Slashdot is powered by your submissions, so send in your scoop

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Privacy

Submission + - Blair pushes new UK anti-terror law before leaving

Submitted by CanarDuck
CanarDuck writes: Tony Blair wrote a column published in the Sunday Times in which he announces new anti-terror laws reinforcing the powers of the police. This comes mere weeks before Blair will step down from his position as UK prime minister. From the piece: "[The current legislation is] much weaker than we wanted, perpetually diluted by opposition amendments, constantly attacked on civil liberty grounds.[...] We have chosen as a society to put the civil liberties of the suspect, even if a foreign national, first. I happen to believe this is misguided and wrong."
Businesses

Submission + - H-1B Visa Catch-22

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The San Francisco Chronicle has published a multi-perspective article/editorial on the H-1B Visa debate. Not mentioned in the article is how large corporations routinely dodge paying taxes, an action that can lead to under-funded schools, which in turn reduces the native-born qualified workforce, which in turn creates a need for immigrant workers. We can get right to the heart of the matter now and ask: is the US government obligated to serve the American people or to serve business? Discuss please.
Programming

Submission + - Caching is king for Ruby on Rails apps

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: For some, Rails is hyper productive and for others Ruby is a toy. Rails also has a reputation as unproven with limited scalability. Unlike the C and Java languages, Ruby is interpreted, with all of the inherent performance handicaps. This article explores the Ruby caching strategies such as caching static content, model caching, page caching, action caching, and others that can really speed things up. In many circumstances. there are caching techniques available to increase Ruby on Rails application performance.
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Wal-Mart to sell Dell computers

Submitted by
ATMD
ATMD writes: "The BBC is reporting that Wal-Mart is to start selling low-end Dell machines in stores in the USA, Cananda and Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, few further details are given at the moment. Whatever happened to "you can't buy Dell in the shops"?"
Operating Systems

Submission + - VM Enables 'Write-Once, Run Anywhere' Linux Apps

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A startup will soon launch 'a kind of holy software grail,' according to an article at LinuxDevices. The dual-licensed (one of which is GPL) technology is claimed to enable more or less normal Linux applications to run — without requiring recompilation — under Windows, Mac, or Linux, with a look and feel native to each. 'As with Java, Lina users will first install a VM specific to their platform, after which they can run binaries compiled not for their particular OS, but for the VM, which aims to hide OS-specific characteristics from the application. Lina comprises a platform-specific application that virtualizes the host PC's x86 processor... A lightly modified Linux kernel (2.6.19, for now) runs on top of the VM. Under the Linux kernel is a filesystem with standard Linux libraries modified to map resources such as library, filesystem, and system calls to analogous resources on the host platform.' Further details, including an entertaining video or two are at OpenLina.com
Security

Submission + - PHRACK 64 Released

Submitted by
The Circle of Lost Hackers
The Circle of Lost Hackers writes: "Good news everyone: PHRACK is back ! From the introduction "As long as there is technology, there will be hackers. As long as there are hackers, there will be PHRACK magazine. We look forward to the next 20 years". This is how the PHRACK63 Introduction was ending, telling everybody that the Staff would have changed and to expect a relea se sometimes in 2006/2007. This is that release. This is the new staff.

Introduction by The Circle of Lost Hackers
Phrack Prophile of the new editors by The Circle of Lost Hackers
Phrack World News by The Circle of Lost Hackers
A brief history of the Underground scene by The Circle of Lost Hackers
Hijacking RDS TMC traffic information signal by lcars & danbia
Attacking the Core: Kernel Exploitation Notes by twiz & sgrakkyu
The revolution will be on YouTube by gladio
Automated vulnerability auditing in machine code by Tyler Durden
The use of set_head to defeat the wilderness by g463
Cryptanalysis of DPA-128 by sysk
Mac OS X Wars — A XNU Hope by nemo
Hacking deeper in the system by ankhara
The art of exploitation: Autopsy of cvsxpl by Ac1dB1tch3z
Know your enemy: Facing the cops by Lance
Remote blind TCP/IP spoofing by Lkm
Hacking your brain: The projection of consciousness by keptune
International scenes by Various"
PHP

