Catch up on stories from the past week (and beyond) at the Slashdot story archive

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
Government

Submission + - Secret Visit by SF Mayor Spurs Password Confession

Mz6 writes: The San Francisco computer engineer accused of withholding access codes to the city's network surrendered the password during an unusual jailhouse visit by Mayor Gavin Newsom, authorities said Tuesday. Newsom came away with the access codes Monday night after talking with Terry Childs, 43, of Pittsburg, who has been held since July 13 on four felony counts stemming from what prosecutors describe as an effort to block administrative access to the network that handles 60 percent of the city's information, including sensitive law enforcement, payroll and jail booking records. Childs had given officials what turned out to be bogus passwords and then had refused to give the correct ones, even when threatened with arrest, authorities say. But Monday, Childs' defense attorney Erin Crane contacted the mayor's office, setting in motion the secret visit.
Slashdot.org

Submission + - What do we think of the Opinion Center?

DuncanE writes: In case any (all?) of you didn't notice the slashdot opinion centre recently switched from AMD to INTEL. You may have also noticed as a logged in user some subtle and not so subtle javascript thingys (technical term) promoting this change over. I for one would prefer to see the so called "opinion centre" pieces posted as articles in the main window. Sure highlight them in the nice lime(y) green, make um clear they are ads and then we can all tell Intel exactly what we think about their articles. Plus slashdot can probably charge a heap more to Intel for the privilege.

The weird think is I'm not joking. As long as its kept to a reasonable level and maybe its not exclusive to Intel, I think it could actually be a interesting experience for both us, the slashdot community, and them, the IT vendors. So what do you think?
Handhelds

Submission + - Are Mobile Phones Wiping Out Bees?

Mz6 writes: It seems like the plot of a particularly far-fetched horror film. But some scientists suggest that our love of the mobile phone could cause massive food shortages, as the world's harvests fail. They are putting forward the theory that radiation given off by mobile phones and other hi-tech gadgets is a possible answer to one of the more bizarre mysteries ever to happen in the natural world — the abrupt disappearance of the bees that pollinate crops. Late last week, some bee-keepers claimed that the phenomenon — which started in the US, then spread to continental Europe — was beginning to hit Britain as well. The theory is that radiation from mobile phones interferes with bees' navigation systems, preventing the famously homeloving species from finding their way back to their hives. Improbable as it may seem, there is now evidence to back this up.
Google

Submission + - Notice something missing?

hjf writes: Take a close look at the logo at www.google.com. Notice something missing? Well. I guess even Google can make mistakes.
The Internet

Submission + - Social networking sites opening up

prostoalex writes: "Business Week magazine is looking at social networking sites opening their APIs to third-party developers to enable social applications not supported by the network itself. Facebook is setting an example by releasing their API from beta into 1.0, and many others are expected to follow the suit, since Facebook API now serves as a backbone to 100 or so applications: "Since Facebook, a network of 17 million college students, started a pilot program last summer, third-party developers have created some 100 new applications. Now a Facebook user name and password can be used to log in to content-sharing and chat site Mosoto, and to automatically import Facebook friends into Mosoto's buddy list for chat. Facebook itself does not offer a chat function""
Privacy

UK Propose Registering Screen Names with Police 282

Oxygen99 writes "In a series of kneejerk suggestions following this online rape plot, the UK Home Secretary, Dr John Reid has suggested that offenders on the Sex Offenders Register should register their online identities with the police. According to a home office spokesman this means that offenders, 'online identities would be treated in exactly the same way as their real name'. So, just how misguided is this and who's going to be the first to tell him?"

Bill Gates Brags About Vista, Reacts to Apple's Latest Ads 891

fr8_liner writes "In an unusually candid interview with Newsweek Bill Gates lays it all on the line, bragging about the benefits of Vista, ragging on Apple for their 'I'm a Mac' ads, and claiming primacy in a number of features shared by Vista and OSX. Specifically, it is Mr. Gates' opinion that the Apple adverts are misleading if not untruthful. He makes the claim that 'security guys break the Mac every single day. Every single day, they come out with a total exploit, your machine can be taken over totally. I dare anybody to do that once a month on the Windows machine.' The interview also touches on the future of Microsoft and Operating systems, and some of the company's plans for internet-based computing."
Networking

Submission + - Small router reliability

An anonymous reader writes: I've been having bad luck with small routers for home/small business use. My old Belkin was requiring a reset multiple time a day. I was given a Netgear wireless four port, the same model as I had at work. The Netgear at work kept freezing until I put it on top of a fan, which worked for about a year. The one at home never made it on a fan and is now starting to lock up. Googling hasn't been particularly helpful, and most of the review sites don't/can't look at long term reliability (at least a couple years, please?). I just need an 8 port router for normal home/office use that doesn't cost $500. I don't really need wireless. Recommendations for/against? Should I just roll the dice? Thanks
Patents

Submission + - Blackboard plegdges not to use patents against OSS

An anonymous reader writes: Blackboard, Inc. (site) announced a legal pledge that it will not enforce its patents (much discussed lately on /.) against Open Source Software projects or homegrown closed source systems that are not bundled with proprietary software products.
Television

Submission + - Can the NFL control Super Bowl broadcast?

youvegottobekidding writes: "The Indy Star has an article ( http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID= 2007702010431 )about Super Bowl Party Rules. It appears the NFL is ready to bust churches for holding Super Bowl parties because they: use "Super Bowl" in the promotion, show the game on a TV larger than 55", and are not a sports bar. Can they really control how the broadcast is shown when it is sent over the airwaves? It's not like this is pay tv. Call out the ACLU!!!"
The Internet

Netvibes May Give My Yahoo Run For Money 72

Carl Bialik from WSJ writes "Wall Street Journal columnist Walter S. Mossberg reviews Netvibes, which allows users to create personalized pages with modules that gather headlines, email, weather and other data from all over the Web, and 'combines some of the best features of My Yahoo and [Apple's] Dashboard,' Mossberg writes. More from the article: 'Among the modules you can add to your Netvibes page right from this menu, without navigating to any setup page, are weather forecasts, a notepad, a to-do list and calendar, and modules that perform searches for Web pages, blogs, pictures, videos and podcasts. There are also email modules that will display your new messages from Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, AOL Mail or any regular old email account you configure. Others display content from eBay, MySpace, Fox Sports and more.' In an accompanying video, Mossberg demonstrates Netvibes."

Slashdot Top Deals

It's a naive, domestic operating system without any breeding, but I think you'll be amused by its presumption.

Working...