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Operating Systems

NetBSD 4.0 Has Been Released 121

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the so-long-and-thanks-for-all-the-stacks dept.
ci4 writes to tell us that NetBSD 4.0 has been released and has been dedicated to the memory of Jun-Ichiro "itojun" Hagino. "Itojun was a member of the KAME project, which provided IPv6 and IPsec support; he was also a member of the NetBSD core team (the technical management for the project), and one of the Security Officers. Due to Itojun's efforts, NetBSD was the first open source operating system with a production ready IPv6 networking stack, which was included in the base system before many people knew what IPv6 was. We are grateful to have known and worked with Itojun, and we know that he will be missed. This release is therefore dedicated, with thanks, to his memory."
Space

Will China Beat the United States Back to the Moon? 482

Posted by Zonk from the they'll-make-the-trip-from-the-earth-to-the-moon dept.
MarkWhittington writes "During an address on the space economy to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the start of the space age, NASA Administrator Michael Griffin made the assertion that China would beat the United States back to the Moon. 'Americans will not like it, but they will just have to not like it. I think we will see, as we have seen with China's introductory manned space flights so far, we will see again that nations look up to other nations that appear to be at the top of the technical pyramid, and they want to do deals with those nations. It's one of the things that made us the world's greatest economic power. So I think we'll be reinstructed in that lesson in the coming years and I hope that Americans will take that instruction positively and react to it by investing in those things that are the leading edge of what's possible."'"
Wii

Wii Shortages Could Last For Months 307

Posted by Zonk from the get-with-it-big-n dept.
Next Generation is reporting that, apparently, the Wii shortages could continue for some time yet. This is news from Nintendo's Perrin Kaplan, Nintendo's VP of marketing and corporate affairs, speaking to the Game Theory Podcast. Says Kaplan, "There is a lot going on behind the scenes in terms of working on what we are producing and the numbers continue to rise but the product is so very popular that we may see a supply / demand situation last for some time. We are at absolute maximum production and doing everything we can. The number of units that we have been able to produce has far exceeded our hardware production in the past and the production levels of a lot of our competitors but demand continues to be really high."
Bug

New Way to Patch Defective Hardware 238

Posted by Zonk from the small-size-different-angle dept.
brunascle writes "Researchers have devised a new way to patch hardware. By treating a computer chip more like software than hardware, Josep Torrellas, a computer science professor from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, believes we will be able to fix defective hardware by a applying a patch, similar to the way defective software is handled. His system, dubbed Phoenix, consists of a standard semiconductor device called a field programmable gate array (FPGA). Although generally slower than their application-specific integrated circuit counterparts, FPGAs have the advantage of being able to be modified post-production. Defects found on a Phoenix-enabled chip could be resolved by downloading a patch and applying it to the hardware. Torrellas believes this would give chips a shorter time to market, saying "If they know that they could fix the problems later on, they could beat the competition to market.""
Bug

Konami Slot Machines Flashing Subliminal Messages? 208

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the we-are-NOT-very-sorry dept.
shadowspar writes "A Canadian province has pulled several models of Konami slot machines out of service after a news investigation revealed that they briefly flash a jackpot result on the screen every time they are played. Konami claims that the 'subliminal' jackpot images are unintentional and the result of a bug, but other US and Canadian jurisdictions are looking at pulling the machines as well."
Microsoft

Submission + - Why Microsoft Virtualization licensing is bad?

Submitted by
Nirav Mehta
Nirav Mehta writes: "VMware published a very interesting white paper describing licensing and other techniques being used by Microsoft in the battle for control of the virtualization layer. From the paper — "In particular, Microsoft does not have key virtual infrastructure capabilities (like VMotion), and they are making those either illegal or expensive for customers; Microsoft doesn't have virtual desktop offerings, so they are denying it to customers; and Microsoft is moving to control this new layer that sits on the hardware by forcing their specifications and APIs on the industry." Take a look at the whole paper at http://www.vmware.com/solutions/whitepapers/msoft_ licensing_wp.html"
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Boycott the RIAA in March

Submitted by n0tWorthy
n0tWorthy writes: Gizmodo is starting up a boycott of RIAA sponsored music for the month of March. I think the entire slashdot community could and should get behind this one! Come on SlashDot, let's kick the RIAA's a$$!!
Announcements

Submission + - Tomb of Mary,Joseph & Jesus found?

