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Power

Submission + - Sanyo blamed in Lenovo battery recall

Submitted by ukhackster
ukhackster writes: Those overheating laptop batteries are back. Lenovo is recalling 205,000 "extended" batteries which shipped with its ThinkPad machines, or were bought as replacements.

Slashdot readers will doubtless remember the flak which Sony attracted last year, after it was blamed for exploding Dell notebooks and several massive recalls. This time, the batteries were made by Sanyo. Could this be the start of another recall franzy?
Programming

Submission + - When a CGI script is the most elegant solution

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Writing local Web applications can be quick, easy, and efficient for solving specific Intranet problems. Learn why a Web browser is sometimes a better interface than a GUI application and why experienced Web developers find themselves struggling to learn a GUI toolkit, and descover that a simple CGI script would serve their needs perfectly well, if not better.
Patents

Submission + - EC: Microsoft patents aren't innovative

Submitted by ukhackster
ukhackster writes: The EC is threatening Microsoft with yet more fines. This time, it's over the interoperability protocols that Microsoft has been ordered to open up to its rivals. The EC has examined 1,500 pages of information about the protocols, and concluded that they "lack significant innovation".

This is pretty damning for both Microsoft and the patent system, as it has been awarded 36 patents covering this technology and has another 37 pending. Could this encourage someone like the EFF to start pushing to get these patents overturned?
Announcements

Submission + - Take-Two Loses $185 Million in 2006

Submitted by
njkid1
njkid1 writes: "With the investigation into stock options practices (hopefully) in the rear-view mirror, Take-Two revealed a loss of around $185 million for fiscal 2006. The company believes it can break even in fiscal 2007 and that its 2K Sports operation will become profitable. More within... http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=1538 3&ncid=AOLGAM000500000000001"
Displays

Submission + - Dell UltraSharp 2407WFP (Review)

Submitted by
luna6
luna6 writes: "Dell's 24" UltraSharp 2407WFP is one of the finer computer monitors around and it now retails for only $687. We take a look at what this monitor can do and it can do quite a few different things very well. Screenshots of the monitor in action are provided. http://lunapark6.com/?p=3202"
Sun Microsystems

Submission + - Sun joins the Free Software Foundation

Submitted by Cheeto
Cheeto writes: Sun Microsystems has joined the FSF! Arstechnica is reporting that Sun has joined the corporate patron program, and will be in the same club as other giants such as IBM, Intel, and Google. With Sun releasing Java under the GPL, and the possibility of releasing OpenSolaris under the GPLv3 — do we see Sun now holding the flag of free software instead of Redhat and IBM?
Security

Submission + - New Free Data Privacy Tool Download

Submitted by
JC
JC writes: "Scentric has announced the availability of the Data Privacy Assessment Tool, giving users a proactive assessment of potential data privacy risks. Available as a free download at http://www.scentric.com/ for a 30 day period following user registration on the site, the application provides on-demand classification of files on laptops, desktops, filers and file servers. In the last two years, over 100 million private data records have been lost or stolen, according to the Privacy Rights Clearing House. The Ponemon Institute estimates the average cost of a data breech in 2006 at $182 per record, but the impact of a privacy breech on an enterprise goes beyond the dollar costs involved to include damage to a company's brand image, potential fines, and lost customers."
Oracle

Submission + - SPAM: Oracle will buy Hyperion for $3.3 billion

Submitted by
alphadogg
alphadogg writes: "Oracle has agreed to acquire business intelligence software vendor Hyperion Solutions for $3.3 billion in cash, it said Thursday. Oracle said it will combine Hyperion's software with its own business intelligence (BI) and analytics tools. The deal is the latest big purchase by Oracle, following its acquisitions of applications vendors PeopleSoft and Siebel Systems. [spam URL stripped]l e-will-buy-hyperion-for.html?page=1"
AMD

