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Submission + - Youtube finally fixes HD problem

Submitted by
Anonymous Coward
Anonymous Coward writes: "In the last few days, YouTube have fixed the issue whereby HD videos stream in lower quality than standard definition unless the HD button is clicked. Now, without clicking the HD button, HD streams in high quality and in the standard screen size. The feature does not appear to work with existing HD content, only for newly uploaded files. Example video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOcEIUrAkOE No announcement regarding this major improvement appears to have been made by YouTube"
Graphics

Submission + - Midrange 3D Graphics Shootout, NVIDIA vs AMD (hothardware.com)

Submitted by
MojoKid
MojoKid writes: "As most folks would agree, the graphics card market is currently over-saturated with too many options due in part to the intense competition between NVIDIA and AMD. In addition, paying top-dollar for one of the highest-end models on the market usually ends up netting you dimishing returns from an overall value perspective. This review and performance evaluation of 7 midrange GeForce GTX and Radeon HD offerings at HotHardware presents some of the best values in 3D graphics today, where you don't have to break the bank for solid game play in some of the latest titles. Benchmark testing includes, Left 4 Dead, H.A.W.X., Far Cry 2, Enemy Territory: Quake Wars and yes, Crysis. Power consumption and thermals are looked at as well."
OS X

Submission + - OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Announced (appleinsider.com)

Submitted by 99BottlesOfBeerInMyF
99BottlesOfBeerInMyF writes: Appleinsider's coverage of the WWDC notes, "Apple on Monday offered attendees at its annual developer conference an overview of its nearly finalized Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard operating system, which the company said will be available in September as a $29 upgrade for users of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard." In addition to the approximate release date and price, the article details some of the features and improvements in the Snow Leopard update to OS X. These include: performance enhancements, 64 applications, smaller footprint, Exchange support, updated "Cocoa" Finder, some minor UI improvements, Safari 4, and a new version of Quicktime.
Idle

Submission + - Company Produces THC Tomatoes (thecrit.com) 2

Submitted by Corpuscavernosa
Corpuscavernosa writes: Scientists at Montsaint Genie Tech Inc. announced today that they have successfully transferred the gene segment that produces the psychotropic chemical THC in cannabis plants to many other common garden plants, including tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, carrots, and more.

But is it legal? "Actually, yes," says Vale. "Our research qualifies as GMO 'intellectual property', as does the process itself. Since tomatoes and other plants are not illegal, a person would be well within the law to grow them and use them as they please."
Handhelds

Submission + - Replacement for Palm PDA? 1

Submitted by owlmon
owlmon writes: I have been using PalmOS devices for years. Now, the stars in this universe are blinking out, one by one. I am searching for a replacement device. I wish to duplicate properties such as
1. Convenient access to personal information, including contacts and appointments.
2. Simple backup/restore of all data.
3. No storage of personal data on OPS (other peoples' servers)!
4. Small and easy to use.
5. Stable software and hardware.
6. Third party developers.

The best approximation I have found so far is Apple's Ipod Touch. In second place, an HP Mini (netbook). Neither of these devices has all of the advantages of a Palm PDA. Suggestions?
Patents

Submission + - Microsoft Trying to Patent Parallel Processing 2

Submitted by
theodp
theodp writes: "Microsoft may have been a Johnny-come-lately when it comes to parallel programming, but that's not stopping the software giant from trying to patent it. This week, the USPTO revealed that Microsoft has three additional parallel-processing patents pending — 1. Partitioning and Repartitioning for Data Parallel Operations, 2. Data Parallel Searching, and 3. Data Parallel Production and Consumption. Informing the USPTO that 'Software programs have been written to run sequentially since the beginning days of software development,' Microsoft adds there's been a '[recent] shift away from sequential execution toward parallel execution.' Before they grant the patents, let's hope the USPTO gets a second opinion on the novelty of Microsoft's parallel-processing patent claims."
Software

