bsk_cw - Slashdot User

Submission + - Western Digital's new drives expand laptop storage (computerworld.com)

Submitted by bsk_cw on Friday October 14, 2011 @10:00AM

bsk_cw writes: Western Digital (WD) is helping to break new ground with its new Scorpio Blue SATA series of 2.5-in. laptop drives by adding two 1TB models. Bill O'Brien reviewed the 9.5mm version, and found that switching to the higher-capacity Scorpio Blue, despite its slower rotational speed, is practically a no-lose situation.

Submission + - Event-hiding 'Temporal Cloak' Demonstrated (gizmag.com)

Submitted by Zothecula on Friday October 14, 2011 @09:46AM

Zothecula writes: Last year researchers at Imperial College London proposed that along with being used to cloak physical objects, metamaterials could also be used to cloak a singular event in time. A year later, researchers from Cornell University have demonstrated a working "temporal cloak" that is able to conceal a burst of light as if it had never occurred.

Submission + - Look Ma, I'm Getting Arrested! (cnet.com)

Submitted by

robotissues

on Thursday October 13, 2011 @02:14PM

robotissues writes: "Cnet reviews "I'm Getting Arrested", an Android app that alerts your lawyer, loved ones, etc if you have been arrested peacefully demonstrating. Makes it easy to broadcast a message via SMS in the event all hell breaks loose."

Submission + - A deep dive into Windows 8 Developer Preview (computerworld.com)

Submitted by bsk_cw on Thursday September 22, 2011 @09:08AM

bsk_cw writes: Computerworld's Preston Gralla spent about a week working with Windows 8, and reports on his findings. He says, "After spending several days with the Developer Preview of Windows 8 on a PC, it's clear that Microsoft's new operating system — which offers two separate interfaces, Metro and Desktop — is a transitional one between traditional computers and mobile devices. All of Microsoft's energy and creativity has been devoted to the new Metro interface; there's very little new of note for the old-fashioned Desktop."

Submission + - New Images of Tumbling US Satellite (perso.sfr.fr)

Submitted by arisvega on Thursday September 22, 2011 @06:43AM

arisvega writes: An amateur astronomer has recorded images of the out-of-control US satellite as it tumbles back to Earth. Theirry Legault, from Paris, captured the video as the satellite passed over northern France on 15 September. The six-tonne, 20-year-old spacecraft has fallen out of orbit and is expected to crash somewhere on Earth on or around 24 September. The US space agency says the risk to life from the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) is 1 in 3,200. Mr Legault, an engineer, used a specially designed camera to record the tumbling satellite through his 14-inch telescope, posting the footage on his Astrophotography website.

UARS could land anywhere between 57 degrees north and 57 degrees south of the equator — most of the populated world. Nasa says that most of the satellite will break or burn up before reaching Earth. But scientists have identified 26 separate pieces that could survive the fall through the atmosphere. This debris could rain across an area 400-500km (250-310 miles) wide. Robust, spherical satellite components such as fuel tanks are often most likely to survive the fiery plunge to Earth, say space experts. Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite The "productive scientific life" of UARS ended in 2005 when it ran out of fuel. Nasa said scientists would only be able to make more accurate predictions about where the satellite might land two hours before it enters the Earth's atmosphere.

Submission + - Site builder shootout: Drupal v Joomla v WordPress (computerworld.com)

Submitted by bsk_cw on Wednesday September 14, 2011 @10:42AM

bsk_cw writes: There are boatloads of content management systems (CMSs) for serious site creators, but the most common for websites today are three open-source tools: Joomla, Drupal and WordPress. Actually, to call them "tools" is an understatement — these are full-fledged platforms, with tens of thousands of add-on tools created by very active developer communities. Brian Proffitt built a website with each, and reports on what he found.

Submission + - NASA unveils next spaceship — a hybrid shutt (orlandosentinel.com)

Submitted by

wooferhound

on Wednesday September 14, 2011 @10:34AM

wooferhound writes: "WASHINGTON — After months of debate, NASA has settled on plans for its next spaceship — a space shuttle hybrid that will fly twice in the next decade and cost $30 billion through 2021, according to senior administration officials and internal NASA documents.

