Submission + - Syncing Music Players in Linux
Daengbo writes: "I recently sold my old laptop to a friend, and she asked me to keep Ubuntu on it rather than installing Windows for her. To help her with the transition, I wrote two intro lessons for her, but we've hit a stumbling block. The iRivier Clix (4GB) she's been using syncs with Windows Media Player. My research shows that the model has both an MTP for the sync and a UMS mode which acts as a mass storage device. Rhythmbox's "Scan Removable Media" doesn't pick up anything from the USB mass storage device, and although Syncropated claims to support these types of devices, it doesn't find any supported devices.
Unless you use an iPod, this appears to be a real weak point in the Linux desktop. Do Slashdotters sync their mass storage devices and music players? What do you use?"
Unless you use an iPod, this appears to be a real weak point in the Linux desktop. Do Slashdotters sync their mass storage devices and music players? What do you use?"
Submission + - New OSX86 Site Hits The Scene! (osxx86.info)
The Creator 1 writes: "A new OSX86 website has hit the scene. This website has a few of the insanleymac and hackint0sh people on it and currently has no censoring. This community started about a year ago when OSx86 became popular. It is mainly a forum but there is also an installation guide to get osx86 working on your computer without much trouble. The people there are friendly and i find it to be a great site compared to insanelymac. The site really helped me with getting osx86 running and a huge thanks to all the mods and the 3 admins there!"
Submission + - 2.6 metre multi-touch wall in Helsinki (citywall.org)
jfanning writes: In Helsinki the 'CityWall' has just gone into operation. It is a 2.6 metre long multi-touch interface developed by the Ubiquitous Interaction group at the Helsinki Institute for Information Technology.
The technology developed for the wall would allow displays that are theoretically 16 meters wide and the number of users is limited only by available space. CityWall is described as 'a large multi-touch display installed in a central location in Helsinki which acts as a collaborative and playful interface for the everchanging media landscape of the city.'
The CityWall is designed to support the navigation of media, specifically annotated photos and videos which are continuously gathered in realtime from public sources such as Flickr and YouTube.
The technology developed for the wall would allow displays that are theoretically 16 meters wide and the number of users is limited only by available space. CityWall is described as 'a large multi-touch display installed in a central location in Helsinki which acts as a collaborative and playful interface for the everchanging media landscape of the city.'
The CityWall is designed to support the navigation of media, specifically annotated photos and videos which are continuously gathered in realtime from public sources such as Flickr and YouTube.
Submission + - Open Challenge To Improve Movie Content Protection (newteevee.com)
HarryCaul writes: Now you too can make money by contributing to the improvment of DRM!
The news blog NewTeeVee reports that "Motion Picture Laboratories" is offering up a number of open challenges to improve the protection of movies, both in theaters and in the home. According to the article, "Promising proposals will receive grants anywhere from $25,000 to $100,000 to continue research. These are "strictly problems we think smart people want to solve," CEO Steve Weinstein told me (NewTeeVee) over the phone yesterday."
Challenges include- Remote Content Access, Theatrical Anti-Camcording, and Hiding of Cryptographic Keys, among others.
Founding members of Motion Picture Labs include Paramount, Sony, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal, Disney, and Warner Bros.
Challenges include- Remote Content Access, Theatrical Anti-Camcording, and Hiding of Cryptographic Keys, among others.
Founding members of Motion Picture Labs include Paramount, Sony, Twentieth Century Fox, Universal, Disney, and Warner Bros.
Submission + - Software Error Likely Killed MGS Spacecraft
Aglassis writes: NASA investigators have determined that a software update performed in June of 2006 may have doomed the 10 year old spacecraft. Apparently the software error caused the solar arrays to drive against a mechanical stop which then forced the spacecraft into safe mode. Unfortunately, after that the spacecraft's radiator was pointed at the sun which overheated the battery and destroyed it. Contact was lost with the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft in November of 2006. NASA will form an internal review board to formally determine the cause of the loss of the spacecraft and what remedial actions are needed for future missions.
Submission + - Cisco responds to criticism over Apple Lawsuit
tobkin writes: Looks like Cisco's SVP and General Counsel has responded to the criticism over their lawsuit against Apple: http://blogs.cisco.com/news/2007/01/update_on_cisc os_iphone_tradem.html
Submission + - Hotel WiFi Tracks You as You Surf
saccade.com writes: "During my last hotel stay, I thought it was a pretty strange that
it took two browser re-directs before the hotel's Wi-Fi would
show me the web page I browsed to. Picasa
developer Michael Herf
noticed the same the thing and dug a little deeper. He discovered:
"...their page does some tracking of each new page you visit
in your browser, outside what a normal proxy (which would have
access to all your cookies and other information it shouldn't
have, anyway) would do. This "adlog" hit appears to
also track a "hotel ID" and some other data that identifies
you more directly. Notably, I've observed these guys tracking
HTTPS URLs, and of course you can't track those through a proxy.".
