Devir - Slashdot User

Submission + - Activate Windows Vista in 30 days... or never!

Submitted by jorgeleon on Tuesday March 20, 2007 @08:53AM

jorgeleon writes: When you install windows Vista you need to activate it in 30 days... no, wait! in 60 days... no, in 90 days... no in... never mind.

Looks like it can be postponed forever as it is explained in: http://www.windowssecrets.com/comp/070315/#story1

From the article:

The feature that I've revealing today shows that Microsoft has built into Vista a function that allows anyone to extend the operating system's activation deadline not just three times, but many times. The same one-line command that postpones Vista's activation deadline to 120 days can be used an indefinite number of times by first changing a Registry key from 0 to 1.

Submission + - Open Source Race Car

Submitted by zerk on Tuesday March 20, 2007 @08:39AM

zerk writes: The folks at Spread Firefox are talking about their next marketing campaign. One of the more interesting ideas is a Firefox sponsored car in the Indianapolis 500. It's worth taking a look just to see the gorgeous 3d rendering!

Submission + - GM Mosquito "Could Fight Malaria"

Submitted by qw0ntum on Tuesday March 20, 2007 @08:37AM

qw0ntum writes: The BBC is reporting that a genetically modified (GM) variety of mosquitoes could be effective in combating the spread of malaria to humans. These GM insects carry a gene that prevents them from being infected by the malaria parasite and that has the added benefit (?) of providing a "fitness advantage" to the mosquitoes. From the article:

"In the laboratory, equal numbers of genetically modified and ordinary "wild-type" mosquitoes were allowed to feed on malaria-infected mice. As they reproduced, more of the GM, or transgenic, mosquitoes survived. According to the researchers, whose results appear in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal, after nine generations, 70% of the insects belonged to the malaria-resistant strain. [...] The modified mosquitoes had a higher survival rate and laid more eggs."

This has major implications for the billions of people living in areas with endemic malaria. The question in my mind, though, is what effects on the ecosystems of these areas will replacing an organism low on the food chain with a GM version? Between the news we saw last week and biomagnification, could this wind up substituting one problem for another?

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