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Submission + - US to fire-up big offshore wind energy projects (networkworld.com)

Submitted by coondoggie
coondoggie writes: The US government today took a bold step toward perhaps finally getting some offshore wind energy development going with $50 million in investment money and promise of renewed effort to develop the energy source.
The Department of the Interior and Department of Energy have teamed on what they call the joint National Offshore Wind Strategy: Creating an Offshore Wind Industry in the United States. The plan focuses on overcoming three key challenges that have made offshore wind energy practically non-existent in the US: the relatively high cost of offshore wind energy; technical challenges surrounding installation, operations, and grid interconnection; and the lack of site data and experience with project permitting processes.
HP

Submission + - An Open Letter To PC Makers: Ditch Bloatware, Now! (hothardware.com)

Submitted by MojoKid
MojoKid writes: This is the final straw, the last stand. This is the year that companies have to wise up and realize that they're destroying the experience of the very machines they are maketing so vigorously against their competitors. We're talking about bloatware, and it's an issue that we simply cannot remain silent on any longer. The term "bloatware" generally refers to any additional software installed on a machine that is not a native part of the operating system. "Bloatware" is usually provided by third-party software companies, and can range from security suites to unwanted Web browser toolbars. It's most problematic as these programs generally attempt to boot up first thing, right as the OS is booting up, before the end-user ever has a chance to launch the program on their own accord. It's time for manufacturers to take note: consumers do not want bloatware. It's a royal pain from top to bottom, and moreover, it ruins your brand. When people think of HP and Dell, they immediately think of just how infuriating it is that their last "new" PC took over one minute to boot up and become useable. To these companies: why are you saddling your machines with software that makes it less enjoyable to use? The solution seems pretty simple. If you still wish to include loads upon loads of third-party software, stick it all on a thumb drive and include it with every new machine. Problem solved.
Networking

Submission + - If you think you can ignore IPv6, think again. (securityweek.com)

Submitted by wiredmikey
wiredmikey writes: It’s official. The IANA(Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) this week allocated the last IP address blocks from the global IPv4 central address pool.

While the last IPv4 addresses have been allocated, it’s expected to take several months for regional registries to consume all their remaining regional IPv4 address pool.

The IPv6 Forum, a group with the mission to educate and promote the new protocol, says that enabling IPv6 in all ICT environment is not the end game, but is now a critical requirement for continuity in all Internet business and services going forward.

Experts believe that the move to IPv6 should be a board-level risk management concern, equivalent to the Y2K problem or Sarbanes-Oxley compliance. During the late 1990s, technology companies worldwide scoured their source code for places where critical algorithms assumed a two-digit date. This seemingly trivial software development issue was of global concern, so many companies made Y2K compliance a strategic initiative. The transition to IPv6 is of similar importance.

If you think you can ignore IPv6, think again.
Idle

Submission + - Piranha Discovered in UK in Devon River 1

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "With razor-sharp teeth piranha, native to the Amazon basin, the Orinoco and the rivers of the Guyanas, are generally considered to be the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world with a voracious appetite for meat, able to strip the flesh of large animals within minutes when traveling in a shoal. So when members of the British Environment Agency were conducting a sampling trip in the East Okement tributary of the River Torridge, they were amazed to see a large tail emerge from the undercut bank on the far side of the river. "What we actually discovered was something we would not expect to find in our wildest dreams — we could hardly believe our eyes," says Eddie Stevens. "Our first thought was that a sea trout had become lodged in amongst the rocks and debris collected under the bank, but when it was removed from the river we were speechless to find it was a piranha." Tests carried out on the dead piranha revealed it had been eating sweet corn, which proved it must have been kept as a pet. The Environment Agency said it believes the piranha was alive when it was put in the river, possibly because at 35 cm it had become too big for its tank. "Whilst piranhas can't survive the colder climates of the UK, this latest find highlights a real issue — that releasing unwanted exotic pets or plants into rivers can have serious consequences for native wildlife," says spokesman Paul Gainey. "Rather than dumping things in the wild, we would urge people to seek advice about what to do with exotic species.""
Power

Solar Roadways Get DoT Funding 484

Posted by Soulskill from the technology-that-wouldn't-work-in-michigan dept.
mikee805 writes "Solar Roadways, a project to replace over 25,000 square miles of road in the US with solar panels you can drive on, just received $100,000 in funding from the Department of Transportation for the first 12ft-by-12ft prototype panel. Each panel consists of three layers: a base layer with data and power cables running through it, an electronics layer with an array of LEDs, solar collectors and capacitors, and finally the glass road surface. With data and power cables, the solar roadway has the potential to replace some of our aging infrastructure. With only 15% efficiency, 25,000 square miles of solar roadways could produce three times what the US uses annually in energy. The building costs are estimated to be competitive with traditional roads, and the solar roads would heat themselves in the winter to keep snow from accumulating."

Feed Techdirt: Even Microsoft Execs Are Confused About 'Vista Capable' Claims (techdirt.com)

From feed by techdirtfeed
In April we noted a lawsuit charging Microsoft with deceptive advertising for slapping a "Vista Capable" label on computers that will only run the Home Basic version of Windows. The lawyers are currently taking depositions in that case, and we're learning that even Microsoft's own executives can't keep their story straight. Apparently, a Microsoft executive stated that "capable is a statement that has an interpretation for many that, in the context of this program, a PC would be able to run any version of the Windows Vista operating system." Not surprisingly, his lawyers quickly pulled him aside and pointed out that this statement was undermining their case, and he quickly changed his tune and said that "capable" meant able to run at least one version of Windows Vista. So Microsoft deservedly has egg on its face here. Still, I'm torn about whether a lawsuit is appropriate. Home Basic clearly is a version of Windows Vista, and so the statement that the machines were "Vista Capable" is technically true, albeit misleading. I just checked HP and Dell's website, and they're both selling their low-end machines with Home Basic. Unless there's evidence that consumers received more specific promises from sales reps or in marketing materials, it seems like a stretch to interpret "Vista Capable" as a promise that the machines would be able to run every version of Vista. Microsoft is getting some richly deserved bad press here, and that may be enough to make them be more careful in the future. It's not clear a class action lawsuit will accomplish anything beyond enriching the lawyers involved.

Tim Lee is an expert at the Techdirt Insight Community. To get insight and analysis from Tim Lee and other experts on challenges your company faces, click here.



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Warren Ellis Curates new Webcomic Site 63

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the creator-to-curator dept.
Warren Ellis has announced on his blog that he has finally been talked into curating a mass webcomics site titled "Rocket Pirates." The submission process is completely open via Warren's gmail account and invites anything as long as it isn't too terribly formal. While Rocket Pirates doesn't pay authors for submissions the site is apparently going to allow each author to post their own advertising via "Google Ads, Amazon Associates ads, ads for their own products, rate cards for prostitution services or any other damn thing on their comic's Rocket Pirates page."

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