ztynzo - Slashdot User

Comment: Re:So will this be the demise of their ... (Score 2, Informative) 370

by ztynzo on Tuesday July 24 2007, @10:58PM (#19979359) Attached to: Truck-Mounted Laser Guns

Rail guns are what the navy is going to use to replace cruise missiles

Realistically, the Navy uses cruise missiles to hit long range targets that are beyond line of sight (usually ~10mi due to curvature of the Earth). While scientists may be able to come up with targeting systems that make extremely high velocity projectiles accurate beyond line of sight, it is highly unlikely that the Navy would retire such a versatile offensive weapon for one that seems very limited in capabilities... (A cruise missile can hit a target on the other side of a mountain, let's see you figure out how to do that with a weapon designed to be fired in a straight line..)

More likely to replace the 5" .54cal Mk45 and its successors.

Web Drama to Make Debut on MySpace

Submitted by What~? on Thursday March 29 2007, @09:10PM

What~? writes "Episodes of the new Internet drama "Prom Queen" will make their exclusive debut Sunday on News Corp.'s MySpace social-networking site, the company said Thursday. The deal gives the new teen series access to a huge audience from the start, rather than having to build fans by word of mouth or other means — the way many previous Web shows such as "Lonelygirl15" have done."

Hacking Our Five Senses

Submitted by

zdude255

on Thursday March 29 2007, @08:59PM

zdude255 writes "Wired is running an article exploring several studies of giving the human brain "new input devices." From seeing with your sense of touch to entirely new senses such as sensing direction intuitively, the human brain seems to be capable of interpreting and using new data on the fly. This offers many applications from pilots being able to sense the plane's orientation to the potential recovery of patients with blindness or ear damage. (which helps balance) http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/15.04/esp.html"

China to build nuclear-powered Aircraft Carrier.

Submitted by

F***edCompany

on Thursday March 29 2007, @08:55PM

F***edCompany writes "http://www.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_inter national/199284.html

China to build 93,000-ton atomic-powered aircraft carrier

Vessel to be on par with latest U.S. carrier, according to data

China has been pushing ahead with construction of a mega-sized nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to be completed in 2020, according to a Chinese Communist Party's dossier.

A source close to Chinese military affairs said on March 27 that China has been promoting the construction of a 93,000-ton atomic-powered carrier under a plan titled the "085 Project." The nation also has a plan to build a 48,000-ton non-nuclear-powered carrier under the so-called "089 Project," added the source.

The source made such remarks based on government a dossier that reveals that China's Central Military Commision recently approved the two projects. The dossier also contained specifications of the aircraft carriers.

China had so far been known to be pushing ahead with construction of a non-nuclear-powered carrier, but not an atomic-powered one.

Once the proposed Chinese carriers are deployed, the radius of the Chinese Navy's range is expected to reach Guam, where a U.S. base is located. Thus, military experts are worried about China's moves prompting an arms race in Northeast Asia.

The dossier said the construction of the nuclear-powered carrier will be completed in 2020. China State Shipbuiling Corp's Jiangnan shipyard located on Changxing Island near Shanghai, will be responsible for its design and construction. The size is similar to former Soviet's unfinished atomic-powered carrier Ulyanovsk, the dossier states. China reportedly secretly purchased the design of Ulyanovsk from Russia. When the nuclear-powered carrier is finished, China will own an aircraft carrier which is on par with the U.S.'s newest of such vessels, the 97,000-ton atomic-powered USS Ronald Reagan, which recently docked at Busan Port to participate in a joint exercise between the South Korean and U.S. militaries.

According to the dossier, China plans to construct a non-atomic-powered carrier as a transition stage to building the larger nuclear-powered one. The non-atomic-powered carrier, due to be completed in 2010, will be a mid-sized carrier with a standard displacement of 48,000 tons and a full-load displacement of 64,000 tons and will be able to carry 30-40 Chinese-built J-10 fighters, which China fielded in December last year. The Chinese authorities are reportedly overhauling J-10 fighters to be loaded onto the new aircraft carriers. Until the work is complete, the new carriers are going to handle 10-20 Russian-made Su-33 fighters.

The non-nuclear-powered carrier is reported to be a revised version of Ukraine's Varyag, which China purchased in 1998. A shipyard in Dalian is in charge of its design and construction. After the new carrier is completed, Varyag will be used for military training only.

Remarks made by Zhang Yunchuan, Minister of the Commission on Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense, to reporters after the National People's Congress (NPC) on March 16 — "The construction of an aircraft carrier with China-developed technology will be completed by 2010" — support the dossier's information as reported by the source.

A general-ranked official at South Korea's Ministry of National Defense said, "China's plan to push ahead with construction of atomic-powered aircraft carrier has not been widely known. However, it is sufficiently to predict that the nation will ultimately pursue the ownership of such a vessel.""

Journal: SANS Says Cursor Exploit Nails Vista. 2

Journal by twitter on Thursday March 29 2007, @08:48PM

An, animated cursor flaw will have IE users crying:

The flaw is present on virtually the entire line of Windows OSes, including Vista, which has been held up as Redmond's poster child for safe computing. According to McAfee, Windows users browsing malicious sites using IE versions 6 or 7 risk having arbitrary code run on their machines. Those using Firefox are not vulnerable.

45 Million Credit Cards - Largest Data Theft

Submitted by

flatfilsoc

on Thursday March 29 2007, @08:42PM

flatfilsoc writes "AP reports " A hacker or hackers stole data from at least 45.7 million credit and debit cards of shoppers at off-price retailers including T.J. Maxx and Marshalls in a case believed to be the largest such breach of consumer information... [As a result of the same] Security holes that persist at many firms entrusted with consumer data: failure to promptly delete data on customer transactions, and to guard secrets about how such data is protected through encryption....The only arrests believed tied to the case involve a gift card scam in which 10 people are suspected of buying data from the TJX hackers to purchase Wal-Mart gift cards in northern Florida. Information from 45.7 million cards was stolen from transactions beginning in January 2003 and ending Nov. 23 of that year, TJX said in the filing with the Security Exchange Commission ...The TJX case "will probably serve as a case study for computer security and business students for years to come," Givens said. "This one could be considered a worst-case scenario.""

Origins of the word w00t!

Submitted by djengo12 on Thursday March 29 2007, @08:40PM

djengo12 writes "Concise exposition on the origin of the word w00t! http://www.ratemyeverything.net/post.aspx?post=191 1"

Grand Theft Auto IV Trailer

Submitted by

Anonymous Coward

on Thursday March 29 2007, @08:00PM

Anonymous Coward writes "Via GWN comes this new trailer for Grand Theft Auto IV. We've known about the game for over a year now, and yet somehow Rockstar have managed to get away without releasing any details about the title! Well, now we know it's set in Liberty City once again (New York). Watch the trailer here."

Journal: Nope, not paranoid 6

Journal by zogger on Thursday March 29 2007, @06:44PM

...just somewhat a fan of history and a firm denier of geopolitical coincidences. I'm a skeptic when supposedly "odd" things occur with high stakes politics.

Remotely attack Windows thru your cursor?

Submitted by millerjl on Thursday March 29 2007, @06:28PM

millerjl writes "Welcome to the brave new world where animated cursors can execute remote code in windows. Microsoft released Security Advisory 935423 today announcing the issue. Oh, there is no patch at this time. Microsoft's official recommendation at this time: "Do not visit untrusted websites or view unsolicited email". And yes, Vista along with all the rest are vulnerable according to this SecurityFocus article."