101352
submission
Fazed writes:
Terry Pratchett will be answering your questions LIVE on the BBC Message Board at 5.35pm GMT TODAY.
See http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/bluepeter/
101350
submission
Anonymous Flyboy Coward writes:
The Experimental Aircraft Association is taking on the Federal Aviation Administration, which has denied a FOIA request for access to construction data to the owner of 70+ year old antique Fairchild F45 aircraft. The FAA sided with a company that was formed in 1990 (and which didn't even know the airplane type existed until the FAA's inquiry) that claims it "owns" the design and manufacturing data to the aircraft, calling the data a "trade secret". The company failed to register with the FAA (as required by law) yet the FAA is standing by it's assertion that they "own" this data, which was turned over to the public domain in the 1950s. Many vintage aircraft owners face a Catch-22 situation: they are required by law to perform maintenance to the manufacturer's specs, but much of this data is unavailable because the FAA refuses to release it without the data's owner's permission... even if there is no such owner. The decision in this case will likely have wide-ranging implications on FOIA requests, as well as affect whether historical antique aircraft will remain flyable or lost forever to a pointless bureaucratic death. The full story is available here.
101342
submission
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?
101338
submission
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.
101336
submission
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?
101324
submission
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?