aika - Slashdot User

Submission + - Australia Proposes Tax on Toilet Flushes (news.com.au)

Submitted by Logical Zebra on Tuesday February 17, 2009 @12:03PM

Logical Zebra writes: Australia, in an effort to curb water use during a drought, is proposing a new tax. Households would be charged per flush of the toilet.

Some people may go as far as not flushing their toilet as often because the less sewage you produce, the less sewage rate you pay," says Adelaide University Water Management Professor Mike Young.

This policy doesn't yet have a name, but I would like to propose If It's Yellow, Let It Mellow; If It's Brown Flush It Down.

Comment PUBLIC trackers might suffer.. (Score 1) 294

by aika on Friday February 13, 2009 @11:34AM (#26844183) Attached to: Researchers Warn of Possible BitTorrent Meltdown

...but private trackers will be strong as ever. We just have to move a little more underground to avoid the MAFIAA.

Comment Not anymore.. (Score 1) 1

by aika on Wednesday February 11, 2009 @06:28PM (#26820003) Attached to: Gmail Is Down!

.. all's clear on the western front.

Submission + - Iowa seeks to remove electoral college (kcrg.com)

Submitted by Zebano on Wednesday February 11, 2009 @05:23PM

Zebano writes: Since changing the US constitution is too much work, the Iowa senate is considering a bill that would send all 7 of Iowa's electoral votes to the winner of the national popular vote in a presidential election. This would only go into affect after enough states totaling 270 electoral votes (enough to elect a president) adopted similar resolutions.

Russia's Operating System May Be Fedora Based 242

Posted by timothy on Tuesday February 10, 2009 @11:32AM from the if-the-hat-is-red-wear-it dept.

Glyn Moody writes "Last month, a story about Russia producing its own national operating system based on GNU/Linux started circulating. Now there's some confirmation, and details of how the plan might be put into practice. Red Hat had a meeting with the Russian communications ministry, which announced that the development of free software in Russia was one of its priorities. One concrete idea they talked about was using the Russian Fedora project as a step towards creating a national operating system."

Submission + - SPAM: FAA network hacked

Submitted by

coondoggie

on Tuesday February 10, 2009 @11:20AM

coondoggie writes: "The Federal Aviation Administration has joined the growing list of government agencies that have had their supposedly safe systems hacked. The agency this week notified about 45,000 employees that one of its servers was hacked into and employee personal identity information was stolen. The FAA was quick to say the server that was accessed was not connected to the operation of the air traffic control system or any other FAA operational system. It did say two of the 48 files on the breached computer server contained personal information about more than 45,000 FAA employees and retirees who were on the FAA's rolls as of the first week of February 2006. [spam URL stripped]"
Link to Original Source

Submission + - The Flying Giant is 40 Years old

Submitted by

Ponca City, We love you

on Tuesday February 10, 2009 @11:00AM

Ponca City, We love you writes: "Four decades ago, Boeing's prototype 747 took to the skies over Washington State for a 75 minute flight that helped bring cheap airline travel to millions of people and would remain the world's largest commercial aircraft for 37 years until the advent of the double-decker Airbus A380. What made the 747 unique was that it was the first "wide body" aircraft with more than one aisle — a big step towards reducing the sense of traveling in a narrow tube, and inducing a sense more equivalent to flying in a large room with high ceilings. But back in the 1960s, convincing people that the 747 would fly was a tough call. Joe Sutter, the director of engineering on the project, even spent an hour with Charles Lindbergh, going over all the data so to prove that the jumbo would not flip over or become unstable at high speeds. Boeing has sold more than 1,400 jumbos in the past four decades, worth, at today's prices, more than $350 billion and although we might complain of traveling in "cattle class" we have the 747 to thank for being able to do so at affordable prices. Given the longevity and popularity of the 747, it is possible that Joe Sutter built not merely a good flying machine, but perhaps the best."

Malware Spreading Via ... Windshield Fliers? 207

Posted by timothy on Wednesday February 04, 2009 @02:12PM from the right-at-home-with-the-bug-guts dept.

wiedzmin writes "Another interesting article published by the SANS ISC Handler's Diary is describing a very unusual vector for malware distribution — windshield fliers and fake parking tickets. A website URL provided for "disputing a ticket" actually leads to a malicious website, and a "toolbar" required to find the photo of your violation is, you guessed it, a trojan posing as a fake antivirus. The best part is — according to the VirusTotal report, it doesn't look like most antiviruses have signatures for this one yet."

