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Submission + - How do I cool a home without air conditioning? 2

Submitted by vsanjay
vsanjay writes: Summer is fast approaching and here in the South of India, temperatures are ready to soar above 45'C. I am left wondering if I should go for that window air conditioner unit after all. I've lived with evaporative coolers all my life (24-1/2 years), but these coolers are very noisy and only work when the humidity's low. Their efficiency (cooling vs electricity consumed) is highly questionable and they also use up several litres of water every night. I wouldn't mind spending the $500-600 (Indian Rupees (INR) 20,000 +) on a new AC unit, however my concern is the fat electricity bill at the end of each month. As an AC newbie I also wonder why I have to cool the entire room, table, my bed, the computer and everything else when all I want is to cool myself.

I'd rather spend that $500 on something that would keep my room cool naturally (or atleast energy efficiently) so I can spend those extra Rupees on something more useful. Have you got any ideas, fellow Slashdotters? FYI, I live in the level one apartment of a 5 storey building and my room does not face the sun. My house, like most houses in India, is made of concrete so that is pretty good insulation (I believe).

Comment Re:A common annoyance, not just in gaming (Score 1) 349

by 51mon (#30903250) Attached to: Game Distribution Platforms Becoming Annoyingly Common

I don't think registering a URL to an XML file does the trick.

The Linux distro's typically sign the packages, saying they were presented to the distro by someone they trust.

You need some sort of security in place, otherwise the system is effectively trusting all the web servers in all the URLs, and we know how safe web servers are.

But yes if Microsoft update updated everything, then people would have motivation for running it. Where as if it just updates a few system and Office - things that no one cares about till there PC is spamming - where is the motivation?

But it boils down to the same thing, trusting a single central authority, and since Windows users implicitly trust Microsoft, it might as well be them.
Apache

Submission + - Apache may stop 1.3, 2.0 series releases (techworld.com.au)

Submitted by Dan Jones
Dan Jones writes: The Apache Software Foundation may stop releasing new versions of the older 1.3 and 2.0 series of its flagship Web server product with most development now focused on the 2.2 series. Nothing is final yet, but messages to the Apache httpd developer mailing list recommend the formal deprecation of the 1.3.x branch, with most citing a lack of development activity. The Apache HTTP server project is one of the most successful and popular open source projects and has become an integral part of the technology stack for thousands of Web and SaaS applications. The first generation of Apache was released in 1995 and the 2.0 series began in 2002. Apache httpd 2.2 began in 2005 with the latest release (October 2009) being 2.2.14. However, the most recent releases of the 1.3 and 2.0 series servers was back in January 2008. With the combined total of active 1.3 and 2.0 series Apache Web servers well into the millions, any decision to end-of-life either product will be watched closely.

Comment Re:Some Don't Seem Clear on what "Reboot" mean (Score 1) 922

by stevey (#30730476) Attached to: What SciFi Should Get the Reboot Treatment Next?

I have to say that I thought that "Batman Begins" was a fantastic film, and easily my favourite of the whole series.

Mostly though I'd agree with other comments there are a few series that would be nice to be reset, but on the whole I'd rather see new things.

(e.g. My personal pick would be Dark Angel.)
Games

The Murky Origins of Zork's Name 70

Posted by Soulskill from the murky-enough-for-a-grue dept.
mjn writes "Computational media researcher Nick Montfort traces the murky origins of Zork's name. It's well known that the word was used in MIT hacker jargon around that time, but how did it get there? Candidates are the term 'zorch' from late 1950s DIY electronics slang, the use of the term as a placeholder in some early 1970s textbooks, the typo a QWERTY user would get if he typed 'work' on an AZERTY keyboard, and several uses in obscure sci-fi. No solid answers so far, though, as there are problems with many of the possible explanations that would have made MIT hackers unlikely to have run across them at the right time."

