babbling - Slashdot User

Submission + - Doc wants brain scans of presidential candidates

Submitted by Fantastic Lad on Friday December 07, 2007 @06:09PM

Fantastic Lad writes: Candidates vying for the presidency already face intense scrutiny from voters, the media and political rivals' crack opposition research operations — but that's not enough for one doctor: he demands brain scans. In an interview with MSNBC's Tucker Carlson, Dr. Daniel Amen, a neuropsychiatrist and brain-imaging expert, says that the technology could be used to effectively vet future presidents. "For years, what I have thought about, talked about, is we should be scanning the brains of presidential candidates," said Amen. "Because a president with a bad brain can ruin life on earth...I'm sort of tired of presidents who've had a bad brain that are not leading the country in a good direction."

Submission + - Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy) Desktop Edition - Review

Submitted by

Jonah

on Thursday October 18, 2007 @09:48AM

Jonah writes: "http://lunapark6.com/ubuntu-710-gutsy-desktop-edition-review.html "I'll cut to the chase and say from the start that Ubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy) Desktop Edition is simply the best desktop operating system that I have ever used. From installation, to setup, to regular everyday use Gutsy is just a thing of beauty. I have been keeping up with the release since its initial rocky Alpha period, to the polished final Release Candidate released on October 15, 2007 and then apt-get upgrading to the final release. The end result is that the Ubuntu team has put together everything that you could possibly want in a desktop operating system and more." New Ubuntu 7.10 looks awesome!"

Submission + - Ubuntu 7.10 Released

Submitted by mysqlbytes on Thursday October 18, 2007 @09:06AM

mysqlbytes 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.

Submission + - Ubuntu 7.10 Released (pinkboard.com.au) 1

Submitted by Panther on Thursday October 18, 2007 @09:05AM

Panther writes: I have just received an email from the good people at Ubuntu:

The Ubuntu team is proud to announce version 7.10 of the Ubuntu family of distributions.

Ubuntu is a full-featured Linux distribution for desktops, laptops, and servers, with a fast and easy install and regular releases. A tightly-integrated selection of excellent applications is included, and an incredible variety of add-on software is just a few clicks away.

This version is known as Gutsy Gibbon. Download the CD here. Upgrade instructions are here.

Submission + - European Court Dismisses Microsoft Appeal

Submitted by an.echte.trilingue on Monday September 17, 2007 @06:23AM

an.echte.trilingue writes: A European Union court on Monday dismissed Microsoft's appeal against an EU antitrust order that ordered it to share communications code with rivals and sell a copy of Windows without Media Player. It also upheld a $689 million fine — the largest ever levied by EU regulators. The EU Court of First Instance ruled against Microsoft on both parts of the case, saying the European Commission was correct in concluding that Microsoft was guilty of monopoly abuse in trying to use its power over desktop computers to muscle into server software.

Submission + - Google Video Store to shut down (smh.com.au)

Submitted by babbling on Saturday August 11, 2007 @08:20AM

babbling writes: Google is going to close the Google Video Store, leaving users who bought videos that used Digital Restrictions Management without their purchases. The users of Google Video Store will be compensated with Google Checkout credit, but it seems they will be out of luck if they don't happen to be Google Checkout users.

Submission + - Prince angers retailers by giving album away free (smh.com.au)

Submitted by babbling on Sunday July 15, 2007 @03:26AM

babbling writes: Rock star Prince has given his latest album away free with a British Sunday tabloid, to the fury of music retailers. "It's direct marketing and I don't have to be in the speculation business of the record industry which is going through a lot of tumultuous times right now," he said when asked why he was giving his music away.

Submission + - Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn

Submitted by

Anonymous Coward

on Thursday April 19, 2007 @08:50AM

Anonymous Coward writes: "http://lunapark6.com/ubuntu-704-feisty-fawn.html Review of Ubuntu's Feisty Fawn. Reviewer's pretty ecstatic about the way Feisty makes Linux easy to use. "From Feisty's new migration assistant in their installer, to the new Restricted Drivers Manager, to the ease of setting up Beryl or Compiz things went so smoothly that I was amazed. This would be the first Linux distro that I have encountered where I would think even my mother could use.""

Microsoft Move to be the End of JPEG? 447

Posted by CowboyNeal on Thursday March 08, 2007 @09:13PM from the just-a-little-bit-better dept.

jcatcw writes "Microsoft Corp. will submit a new photo format to an international standards organization. The format, HD Photo (formerly known as Windows Media Photo), can accommodate lossless and lossy compression. Microsoft claims that adjustments can be made to color balance and exposure settings that won't discard or truncate data that occurs with other bit-map formats."

