Comment Re:No (Score 5, Informative) 286
Because a GSM phone won't work on a CDMA network.
Submission + - PS3 Linux performs Real Time Ray Tracing
fistfullast33l writes: "A video posted on You Tube shows three PS3s networked together to perform Real Time Ray Tracing. Keep in mind that PS3 Linux runs in a hypervisor, so the RSX graphics chip is not being used at all. Even more impressive, PS3 Fanboy is reporting that Linux also limits the number of SPEs to 6 at once, so not all the horsepower on each of the PS3s is being utilized. According to the You Tube Summary, IBM Cell SDK 2.0 is being used for the IBM Interactive Ray-tracer (iRT). This apparently was done by the same team that presented a tech demo at GDC 2007 of a Linux PS3 rendering a 3 million polygon scene in real time at 1080p resolution."
Submission + - To find money in open source, look for IP owners
AlexGr writes: "Posted by Martin LaMonica (CNET News.com blog) April 4, 2007
In his blog, Martin LaMonica writes that if people want to find money in open source, they have to look for IP owners. "If you want open source to thrive, find people who create the intellectual property and talk to them," said Rod Johnson, the creator of the popular open-source Spring framework and CEO of Interface21. Johnson argued that to create innovative products, somebody needs to be paid. But even with this challenge, Johnson sees no alternative to open source. "There are risks about the open-source industry but there is no alternative," he said. "This business is the future of software."
http://news.com.com/2061-10795_3-6173260.html"
Hackers Offer Subscription, Support for Malware 105
Stony Stevenson writes "Organised gangs are taking a page out of security vendors' books and setting up their own websites that offer support and subscriptions for malware and spyware. From the article: 'For subscriptions starting as low as $20 per month, enterprises can sell fully managed exploit engines that spyware distributors and spammers can use to infiltrate systems worldwide, said Gunter Ollmann, director of security strategies at IBM's ISS X-Force team. Many exploit providers simply wait for Microsoft's monthly patches, which they then reverse engineer to develop new exploit code against the disclosed vulnerabilities, Ollmann said. "Then all you've got to do is just subscribe to them on a monthly basis.'"
Three University of Wisconsin Stem Cell Patents Rejected 92
eldavojohn writes "A non-profit alumni group from the University of Wisconsin (WARF) has suffered a preliminary ruling against three of their recent patents regarding stem cells. Given that these patents have been upheld in prior rulings, there is a lot of speculation that they will be upheld in a future court case. From the PhysOrg article: 'The patents, which cover virtually all stem cell research in the country, have brought in at least $3.2 million and could net much more money before they expire in 2015, the newspaper said. Companies wanting to study the cells must buy licenses costing $75,000 to $400,000. The newspaper said WARF recently started waiving the fees if the research is conducted at universities or by non-profit groups.' Should universities (or groups within universities) be allowed to hold patents and intellectual property while at the same time gaining donations and grants as an educational institution — or for that matter government funds?"
The Modern Ease of 3D Printing 264
An anonymous reader writes "What will it mean when 3D fabricators become cheap and common? A NY Times article explores the ease of copying objects by scanning them with NextEngine scanner and sending them to 3d 'print shops'. The experiments were done with Legos because most of the things around his office were protected by copyright. What will happen to the economy for engineering when we can just download a pirated description of a machine and 'print' it out? 'The world is just beginning to grapple with the implications of this relatively low-cost duplicating method, often called rapid prototyping. Hearing aid companies, for instance, are producing some custom-fitted ear pieces from scanned molds of patients. Custom car companies produce new parts for classic cars or modified parts for hot rods. Consumer product makers create fully functional designs before committing themselves to big production runs.'"
Submission + - Genomics Throws Species Definition In Question
webdoodle writes: "Classifying micro-organisms is hard work, and the rules are changing all the time. Genomics may offer a new method of determining how and where creatures are classified. Though this research is directed toward microbes, it may one day apply to all taxonomy."
