DrSpotter - Slashdot User

Simpler "Hello World" Demonstrated In C 582

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday March 16, 2010 @10:03PM from the non-obfuscated dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Wondering where all that bloat comes from, causing even the classic 'Hello world' to weigh in at 11 KB? An MIT programmer decided to make a Linux C program so simple, she could explain every byte of the assembly. She found that gcc was including libc even when you don't ask for it. The blog shows how to compile a much simpler 'Hello world,' using no libraries at all. This takes me back to the days of programming bare-metal on DOS!"

Proton Beams Sent Around the LHC 115

Posted by kdawson on Friday November 20, 2009 @05:40PM from the going-in-circles dept.

feldhaus writes "The BBC reports that the first beams for over one year have been successfully sent around the complete circumference of the Large Hadron Collider. Engineers do not yet have a stable circulating beam but they hope to by 0600 GMT on Saturday."

Dungeons & Dragons Online Goes Free-To-Play 178

Posted by Soulskill on Wednesday June 10, 2009 @07:06AM from the level-up-for-3d20-cents dept.

Dungeons & Dragons Online developer Turbine has announced that they'll be launching a new version of the game, called Eberron Unlimited, which makes it free to play, with the option of using micro-transactions to buy certain items and customize characters. Players will also be able to earn points through normal play that they can spend in the DDO Store. There's an additional option to pay a normal subscription fee for priority access to servers, a monthly allotment of points for the store, and extra character slots. Further details and a sign-up for the beta are available at the game's website.

DIY 18-ft.-High Robotic Exoskeleton 206

Posted by kdawson on Wednesday June 10, 2009 @05:15AM from the who-can-replace-a-man dept.

Hacx sends along a piece from PopSci that begins "Carlos Owens had handled all kinds of machines as an army mechanic, but he always dreamed of using those skills for one project: his own 'mecha,' a giant metal robot that could mirror the movements of its human pilot. Owens, 31, began building an 18-foot-tall, one-ton prototype at his home in Wasilla, Alaska, in 2004. Working without blueprints, he first built a full-scale model out of wood. Moving on to steel, he had to devise a hydraulics system that would provide precisely the right leverage and range of movement. He settled on a complex network of cables and hydraulic cylinders that can make the mecha raise its arms, bend its knees, and even do a sit-up. ... He foresees mechas having uses in the military and the construction industry, but acknowledges that right now they're best suited to entertainment. The first application he has in mind: mecha-vs.-mecha battles, demolition-derby style."

Nintendo Unconcerned By Motion-Control Competitors 150

Posted by Soulskill on Wednesday June 10, 2009 @03:46AM from the it's-not-the-size-of-the-boat dept.

The Guardian's games blog reports on comments by Nintendo discussing why it's not worried about competition from Microsoft and Sony after their recent motion-control announcements at E3. Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime said, "The only thing I'll say is a rhetorical question. Is it fun? If it's fun, then I tip my hat and say, 'Well done.' But what's happening sounds to me a lot like, 'Who's got the prettiest picture. Who's got high-definition. Who has the best processing power?' It sounds like technology, when the consumer wants to be entertained. Our focus is how do we take active play and make it entertainment. And that's what we're going to continue to focus on."

Apple Removes Nearly All Reference To ZFS 361

Posted by kdawson on Wednesday June 10, 2009 @02:15AM from the you-say-technology-i-say-politics dept.

Roskolnikov writes "Apple has apparently decided that ZFS isn't really ready for prime time. We've been discussing Apple/ZFS rumors, denials, and sightings for some years now. Currently a search on Apple's site for ZFS yields only two hits, one of them probably an oversight in the ZFS-cleansing program and the other a reference to open source. Contrast this with an item from the Google cache regarding ZFS and Snow Leopard. Apple has done this kind of disappearing act in the past, but I was really hoping that this was one feature promise they would keep. I certainly hope this isn't the first foot in the grave for ZFS on OS X."

How Do IT Guys Get Respect and Not Become BOFHs? 902

Posted by kdawson on Wednesday June 10, 2009 @12:12AM from the keep-a-curled-upper-lip dept.

An anonymous reader writes "I work for a small software company (around 60 people) as the sole IT guy. It's my first time in a position like this and after about 1.5 years I'm starting to get a bit burned out. I try to be friendly, helpful, and responsive and I get no respect whatsoever. Users tend to be flat-out rude when they have a problem, violate our pretty liberal policies constantly, and expect complex projects to be finished immediately upon requesting them. My knee-jerk reaction is to be a bastard, although I've avoided it up to this point. It's getting harder. For those of you who have been doing this a lot longer, how do you get a reasonable level of respect from your users while not being a jerk?"

Pixar's Next Three Films Will Be Sequels 379

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday June 09, 2009 @08:03PM from the low-hanging-fruit-is-the-first-to-rot dept.

brumgrunt writes "Should we be worried? As Pixar, with Up, once more proves itself to be home to some of the most original and daring blockbusters on the planet, the news that its next three films are likely to be sequels — with the confirmation of Monsters, Inc. 2 — gives cause for concern. Are commercial pressures catching up with one of our most inventive movie companies?"

Comment Re:firmware check on new games? (Score 1) 287

by DrSpotter on Saturday March 18, 2006 @05:40PM (#14949371) Attached to: Xbox 360 Backup Discs Bootable

It would be in an open format (such as running software on your PC that you've just download from the 'net), but the only software you can buy for this and other consoles has to come through the manufacturer before it is signed/put on an 'original' disc that the console will allow booting from. Given this process there shouldn't be any scope for such problems as the publishers themselves are, presumably, considered trustworthy by the console manufacturers.

Only if you can disable the protection to let you run "backup" games that may not have come through the official publishing route would you be exposing your system to those kind of problems, and I imagine the console manufacturer wouldn't have a great deal of sympathy for you in such circumstances...

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