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Submission + - Improbable announce massive distributed simulations OS (alphr.com)

Submitted by ggambett
ggambett writes: From the article: It's not really an operating system, so much as a software layer running on distributed hardware that lets you build scalable data simulations and worlds that are persistent. If this sounds complex, it’s because it is. In gaming parlance, the concept is best explained in the context of massively multiplayer worlds – up until now, the available technology has placed hard limits on how many players can co-exist in a virtual world at any one time. SpatialOS is designed to change all that.

SpatialOS could, for instance, let us build digital sandboxes to simulate the complex impact of driverless cars on a city, or build huge worlds to explore in virtual reality, or let a small development company build an epic MMO game with a landscape the size of Wales that evolves whether you're in it or not.

Submission + - Skydiver catches meteorite on video (www.nrk.no)

Submitted by vidarlo
vidarlo writes: A Norwegian skydiver, Anders Helstrup, caught a falling meteorite on video. This is the first reported instance in the world of his happening, and the rock fell close to the skydiver. NRK writes:

Although Helstrup is still not completely convinced that it was indeed a meteorite that flew past him, the experts are in no doubt.

“It can’t be anything else. The shape is typical of meteorites – a fresh fracture surface on one side, while the other side is rounded,” said geologist Hans Amundsen.

The video in the article shows the metorite. It's in the dark flight phase, with low velocity.

Comment Re:I'm 31 (Score 1) 418

by rafa (#34343896) Attached to: Have I Lost My Gaming Mojo?
I approve of your exploration into Scotch. In my opinion, there's no better way to dive into Whisky than to join the Scotch Malt Whisky Society (www.smws.co.uk, local branches or their equivalent are hopefully available where you are at). The tipples they provide are unique, and they are very good at helping you find just the right one for you.
The Internet

Duke To Shut Down Usenet Server 273

Posted by kdawson from the nail-after-nail-in-the-coffin dept.
DukeTech writes "This week marks the end of an era for one of the earliest pieces of Internet history, which got its start at Duke University more than 30 years ago. On May 20, Duke will shut down its Usenet server, which provides access to a worldwide electronic discussion network of newsgroups started in 1979 by two Duke graduate students, Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis." Rantastic and other readers wrote about the shutdown of the British Usenet indexer Newzbin today; the site sank under the weight of a lawsuit and outstanding debt. Combine these stories with the recent news of Microsoft shuttering its newsgroups, along with other recent stories, and the picture does not look bright for Usenet.

Comment More achievements (Score 1) 1582

by rafa (#27416337) Attached to: Slashdot Launches User Achievements
I'd like to see some PvP achievements added to /.
  • Cutting retort modded funny.
  • Successfully goatsed someone with the /. badge.
  • Made another poster cry with a crushing, accurate observation.
  • Corrected the factual contents of a +5 funny post.
  • Followed up someone's +4 Funny with a +5 Funny.
  • Derailed a +N informative thread with a +M other.
  • Corrected another member's unix syntax.
Media

Theora 1.0 Released, Supported By Firefox 310

Posted by timothy from the funny-name-and-all dept.
YA_Python_dev writes "The Xiph.Org Foundation announced Monday the release of Theora 1.0. Theora is a free/open source video codec with a small CPU footprint that offers easy portability and requires no patent royalties. Upcoming versions of Firefox and Opera will play natively Ogg/Theora videos with the new HTML5 element <video src="file.ogv"></video>, and ffmpeg2theora offers an easy way to create content. Theora developers are already working on a 1.1 encoder that offers better quality/bitrate ratio, while producing streams backward-compatible with the current decoder." Adds reader logfish: "Since its bit-stream freeze in June of 2004 there have been numerous speed-ups and bug-fixes. Although Nokia claimed it to be proprietary almost a year ago, nothing has been proven. So now it's time to help it take over the internet, and finally push for video sites filled with Theora encoded vlogs, blurts and idle nonsense."
Intel

