Comment Re:Ooh, a new color! (Score 1) 419
Anyone else find it amusing that Microsoft names their "cloud-based OS" on what the sky looks like when it's, well, cloudless?
Submission + - Why bicycles are so stable? 1
Roland Piquepaille writes: "For almost 150 years now, mathematicians have tried to understand why a bicycle could be so stable. Now, researchers of the Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), working with colleagues from Cornell University and the University of Nottingham, UK, say they've build a model which unravels how a bicycle works. As said a bicycle maker, when designing a bike, only three parameters are used: the general geometry, the distance between the axles, and the angle at which the fork points downwards. The new mathematical model includes 25 parameters and will permit to build bicycles aimed directly at special target groups. Already, a Dutch bicycle manufacturing company is hoping to design better bikes using this model. But read more for additional details and a picture of the bicycle used to calibrate the model."
Submission + - Swedish company creates free P2P mobile calling (bbc.co.uk)
Chroniton writes: The Swedish company TerraNet has developed a new cellular technology that enables handsets to form a mesh network independently of towers, and complete calls for free. The goal is to enable calling in "remote areas of the countryside or desert" and "dramatically improve communications in the developing world". TerraNet's website has more information.
Submission + - Black screen of darkness to haunt Vista pirates (computerworld.com)
jcatcw writes: Microsoft's Reduced Functionality mode was explained in an email to OEMs as the consequence of Vista piracy. It includes a black screen after 1 hour of browsing, no start menu or task bar, and no desktop. Using fear as a motivator, the email warns resellers to 'make sure your customers always get genuine Windows Vista preinstalled.'
Microsoft's Consent-or-Die Patent 179
theodp writes "Maybe you shouldn't get too attached to those new Windows Live services. On Tuesday, the USPTO granted Microsoft a patent for privacy policy change notification, which describes how to threaten users with the loss of their accounts and access to web sites and services should they refuse to consent to changes in a privacy policy. This includes the case where a user might object to allowing personal information, collected earlier with a promise of confidentiality, to be shared in the future with third parties. Also described is a 'Never Notify Me' option so you won't have to 'worry' over privacy policy changes."
Submission + - No gnu/linux love from ID software (beyond3d.com) 1
gnarlin writes: "According to golem.de's article (in German) ID software will no longer be porting their games to gnu/linux starting with the new Rage game being developed. Another article at beyond3d has the details in english. Is this due to lack of sales? This seems to be a major blow to gnu/linux gamers everywhere, especially when gnu/linux users are finally getting good Free software drivers for AMD's/ATI's graphic chips."
Submission + - Web hosting problems for small companies
ttsiod writes: "My (small) company is selling some of its products and services online. Until now, we had opted for a hosting solution on a USA based provider, since our products are targeting the global market. Unfortunately, we found out (through http://www.myipneighbors.com/) that at least 200 others are hosted on the same IP address — and at least one of them has been hijacked by spammers (or IS a spammer!), resulting in our address being permanently lodged in Spamhaus. Is this a common phenomenon for the Slashdot crowd? We are currently in the process of upgrading to a Virtual Server by the same provider (the IP address will be ours and ours alone); however, we have also experienced DDoS on our server in the past (one of the 200 might have been a target of the Russian bot e-mafia). Can we hope to escape this by using a VS? How often do hosting providers get attacked by the armies of zombie Microsoft-infested PCs? What is the best hosting solution for a small company?"
Submission + - Speeding Up the Broken Patent System (uspto.gov)
Panaqqa writes: "If you think too many bad patents are approved now, then just wait until the Patent Prosecution Highway gets going full steam. Yes that's its real name, and under PPH once either the US or the UK patent office determine that at least one claim in an application is patentable, the applicant can request fast tracking at the other office. Other countries may get involved also. Anybody want to guess how long it will take for companies to apply for patents first in the country with the most lenient examiners?"
Submission + - SPAM: How Boston College recovered from security breach
alphadogg writes: The college's head of IT security explained this week how the school went about recovering from a breach, caused by a hack into a rogue server, that potentially put personal info on 100,000 alumni at risk. Part of the response thinking: "Boston College was founded by Jesuits, and the president of the university is a priest. That leads to a highly ethical culture, and it made processing a lot easier. We confessed to our guilt and asked people's [forgiveness]."