Submitted by
Aryabhata
Aryabhata writes: "MSNBC reports, that this week the Discovery Channel, together with HarperSanFrancisco, will announce the release of "The Jesus Family Tomb," a television documentary and a book that aim to show that the tomb located in a nondescript suburb called East Talpiot, is, well, the family plot of Jesus Christ. Spearheaded by a well-known TV director named Simcha Jacobovici, and produced by "Titanic" director James Cameron, "The Jesus Family Tomb", is a slick and suspenseful narrative about the 1980 discovery of a first-century Jewish burial cave and the 10 bone boxes, or ossuaries, found therein. With the help of statisticians, archeologists, historians, DNA experts, robot-camera technicians, epigraphers and a CSI expert from New York's Long Island, Jacobovici puts together a case in which he argues that the bones of Jesus, Mary and Mary Magdalene, along with some of their lesser-known relatives, were once entombed in this cave."
Music

EMI — Ditching DRM is Going To Cost You 220

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the how-not-to-make-a-buck dept.
33rpm writes "EMI has told online music stores that selling its catalog without DRM is going to cost them a lot of money. 'EMI is the only major record label to seriously consider abandoning the disaster that is DRM, but earlier reports that focused on the company's reformist attitude apparently missed the mark: EMI is willing to lose the DRM, but they demand a considerable advance payment to make it happen. EMI has backed out of talks for now because no one will pay what they're asking.'"
Role Playing (Games)

The History of Computer RPGs 77

Posted by Zonk from the welcome-to-the-dnd-world dept.
Gamasutra is running a series of articles about the history of CRPGs. The first piece covers the early years, from 1980 to 1983, and deals with with games like mainframe dnd, Wizardry, and Ultima. The follow-up, The Golden Years, touches on the gold box Dungeons and Dragons titles, as well as the Bard's Tale games. "The first Gold Box game is Pool of Radiance, a game which marked an important turning point in CRPG history. The game shipped in a distinctive gold-colored box (hence the nickname for the series), which sported artwork by celebrated fantasy illustrator Clyde Caldwell (Caldwell also designed the covers for Curse of the Azure Bonds and several other TSR-licensed games and books). It was initially available only on the Atari ST and Commodore 64 platforms, though soon ports were available for most major platforms, including the NES."
The Courts

Submission + - Bloggers Immune From Suits Against Commenters

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: Suppose a commenter posts a libelous comment here at Slashdot. Can Slashdot and its leadership be sued for defamation? A federal appeals court just held that no, they cannot. The court noted that a federal law was designed to ensure that "within broad limits, message board operators would not be held responsible for the postings made by others on that board," adding that, were the law otherwise, it would have a "obvious chilling effect" on blogger speech.
Operating Systems

Submission + - Dell may produce a linux machine for mass market

Submitted by
vorlich
vorlich writes: "Network World reports that Dell receieved thousands of requests for Linux on Laptops. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/022207-dell- users-demand-linux-on.html In a Dell customers blog the top request was for Linux pre-installed on laptops and this may be part of the answer to a less than shining recent sales period. Dell says it is interested in the idea but that doesn't necessarily mean they will do it. It changed the blog site after it discovered that users were clicking multiple entries. http://www.dellideastorm.com/"
Announcements

Submission + - Bacteria could one day store data?

Submitted by
Vinit
Vinit writes: "Japanese researchers has announced a new technology which utilizes bacteria as a long-term record medium of the data. The information is retained in the bacterium by inserting artificial DNA arrangement in genome DNA arrangement of the bacterium. Bacterias are very small in size and keep gene information for generations, so they can be used to store information for a longer period of time, compared to electronic or magnetic media including CD-ROM, flash memory and hard disc. The robustness of DNA data ensures the maintenance of archived information over hundreds to thousands of years, according to the researchers. http://www.pclaunches.com/other_stuff/bacteria_cou ld_one_day_store_data.php"
United States

How to Keep America Competitive 652

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the going-where-the-money-is dept.
pkbarbiedoll writes to tell us that in a recent Washington Post article, Bill Gates takes another look at the current state of affairs in computer science and education. According to Gates: "This issue has reached a crisis point. Computer science employment is growing by nearly 100,000 jobs annually. But at the same time studies show that there is a dramatic decline in the number of students graduating with computer science degrees. The United States provides 65,000 temporary H-1B visas each year to make up this shortfall — not nearly enough to fill open technical positions. Permanent residency regulations compound this problem. Temporary employees wait five years or longer for a green card. During that time they can't change jobs, which limits their opportunities to contribute to their employer's success and overall economic growth."

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