thanosk - Slashdot User

Submission + - Judge Overturns 2007 Unix Copyright Decision (networkworld.com) 2

Submitted by

snydeq

on Monday August 24, 2009 @07:26PM

snydeq writes: "A federal appeals court has overturned a 2007 decision that Novell owns the Unix code, clearing the way for SCO to pursue a $1 billion copyright infringement case against IBM. In a 54-page decision, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals said it was reversing the 2007 summary judgment decision by Judge Dale Kimball of the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, which found that Novell was the owner of Unix and UnixWare copyrights. SCO CEO Darl McBride called the decision a "huge validation for SCO.""

Submission + - SPAM: Air Force, NASA fire off green rocket

Submitted by

coondoggie

on Monday August 24, 2009 @05:53PM

coondoggie writes: "NASA and Air Force said today they had successfully launched a 9ft rocket 1,300 feet into the sky powered by aluminum powder and water ice. Aluminum powder and water ice, or ALICE, has the potential to replace some liquid or solid propellants and is being developed by Purdue University and Pennsylvania State University to possibly replace liquid or solid rocket propellants. Aside from the environmental impact ALICE could be manufactured in distant places like the moon or Mars, instead of being transported to distant locations at high cost, researchers said. [spam URL stripped]"
Link to Original Source

Submission + - 1,000 London CCTV cameras 'solve one crime' (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by SpuriousLogic on Monday August 24, 2009 @02:44PM

SpuriousLogic writes: Only one crime was solved by each 1,000 CCTV cameras in London last year, a report into the city's surveillance network has claimed. The internal police report found the million-plus cameras in London rarely help catch criminals. In one month CCTV helped capture just eight out of 269 suspected robbers. David Davis MP, the former shadow home secretary, said: "It should provoke a long overdue rethink on where the crime prevention budget is being spent." He added: "CCTV leads to massive expense and minimum effectiveness. "It creates a huge intrusion on privacy, yet provides little or no improvement in security. "The Metropolitan Police has been extraordinarily slow to act to deal with the ineffectiveness of CCTV."

Submission + - Why the Google Phone Isn't Taking Off 2

Submitted by

Hugh Pickens

on Monday August 24, 2009 @09:39AM

Hugh Pickens writes: "Farhad Manjoo writes in Slate that while the iPhone commands nearly 14 percent of smartphone sales and BlackBerry about 21 percent. Android has only 3 percent and that even though it's far friendlier to developers, Android has failed to attract anywhere near the number of apps now clogging the iPhone. Manjoo writes that Google went wrong by giving handset manufacturers and carriers a great deal of control over the design and marketing of Android phones so there is no idealized "Google phone"--instead, Android devices get names like the T-Mobile G1 or the myTouch 3G, and each is marketed separately and comes with its own distinct capabilities and shortcomings. "Outside handset manufacturers lack ambition--none of them even seems to be trying to match the capabilities of the iPhone, let alone to knock us down with features that far surpass those of Apple's device," writes Manjoo. "A smart handset manufacturer could build a top-of-the-line Android device that outshines Apple's phone in at least a few areas--better battery life, a much better Web browser, a brighter or bigger screen, faster or more functional controls ... something that might help Android inspire gadget lust. But so far, that's not happening." John Gruber adds that the goal should be to make a phone that is better than the iPhone. "Carefully select a handful of areas where you can beat the iPhone, and then promote the hell out of these features," writes Gruber. "If your hope is to gain a strong foothold in the market with a sub-par device, you are mistaken. If Apple is BMW, you can be Porsche.""

Submission + - Red Hat most famous clone in hiatus!

Submitted by thanosk on Thursday July 30, 2009 @07:37AM

thanosk writes: It seems that even the most used and well known Open Source projects
can suffer from the usual troubles of all oss projects.
Depending too much on a single person and getting into trouble
when that person looses interest or moves away.
In an open letter posted on their web site CentOS seems to be going
down that way as well.
But what will now happen to all those people that relied on this pretty
good Red Hat clone for the server enviroment. Is this is just one more
indication that you actually do get what you pay for in the end ?

Submission + - NASA's New "Asteroid Watch" Website (spacefellowship.com)

Submitted by

Matt_dk

on Thursday July 30, 2009 @07:34AM

Matt_dk writes: "NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory is introducing a new Web site that will provide a centralized resource for information on near-Earth objects — those asteroids and comets that can approach Earth. The "Asteroid Watch" site also contains links for the interested public to sign up for NASA's new asteroid widget and Twitter account. The new Asteroid Watch site is online here."

Submission + - Mi5 Hacked! Spooks Spooked!

Submitted by

bossanovalithium

on Thursday July 30, 2009 @05:47AM

bossanovalithium writes: "The Internet Portal for Her Majesty's Secret Service Mi5 was hacked recently. The Home Office were reluctant to give a time frame, or concrete explanation of how it happened — unsurprisingly."

Submission + - Google annouces plans for OS (businessweek.com)

Submitted by

digmshiphter

on Wednesday July 08, 2009 @05:19AM

digmshiphter writes: "Google has finally annouced its plan to rule to known universe by creating an OS of its own called Chrome OS based on the Chrome browser. The new browser will focus on making the computer an interface between the web and the user, making speed a priority, and making the browser the main application in the OS. The official press release states, "Google Chrome OS is an open source, lightweight operating system that will initially be targeted at netbooks. Later this year we will open-source its code, and netbooks running Google Chrome OS will be available for consumers in the second half of 2010.""

