

sure makes me feel safe!

Wi-Fi Piggybacking Widespread 459

Posted by CowboyNeal on Thursday November 15, 2007 @09:18PM from the five-finger-discounts dept.

BaCa sent in this article about stealing network access that opens, "Sophos has revealed new research into the use of other people's Wi-Fi networks to piggyback onto the internet without payment. The research shows that 54 percent of computer users have admitted breaking the law, by using someone else's wireless internet access without permission." Of course, online polls being what they are, the results are hardly a plank for a full investigation, but a good share of the answerers did 'fess up to it as well.

Vuze Petitions FCC To Restrict Traffic Throttling 159

Posted by Zonk on Thursday November 15, 2007 @05:43PM from the keeping-the-tubes-clean dept.

mrspin writes "Vuze, an online video application that uses the peer-to-peer protocol BitTorrent, has petitioned the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to restrict Internet traffic throttling by Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Vuze has been keenly aware of Comcast and the "bandwidth shaping" issue. Vuze filed its "Petition for Rulemaking" (PDF) to urge the FCC to adopt regulations limiting Internet traffic throttling, a practice by which ISPs block or slow the speed at which Internet content, including video files, can be uploaded or downloaded. As readers may remember, back in May, Slashdot discussed the issue of packet shaping and how ISPs threaten to spoil online video."

Backing Up Your Brain 204

Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday November 15, 2007 @01:41PM from the error-document-not-found dept.

couch_warrior writes "Microsoft is now working on a system that will back up the contents of your brain. The pilot project lacks a direct brain interface, but "MyLifeBits" will provide a simulacrum of actual memories. No mention is made as to whether Microsoft will claim to own the digital rights to the content of your life, or what license fees you will have to pay to access your own memories." Honestly this looks like a bunch of hooey to me, but I figured others would be better suited to say.

Rowling Sues Harry Potter Lexicon 527

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday November 15, 2007 @04:30AM from the the-first-rule-of-potter-is-you-don't-talk-about-potter dept.

Snape kills Trinity with Rosebud writes "Apparently famous authors don't like it if you try to make a buck using their imaginary property because J.K. Rowling is suing the publishers of the Harry Potter Lexicon for infringement. This should prove an interesting test case for fair use given that the lexicon contains mostly factual information about the series, not copies of the books' text. Of course, both sides seem a bit touchy about imaginary property rights, with Rowling's lawyers being miffed after being told to print it themselves when they asked for a paper copy of the lexicon's website, and the lexicon website itself using one of those insipid right click disabling scripts."

Submission + - Gene Simmons: College Kids Killed Music Industry (reuters.com)

Submitted by

drcagn

on Thursday November 15, 2007 @01:56AM

drcagn writes: "Gene Simmons has blasted 'college' kids and claims that they have destroyed the music industry, with the labels also to blame for not properly suing them out of existence when they had the chance. When asked about Radiohead and Trent Reznor's recent support of a different direction in music distribution, he says "that's not a business model that works. I open a store and say 'Come on in and pay whatever you want.' Are you on fucking crack?" When asked about music being free and making money off of merchandise, he says, "The most important part is the music. Without that, why would you care?" even though earlier in the interview he brags that he believes that KISS's merchandise is more profitable than Elvis's or the Beatles'."

Submission + - SonyTells Gamer PS3Warranty Voidedby ExcessiveDust (techluver.com)

Submitted by

Tech.Luver

on Thursday November 15, 2007 @01:19AM

Tech.Luver writes: "Sony refusing to do a warranty repair on one of its PlayStation 3s because the console is "too dusty," citing the console owner. The Los Angeles-based gamer said Sony Computer (SNE) would not honor its 1-year warranty on his $500 console because the game system arrived at its technical support center with "excessive dust in it." "When I learned that Sony wouldn't replace my Playstation because it was too dusty, I paused for a minute because it seemed so ridiculous," said Reid Godshaw, the owner of the dusty Playstation. The dirty Playstation story has flown around the blogosphere — especially on The Consumerist, a consumer-affairs blog where the story originated. The posts regarding the PS3 have gotten more than 150,000 views and have received more than 600 comments from readers. ( http://techluver.com/2007/11/14/sony-tells-gamer-ps3-warranty-voided-by-excessive-dust/ )"

Comcast Sued Over P2P Blocking 268

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday November 14, 2007 @11:37PM from the let-us-pirate-music-at-a-reasonable-speed dept.

CRISTAROL writes "Comcast has been sued by a California resident for blocking BitTorrent and other traffic. 'John Hart describes himself as a Comcast customer who has seen performance hits when using "Blocked Applications" targeted by Comcast's traffic management application, Sandvine. In his complaint, Hart says that Comcast severely limits "the speed of certain internet applications such as peer-to-peer file sharing and lotus notes [sic]." Comcast accomplishes this by "transmitting unauthorized hidden messages" to the PCs of those using the applications.' The lawsuit comes on the heels of an FCC complaint over the same issue."

Submission + - Virtual Burglary Leads to Arrest (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by

G0rAk

on Wednesday November 14, 2007 @06:13PM

G0rAk writes: "The BBC is reporting that a 'Virtual theft' has lead to an arrest in the Netherlands. A Dutch teenager who scammed people out of their Habbo Hotel usernames and passwords allegedly used the information to steal virtual designer furniture from his victims and moved it to his own virtual home. The police have become interested because, although the furniture was bought with "Habbo Credits", these have a cash value. From the article:

"It is a theft because the furniture is paid for with real money. But the only way to be a thief in Habbo is to get people's usernames and passwords and then log in and take the furniture. "We got involved because of an increasing number of sites which are pretending to be Habbo. People might then try and log in and get their details stolen."

Can't wait to see this come to court and the judge asking the prosecution to show the jury some of the swag..."

Submission + - AT&T to Sell Equipment to Monitor Workplaces

Submitted by dacut on Wednesday November 14, 2007 @03:56PM

dacut writes: According to an article in the New York Times, "AT&T plans to introduce a nationwide program today that gives owners of small- and medium-size businesses some of the same tools big security companies offer for monitoring employees, customers and operations from remote locations. Under AT&T's Remote Monitor program, a business owner could install adjustable cameras, door sensors and other gadgets at up to five different company locations across the country."

This isn't necessarily new technology — ADT and Digital Witness have similar offerings — but it is coming from a company which allegedly monitors all web traffic through its facilities.

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