Submission + - EVE Online Battle Breaks Records (And Servers) (kugutsumen.com) 2

Submitted by
captainktainer
captainktainer writes: "In one of the largest tests of Eve Online's new player sovereignty system in the Dominion expansion pack, a fleet of ships attempting to retake a lost star system was effectively annihilated amidst controversy. Defenders IT Alliance, a coalition succeeding the infamous Band of Brothers alliance (whose disbanding was covered in a previous story), effectively annihilated the enemy fleet, destroying thousands of dollars' worth of in-game assets. A representative of the alliance claimed to have destroyed a minimum of four, possibly five or more of the game's most expensive and powerful ship class, known as Titans. Both official and unofficial forums are filled with debate about whether the one-sided battle was due to difference in player skill or the well-known network failures after the release of the expansion. One of the attackers, a member of the GoonSwarm alliance, claims that because of bad coding, "Only 5% of [the attackers] loaded," meaning that lag prevented the attackers from using their ships, even as the defenders were able to destroy those ships unopposed. Even members of the victorious IT Alliance disappointment at the outcome of the battle. CCP, Eve Online's publisher, has recently acknowledged poor network performance, especially in the advertised "large fleet battles" that Dominion was supposed to encourage, and has asked players to help them stress test their code on Tuesday. Despite the admitted network failure, leaders of the attacking force do not expect CCP to replace lost ships, claiming that it was their own fault for not accounting for server failures. The incident raises questions about CCP's ability to cope with the increased network use associated with their rapid growth in subscriptions"

Submission + - GNU Emacs switches from CVS to Bazaar (gnu.org)

Submitted by kfogel
kfogel writes: GNU Emacs, one of the oldest continuously developed free software projects around, has switched from CVS to Bazaar. Emacs's first first recorded version-control commits date from August, 1985. Eight years later, in 1993, it moved to CVS. Sixteen years later, it is switching to Bazaar, its first time in a decentralized version control system. If this pattern holds, GNU Emacs will be in Bazaar for at least thirty-two years...

Comment Re:If they do this.. (Score 2, Informative) 539

by stevey (#30559192) Attached to: Preventing My Hosting Provider From Rooting My Server?

Indeed I work for a hosting company and although it isn't frequent if a user reports random outages my standard response will be "Look at the server logs, or if you'd like me to do so please supply some login details".

Too many people don't know what they're looking for so offering to do if for them. I assume that if they don't trust me (as admin) they'll be hosting elsewhere and I'd always suggest they change their password(s) afterward.
Networking

Submission + - Will Windows 7 finally get IPv6 deployed?

Submitted by
Esther Schindler
Esther Schindler writes: "As Steven Vaughan-Nichols writes in his article at IT Expert Voice, Windows 7 and IPv6: Useful at Last?, we've had so many predictions that this is "the year of IPv6" that most of us stopped listening. But the network protocol may have new life breathed into it because IPv6 is a requirement for DirectAccess. DirectAccess, a feature in Windows 7, makes remote access a lot easier — and it doesn't require a VPN. (Lisa Vaas interviews security experts and network admins to find out what they think of that idea.) The two articles examine the advantages and disadvantages of DirectAccess, with particular attention to the possibility that Microsoft's sponsorship may give IPv6 the deployment push it's lacked."

Submission + - How Can I Contribute to Open Source? 2

Submitted by
rtobyr
rtobyr writes: "I work for a state government agency. That means we can't donate money, because it's a "gift of public funds." I had the idea to put up a web page stating that we "use the following free software to save tax dollars" as a way to help spread the word about Open Source software, but management calls this "endorsement." A mirror server is a no-go as well. I'm certainly not a talented enough programmer to help with development. I've donated $10 here and there out of my own pocket, but I'm hoping you Slashdotters have some creative ideas about how my organization could give something back to the teams that create free software we benefit so much from."

Submission + - 'Killing in the Name' UK No. 1 thanks to Facebook (bbc.co.uk) 2

Submitted by Josh04
Josh04 writes: Due to a 900,000+ Facebook campaign, 90's rap metal group Rage Against the Machine are this year's Christmas number 1, beating out Simon Cowell's X-Factor contestant Joe McElderry to the top spot, making 'Killing in the Name' the first ever UK download-only Christmas number 1. The popular 90's rock song had support from celebrities and the BBC, who got in trouble earlier in the week for allowing five 'fucks' to slip through the censor on a live performance.

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