melted keyboard - Slashdot User

Submission + - Teardown of Prius Reveals Toyota Design Philosophy

Submitted by

MarsGov

on Monday April 16, 2007 @02:19PM

MarsGov writes: "A group of automotive engineers recently tore down a Toyota Prius to dissect the design techniques and choices that went into the vehicle. The results are becoming available at AutomotiveDesignLine and at TechOnline's Under The Hood — search for "Prius" at both of these links — and will be also published as a paper supplement to the May 14th issue of EE Times. There's even a video."

Submission + - Using the Java language for real-time systems

Submitted by

BlueVoodoo

on Monday April 16, 2007 @12:35PM

BlueVoodoo writes: "This article, the first in a five-part series on real-time Java, describes the key challenges to using the Java language to develop systems that meet real-time performance requirements."

Feed Solid Hydrogen Seen as Safer (wired.com)

From feed by wiredfeed on Thursday March 15, 2007 @12:12PM

Researchers at the University of New Brunswick develop a method for converting hydrogen gas into a solid that can easily be converted back into a fuel on demand -- and it's safer to store. In Autopia.

South Korea Drafting Ethical Code for Robotic Age 318

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wednesday March 07, 2007 @01:35PM from the think-of-the-robots dept.

goldaryn writes "The BBC is reporting that the South Korean government is working on an ethical code for human/robot relations, 'to prevent humans abusing robots, and vice versa'. The article describes the creation of the Robot Ethics Charter, which 'will cover standards for users and manufacturers and will be released later in 2007. [...] It is being put together by a five member team of experts that includes futurists and a science fiction writer.'"

Submission + - New DST to cost $350 million?

Submitted by

ktappe

on Wednesday March 07, 2007 @01:32PM

ktappe writes: "An analyst at Forrester Research estimates the daylight saving time (DST) switch coming this Sunday will cost the average company $50,000 in time and labor expenses — a conservative figure that doesn't take into account missed airline flights or forgotten appointments. That's a total of $350 million for the 7,000 publicly traded companies in the U.S. Is this another case of an analyst pulling numbers out of the air, or will we really be paying a high price for earlier DST?"

Submission + - Travel Back in Time Not Possible

Submitted by anthemaniac on Wednesday March 07, 2007 @01:18PM

anthemaniac writes: Time travel has long been one of those "theoretically possible" things that makes Sci-Fi thrive. But while going forward in time is still perhaps possible, going back has been all but ruled out, according to an article (and accompanying videos) at LiveScience. Chiming in are four scientists who think about this a lot: Brian Greene, Charles Liu, Michio Kaku and J. Richard Gott. Liu flatly states: "It is not possible for you and me to travel backward in time."

Submission + - Linux RDP Server with shadowing, CeBIT 2007

Submitted by

Michael Lacher

on Wednesday March 07, 2007 @01:08PM

Michael Lacher writes: "Thinstuff s.r.o. today announced the release of version 1.1 of the Thinstuff Touch RDP Server. With this release the Terminal Server solution for Linux gains, among other features, support for shadowing and international keyboard layouts. Trial versions and further information can be found at the company website http://www.thinstuff.com/products/rdp-server/.

We would also like to invite you to CeBIT 2007 to get a personal impression of Thinstuff Touch RDP Server. You can find us on following stands:

LXPN: Linux Park" Hall 5, Stand G58/1

ETCF: European Thin Client Forum" Hall 4, Stand A04

Visit us at our stand to get a 50% discount on all Thinstuff products! (Valid from March 15 to 31)"

Microsoft WGA Phones Home Even When Told No 403

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday March 07, 2007 @12:51PM from the huge-shocker-here dept.

Aviran writes "When you start WGA setup and get to the license agreement page but decided NOT to install the highly controversial WGA component and cancel the installation, the setup program will send information stored in your registry and the fact that you choose not to install WGA back to Microsoft's servers."

Submission + - The Internet is full, will all teens disembark

Submitted by on Wednesday March 07, 2007 @12:15PM

An anonymous reader writes: http://www.itpro.co.uk/blogs/editorial-blogs/davey -winder/15067/the-internet-is-full-will-all-teenag ers-please-leave.thtml Internet capacity is hitting tipping point, bandwidth is decreasing in real terms, there is only one solution: kick all the teens off the Internet bus.

Submission + - TrueDisc Error Correction for Disc Burning

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 07, 2007 @12:14PM

An anonymous reader writes: The Macintouch site http://www.macintouch.com/ has a link to a new piece of software — TrueDisc http://www.truedisc.com/ — which claims to make data burned to recordable discs more reliable. More specifically it uses interleaved redundant cells to rebuild data should part of the disc be scratched. On the developer's blog http://blog.truedisc.com/?p=4 they say they plan to create an open-source implementation of the TrueDisc system, now that it is not going to be included in the Blu-ray/HD-DVD standards. Have any Slashdot readers experience with the software, and what alternatives are already available?

Google's Academic TB Swap Project 190

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday March 07, 2007 @12:00PM from the hey-look-it's-chris dept.

eldavojohn writes "Google is transferring data the old fashioned way — by mailing hard drive arrays around to collect information and then sending copies to other institutions. All in the name of science & education. From the article, 'The program is currently informal and not open to the general public. Google either approaches bodies that it knows has large data sets or is contacted by scientists themselves. One of the largest data sets copied and distributed was data from the Hubble telescope — 120 terabytes of data. One terabyte is equivalent to 1,000 gigabytes. Mr. DiBona said he hoped that Google could one day make the data available to the public.'"

Submission + - Laser control of matter for dummies

Submitted by holy_calamity on Wednesday March 07, 2007 @11:59AM

holy_calamity writes: New Scientist reports on a drag and drop interface that allows you to control up to 80 microscopic objects in 3D using frickin' laser beams. Researchers at Risø National Laboratory, Denmark, want to give laser-manipulation powers to those without laser optics PhDs. It could be particularly useful for cell biologists.

Submission + - Anti-Matter's Potential in Treating Cancer

Submitted by

eldavojohn

on Wednesday March 07, 2007 @11:39AM

eldavojohn writes: "The BBC is taking a look at how atomic physicists are developing cancer treatments. A step past radiotherapy, the CERN institute is publishing interesting results: "Cancer cells were successfully targeted with anti-matter subatomic particles, causing intense biological damage leading to cell death." The press release from last year is finally sparking interest in the medical community."

Submission + - Good Beginner's Book for Object Oriented Design?

Submitted by on Wednesday March 07, 2007 @11:35AM

An anonymous reader writes: What are the best books for someone new to object oriented programming and design? I have a decent amount of experience in structured programming. Is there a good language neutral book, and are there any good books specific to C++, C#, and/or Java? I want something that focuses on real world design issues, not just the particulars of a language.

Submission + - Canadian government shuts down Income Tax Service

Submitted by jeff.ingalls on Wednesday March 07, 2007 @10:31AM

jeff.ingalls writes: A computer malfunction has forced Canada's tax agency to shut down all online tax filing as Canadians race to file their personal income tax returns by the April 30 deadline. You can read the full story here or the offical press release here.

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