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

 



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Submission Summary: 0 pending, 21 declined, 6 accepted (27 total, 22.22% accepted)

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NASA

Submission + - NASA throws a hell of as party!

AlHunt writes: "From The Article:

Everyone knows exploring space is dangerous, and the costs are astronomical. Which is why, just last month, NASA was able to squeeze $1 billion extra from the Senate.

That very same day, NASA also posted an online notice few people saw — seeking four-star hotel bids for its December awards,


So NASA is urinating away 4 million of your tax dollars this year, throwing luxurious parties and patting themselves on the back. In December they'll dump $400,000 to $500,000 in Orlando, according to CBS News.

I love space exploration as much as anyone. If they wanted billions to go to Pluto, I'd probably never say a word. But high dollar shindigs? Give me a break. I work with an organization helping to feed the hungry. We get a $30 to $1 return on our transportation budget (and we buy our own gas, use up our own office supplies and take no pay so almost every penny donated goes to transportation) — in other words, Decembers Awards budget (a paltry $28K) would let me put $840,000 worth of food in the warehouse.

So, here's my challenge, Rocket Scientists — Take a pass on the coconut shrimp and send the savings our way. I'm sure we can feed a few thousand families for your sacrifice."
Privacy

Submission + - Snooping Smartphones

AlHunt writes: "According to CNN, your smartphone could be spying on you!

The top of the article says it all:

You go to the Web site, decide it's just another piece of spam, and move on through your normal daily routine. There's the check-by-phone payment of your credit card bill, a high-level confidential business teleconference discussing sensitive company information, and finally arranging a dinner with that cute co-worker you don't want your boyfriend to know about.

Little do you know that all the while, someone else has been watching — and listening.

Welcome to the brave new world of smartphone spying
"
IBM

Submission + - IBM creates self-assembling chips

AlHunt writes: "IBM believes computer chips work better if they're more like Swiss cheese than American cheese. 20 nanometer holes boost performance by 35% or cut power consumption by a like amount.

From the article: "To create these tiny holes, the computer company has harnessed a plastic-like material that spontaneously forms into a sieve-like structure. The holes have a width of 20 nanometers, or billionths of a meter, placing the method in the much-vaunted field of nanotechnology."

"To our knowledge, this is the first time anyone has used nanoscale self-assembled materials to build things that machines aren't capable of doing," said John Kelly, IBM's vice president of development.

Some might say our new self-replicating overlords have finally arrived. I wouldn't, of course, but some might."
Privacy

Submission + - NYC Comptroller Worried About Privacy

AlHunt writes: "Unfortunately, it's not privacy in the US William C. Thompson (NYC comptroller) is concerned about ... according to the LA Times and Bloomberg News, Thompson has urged the both Google and Yahoo! to adopt rules protecting privacy and human rights in countries with authoritarian governments. The article specifically mentions China and recommends that the companies not store user information in certain countries and that they use all legal means to resist demands for censorship.

Hmmm ... I wonder if we could get some rules like that in the US and UK?"
Networking

Submission + - Internet2 taken our by stray cigarette

AlHunt writes: "A fire started by a homeless man knocked out service between Boston and New York on the experimental Internet2 network Tuesday night. Authorities say the fire, which also disrputed service on the Red Line subway, started around 8:20 p.m. when a homeless man tossed a lit cigarette. The cigarette landed on a mattress, which ignited and led to a two-alarm fire."
Google

Submission + - Google pushes to open public records

AlHunt writes: "The perennial favorite love/hate company, Google, "is helping state governments make reams of public records that are now unavailable or hard to find online" and according to CNN, "records will not be exclusive to the search engines owned by Google, Yahoo and Microsoft." Meanwhile, privacy advocates are up in arms "cautioning that some records may contain personal and confidential information that should not be widely available."."
Microsoft

Submission + - Vista Beta and RC's set tp expire

AlHunt writes: According to Computerworld.com Beta and Release Candidate versions of Vista will begin rebooting every 2 hours on June 1.

Apparently, the only way to retain your current settings is to pay $295.00 to MS:

The only in-place upgrade route — one that retains the settings, applications, and data as-is — is from Vista RC1 using a copy of the $259 Windows Vista Ultimate upgrade. Users running either Beta 2 or RC2 can upgrade to Ultimate, but they must do a "clean install," a process that overwrites the hard drive and destroys all data on it.


High price to pay for the privilege of being a MS Beta Tester, I think.
United States

Submission + - New York City Bans "N" word

AlHunt writes: "The Scotsman is reporting that New York City has passed a non-binding resolution banning The "N" word "because of its sensitivity and painful history intertwined with slavery."

Much as I hate to even hear the word, you just aren't going to legislate this kind of thing.

Sadly, according to the article, Jamie Foxx and other prominent black media figures are determined to continue using the word, some claiming that "reclaiming a slur and giving it a new meaning took away its punch". I recently saw an interview with Samuel L. Jackson promoting his then-new movie "Snakes on a Plane", the interview (with Oprah) peppered with liberal doses of the famous word.

The whole situation seems to say a lot about the state of our society."
Censorship

Submission + - Lawmakers confused by copyright law

AlHunt writes: "The New York Times is reporting that C-Span recently asked Nancy Pelosi to remove copyrighted material from her website.
From TFA:

C-Span did contact the speaker's office to have it take down a different clip from her blog — one shot by C-Span's cameras at a House Science and Technology Committee hearing on global warming where Ms. Pelosi testified, Mr. Daly said. (The blog has substituted material filmed by the committee's cameras, he said.)
"
The Internet

Submission + - "NO HUNTING" in cyberspace!

AlHunt writes: "According to the AP and our friends at The Globe and Mail, A Texas businessman who wanted to allow computer users to kill from the comfort of their homes has instead spawned dozens of state laws banning the practice.

Mr. Lockwood, 42, said in an interview that he was trying to help disabled hunters when he ... linked a rifle to a digital camera and high-speed Web connection."
Media (Apple)

Submission + - Apple pushes for DRM-Free music downloads

AlHunt writes: "Reuters is reporting that Apples Steve Jobs is calling on the music industry to drop DRM.
From TFA:

Chief Executive Steve Jobs on Tuesday called on the four major record companies to start selling songs online without copy protection software known as digital rights management (DRM).

Jobs said there appeared to be no benefit to the record companies to continue to sell more than 90 percent of their music without DRM on compact discs while selling the remaining small percentage of their music encumbered with a DRM system.
Steve makes an excellent point."
Microsoft

Submission + - Apple says wait to "upgrade" to Vista

AlHunt writes: "From Playuls.com

According to a notice posted by Apple on its website, the PC users who are already upgraded their OS to newly released Windows Vista may experience some compatibility issues with iTunes
With possible data corruption and previously purchased iTunes not playing on your new Vista "upgrade", Apple is recommending a Clean Install:

Apple said that the users should deauthorize all iTunes Store accounts, enable Disk Use on all iPod models, uninstall iTunes, perform a clean install of Windows Vista (Highly recommended but not required), reinstall the latest version of iTunes, open iTunes, choose Authorize Computer from the Store menu in iTunes.
And of course, slashdot has already linked to the required method for a clean Vista install."

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