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Microsoft

+ - Running Vista in Parallels will Cost You More

Submitted by
Anonymous Coward
Anonymous Coward writes "This press release details about the way MS will limit your ability to run Vista in a virtual machine. One cannot run run Vista virtually unless you pay for the more expensive versions of their new operating system (starting at $299.) On top of the loss of extra funds from your checking account, you will also lose your XP license with the upgrade. There are some definite DRM questions that come into play here. http://www.macobserver.com/article/2007/01/31.7.sh tml"
Microsoft

+ - Dvorak compares Vista to a "Park Avenue hooker

Submitted by guaigean
guaigean writes "John C. Dvorak has recently written a piece regarding the failures of Vista, and the problems existing today regarding OS development and practices. Included in the article is the evolution of the OS from a "file loader" to a series of icons and animations, which Dvorak says have nothing to do with an Operating Systems purpose, eventually causing the whole system to become a constant problem, barely holding together. The article is available here

From the article: 'It became a clunker, in fact, with a pretty face and a high price tag like a Park Avenue hooker using too much makeup to hide the fact that she's old.'"
Mozilla

+ - Learn by doing XForms in Firefox

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "Using the experimental Mozilla XForms extension, you can process XForms in your browser today. While not yet deployed widely enough for use on the public Internet, XForms may be suitable for some intranet applications. This article demonstrates basic XForms processing as currently supported by Firefox and the Mozilla XForms plug-in. XForms is not only a more powerful means of designing and laying out forms than using classic HTML; it's a much easier way to do it too."
Biotech

+ - How to get stem cells from the placenta, at home!

Submitted by
Anna Sebestyen
Anna Sebestyen writes "Attila Csordas has a protocol on how to isolate millions of amniotic stem cells from the placenta, even at home, in the garage. "The placenta is a very valuable human tissue, although the proper recycling of it is not placentophagy, but the isolation of stem cells from its amnion layer, and storing them for later regenerative purposes for the whole family. Human amniotic epithelial cells (HAECs) from the placenta are alternative replacements of human embryonic stem cells, and have the potential to differentiate to all three germ layers in vitro. These cells are very close to those earlier and broadly multipotent amniotic fluid-derived stem cells, which made the big buzz lately on the web, published by De Coppi, Atala et al. in Nature Biotechnology. Here I would like to show, although I do not provide any warranty, that isolating stem cells from the placenta is not more difficult than making a steak, and with proper preparation, investment and timing you can do it even at home or in a rent lab. The process is ethically non-controversial since the placenta is usually discarded after birth. Today, stem cell therapy is just a promising possibility, but in the not so distant future, self-aware citizens may manage their own stem cells, grow them in the garage, and store them in the fridge. If so, it could be a form of autonomous medical self-insurance. We are at the dawn of the bioDIY movement backed by open source science for anybody. Here is the algorithm at the cartoon and below are the detailed, although not self-including textual protocol...""
Space

+ - Lunar Transient Phenomena

Submitted by Greg Phillips
Greg Phillips writes "If you stare at the Moon long enough, you start seeing things. "82 things to be exact," says Bill Cooke, leader of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Group. That's how many "transient phenomena" the group has video-taped since they started monitoring the night side of the Moon in Nov. 2005. see caption"In 107 hours of observing, we've tallied 20 lunar meteors + at least 50 Earth-orbiting satellites + one airplane + one terrestrial meteor = 82 in all." http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2007/23jan_ltps .htm?list964623"
Intel

Intel Upgrades Centrino With 802.11n

Submitted by OSTG Marketing Dept.
If you use your Intel laptop to download and play music, videos and movies, your life might have just got a little easier. Intel is upgrading the wireless component inside its Centrino Duo mobile technology to its Next-Gen Wireless N network connection . "The component is based on the draft 802.11n Wi-Fi specification, which is designed to replace the 802.11a, 802.11b and 802.11g Wi-Fi standards for local
Education

+ - New User Orientation

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "What do you do for new user orientation? I started at a company as part of a very small help desk / MIS department. Part of my job is to give orientation to all new computer users for the entire company (0-10 new users a week). Right now I have to sit with each user, go over logging in, passwords, email, outlook, MS office, etc.. This takes between 30-45 mins. What do other IT departments do? I was thinking of a flash presentation or website, maybe a short "HR" movie. Please let me know what you think"
Security