Mr. Ballmer, Show Us the Code 462

Posted by kdawson on Saturday February 24, 2007 @08:56PM from the open-letter dept.

DigDuality writes "A new campaign, Showusthecode.com, requests every leader in the Linux world, and companies invested in Linux, to stand up and demand that Steve Ballmer show the world where Linux violates Microsoft's intellectual property. He has been making these claims since the Novell-Microsoft deal. If Microsoft answers this challenge — by May 1st — then Linux developers will be able to modify the code so that it remains 'free' software. If such infringing code doesn't exist, we will have called Microsoft's bluff. And if the campaign garners enough attention and if Steve Ballmer maintains silence, then the community and companies behind Linux can take the silence for the admission that it is."

Linux Kernel Devs Offer Free Driver Development 348

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday January 30, 2007 @08:41AM from the Nvidia-this-means-you dept.

schwaang writes "Linux Kernel hacker Greg Kroah-Hartman, author of Linux Kernel in a Nutshell has posted an epic announcement on his blog. This could portend increased device compatibility for Linux users, higher-quality drivers, and fewer non-free binary blobs." From the announcement: "[T]he Linux kernel community is offering all companies free Linux driver development... All that is needed is some kind of specification that describes how your device works, or the email address of an engineer that is willing to answer questions every once in a while. If your company is worried about NDA issues surrounding your device's specifications, we have arranged a program... in order to properly assure that all needed NDA requirements are fulfilled. Now your developers will have more time to work on drivers for all of the other operating systems out there, and you can add 'supported on Linux' to your product's marketing material."

OS Comparisons From the BBC 524

Posted by kdawson on Monday January 29, 2007 @11:35PM from the level-playing-field dept.

igb writes "As part of their coverage of the launch of Vista, the BBC last week asked people to submit descriptions of the benefits and drawbacks of their chosen system, and today they've posted responses from two Vista users, a Linux user, and an OS X user. There's nothing earth-shattering here, but it's interesting to see the operating systems compared on a level playing field, and good that the BBC has given equal time to the major alternatives."

Ideal Linux System for Newbies? 486

Posted by Cliff on Tuesday December 26, 2006 @06:57PM from the gotta-start-somewhere dept.

spiffyman asks: "In the next year, I'll begin advanced work in mathematics, and I'll also be upgrading my desktop box. In light of the advantages of Linux and FOSS in the area of science and mathematics, I want to convert from a Windows system to a dual-boot one with Linux. Primary tasks aside from math/logic activities will include learning intermediate programming, web maintenance, some computational linguistics (in Python), and LOTS of LaTeX work for my publishing activities. What do Slashdot readers recommend in terms of hardware, OS, software, and perhaps reading for a quasi-power Windows user (with no previous Linux experience) to convert to an all-Linux system?"

iTunes Sales 'Collapsing' 651

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Tuesday December 12, 2006 @03:29AM from the nothing-definitive dept.

Alien54 writes to tell us The Register is reporting that based on reported revenues this year iTunes sales are plummetting. From the article: "Secretive Apple doesn't break out revenues from iTunes, but Forrester conducted an analysis of credit card transactions over a 27-month period. And this year's numbers aren't good. While the iTunes service saw healthy growth for much of the period, since January the monthly revenue has fallen by 65 per cent, with the average transaction size falling 17 per cent. The previous spring's rebound wasn't repeated this year."

Bush Signs Bill Enabling Martial Law 1594

Posted by kdawson on Saturday October 28, 2006 @04:42PM from the maybe-sweden dept.

An anonymous reader writes to point us to an article on the meaning of a new law that President Bush signed on Oct. 17. It seems to allow the President to impose martial law on any state or territory, using federal troops and/or the state's own, or other states', National Guard troops. From the article: "In a stealth maneuver, President Bush has signed into law a provision which, according to Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), will actually encourage the President to declare federal martial law. It does so by revising the Insurrection Act, a set of laws that limits the President's ability to deploy troops within the United States. The Insurrection Act (10 U.S.C.331 -335) has historically, along with the Posse Comitatus Act (18 U.S.C.1385), helped to enforce strict prohibitions on military involvement in domestic law enforcement. With one cloaked swipe of his pen, Bush is seeking to undo those prohibitions." Here is a link to the bill in question. The relevant part is Sec. 1076 about 3/4 of the way down the page.

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