Follow Slashdot blog updates by subscribing to our blog RSS feed

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Comment Re:Patent titles in the summary are meaningless (Score 2, Interesting) 243

So if you look at 7,251,653, it basically describes a method for implementing customization of multi-tenancy for databases. (pivot tables) If this is allowed to stand then it basically means most companies delivering SaaS offerings can be sued. I see it was filed in 2004. I'm thinking maybe Salesforce was already using this prior to the patent filing.
Image

Police Called Over 11-Year-Old's Science Project 687

garg0yle writes "Police in San Diego were called to investigate an 11-year-old's science project, consisting of 'a motion detector made out of an empty Gatorade bottle and some electronics,' after the vice-principal came to the conclusion that it was a bomb. Charges aren't being laid against the youth, but it's being recommended that he and his family 'get counseling.' Apparently, the student violated school policies — I'm assuming these are policies against having any kind of independent thought?"

Comment Apples to Oranges (Score 1) 515

OpenGL is about graphics. DirectX is alot more than that. Should be comparing Direct3D and OpenGL

Also, Direct3D is pushed by Microsoft (heavy PR and community support), unlike the openGL committee (no PR and fragmented community support) so the base spec is perceived to be slower/inferior.

Comment Newsprint == Yesterday's distrubution medium (Score 1) 290

News used to be primarily distributed through newspapers as a medium and each newspaper generally was distributed in a smaller geographic market (minus some of the big papers). Ad spaces were sold for a high price because of that (and I could say because of the more locally focused content) Now the Internet is the dominant distribution mechanism along with search engines like Google enabling us to find our content. The newspaper companies don't hold the power they had once. People can read national/international news stories quite easily now. The news organizations that will continue to have a healthy future will be dealing heavily with LOCAL content. (These "national" or "international" news organizations have been cutting back on this for years and its their OWN fault now). Business models change and margins on the Internet are not going to be as high EVER as they were in the TV or news print ages. You have a large potential audience, but at the same time face a larger pool of competition. This will force the price lower always unless you are providing something of REAL differentiating value.

Comment Re:stop the never ending struggle (Score 1) 200

Mod parent up. I totally think this would be the ideal solution. The more immediate answer would be to SPLIT UP these Telco's wholesale and retail businesses. Let Bell Sympatico internet be a completely separate company from the wholesale business. Let Bell Sympatico etc buy access at the same price that Techsavvy does. It is a conflict of interest to be your own retail arm, and the gatekeeper for any other competing retailers.
Intel

Submission + - Why do we have F2XM1? (blogspot.com)

QuietObserver writes: I was researching the Intel Floating Point instructions while working on a project, and I first came across F2XM1. I immediately wondered what the need was for an instruction that does 2 ^ x — 1 but has an input range of -1 to 1. I've tried researching the subject online, but all I've come up with is a reference from someone else who has the exact same question.


Quoted from http://jheriko-rtw.blogspot.com/2009/04/why-do-we-have-f2xm1.html?showComment=1249084660633#c6336764748095052620

F2XM1 is a floating point assembler instruction for Intel CPUs. It is one of several which seem to be there to allow the calculation of several of the common "higher" functions, like pow(x, y) or log(x). However, I am always confused why it subtracts one after finding the power of 2 and why its limited from -1 to 1, since it doesn't seem to help anything much at all...

If anyone has any comments or suggestions about what use F2XM1 might have, and why Intel's FPU architecture also lacks an instruction to perform 2^x without subtracting anything (I know of at least one other FPU instruction set that does, and has no input range limitations).

United States

Submission + - FCC Probing Apple, AT&T Rejection of Google Vo (cnet.com) 4

suraj.sun writes: FCC Probing Apple, AT&T Rejection of Google Voice App

Already having raised the ire of some developers and customers, the decision to disallow the Google Voice application on Apple's App Store has also attracted the attention of the FCC.

According to a Dow Jones Newswire report, on Friday afternoon the FCC sent letters to Apple, AT&T, and Google. The FCC inquiry asks Apple why the Google Voice application was rejected from its App Store for the iPhone and iPod Touch, and why it removed third-party applications built on the Google app that had been previously approved.

The FCC also asks whether AT&T was allowed to weigh in on the application before it was rejected, and seeks a description of the application from its creator, Google, according to the report.

CNET News : http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10301259-37.html

Announcements

Submission + - Cloud Computing Use Cases (linkedin.com)

Joe Stein writes: "This comes from a collaboration of cloud consumers and cloud vendors, and is another step towards keeping cloud computing open. The use cases will demonstrate the performance and economic benefits of cloud computing, and will be based on the needs of the widest possible range of consumers. This is an interesting whitepaper just published http://www.scribd.com/doc/17929394/Cloud-Computing-Use-Cases-Whitepaper"
Security

Linux, Twitter, and Red Hat "Win" Big At Pwnie Awards 63

hugmeplz writes "The third annual Pwnie Awards took place last night at Black Hat in Las Vegas, and a full list of the winners has been posted. 'Most Epic Fail' honors went to the notorious Twitter/Google Apps hack from earlier this month that raised all sorts of questions about cloud computing security. Red Hat got skewered with the 'Mass 0wnage' award, also known as the 'Pwnie for Breaking the Internet,' for issuing a version of OpenSSH that left a backdoor open to hackers. The Linux development team earned 'Lamest Vendor Response' recognition for 'continually assuming that all kernel memory corruption bugs are only Denial-of-Service.' Naturally, Microsoft didn't slip past judges' eyes. Its vulnerability that enabled the Conficker worm to do its thing earned honors as the 'Most Overhyped Bug.' On the more positive side, the Pwnie Awards recognized security pros Wei Yongjun, sgrakkyu, Sebastian Kramer and Bernhard Mueller for accomplishments such as discovering bugs and demonstrating exploits. The Pwnie for Best Song went to Doctor Braid for his song Nice Report. Solar Designer snagged the Lifetime Achievement Award, for among other things, being the first to demonstrate heap buffer overflow exploitation, according to the Pwnie Awards Web site."
Idle

Submission + - Facebooking Judge Catches Lawyer in Lie (abajournal.com) 2

edadams writes: "A Galveston, Texas lawyer asked for a continuance because of the death of her father. But the judge she was asking knew the lawyer had earlier posted a string of status updates on Facebook, detailing her week of drinking, going out and partying."

Slashdot Top Deals

Byte your tongue.

Working...