apdyck - Slashdot User

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: NAS with Torrenting? 1

Submitted by __aaelyr464 on Wednesday February 02, 2011 @09:13AM

__aaelyr464 writes: Over the years, I've slowly found myself using my desktop less and less for everyday work and gaming, and relegating such tasks to my smartphone or laptop. However, one thing has not changed--the use of my desktop for file storage, namely torrents. But it's becoming ever more clear that having a box consuming 350W of power just to house several hard drives for seeding/leeching is a lot of overkill (and wasted money/energy). What solutions exist that act as a NAS, while also giving me the ability to remotely manage torrents--all running in a tidy little box, using as little power as possible?

Submission + - Source of WP7 'Phantom Data' Bug Is Yahoo Mail (withinwindows.com)

Submitted by eldavojohn on Tuesday February 01, 2011 @08:43AM

eldavojohn writes: Yahoo has been identified as the culprit in the Windows Phone 7 debacle that was declared to be a third party fault. A blogger (neither Microsoft nor Yahoo) actually uncovered the problem with Yahoo claiming, 'Yahoo's IMAP server (winmo.imap.mail.yahoo.com) does not respond to FETCH requests correctly.' From the BBC, 'The error means that the system downloads up to 25 times more information than it needs to. Microsoft says it is in contact with Yahoo, and should be fixing the problem in the next few weeks — but now critics are questioning why it took so long to admit the identity of the source.'

Comment I would suggest... (Score 1) 1

by apdyck on Monday January 31, 2011 @06:52PM (#35061414) Attached to: Recommending a Game-Developer Laptop

I think that someone who is entering a program to study video game development should be able to select the hardware they believe is the best fit. If he can't figure out what hardware is best for the amount of money he has to invest I would think that he doesn't have a solid enough background to succeed at game development. That being said, I am not a developer. I have always been more of a hardware geek. I would go suggest getting the best laptop for the money he has. I did this with my wife recently and ended up getting a Toshiba. Simple considerations will be that it would (obviously) have to have a good video card, a decent amount of RAM, and a hard drive that will provide sufficient storage capacity for not only writing but also compiling the games that he is writing.

Submission + - The End of Scarce Oil and Atmospheric CO2 Problems (theglobeandmail.com) 1

Submitted by Saysys on Friday January 21, 2011 @08:59PM

Saysys writes: n September, a privately held and highly secretive U.S. biotech company named Joule Unlimited received a patent for “a proprietary organism” – a genetically engineered cyanobacterium that produces liquid hydrocarbons: diesel fuel, jet fuel and gasoline. This breakthrough technology, the company says, will deliver renewable supplies of liquid fossil fuel almost anywhere on Earth, in essentially unlimited quantity and at an energy-cost equivalent of $30 (U.S.) a barrel of crude oil. It will deliver, the company says, “fossil fuels on demand.”

oule says it now has “a library” of fossil-fuel organisms at work in its Massachusetts labs, each engineered to produce a different fuel. It has “proven the process,” has produced ethanol (for example) at a rate equivalent to 10,000 U.S. gallons an acre a year. It anticipates that this yield could hit 25,000 gallons an acre a year when scaled for commercial production, equivalent to roughly 800 barrels of crude an acre a year.

Submission + - WHDI Graphics card streams HDMI 100 feet (pcper.com)

Submitted by Vigile on Friday January 21, 2011 @04:02PM

Vigile writes: The promises of ubiquitous wireless audio and video continue to swirl with names like Sonos, AirPlay, WirelessHD and even WHDI. Wireless Home Digital Interface is a technology standard that uses the same 5 GHz spectrum as 802.11n but prioritizes video in a different way than traditional data allowing it to support data rates as high as 3 Gbps with near zero latency. Galaxy has built a graphics card called the GTX 460 WHDI that implements a transmitter / ARM CPU combo on the board and includes a receiver box that connects to the display or TV via an HDMI cable. The result is a potent graphics card that can handle pretty much any HTPC function including high-bit rate video decode acceleration, Blu-ray playback and some good 1080p gaming without having to be tethered to the TV or home theater directly. You can now move the card to a different side of the room or leave it in a closet to keep heat and noise away from your setup. It does come at a price premium though so only the hardcore HTPC fans need apply.

Submission + - How to protect myself from programmers

Submitted by Quantus347 on Tuesday January 18, 2011 @11:37AM

Quantus347 writes: I'm starting a new venture, and I'm using subcontractors for some of the programming, which is nothing too revolutionary and a part of a larger service. What steps do I need to take to protect myself from the various legal pitfalls I read about so much. Is a signed contract between us enough? Would I be better off specifying its release under one of the various Licenses? Should I just kill the programmers afterward and tie up the loose ends mafia-style? What can I do to keep today's contract work from becoming tomorrow's competitor? Or worse, plaintiff?

Submission + - Man Tunnels into GameStop, Steals Games (thinq.co.uk) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday January 17, 2011 @05:47AM

An anonymous reader writes: Life imitates Minecraft: Computer game piracy is big business, but there are still those who prefer to get their games the old-fashioned way: by digging a tunnel into their local games shop and making off with as much stock as they can carry.
At least, that's the slightly bizarre approach taken by a man from Greeneville, Tennessee, who was arrested late last week after being caught tunnelling into his local GameStop store from an empty adjoining building.

Submission + - Cloning experts to bring mammoth back to life (independent.ie)

Submitted by Tomahawk on Friday January 14, 2011 @05:44AM

Tomahawk writes: The woolly mammoth, extinct for thousands of years, could be brought back to life in four years through cloning.

