Miykayl - Slashdot User

Comment: Acoustic focus (Score 1) 552

by Miykayl on Wednesday July 16 2008, @12:07PM (#24214341) Attached to: Alternative Uses For an Old Satellite Dish?

I'm stunned no one has yet mentioned it's use as an acoustic concentrator.

You could use it like one of those bionic ears, but the db gain would be absurdly high. Replace the LNA with a high-quality microphone.

THEN, you could point it at something REALLY interesting.. like... uh... a pigeon, or... uh... a squirrel...

And hear what they REALLY have to say... ...heh... I knew there was something conspiratorial about those squirrels... Don't get me started about the chipmonks.

D&D Co-Creator Gary Gygax Has Passed Away 512

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday March 04 2008, @02:22PM
from the tip-of-the-hat-roll-of-the-dice dept.

Mearlus writes "In the recent past co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons Gary Gygax has worked with Troll Lord Games, a small tabletop RPG publisher. Their forums have up a post noting that Mr. Gygax has apparently passed away. Gygax was known, along with Dave Arneson, as the Father of Roleplaying." Saddened reactions from well-known designers have already begun to appear online. Consider this is an in-memoriam Ask Slashdot question: How has D&D (and tabletop roleplaying) touched/improved your life? Update: 03/04 23:16 GMT by Z : With more time, official announcements have had time to appear. Many sites are featuring posts on Gygax's impact on gaming, including touching entries on Salon and CNet.

Graphene-based transistors on the way? 0

Submitted by

Roland Piquepaille

on Wednesday December 19 2007, @02:14PM

Roland Piquepaille writes "The idea of replacing silicon with carbon to make computer chips is not new. However, using graphene — a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in a honeycomb lattice — wasn't feasible because it is not possible today to make wafers as big as ones made from silicon. But two researchers from Princeton University have found a very elegant solution to this problem. They've decided to put small crystals of graphene only in the active areas of the computer chip. Their graphene-based transistors are already '10 times faster than silicon transistors in moving electronic holes — a key measure of speed.' This technique could be applied to wireless communication devices within a few years. Read more for additional details and an illustration showing how this new technique allows to make high-performance working graphene transistors."

Vista SP1 RNG may contain NSA backdoor-> 0

Submitted by

William Ruckman

on Wednesday December 19 2007, @02:06PM

William Ruckman writes "With its Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista, Microsoft is also adding the Dual_EC_DRBG random number generator. The US standard, released by the National Institute for Standards und Technology (NIST) in "Special Publication 800-90" (PDF) is suspected of containing a back door for the NSA. Programmers can access the new random number generator via an API. But security expert Bruce Schneier emphatically recommends against using it and repeats his suspicion that the algorithm could contain a back door. Cryptologists Nils Ferguson and Dan Shumow described a weakness of the algorithm at the Crypto 2007 conference. It is based on elliptical curves, described by a set of constants. The trouble is, no explanation has been given of how the constants are derived. The cryptologists demonstrated that the constants must be related to an unknown second set of numbers. This second number set could serve as a kind of master key."
Link to Original Source

Is Windows defender spying on Spybot S&D? 2

Submitted by on Wednesday December 19 2007, @02:02PM

An anonymous reader writes "Recently I was working on a system that had been infected by spyware. The system was up to date with high priority patches (automatic updates were turned on and active), it was running an "Enterprise" anti-virus solution from a major vendor, yet had allowed an infestation to enter it simply by visitng a website (according to the user). One of the first things I did was to install Windows Defender, updated it and ran a scan. WD identified some malicious programs and claimed to have removed them. However, these programs were still present. Once the active malicious programs had been removed by booting from a live CD, I installed Spybot Search and Destroy and scanned once more. Spybot S&D found a few more files and, at the point that I asked Spybot S&D to delete them, Windows Defender popped up a window asking to send information about one of these files to Microsoft. This is either a massive coincidence, or Windows Defender is watching Spybot."

Virtualbox OSS outperforms VMWare. 0

Submitted by

miknix

on Wednesday October 31 2007, @06:03PM

miknix writes "Virtualbox which came to the opensource scene some time ago is now outperforming VMWare workstation/player in speed. But don't think this is a minimal difference, because VBox looks supersonic near VMWare, maybe because it is now supporting AMD-V and Intel VT-x extensions.

I was testing the SVM extension of my new Turion 64 X2 on my Gentoo-amd64 linux when got amazed by virtualbox speed. I googled about this and looks like I'm not the only one."

Why Are Games So Easy Nowadays?-> 0

Submitted by mbstrlbstr on Tuesday October 02 2007, @02:42PM

mbstrlbstr writes "The fact that I'm in my 20's and a Wii owner means, of course, that I grew up with the NES being one of my best friends. So,.. it stands to reason that I enjoy playing classic games such as those available on the virtual console. In fact, the virtual console represents MOST of my Wii game library. Now,.. I'm not saying I'm a master at video games, but I manage to finish just about any game I play nowadays. Back when I was younger this wasn't always the case, and until now I attributed it to my being too young to fully understand the games. I see now that this clearly is not the case."
Link to Original Source

Federal Agent's Raid Homes for Modchips-> 0

Submitted by Lunatrik on Wednesday August 01 2007, @07:28PM

Lunatrik writes "Invoking the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, Federal Custom's Agents have raided over 30 homes and businesses looking to confiscate so-called 'mod chips', or other devices that allow the playback of pirated video games. This raises an important question: Are legitimate backup copies of a piece of software you own illegal under the DMCA?"
Link to Original Source

Elton John Wants to Shut Down the Internet 0

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 01 2007, @07:13PM

An anonymous reader writes "Sir Elton John believes that the internet is ruining the quality of music and has proposed a solution to the problem. From the article:

He claims it is destroying good music, saying: "The internet has stopped people from going out and being with each other, creating stuff. Instead they sit at home and make their own records, which is sometimes OK but it doesn't bode well for long-term artistic vision."

Interestingly, he streamed his 60th birthday concert over the internet and is now offering his entire back catalogue for digital download."

$500 Lightsabers: As Close as You Can Get to Real 0

Submitted by ntmokey on Tuesday July 31 2007, @05:22PM

ntmokey writes "The guys over at Popular Mechanics managed to get their hands on a pair of custom-made light sabers that go for $500 apiece. They're powered by Class II lasers and built tough enough to stand up to some real abuse. Before you point out how outrageous $500 is (or whip out the credit card, if you're a Star Wars fan), check out the video of associate editor Erik Sofge dueling it up with a fan in the basement of their office building. Pretty epic stuff — brace yourself for the tragic ending."