Become a fan of Slashdot on Facebook

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Displays

Submission + - Interactive 3D Holographic Display (usc.edu)

Submitted by
emil10001
emil10001 writes: "Researchers at the University of Southern California have created an interactive 3D holographic display that is viewable 360 degrees around. "The display consists of a high-speed video projector, a spinning mirror covered by a holographic diffuser, and FPGA circuitry to decode specially rendered DVI video signals. The display uses a standard programmable graphics card to render over 5,000 images per second of interactive 3D graphics, projecting 360-degree views with 1.25 degree separation up to 20 updates per second.""
Security

Submission + - Listening to SIP Devices Still on the Hook (beskerming.com)

Submitted by
SkiifGeek
SkiifGeek writes: "Though not as risky as writing your own TCP/IP networking stack, it appears that some vendors who chose to write their own SIP networking stacks are at risk of their devices being easily eavesdropped on. Newly released information, complete with sample exploit code, points to at least one vendor where this is the case — where it is possible to activate a SIP handset even when it is on the hook.

Now anybody can pretend to be a spy or their favourite TLA / LEO, right from the comfort of their computer chair (repercussion for illegal activity will be different for you, though)."
Role Playing (Games)

Submission + - WoW Pandemic Provides Model for Real World Disease (time.com)

Submitted by paleo2002
paleo2002 writes: A Time.com article summarizes a study in the medical journal Lancet Infectios Diseases which uses the "Corrupted Blood" outbreak in World of Warcraft a couple years back as a model for the study of epidemics. The study suggests that purely numeric simulations do not take human behavior and choices into account. Studying the spread of diseases in a virtual game environment allows researchers to observe human response to an epidemic in addition to transmission vectors, effectiveness of treatment or quarantine efforts, and so on.

I was in Ironforge during the outbreak. I remember priests and druids frantically trying to heal and raise people while others ran around trying to infect as many people as possible.
Google

Submission + - SPAM: Google's bold bid for auctioning off spectrum

Submitted by alphadogg
alphadogg writes: The FCC has tried and failed to develop spectrum auctions that allow startup companies to get into the mobile service provider industry but now Google thinks it has a better idea. In a filing made to the FCC on Monday, Google proposes a spectrum policy that allows would-be service providers to bid real time in an auction for the right to use a piece of spectrum for a given period of time in order to deliver services to phones or other devices. The auction system could be similar to AdWords, the system Google offers to companies that bid against each other to have their ads displayed online when users search for certain terms. [spam URL stripped]l e-proposes-ad-like-auction-for.html
Music

Submission + - AllofMP3 voucher resellers quit after police raid

Submitted by Broohaha
Broohaha writes: Europeans who resell AllofMP3.com vouchers are quitting the business after a UK raid against one prominent reseller there. A new article talks to several of them about their situations. "Until a few days ago, I had never heard of the IFPI [the international music trade group]," said one reseller. "But yes, I am concerned about them now. Although my attorney assures me that reselling gift certificates bought from AllOfMP3.com isn't breaking any laws, it isn't worth the possibility of engagement with their legal machine." The music industry seems determined to choke off AllofMP3's funding, no matter how small the source.
Linux Business

Submission + - Dell to Preload Ubuntu Linux on Consumer Machines

Submitted by
TechDock
TechDock writes: "According to this EWeek article, Dell and Canonical will announce a partnership on May 1 that will see the hardware giant ship Ubuntu Linux preinstalled on some of its desktop and laptop computers. The move, which has been expected for some time, makes Dell the first major desktop vendor to release consumer desktops and laptops with preinstalled Linux"
Windows

Submission + - Symantec: Vista UAC Prompts Cannot be Trusted

Submitted by
ambr00sio
ambr00sio writes: "Symantec researcher Ollie Whitehouse has is warning that the UAC prompts in Windows Vista cannot be trusted to provide the end user with reliable warnings. In one potential attack scenario, Whitehouse showed how UAC privilege elevation prompts can look like it's coming from Microsoft Windows — when in fact the user is being asked to authorize admin rights for malicious code. Also see Slashdot's previous coverage of UAC design and implementation flaws."
Editorial

