Crunchie Frog - Slashdot User

Submission + - Microsoft forces automatic updates yet again 2

Submitted by

Bryant

on Wednesday October 10, 2007 @09:11PM

Bryant writes: "Microsoft has done it again with another forced update and reboot for Windows Vista users on patch tuesday. This comes despite people setting Automatic Updates so that the updates do not install without a user's consent."

Submission + - Scientists closer to gamma-ray annihilation lasers (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by ErikTheRed on Thursday September 13, 2007 @12:05AM

ErikTheRed writes: Scientists have finally created Di-positronium, a new form of matter combining an electron and a positron. The discovery, which according to this BBC article reported in the journal Nature, is a key step in the creation of ultrapowerful lasers known as gamma-ray annihilation lasers. These would be useful in starting fusion reactions. Now all we need are some friggin' sharks...

Russia Tests World's Largest Non-Nuclear Bomb 632

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday September 12, 2007 @10:11PM from the big-boom dept.

mahesh_gharat writes "Russia has tested the "Father of all bombs," a conventional air-delivered explosive that experts say can only be compared with a nuclear weapon in terms of its destructive power.The device is a fuel-air explosive, commonly known as a vacuum bomb, that spreads a high incendiary vapour cloud over a wide area and then ignites it, creating an ultra-sonic shock wave and searing fireball that destroys everything in its wake."

Submission + - Software developer sues to mute forum users (whirlpool.net.au) 1

Submitted by

Whirlpool User

on Wednesday September 12, 2007 @01:52AM

Whirlpool User writes: "An Australian accounting software developer blames a 'severe downturn in sales' on people who bad-mouthed its products in online user forums. It wants a judge to muzzle their comments. http://whirlpool.net.au/article.cfm/1753"

Submission + - China's 'Eye on the Internet' a Fraud

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 11, 2007 @10:09PM

An anonymous reader writes: The "Great Firewall of China," used by the government of the People's Republic of China to block users from reaching content it finds objectionable, is actually a "panopticon" that encourages self-censorship through the perception that users are being watched, rather than a true firewall, according to researchers at UC Davis and the University of New Mexico.

Submission + - What's your ultimate laptop bag? (successminders.com) 1

Submitted by

jacobcaz

on Tuesday September 11, 2007 @09:39PM

jacobcaz writes: "I've been on a quest for the holy grail of a laptop bag/daypack. Right now I would be stashing a Dell D820, but would eventually like to migrate to a MacBook 15". I've been carrying a Wenger backpack which has a ton of room, but is heavy when empty and lets me load way too much into it to carry around.

What laptop back do you love and consider the ultimate bag? I would like to hear from people who are using backpacks or slings, or shoulder bags that let you carry your laptop in a vertical orientation."

Submission + - Broadband site Whirlpool sued for forum comments. (whirlpool.net.au)

Submitted by

Anonymous Coward

on Tuesday September 11, 2007 @08:56PM

Anonymous Coward writes: "Simon Wright, founder and owner Australian broadband website Whirlpool is being sued by 2clix in the QLD Supreme Court for comments made on Whirlpool's online forum. The 2clix software was discussed in threads titled '2Clix or not 2Clix' and 'Anyone used 2clix', with primarily negative comments, and some discussion between 2Clix staff and other Whirlpool members."

Submission + - World's most powerful non-nuclear bomb is Russian 1

Submitted by traveller604 on Tuesday September 11, 2007 @06:45PM

traveller604 writes: The Russian military says it has successfully tested the "dad of all bombs," a powerful thermobaric device that is said to be the world's most powerful non-nuclear weapon.

Submission + - EU abandons plans to convert UK to metric

Submitted by SeeSchloss on Tuesday September 11, 2007 @05:24PM

SeeSchloss writes: After years of trying to get Britain to switch to the metric system the EU has finally decided to give up the fight. Conversion was initially a precondition for UK's membership of the European Union, in 1973, and the deadline had been regularly extended since then. Should we add back the UK to the list of the three countries in the world which do not use the metric system (Myanmar, Liberia and the United States)? It looks like the more a country waits before switching to the metric system, the more difficult it is, most countries did it while their litteracy rate was low and avoided most of the problems the UK or the US would be facing now. Do you think it is realistic to expect the UK or the US to switch to the metric system now? Do you think such a conversion is even useful outside of technical fields (I hope we all agree that it is needed in space research, for example)?

Submission + - Tron to be remade by Disney

Submitted by unassimilatible on Tuesday September 11, 2007 @03:46PM

unassimilatible writes: The Hollywood Reporter writes that Disney will remake the cult classic Tron, and has hired original Tron co-writer and director Steven Lisberger as producer and Joseph Kosinski as director.

The original, about a computer programmer thrust into a computer and forced to fight in games he helped create, is remembered for its sci-fi gladiator-style battles and groundbreaking special effects. It was the first movie to use computer-generated images instead of models and other optical effects in conjunction with live action. The arcade game based on the movie was so popular that it earned more than the movie.

The article also mentions that Kosinski will be remaking Logan's Run for Warner Brothers as well.

Submission + - A stolen nuclear weapon?

Submitted by TheSkepticGuy on Tuesday September 11, 2007 @03:22PM

TheSkepticGuy writes: Chuck Simpson at AboveTopSecret.com has an analysis of the Barksdale nuke incident in which he speculates that, "Someone, operating under a special chain of command within the United States Air Force, just stole a nuclear weapon." Full story here: Barksdale Missile Number Six. It's a long read, but he systematically outlines what amounts to an impossible mistake.

Feed Sleep Disturbance Increases Spontaneous Pain In Women (sciencedaily.com)

From feed by sdfeed on Wednesday April 04, 2007 @12:53AM

Sleep continuity disturbance impairs endogenous pain-inhibitory function and increases spontaneous pain in women. This supports a possible pathophysiologic role of sleep disturbance in chronic pain.

Submission + - 8.0 Quake hits Solomon Islands,Tsunami kills 8

Submitted by

wattsup

on Sunday April 01, 2007 @11:51PM

wattsup writes: "The USGS Reports that a magnitude 8.0 earthquake occurred at 20:39:56 (UTC) in the Solomon Islands. Police and residents said a wave about 10 feet high struck the western town of Gizo, inundating buildings and causing widespread destruction. A man who answered the telephone at the Gizo police station said there were initial reports that eight people, six of them children, had been killed by the tsunami. Gizo, a regional center, is just 25 miles from the earthquake's epicenter.

Australia to Hawaii went on high alert from the Pacific Tsunami Center for several hours after the quake struck between the islands of Bougainville and New Georgia, though officials canceled a region-wide tsunami warning after the danger period passed."

Submission + - Major Record Labels Withdraw from RIAA

Submitted by

s3pHiRoTh

on Sunday April 01, 2007 @05:46PM

s3pHiRoTh writes: "Music industry executives announced this morning that they were withdrawing support for the trade group the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and launching a new representative body called Respect the Artist, Respect the Audience (RARA)."

Submission + - NASA can't pay for killer asteroid hunt

Submitted by

CGISecurity.com

on Tuesday March 06, 2007 @12:37AM

CGISecurity.com writes: "NASA officials say the space agency is capable of finding nearly all the asteroids that might pose a devastating hit to Earth, but there isn't enough money to pay for the task so it won't get done. "We know what to do, we just don't have the money," said Simon "Pete" Worden, director of NASA's Ames Research Center.""

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