Become a fan of Slashdot on Facebook

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror

Submission + - Microsoft rolls out Clear Linux for Azure instances (networkworld.com)

Submitted by JG0LD
JG0LD writes: Microsoft announced today that it has added support for the Intel-backed Clear Linux distribution in instances for its Azure public cloud platform. It’s the latest in a lengthy string of Linux distributions to become available on the company’s Azure cloud.

Submission + - SCO vs. IBM legal battle over Linux may â" finally â" be finished (networkworld.com)

Submitted by JG0LD
JG0LD writes: A breach-of-contract and copyright lawsuit filed nearly 13 years ago by a successor company to business Linux vendor Caldera International against IBM may be drawing to a close at last, after a U.S. District Court judge issued an order in favor of the latter company earlier this week.

Submission + - Is Too Much Computer Time Killing Kids' Ability to Learn?

Submitted by Rambo Tribble
Rambo Tribble writes: A teacher's union in Northern Ireland is asserting that children spending too much time on computers are impairing their ability to learn. The asserted excessive computer use is being blamed for an inability to concentrate or socialize. As one teacher puts it, '... these gadgets are really destroying their ability to learn.' One question no one seems to be asking is whether the kids showing these symptoms are getting enough sleep.

Submission + - 5 Years Later, 'Do Not Track' System Ineffective (computerworld.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In 2009, a few Internet privacy advocates developed an idea that was supposed to give people a way to tell websites they don't want to be monitored as they move from website to website. The mechanism, which would eventually be built into all the major browsers, was called Do Not Track. ... But today, DNT hangs by a thread, neutered by a failure among stakeholders to reach agreement. Yes, if you turn it on in your browser, it sends a signal in the form of an HTTP header to Web companies' servers. But it probably won't change what data they collect. That's because most websites either don't honor DNT — it's currently a voluntary system — or they interpret it in different ways. Another problem — perhaps the biggest — is that Web companies, ad agencies and the other stakeholders have never reached agreement on what "do not track" really means.

Submission + - Google Plus now minus chief Vic Gundotra (networkworld.com)

Submitted by JG0LD
JG0LD writes: Vic Gundotra, the man behind Google Plus and one of Google’s most prominent executives, announced today that he will leave the company “effective immediately.” Gundotra made the announcement, appropriately enough, in a lengthy Google Plus post, praising his co-workers and saying that he is “excited about what’s next.” However, he did not further outline his future plans, saying that “this isn't the day to talk about that.”

Submission + - Crowded U.S. airwaves desperately in search of spectrum breathing room (networkworld.com)

Submitted by alphadogg
alphadogg writes: Ahead of a major new spectrum auction scheduled for next year, America's four major wireless carriers are jockeying for position in the frequencies available to them, buying, selling and trading licenses to important parts of the nation's airwaves. Surging demand for mobile bandwidth, fueled by an increasingly saturated smartphone market and data-hungry apps, has showed no signs of slowing down. This, understandably, has the wireless industry scrambling to improve its infrastructure in a number of areas, including the amounts of raw spectrum available to the carriers. These shifts, however, are essentially just lateral moves – nothing to directly solve the problems posed by a crowded spectrum. What’s really going to save the wireless world, some experts think, is a more comprehensive re-imagining of the way spectrum is used.

Submission + - Firefox's blocked-by-default Java isn't going down well (networkworld.com)

Submitted by JG0LD
JG0LD writes: The Firefox web browser will, henceforth, require users to manually activate Java objects on sites that they visit, Mozilla has confirmed. The change is aimed at improving security and moving away from a dependence on proprietary plug-ins, but critics say it will cause untold headaches for developers, admins and less-technical end-users.

Submission + - VMware CEO: OpenStack is not for the enterprise (networkworld.com)

Submitted by coondoggie
coondoggie writes: VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger says he doesn’t expect open source cloud project OpenStack to catch on significantly in the enterprise market, instead he says it’s more of a platform for service providers to build public clouds.
It’s a notion that others in the market have expressed in the past, but also one that OpenStack backers have tried hard to shake.
Math

Submission + - 10 ways to celebrate international Pi Day (networkworld.com)

Submitted by alphadogg
alphadogg writes: Welcome to March 14 (3.14) – international Pi Day — a day to pay homage to the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. To celebrate, each March 14 math-heads around the world unite to celebrate the math holiday in a variety of serious and goofy ways. Here's a collection of suggestions.
Technology

Submission + - Lernstift Digital Pen Vibrates to Indicate Bad Spelling, Grammar and Penmanship (gizmag.com)

Submitted by Zothecula
Zothecula writes: Use digital technology long enough and you start to become dependent upon it for such mundane tasks as spell checking. That means when you pick up a garden variety ballpoint pen you’re back in dictionary and “I before E except after C” territory. Like LiveScribe, the creators of the Lernstift digital pen hope to bring handwriting into the 21st century by having the pen vibrate to indicate when the writer makes spelling and grammatical errors or exhibits poor penmanship.
China

Submission + - Chinese Blogger Thrives as Muckraker (nytimes.com)

Submitted by hackingbear
hackingbear writes: The New York Times reported the story of a Chinese blogger named Zhu Ruifeng who has become an overnight celebrity in China in the two months since he posted online secretly recorded video of an 18-year-old woman having sex with a memorably unattractive 57-year-old official from the southwestern municipality of Chongqing, causing the official, along with 10 other officials, to loss their jobs and be put under investigation. Mr. Zhu says ordinary citizens have come to rely on the Internet for retribution, even if it often amounts to mob justice. “We used to say that when you have a problem, go to the police,” he said. “Now we say when you have a problem, go to the netizens.” At the meantime, he has also become a litmus test of how committed China’s new leaders are in their battle against corruption — and whether they can tolerate populist crusaders like Mr. Zhu.
Science

Submission + - Fish Grow "Hands" in Experiment Revealing How Fins Became Limbs (medicaldaily.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: While fossils have long shown that limbs evolved from fins, scientists from the latest study said they have shown live in the laboratory how the transition may have happened. Researchers said that the new study published in the journal Developmental Cell offers new evidence revealing that the development of hands and feet occurred through the acquisition of new DNA elements capable of activating specific genes.
 
Security

Submission + - New Malware Wiping Data on Computers in Iran (threatpost.com)

Submitted by
L3sPau1
L3sPau1 writes: "Iran's computer emergency response team is reporting new malware targeting computers in the country that is wiping data from partitions D through I. It is set to launch on only particular dates. While there has been other data-wiping malware targeting Iran and other Middle East countries such as Wiper and Shamoon, researchers said there is no immediate connection."

Slashdot Top Deals

Almost anything derogatory you could say about today's software design would be accurate. -- K.E. Iverson

Close