Submission + - Rounding Up the Modern Homebrew Scene

Submitted by
AKAImBatman
AKAImBatman writes: "As The Pensive Gamer points out, the latest generation of game consoles represents the first time in history that consoles have provided features that allow the average joe to create his own games. While homebrewing is not a new concept, it has traditionally focused on out of date systems like the Atari 2600 and the Sega Dreamcast. i.e. Systems that no longer matter enough to manufacturer to prevent homebrewing. Yet the features of today's console systems may be changing everything.

The Sony PS3 provides programmers with a full-up development environment for the Cell CPU and Bluray drive by not only allowing, but encouraging users to install a Linux variant on it. While this creates a huge number of game creation opportunities on the PS3, the resulting game ends up being difficult to distribute. Fellow homebrewers might happily install Linux on their PS3s, but convincing the rest of Sony's target market to do so may be a bit difficult.

The next best option — supported by both the PS3 and the Nintendo Wii — is to run web-enabled games in the console's web browser. Flash games in particular have become a very popular way of playing homebrew content on a console system. Yet here, the Wii has a distinct advantage. The in-built ability for the Wii Remote to act as a mouse allows for a wide variety of Flash games to be played out of the box. So many in fact, that Wii-specific gaming sites like Wiicade have been popping up left and right.

Even more exciting is the fact that the keycodes for the Wii Remote buttons have been decoded by enterprising individuals, but only through Javascript. While experiments with Javascript to Flash communication are underway, the first Javascript game to use the Wii Remote controls has already appeared, with promises of more exciting Opera Canvas games on on the horizon.

While the XBox 360 lacks a web browser, it does have perhaps the most exciting feature of all. Microsoft's XNA Game Studio allows for complete games that take advatage of the underlying hardware. (In direct opposition to the Wii and PS3 options.) The only downside are that Microsoft charges a subscription fee, and that the homebrews must be redistributed in source code form. (Though the latter limitation may please the OSS community to a certain degree.) Undeterred, the 360 community is embracing this new support with many new games on the way.

Altogether, the amount of audience participation available in these consoles is wholly unlike anything seen before. With any luck, this bodes well for the future of the homebrew community and the casual gamer alike."
Privacy

Submission + - MySpace Not Responsible for Sexual Assault

Submitted by
Common Sense
Common Sense writes: "Those looking to cash in after meeting sexual predators on websites like MySpace have been dealt a serious legal setback. The US District Court in Austin, Texas ruled in favor of MySpace in the $30 million lawsuit questioning whether it was responsible for allowing a 13 year old girl to lie about her age and meet a man who turned out to be a sexual predator. Judge Sparks wrote in his ruling that, "if anyone had a duty to protect [the victim], it was her parents, not MySpace." Score one for common sense."
Television

Submission + - Cable Companiy Vs Local Broadcaster

Submitted by
doroshjt
doroshjt writes: "I haven't seen a fox broadcast in over a month. My local cable company, Time Warner, is in a contract dispute with Fox 28 out of Spokane Washington. The dispute is over payment of rebroadcasting over the air signals. Fox believes that they should be paid for their signal, time warner thinks it shouldn't be forced to pass on the buck to customers who could get the signal free OTA. http://www.timewarnercable.com/northwest/kayufaqs. html for Time Warner's side and http://www.fox28spokane.com/faq.php#gen_40 for fox's side. Who's right?"
Debian

Submission + - Install Debian from Windows

Submitted by mpapet
mpapet writes: For those Windows users looking for the easiest way ever to install Linux, Debian has a new win32 installer. http://goodbye-microsoft.com/

It downloads a Debian install image. On reboot, the image is loop mounted. The installer resizes your NTFS partition and installs Debian in the freed space.

The usual "back up your important windows stuff before trying this" applies.

Slashdot Top Deals

An authority is a person who can tell you more about something than you really care to know.

Close