Krazy Nemesis - Slashdot User

Big Brother Really Is Watching Us All 405

Posted by Zonk on Sunday September 16, 2007 @09:06PM from the hi-guys dept.

siddesu writes "The BBC has a nice high-level overview of some technologies for surveillance developed in the US and the UK. 'The US and UK governments are developing increasingly sophisticated gadgets to keep individuals under their surveillance. When it comes to technology, the US is determined to stay ahead of the game ... But it [a through-the wall sensing device in development] will also show whether someone inside a house is looking to harm you, because if they are, their heart rate will be raised. And 10 years from now, the technology will be much smarter. We'll scan a person with one of these things and tell what they're actually thinking.'"

Comment Re:for always and eternity (Score 1) 620

by Krazy Nemesis on Thursday June 28, 2007 @05:53PM (#19682279) Attached to: No OLPCs for Cuba, Ever

There's a huge difference between journalism and 'documentaries'. Either way, both need to get prior permission from the U.S. government before they even think about crossing that border. I'm certain that Moore, even with all the crap he's pulled before, had he gone through the proper channels, could have gotten proper permission. But he didn't. Now he has to pay his dues, just like the rest of us who break laws. Just because he has a cause, doesn't make Moore exempt, whether or not you or I agree with him.

Google Releases MySQL Enhancements 208

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday April 25, 2007 @11:19AM from the what-an-exciting-morning-this-isn't dept.

An anonymous reader noted that "Google has released its internally developed enhancements to MySQL to the open source community this week. Changes include improvements in replication, high availability configuration, and performance." It'll be interesting to see if the changes they made are of interest to other places using MySQL.

Outcry Over Google's Purchase of Doubleclick 242

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday April 23, 2007 @06:08PM from the fear-of-change dept.

TheCybernator writes to mention that several activist groups have cried out in protest of the Google buyout of Doubleclick reported in recent news. "'Google's proposed acquisition of DoubleClick will give one company access to more information about the Internet activities of consumers than any other company in the world,' said the complaint lodged with the Federal Trade Commission. 'Moreover, Google will operate with virtually no legal obligation to ensure the privacy, security, and accuracy of the personal data that it collects.' The complaint was filed by the Electronic Privacy Information Center along with the Center for Digital Democracy and the US Public Interest Research Group, all of which are involved in online privacy issues."

Global Warming Only a Theory, Says School Board 1089

Posted by Zonk on Friday January 12, 2007 @08:56PM from the i'd-think-seattle-would-know-about-rain dept.

BendingSpoons writes "A Seattle school board has placed a moratorium on screenings of 'An Inconvenient Truth', having found its subject matter too controversial. Echoing the language of the evolution debate, the school board found that students must be told that global warming is only a theory and presented with an opposing viewpoint. The ban was prompted by the complaints of a parent: '"Condoms don't belong in school, and neither does Al Gore. He's not a schoolteacher," said Frosty Hardison, a parent of seven who also said that he believes the Earth is 14,000 years old. "The information that's being presented is a very cockeyed view of what the truth is ... The Bible says that in the end times everything will burn up, but that perspective isn't in the DVD."'"

DIY Service Pack For Windows 2000/XP/2003 197

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday December 12, 2006 @04:39PM from the patch-it-yourself dept.

Karsten Violka writes "Looking for manageable Windows updates even without an internet connection? Heise's script collection Offline Update 3.0 downloads the entire body of fresh updates for Windows 2000, XP, or Server 2003 from Microsoft's servers in one fell swoop and then uses them to create ISO-Images for CD or DVD. Included is an intelligent installer script that allows you to update as many PCs as desired." Sounds like a great idea, given the danger of putting an unpatched PC on the Internet to download security updates.

Microsoft Research Fights Critics 361

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wednesday December 06, 2006 @05:54PM from the easy-things-to-fix-that-corporate-overlords-don't-want-to-do dept.

coondoggie writes to tell us Network World is taking a look at why Microsoft Research has to fight so hard against critics. From the article: "When the word 'innovation' is tossed about many may look down their nose at the company sitting on top of the high-tech industry — Microsoft. [...] Microsoft Research incubates not only futuristic ideas but young minds, having hired 700 interns worldwide this year including 250 computer science PhD candidates in Redmond alone, which is roughly 21% of all the computer science PhD candidates in the United States."

First Company Logo Visible From Space 436

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday November 14, 2006 @07:33PM from the fast-food-for-aliens dept.

Albert Sandberg writes, "KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) has created the first logo that is visible from space. The construction was made by 65,000 1x1-foot tiles and covers about 2 acres. The logo was built and assembled over about a month and is located in the Nevada desert near Area 51. The article also has a short video showing the construction in time-lapse. Now the aliens know where to get their slimy food :-)"

Enigma-Cracking Bombe Recreated 131

Posted by kdawson on Thursday September 07, 2006 @01:10PM from the we-shall-never-surrender dept.

toxcspdrmn writes "Volunteers at Bletchley Park have recreated a working replica of the electromechanical bombe used to crack the Germans' Enigma encryption. The bombe was designed by Polish cryptologists and refined by Alan Turing and colleagues at Bletchley Park. The replica joins a recreated electronic Colossus — generally considered the first electronic computer. Impressive work when you consider that Winston Churchill ordered the originals to be completely destroyed at the end of WWII."

Microsoft Confirms New Music Player 415

Posted by Zonk on Friday July 21, 2006 @05:15PM from the it's-on dept.

Udo Schmitz writes "It's official now. Reuters confirms the rumors that Microsoft wants to take on Apple's iPod and iTunes. From the article: 'Microsoft Corp. said on Friday it plans to release a new music and entertainment player and accompanying software under the "Zune" brand this year, in a belated attempt to challenge the dominance of Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod player ... Microsoft sources said Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's entertainment and devices division, is working with J. Allard, vice president of its Xbox team, on the digital media player/software project.'"

Micro-Pump is Cool Idea for Future Computer Chips 96

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wednesday April 26, 2006 @07:29PM from the bad-pun-already-in-the-headline dept.

core plexus writes to tell us that Engineers at Purdue University have designed a tiny 'micro-pump' cooling device that can be used to circulate coolant through the channels etched on an individual chip. From the article: "The prototype chip contains numerous water-filled micro-channels, grooves about 100 microns wide, or about the width of a human hair. The channels are covered with a series of hundreds of electrodes, electronic devices that receive varying voltage pulses in such a way that a traveling electric field is created in each channel. The traveling field creates ions, or electrically charged atoms and molecules, which are dragged along by the moving field."

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