zerOnIne - Slashdot User

Submission + - USPS Delivers Mail With Only A Map

Submitted by

atanas

on Thursday January 25, 2007 @07:00PM

atanas writes: "When blogger Ron Pristas read the story about the UK Royal Mail delivering a letter with only a map, he decided to put the US Postal Service to the test. And when he got the letter back as undeliverable, he did not give up but tried mailing it again from a different facility. Ron's persistence paid off! The envelope is now in the hands of its intended recipient. http://blog.entchev.com/2007/01/25/the-us-postal-s ervice-is-as-good-as-the-uk-royal-mail.aspx"

Submission + - Preventing Spam: Bulletproof Solutions

Submitted by on Monday January 01, 2007 @11:08AM

An anonymous reader writes: Spam is probably one of the most difficult problems we have to deal with. E-Mail-filters, such as those used in GMail, provide accurate results, but not every company is willing to use extern services for its private mails. The problem occurs when web-developers have to display e-mail-addresses on a web-page. So how can you make sure that not a single spam mail will find its path to the inbox of your client? This article presents modern bulletproof solutions and techniques in a brief overview.

Submission + - New Years Resolutions

Submitted by NewToNix on Monday January 01, 2007 @05:02AM

NewToNix writes: It's gotta be a slow enough news day to get this accepted... all it needs to do is slip past the lameness filter...

So what are your new years resolutions?

Here's one of mine: Get Slashdot to add a 'Slow News Day' Section and Topic on the Slashdot Story Submissions page.

And here's one I saw over on Technocrat (from a BadVista post apparently).

New Year Resolutions:

1. Renew my FSF membership.

2. Get at least one new person to Join the FSF.

3. Help at least 2 people become 100% free from Microsoft software.

4. Explain what DRM and TC are to at least 4 people (and I mean really be effective at explaining how this affects them).

5. Give away at least 8 'Live' GNU/Linux Cd's — and take the time to sit with each person the first time they try it out (there is nothing like a personal bit of supplying 'helpful tips').

Now there are 5 really easy resolutions to keep. You can add more, and I'd encourage everyone to do even more to promote GNU/Linux and the FSF.

BUT, think what a change we all could make if each of us did just these 5 simple things in 2007.

I hope you will share my resolutions (and also keep them) in the coming year.

And to all, a very Happy New Year!

So OK, Slashdot, what are your big resolutions for 2007?

Submission + - 3D Mouse Promises Gamers an "Unfair Advantage&

Submitted by

ThinSkin

on Friday December 15, 2006 @02:08PM

ThinSkin writes: "The Sandio Game O' seems to have everything you'd want from a gaming mouse — high DPI (2000), laser sensor, on-the-fly DPI switching, and even three joysticks to usher in a world of 3D and 6DOF (Six Degrees of Freedom). While 6DOF input devices normally cost several hundred dollars, the Game O' weighs in for a cool $80, but, according to the ExtremeTech review of the Game O', fails to cut it as a normal pointing device. The shoe falls during intense action games where users are required to make quick and precise movement. Slower paced games and even apps like Google Earth and 3D sketch programs are a better fit."

Tech Companies Draw on 'Wisdom of the Crowds' 131

Posted by Zonk on Friday December 15, 2006 @12:12PM from the figuring-it-out dept.

An anonymous reader writes "News.com is carrying an article on a 'mini-conference' held at Yahoo's HQ this past Wednesday. The get-together put representatives from Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!, and HP together to talk about their experiments with predictive networks. The 'wisdom of the crowds' allows these companies to make use of the collective knowledge their employees hold to answer important questions for the company." From the article: "David Pennock, a principal research scientist at Yahoo Research, said the company has created a currency called a Yootle. It's described as a 'scorekeeping system for favors owed.' Pennock offered as an example a programmer offering to write a piece of code for a few Yootles. Or, when organizing a dinner outing, one employee could use an internal SMS tool to bid 2 Yootles for Italian and 4 Yootles for Mexican. 'If you don't get to go to the restaurant you want to, you get compensation' in Yootles, he said. Related to Yootles is Yahoo Research's experiment with a fantasy prediction market for technology called the Tech Buzz Game. It's a modified version of software licensed from NewsFutures in conjunction with O'Reilly Media and features topics like Atlantic hurricanes and portable media devices. Winners are those who predict how popular a topic will be on Yahoo Search. "

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