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Unix

Submission + - Define: /etc

Submitted by ogar572
ogar572 writes: There has been an ongoing and heated debate around the office concerning the definition of what /etc means on *nix operating systems. One side says "et cetera" per Wikipedia. Another side says it means "extended tool chest" per this gnome mailing list entry or per this Norwegian article. Yet another side says neither, but he doesn't remember exactly what he heard in the past. All he remembers is that he was flamed when he called it "et cetera", but that "extended tool chest" didn't sound right either. So, what does it really mean?
Space

Submission + - A five-gear space rocket engine

Submitted by
Roland Piquepaille
Roland Piquepaille writes: "Georgia Tech researchers have had a brilliant idea. Rocket engines used today to launch satellites run at maximum exhaust velocity until they reach orbit. For a car, this would be analog to stay all the time in first gear. So they have designed a new space rocket which works as it has a five-gear transmission system. This space engine uses 40 percent less fuel than current ones by running on solar power while in space and by fine-tuning exhaust velocity. But as it was designed with funds from the U.S. Air Force, military applications will be ready before civilian ones. Here is how this new rocket engine works."
Portables (Apple)

Submission + - iPods making their way into cockpits

Submitted by
Agentscott00
Agentscott00 writes: "Apple's iPod has found its way into the cockpit and is about to become a flight data recorder (FDR), more commonly known as "black box." Flight reports that light aircraft maker LoPresti Speed Merchants is adding the ability to use an iPod as a flight data recorder to its Fury piston aircraft. The airplane will include an iPod dock connector, and will be able to send data to the iPod for storage. Although it's not clear yet exactly what data will be recorded, typically that includes system monitoring information and data for post-flight analysis."
The Internet

Submission + - Disabled People Online - A New Portal

Submitted by
Kineticartist
Kineticartist writes: "You go around the web you search, you surf, You have lovely portal sites, like yahoo, google, msn and slash dot and others but as a disabled person who spends most of his time online Jay Cohen is a guy who has a dream... Create a portal for the disabled community. http://www.disabledonline.com/ is just such a place. You can find links to websites that cater to the disabled person and their family and friends. A place where disabled individuals can get together in a forum and share experiences and chat online in a safe environment. A one stop shopping site where you can go through extensive products and services (over 60,000 at the time of this writing) that are targeted towards disabled users looking for anything from wheelchairs and assistive/adaptive devices to gourmet chocolates. Disabled ONLINE is just such a place.

Jay, who has muscular dystrophy (which he doesn't let slow him down) spent the last 3 years making this dream a realization with little to no money to spend on site development. Jay took on the task himself and put together a fairly comprehensive site and understand this Jay is unable to use a keyboard but rather uses voice recognition software and a trackball mouse to get anything done on the computer . But it still lacked a professional 508 Accessible framework. Then comes Geek On Wheels who believed in Jay and his dream and garnered a deal with him to build a site that would use the latest in php and opensource e-commerce systems along with a forum, chat and a classifieds ad system so Disabled Online users can post their items for sale and sell them without ever giving a nod to ebay...

So whether you are looking for baseball or football or hockey jerseys, or gourmet chocolates to send your lady friend(s) or need information on arts and entertainment for the disabled to government websites and disabled accessible websites to get information on laws and statues regarding disabled users and their rights. or whether you yourself are disabled or not or friends or family of a disabled person or persons or just want to chat or get an account on his forum, making Disabled Online a favorite in your browsers is well worth it.

Don't believe me? then check it for yourselves!!!"
The Courts

Submission + - Louisiana city wins 2nd municipal fiber case

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The (Lafayette, La.) Daily Advertiser reports that the Louisiana Supreme Court today unanimously ruled in favor of Lafayette Utilities System in its fiber to the home legal battle. The city passed a referendum in July 2005 62%-38% to approve bond sales to fund its city-operated utility service's plan to lay fiber-to-the-home throughout the city (population about 112,000). Cox and BellSouth previously delayed it with a suit that failed; this decision is against a resident sued about the use of bond to fund the endeavor. According to LUS, "bonds could be issued in 2-3 months.. Eighteen months after the bonds are issued, some LUS customers could be using fiber." LUS already has paid $3.5 million in legal fees to get to this point.
Education

Submission + - A History Department Bans Citing Wikipedia

Submitted by
odyaws
odyaws writes: "The New York Times has an article about the history department at Middlebury College banning Wikipedia citations as a research source, which came after a professor noticed half a dozen students making the same factual error on an exam. I'm as big a fan of Wikipedia as anyone, but as an academic I find the notion of citing it absurd. Does anyone think Wikipedia (or any encyclopedia) suitable for anything but casual information gathering or as a place to find links to source material?"

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