Aazn - Slashdot User

Wireless Power Demonstrated 124

Posted by kdawson on Friday July 24, 2009 @05:10PM from the spooky-action-at-a-distance dept.

Necroloth and other readers sent in the story of Witricity's latest demo at the TED Global conference in Oxford, UK. The company is developing a system that can deliver power to devices without the need for wires. The idea is not new — electrical pioneers Thomas Edison and Nicola Tesla assumed that power would be delivered wirelessly. The BBC quotes the inventor behind Witricity's tech as saying that Tesla and Edison "...couldn't imagine dragging this vast infrastructure of metallic wires across every continent." eWeek Europe notes some hurdles the technology must overcome: "The 2007 experiment it is based on had an efficiency of only around 45 percent, but [Witricity's CEO] promised power delivered wirelessly would start out 15 percent more expensive than wires, and improve on that." Intel has also demonstrated wireless charging.

Comment Re:vanilla ftp: your password will be in the clear (Score 1) 384

by Aazn on Monday August 18, 2008 @02:43PM (#24648899) Attached to: Secure File Storage Over Non-Trusted FTP?

sftp?

Peru Orders 260K OLPCs, Mexico to Get 50K 271

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday December 03, 2007 @05:19PM from the see-we're-not-scared dept.

eldavojohn writes "Perhaps in response to recent news that the lawsuit against the OLPC may be a scam, Peru's government has announced they want 260,000 OLPCs and a Mexican billionaire by the name of Carlos Slim has also asked for 50,000 that he wishes to distribute in Mexico. Things are looking good for the OLPC."

Samsung to Produce Faster Graphics Memory 138

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday December 03, 2007 @03:17PM from the faster-and-cheaper dept.

Samsung has announced a new line of GDDR5 chips that will supposedly be able to deliver data at speeds of up to 6 Gbps. In addition to faster data delivery the new chips also claim to consume less energy than previous versions. "Samsung said the new chips consume 1.5 volts, making them about 20 percent more efficient than GDDR 3 chips. Samples of the GDDR 5 chips began shipping to graphics-processor makers last month, and Samsung plans to begin mass production of the chips during the first half of next year. GDDR 5 memory should first appear in high-end gaming systems where users are willing to pay a premium for better graphics. Samsung did not disclose pricing for the chips.

Open Source Hardware Gift Guide 58

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday December 03, 2007 @09:30AM from the well-now-there's-an-idea dept.

ptorrone writes "Looking to give gifts this year that are open source? Here's MAKE Magazines "Open Source Hardware" gift guide. Open source 3D printers, TV-turn-off devices, iPod chargers, music players, Wi-Fi companions, educational electronic kits and more. Each of the kits, projects and open source hardware gifts in this guide represents more than just a holiday gift, it's a change to support this nascent open hardware movement."

IFPI Domain Dispute Likely to Go To Court 90

Posted by CmdrTaco on Sunday October 21, 2007 @09:03AM from the big-shock-here dept.

fgaliegue writes "Ars Technica has a follow-up on the ifpi.com domain takeover by The Pirate Bay. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, ifpi.org, is quite unhappy that the .com is now a link to the (still not live) International Federation of Pirates Interests. The ifpi.com domain has been free as soon as March of this year, according to WebArchive. Nevertheless, the "real" IFPI wants to take it to the WIPO under the accusation of cybersquatting."

Feed Paired satellites drift dangerously apart (pheedo.com)

From feed by nsfeed on Tuesday May 15, 2007 @03:32PM

An unknown glitch forces the two satellites in the Orbital Express mission to drift several kilometres apart - managers are hoping to reunite the estranged pair

Students Embarrass eBay With Firefox Add-On 269

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday May 15, 2007 @03:31PM from the doing-it-right dept.

An anonymous reader sends along a posting from the Grooveking blog on a group of Stanford students who got together to help promote Firefox and ended up releasing a long overdue eBay Toolbar for Firefox before Mozilla and eBay could release their jointly developed extension in Europe. Mozilla's COO said the preemptive release of the eBay Toolbar had ruffled some feathers among European eBay execs. "Besides basic search features, it removes external ads on the site and allows users to see thumbnail pictures on ALL search items, even those sellers didn't pay for. An eBay toolbar has been long overdue... eBay can't be too enthusiastic about this toolbar since it cuts directly into its main sources of revenue: ads and thumbnail fees. But eBay users get a really good deal."

