mikkl666 - Slashdot User

Microsoft Kills 3-App Limit For Windows 7 Starter Edition 352

Posted by Soulskill on Friday May 29, 2009 @10:12PM from the crippleware-wasn't-politically-correct-anyway dept.

Chabil Ha' writes "Heard the rumors that the much-maligned Windows 7 Starter Edition would be able to run more than three concurrent applications? Today, the Windows team made it official: 'Based on the feedback we've received from partners and customers asking us to enable a richer small notebook PC experience with Windows 7 Starter, we've decided to enable Windows 7 Starter customers the ability to run as many applications simultaneously as they would like, instead of being constricted to the 3 application limit that the previous Starter editions included. We believe these changes will make Windows 7 Starter an even more attractive option for customers who want a small notebook PC for very basic tasks, like browsing the web, checking email and personal productivity.' Small consolation, of course, if you want to watch a DVD natively, but I'm sure this won't stop the Slashdot crowd from enabling it."

Special Effects Lessons From JJ Abrams' Star Trek 461

Posted by timothy on Tuesday May 19, 2009 @09:40AM from the know-where-the-release-valves-are dept.

brumgrunt writes "JJ Abram's hugely successful — on many levels — reboot of Star Trek has, for Den Of Geek, brought to the fore a lesson about special effects that many movie makers have been missing. Surely it's time now that special effects were actually used properly?" (The new film is not without some goofs, though only a few of the ones listed by Movie Mistakes' nitpickers are sciency.)

Predator C Avenger Makes First Flights 304

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday April 17, 2009 @06:14PM from the video-game-warfare dept.

stoolpigeon writes "General Atomics' new unmanned combat aerial vehicle, the Predator C Avenger, has been making test flights. This new Predator has a stealthy design, 20-hour endurance, is jet powered and has an internal weapons bay. A number of photos have just become available. 'The aircraft was designed so the wings can be folded for storage in hangars or aircraft carrier operations if a naval customer is found. Cassidy, a retired admiral, has talked about a possible Navy role for Predator C since 2002. The Navy was interested in the Predator B's capabilities, but didn't want to introduce any new propeller-driven aircraft onto carrier decks. The UAV also comes with a tailhook, suggesting that carrier-related trials are planned. The inner section of the cranked wing is deep, providing structural strength for carrier landings and generous fuel volume while maintaining a dry, folding outer wing. Right now, the US Air Force and Royal Air Force are considered the most likely users.'"

Comment Re:Where was the name suggested from? (Score 1) 383

by mikkl666 on Wednesday April 15, 2009 @09:34AM (#27585237) Attached to: NASA Names Space Station Treadmill After Colbert

The Sea of Tranquility on the moon was the landing site of the Apollo 11 mission. I heard the name was chosen to honor that.

Even Dirtier IT Jobs 175

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday April 06, 2009 @11:06AM from the summon-mike-rowe dept.

snydeq writes "InfoWorld's Dan Tynan offers up 7 'even dirtier IT jobs' in a follow-up of last year's 7 dirtiest jobs in IT. Number four? Zombie console monkey. 'Wanted: Individuals with low self-esteem and high boredom threshold willing to spend long hours poring over server logs and watching blinking lights on a network console.'"

Engineering Students Build Robotic Foosball Players 59

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday April 04, 2009 @09:32AM from the taking-over-the-world-one-table-at-a-time dept.

Andre writes "As their final-year project, an eight-man team of fourth-year electrical and computer-engineering students at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, constructed a robot-controlled, motor-and-actuator foosball table capable of playing against human opponents in a two-on-two fashion; one mechanical player controls two defensive rods (goalies and full-backs) and the other controls two offensive rods (half-backs and forwards). They considered the computers 'medium-skilled' players in that they were very competitive against beginners and fairly competitive against intermediates."

New Moon Found In Saturn's G-Ring 102

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday March 03, 2009 @08:58PM from the ring-herder dept.

caffiend666 writes "Scientists have announced a new moon has been found hidden in the G Ring of Saturn. The discovery was announced Tuesday in a notice by the International Astronomical Union. This is one of over five dozen moons, and is only a third of a mile wide. No word yet on a name for the new moon; I vote Cowboy Neal."

