writertype - Slashdot User

Submission + - Mathematicians finally map 57-dimensional shape

Submitted by

Matthew Sparkes

on Monday March 19, 2007 @01:36PM

Matthew Sparkes writes: "A team has mapped a 57-dimensional structure called E8 and the results take up 60 gigabytes of data. The shape, called E8 (pronounced E-eight), is a Lie group. A Norwegian mathematician invented Lie groups in the 19th century to study symmetry. A Lie group underlies objects like balls, cylinders or cones that are symmetrical when rotated by small amounts. The team solved the problem in a four-year project using a supercomputer at the University of Washington in Seattle."

Submission + - Apple Launches Product Launching App

Submitted by Jerry Rivers on Wednesday March 07, 2007 @05:30PM

Jerry Rivers writes: The Onion (http://www.theonion.com/content/node/59345) has a "scoop" on a new Apple product called iLaunch, which Steve Jobs says will "revolutionize" the process of unveiling new products throughout the world. From the article, "Described in its patent filing as a 'hype-generating mechanism with fully integrated Mac compatibility,' the iLaunch is powered by Intel dual-core processors optimized to calculate a product's gravitas. Apple claims the iLaunch can garner the same amount of press attention as a major scientific discovery, high court ruling, celebrity meltdown, or natural disaster at 200 times the speed of a traditional media-fostered launch."

Submission + - The Deal Steve Jobs Couldn't Refuse

Submitted by

Government Drone

on Wednesday March 07, 2007 @02:27PM

Government Drone writes: "Remember the 1997 deal in which Microsoft bought $150 million in non-voting Apple stock? According to this story in InformationWeek, it wasn't done all out of the goodness of Bill Gates' heart:

Weeks prior to bailing out a struggling Apple Computer by purchasing $150 million of its stock, Microsoft officials threatened to cut development of a key product for the Macintosh in order to coerce its rival to make the deal, according to an e-mail unearthed during a recent court hearing.

The original text of the E-mail is here, which mentions a threat to pull the plug on Office for Mac, but argues against it for a variety of reasons. An interesting backend view of what was happening in Apple's darkest days."

Submission + - Samsung Begins Shipping Hybrid Hard Drives

Submitted by

writertype

on Wednesday March 07, 2007 @02:18PM

writertype writes: "Samsung has become the first company begin shipping hybrid hard drives, we report on ExtremeTech. Unfortunately, there's no word yet (besides "soon") on when retail shipments will begin, or when (or if) 3.5-inch models will be available. Note that these are different than the ReadyBoost USB flash drives optimized for Vista; hybrid drives contain a smaller amount of flash, and work as a write cache for your notebook drive, extending battery life."

Submission + - Microsoft OneCare Can Eat Your Email

Submitted by

writertype

on Wednesday March 07, 2007 @01:42PM

writertype writes: "Neil Rubenking has posted a report on PC Magazine's AppScout blog, warning that Microsoft's dodgy OneCare antivirus software will quarantine your entire email store if it detects a virus. And, of course, since OneCare finished dead last in a recent A/V roundup, the problem is even more serious. As the reputation of OneCare disintegrates, it looks like Microsoft has some work to do in developing OneCare 2.0 before the company brings it to market."

Submission + - Why You Can't Trust Google To Protect Your PC

Submitted by

Anonymous Coward

on Tuesday February 13, 2007 @05:21PM

Anonymous Coward writes: "Google and StopBadware have partnered up to blacklist sites on Google's search engine results who distribute malware. However, they've ended up blacklisting many innocent sites while ignoring lots of confirmed offenders. This site posted a list of websites that Google says are safe to visit, but are genuinely malicious. Sounds a lot like Microsoft's misguided forays into computer security.

Why Google Can't Be Trusted To Protect Your Computer"

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