Submission + - Largest prehistoric snake on record discovered in (physorg.com)

Submitted by minimen on Wednesday February 04, 2009 @01:58PM

minimen writes: Scientists have recovered fossils of a 60-million-year-old South American snake. Named Titanoboa cerrejonensis by its discoverers, the size of the snake's vertebrae suggest it weighed 1140 kg (2,500 pounds) and measured 13 meters (42.7 feet) nose to tail tip. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the longest snake ever measured was 10 meters (33 feet) in length. The heaviest snake, a python, weighed 183 kilograms (403 pounds).

Submission + - UK can't read its own ID cards

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday February 04, 2009 @12:28PM

An anonymous reader writes: Despite introducing ID cards last November it has emerged that Britain has no readers that are able to the cards' microchip, containing the person's fingerprints and other biometric information. With cops and border guards unable to use the cards to check a person's identity critics are calling the £4.7bn scheme "farcical" and a "waste of time".

Submission + - Discovery Launch Delayed Due to Engine Issue

Submitted by on Wednesday February 04, 2009 @12:03PM

An anonymous reader writes: The launch of Space Shuttle Discovery was originally slated for February 12th, has now been postponed to February 19th — at the earliest. The change of launch dates were decided by NASA managers during a review of the shuttle's flow control valve in the main engine. The new date is pending further analysis of the flow control valve and everything checking out okay for pre-flight tests. Discovery's STS-119 14-day mission will deliver the station's fourth and final set of solar arrays, completing the orbiting laboratory's truss, or backbone. The arrays will provide the electricity to fully power science experiments and support the station's expanded crew of six in May.

Submission + - WarCloning - A new hacker sport? (NOTE: Fixed URL)

Submitted by ChrisPaget on Monday February 02, 2009 @05:01PM

ChrisPaget writes: After my legal skirmishes with HID a while back, The Register has coverage of my latest RFID work — cloning Passport Cards and Electronic Drivers Licenses from a moving vehicle. Full details will be released at Shmoocon this weekend, but in the meantime there's video of the equipment and articles all over the place. Buy me a beer if you see me at the con! :)

Submission + - Google Privacy Counsel Facing Criminal Charges

Submitted by

ProfJonathan

on Monday February 02, 2009 @03:46PM

ProfJonathan writes: "According to this story in the IAPP's Privacy Advisor, Google's global privacy counsel, Peter Fleischer, is facing criminal charges in Italy for defamation based upon a user's posting of a video to Google Video. Mr. Fleischer was on his way to the University of Milan for a speaking engagement when he was met by Italian law enforcement officials. As with the 1997 case of Compuserve's Felix Somm and the 2006 arrest of the CEO of BetOnSportsUK in Texas during a layover on a trip to Costa Rica, this case once again highlights the risks faced by executives and employees of online companies whose activities may be legal and protected in their own countries, but illegal elsewhere in the world. Troubling, and worth watching. {Jonathan}"

Man Commits Robbery To Feed Pet Fish 4

Posted by samzenpus on Monday February 02, 2009 @02:36PM from the mr-limpet dept.

An Irish carpenter pleaded guilty to a series of strange crimes including robbing a Brisbane ticketing agency to feed his pet fish. Richard William O'Flynn admitted in court that he gave a note to a Brisbane Ticketek employee, which read: "Give me all the #@*! money from the till." When his clever note didn't work, he came back with a goldfish and explained that he needed the money to feed his fish. O'Flynn also tried to hold up a bakery with a decorative cake knife after ordering a "gay wedding cake" for him and his partner. It's a lot easier to go crazy if you jump in with both feet.

Submission + - Linux and Mac Gain Market Share as Windows Spirals

Submitted by on Monday February 02, 2009 @02:05PM

An anonymous reader writes: Based on reports from Market Share, Mac's have gained 2.36% market share from one year ago this past January. January 2008, Apple had a market share of 7.57% with its Mac's compared to almost 10% this past January, representing 9.93%. Should we also mention the iPhone has more than tripled its market share from one year ago? Unlike Apple, Microsoft continues to loose market share. Windows had 91.50% market share in January 2008 and sunk below 90% to 88.26% in January of 2009 which results in a 3.24% year drop. Linux is among the like of Apple, representing an increasing market share. The penguins gained 0.19% market share to 0.83% from a year ago where it was at 0.64%.

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