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KDE

Submission + - KDE 4 uses 40% less memory despite 3D eye-candy

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: Pro-Linux reports that KDE 4, scheduled to be released in January 2008, consumes almost 40% less memory than KDE 3.5, despite the fact that version 4 of the Free and Open Source desktop system includes a composited window manager and a revamped menu and applet interface. KDE developer Will Stephenson showcased KDE 4's 3D eye-candy on a 256Mb laptop with 1Ghz CPU and run-of-the-mill integrated graphics, pointing out that mini-optimizations haven't even yet been started. Will this combination of resource efficiency and consumer appeal make KDE 4 the leader in the booming Linux-based ultra mobile laptop and energy efficient desktop markets?
Security

Submission + - New Tools Enable Cookie Sniffing & Session Hij

Submitted by TheSkepticGuy
TheSkepticGuy writes: Michele Dallachiesa of Italy has released Cookie Tools which contains two OS software tools he claims are a "a simple and powerful cookie sniffer" and then "impersonate the cookies of someone else in your browser." Security Focus contains a posting of the "project," and an article on Computer World contains an appropriate amount of paranoid FUD from a "security analyst" who just happens to own a security software company. Does anyone else find it nteresting that the Computer World story appears just one day after the release of "Cookie Tools."
Businesses

Submission + - Green buildings make employees see red (networkworld.com)

Submitted by b.foster
b.foster writes: 'Forget about having your own printer, coffee pot or a mini-refrigerator in your office. Heck, you can forget about having your own office, too, because you'll probably get assigned a modular desk in a big, open space.' Network World reports that more and more, companies are asking employees to sacrifice comfort at work for the sake of the environment (and the bottom line).
Windows

Submission + - Vista users hit with 'Purple Screen Of Death' 1

Submitted by Stony Stevenson
Stony Stevenson writes: While most users of Microsoft Windows-based PCs have seen their systems lockup and display the dreaded 'blue screen of death,' a new, lavender-hued variant of the problem has emerged. The so-called "purple screen of death" occurs when there's a conflict between certain system drivers and Windows Vista's Desktop Window Manager, according to researchers at NeoSmart — a nonprofit technology tracking firm that first spotted the issue. When the glitch occurs, windows on the Vista desktop turn purple and become unresponsive, according to NeoSmart. "It's caused by a low-level problem in the kernel, and it does make you want to restart your PC," NeoSmart researchers said in a blog post on the subject. NeoSmart concedes that the problem is rare, and that most Vista users probably haven't encountered it. "It's something to do with the way the Windows Vista kernel handles a certain exception in the graphics driver subsystem."
AMD

Submission + - AMD Linux Driver Interview Opportunity

Submitted by
Sarah Vella
Sarah Vella writes: "AMD would like to set up an interview with Slashdot.org for September 4th or 5th to discuss a major development on their open source drivers. AMD would like to share this news first with the Slashdot community.

Let me know if Slashdot is open to having an interview with Chris Schlaeger our resident Linux guru and Pat Moorhead, VP, Marketing.

Cheers,
Sarah Vella
High Road Communications
416 644-2270"
Space

Submission + - "Life" found in inorganic interstellar dus (pressesc.com)

Submitted by
Anonymous Alien
Anonymous Alien writes: "Physicists have found evidence that inorganic dust with life-like qualities exists in interstellar space, according to new research published in New Journal of Physics that hint at the possibility that life beyond earth may not necessarily use carbon-based molecules as its building blocks and also offer a possible new explanation for the origin of life on Earth."
IBM

Submission + - IBM, Novell launch "Big Green Linux" Initi (cnn.com)

Submitted by
apokryphos
apokryphos writes: "CNN reports:

"IBM announced a Big Green Linux initiative to help its clients further integrate Linux into the enterprise as a way to reduce costs and energy consumption by building cooler data centers. The Big Green Linux initiative supports Project Big Green, a broad commitment that IBM announced in May to sharply reduce data center energy consumption for IBM and its clients.