Bill Cheswick On Internet Security 37

Posted by kdawson
from the man-with-the-maps dept.
Franki3 invites our attention to a SecurityFocus interview with Bill Cheswick. He started the Internet Mapping Project in the 90s; you have probably seen the maps that resulted. The interview ranges over firewalling, logging, NIDS and IPS, how to fight DDoS, and the future of BGP and DNS. From the interview: "I have been impressed with the response of the network community. These problems, and others like security weaknesses, security exploits, etc., usually get dealt with in a few days. For example, the SYN packet DOS attacks in 1996 quickly brought together ad hoc teams of experts, and within a week, patches with new mitigations were appearing from the vendors. You can take the Internet down, but probably not for very long."
Operating Systems

+ - Contiki: from Niche Hobby OS to PhD Thesis

Submitted by blboo
blboo writes "Remember the Contiki operating system? A few years back it was used to run web servers and web browsers on really old home computers such as the Commodore 64 and the 8-bit Atari. Today Contiki has grown up and moved from being a cute hobby project to a serious embedded operating system used in research into networked embedded systems and wireless sensor networks. In fact, it has matured so much that Adam Dunkels, the author of Contiki, earlier today announced his PhD thesis on Contiki and its components; protothreads and the uIP embedded TCP/IP stack. It is an interesting direction for a niche hobby OS to take and probably quite different from what people expected Contiki to become when it first was released."
Microsoft

+ - Over One Fifth of Windows Installs Non-Genuine?

Submitted by
snib
snib writes "Microsoft disclosed Monday that, according to reports collected by the notorious Windows Genuine Advantage (WGA) tool on millions of users' PCs, 22% of all Windows installs do not pass its validation tests and have therefore been deemed non-genuine. From the article: 'Since WGA launched in July 2005, over 512 million users have attempted to validate their copy of Windows, Microsoft said. Of those, the non-genuine rate was 22.3 percent. 56,000 reports have been made by customers of counterfeit software, which grants that user a free replacement copy of Windows.'"
Businesses

+ - Best Buy Warranty Nightmare with a 61" Samsung

Submitted by
sweetpixiesmile
sweetpixiesmile writes "On an popular Canadian coupon site Red Flag Deals esoxlee details and continues to update a forum thread on his ongoing nightmare with trying to get Best Buy to honour their PSP (Product Service Plan.) After purchasing a 61-inch Samsung DLP from Best Buy, the opening poster continues to suffer through one malfunction and service indignity after another."
Television

+ - Will lamp problems be the death blow for DLP?

Submitted by
Techno-Canuck
Techno-Canuck writes "Now that the DLP TVs have been in customers' hands for the last few years, there are problem histories that are being to unfold.

Toshiba DLP TV User Manuals state "The average useful service life for the lamp is approximately 8,000 hours in LOW POWER or 6,000 hours in HI BRIGHT MODE.".

However there were problems with certain 2005 Toshiba models that saw the lamp life be only 100's of hours or less. Toshiba replaced the lamps in these models at no cost and extended the lamp warranty to 2 years. Whether or not Toshiba has resolved the problem remains to be seen, as only time will give the real indication. There also seems to be lamp issues with some 2004 models as well, but Toshiba does not seem to be stepping forward to resolve the issues in this case. The customer ire is starting to rise as indicated by this review. Will there be similar problems for the 2006 models once enough time has elapsed?

Maybe the real lamp life is an average of 1500 hours as indicated by this.

Most people probably would use the information provided by Toshiba to make a decision about what the lamp maintenance costs would be for DLP ownership. However if the real lamp life time is 1500 hours, then that's a 400% increase in costs over what Toshiba is presenting to customers. The cost of a lamp is $200 or more, and for a family household that averages 6 to 8 hours of TV viewing per day, this translates to a new lamp every 187 to 250 days. Strangely enough the Toshiba warranty on a replacement lamp not covered by the original TV warranty is 180 days.

Maybe the death blow has already been struck. It appears that Future Shop, probably the largest electronics retailer in Canada, no longer carries DLP TVs in its product line."

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