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Data Storage

Submission + - Samsung's 64GB SSD drive review (computerworld.com) 4

Submitted by
Lucas123
Lucas123 writes: "Computerworld's Rich Ericson reviewed Samsung's first large capacity solid state disk drive and says it's heartier and faster than the drive in Sony's new flash-based notebook. It's also got an impressive mean time between failure of more than 2 million hours, versus under 500,000 hours for the Samsung's other traditional hard drives and the company says the drive can withstand an operating shock of 1,500Gs at .5 miliseconds (versus 300Gs at 2 miliseconds for a traditional hard drive. "Power consumption is just 1 watt when the system is active, 0.1 watt when idle, and .06 watt in standby mode. (Equivalent power consumption figures with hard drives are 2.1, 1.5, and .2 watts, respectively.) That could explain why we got 5 hours, 22 minutes of power in Max Battery mode when surfing the Web, creating documents with OpenOffice, or uploading and downloading files to an FTP server.""
Intel

Submission + - Why Intel Isn't a Monopoly (wired.com)

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: The topic seems to come up every time AMD releases its quarterly financial results. But how close are we really to a world dominated by one chipmaker? Wired takes a casual look and concludes: not very.
Censorship

Submission + - BBFC says violence not caused by video games (gamesindustry.biz)

Submitted by Trintech
Trintech writes: In the ongoing case against Rockstar Games' Manhunt 2 in the UK, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has admitted that there's nothing to suggest that video games should be linked to anti-social and violent behavior.

"The board's position is that there is insufficient evidence to prove, as a fact, there is a causal connection between violent games and behavioural harm," says Andrew Calderott, Director of the BBFC.
The Internet

Submission + - Is Comcast at it again? 3

Submitted by
dreamchaser
dreamchaser writes: "I'm a guitarist and frequently record my music to MP3 via a digital mixer/recorder. Yesterday I tried to share a few of my songs with a friend who happens to have Comcast Cable. We were using ICQ at the time and after I shot my friend a picture or two, I tried sending her a song. The transfer fizzled out at about 200k. Tried it a few more times, no luck. Tried another (large) picture and it worked. Scratching my head, I renamed the MP3's to BIN and they whoosed right through the old Internet tube like they should have in the first place.

In light of the previous news about Comcast throttling P2P apps, it now appears that merely trying to exchange a file of a 'bad' type (MP3 in this case) gets your transfer throttled. I do not have Comcast anymore, having given it up for Verizon's FIOS. My question for Slashdot is can those of you who DO have Comcast test this and see if it consistently like is all over? It's beyond ridiculous that one cannot send legal content to a friend via a direct IM connection wihtout having the filenames (and who knows what else) sniffed out and the transfer killed. Is anyone else seeing this? What can we do about it other than raise awareness?"
Education

Submission + - School Bans Valedictorian Honors to Protect Studen (blogspot.com) 8

Submitted by Advocate123
Advocate123 writes: As a result of these ridiculous policies, gifted students are locked in a box of mediocrity. Students who dedicate their lives toward academics, and excel, are ridiculed by fellow peers. Even worse, disgraceful teachers force the best and the brightest students to be patient with students who neither demonstrate the effort nor intelligence to succeed. The boredom resulting from a lack of high expectations is painful to endure for many students. In Colorado this past Tuesday, the Boulder Valley school district engaged in the most recent example of insanity by baning valedictorian honors.
The Internet

Submission + - Are you a victim of Wikipedia deletionists?

Submitted by CowardX10
CowardX10 writes: The recent Slashdot story Call For Halt To Wikipedia Webcomic Deletions combined with the commentary I read for the Wikinews article on this subject made me feel the scope of what's happening in terms of deletionist admins angering and driving away a lot of contributors. I posted the following comment there and now here hoping to get feedback showing that this problem goes far beyond Webcomics.

The assholes have definitely taken over

My friend who used to contribute a lot in terms of articles and even money decided to stop because the deletionist assholes made it such a pain for him that he now despises the site. And although almost none of his contributions were deleted, he hated the way half his time was spent arguing with deletors about his work.

Even Jimbo Whales has experienced this. He started an article on Mzoli's Meats , a butcher shop and restaurant in South Africa. When it was almost speedily deleted, he told the deletors to "excuse themselves from the project and find a new hobby.". In other words, get a life and stop ruining the project. Unfortunately, a bunch of editors added information to the article so it's now kept, saving Jimbo from having to confront either the bitterness many have felt in getting their work destroyed or remaking policy so that people like my friend would continue contributing.

These asshole admins are really making Wikipedia a crappy site, and their effect on valuable editors is worse than what any nasty vandal might do since admins are part of the power hierarchy. This is another valuable lesson in what happens when you give thoughtless small minded people a little power. They make their pronouncements and mass annihilations without any consideration on what the effect might be on a person who has spent sometimes hundreds of man hours creating, maintaining, and protecting his/her articles. They dismiss people by spouting some arbitrary interpretation of policy backed up by their cabals, while those who have better things to do like actually create content get fucked over. James Derk of The Daily Southtown wrote an article where he talks about having a similar experience.

Also, here's a good Slashdot thread illustrating the intellectual dishonesty of the deletionist admins. It is part of the Slashdot story Call For Halt To Wikipedia Webcomic Deletions which is filled with former contributors testifying to their own treatment at the hands of these assholes. It's sad how some people seem to really get off on destroying the work of others.

I think it's interesting how when I don't know about a subject, editing an article on it would be considered vandalism. But it's perfectly OK for the deletors to destroy work relating to things they often know nothing about. Sometimes they even use their very ignorance as justification.

