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Security

Submission + - Peak oil is a looming threat to security - GAO

Submitted by
Engineer-Poet
Engineer-Poet writes: "Prompted by pressure from the Hon. Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD) and Tom Udall (D-NM), today the GAO released a ground-breaking report on peak oil. While it is arguably weakened by references to Richard Duncan's "Olduvai Gorge" theory and other fringe concepts, it deflates a number of widely-held misconceptions about ethanol, fuel cells, and a host of other things. Among the salient points:
  • US oil production peaked decades ago. Technology may slow the decline, but it is going nowhere but down.
  • Most of the major oil-producing nations in the world have either peaked, or appear to be peaking. (The list of "has-peakeds" includes Mexico, whose mammoth Cantarell field's production is dropping on the order of 20% per year.)
  • Most of the remaining oil in the world lies in politically unstable nations (think Venezuela and Iraq).
This is very much worth reading, not only for the graphs but also for the mind-opening discussions such as the difference between conventional oil, non-conventional oil and non-oil (page 7)."
Software

Submission + - OpenOffice 2.2 Released

Submitted by
xsspd2004
xsspd2004 writes: "http://www.desktoplinux.com/news/NS3561829136.html

The OpenOffice.org Community on March 29 announced the release of a major upgrade to OpenOffice: version 2.2. The group claims that with upgrades to its word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, and database software, the free office suite provides a real alternative to Microsoft's recently-released Office 2007 product."
Biotech

Submission + - MIT shows how to shut down brain with light

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The MIT home-page story today is about a way to use light to shut down brain activity. "Scientists at the MIT Media Lab have invented a way to reversibly silence brain cells using pulses of yellow light, offering the prospect of controlling the haywire neuron activity that occurs in diseases such as epilepsy and Parkinson's disease." Read more at http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/brain-block.htm l (home page image at http://www.mit.edu/)
The Internet

Submission + - Intel Details New Chip Technology

Submitted by BOOM
BOOM writes: Intel Corp., the world's largest computer chip maker, on Wednesday unveiled details of a new lineup of processors slated for production later this year that promise a performance boost and energy savings because of the transition to a new manufacturing technology.
The Internet

Submission + - computer geeks are the new schoolyard bullies

Submitted by
vaporland
vaporland writes: "This story from Reuters states that computer geeks are the new schoolyard bullies. To quote the article:

'Bullies are no longer content to taunt their victims in the playground but are turning to cyberspace, according to Canadian researchers.
They are using e-mail, text messaging and social networking sites in new forms of victimization.
Cyber bullies are even forcing their girlfriends to undress in front of webcams and then sharing the images with others online.'

I for one welcome our new geek overlords — now if I could only find a way to get even with that towel-popping guy from my eighth grade gym class . . ."
Businesses

Submission + - Corrosion prevention

Submitted by
Cutie
Cutie writes: "We are having a lot of problem with corrosion and one has to search for a wide variety of products that will satisfy our corrosion protection needs. Actually one company will develop new products or modify existing products to meet the user needs. We should prevent corrosion and we should have a solution to protect from the corrosion. When i meet this problem, i have a source where i came to know about the corrosion causes and how to prevent that. If u also want to know about that read all about the corrosion from http://www.zerust.com/"
Supercomputing

Submission + - IBM Unveils Speedy Optical Chipset

Submitted by
LucasSmarts
LucasSmarts writes: "The prototype streams data within computer systems over light pulses eight times faster than optical components in use today, IBM claims. IBM on Monday announced the manufacture of a tiny optical chipset capable of moving data at speeds of 160GB per second, a feat that would make it possible to down a high-definition movie in a second. How long before this makes it into CPUs'? Full story availible here."
Communications

Samsung's UpStage Looks To Trump iPhone 197

Posted by kdawson from the flip dept.
bj sends word of Samsung's recently unveiled cell phone, called UpStage. It will ship April 1 (no fooling) for $300, or $150 with a 2-year contract from Sprint Nextel. "...the UpStage is a candy-bar style handset that's less than half an inch thick and not much taller or wider than an iPod Nano. Other multimedia-friendly cell phones struggle to balance the sometimes-conflicting requirements of a conventional handset and a music or video player; the UpStage solves this quandary by simply putting phone functions on one side of the device and the multimedia functions on the other side."
Displays

Submission + - Samsung showcaseshighly innovative LCD monitor

Submitted by
Tsahi Levent-Levi
Tsahi Levent-Levi writes: "Samsung introduced a new LCD monitor in the last CeBIT event. This new monitor comes packed with a built-in PC and video telephony. It can either be used as a stand-alone thin client (a PC for all regular office purposes) as well as a videophone station or it can also complement as an LCD monitor for another PC.

This can really change the way enterprises work! Check out some Q&A around this new product from Samsung's VP here."

Feed Will Viacom Kill the Video Star? (wired.com)

From feed by wiredfeed
The media giant's billion-dollar lawsuit against YouTube has the potential to change the online video landscape -- and introduce a new interpretation of copyright law. News analysis by Hugh Hart.


Programming

Submission + - The Math of Graphics

Submitted by dalektcalum
dalektcalum writes: Understanding the mathematical foundation of graphics can help anyone be a better graphics programmer. In a recent talk given by Christopher Evensen he covers the important fundamentals that everyone should know. The math is also accompanied by a real world programming example. This talk is an excellent place to get started, or quick review for those already working in the field.
Software

Submission + - GroupWise still whips Exchange

Submitted by
CameronT
CameronT writes: "Despite the dominance of Microsoft products in industry and government generally (often through aggressive marketing and licence sweetners rather than technical appraisal), large organisations are still finding that it performs poorly compared to less well known products — in this case Novell's GroupWise collaboration suite, which is cheaper, less resource inefficient, less susceptible to threats and far more reliable. 0% downtime is typical for GroupWise installations, in my experience. http://www.novell.com/success/tafe_tasmania.html"
Linux Business

Submission + - Novell gaining on Red Hat

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=345

Whatever the reasons behind the formation of the Microsoft-Novell technology partnership announced last year, it's helping Novell SuSE Linux gain at Red Hat's expense, according to a research study due out next month.

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