Comment Re:Space Camp (Score 1) 791
I went to Space Academy Level I when I was in the 7th grade. Dorkiest (and most fun) week of my childhood. I think we rode the centrifuge about 30 times that week.
Which Embedded Linux Distribution? 62
Abhikhurana writes "I work for a company which designs a variety of video surveillance devices (such as MPEG4 video servers). Traditionally, these products have been based on proprietary OSs such as Nucleus and VxWorks. Now, we are redesigning a few of our products and I am trying to convince my company to go down the Linux route. Understandably, our management is quite skeptical about that and so I was asked by our CTO to recommend a few RTOSs which have mature networking stacks and which work well on ARM platform. I know that there are many embedded Linux based distributions out there. There are commercial ones such as Montavista, LynuxWorks, free ones such as uclinux, muLinux and some Linux like distros such as Ecos. What is the most stable and best community supported embedded Linux distribution out there?"
Mercury May Have Molten Hot Magma at its Core 120
mattatwork writes "According to ScienceDaily, NASA has come to the conclusion that the planet Mercury may have a molten core after all, based on high-precision planetary radar readings. You may (or may not) remember the Mariner 10 probe making 3 passes by Mercury between March 29th, 1974, September 21st 1974 and March 16, 1975."
Feed FCC Tells Phone Companies You Can't Arbitrarily Block Calls To Numbers You Don't (techdirt.com)
A few months back, telcos like ATT and Sprint started blocking calls to various free conference call lines based in Iowa. As we had explained earlier, these systems were basically abusing bad regulations in Iowa, forcing telcos to pay them a lot of money for every incoming call. Even so, it seemed questionable that telcos could arbitrarily block who customers could call. It certainly echoed some of the concerns about network neutrality, where ISPs conceivably could block what sites users could visit. Based on all of this, it was somewhat surprising that the FCC didn't get involved. Eventually, however, the telcos backed down. We had assumed it was a combination of the bad publicity over the blocked calls (even if the Iowa telcos involved seriously overhyped the importance of being able to scam bigger telcos through regulatory loopholes) and the fact that the FCC was finally holding meetings on the issue. However, earlier today, FCC Chair Kevin Martin admitted that the FCC quickly called the big telcos in question to let them know, in no uncertain terms, that this was a violation of FCC rules. In fact, he claims that a week after the big telcos backed down, the FCC discovered that at least one was still somehow limiting or degrading calls to those Iowa numbers -- and the FCC contacted the telco again to tell them that this was not allowed. It's good to know that the FCC took this seriously (especially since it's one of the few times that it seems to have gone against the wishes of its good friends in the telco industry). It's still odd that the FCC didn't make any public announcement about this to make it abundantly clear to others not to go down this route. Perhaps Martin wanted to save his friends from some embarrassment. In the meantime, can anyone explain why no one is changing the silly regulations to get rid of the ridiculous and unnecessary fees to these Iowa telcos?
RIAA Backs Down Again in Chicago 126
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "The RIAA seems to have a problem making things stick in the Windy City. It has once again backed down in BMG v. Thao, after suing a misidentified defendant. Same thing occurred last October in Elektra v. Wilke. In the Thao case, the RIAA based its case on information that the cable modem used to partake in file sharing was registered to Mr. Thao. However, it turned out that Mr. Thao was not even a subscriber (pdf) of the ISP (pdf) at the time of the alleged file-sharing, and therefore did not have possession of the suspect cable modem at that time."
Submission + - The Unauthorized State-Owned Chinese Disneyland
rmnoon writes: "Apparently Japanese TV and bloggers have just discovered Disney's theme park in China, where young children can be part of the Magic Kingdom and interact with their favorite characters (like Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and the Seven Dwarfs). The park's slogan is "Because Disneyland is Too Far", and there's even an Epcot-like dome. The only problem? Disney didn't build it, and they didn't authorize it. What's more? It's state-owned!
Now that China is hosting the Olympics and seeking to build international credibility, what responsibility does it have to not engage in blatant violations of international trademarks in publicly-owned operations?"
Now that China is hosting the Olympics and seeking to build international credibility, what responsibility does it have to not engage in blatant violations of international trademarks in publicly-owned operations?"
Journal Journal: US Military Cracks Down on Front Line Bloggers.
Wired is reporting a new set of rules for US enlisted men that will all but shut down front line bloggers and sharply curtail email and other communications.
Miguel Plans Silverlight on Mono & Linux by Years End 350
El Lobo writes "The Mono open-source project will create a Linux version of Silverlight by the end of year, said Miguel de Icaza, a Novell vice president and head of Mono. Asked about plans for Linux, Microsoft executives have been non-committal, saying that it will depend on demand. But de Icaza, who is attending Mix, was able to commit without hesitating."
Comment So, the article is missing one thing......... (Score 1) 625
How fast did this thing (not really a car) go? Would it even make the minium speed on the interstate? My john deer mower has a bigger about the same size engine, and there is no way I would go on the interstate with it.
Vista Beta 2 has Major Problems 683
WebHostingGuy writes "In a review by Gary Krackow from MSNBC who reviewed Vista Beta 2 over the last week he had very disappointing problems. "for me [it] was one of the worst operating system experiences that I've ever encountered." Built-in audio and wireless didn't work on his Levono laptop. It took four days to get the first installation."
Spamming on Xbox Live? 45
jayintune writes "2old2play has an interesting article about spamming on Xbox Live. The new 360 version of Burnout Revenge rewards players with Live Achievement points for spamming members of their friends list with links to Burnout player videos. The catch is that you need to own the game to view any of these videos."
Hot Pepper Kills Prostate Cancer 401
brian0918 writes "U.S. and Japanese researchers have announced results of a study showing that capsaicin, the chemical that makes peppers hot, can cause prostate cancer cells to kill themselves. 'Capsaicin led 80 percent of human prostate cancer cells growing in mice to commit suicide in a process known as apoptosis, the researchers said.' This led to tumors one fifth the size of those in untreated mice."
Balancing Bad Applications vs. Network Security? 93
Darlok asks: "One of our clients recently purchased a new financial software package from a major vendor for their industry. This is not a small mom-and-pop software house. The problem is, like a lot of industry-specific software, there are a considerable number of bugs. What's shocking is that to work around a problem preventing users from logging on, the manufacturer's recommended solution is to grant -Domain Administrator- privileges to all users, and they refuse (or are is unable) to explain that need further (it's bad enough that an increasing amount software seems to require local administrator privileges). Considering the enormous costs involved, how do you explain to Management that they shouldn't run this software until the problem is resolved -- which could be a long time, costing even more money? How do you balance productivity versus security when ANY productivity would give away the keys to the city? What can make an industry-specific software manufacturer pay attention to larger issues when they already have something of a captive audience?"
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