[spam URL stripped]
RIAA Trying To Avoid a Jury Trial 183
Joe Elliot writes "Faced with a jury trial set to begin on October 1, the RIAA has filed a motion for summary adjudication of specific facts: that the RIAA owns the copyrights to the songs in a file-sharing case; that the registration is proper; and that the defendant wasn't authorized to copy or distribute the recordings. If the judge rules in their favor, Ars notes that it may turn into a Novell v SCO situation where the only thing left to be decided are the damages. There are some significant problems with the copyright registrations — they don't match up. 'Thomas argues that since she lacks the financial means to conduct a thorough examination of the ownership history (e.g., track the ownership of "Hysteria" from Mercury to UMG) for the songs she is accused of infringing the copyright to, her only opportunity to determine their true ownership is either via discovery or cross-examination at trial.' Ars also notes that the RIAA's biggest fear is of losing a case. 'A loss at trial would be catastrophic for the RIAA. It would give other defense attorneys a winning template while exposing the weaknesses of the RIAA's arguments. It would also prove costly from a financial standpoint, as the RIAA would have to foot the legal expenses for both itself and the defendant. Most of all, it would set an unwelcomed precedent: over 20,000 lawsuits filed and the RIAA loses the first one to go to a jury.'"
Submission + - House Approves Comprehensive Patent Overhaul (washingtonpost.com)
George Demmy writes: "The House yesterday passed the most comprehensive patent reform in half a century, delivering a victory for computer technology and financial services companies and leaving drug companies, small inventors, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office bracing for a bigger fight before the bill hits the Senate floor.
The bill, which passed 225 to 175 with strong bipartisan support, is meant to reduce the mounting number of patent infringement cases by changing the ways patents are awarded and challenged."
Submission + - Reusable enzymes for washing machiines (newscientist.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Enzymes have long been added to washing powders to improve performance. But although they are catalysts and so can be re-used, in practice, they always get washed away which is rather wasteful. New Scientist is reporting on a Bosch patent in which enzymes are encapsulated in a polymer membrane that is permeable to washing liquids but impermeable to water. This allows them to carry out their job of catalysis without dissolving and so can be used again. Now there's no excuse for the pizza stain on your DEFCON t-shirt.
Submission + - DIY Data recovery. 1
jchillerup writes: "The other day my aunt came up to me, terrified because her hard drive was "not working". I inspected the drive and it was clearly a head crash, and to make matters worse it had been running for quite a while afterwards. I tried a commercial program for Windows, GetDataBack, but it wasn't able to recover anything.
I googled a bit to get tips and tricks on lo-fi data recovery methods and read that if you put the drive in the freezer, your chance of getting data out is hightened, so I did that. After all, nothing *bad* can happen to the drive in the freezer (right?).
I'm considering dd_rescue, but before taking the drive out of the freezer, I figured I'd better "Ask Slashdot". Professional data recovery is beyond the budget, unfortunately."
I googled a bit to get tips and tricks on lo-fi data recovery methods and read that if you put the drive in the freezer, your chance of getting data out is hightened, so I did that. After all, nothing *bad* can happen to the drive in the freezer (right?).
I'm considering dd_rescue, but before taking the drive out of the freezer, I figured I'd better "Ask Slashdot". Professional data recovery is beyond the budget, unfortunately."
Submission + - WTC Demolition Theory Collapses
CmdrGravy writes: "A engineer from Cambridge University has hammered another nail into the coffin of conspiracy theorists who believe the World Trade Centre collapse could only have been caused by a controlled explosion.
Using a mathematical model Dr Keith Seffen has proved that once it was begun by the, well studied, structural failures caused by the planes impact and subsequent inferno the following collapse and pancaking were inevitable, his models showed that once begun the collapse would take around 9 seconds — only a little longer than a penny dropped from the top floor would take to fall to the ground.
Dr Keith sums up his experiment by saying
"In all senses, the collapse sequence was quite ordinary and natural. The World Trade Centre towers were designed to absorb an aircraft impact, but an accidental one with much less fuel and speed. It is widely acknowledged that the impacts on September 11th were extraordinary, which led to consequences well in excess of the design capacity for the buildings. The original design of both towers must be praised for standing as long as they did, saving more lives than might have been expected.""
Using a mathematical model Dr Keith Seffen has proved that once it was begun by the, well studied, structural failures caused by the planes impact and subsequent inferno the following collapse and pancaking were inevitable, his models showed that once begun the collapse would take around 9 seconds — only a little longer than a penny dropped from the top floor would take to fall to the ground.
Dr Keith sums up his experiment by saying
"In all senses, the collapse sequence was quite ordinary and natural. The World Trade Centre towers were designed to absorb an aircraft impact, but an accidental one with much less fuel and speed. It is widely acknowledged that the impacts on September 11th were extraordinary, which led to consequences well in excess of the design capacity for the buildings. The original design of both towers must be praised for standing as long as they did, saving more lives than might have been expected.""
Submission + - Reshaping the Architecture of Memory
Nrbelex writes: Stuart S. P. Parkin, an I.B.M. research fellow largely unknown outside a small fraternity of physicists, thinks he is poised to bring about a breakthrough that could increase the amount of data stored on a chip or a hard drive by a factor of a hundred. If he proves successful in his quest, he will create a "universal" computer memory, one that can potentially replace dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, and flash memory chips, and even make a "disk drive on a chip" possible. It could begin to replace flash memory in three to five years, scientists say.
