solanum0 - Slashdot User

Submission + - Xiph.Org Releases Statement Regarding Ogg in HTML5 (xiph.org)

Submitted by

xiphmont

on Thursday December 13, 2007 @06:33AM

xiphmont writes: "We at Xiph.Org have carefully crafted a response to the current brouhaha over Ogg being temporarily removed from the baseline of the HTML5 standard. We felt the need to respond, we just didn't see the need overreact on 'Internet Time'. This is a battle that has a long way to go and we all need to show our support for the W3C and their struggle to keep the standard unified and free of encumbered technology.

In case you didn't see the little link above, the statement is here."

Submission + - Wikipedia "private" Checkuser usage

Submitted by

wikinerdiest

on Wednesday December 05, 2007 @11:30AM

wikinerdiest writes: "Wikipedians are again struggling with back channel invasions of Users' privacy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators'_noticeboard#.22Private.22_Checkuser_use . This time it is the frequent(admitted) use by many administrators of backchannel (IRC,email) methods to request and obtain Checkuser information without the User checked being made aware of it. This process completely circumvents their official process at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:CHECKUSER which seems to be little more than a facade for public consumption. While the official process makes note of the right of Users to complain of privacy breaches, the "private checkuser request" process makes that right mute since the User may not be even made aware Checkuser was used."

Submission + - The top ten off switches

Submitted by Dan Jimbokla on Monday November 12, 2007 @06:12AM

Dan Jimbokla writes: CNET.co.uk has a truly funny and read-worthy article up about the top ten off switches. One of my favorite switches from the piece is #4 — The illuminated toggle switch: "This switch isn't designed for high-drain uses, typically it can only provide a maximum of 20 amps at 12 volts. That will make it suitable for a number of exciting uses though, and what it lacks in power handling, it makes up for in practicality. This switch will illuminate when the device it controls is turned on, and go off when the device is deactivated. This is logical and practical, and that has earned this switch a place in our hearts. What's more, it's far from expensive and there are even a choice of colours."

Submission + - Cash Only and two iPhones to a Customer 1

Submitted by

Ponca City, We Love You

on Sunday October 28, 2007 @12:47PM

Ponca City, We Love You writes: "Last week Slashdot readers discussed the 250,000 iPhones that had been purchased but not registered with ATT that Apple thinks are being unlocked and in many cases sold overseas. The New York Times now reports that Apple has now taken action to curb unauthorized resellers by limiting sales of the iPhone to two per customer. In addition, iPhone purchases must now be made with a credit or debit card — cash will not be accepted."

Submission + - Oink.cd shutdown

Submitted by

1gkn1ght

on Tuesday October 23, 2007 @11:16AM

1gkn1ght writes: "Looks like the long running P2P music sharing site Oink.cd has finally been shutdown. Going to their site gives you this message.

"This site has been closed as a result of a criminal investigation by IFPI, BPI, Cleveland Police and the Fiscal Investigation Unit of the Dutch Police (FIOD ECD) into suspected illegal music distribution.

A criminal investigation continues into the identities and activities of the site's users"

Unofficial Patch For Windows URI Hole 85

Posted by kdawson on Thursday October 18, 2007 @11:57AM from the mother-please-i'd-rather-patch-it-myself dept.

dg2fer writes "For more than two months, the vulnerability of parsing URIs has been known for a number of Windows programs, including Outlook, Adobe Reader, IRC clients, and many more. Microsoft admitted the vulnerability only last week. The latest Microsoft patches published on October's Patch Tuesday did not include a solution, so hackers have taken on the problem themselves. One, KJK::Hyperion, has published (as open source) an unofficial patch that cleans up the critical parameters of URI system calls before calling the vulnerable Windows system function."

Submission + - DNA Nobel prize discoverer accused of racism

Submitted by

Lisandro

on Thursday October 18, 2007 @11:34AM

Lisandro writes: "The Independent reports that James D. Watson, Nobel Prize winner for his work on the unravelling of DNA, declared on a newspaper interview that the assumption that black people is as intelligent as white people is wrong, which led to widespread racism accusations. "All our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours — whereas all the testing says not really", he stated. He also added that the idea that of "equal powers of reason" were shared across racial groups was a delusion, claiming that genes responsible for creating differences in human intelligence could be found within a decade."

Submission + - Ubuntu 7.10 is available 1

Submitted by

VincenzoRomano

on Thursday October 18, 2007 @09:29AM

VincenzoRomano writes: "The latest releases of Ubuntu for desktop and server are available today for download. This release brings together the best of free and open source software delivered on a stable, easy to use and learn platform. Read the press releases or download it now.
Among all other news, this new version should have a better support for the hardware and a deeper compatibility with Windows (provided that you are willing to).
Of course also the siblings have been updated, namely KUbuntu (but still not using KDE 4), EdUbuntu and XUbuntu."

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