Become a fan of Slashdot on Facebook

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Handhelds

Submission + - iPod Touch + iPhone Earbuds = VOIP iPhone (applegazette.com)

Submitted by
Steve
Steve writes: "Apple Gazette makes an interesting point...The iPod Touch should be able to make VOIP phone calls.

Since it runs the same browser as the iPhone, that means it will work with SkypeforiPhone.com. Unless Apple has somehow preemptively disabled the mic from iPhone headphones, there's no reason that they shouldn't work when you plug them into your iPod Touch.

After you log into your Skype service via the Safari browser, you should be good to go."
Announcements

Submission + - BBC iPlayer to be cross platform (pm.gov.uk)

Submitted by
ddrichardson
ddrichardson writes: "The BBC iPlayer service is no longer to be tied to Windows only. Following a scucessful online government petition, the BBC trust in conjunction with Ofcom have decided to make the system cross-platform. From the Government response:

The BBC Trust made it a condition of approval for the BBC's on-demand services that the iPlayer is available to users of a range of operating systems, and has given a commitment that it will ensure that the BBC meets this demand as soon as possible."
Power

Submission + - Free Flashlights for Africa

Submitted by
imelgrat
imelgrat writes: "One of the biggest drivers for the LED market is the huge potential energy savings that LEDs can provide. While governments and companies make huge R&D investments in this area to "stay ahead of the game", there are some exciting projects aimed at helping the needed, such as BoGolight. The BoGo Light is a scientific, eco-friendly project that is making an impact worldwide. This project provides free LED flashlights to people who don't have the luxury of light. In an innovative move to fund the research program, for every solar-powered flashlight bought at their website, the maker will ship one free flashlight to Africa."
Privacy

Submission + - UK students must submit fingerprints for lunch (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by
wikinerd
wikinerd writes: "A school in the UK decided to start requesting fingerprint scans from its 1100 students before being allowed to get their lunch. From next term, the same school expects to use the biometric system for controlling entry into the school, as well as for dictating who is allowed to use the school's printers. According to a concerned citizen, the school did not consult the parents before implementing the new policy. Currently students carry ID cards that are used for getting their lunches, and the school claims that the biometric system is a means to limit expenses from lost cards, and since the fingerprint scans are not stored there is no breach of civil rights and no need for asking the parents first. However, a group named Leave The Kids Alone says that this is an infringement of liberty since fingerprint templates are stored and can be accessed by the police."
Security

Submission + - Possible ZiffDavis.com Security Breach (raides.org)

Submitted by
raides
raides writes: "Last night around 4 am EST a local forum website, www.4chan.org , had a post made on their forums by a user claiming that Foxnews.com was hacked. It seemed the htaccess files were removed from the site's root folders, and both root images and admin folders were open to the public.

For the next couple of hours multiple users posted secure information about employees for Foxnews.com , including cell phone numbers, resumes, private emails, etc. Later it was found that ziffdavis.com was the crux of the hack, and clients like foxnews.com were the ones who suffered the most. Once ftp information was posted on the forum's thread, ziffdavis.com's ftp was flooded with joke ftp directory creation and files. Another company, Acxiom, also suffered the loss of important company data. Including internal emails, resumes, and email addresses.

At about 7 am EST , the thread on www.4chan.org was deleted and a few hours later access files were replaced back on foxnews.com. No report was made on their website and no report was made publicly. Many employees had their personal information compromised and can make a legal suit against their employer. I make this post to see what comments would be made about any actions that could be taken by employees, as well as share an interesting event on the internet to its community."
Wii

Wii Puts Japanese Television Under Pressure 98

Posted by Zonk from the must-not-see-teevee dept.
Knuckles writes "The Times reports that Japanese consumers have been 'abandoning television' in order to play with Nintendo's Wii. Recent figures from Japan's audience-tracking firms show that 'last week was the first in nearly two decades where no single show on any commercial station attracted more than a 9 per cent audience share ... According to one senior executive of the country's largest commercial television channel, Fuji TV, families who used to tune in to its colourful diet of soap operas, panel games and comedy variety shows may, instead, be drifting away and choosing to spend the same, economically-critical golden hour time playing on their Wii.'"