Herf notes the WiFi service provider, SuperClick, advertises
that it "allows hoteliers and conference center managers
to leverage the investment they have made in their IP infrastructure
to create advertising revenue, deliver targeted marketing and
brand messages to guests and users on their network...""
Microsoft Squeezes Win2000 Users 404
darkonc writes "InformationWeek has a story on how Microsoft is squeezing Windows 2000 users as Vista and Office 2007 are being released. While some new software is legitimately unable to run on Windows 2000, other software (like MS's anti-spyware product) will install and run flawlessly — but only if you remove an explicit check for Windows 2000 in the installer." The article notes that other vendors, for example Sun, have more liberal and flexible support policies for legacy products.
Submission + - Chess Grandmaster Kasparov Versus President Putin
An anonymous reader writes: The Times of London has an article on how Garry Kasparov, former world chess champion, is using his fame and intellect in an attempt to defeat President Putin at the presidential elections in March 2008. Kasparov believes that Putin, who has 80 percent approval ratings, is virtually a dictator who is dismantling democracy and returning Russia to an authoritarian regime. Some high-profile Putin critics, such as Alexander Litvinenko, have been the victims of unsolved murders, and Kasparov is aware of the dangers: "I can calculate the possibilities as a chess player and I have to be honest and say that our chances are not high. But I take this as a moral duty, and when you do something out of moral duty, then who cares?"
Submission + - Threats are perhaps coming for our privacy.
An anonymous reader writes: There are many doubts in this society after the IRAA had begun it's lawsuit 'insanity' against 8000 people in October, but for every case including house raids and mass apprehending or some other means, you'll come to notice that there's no explanation from them, for the methods that they used to confirm the peoples' locations, who are sharing files illegally on the internet.
Yes, there's also probabilities like having 'watchdogs' around the planet hired by the anti-piracy related organizations, consisting of millions of people and perhaps hitting the billion figure. What I'm trying to say, is that our private data are perhaps being leaked through this monitoring activities carried out by whoever it is, it could be you, or me, our ISP (Internet Service Provider), or anyone that is relevant to the IRAA's 'watchdog project'. It can be anybody, as long as they have access to various core servers of IP handling systems, our privacy are perhaps being invaded as they look at our transmitting data at random times, or if worse, watching us 24/7 constantly...our data packets that are being received and sent to the internet through the tubes of our ISP will never be affirmed as private and safe unless there's declaration from IRAA that our privacy is NOT being invaded by them.
Nothing is to be confirmed yet regarding this matter as it is just doubts and rumors being pieced together from the 'floating cyberspace'. You may choose to take this into consideration and analyze it even further, or you can delete this and forget about it.
Submission + - Whoa. I'm Person of the Year?
caferace writes: "In an apparent lack of any self-respecting journalistic continuity, TIME (read, parent/child of AOL/Tim Warner) has collapsed into itself and decided that we all rock. Me, and especially You . If this was the front page in 1995, perhaps I'd agree. But not now. They're too late. What do you think?"
Submission + - Censorship at Democratic Underground
jagrmeister writes: ""When you think of free speech, you think of its defenders- organizations such as the ACLU and EFF. When opponents seeks to abridge the 1st amendment through the FCC and V-chips, Democrats push back on principle. Our champiniong of free speech makes it all the more troubling that Democratic Underground, the leading online forum for progressives, has become increasingly censored, causing concern about its commitment to free speech.
The examples abound. Most recently, the moderators on DU blitzed a thread on David Duke's remarks on CNN, and deleted any comments that could be construed as supporting any part of what he said. Now I detest Duke as much as the next person; but one of his arguments was against neocons and several members agreed with that assessment. Moreover, the way you beat hate speech is by letting people criticize it, not abridging the 1st amendment...""
Journal Journal: Apple "Service" 4
So we have a five-year-old dying iBook. It has the right serial number, and symptoms listed there (black screen on startup), but apparently this computer model has recently gone from "Supported" to "Vintage" so they won't touch it without us paying the "preferred customer" fee of over $300.
I don't even want to know what the normal fee is.
Boston Globe to Blogger — "Stop Using Opera" 465
PetManimal writes "Mac Daniels of the Boston Globe weighed in on a prickly debate involving the updated local mass transit website. The Globe's advice to one complainer named 'derspatchel': Stop using Opera. Derspatchel's response is to go medieval on Daniels' ass, and ask the question: Why should Opera users give up their browser? Quoting: 'I don't give two whoops about the "percentage of the Internet population" or whatever. I don't care if a website works on someone else's choice of browser; I care if it works or not on my choice of browser. It's a modern browser, it's in active development, and it's free. Once dev stops on the Opera browser and the last version becomes outdated and unable to support newer Web innovations, then I'll "stop using it." How's that, Chuckles?'" After a day the transit authority took the new site offline to "improve performance," reverting to the old version.
