Comment Rivalry (Score -1, Troll) 115
What are the odds this was an Ubuntu developer ordered by Shuttleworth to take down the enemy?
Submission + - Fedora 13 Beta Delayed by One Week 1
padraic_93 writes: Following the earlier decision to delay the release of the fedora 13 alpha release by 1 week, a recent announcement as the result of the "Beta Go/No Go Meeting" says that the release of the Beta, and indeed the Release Candidate and Final Release versions of Fedora 'Goddard', are all to be delayed by 1 week. Personally, I'm miffed; I'm really looking forward to this release.
Submission + - Do OS projects have any commitment to their users?
dotancohen writes: Should open source projects have any responsibility or commitment towards their users? Although FOSS projects certainly have no financial or legal responsibility to their users, is there a moral responsibility when users build their businesses and lifestyles around the software? What if the user invests his time filing and triaging bugs? What if the user contributes art, documentation, or helps other users in community forums and mailing lists?
What weight or arguments does a business have that, for instance, may have standardized on a project such as KDE-PIM and must suffer through releases with reduced functionality as the KDE4 growing pains affect that project? Must businesses that demand stable, mature software rely only on proprietary software and support contracts?
What weight or arguments does a business have that, for instance, may have standardized on a project such as KDE-PIM and must suffer through releases with reduced functionality as the KDE4 growing pains affect that project? Must businesses that demand stable, mature software rely only on proprietary software and support contracts?
Submission + - Alice in Wonderland (1903) (youtube.com) 3
Ant writes: "YouTube shows a musical 9.5 minutes video showing "the first-ever film version of Lewis Carroll's tale has recently been restored by the British Film Institute (BFI) National Archive from severely damaged materials. Made just 37 years after Lewis Carroll wrote his novel and eight years after the birth of cinema, the adaptation was directed by Cecil Hepworth and Percy Stow, and was based on Sir John Tenniel's original illustrations... ... With a running time of just 12 minutes (8 of which survive), Alice in Wonderland was the longest film produced in England at that time. Film archivists have been able to restore the film's original colours for the first time in over 100 years..."
Seen on Neatorama."
Seen on Neatorama."
Submission + - Did 'Dark Stars' Spawn Supermassive Black Holes? (discovery.com)
astroengine writes: "Some theories suggest that the earliest stars were fueled by dark matter annihilation. It turns out that these "dark stars" didn't have the same restraints on mass as regular stars as they were a lot cooler. So long as there was a plentiful supply of dark matter, they could continue to grow. In an interesting piece of research carried out by scientists at the University of Michigan, these dark stars were allowed to grow to supermassive proportions (i.e. 100,000 times the mass of the sun) until all the surrounding halo of dark matter was used up. The supermassive dark stars then collapsed to create seeds for the supermassive black holes that reside in the center of most galaxies. How supermassive black holes came into being remains a mystery, so does this dark star mechanism hold any water? We probably won't find out that answer until the James Webb Space Telescope is launched in 2014 to look for the ancient light produced by the earliest stellar objects born shortly after the Big Bang."
Tritium Leak At Vermont Nuclear Plant Grows 295
mdsolar writes "The tritium leak into ground water at Vermont Yankee has now tested at 775,000 picocuries per liter, 37 times higher than the federal drinking water standard. 'Despite the much higher reading, an NRC spokeswoman said Thursday there was nothing to fear. "There's not currently, nor is there likely to be, an impact on public health or safety or the environment," the NRC's Diane Screnci said in an interview. She had maintained previously that the Environmental Protection Agency drinking water safety limit of 20,000 picocuries per liter had an abundance of caution built into it. ... The National Academy of Sciences said in 2005 that any exposure to ionizing radiation from an isotope like tritium elevates the risk of cancer, though it also said with small exposures, the risk would be low. ' At what level should the NRC shut down the troubled plant?"
Submission + - Unofficial Qt-based apps for the Kindle! (+Sudoku) (griffin.net)
An anonymous reader writes: I've just posted packages for installing a Qt-based platform on the Kindle 2 & DX devices, and a Sudoku game to go along with it. The Qt-based platform includes plugins I wrote for the e-ink display, the keyboard, and the fiveway joystick thing.... so it's a fully interactive and usable environment now. Soon I'll be adding a sample app with source code to go along with it.
MSI Will Launch iPad Alternative 756
itwbennett writes "Underwhelmed by the iPad? Don't give up on tablets just yet, says blogger Peter Smith. MSI has a tablet coming in the second half of 2010 that measures up on price and size and addresses a lot of the iPad's most noted shortcomings. 'The iPad runs iPhone OS while the MSI runs Android,' writes Smith. 'That means the MSI will multitask of course, and Flash support in Android should be a given by launch time (though that isn't certain). It has a camera. It's running on an Nvidia Tegra2 chip which Ars Technica suggests puts it on par with the iPad's A4 as far as computing horsepower. And of course Android doesn't live in a walled garden.'" The post notes that the MSI device does not support multitouch in its built-in apps. Still, would an Android-powered iPad-alike tempt you?