Submission + - Intel Core 2 "Penryn" and Linux (linuxhardware.org)

Submitted by
LHoAugustus
LHoAugustus writes: "Linux Hardware has posted a look at the new Intel "Penryn" processor and how the new processor will work with Linux. "Intel recently released the new "Penryn" Core 2 processor with many new features. So what are these features and how will they equate into benefits to Linux users? That's what Linux Hardware is here to unravel. In this review I'll cover all the high points of the new "Penryn" core and talk to a couple Linux projects about the impact on end-user performance.""
Music

Submission + - CBS buys last.fm for $280m (guardian.co.uk)

Submitted by
JimBowen
JimBowen writes: "Music recommendation based social networking site Last.fm have announced that the US broadcasting giant CBS have bought them out for $230 million.
In a blog post, Last.fm's Richard Jones claims that the buy-out will not affect the site's open-source client, the absence of DRM in their web radio or their privacy policy. However there is considerable dissent of the deal on the site's forums.

Following the purchases of MySpace and YouTube, could this be the fate of all successful independent "web 2.0" sites, reminiscent of the massive surge of buyouts in the dotcom boom?"
Red Hat Software

Submission + - Fedora 7 Released

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Fedora 7 has been released and represents the culmination of several goals that Fedora has spent the last few releases (spanning the course of at least 2 years) working to achieve. This release includes significant new versions of many key components and technologies such as KDE 3.5.6, GNOME 2.18, Xorg 7.3 and Linux Kernel 2.6.21.
Censorship

Submission + - Indigenous Poverty: The true story. (newtfn.com)

Submitted by
3rdworld
3rdworld writes: "In 2003, the NB Court of Appeal ruled that Joshua Bernard, a Mi'kmaq logger, had been wrongfully convicted in April 2000 of illegally harvesting spruce logs on Crown land. It also ruled that Mr. Bernard was the beneficiary of a treaty right, and could earn a "moderate livelihood". The government went to the Supreme Court of Canada which promptly overturned the lower court. Following the Appeal Court 's decision, Andrea bear Nicholas relates to the facts of the matter in this prophetic 2003 article."
Communications

Submission + - 'iPhone in stores June 15 - in limited quantities' (texyt.com)

Submitted by The Emperor Vespasian
The Emperor Vespasian writes: Many stores operated by AT&T, the exclusive carrier for Apple's iPhone mobile phone, say they expect to have the iPhone in stock on June 15, but will have only a handful of phones in stock initially, according to AT&T retail staff at a number of stores. Is the iPhone going to see the same kind of carefully stage-managed scarcity that attended the launch of video games consoles like the Xbox 360 and PS3?
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Surface bears striking resemblance to Bu (blorge.com)

Submitted by
secretsather
secretsather writes: "http://tech.blorge.com/Structure:%20/2007/05/31/mi crosoft-surface-bears-striking-resemblance-to-bump top/

Microsoft Surface bears striking resemblance to Bumptop

By now, you've probably already heard of Microsoft's former 'top secret' project, known as Surface, which is a table-shaped computer that boasts a 30 touch screen for interactive 'touch' computing. It's certainly a great idea, but everyone seems to be missing the fact that this technology has been done before, in a prototype known as Bumptop.

The YouTube video (shown above) of Bumptop was added just a little under 1 year ago, and has since become the #1 watched video with over 1.8 million views to date.

The Microsoft Surface video (shown above) looks exactly like Bumptop, despite being a bit more polished.

Microsoft claims its idea for Surface came about in 2001, but oddly enough, no one from Microsoft, or anywhere else for that matter had mentioned this technology in the past. The idea is being played off as a 'top secret' project from Microsoft, justifying the delay in the announcement.

So was Surface dreamed up after Bumptop? Would you put it past Microsoft to copy someone else's technology, fabricate a history for it, and 1 year later release its 'future computing interface?'

The cards are on the table; you decide."

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