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Power

Astrium Hopes To Test Grabbing Solar Energy From Orbit 144

Posted by timothy from the don't-stand-underneath-when-they-fly-by dept.
goldaryn writes "Word from the BBC today is that Europe's biggest space company is seeking partners to help get a satellite-based solar power trial into orbit: 'EADS Astrium says the satellite system would collect the Sun's energy and transmit it to Earth via an infrared laser, to provide electricity. Space solar power has been talked about for more than 30 years as an attractive concept because it would be 'clean, inexhaustible, and available 24 hours a day.' However, there have always been question marks over its cost, efficiency and safety. But Astrium believes the technology is close to proving its maturity.'"

Comment Re:Flamebait of a story (Score 3, Interesting) 306

by mortal-geek (#30849102) Attached to: Jeremy Allison Calls Microsoft Dangerous Elephant
I absolutely agree with this person and I wish I had mod points. While I don't love Micro$oft, but just to be fair, can we start to look at Microsoft as "competition" and move on. They have every right to protect their business; if we can produce better, more appealing software, we don't need to worry about all this bullshit. We need to win hearts with great products, not FUD--I hate to say it, like Micro$oft. I think our priorities are out of order here. Whenevr I see a Micro$oft bashing post on slashdot, I just have to roll my eyes over. Grow up, people, please..o.k., pretty please?
Privacy

Best Way To Clear Your Name Online? 888

Posted by timothy from the name-on-the-watchlist dept.
An anonymous reader writes "About fifteen years ago, I did something that I've come to regret on a university computer system. I was subsequently interviewed by a Federal law enforcement agency, although no charges were pressed and I have no criminal record as a result of my actions. At the time, I discussed the matter with a friend of mine who went on to mention it briefly in a text file zine with a small distribution list. I've generally tried to keep a low profile online and until recently there's been very little information about me available from the major search engines. Unfortunately, that zine mention was picked up by textfiles.com at some point and mirrored across the world. I've tried to address this with the owner of the site, but couldn't get anywhere. Even if my name in the source file is altered, cached copies will continue to link me with my youthful mistake. Have any other Slashdot readers had a similar experience? What practical steps would your readers recommend to prevent this information from hurting me? I am concerned that future employers may hold my past actions against me should they look for me online as part of their screening process."
Wireless Networking

Submission + - 802.11n: Fast Wi-Fi's slow road to standardization (computerworld.com)

Submitted by CWmike
CWmike writes: For a technology that's all about being fast, 802.11n Wi-Fi sure took its sweet time to become a standard, writes Steven J. Vaughan Nichols. In fact, until September 2009, it wasn't, officially, even a standard. But that didn't stop vendors from implementing it for several years beforehand, causing confusion and upset when networking gear that used draft standards from different suppliers wouldn't always work at the fastest possible speed when connected. It wasn't supposed to be that way. But, for years, the Wi-Fi hardware big dogs fought over the 802.11n protocol like it was a chew toy. The result: it took five drama-packed years for the standard to come to fruition. The delay was never over the technology. In fact, the technical tricks that give 802.11n its steady connection speeds of 100Mbps to 140Mbps have been well-known for years. Instead, the answer is the usual one behind standards wars: mud-wrestling among major vendors. As Andrew Updegrove, a partner with the law firm Gesmer Updegrove LLP and well-known standards advocate, says, a major reason it took so long for 802.11n to be finalized was "the amount of money at stake and the number of vendors in the marketplace whose lives can be made easier or harder depending on the outcome." In addition, the potential value of the technology kept growing "as Wi-Fi became more ubiquitous, in more and more devices, for more and more purposes."

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