US Antitrust Judge Examining Windows 7 Documents 225

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday February 26, 2009 @12:10AM from the fine-toothed-comb dept.

Anonymous writes "After more than 11 years, the US antitrust case involving Microsoft is still alive, with a federal judge overseeing enforcement of provisions under which the software giant must operate. And now, Judge Kollar-Kotelly says she'll take a close look at new technical documents involving Windows 7. This case began during the Windows 95 era."

DRM Shuts Down PC Version of Gears of War 598

Posted by Soulskill on Friday January 30, 2009 @02:58AM from the you-know-what-really-grinds-my-gears dept.

carlmenezes writes "It seems that the DRM on the PC version of Gears of War came with a built-in shut-off date; the digital certificate for the game was only good until January 28, 2009. Now, the game fails to work unless you adjust your system's clock. What is Epic's response? 'We're working on it.'"

Comment Is it just me... (Score 0) 688

by mikkl666 on Thursday January 08, 2009 @10:49AM (#26371701) Attached to: The Recession

...or is this poll neither interesting nor funny?

Lenovo Service Disables Laptops With a Text Message 257

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday November 25, 2008 @09:10AM from the say-the-magic-word dept.

narramissic writes "Lenovo plans to announce on Tuesday a service that allows users to remotely disable a PC by sending a text message. A user can send the command from a specified cell phone number — each ThinkPad can be paired with up to 10 cell phones — to kill a PC. The software will be available free from Lenovo's Web site. It will also be available on certain ThinkPad notebooks equipped with mobile broadband starting in the first half of 2009. 'You steal my PC and ... if I can deliver a signal to that PC that turns it off, hey, I'm good now,' said Stacy Cannady, product manager of security at Lenovo. 'The limitation here is that you have to have a WAN card in the PC and you must be paying a data plan for it,' Cannady added."

Scientists Discover Why Sharks Can Swim So Fast 103

Posted by timothy on Tuesday November 11, 2008 @09:30AM from the goosebumps-might-help-evade-them dept.

MediaSight writes "Shortfin mako sharks can shoot through the ocean at up to 50 miles per hour (80 kilometres an hour). Now a trick that helps them to reach such speeds has been discovered — the sharks can raise their scales to create tiny wells across the surface of their skin, reducing drag like the dimples on a golf ball."

Ballmer "Interested" In Open Source Browser Engine 410

Posted by timothy on Thursday November 06, 2008 @08:56PM from the ted-bundy-was-interested-in-women dept.

Da Massive writes "'Why is IE still relevant and why is it worth spending money on rendering engines when there are open source ones available that can respond to changes in Web standards faster?,' asked a young developer to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in Sydney yesterday. 'That's cheeky, but a good question, but cheeky,' Ballmer said. Then came the startling revelation that Microsoft may also adopt an open source browser engine. 'Open source is interesting,' he said. 'Apple has embraced Webkit and we may look at that, but we will continue to build extensions for IE 8.'"

Video Games Linked To Child Aggression 500

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday November 03, 2008 @11:29AM from the zomg-this-makes-hulk-smash dept.

the4thdimension writes "CNN is running a story this morning that explains new research showing a correlation between video games and aggression in children. The study monitored groups of US and Japanese children, asking them to rate their violent behavior over a period of several months while they played video games in their free time. The study concludes that it has 'pretty good evidence' that there is a link between video games and childhood aggression." Stories like this make me want to smash things.

Paper Ballots Will Return In MD and VA 420

Posted by timothy on Thursday October 30, 2008 @04:21PM from the but-this-baby-is-soaked-in-bathwater dept.

cheezitmike writes "According to a story in the Washington Post, 'Maryland and Virginia are going old school after Tuesday's election. Maryland will scrap its $65 million electronic system and go back to paper ballots in time for the 2010 midterm elections. In Virginia, localities are moving to paper after the General Assembly voted last year to phase out electronic voting machines as they wear out. "The battle for the hearts and minds of voters on whether electronic systems are good or bad has been lost," Brace said. The academics and computer scientists who said they were unreliable "have won that battle."'"

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