cosmocain - Slashdot User

Submission + - Happy Pi Day

Submitted by yummy on Wednesday March 14, 2007 @01:18PM

yummy writes: Today's date, March 14, or 3/14 in standard U.S. notation, corresponds with the first three digits of pi, 3.14. The number represents the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. Today also happens to be the birthday of the physicist Albert Einstein 128 years ago. Celebrants will gather at the Exploratorium science museum in San Francisco to eat pie, recite pi, sing songs about pi, write ``pi-ku'' (haiku poetry about pi) and celebrate Einstein's birthday, said Ron Hipschman, a physicist at the museum.

Submission + - ViaCom Sues Google for US$1Billion

Submitted by dieth on Wednesday March 14, 2007 @01:01PM

dieth writes: Media conglomerate Viacom Inc. sued Google Inc. and its internet video-sharing site YouTube for more than US$1 billion today in the biggest challenge yet to the Web search leader's strategy to dominate the online video market.

Submission + - More woes for M$ - NIST don't want Vista either

Submitted by RockDoctor on Wednesday March 14, 2007 @12:43PM

RockDoctor writes: Dark Reading is reporting that technical managers at the American National Institute of Standards and Technology (whose title is unusually descriptive for a quango) are going to hold a meeting in mid-April where "According to the formal agenda for the meeting, NIST technology workers will attend a session entitled "Windows Vista Security" to discuss "the current ban of this operating system on NIST networks."
That's right folks — the "standard" operating system for computers these days (if you believe what the adverts say) is already banned by the people who set the standards.

You've almost got to feel sorry for them. Almost.

New Hydrogen Storage Technique 255

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wednesday March 14, 2007 @12:14PM from the jiggle-handle-below dept.

pwp writes to mention that researchers at the University of New Brunswick are reporting they have found a new method of storing hydrogen gas. The new method is able to condense hydrogen gas into a usable solid under mild conditions. "Hydrogen gas is typically stored under pressure in large metal cylinders, approximately four feet high. These cylinders are heavy and expensive to transport. Since they are under pressure, they also pose a safety hazard. 'We've reached a milestone with our ability to condense hydrogen into a usable solid,' said Dr. McGrady. 'The next step is to produce a safe, compact storage system for the compound that is both lightweight and affordable.' The research is expected to produce reversible hydrogen storage materials that can be processed into a powder for use in limitless commercial applications."

Submission + - Using a laptop under bright sunlight

Submitted by

Phyllis Johnston

on Wednesday March 14, 2007 @11:59AM

Phyllis Johnston writes: "Are you an outdoors geek? Well, I am. My new job allows me to spend my days away hacking in a comfortable outdoors space. Winter is gone and we are in the South, so the sunlight will get pretty intense soon enough. I have a problem, though: how can one use a laptop for extended periods of time under strong sunlight without killing one's eyes? I have tried a bunch of old antiglare filters, yet they do not work well with sunlight. I also found references online to hacks such as this one, but I don't think I would be able to focus in a public space while using such a cover. Have you found a way to be productive doing computer work outdoors in bright days? How did you do it?"

Submission + - Researchers building computers that run on light

Submitted by

Anonymous Coward

on Wednesday March 14, 2007 @11:56AM

Anonymous Coward writes: "Researchers in England are attempting to build a desktop computer that runs on light rather than electronics. A $1.6 million research project starting in June at the University of Bath is focused on developing attosecond technology, which refers to continuously emitting light pulses that last just a billion-billionth of a second. http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/1245 1"

Submission + - User-Privilege Flaw Hits Vista

Submitted by

IT071872

on Thursday March 08, 2007 @02:51AM

IT071872 writes: "According to PC world, A security firm has discovered one of the first security flaws to directly affect Windows Vista, a bug that it claims allows local users to escalate their privileges.

The flaw involves Windows' system for managing user security levels, User Account Control (UAC), which was introduced with Vista. UAC is designed to limit the damage that can be caused by mass attacks such as worms by giving standard users limited privileges, a practice common with other operating systems."

Submission + - State of the 2006 Cosmos at Cosmic Encounter

Submitted by

Peter Olotka

on Thursday March 01, 2007 @03:38PM

Peter Olotka writes: "State of the Cosmos Cosmic Encounter Online Annual State of the 2006 Cosmos at Cosmic Encounter Online

The aliens report.

