Television

Which HDTV Capture Card? 31

BenderMan asks: "I would like to purchase an HDTV capture card for a *nix based home PVR project. My criteria is that the card support (or be capable of in future firmware) Encrypted QAM, and that the card ignore the broadcast flag. I'll need to make my choice before July 1st, 2005. Of the few cards available that support HDTV, 64/256-QAM support (needed for cable broadcast) is spotty and it's not clear which cards currently ignore the broadcast flag. Can Slashdot readers provide any insight on the FusionHDTV, the MyHD MDP-130, and the HD-3000 cards, or any others I have overlooked?"
Linux Business

CVS Server Administration Tips? 79

Twintop asks: "The company I'm working for has asked me to take over administration of their CVS server for a decent sized project. The current setup of the CVS server needs to be wiped clean and started fresh. The only times I've ever used CVS (and used it poorly at that) was with a few SourceForge.net (An OSTG Site) projects. What are some suggestions on reference materials for a newbie to CVS (but not to Linux) and methods of administration that have worked for you in the past?"

AI Bots Pick The Hits of Tomorrow 510

Wolverine Inspector writes "The Music Industry uses a product called HSS (Hit Song Science) made by Spain's Polyphonic HMI. According to The Guardian "while no one's talking about it, it seems that the whole record industry is already using AI to choose hits. From unsigned acts dreaming in their garage, to multinationals such as Sony and Universal, everyone is clandestinely using a new and controversial technology to gain an edge on their competitors." Even though it costs about $5,200 US/$6,500, many artists are starting to buy it to help them write succesfull songs."
The Media

Future of Internet News? 315

Matthew asks: "Now that the Internet has become an integral part of many people's lives, it has also become the place where many of us get our daily news reports (think Slashdot, New York Times, etc). The decentralization of the Internet offers many advantages over traditional media such as newspapers and television, as the user has more control over what to view and when to view it. But how does the future of this utopia look? With the uprise of ad blockers, are we going to be able to get our news for free? Will the Internet become a place for the "selected few" with money to spend? How do DRM and Trusted Computing play into the role? What does Darwin say will happen to newspapers, radio, television?"
Programming

Programming Job Skills Test? 189

eclecticgeek asks: "I've recently finished a CS/SD degree at uni and the interviews are starting to come thick and fast. I've yet to have a skills test for any of them, and it's only a matter of time before I do. I'm hoping to do one this week and I will get the choice of language. The position is quite broad and they're more after competent programmers in general, rather than any one specific language. So I'm wondering, have you done a developer skills test? What type of things did you get asked?"
Programming

Free Development Systems for Cell Phones? 20

mongoose(!no) asks: "Does anyone know of a free development environment for cellular phones? Right now, my phone has support for Qualcomm's BREW. Qualcomm offers a free SDK, to develop applications. However, to put the application on a phone, it costs $400 to become a BREW authorized developer. I am in the market for a new cell phone and am looking for one I could write applications on. Smart phones running Palm, and Windows CE are too expensive for my budget. Do I have any options or am I pretty much locked out of writing software for my cell pone?"

Bugzilla 2.18 Goes Gold 154

bugger writes "After almost three years of development, the Bugzilla project has released long-waited Bugzilla 2.18. It contains many new features, a huge number of bug fixes, some security updates, and more. It is also the first Bugzilla version to run unmodified on Windows. In parallel, security release 2.16.8 and a new development snapshot 2.19.2 have been announced."
Communications

Communicating with Handicapped Loved Ones? 43

Trx asks: "Many of us regularly exchange digital images from our loved ones, but the disabled are often left on the dark side of this digital divide. My dad is quadriplegic, and I've been looking into ways I might outfit his room with an automated download of images to his television. Have any Slashdot users attempt something of this sort? He lives in an assisted living facility, with personal telephone/cable lines. He has special response buttons for control of television channels and phone. Due to high staff-turnover, training-in staff to help him download emails or images hasn't worked out. I am stationed overseas, and can only get back once every 6 months if I'm lucky, so low-maintenance is key. WebTV would be an option if it didn't require mouse or keyboard. We've also considered investing in a laptop DVD player, and mailing disks. Any suggestions?"

LiveJournal Servers Go Down 596

Wind writes "According to any journal hosted off of LiveJournal.com, the LiveJournal data center Internap has suffered a critical power failure, leaving all of LiveJournal and its content temporarily offline and requiring the revival of 100+ servers. Perhaps Six Apart wasn't quite prepared for the responsibilities of a website of this size? Updated information is posted here."
Programming

Abandoning Header Files? 207

garethw asks: "I'm working on a project where the lead developer, following a suggestion by our tool vendor, wants to get rid of the header files and directly #include source code. The language is a somewhat specialized language, but for all intents and purposes, you can assume it's Java or C. The conventional argument I recall for using header files, and incremental compilation, is that it's faster to use a makefile and conditionally build only those files that have changed. However, it turns out that the brute force of invoking the compiler once on the top-level does actually compile much faster. I feel that there is something about #include'ing source files directly, compiling only the top-level file, just doesn't 'feel' right and I'm at a loss to really give a solid argument as to why. Has anyone actually used this approach? Does anyone have any thoughts on any advantages or drawbacks?"

New Battlestar Galactica Series Starts Tonight 451

Snaller writes "Tonight the Scifi channel begins airing the new reimaged Battlestar Galactica series. Having run to rave reviews in the UK, the new series is darker and grittier than the original, and showrunner Ron Moore aims for a more adult narrative with comments on issues such as terrorism, security, freedom, religion and what it means to be human in a series which is essentially one long story arc. The entire cast from the 2003 mini series is back and the first episode, called '33', picks up almost where the mini series left off: The humans are still on the run, but each time they come out of hyperspace, the Cylon armada catches up 33 minutes later ... every 33 minutes. When we join the crew this has been going on for five days."
The Media

CMS for High School Newspaper Website? 79

wyldeone asks: "I'm responsible for creating a site for my high schools newspaper, and I'm at a loss for what technology to use. It is small, and there will be about one issue a month. I have looked into some weblogging software like MovableType, and WordPress and they seems too simple, but larger CMS offerings (Campsite and PROPS, for example) seem too complex and powerful for this project. Are there any suggestions from Slashdot readers who run high school or college newspapers?"
Businesses

CV Tips for Software Developers? 88

drylight asks: "When writing a CV, what do people find to be an effective format that gets possible employer's attention and/or the desired job? Is Keeping things short, preferable or will two or more pages be acceptable? Is a complete work history desired, or would a list of applications and projects that you've been involved in a better idea? Any links to online examples of good CVs would be greatly appreciated. What are some other tips on how to get someone's attention when applying for a job?"

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