El_Isma - Slashdot User

Submission + - England's Database Of Children COmes Under Fire (timesonline.co.uk)

Submitted by

Mike

on Monday August 27, 2007 @12:34AM

Mike writes: "A comprehensive database of every single child in England is slated to go live next year amid growing doubts as to the system's security and safety. Possible misuse by unauthorized users is only one concern. Ian Brown, a computer security research fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute, summed it up nicely: "When you have got more than 300,000 people accessing this database, it's just very difficult to stop the sale of information." With an estimated 330,000 "vetted users" and over 11 million children listed, can there be any doubt that this database will be a virtual magnet for pedophiles, spammers, and scammers?"

Submission + - Microsoft: stuck in meetings? (nytimes.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 27, 2007 @12:15AM

An anonymous reader writes: Article about the IE team (of all groups) the effect of notebooks in meetings.

Submission + - Replacing a Voice Mail System

Submitted by

mikey1134

on Sunday August 26, 2007 @08:34PM

mikey1134 writes: "I am a Network Technician for medium-sized business firm in the north-eastern US. I have been charged with creating a backup to our voicemail system. The current implementation is a Lucent Intuity Audix system running on SCO Unixware system (let the joking ensue) The system is no longer supported by the installers and the only choice offered for a redundant system is a complete replacement with a price tag upwards of $20,000. We are looking at replicating the current system, but hardware for it (PXO, cards etc.) is hard to come by. I've considered suggesting something like Asterisk but I've never personally seen a voicemail-only implimentation. Can anyone point me in the right direction for either keeping the old system going (new hardware, etc.) or failing that, suggestions for a drop-in replacement system, preferably utilizing free software."

Submission + - Nerd Apocalypse: Hardcore Gaming On the Decline

Submitted by

njkid1

on Wednesday February 14, 2007 @08:54PM

njkid1 writes: "The numbers are out, and the verdict is in. The hardcore gamer audience is turning into a smaller and smaller piece of the pie. What will nerds do when the gaming industry starts to ignore them? The response to Next-Gen piece "THE GAMES PEOPLE BUY" has been pouring in. Ars-Technica Opposable Thumbs commented that demand for casual-style games is not necessarily reducing the number of hardcore gamers — it is making the percentage of Cheeto-eating, basement-dwelling gamers drop. http://www.gamedailyxl.com/2007/02/14/nerd-apocaly pse-hardcore-gaming-on-the-decline?&ncid=AOLGAM000 500000000014"

Submission + - 14 HP Company Secrets from a former employee

Submitted by rob101 on Wednesday February 14, 2007 @08:50PM

rob101 writes: A former Hewlett-Packard worker could barely wait for their non-disclosure-agreement to end so they could spill 14 company secrets to The Consumerist. Full article at the Consumerist. This article details secrets about HP printers, how to get past the voice prompt system, HP cartridges and warranty information.

Submission + - Kansas abandons "intelligent design" in s

Submitted by joe90 on Wednesday February 14, 2007 @08:46PM

joe90 writes: Kansas has repealed public school science guidelines questioning the theory of evolution that brought the state international ridicule, but educators aren't sure how long it will be before the decision is overturned. The State Board of Education approved new, evolution-friendly science standards with a 6-4 vote Tuesday, replacing ones that questioned the theory and had the support of "intelligent design" advocates.

Submission + - Vista Strongly Recommended Against by BECTA

Submitted by Dracul on Wednesday February 14, 2007 @08:09PM

Dracul writes: BECTA — the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency — have just released a report which analyses whether Vista should be adopted by UK schools

The recommendations of the report basically say it all:

The enhancements in Vista add value but do not justify its early deployment in the educational environment Early deployment [of Vista] is considered high risk and strongly recommended against

I expect higher education world wide is going to try to adopt a similar position. It will be interesting to see how hard Micro$oft fights back. The report estimates that upgrading would cost the UK schools £167 million — universities are going to be spending billions on this...

Submission + - Bill to store all ISP activity indefinitely

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 14, 2007 @07:48PM

An anonymous reader writes: Once again government uses the boogie man of child pornography to propose the most draconian internet legislation to date. ISP's would be required to store indefinitely all user online data or face prison. http://www.infowars.com/articles/bb/internet_congr ess_wants_monitor_all_emails_ims.htm

Submission + - Master Boot Record Guided Tour

Submitted by IdaAshley on Wednesday February 14, 2007 @07:26PM

IdaAshley writes: This article explores the Linux boot process from the initial bootstrap to the start of the first user-space application. Along the way, learn about other boot-related topics such as the boot loaders, kernel decompression, and the initial RAM disk. Also take a look at a scheduled chat about the Linux desktop and how it is evolving, including improvements in application interoperability, and desktop graphics.

Submission + - Great Games Contest

Submitted by

James Wiley

on Wednesday February 14, 2007 @06:22PM

James Wiley writes: "THE GREAT GAMES CONTEST

Great Games, Great Community, Great Contest

GarageGames is proud to announce a contest for a brand new site dedicated to bringing developers, gamers, and publishers together with great games: GreatGamesExperiment.com. To create your account and get started head over to www.GreatGamesExperiment.com and use the promo code SlashDotGGE.

GarageGames is going beyond development tools to try to change the industry using the entire community of indie gamers. Great games deserve to be played, regardless of budget or bureaucracy. No one company or part of the community can do it alone. Gamers, developers, and publishers must unite to bring every essential component of the indie game process together.

Contest, Categories, Prizes

Here's a link to the contest categories and prizes, which include an Xbox 360 with XNA Creator's Club Membership, an ATI video card, an iPod shuffle, 2 free passes to the Game Developers Conference in San Fransisco, and more great prizes!

If you're reading this the contest has already started, this round ends on February 19th. GGE will be having a new contest every two weeks leading up to a two week contest after its full release to the public on March 5th, so there will be plenty of chances to win increasingly great prizes.

Gamers Wanted

Why are we giving away so much free stuff to a limited group of people? GGE is a community site, and therefore requires active community participation to thrive. We have the content, and now we're looking to get more gamers. Gamers on GGE aren't limited to playing games that have already been posted. If a game can be found, it can be posted — there are few limits to the games that community members can add. Having a large initial user base comprised mostly of developers and gamers will help to ensure that GGE will indeed result in a site that is dedicated to being the catalyst that drives the video game industry into the next generation of gaming.

Promote, Network, Discover, Download, Play

The goal of GGE is to be an all-in-one community for everything a lover of great games could want from a site. Promote your game; network with other developers and gamers; discover new games and old favorites; download free games and demos, or make yours available to others; play games and share your passion with an active community created for that very purpose."

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