Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Censorship

Submission + - NYC man Arrested for Reciting First Amendment

Submitted by CWRUisTakingMyMoney
CWRUisTakingMyMoney writes: 'Reverend Billy' — a cross between a street-corner preacher and an Elvis impersonator (but blond) — was arrested on harassment charges last week while reciting the First Amendment through a megaphone in Manhattan's Union Square. Have we reached the point where we can't even (rather uniquely) recite from our own Constitution without being arrested or shouted down?
Biotech

Submission + - Deep-sea vents spawned pathogens (newscientist.com)

Submitted by
brian0918
brian0918 writes: "NewScientist reports on the suggestion being made by researchers in Japan that the harsh living conditions around deep-sea hydrothermal vents may have forced the development of highly capable disease-causing bacteria. These vents 'spew superheated water, rich in chemicals, from volcanically active mid-ocean ridges... The study found that vent bacteria frequently lose genes, develop new mutations, or acquire genes from evolutionarily distant sources... The ability to survive in an ever-changing environment is also useful for pathogens under attack from their host's immune system. The team suggests that the bacteria initially lived with vent invertebrates before swapping that location for life as a pathogen.'"
United States

Submission + - James Madison said Bush should be impeached! (washingtonpost.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Thanks to http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/7/2/193014/ 5401 : In the [Constitutional] convention George Mason argued that the President might use his pardoning power to "pardon crimes which were advised by himself" or, before indictment or conviction, "to stop inquiry and prevent detection." James Madison responded: [I]f the President be connected, in any suspicious manner, with any person, and there be grounds [to] believe he will shelter him, the House of Representatives can impeach him; they can remove him if found guilty... Madison went on to [say] contrary to his position in the Philadelphia convention, that the President could be suspended when suspected, and his powers would devolve on the Vice President, who could likewise be suspended until impeached and convicted, if he were also suspected.
Space

Submission + - Death rates will rise because of global warming (medicalnewstoday.com)

Submitted by brian0918
brian0918 writes: Harvard researchers analyzing city-specific weather data related to the deaths of more than 6.5 million people in 50 US cities between 1989 and 2000 have concluded that while global warming will cause more deaths in summer because of higher temperatures, these will not be offset by fewer deaths in milder winters. According to them, 'central heating, which constitutes an important adaptive mechanism against cold, is almost universal in the US, and this may explain why the US population seemed fully acclimatised to cold. Making air conditioning universally available may reduce heat-related mortality but would, on the other hand, have a perverse effect by enhancing global warming through carbon dioxide emissions from electricity consumption.'
Microsoft

Submission + - Is Vista Ultimate the 'zonk' behind door #3? (blorge.com)

Submitted by
secretsather
secretsather writes: "http://tech.blorge.com/Structure:%20/2007/07/02/is -vista-ultimate-the-zonk-behind-door-3/

  Microsoft knows that nothing sells better than the element of mystery. Raise the price of Vista Home Premium by $160, slap an 'ultimate' logo on it, throw in the element of mystery, and sell it to consumers who are willing to pay for something that simply doesn't exist.

The TV game show, Let's Make a Deal, comes to mind. Contestants were given a prize, just before being asked to wager it for the possibility of something greater; only, the prizes were concealed, usually behind one of three curtains, boxes or doors.

The chance of receiving a greater award was enough to motivate contestants to trade their prize for whatever was behind their chosen mystery door. This usually resulted in the contestants walking away with the 'zonk' prize, an undesirable and worthless item such as food, clothing, or Vista Ultimate.

Windows Vista Ultimate Edition includes every feature from every other edition, but comes with Windows Ultimate Extras. At the time of launch, Microsoft wouldn't disclose any details on Windows Ultimate Extras and described it as extra "programs, services, tips, and tricks."

Take a look at what Vista Ultimate purchasers are getting for the extra $160:

      1. Windows Hold'Em — A spin on the popular Texas hold'em poker game.
      2. 16 language packs for the Windows multi-language user interface
      3. Windows BitLocker Drive Preparation Tool — configures hard drive to use BitLocker drive encryption
      4. Secure Online Key Backup — stores backup copy of your BitLocker recovery password.

Microsoft, in a recent announcement, claimed: "To date, we have released four sets of Extras." Four extras? BitLocker and Online Key Backup go hand in hand, and I would hardly consider 16 language packs to be an 'extra.'

But Microsoft has announced the shipment of 2 more 'extras' by the end of the Summer: Windows DreamScene and the remaining 20 Language Packs. Windows DreamScene allows you to use a video (mpeg or wmv only) in place of the static image on your desktop. DreamScene may look neat for a minute or two, but as soon as your system suffers from performance issues, it will be just as useful as having 36 language packs.

