Comment Re:Holy moley ! (Score 1) 143
as far as I can tell from Wikipedia, it doesn't.
nah, it does. i edited the wikipedia article to screw with you.
Comment Re:My first hand experience on Modern Warfare 2 (Score 0, Offtopic) 560
$ sudo yum install potato-pancakes
yum: okay!
yum: okay!
Comment Re:GPS? (Score 1) 99
The PDF document makes reference to its navigation accuracy relative to the last GPS or USBL update. USBL is an underwater positioning system in which the topside (boat) notifies the vehicle of its (the vehicle's) position. First, the topside's acoustic transducer pings the vehicle and determines the direction and distance of the vehicle's response ping. Using some trig and its own GPS position, the topside calculates the vehicle's position, and sends it in an acoustic message down to the vehicle. Coupled with a high-accuracy internal navigation system on the vehicle, this allows the vehicle to stay at depth and hold its survey course for long periods.
Heavily Discounted Zune Outpacing iPod Sales 407
firegate writes "Yahoo Tech is reporting that the Microsoft Zune, having been heavily discounted for the holiday season, 'is currently Amazon's top-selling music player, beating out the new iPod Nano and the 80GB iPod on the 'Bestsellers in Electronics' list.' An Associated Press report even indicates that the Zune's newfound popularity has left it in short supply, sold out in many locations. Is this a sign that a true competitor, from Microsoft no less, has finally broken into the Apple-dominated MP3 player market? And will this spell more success for Windows-media based music subscription services like Napster?"
Submission + - Dealing with Security Bugs: A Primer
CowboyRobot writes: "ACM Queue's current issue on Open Source Security includes a short article by Eric Allman of Sendmail on how to handle security bugs in your code.
"Patch with full disclosure. Particularly popular in the open source world (where releasing a patch is tantamount to full disclosure anyway), this involves opening the kimono and exposing everything, including a detailed description of the problem and how the exploit works... Generally speaking, it is easier to find bugs in open source code, and hence the pressure to release quickly may be higher.""
Submission + - YouTube set to filter content
An anonymous reader writes: Computer world reports that Google is racing to head off a media industry backlash over its video Web site YouTube and will soon offer antipiracy technologies to help all copyright holders thwart unauthorized video sharing.
But YouTube has also said the process of identifying copyrighted material is not automated and requires the cooperation of media company partners.
Telecom Refunds $8 Million for Bad Service 57
Gearu writes in with an article about a hefty refund coming to New Zealanders. It opens, "Telecom New Zealand has admitted it made an error with its Go Large broadband plan and is to credit customers of the service. An internal technical review of the service, launched in October, identified an issue with how internet traffic was being managed on the plan. The Go Large plan was promoted as having traffic management applied to certain applications, but since December the traffic management process had affected all forms of activity.
With around 60,000 customers on the Go Large service, the refunds were expected to total $7.5 million to $8.5 million."
Submission + - MSFT Plays up Open Source
An anonymous reader writes: One of the longest running open source databases — Postgres — has been around for nearly 11 years (I think.) The powerful object-relational database is a direct competitor to other OSS databases, as well as Microsoft's SQL Server 2005. So why is Microsoft promoting it? Thursday, Microsoft's open source software lab posted PostgreSQL on Windows: A Primer. At first, I get Redmond's interest in promoting anything that runs on Windows as a platform. But looking at this week's news: Ian Murdock visits Redmond, Microsoft and Novell announced their technical roadmap & Red Hat joins Microsoft's Interop Vendor program — is something bigger brewing in Bill's backyard? And how does Ballmer feel about this?
The post is located at: http://port25.technet.com/archive/2007/02/22/postg resql-on-windows-a-primer.aspx
Submission + - Second Google Desktop vulnerability uncovered
zakkie writes: "According to InfoWorld, Google's Desktop indexing engine is vulnerable to an exploit (the second such flaw to be found) that could allow crackers to read files or execute code. By exploiting a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability on Google.com, an attacker can grab all the data off a Google Desktop. Google is said to be "investigating"."
Software Deletes Files to Defend Against Piracy 544
teamhasnoi writes "Back in 2004, we discussed a program that deleted your home directory on entry of a pirated serial number. Now, a new developer is using the same method to protect his software, aptly named Display Eater. In the developers's own words, 'There exist several illegal cd-keys that you can use to unlock the demo program. If Display Eater detects that you are using these, it will erase something. I don't know if this is going to become Display Eater policy. If this level of piracy continues, development will stop.'"
A Bad Month for Firefox 195
marty writes "Februrary is not a good month for Mozilla developers. Infoworld reports about the efforts of Polish researcher Michael Zalewski, who apparently kept finding new vulnerabilities in the popular browser on a daily basis through the month, first postponing the 2.0.0.2 update, and then finding a remotely exploitable flaw in it immediately after its release."
Getting in to a Top Tier College? 177
IvyLeague Engineer asks: "I'm currently a senior at a top rated public school and I look forward to majoring in Electrical Engineering. I've already been accepted into Carnegie Mellon University, so I don't need to worry about any 'safety' schools. However, I still have my sights set on getting into a school such as MIT or Cal Tech. My grades are high (95.6 on a 100 scale), I have several leadership positions in clubs, however I'm pretty sure that's not enough. What else can I do to improve my chances of being accepted there? I've already been deferred from early action at both institutions and I'm afraid it's too late to do much at this point. I'm sure there are other people like me wondering just what it takes to get admitted to a prestigious college."
Amazon Using Patent Reform to Strengthen 1-Click 71
theodp writes "As some predicted, lawyers for Amazon.com have recently submitted 1-Click prior art solicited by Tim O'Reilly under the auspices of Jeff Bezos' patent reform effort to the USPTO, soliciting a 'favorable action' that would help bulletproof the patent. Last June, an Amazon lobbyist referred to deficiencies with the same prior art as he tried to convince Congress that 1-Click was novel, prompting Rep. Howard Berman to call BS."
Fuel Efficient Five-Gear Rocket Engine Designed 122
Roland Piquepaille writes "Georgia Tech researchers have had a brilliant idea. Rocket engines used today to launch satellites run at maximum exhaust velocity until they reach orbit. For a car, this would be analog to stay all the time in first gear. So they have designed a new space rocket which works as it has a five-gear transmission system. This rocket engine uses 40 percent less fuel than current ones by running on solar power while in space and by fine-tuning exhaust velocity. But as it was designed with funds from the U.S. Air Force, military applications will be ready before civilian ones. Here is how this new rocket engine works."
Journal Journal: Minnesota requires 25% renewable energy
Governor Pawlenty of Minnesota has signed a bill which requires a significant amount of energy from renewable sources. "The bill signed by the Governor requires energy companies to provide 25 percent of power from renewable sources by 2025. Xcel Energy, which supplies appr