IBM's Linux Technology Center has also been involved in contributing a number of recent features to the Linux kernel for scaling CPU clock speed and voltage and keeping idle CPUs in a 'tickless,' low-power state longer; all of which make Linux more power efficient in datacenters.""
Quake

Submission + - Quakecon 2007: Carmack Shows id Tech 5 Engine (hothardware.com)

Submitted by MojoKid
MojoKid writes: Top to bottom coverage of Quakecon 2007 has just hit the web This article includes a multitude of images and information from all of Quakecon's events, including id's keynote address in which John Carmack revealed details of the id tech 5 engine. NVIDIA also held a kick-off event and there were many other OEMs like Dell and MSI that had wares to show. From Case Mod contest winners, to the lovely Frag Dolls, and news about a handful of yet to be released titles including Rage, Left 4 Dead, John Woo's Stranglehold, and Quake Wars: Enemy Territory, there was a lot to see. There was even a bit of information given regarding the upcoming movie based on id's Wolfenstein franchise.
Desktops (Apple)

Submission + - Mac vs. PC cost analysis, Round II (computerworld.com) 1

Submitted by
jcatcw
jcatcw writes: "Computerworld's Scot Finnie is defending himself against readers who apparently missed the point of Analysis, Round I. His objectivity cut against the grain. On the hardware front: sometimes Macs beat Windows PCs in the price/performance comparison.; sometimes it goes the other way. On the software front, Finnie concludes: "Unless you're talking AutoCAD, Photoshop or Microsoft Office, software isn't all that expensive, folks. Just two hours of my time spent working on a Windows PC problem is worth far more than the average cost of most software programs. Even if you're retired, you have to factor in the time wasted wrestling with problems.""
Sun Microsystems

Submission + - Jonathan Schwartz goes deep on open source (cnet.com)

Submitted by
Matt Asay
Matt Asay writes: "Jonathan Schwartz doesn't have a passing fancy for open source: he believes it is the absolute key to winning the next century's software battles, as he suggests in an interview with CNET. From the interview: "Jonathan is an executive who sincerely believes in open source as a fundamental business-model advantage, and not as a cheap complement to throw to the community in order to drive sales of "the real value." It's not a marketing gimmick with him. It's a strategy for winning. Jonathan, despite wearing a tie when we met, clearly understands the importance of community before commercial. Or, rather, he understands that community leads to commercial success." The interview shows how Sun believes open source gives Sun a clear advantage over its proprietary competition."
Security

Submission + - Extremely Tiny New Trojan Downloader (whitedust.net)

Submitted by Paris The Pirate
Paris The Pirate writes: Today a trojan sample landed in my inbox, and a closer look showed it to be a trojan downloader. The unique thing about the file is that it is only 474 bytes in size -Tiny Downloader — Hex View something almost unheard of. The PE (Portable Executable) file format normally requires a header that is at least 512 bytes, with another 512 bytes for the first code section, for a total of a 1-kilobyte file.
Quickies

Submission + - Human origins theory tested by recent findings. (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by annamadrigal
annamadrigal writes: The BBC new is reporting on findings presented in nature which suggest that Homo Errectus and H. Habilis were in fact sister species which co-existed.

This challenges the view that the upright humans evolved from the tool users.
Math

Submission + - The Uneasy Relationship Between Math and Crypto (ams.org)

Submitted by
Coryoth
Coryoth writes: "From the September Notices of the AMS, The Uneasy Relationship Between Mathematics and Cryptography (PDF) by Neal Koblitz provides fascinating reading on the tension between pure mathematics and cryptography. While mathematics has always played some role in cryptography, since the 1970s far more sophisticated mathematics has played increasingly large role in cryptography research. The last couple of decades has seen a uneasy relationship develop between advanced mathematics and cryptography. Koblitz discusses this, along with his development of elliptic curve cryptography during that time. He also talks about some of the less welcome side effects, such as pure mathematicians contorting their research proposals to be "applicable" to "hot" fields of cryptography, and the attempt by cryptographers to co-opt the reliability of mathematical proof to give (rather weak, and often false) claims of "provably secure" cryptosystems."
Biotech

Submission + - Iraq vet gets bionic hand

Submitted by
mcgrew
mcgrew writes: "CNN is carrying a report about a new prosthetic device, called an 'i-LIMB', that user Sgt. Juan Arredondo, who lost his real hand in Iraq, likens to the robotic bionics in 'Star Wars' and 'Terminator'. 'My son, he goes nuts about it,' the Sergent said.

'To have this movement, it's — it's amazing,' Arredondo said Monday as he showed off the limb made by Scotland-based Touch Bionics. 'It just gets me more excited about now, about the future.'

Five individual motors power the fingers, allowing the person to grasp round objects. The hand's gestures are made possible through electrode plates that detect electrical signals generated in the remaining muscles in the amputated limb.
And I thought my eye implant was cool! Welcome to the 21st century!"

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