Please create an account to participate in the Slashdot moderation system

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror

Comment Fix the software and not the physics (Score 1) 470

The ITU cannot fix this problem. In charge is the "International Committee for Weights and Measures" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Committee_for_Weights_and_Measures which is older than the ITU. The software should reflect the time defined by the committee. The whole discussion is ridiculous, you only need a table with the number of leap seconds defined and a function fixing the 24 exceptions to the unleaped time http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leap_second
If we would not have fixed it, the deviation would sum up to nearly half a minute. How want you fix that? In an effort similar to the Y2K bug problem. Painful nonsense.
If a database crashes you should fix the code starting with the underlying operating system and programming languages. By the way the definition of Time in most languages should be corrected, because f.e. http://download.oracle.com/javase/1.4.2/docs/api/java/sql/Time.html#Time(int, int, int) It is wrong that a minute can have only 60 seconds. It could also have 59 (not yet happened) or 61 seconds. If the ITU makes the change, time in GPS announced and real time will deviate. This is nonsense.
Image

Robotic Penguins 118

Corporate Troll writes "Robotic penguins were unveiled by German engineering firm Festo this week. Using their flippers, the mechanical penguins (video) can paddle through water just like real ones, while larger helium-filled designs can "swim" through the air. The penguins are on show at the Hannover Messe Trade Exhibition in Germany. Each penguin carries 3D sonar which is used to monitor its surroundings and avoid collisions with walls or other penguins."
The Internet

Researchers Warn of Possible BitTorrent Meltdown 294

secmartin writes "Researchers at Delft University warn that large parts of the BitTorrent network might collapse if The Pirate Bay is forced to shut down. A large part of the available torrents use The Pirate Bay as tracker, and other available trackers will probably be overloaded if all traffic is shifted there. TPB is currently using eight servers for their trackers. According to the researchers, even trackerless torrents using the DHT protocol will face problems: 'One bug in a DHT sorting routine ensures that it can only "stumble upon success", meaning torrent downloads will not start in seconds or minutes if Pirate Bay goes down in flames.'"
GUI

Windows 7 Beta Screenshots Leaked 587

Slatterz writes "Screenshots of what is said to be the next version of Microsoft's Windows operating system have been leaked onto the internet. The ThinkNext.net blog posted a range of screenshots over the weekend which it said represents Windows 7. Overall, the screenshots show a distinctly Vista-like interface, but there is still plenty of time for tweaks and changes to take place."

Slashdot Top Deals

fortune: not found

Working...