Microsoft intends to ship additional extras in the future, but says, "We cannot identify dates or provide details at this time." Perhaps Microsoft is taking it one extra at a time, and simply doesn't know what the next extra will be. (If you're looking for hints, there are still over 2,000 language packs that can be created) Even better, maybe Microsoft is still trying to keep the 'mystery' element in play so it can continue to rape consumers of their $160 for every copy of Vista Ultimate sold."
Technology (Apple)

Submission + - It Costs $220 to Make an iPhone (businessweek.com)

Submitted by
Bomarc
Bomarc writes: " BuinessWeek says that "An analysis from teardown firm Portelligent estimates that the new smartphone costs Apple a mere $220 to make" and "Portelligent estimates that the cost of the materials used in the iPhone add up to about $200 for the 4-gigabyte version, which sells for $499 and about $220 for the 8-gigabyte version, which sells for $599""
Businesses

Submission + - An Emission-Free Recycling Machine

Submitted by usacoder
usacoder writes: New Scientist Magazine has a story about a company that has developed a process to convert automobile and truck tires into diesel quality fuel and other byproducts. Global Resources process basically uses a microwave oven, a vacuum chamber and condenser to break down the tires into their original manufactured components.

So what's next turning methane back into cows?
Software

Submission + - Safari on Windows--Just Say No (extremetech.com)

Submitted by
mikemuch
mikemuch writes: "Apple says Safari is "the world's best browser," but here are 10 reasons why Safari is inferior to other browsers available on Windows. The article also includes checkups on Apple's claims of Safari's faster operation. It turns out that for most rendering tests, Safari is indeed quite a bit faster than IE, and especially Firefox, but there are other performance issues to consider."
Patents

Submission + - So how long before eating is a patented process?

Submitted by dwarfking
dwarfking writes: The subject line is a bit tongue-in-cheek, but the article about a lawsuite of the IP of a salad recipe is either funny or scary, depending on the outcome.

From the article:

But the legal action, one of the first in which a restaurant owner has gone to court over intellectual property, has opened up a veritable can of lobster tails over when culinary influences stray into imitation.


What seems to have upset Ms Charles in particular is Ed's Caesar, a $7 (£3.50) salad that she alleges in the legal action was taken from her own recipe. But Ms Charles acquired the recipe from her mother, who, in turn, wheedled it out of a chef in Los Angeles.
Linux Business

Submission + - Is Linux Splitting into Two Factions? (linspire.com)

Submitted by
AlexGr
AlexGr writes: "Good commentary by Kevin Carmony in his Linspire Letter blog: With the recent news of several Linux vendors entering into partnership agreements with Microsoft (Novell, Linspire, Xandros), there has been much debate recently about two factions of Linux forming. Saying that Linux is going to be torn in two, makes for good press and lively debates, but this is certainly nothing new for Linux. http://www.linspire.com/linspire_letter_archives.p hp?id=49"
The Internet

Submission + - FTC report says no need for net neutrality (networkoptimizationnews.com)

Submitted by
bpc123
bpc123 writes: "WASHINGTON — The Federal Trade Commission's Internet Access Task Force yesterday issued its report on broadband competition policy. Entitled "Broadband Connectivity Competition Policy," it follows the agency's two-day public workshop in February 2007 on broadband competition issues.

FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras said in the agency news release, "This report recommends that policy makers
proceed with caution in the evolving, dynamic industry of broadband Internet access, which generally is moving
toward more — not less — competition. In the absence of significant market failure or demonstrated consumer harm,
policy makers should be particularly hesitant to enact new regulation in this area."

To read on, visit http://www.networkoptimizationnews.com/"
Television

Submission + - The New Age of Portable Video?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In the past, I didn't see the point of ripping a DVD because they were already pretty compact. But that's changing now that I've got several pocket-sized things for displaying video. Even my DVD player from Philips plays Divx and MPEG4s. This mainstream NY Times article (reg. required) notes that there are more and more reasons for legitimate movie owners to move their copy like keeping "sticky little fingers off DVDs". Many want to download videos from YouTube, reformat them, and take them along in their video iPod. Will the proliferation of options and needs going to put more pressure on studios to let users move their copies from machine to machine? Will the gadget manufacturers take the lead?
Security

Submission + - Controversial security paper nixed from Black Hat (networkworld.com)

Submitted by
coondoggie
coondoggie writes: "A presentation scheduled for Black Hat USA 2007 that promised to undermine chip-based desktop and laptop security has been suddenly withdrawn without explanation. The briefing, "TPMkit: Breaking the Legend of [Trusted Computing Group's Trusted Platform Module] and Vista (BitLocker)," promised to show how computer security based on trusted platform module (TPM) hardware could be circumvented. "We will be demonstrating how to break TPM," Nitin and Vipin Kumar said in their abstract for their talk that was posted on the Black Hat Web site but was removed overnight Monday. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/062707-black -hat.html"

Slashdot Top Deals

If a subordinate asks you a pertinent question, look at him as if he had lost his senses. When he looks down, paraphrase the question back at him.

Close