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Comment: It really is a daft question (Score 1) 554

by simm1701 (#19911961) Attached to: Too Many Linux Distros Make For Open Source Mess
Most of the smaller distros aim at a specific niche, very technical users, those that want to tweak the system, novice users, embedded systems, wireless hacking the list goes on.

It doesn't change the fact that choice is good, each distro puts improvements it makes back into the whole.

I can't imagine any other case where people would say more choice is bad

Do more LCD TVs on the market make it more likely people will buy a plasma instead?

Do more car models available mean people will look at a motorbike instead?

Choice is a good thing
Biotech

+ - Scientists create 'plastic' blood

Submitted by simm1701
simm1701 writes "This aricle on the BBC Writes about a new form of artifical blood.

From the article:
Scientists have developed an artificial plastic blood which could act as a substitute in emergencies.

Researchers at Sheffield University said their creation could be a huge advantage in war zones. They say that the artificial blood is light to carry, does not need to be kept cool and can be kept for longer. The new blood is made up of plastic molecules that have an iron atom at their core, like haemoglobin, that can carry oxygen through the body. The scientists said the artificial blood could be cheap to produce and they were looking for extra funding to develop a final prototype that would be suitable for biological testing.

Dr Lance Twyman, of the university's Department of Chemistry, said: "We are very excited about the potential for this product and about the fact that this could save lives. "Many people die from superficial wounds when they are trapped in an accident or are injured on the battlefield and can't get blood before they get to hospital. "This product can be stored a lot more easily than blood, meaning large quantities could be carried easily by ambulances and the armed forces."

A sample of the artificial blood prototype will be on display at the Science Museum in London from 22 May as part of an exhibition about the history of plastics."
Music

+ - Jobs to Labels: Lose the DRM & We'll Talk Pric

Submitted by
eldavojohn
eldavojohn writes "Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been talking smack about DRM and has recently issued a verbal offer to major music lables stating that if they are willing to loose the DRM, he'd be willing to raise his 99 cent price for those iTunes songs. These tracks (such as the recent EMI deal) would also have better sound quality & cost about 30 cents more."
Sun Microsystems

+ - Part of ZFS already under GPLv2

Submitted by
juskeeper
juskeeper writes "According to this sun blogger http://blogs.sun.com/darren/entry/zfs_under_gplv2_ already_exists,in order to allow GRUB to boot root partition formatted with ZFS filesystem,Sun has put part of ZFS's source code into their GRUB source tree,thus make them under GPLv2 license,although RAID-Z and userland tools(probably the most substantial part) are not there yet."
The Internet

+ - "Social" Computing: Badger's Paws Anyone?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "When Yahoo!'s Jeremy Zawodny recently asked What the heck is Web 2.0 anyway? he received a set of responses reminiscent of those garnered by The Reg back in 2005, which famously concluded, based on its readers' responses, that Web 2.0 was made up of 12% badger's paws, 6% JavaScript worms, and 26% nothing. Nonetheless, as Social Computing (SoC) widens and deepens its footprint, another Jeremy — Jeremy Geelan — has asked if we are witnessing the death of "Personal" Computing. SoC, Geelan notes, has already become an academic field of study. But isn't Social Computing too maybe just badger's paws?"
Security

+ - ISP Be drops full disclosure user

Submitted by simm1701
simm1701 writes "High speed ISP Be has closed the account of one of its customers after their full disclosure style release of a serious remote security hole in their ADSL modem/routers. The ISP's reponse has been typical of many IT companies, a combination of denial, blame on the flaw find for the existance of the flaw and heavy handed legal threats.

The story is also covered on The Register"
User Journal

Journal: Slashdot cookbook: tofu

Journal by eglamkowski

Another tofu soup - Beancurd in Consomme
And despite being a sichuan recipe, it's not spicy and doesn't even use peppers.

1 pound soft tofu
3 egg whites
1 tablespoon softened lard
1.5 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with a little bit of cold water
7 cups clear chicken or vegetable stock
salt to taste
white pepper to taste
1 pound napa (or other leafy green like bok choy or spinach)

Education

+ - ISP offers students cash for open source code

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "In a world dominated by ISPs straight from the "could-not-care-less" Slashdot department, this article provides a refreshing view of the future of ISPs.

From the article: "As an incentive to get students to push the code boundaries of open source software, a British software network is offering cash for fresh code, reports Welsh IT News Online."

My question to Slashdot is: what other ISPs provide these sort of interesting incentives?"
Privacy

+ - Do banks want your identity to be stolen?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "Do your banks' new security features make fraud even easier? Logging into my citicard account reveals non-standard ssl use, with unverifiable security (no https or even a certificate). Logging in takes you to a different site without the word "citi" even in its url. My old MBNA account used to send emails from "cardsatisfaction.com" and I still can't tell if the emails from "customercenter.net" were actually legit.

Why do banks actually expect customers to not fall for phishing attempts when they make it so easy? How do you protect your identity when you can't verify your connection is actually encrypted? How good are your banks at protecting your identity?"
Censorship

+ - AXN banned!

Submitted by black_meow
black_meow writes "AXN channel is banned in India by the IB(information & broadcasting) misnistry for indecency: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/AXN_banned_for_ indecent_programme/articleshow/1260124.cms "It's a first — according to many a dubious first. Outraged by a programme on AXN, 'World's Sexiest Commercials', the government on Wednesday got into the moral policing act and banned the channel until March 15" ...."

The earth is like a tiny grain of sand, only much, much heavier.

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