Update: 01/29 17:58 GMT by KD : Dave Altavilla suggests Hot Hardware's coverage of Asus's recently announced tablet, also based on the Tegra2 chip.
Update: 01/29 17:58 GMT by KD : Dave Altavilla suggests Hot Hardware's coverage of Asus's recently announced tablet, also based on the Tegra2 chip.
Submission + - Why aren't there more women in Information Tech? (itlf.org)
MikeDataLink writes: "The Information Technology Leader's Forum is running an interesting article entitled "Why are there not more women in IT?". I also find this to be a fascinating question. As TFA points out the career is decently stable, the work environment is generally nice (as in office work) and the rewards are usually good. Anyone women in the slashdot community have answers for us?"
Submission + - First Functional Molecular Transistor Comes Alive (wired.com)
Dananajaya Ramanayake writes: Nearly 62 years after researchers at Bell Labs demonstrated the first functional transistor, scientists say they have made another major breakthrough.
Researchers showed the first functional transistor made from a single molecule. The transistor, which has a benzene molecule attached to gold contacts, could behave just like a silicon transistor.
The molecule’s different energy states can be manipulated by varying the voltage applied to it through the contacts. And by manipulating the energy states, researchers were able to control the current passing through it.
Researchers showed the first functional transistor made from a single molecule. The transistor, which has a benzene molecule attached to gold contacts, could behave just like a silicon transistor.
The molecule’s different energy states can be manipulated by varying the voltage applied to it through the contacts. And by manipulating the energy states, researchers were able to control the current passing through it.
Submission + - How to do an ad hoc install of an iPhone app (easeintotheswitch.com)
Refrag writes: Figuring our how to run iPhone applications that weren't downloaded from the iTunes App Store isn’t exactly easy. Here is a guide on how to do ad hoc installation which is usually something you would do at the request of an iPhone developer for testing purposes of the application.
Submission + - Apple Tablet in January (businessinsider.com)
ral writes: Mobile blog "Boy Genius Report" says that Apple has told developers to get their iPhone and iPod Touch apps ready for a higher resolution device to be demoed in January. As long as iPhone apps support the larger resolution, they should run just fine. Given the success of the iPhone platform, a tablet based on it sure make sense.
Submission + - Information surfaces on iPhone 4
padraic_93 writes: The Register today reported that information has become available which reveals development is underway for the new iPhone 4, as well as suggestions of features and Apple's plans for the phone.
A report on PinchMedia, which made repeated use of the term 'iPhone 4', was cited on the website MacRumours, though the website admitted that such reports can often be forged. The report also made allusions to a 'Corporate Event' panned for June 28th — July 2nd 2010, which have been taken as refering to the next WWDC. The moniker 'Corporate Event' was used to disguise information on last year's WWDC, and that coupled with the length and timing of the event have made many wonder if this will be the platform used to launch the latest of the ever growing family of iPhones. (June is typically the month for what has almost become an annual tradition of iPhone launches.)
In addition, a report from the manufacturer of the 3.5 megapixel cameras fitted to the iPhone 3GS claims that Apple have placed an order for 40-45 million 5megapixel cameras. As well as suggesting the kind of hardware Apple want to benefit their latest model with, it also tells us something of what they expect from this latest model; sales roughly double of those recorded this year.
A report on PinchMedia, which made repeated use of the term 'iPhone 4', was cited on the website MacRumours, though the website admitted that such reports can often be forged. The report also made allusions to a 'Corporate Event' panned for June 28th — July 2nd 2010, which have been taken as refering to the next WWDC. The moniker 'Corporate Event' was used to disguise information on last year's WWDC, and that coupled with the length and timing of the event have made many wonder if this will be the platform used to launch the latest of the ever growing family of iPhones. (June is typically the month for what has almost become an annual tradition of iPhone launches.)
In addition, a report from the manufacturer of the 3.5 megapixel cameras fitted to the iPhone 3GS claims that Apple have placed an order for 40-45 million 5megapixel cameras. As well as suggesting the kind of hardware Apple want to benefit their latest model with, it also tells us something of what they expect from this latest model; sales roughly double of those recorded this year.
Submission + - Next-Gen Glitter-Sized Photovoltaic Cells Unveiled (inhabitat.com)
MikeChino writes: Sandia National Laboratories recently announced a new breed of glitter-sized solar cells made from crystalline silicon that use 100 times less material to generate the same amount of electricity as standard solar cells made from 6-inch square solar wafers. Perfect for soaking up the sun’s rays on unusual shapes and surfaces, the tiny solar cells are expected to be less expensive, more efficient, and have promising new applications in textiles, clothing, and building facade installations.
An Open Source Compiler From CUDA To X86-Multicore 71
Gregory Diamos writes "An open source project, Ocelot, has recently released a just-in-time compiler for CUDA, allowing the same programs to be run on NVIDIA GPUs or x86 CPUs and providing an alternative to OpenCL. A description of the compiler was recently posted on the NVIDIA forums. The compiler works by translating GPU instructions to LLVM and then generating native code for any LLVM target. It has been validated against over 100 CUDA applications. All of the code is available under the New BSD license."