Submission + - A Threat to Free Legal Guitar Tab Online

Submitted by on Tuesday May 15, 2007 @03:12PM

An anonymous reader writes: Recently Hal Leonard Corporation (the world's largets songbook publisher) sent an E-Mail to the music publishing and copyright community urging them not to license guitar tablature for free, advertising supported use online. The e-mail includes a number of factual errors and was potentially very damaging to the potential for a free, legal and licensed destination for guitar tab online. Musicnotes and MXTabs have posted the full letter, plus their response here: Hal Leonard Corporation's E-Mail to Music Publishing Community, Plus Response from MXTabs

Feed Internet-enabled TrailGuard metal detectors snitch on poachers (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed on Tuesday May 15, 2007 @03:12PM

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

The latest anti-poaching tool may not be as completely bizarre as the Robodeer, but the TrailGuard technology coming out of Steve Gulick's laboratory is entirely more sophisticated (and stealthy, too). The system consists of a network of metal detectors buried next to forest trails which will detect the presence of a contraband machete or rifle and swing into action. Upon recognizing a potential weapon, the sensor will "send a radio signal to a nearby internet gateway and then to the internet via satellite," which will subsequently alert a ranger to the unwanted guest practically in real-time. The developing team insinuates that this product could make the rounds that rangers make a lot more efficient, and considering that most national parks are somewhat understaffed, this could help them cover the ground that they need to. So if you just so happen to wander out in the woods and pitch a tent with metal stakes, only to be approached by an armed wildlife officer, don't be too alarmed.

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Submission + - Torvalds Responds To Microsoft Patent Claims

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 15, 2007 @02:59PM

An anonymous reader writes: Linux Torvalds has a sharp retort to Microsoft executives' statements in a Fortune article that Linux violates 235 Microsoft patents. In an emailed response to InformationWeek's Charlie Babcock, Torvalds writes: "It's certainly a lot more likely that Microsoft violates patents than Linux does." He added: "Basic operating system theory was pretty much done by the end of the 1960s. IBM probably owned thousand of really 'fundamental' patents...The fundamental stuff was done about half a century ago and has long, long since lost any patent protection."

Comcast Drops Microsoft 146

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday May 15, 2007 @02:52PM from the blue-screen-of-television dept.

Frosty Piss writes "Comcast plans to drop Microsoft's television software and on-screen program guide from its digital cable boxes. The cable company will replace the Microsoft technology with GuideWorks software — Comcast is a part owner of GuideWorks. Comcast has been the lone cable company in the US using Microsoft technology for set-top boxes, and only in the state of Washington, Microsoft's back yard." The Microsoft offering has a solid presence in Latin America. The company is no longer trying very hard to market it here at home.

Feed Motorola Q 9 headed for Italy first; calls out iPhone (com.com)

From feed by cnetfeed on Tuesday May 15, 2007 @02:32PM

Blog: Motorola announces the availability of the Motorola Q 8 and Q 9 for Italy with

Will Dell Be Bad For Ubuntu? 372

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday May 15, 2007 @02:08PM from the flip-side dept.

vcore writes "Many people are excited for Ubuntu's upcoming release on Dell computers, and while it is certainly good news there are a few causes for concern. Very few details have emerged so far so it is not completely clear what impact Dell with have on the thriving Ubuntu community. But there are questions concerning support, logistics, pricing, and a number of other areas that are affected. From the article: 'Dell is in the practice of filling their computers with large amounts of "bloatware" and also all sorts of co-branding, but it remains to be seen what they will do with Ubuntu. It has been reported that Dell will be shipping a standard version of Ubuntu 7.04...'"

The Clueless Newbie Rides Again 636

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday May 15, 2007 @01:22PM from the i-want-a-clean-thread-no-eye-gouging dept.

overshoot writes "Anyone remember The Clueless Newbie's Linux Odyssey? As it happens, she's come back to have a go at Ubuntu Feisty. 'Four years ago I tried about a dozen Linux distributions, to see if they were ready for an ordinary user to install as an escape from the Windows world. None of the distros performed well enough for me to recommend them to a non-geek unless they were going to hire someone to install it. After hearing Dell's recent announcement that it will sell computers with pre-installed Ubuntu Linux, I decided to see if Ubuntu was user-friendly.'"

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