PLplot Notes Its 10,000th Commit 66

Posted by timothy from the this-project-can-legally-drive dept.
iliketrash writes "From the PLplot development team is the announcement of their 10,000th commit: 'PLplot is a cross-platform software package for creating scientific plots that has been in continuous development since its inception 17 years ago. On May 23, 2009 the PLplot developers quietly celebrated our ten thousandth commit since our initial software repository was populated back in May 1992. This longevity puts PLplot in some select company amongst open-source software projects. We may even be unique within this group because all PLplot development has been done by volunteers in their spare time. The enthusiasm for PLplot development continues; we have averaged more than 100 commits per month over the last year which is double our 17-year average, and we are looking forward to the celebration of our next ten thousand commits!'"
Space

Submission + - Could a meteorite have hit Flight 447? (wikipedia.org) 1

Submitted by mangu
mangu writes: Air France flight 447 went down in the Atlantic Ocean last sunday with 228 people on board. The cause of the accident is still a mystery. A http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/World/Story/STIStory_385883.html>Spanish pilot 2000 km away saw 'an intense flash of white light' in the area where Air France Flight 447 was lost, the El Mundo newspaper said on Thursday. Could the unlucky plane flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris have been hit by a meteorite, an event that has a probability of happening once every 59000 to 77000 years?
Security

Submission + - SPAM: Hackers claim $10K prize for StrongWebmail breakin 2

Submitted by alphadogg
alphadogg writes: Telesign, a provider of voice-based authentication software, challenged hackers to break into its StrongWebmail.com Web site late last week. The prize: $10,000. On Thursday, a group of security researchers claimed to have won the contest, which challenged hackers to break into the Web mail account of StrongWebmail CEO Darren Berkovitz and report back details from his June 26 calendar entry. The hackers, led by Secure Science Chief Scientist Lance James and security researchers Aviv Raff and Mike Bailey, provided details from Berkovitz's calendar to IDG News Service. In an interview, Berkovitz confirmed those details were from his account. However, Berkovitz could not confirm that the hackers had actually won the prize. He said he would need to check to confirm that the hackers had abided by the contest rules, adding, "if someone did it, we'll kind of put our heads down," he said.
Link to Original Source
The Internet

Submission + - Canadian Regulator Says No To New Internet Regs

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: After months of fears that the Canadian broadcast regulator would try to regulate the Internet, the CRTC has come to its senses. Its new media decision today takes a hands off approach — no new regulation — and even adopts a rule against undue preferences for wireless providers.
Intel

Submission + - Intel buys Wind River: End of the Wintel Duopoly?

Submitted by
Glyn Moody
Glyn Moody writes: "Intel has announced that it is to acquire Wind River Systems for around $884 Million. According to the press release: "Its main products include VxWorks, the market-leading proprietary and multicore-ready real-time operating system, and commercial-grade Linux software platforms." But as Wind River's Chief Marketing Officer said in an interview last year: "I see a day where our Linux business is every bit as big as the VxWorks business." Wind River is also very active in both of the main Linux-based mobile platforms, LiMo and Android. All in all, that means that with this acquisition, Intel will become a major supporter of Linux in both the embedded and mobile markets. So how's that going to go down with the other member of the Wintel duopoly?"
Medicine

Submission + - Hospital turns away ambulances after EHRs go down (networkworld.com)

Submitted by
CurtMonash
CurtMonash writes: "The Indianapolis Star reports that Tuesday Morning, Methodist Hospital turned away patients in ambulances, for the first time in its 100-plus history. Why? Because the electronic health records (EHR) system had gone down the prior afternoon — due to a power surge — and the backlog of paperwork was no longer tolerable.

If you think about that story, it has a couple of disturbing aspects. Clearly the investment in or design of high availability, surge protection, etc. were sadly lacking. But even leaving that aside — why do problems with paperwork make it necessary to turn away patients?

Maybe the latter is OK, since there obviously were other, more smoothly running hospitals to send the patient to. Still, the whole story should be held up as a cautionary tale for hospitals and IT suppliers everywhere."

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