Submission + - Atom-thick carbon transistor could succeed silicon

Submitted by
Matthew Sparkes
Matthew Sparkes writes: "Transistors more than four times smaller than the tiniest silicon ones — and potentially more efficient — can be made using sheets of carbon just one-tenth of a nanometre thick. The transistors are made of graphene, a sheet of carbon atoms in a flat honeycomb arrangement. Graphene makes graphite when stacked in layers, and carbon nanotubes when rolled into a tube. "This new material has properties that suggest it could have a range of powerful applications.""
Windows

Submission + - Consumer Vista support slashed by Microsoft

Submitted by
Mytob
Mytob writes: "Microsoft is to limit support for three versions of Windows Vista, including its most expensive, to five years rather than the usual 10 years. The company defended the difference by noting that the clock just started ticking. "End of life-cycle support for Windows Vista is still five years out," a spokesperson said. http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=8 550"
Power

Submission + - Is Nuclear a Viable Option for Our Energy Needs?

Submitted by
Prof. Goose
Prof. Goose writes: "Very interesting and detailed technical piece on the pros and cons on nuclear power.

Technically, there appear to be no show stoppers for a considerable expansion of Nuclear Power throughout the world. It is a low carbon energy source with abundant fuel supplies. The technology works and has much potential for improvement. Whether or not a large scale expansion eventuates depends on how it competes with Coal on economic grounds and with the public on political grounds. This in turn will be determined by the performance of the nuclear industry over the next few years as these purportedly cheaper and safer plants are built.
http://www.theoildrum.com/node/2323"
Software

Submission + - Is working for DARPA ethically defensible?

Submitted by
evil_breeds
evil_breeds writes: "I've recently been offered a job to write software for a company contracting to DARPA and I'm stuck on the ethics of the situation. Take as given that the nature of the job and its benefits to me are excellent — what I'm interested in is the ethics of working for the U.S. military and what that supports, versus the net Good that some of DARPA's past work (like say, the internet) has produced. I think it's fair to suspend Godwin's Law for this discussion."
Wireless Networking

Submission + - Best wireless router for congested college area

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: I have been living close to campus at UW Madison for the past six months or so and have come across a problem. We, along with everyone else in the area, have a wireless router, both a belkin 54g and a linksys wrt54g. We have charter 3 mbit down .25 mbit up cable and 6 guys in our apartment. Just on our block about 15-20 people have routers, and when I look at available networks there is around that many. We are constantly plagued with problems connecting to the wireless, staying connected, getting connected after rebooting, hibernating, etc. We have to reset either or both the cable modem and router many times a day to get everything rolling again. I am thinking that the router is the problem, because my dad always told me that's why they have twenty dollar routers up to thirty thousand dollar routers. My question to slashdot is...what router can I purchase that will help my situation and work well in a congested college area that is already filled with wireless networks, and will still be good for use with 6-8 laptops, some land connections, two xbox 360's, and a ps3. Thanks in advance!
Media (Apple)

Submission + - iTunes' opening it doors to indie film producers?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: After ten months of negotiations (read: pestering), Apple has agreed to sell downloads of the 'indie' snowboarding film, That, through the company's iTunes video download store. This is the first time that Apple has accepted content that doesn't come from an established or major distributor; essentially cutting out the 'middleman', so that a small video producer can sell their content directly through iTunes. So does this mean that iTunes is ready to embrace the long tail, and help small independent filmmakers monetize their content?
Software

Submission + - Selling open source to upper management

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: I am the single member of the IT department at a small nonprofit. We were looking to replace our commercial content management system with a custom combination of open source solutions (Lucene, Jackrabbit, etc.) However, since I was the sole developer, progress was slow and we have little resources to recruit potential volunteers.

Recently, we had a closed source, commercial vendor demo their version of a content management system, and immediately upper management was willing to go along with their proposal, even at the expense of project requirements.

Although I understand and accept the decision (and am quite relieved I am not expected to deliver as the sole developer), I am interested to know if there are resources for promoting open source software in a manner like closed source, commercial software. If not, is this a challenge within the OS community? It seems that OS solutions are primarily promoted to technical implementors rather than upper management. Of course, many technical implementors do not have the marketing skills to promote open source, but are there resources to help us do so?

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