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Microsoft

Submission + - time.windows.com broken; Windows machines adrift?

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: It appears the widely-used time.windows.com Network Time Protocol server isn't working correctly. The host name is redirecting to unsynchronized Akamai NTP servers which are off by more than 100 seconds. This issue leaves millions of Windows XP and 2003 machines that still have the default configuration without a good source of network time. While most clients won't notice, there are certainly some important applications (such as kerberos authentication) that rely on accurate client time. This mis-configuration has been in place for at least several hours.

A bug report was submitted via Microsoft's website, but no response has been received in over 6 hours. This has apparently happened at least once before.
Supercomputing

Submission + - Birth, life and death of a photon

Submitted by
Roland Piquepaille
Roland Piquepaille writes: "Two days ago, I told you that German physicists had built a single-photon server (read more on Slashdot or on ZDNet). But French researchers also have used ultra cold atoms of rubidium to record the full life of a photon. This was one of Einstein's dreams, but it was thought as an impossible one before. In fact, a photon disappears when it delivers its information. But with what has been described as an 'experimental masterwork,' the physicists have observed the 'quantum jumps' done by single photons for as long as half a second. This discovery should lead to important developments for future high performance computers and quantum computing — and certainly to the field of physics. Read more for additional references and a picture of how the team recorded the full life of a photon — not present in the short AFP article"
Linux Business

Submission + - Microsoft's project to classify Linux users

Submitted by
RJ2770
RJ2770 writes: "Microsoft has started a project for their partners to help identify the personas of different Linux users in an attempt to sway them toward Microsoft products. They've created a web site (http://www.linuxpersonas.com) and released a webcast (http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?f amilyid=fc78610a-711d-4de7-9ae5-cc8b57d38d7d&displ aylang=en&tm). Hurry over and find out how Microsoft classifies you!"
Intel

Submission + - The Multicore CPU Race Is On

Submitted by
Anonymous
Anonymous writes: "Data center consolidation and virtualization may be driving server implementations these days, but there's a much more fundamental shift occurring at the microprocessor platform level. To wit, an article on ChannelWeb.com reports that systems based on the industry-standard x86 architecture are taking on a predominant role in the overall infrastructure, rivaling the performance and capability of higher-end processors. At the same time, new generations of RISC-based enterprise platforms that run improved multithreaded implementations of Unix are making huge strides in throughput and performance."
Enlightenment

Submission + - 10 Reasons Why "Tech Speak" Is The Best La

Submitted by
Develdevil
Develdevil writes: "http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/showthread.php?t=1145 36

While knowing how to speak Spanish will secure you a customer service job in Los Angeles, knowing how to speak French will make you sound sexier, and knowing how to speak Japanese will make all of your hentai games more interesting, if you know "Tech Speak," you're already 10 times more versatile than all those other bilingual show-offs."
The Internet

Submission + - Internet2 and National LambdaRail to Merge

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: [From Arstechnica] The two main US providers of high-speed networks to academic and research institutions, Internet2 and National LambdaRail, have finally agreed to merge — and they're doing so just as quickly as the connections they provide. After tussling over the details of such an agreement for more than a year, the two groups have suddenly decided to put final merger documents before their respective boards by April 20, with merger completion to take place by June 29. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070319-high -speed-academic-networks-kiss-make-up-then-merge.h tml
Space

Submission + - Space launches at 4PM PST today

Submitted by
mtaht
mtaht writes: "SpaceX launches at 4PM PST today. From their update: The flight readiness review conducted tonight shows all systems are go for a launch attempt at 4pm California time (11pm GMT) tomorrow (Monday). The webcast can be seen at www.spacex.com/webcast.php and will start at T-60 minutes. Please check back for updates, as the launch will be postponed if we have even the tiniest concern."
Education

Submission + - Do you educate family about copyright issues?

Submitted by
QuantumG
QuantumG writes: "We live in a time where copyright owners form lobby groups (like the RIAA and MPAA) to misinform the public of their rights and obligations under copyright law. Those insane warnings at the beginning of movies make no mention of fair use and throw around words like "crime" and "theft" with semantic abandon. When your own mother asks you to copy a movie so she can give it to a friend, how wrong can it be? Does any else have these problems or do I just have technically competent, copyright blasé friends and family?"
Programming

Submission + - Programming as a career?

Submitted by Jimmy
Jimmy writes: I've successfully applied for a CS-type degree starting this year. I'm pretty excited about it, and I know I'll enjoy the course. However, I have this big looming doubt about the IT industry. Some sources say that demand for graduates is outstripping supply, while others claim that both demand and supply have dropped. What's the true story? Should I turn down my offers and go build a career in auto repair? I really want to do this for a living, but is the money in it any more?
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft 'bribes' companies to use Live Search

Submitted by Blahbooboo3
Blahbooboo3 writes: As reported by ITWire here,with a tiny 6.76% of the search market, compared with Google's 60%+ search share dominance, Microsoft has decided it's time to leverage their massive base of global Windows users with juicy wads of cash to switch search providers! Microsoft rewarding its corporate clients if they manage to convince their employees to use Live Search instead of other search engines, and plans to share Live Search-related profits with humanitarian organizations with a new program called "Microsoft Service Credits for Web Search." More info here about the bribery. Nothing like paying off the boss to get to the people!
Announcements

Submission + - Students say no to proprietary software

Submitted by
Christopher Waid
Christopher Waid writes: "Thanks to the Kutztown Linux User Group students and faculty at one university will be receiving the equivalent of $60K in open source software. Each faculty member has been provided one CD with several open source applications. A subdivision of information technology at the school which caters to students has also been provided the most recent version of the open software CD for distribution to students. The university has approximately 10,000 students and almost 400 faculty members who will be benefiting from this program."
Music

Submission + - Open Source model applied to sheet music?

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: As an amateur composer and pianist, I frequently see music that I would like to change or rewrite as a personal interpretation of the writer's intent. Although I love to make modifications and change the way a piece is written, it is obviously impossible for me to claim any such a hybrid as my own work, nor as the original author's. Perhaps could a model similar to the open source software movement's be used to collaboratively create music among an array of composers, each adding their own personal thoughts? Admittedly, it would be difficult for many composers to agree on what sounds best, but I imagine similar difficulties are involved in creating open source software. I would love to see composers making music under the GPL, so that many others could do this, but I am not sure if such a model would work.

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I tell them to turn to the study of mathematics, for it is only there that they might escape the lusts of the flesh. -- Thomas Mann, "The Magic Mountain"

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