Mind knowingly reveals the number of 2006 Cosmic Encounter Online games at 121,527.
Calculator corrects that 58,189 games of Cosmic Encounter Online were completed.
Loser is upset that games 63,338 were not completed.
Sapient wisely contributes that 25,736 players came in to play.
Parasite notes over 1,000 links to Cosmic Encounter Online on the web.
Philanthropist offers that over 60 prizes were given to monthly and league winners.
Filch steals the floor to remind us that 4 Members Leagues were held in its room.
Will sails in announcing that it was added as alien 33.
Ghost howls, that it arrived as well, bringing the alien total to 34.
Tripler figures that unique alien combos have tripled twice to reach 46,376.
Virus lauds the new Room Alien feature allowing players to select it into their game.
Brat throws a fit because players use the new Pick Your Combo feature to avoid it.
Void likes the new Room Graphics where it anchors the lobby at Room 36, Voids Hole.
Anti Matter congratulates Knightshadow for winning 2006 as...Anti Matter.
Pacifist peacefully reminds us that it was top alien as played by players.
Empath harmoniously adds that it was the best Bot.
Sorcerer chants that TheDukester's Blogmic Encounter is pure magic.
Trader hypes the hundreds of good merchandisedeals at the Cosmic Store .
Martian declares all the other aliens are phonies. However...
Oracle foresees a great 2007."

Microsoft Threatened With Fines By EU Again 184

Posted by Zonk on Thursday March 01, 2007 @03:33PM from the always-in-the-doghouse dept.

ukhackster writes "The EC is threatening Microsoft with yet more fines. This time, it's over the interoperability protocols that Microsoft has been ordered to open up to its rivals. The EC has examined 1,500 pages of information about the protocols, and concluded that they 'lack significant innovation'. This is pretty damning for both Microsoft and the patent system, as it has been awarded 36 patents covering this technology and has another 37 pending. Could this encourage someone like the EFF to start pushing to get these patents overturned? The EU has a FAQ about this issue, containing additional details on the subject.

Submission + - UN online game teaches kids about disasters

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 01, 2007 @03:17PM

An anonymous reader writes: The CBC is reporting on a new downloadable game developed by the UN to teach children about disaster preparedness. From the article: "The Stop Disaster Game asks players to save lives and livelihoods by preparing for an imminent hurricane, earthquake, flood, tsunami or wildfire within a fixed budget and time. Players choose among five scenarios with three levels of difficulty; the winner is the person who saves the most."

Submission + - Did Microsoft buy Kazakhstan?

Submitted by on Friday February 23, 2007 @04:49AM

An anonymous reader writes: Microsoft's open letter on Interoperability, Choice and Open XML is mocked by Opera's CTO in a CNET article titled Microsoft's amusing standards stance. Microsoft claims that governments wants a "choice" among standards.

Which countries? Is it Kazakhstan by any chance? Kazakhstan recently joined the relevant ISO group. In the past, consultants paid by Microsoft have joined standardization groups and become sympathetic voices. Are they buying countries this time?
Further, Microsoft's technical contributions to standards — and in particular Jean Paoli's (who co-authored the open letter) contributions to W3C — is questioned:

One of the authors of that submission was Jean Paoli. It is unlikely that he did much of the technical work on XSL, and he was probably listed for political reasons. Similarly, he was listed as an editor of the XML specification after Microsoft made some phone calls.
The author is not a fan of ODF, though, calling it a "memory dump with angle brackets around it". Instead, he suggests an advanced document format based on HTML and CSS that can be viewed in common browsers.

Submission + - Second Life Child Pornography Uncovered

Submitted by kaysan on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @04:57AM

kaysan writes: The Dutch Public Prosecutor (OM) has argued for a need to conduct test trials in order to develop case law concerning Second Life Child Pornography. FTA: "..Second life has about 3 million members. In some 'sections' of the game, members can engage their virtuel self in sexual conduct with others, posing as children."

Link in Dutch, however Babelfish 'works' & you get the idea. For video streaming with images of how this stuff looks, go here(Dutch 'CNN') and click "bekijk uitzending" (bottom left — in orange field) it's the first item on the show, so fight your way through the incomprehensive language until you get to the concerned-face-people + footage.

Feed Viacom Deal Will Allow Its TV Clips on Internet (nytimes.com)

From feed by nytfeed on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @04:12AM

The parent of MTV and Comedy Central reached a deal with the upstart Joost, and will get a cut of advertising revenue.

Bookmark Linux.com | Zero Install: An executable critique of native package systems (linux.com)

by Falcon040 on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @04:09AM

Submission + - Active ingredient of 'mou dan pi' can fight diabet

Submitted by oga on Wednesday February 21, 2007 @04:06AM

oga writes: http://www.cmpost.com/2007/02/20/active-ingredient -of-mou-dan-pi-can-fight-diabetes-new-research-fin ds/ Mou dan pi (cortex moutan; root bark of Paeonia suffruticosa Andrews) is one of the common herbs found in anti-diabetic traditional Chinese medicine formulae. However, what constitutes its anti-diabetic effect is established only recently in a study by researchers in Hong Kong. In the study, mou dan pi showed significant anti-diabetic effects by inhibiting glucose uptake of the brush membrane of the intestine...

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