Submission + - Fix what slows Apache down by optimizing PHP

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: As the load on an application increases, the bottlenecks in the underlying infrastructure become more apparent in the form of slow response to user requests. This article discusses many of the server configuration items that can make or break an application's performance and focuses on steps you can take to optimize Apache and PHP.
Patents

Submission + - Life Imprisonment for Copyright Infringement

Submitted by
ronadams
ronadams writes: "P. Parameswaran writes in his AFP article:

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said he proposed comprehensive legislation to Congress Monday against copyright thieves, including raising the maximum penalty to life imprisonment and seizing the illicit profits of offenders.
Nick Ferrel at the Inquirer confirms the reports and adds a few interesting insights of his own. Good to know RIAA is a vital part of the US Government. I must have been asleep when my Government & Law professor glossed over that one."
Networking

Submission + - World's wireless trasmission distance record broke

Submitted by Brethil
Brethil writes: According to LaRepubblica.it Torino's atheneum managed get a stable wireless link between Capanna Margherita (Europe's highest shelter, 4556m) and Pian Cavallaro, 300 Km far away. To achieve this they used old "386" computers running Linux and directional antennas. The link speed was about 20 Mb/sec and it was used to make broadband connection available to the shelter's guests and to send a webcam's photos to the iXem Laboratory at Torino's Polytechnic.

Link: (italian) http://www.repubblica.it/2005/j/sezioni/scienza_e_ tecnologia/wifi/record-collegamento/record-collega mento.html
PC Games (Games)

Submission + - Why Gnu-Linux will soon be THE gaming OS.

Submitted by dcrockerjr
dcrockerjr writes: After graphics and sound rendering what is the biggest gaming processor hog: AI & path finding. Enter Nvidia's announcement that their graphics cards can be used as an extra processor when not used for graphics. Consider that Gnu-Linux is already used in high end multi-processor supercomputers and blades, and has a lead over windows in making use of extra processors. Add a motherboard manufacturer thats willing to put around 7 graphics card slots on a board. Now add an open source project for AI & path finding acceleration as a GPLv3 alternative to CUDA. Hence: Gnu-Linux THE gaming OS. Nvidia may also find themselves in competition with creative for audio acceleration. In the other corner, as rig prices rise, IBM or Sun could partner with AMD to bring low end blades to gamers. Imagine games like Starcraft with no unit limit... less scripted more responsive games... Links: http://www.linuxworld.com.au/index.php/id;99052718 6;fp;16;fpid;0 http://www.hpcwire.com/hpc/1582455.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CUDA http://developer.nvidia.com/object/cuda.html
Power

Submission + - Fire from Salt Water

Submitted by
sterlingda
sterlingda writes: "John Kanzius and his associate Charlie Rutkowski have found a way to create energy by burning salt water with the same radio wave machine they are using to kill cancer cells. Kanzius and Rutkowski were testing their external radio-wave generator to see if it could desalinate salt water, and it ignited. A university chemist determined that the process is generating hydrogen. While the phenomenon is interesting, it is not yet practical for energy generation inasmuch as more energy is consumed by the radio frequency device than is produced for burning. [memo do be deleted: the wiki server should be able to handle slashdotted bandwidth]"
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Making less than dad did

Submitted by
gollum123
gollum123 writes: "cnn reports American men in their 30s are earning less than their father's generation did, challenging a long-held belief that each generation will be better off than the one that preceded it, according to a new study published Friday ( http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/25/pf/mobility_study/ index.htm?cnn=yes ) . The report, the first in an ongoing 18-month study on economic mobility in the United States, also revealed that the income growth of the median American household is declining. Relying on Census Bureau figures, the study's authors found that after adjusting for inflation, men in their 30s in 2004 had a median income of about $35,000 per year, for a 12 percent drop compared with $40,000 per year for men in the same age group in 1974. Even as male incomes have declined and household income growth has slowed, the nation's productivity has remained robust. The study's authors, who plan to examine relative mobility, or the ability of Americans to move up or or down in social strata, said their report shows the canonical belief in an American meritocracy may be unraveling."

Slashdot Top Deals

"Engineering without management is art." -- Jeff Johnson

Close