Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror

Comment Re:Dock/Taskbar design (Score 1) 688

by dannixon (#29267619) Attached to: OS Performance — Snow Leopard, Windows 7, and Ubuntu 9.10

Orly? You DO know that the it was called the "system tray" up until Windows XP, don't you? It was even instantiated by a process called systray.exe. Even MSDN is littered with its own references to it being the "system tray", like here.

Raymond Chen says:

Why do some people call the taskbar the "tray"? Short answer: Because they're wrong.

And so are you.
Biotech

Submission + - Mutant Algae to Fuel Cars of Tomorrow?

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "Algae has long been known as a promising source of biodiesel, however algae also produce a small amount of hydrogen during photosynthesis. The MIT Technology Review reports that now researchers have created a mutant algae that makes better use of sunlight to increase the amount of hydrogen that the algae produce. In a commercial bioreactor, the top layers of algae absorb most of the sunlight but can only use a fraction of it. Anastasios Melis and his team at the University of California have manipulated the genes that control the amount of chlorophyll in the algae's chloroplasts reducing the chlorophyll so that the algae absorb less sunlight. This lets more light penetrate into the deeper algae layers so that more cells use the sunlight to make hydrogen. Although the process is still at least five years from being used for hydrogen generation, Melis estimates that if 50% of capacity of the photosynthesis of the algae could be directed toward hydrogen production, an acre could produce 40 kilograms of hydrogen per day bringing the cost of producing hydrogen to $2.80 a kilogram. At this price, hydrogen could compete with gasoline, since a kilogram of hydrogen is equivalent in energy to a gallon of gasoline."

HD DVD vs Blu-ray Direct Comparisons 423

Posted by Zonk from the i-complain-about-artifacting-too dept.
An anonymous reader writes "With today's release of three movies on Blu-ray, Warner Home Video has become the first studio to release movie titles on both high-def formats, making it finally possible to do an apples-to-apples comparison of the same titles on both formats . High-Def Digest has just posted reviews of all three titles — 'Training Day,' 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' and 'Rumor Has It' — comparing video, audio and extras to the previous HD DVD releases. Their verdict? Due to issues with image cropping, audio selection and supplemental features on the Blu-ray discs, the HD DVD versions win this first face-off."

It's OK to keep AIMing 305

Posted by timothy from the dat's-what-u-think-lol dept.
fooby12 writes "According to the Univeristy of Toronto instant messaging does not hurt the grammar of the people who use it. From the article: "With 80% of Canadian teenagers using instant messaging and adopting its unique linguistic shorthand, many teachers and parents are concerned about the medium's potential to corrupt kids' grammar. But instant messaging doesn't deserve its bad reputation as a spoiler of syntax, suggests a new study from the University of Toronto.""

Paul Thurrott Bitten by WGA 591

Posted by Zonk from the watch-who-feeds-you dept.
suntory writes "Paul Thurrott, one of the most important Microsoft advocates, has been bitten by Windows Genuine Advantage. As some Slashdot users have reported, Paul installed a bunch of updates in his machine and now Microsoft thinks that he is using pirated software." From the post: "Truthfully, I can only imagine what triggered these alerts. The software was installed to a VM a long time ago and archived on my server. I no doubt used a copy of XP MCE 2005 that I had received as part of my MSDN subscription. If the WGA alerts are to be believed, it's possible that Microsoft thinks I've installed this software on too many machines, though that seems unlikely to me. I can't really say. Anyway, that's what it looks like to be a suspected pirate. Like many people who will see these alerts, I don't believe I did anything wrong. I'm sure that's going to be a common refrain in this new era of untrusting software and companies. Ah well."

Banner Ad on Myspace Serves Adware to 1 Million 390

Posted by samzenpus from the have-some-pop-ups dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Washingtonpost.com's Security Fix blog reports that a banner ad running on MySpace.com and other Web sites used a Windows security flaw to push adware and spyware out to more than one million computer users this week. The attack leveraged the Windows Metafile (WMF) exploit to install programs in the PurityScan/ClickSpring family of adware, which bombards the user with pop-up ads and tracks their Web usage."

Tom's Hardware Reviews ATI and Nvidia on Linux 201

Posted by CowboyNeal from the pretty-pictures dept.
Beuno writes "I stumbled upon a GeForce vs Radeon review on Tom's Hardware, which seems normal enough. The big surprise is that it was actually a comparison of those two video cards on Linux (Fedora Core 5). The review isn't as thorough as I would like, but it does review all aspects ranging from tools available, complexity of getting them to work and benchmarks on performance. To me, this is a clear signs of Linux finally making a long expected breakthrough into common desktops."

EU Fines for Microsoft Approved, Off the Record 692

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the whatever-that-means dept.
mattaw writes "The Register is carrying a report that all 25 member states of the EU have found Microsoft guilty of non-compliance, off the record. Microsoft is in line for a fine of $2.51 million per day backdated to December 15th 2004 for failing to meet the terms of the EU commission's ruling."

NH Man Arrested for Videotaping Police 1232

Posted by Zonk from the hold-still-for-your-interrogation dept.
macinrack writes to mention a story about a New Hampshire man who was arrested for videotaping police on his doorstep, using a fairly standard security camera system. He was officially charged with 'two felony counts of violating state eavesdropping and wiretap law by using an electronic device.' From the article: "The security cameras record sound and audio directly to a videocassette recorder inside the house, and the Gannons posted warnings about the system, Janet Gannon said. On Tuesday night, Michael Gannon brought a videocassette to the police department, and asked to speak with someone in 'public relations,' his wife said and police reported. Gannon wanted to lodge a complaint against Karlis, who had come to the family's house while investigating their sons, Janet Gannon said. She said Karlis showed up late at night, was rude, and refused to leave when they asked him."

Google Bundles Toolbar With Adobe Apps 157

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the jab-landing-close-to-home dept.
grammar fascist writes "Sci-Tech Today reports that Google is paying a 'significant amount' to bundle Google Toolbar with certain Adobe downloads. From the article: 'The initial venue for the Google mini-app will be downloads of the popular and free Shockwave multimedia player. The move is seen by some observers as an effort to outflank Microsoft, especially as Internet Explorer 7 nears its formal launch this summer [...] Interestingly, Google's search toolbar will be available only when Shockwave is downloaded for use with Internet Explorer on Windows.'"

Slashdot Top Deals

Hotels are tired of getting ripped off. I checked into a hotel and they had towels from my house. -- Mark Guido

Close