The Unforking of KDE's KHTML and Webkit Begins 104

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the sounds-dirty dept.
Jiilik Oiolosse writes to tell us Ars Technica is reporting that after years of existing seperately, KHTML and Webkit are finally coming back together. "In open source terms, this may be as big of a deal as the gcc and egcs merger of yonder days. KHTML and Webkit are definitely coming of age. The KDE developers, responsible for the original creation of KHTML, are dedicated to seeing this unforking happen and are taking a leading role in that effort."
Power

Submission + - Oil (or Not) in Your Future (connectlive.com) 1

Submitted by
mdsolar
mdsolar writes: "Over at The Oil Drum there is an interesting discussion going on about a report released (in draft form) by the National Petroleum Council. The report is a response to questions from Secretary of Energy Bodman about the ability of oil companies to meet projected demand for oil (at a reasonable price). The report seems to say that this cannot be done and recommends that the government 1) force conservation through efficiency regulations, 2) shift to other energy sources, 3) reduce regulation on drilling in the US, 4) use US power to force open markets in oil, 5) pay for the education of engineers in the oil field, allow retiring workers to consult without tax penalties and raise H1-B quotas and 6) pay the oil industry to accept carbon dioxide from coal use for sequestration.

The discusion at The Oil Drum is finding that the report is fudging on the peak oil issue while at the same time predicting a greatly increased oil supply mainly from the Middle East using new technologies and discoveries. My own acerbic take on the report findings can be found here."
Mandriva

Submission + - Mandriva Linux pre-installed on Intel's Classmate

Submitted by
boklm
boklm writes: "Mandriva announced it will have a version of its Mandriva Linux 2007 pre-installed on Intel's new low-end laptop for students in developing countries, the Classmate PC. This laptop comes with 256MB of RAM, 1 or 2GB of flash memory, 802.11b/g WiFi, 10/100Mbps ethernet, 2 USB ports, a 7-inch LCD display and 4 hours battery. Produced in Brazil, shipping is expected to begin in the second quarter of this year, and will be available to Mexico, India, and developing countries."
Censorship

Submission + - Student punished for spaghetti beliefs

Submitted by Logicalmoron
Logicalmoron writes: A student has been suspended from school in America for coming to class dressed as a pirate. But the disciplinary action has provoked controversy — because the student says that the ban violates his rights, as the pirate costume is part of his religion. Bryan Killian says that he follows the Pastafarian religion, and that as a crucial part of his faith, he must wear 'full pirate regalia' as prescribed in the holy texts of Pastafarianism. The school, however, say that his pirate garb was disruptive. The school, in North Buncombe, North Carolina, remains adamant that their decision to suspend Killian for a day has nothing to do with his religion, and quite a lot to do with his repeated refusal to heed warnings against wearing pirate outfits. Full Story: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_artic le_id=43272&in_page_id=2
Biotech

CPR Not as Effective as Chest Compressions Alone 194

Posted by Zonk from the use-the-compressions-luke dept.
patiwat writes "A Japanese study detailed in the New York Times has found that people suffering from cardiac arrest were more likely to recover without brain damage if rescuers focused on chest compressions rather than on rescue breaths. Some experts advised dropping the mouth-to-mouth part of CPR altogether. Interrupting chest compression to perform mouth-to-mouth ventilation might do more harm than good if blood flow to the heart was not properly re-established, a researcher from Tokyo's Surugadai Nihon University Hospital said. According to the article, 'More than 300,000 Americans die from cardiac arrest each year. Roughly 9 out of 10 cardiac arrest victims die before they get to a hospital — partly because they do not get CPR.'"
XBox (Games)

Submission + - Xbox live servers hacked?

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: A recent post to the Full-Disclosure mailing list spreads the rumour that "Bungie.net was hacked and that a portion of Xbox live has been taken over because of it. Some folks are having their Microsoft points stolen and or points purchased via their stolen gamer tag." Furthermore, the post quotes a MS Tech: "Hackers have control of Xbox live and there is nothing we can do about it"
User Journal

Journal Journal: Going to Iraq costed you.. 5

Journal by andr0meda

409.198.000.000 cost (http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=182)
456.829.602 people (http://www.census.gov/govs/statetax/05staxrank.html)

The Iraq war costed you officially 895 dollar per person on average.
The Internet

Submission + - <video> Element for (X)HTML5 Discussed

Submitted by
Jeff Fohl
Jeff Fohl writes: "An interesting discussion is brewing on the WhatWG (Web Hypertext Application Technology Working Group) mailing list around a new proposal for a <video> element in (X)HTML5.

The idea is to have a dedicated element specifically for video, instead of using the old, multi-purpose <object> element and its attendant complexity. The first tinkering apparently occurred with the Opera team, and has been introduced to the WhatWG discussion by Opera team member Anne van Kesteren. Anne has made an entry about it in his blog.

This is only an initial discussion, but quite an interesting one."

Slashdot Top Deals

I tell them to turn to the study of mathematics, for it is only there that they might escape the lusts of the flesh. -- Thomas Mann, "The Magic Mountain"

Close