Previous efforts in the 1990s to recover the crucial part of cells from mammoths found in the Siberian permafrost failed because they were badly damaged by the extreme cold. But a new technique has overcome that hurdle.

Akira Iritani, a professor at Japan's Kyoto University, is resuming his campaign to resurrect the species that died out 5,000 years ago.

Submission + - Slashdot Android RSS Monitor application (blogspot.com)

Submitted by nickull on Monday January 10, 2011 @05:23PM

nickull writes: So I was tasked with writing an open source Android application for mobile and decided to write a Slashdot RSS monitor to keep updated with the latest from Slashdot. The app is in the Android marketplace and the complete source code and video tutorials are available (Just hit the info button on the application). So far no bugs and it has 5/5 star rating. Size = 768 kb which includes 450 kb of graphics so if you want a leaner app, you can take the source and pare it down yourself. Open license — do what you want.

Submission + - Toshiba demos glasses-free 3D (bit-tech.net)

Submitted by arcticstoat on Thursday January 06, 2011 @04:20AM

arcticstoat writes: Whether you think 3D is a cynical fad to gouge cinema audiences out of extra cash, or a genuine step forward, the largest drawback of the technology remains its dependence on dorky looking bulky glasses. Out at CES in Las Vegas, though, Toshiba has raised a few eyebrows by demonstrating its glasses-free 3D technology. The demo panels are sized at 56in and 65in, with both boasting 4,096 x 2,160 pixel resolutions. Rather than previous attempts to make glasses-free 3D TV, which have used methods such as ridged panels, Toshiba claims its technology offers wide viewing angles, and doesn't even require a 'sweet spot' in which you have to sit. When pushed on how the technology precisely worked, Toshiba described it as a sheet across the display, which pitch-shifts certain frames to create the 3D effects, with the help of an on-board software algorithm named CEVO.

Submission + - Coffee spill diverts United Airlines flight (cnn.com) 1

Submitted by PolygamousRanchKid on Wednesday January 05, 2011 @04:59AM

PolygamousRanchKid writes: A United Airlines flight from Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany, was diverted to Toronto this week after the pilot dumped a cup of coffee on the plane's communication's equipment. The unwanted liquid triggered a series of emergency codes, including one for a hijacking, according to Transport Canada, the agency that regulates transportation in Canada.

Submission + - ESA Wants to Probe Uranus (nationalgeographic.com) 1

Submitted by SLot on Tuesday January 04, 2011 @04:34PM

SLot writes: British space scientists are leading plans to send a probe to explore giant ice planet Uranus. They have put forward a detailed proposal to the European Space Agency to launch a joint mission with NASA to the distant world, 1.8 billion miles from the sun. It would give scientists their first close-up views of Uranus since NASA’s Voyager 2 flew past and captured fleeting pictures 25 years ago.

Submission + - Cybercriminals Diversify Cash Out Strategies (securityweek.com)

Submitted by wiredmikey on Tuesday January 04, 2011 @04:14PM

wiredmikey writes: Apparently the federal government and private sector companies aren’t the only ones struggling for quality talent these days. Security firm Fortinet reports that it is seeing a spike in diversified and targeted recruitment campaigns for "money mules," the individuals at the edge of cybercrime organizations responsible for electronically receiving and passing on the stolen cash.

Submission + - The Evolution of Proxy Trojans (securityweek.com)

Submitted by wiredmikey on Thursday December 30, 2010 @11:32AM

wiredmikey writes: The Evolution of Proxy Trojans — With large amounts of money being spent online, it comes as no surprise that the online banking and online retailers are attractive targets to hackers. Proxy Trojans are nothing new. They’ve evolved into three categories: Keyloggers, Browser-session recorders and Man in the Browser (MitB).

Most prominent Trojans, such as Zeus, Gozi, URLZone, Sinowal and SpyEye all have MitB capabilities. As one-time passwords and two-factor authentication mechanisms become more common among online banking applications, the credentials obtained by Proxy Trojans will become less effective. Consequently, attackers are starting to improve the autonomous capabilities of MitB code. The recent, and potentially costly, SilentBanker Trojan targeted more than 400 banks and had the ability to intercept banking transactions – even those guarded by two-factor authentication.

While avoiding infection by Proxy Trojans is presumably the responsibility of consumers, MitB attacks are quickly becoming a concern of online service providers. The actual rate of infection and the proliferation of the many types of MitB malware suggests that providers must be able to serve and protect those customers who may be infected with one type of malware or another.

Submission + - Hack turns Nook Color into Kindle (blogkindle.com)

Submitted by suraj.sun on Thursday December 30, 2010 @03:07AM

suraj.sun writes: Read Kindle books on Nook Color ! Yep, you are reading this right. It’s actually quite easy now to get Kindle books on Nook color and have both eBook stores available to you on a single device. This is possible because Nook Color is more of an entry level Android tablet than a dedicated eReader. As it comes out of the box it just happens to start the Nook application by default and not let users run anything else.

However that can easily be fixed by rooting the device and enabling the Android Market. With Andoid market you can install all kinds of applications, including Kindle, Kobo reader. You would also be able to play Angry Birds and watch Youtube videos. Installing the Kindle application for Android will let you read Amazon Kindle books on your Nook Color device.

It takes less than 5 minutes to execute all rooting instructions from NookDevs.com to root the device, enable Android Market, download Kindle for Android and have WhisperSync open the book I was reading on the same place I left it off on my Kindle device.

Blog Kindle: http://blogkindle.com/2010/12/read-kindle-books-on-nook-color/

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