I think Wikipedia has a choice right now. Allow a lot more in than they are currently doing and piss off the deletionists, or let these deletionists have their way and piss off the content creators(And I should add, it's not only deleted articles that are targeted, but plot synopses, trivia sections, clearly permissible images, etc. have all succumbed to the slash and burn mentality of these deletionists.). So Jimbo, who would you rather keep around?
Role Playing (Games)

Submission + - Is 2007/2008 another golden age for RPGs? 2

Submitted by
Anthony Boyd
Anthony Boyd writes: "First there was the foul-mouthed review, "Mask of the Betrayer — so good even the Codex likes it!" Then those same cynics at the RPG Codex almost immediately began gushing about The Witcher, a RPG based upon the novels by Andrzej Sapkowski. Couple that with upcoming role-playing games such as The Broken Hourglass (a throwback to Baldur's Gate style of gameplay) and The Age of Decadence, and we may be in a RPG renaissance. All of these games offer what has been lacking in recent years — choice and consequence. The storyline(s) branch out, and how you play your role actually matters. In addition, the games don't appear to be dumbed-down for mass audiences. They involve difficult battles and engaging intellectual dilemmas. Are these games flukes? Are they less than they seem? Or are they, as one reviewer put it, "a wake-up call for mainstream RPGs?""
Intel

Submission + - Intel and its monopoly

Submitted by
procrastinx
procrastinx writes: "I came across a blog entry by Donald J. Boudreaux at http://cafehayek.typepad.com/hayek/2007/10/if-this-is-mono.html who suggested that Intel was right in its price reduction for loyal customers. But the author did not comment on the other part : Is it right on Intel's part to raise prices the moment the customer is trying out a new processor (AMD in this context)? If decreasing prices to loyal customers is right then is it right to increase prices once the customer is trying out the products of your rivals?"
Communications

Submission + - Why Everyone Should Hate Cellphone Carriers (wired.com) 2

Submitted by
The Byelorrusian Spamtrap
The Byelorrusian Spamtrap writes: "Wired Magazine's made its position clear on the state of play in America's cellular industry, delivering a long, satisfying screed on why all of us should stop complaining and do something about it. Legislation is under consideration in congress to heavily regulate carriers, and it wants you to support it: contact your critter today!"
Programming

Submission + - Are CS students poor programmers? 2

Submitted by
DavidHumus
DavidHumus writes: "Recently, at a computer conference, I heard two separate people say the same thing during the same day: computer science students are usually very poor programmers. Both these people were college professors in areas that do a lot of computing — mathematics and biology (population genetics) — and have dealt with a lot of students who have had to write programs for their courses.

The specific complaint of both professors was that CS students seem to have very superfical knowledge, that they don't understand things like the limitations of floating point arithmetic and verifying their output. One professor recounted the story of a student who wanted a good grade on a program because it ran to completion — never mind that the answers it gave were off by many orders of magnitude.

Do slashdotters agree or disagree with this? If it is true, why? Shouldn't computer science students be good programmers?"
Censorship

Submission + - Courageous Blogger Wins 1.5 Year Legal Battle! (fixyourthinking.com)

Submitted by
FixYourThinking
FixYourThinking writes: "After nearly one and a half years of harassment from a relentless attorney, it seems that quietly a blogger in South Carolina has won a monumental ruling in favor of bloggers. In a summary judgement requested by the Defendant Philip Smith was able to obtain a special sanction after the Plaintiff attorney put a "notice of lien" (called lis pendens) on Smith's residence. The judge also reprimanded the Plaintiff attorney for abusive deposition and court procedure. The case set forth the following; "It's not the format; it's the content and intention that make text journalism / reporting""
The Courts

Submission + - Cop's RADAR vs Driver's GPS - which is right? (arstechnica.com) 5

Submitted by martyb
martyb writes: ars technica has a story up about a driver who claims his speeding ticket should be thrown out because his GPS proves the police officer's radar was wrong. (AP version of the story here.) The accused 17-year-old, Shaun Malone, has an ace up his sleeve: his step-dad is retired deputy Roger Rude. Rude encouraged Shaun to fight the ticket after the log he downloaded using software provided by the GPS unit's Colorado-based supplier showed Shaun was going the speed limit within 100 feet of where a Petaluma officer clocked him speeding.

"Radar is a pretty good tool, but it's not an infallible tool," said Rude, who spent 31 years in law enforcement. "With the GPS tracker, there is no doubt about it. There is no human interference."
Petaluma police Lt. John Edwards said he could not discuss Shaun's case but disputed Rude's contention that GPS is more accurate than a speed gun.

"GPS works on satellite signals, so you have a delay of some type," Edwards said. "Is it a couple-second delay? A 30-second delay? Because in that time people can speed up, slow down."
Which would YOU believe? Any suggestions on what Shaun could do to help defend himself?
Bug

Submission + - Bush Officially Biggest Spender (mcclatchydc.com)

Submitted by
tjstork
tjstork writes: "Take that you Democrats that talk about Bush being some tight fisted demon! Take that you, Republicans that bash the supposed free spending ways of the Democrats! Bush is the biggest spender since LBJ! And, depending on how you look at it, no one has expanded the government MORE THAN GEORGE W BUSH. Let's talk about THAT! The only stereotype that remains, it seems, is, if you want fiscally responsible government, don't elect anyone from Texas!"
Math

Submission + - Proof of simplest univesal Turing machine found

Submitted by
willatnewscientist
willatnewscientist writes: "Alex Smith, who is studying electronics and computing at the University of Birmingham, UK, has proved that a cellular automata that uses just three in its calculations is the simplest possible universal Turing machine. Smith showed that it is equivalent to another mathematical device already known to be a universal computer. The proof itself can be found here (.pdf) while technical commentary on the proof is available here"

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