That NASA decided to recycle elements of the shuttle is not unexpected. Last year, Congress and the White House agreed NASA should reuse equipment from old programs and the new design — which includes a giant fuel tank and two booster rockets — largely reflects that compromise. The most noticeable change is the plane-like orbiter will be replaced by an Apollo-like crew capsule atop the tank."

Submission + - Download Window 8 32 and 64-bit (pureinfotech.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 14, 2011 @10:28AM

An anonymous reader writes: Windows 8 Developer Preview is now available for download. The Windows developer center web page is now live and the upcoming version of Windows is available in the following ISO images ...

Submission + - New Gel for Flexible, Shapable Lithium Batteries (gizmag.com)

Submitted by Zothecula on Wednesday September 14, 2011 @09:56AM

Zothecula writes: Lithium-ion batteries have certainly been a boon to electronic devices, offering much longer run times than their alkaline counterparts. There is still room for improvement, however. Existing lithium batteries can short circuit, they don't stand up to damage, and they can only be made in a limited variety of shapes. Now, scientists from the University of Leeds have developed a polymer gel that could be used to make lithium batteries with none of those shortcomings — plus, they should be cheaper.

Submission + - Facial recognition identifies users from snapshots (msn.com)

Submitted by

concealment

on Wednesday September 14, 2011 @09:39AM

concealment writes: "Using off-the-shelf facial recognition software and simple Internet data mining techniques, Acquisti says he's proven that most people can now be identified simply through a photograph of their face — and anyone can do the sleuthing. In other words, our faces have become our identities, and there little hope of remaining anonymous in a world where billions of photographs are taken and posted online every month."

Submission + - 10 drive docks help you re-use old hard drives - C (computerworld.com)

Submitted by bsk_cw on Wednesday June 22, 2011 @04:55PM

bsk_cw writes: Bill O'Brien looks at 10 USB 3.0 drive docks, which are handy if (like him) you've amassed a collection of older internal SATA drives. He doesn't see a lot of difference among them; which you choose could come down to how many bays you want, which vendors you prefer, or your sense of style.

Submission + - Microsoft vs. Apple: The History of Computing (Inf (manolution.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 22, 2011 @04:41PM

An anonymous reader writes: The history of the two largest personal computing companies, including historic stock information all in one gigantic infographic.

Submission + - Social Networks for Patent Enthusiasts (wordpress.com)

Submitted by jmornini on Wednesday June 22, 2011 @04:37PM

jmornini writes: Whether you love or hate intellectual property issues, it's definitely an interesting topic to discuss. Here are four online communities created for users interested in patents, trademarks, and copyright.

Submission + - A dozen TV guides removed from Android Market (smarthouse.com.au)

Submitted by SveinT0938 on Wednesday June 22, 2011 @04:34PM

SveinT0938 writes: Two days ago Google took action and removed almost all of 21 targeted apps from Android Market with no prior warning. The developers wrongdoing? Using the word "TV guide" in the name of the application. About a month ago Lionsgate Entertainment Inc, or rather the holding company TV Guide Online Holdings LLC, sent out a trademark infringement notice to Google. With no option to appeal, Google suspended the applications, no matter their orgin or targeted market. Apple has apparently received the same notice, but no action has been taken as of yet. I myself saw my app with about 30 000 users taken down before receiving any mail, for using a common word not even trademarkable in my own country (Norway). Google hasn't responded to a single email of mine.

Submission + - Mobile Browsers Alternatives Compared (infoworld.com)

Submitted by

snydeq

on Wednesday June 22, 2011 @01:49PM

snydeq writes: "InfoWorld's Peter Wayner provides a look at 10-plus mobile browsing alternatives, from Firefox, to Opera, to SkyFire, to Mercury, and more — a rapidly evolving area fraught with confusion, especially for developers seeking to target the mobile Web. 'All of this turmoil is creating opportunities. On the iPhone, the formerly unknown browsers are quite nice. They run quite well and sometimes offer the ability to run Flash content directly because they have compiled Flash into the stack. There are a surprisingly large number of new names appearing, and some are beginning to be mentioned in the same breath as the big browsers that dominate the desktop,' Wayner writes. 'The turmoil is also changing the definition of what a browser might be. A number of small applications such as Instapaper, Flipboard, and Evernote never set out to be browsers, but people are using them to read Web pages.'"

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