Submission + - Computer Interaction in Science Fiction Movies
MidVicious writes: "From futuristic 'Punch Cards' to Voice Recognition HoloDeck Interfaces, human/computer interactions have always mirrored the base concepts of our emerging technologies. This article from a Saarland University CS Seminar highlights Hollywood UI ranging from the moderately feasible (Total Recall's television/scenery display wall) to the often ridiculous (Swordfish's 6-flat screen monitor setup complete with 3-D virus-hacking environment). An interesting read, especially considering some of the technology is on its way to becoming a reality."
Submission + - Comcast Cuts Off Bandwidth Hogs
CorinneI writes: "Customers across the country have been contacted by Comcast with a warning to curb excessive bandwidth consumption or risk a one-year service termination. Comcast, however, is refusing to reveal how much bandwidth use is allowed, making it impossible for customers to know if they are in danger of violating Comcast's limit. Might your service be at risk? Find out on PCMag.com.
URL: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2111373,00.as p"
URL: http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,2111373,00.a
Submission + - Windows Vista restricts GNU GCC apps to 32 MB
swaha writes: "Microsoft is apparently threatened by open source software running under Vista and has imposed limitations on memory size on GCC compiled programs that were not present under either XP or Win 98SE or even MS-DOS."
Thailand Bans YouTube 377
An anonymous reader writes "The new government of Thailand that forced its way into power last year has banned the website YouTube after a 44 second clip was found of someone spray painting on a picture of Thailand's king. When Google refused to remove the 'offending' clip the website was redirected to a different page. This comes days after a Swiss man was jailed 10 years for spray painting on pictures of the king while drunk, and is the same government that earlier this year slammed open source software for being useless and buggy."
Journal Journal: Firefox ANI exploit on the way - no protected mode
Determina is previewing a version of the ANI exploit that will hijack Mozilla Firefox 2 as well as Internet Explorer 7 running on Vista. At this time, Alexander Sotirov (chief reverse engineer at Determina) has said that the proof-of-concept exploit code won't be released until there is a patch available in Firefox.
What's interesting about this is the fact that Firefox doesn't have the benefit of Protected Mode under Vista, which can somewhat mitigate the damage that can be done if Internet Ex
Submission + - OpenBSD in a GPL violation?
Yenya writes: "In a message sent to OpenBSD developers as well as the linux-wireless and bcm43xx-devel lists, Michael Buesch, the main developer of the Linux bcm43xx driver for Broadcom WiFi devices, wrote:
The bcm43xx driver is being developed as a clean room design, based on the reverse-enginered specs, created by another team. As it seems now, the bcw driver in question might just be removed from the OpenBSD source."[...]We believe that you might have directly copied code out of bcm43xx (licensed under GPL v2), without our explicit permission, into bcw (licensed under BSD license). There are implementation details in bcm43xx that appear exactly the same in bcw. These implementation details clearly don't come from the open specifications at bcm-specs.sipsolutions.net or bcm-v4.sipsolutions.net.
Submission + - Look Ma, No Shortage of U.S. Engineers!
theodp writes: "Debunking claims to the contrary, a new study from Duke University asserts that it is cost savings, and not the education of Indian and Chinese workers, or a shortage of American engineers that has caused offshore outsourcing."
EU Rejects Microsoft Royalty Proposal 274
pallmall1 writes "According to MSNBC, The Financial Times has reported that the EU is going to drastically reduce or even eliminate Microsoft's proposed royalties on interoperability information required to be released by the EU's antitrust ruling issued three years ago. According to a confidential EU document, "Microsoft will be forced to hand over to rivals what the group claims is sensitive and valuable technical information about its Windows operating system for next to no compensation...". Even Neil Barrett, the expert picked by both Microsoft and the EU to oversee Microsoft's compliance with the 2004 ruling, says a zero percent royalty would be 'better.'"