Submission + - Earth-Venus smash-up possible in 3.5 billion years (universetoday.com)

Submitted by thanosk on Thursday June 11, 2009 @05:50AM

thanosk writes: When our solar system's orbits all break down and Venus smashes into Earth, we'll know exactly who is to blame:
the tiniest of all rocky planets, Mercury. Chaotic factors in Mercury's orbit could destabilize the whole solar system,
and cause the ultimate extinction event!

Submission + - Rumors about Nokia Linux phone increase

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 27, 2009 @07:12AM

An anonymous reader writes: A credible leak describing the "Nokia N900" suggests that the launch of a truly mainstream (36.2% worldwide market share) Linux phone is imminent. It will supposedly run version 5 of Nokia's own Linux distribution. Important updates include upstart replacing sysv init, Linux 2.6.28, gtk 2.12, glib 2.18, gcc 4.2, PulseAudio, Matchbox WM 2, and more.

Submission + - dot Communism is already here (wired.com)

Submitted by thanosk on Wednesday May 27, 2009 @05:33AM

thanosk writes: Will the world move towards a socialist "paradise" because of the way
current technology changes the way we do business online.
Maybe the Year of the communist (according to Gates) Linux maybe be a bit off,
but according to Wired magazine "dot-communism" is already here.

Submission + - Understanding Addiction-Based Game Design (ign.com)

Submitted by

spidweb

on Wednesday May 27, 2009 @02:56AM

spidweb writes: "Everyone knows games like World of Warcraft are addictive. But what are the exact qualities that make it so? Are there specific elements of the design that can be pulled out, distilled, and used at will to give a game druglike properties? And is it wrong to do so? A new article at IGN RPG Vault attempts to isolates the exact qualities that go into making an addiction-based design. From the article, "If a game uses rewards of any sort to entice you to experience highly repetitive content, you should see what it's trying to do and which of your buttons it's trying to press. If you don't mind, that's cool, but you should understand it."

The article is at

http://rpgvault.ign.com/articles/986/986323p1.html"

Submission + - Asus slaps Linux in the face (techgeist.net) 2

Submitted by

vigmeister

on Tuesday May 26, 2009 @09:33PM

vigmeister writes: "Techgeist has an article about an 'It's better with Windows' website from Asus and MS. I think the article should've been title 'Asus stabs Linux in the back'. "Linux just got a major slap in the face today from Asus. One of the highlights of Linux going mainstream was the wildly popular Asus Eee PC preinstalled with a customized Linux distro geared towards web applications. While I personally never got what the big deal was, I was still happy for all the Linux people out there waiting for this day, but it looks like the cause for celebration won't be lasting much longer. Asus and Microsoft have teamed up and have made a site called It's Better With Windows. The page touts how easy it is to get up and ready with Windows on an Asus Eee PC, while slyly stating that you won't have to deal with an "unfamiliar environment" and "major compatibility issues." While it is silly to state such a thing since Asus built the Linux distribution specifically for the Eee PC, I give Microsoft two points for snarky comments.""

Submission + - Aussie prisoners escape lock-in with Ubuntu PCs (itnews.com.au) 1

Submitted by bfire on Monday May 25, 2009 @01:27AM

bfire writes: Prisoners at two jails in Australia have implemented a centrally managed and distributed desktop environment that runs on the Ubuntu OS. Desktops boot from a central server but everything executes in local resources. The desktops are assigned to 'realms', such as a cell block wing, and each realm has a system image (with the Ubuntu OS and all necessary applications) that loads onto the PC at boot and can't be modified. The makers hope the Prison PC could eventually provide a single, centrally-managed device to replace a PC, TV, DVD player and stereo in individual cells. They also hope prison authorities will elect to stream online radio, IP and free-to-air TV, on-demand video such as for education, and even minority religious content using the system in the future. The system is already gaining international interest because it also means that custodians could deny or revoke rights to use parts of it, without having to go to the cell and forcibly remove the kit as punishment.

Submission + - Helsinki named Klingon capital of the world 2

Submitted by

Landau

on Thursday May 21, 2009 @12:12PM

Landau writes: "Helsinki in Finland has been the named the city with the highest proportion of Klingon speakers.

Computer security company Sophos — who recently released their anti-virus software in Klingon — has produced a top ten chart, based upon data they collected from the geographic location of downloaders of their Star Trek-themed software.

According to their data, 1 in 1953 people in Helsinki speak Klingon (including Finnish Green parliamentarian Jyrki Kasvi).

Here's the whole chart

1. Helsinki... 1 in 1953 people speak Klingon 2. Manchester, UK... 1 in 2619 3. Tucson... 1 in 2757 4. Seattle... 1 in 3069 5. San Francisco... 1 in 3174 6. London, UK... 1 in 3375 7. Zagreb... 1 in 3410 8. Amsterdam... 1 in 4635 9. Brisbane... 1 in 5327 10. Munich... 1 in 5972

More information on Sophos's website."

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