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Submission + - Apple Discontinues Mac Pro in EU (macworld.co.uk)

Submitted by jones_supa
jones_supa writes: Apple has been forced to remove the Mac Pro from sale in European Union after an amendment to a safety regulation left the machines incompliant. The updated electronics safety standard IEC 60950-1 increases requirements around electrical port protection and the fan guards in the system. Apple does not plan to modify their machines and will simply pull them from market in the EU. Apple wishes to warn customers and partners about the change so that they would have sufficient time to order Mac Pro units and meet any needs prior to 1 March, when the amendment comes into effect.
Microsoft

Microsoft Facing Class-Action Suit Over Xbox Live Points 107

Posted by Soulskill from the demo-suit-is-free dept.
An anonymous reader tips news that a lawyer in Pennsylvania has filed a class-action lawsuit against Microsoft, alleging that the company's handling of Xbox Live transactions is, in some cases, fraudulent. "Samuel Lassoff, of Horsham, PA, said an invoice he received earlier this month from Microsoft included charges for purchases he couldn't complete due to a balky download system — and he claimed it wasn't an accident. Microsoft 'engaged in a scheme to unjustly enrich itself through their fraudulent handling' of his account, Lassoff charged in papers filed earlier this week in US District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania. ... 'Microsoft breached that contract by collecting revenues for digital goods and services which were not provided,' Lassoff said in his lawsuit."

Submission + - Yellowstone Supervolcano larger than first thought (ksl.com)

Submitted by drewtheman
drewtheman writes: New studies of the plumbing that feeds the Yellowstone supervolcano in Wyoming's Yellowstone National Park shows the plume and the magma chamber under the volcano are larger than first thought and contradicts claims that only shallow hot rock exists. University of Utah research professor of geophysics Robert Smith led four separate studies that verify a plume of hot and molten rock at least 410 miles deep that rises at an angle from the northwest.

Submission + - Choosing a personal printer for the long haul

Submitted by
The Optimizer
The Optimizer writes: "Ask Slashdot: After 16 years of service my laser printer, a NEC Silentwriter 95, is finally wearing its internals out and I need to find a replacement. It's printed over 30,000 pages and survived a half-dozen long-distance moves without giving me any trouble. I believe it's done so well for two reasons. First, it's sturdily built and hails from an era when every fraction of penny didn't have to be cost-cut out of manufacturing, The other reason was its software. Since it supported postscript Level II, it wasn't bound to a specific operating system or hardware platform, so long as a basic postscript level 2 driver was available. A new color laser printer with postscript 3 seems like a logical replacement, and numerous inexpensive printers are available. I'd rather get a smaller, personal-size printer than a heavy workgroup printer. Most of all, I would like it to still be usable and running well with Windows 9, OS X 11, and whatever else we will be using in 2020. Can anyone recommend a brand or series of printers that is built to last and isn't going to be completely dependent on OS specific proprietary drivers?"
Biotech

Submission + - Universal 'Death Stench' Repels Bugs of All Types

Submitted by pickens
pickens writes: Hugh Pickens writes

Wired reports that scientists have discovered that insects from cockroaches to caterpillars all emit the same stinky blend of fatty acids when they die and that the death mix may represents a universal, ancient warning signal to avoid their dead or injured. "Recognizing and avoiding the dead could reduce the chances of catching the disease," says Biologist David Rollo of McMaster University "or allow you to get away with just enough exposure to activate your immunity." Researchers isolated unsaturated fatty acids containing oleic and linoleic acids from the corpses of dead cockroaches and found that their concoction repelled not just cockroaches, but ants and caterpillars. "It was amazing to find that the cockroaches avoided places treated with these extracts like the plague," says Rollo. Even crustaceans like woodlice and pillbugs that diverged from insects 400 million years ago were repelled leading scientists to think the death mix represents a universal warning signal . Scientists hope the right concoction of death smells might protect crops and thankfully, human noses can't detect the fatty acid extracts. "I've tried smelling papers treated with them and don't smell anything strong and certainly not repellent," writes Rollo in an e-mail. "Not like the rotting of corpses that occurs later and is detectable from great distances,."
Businesses

Submission + - Bullet-proof sheets of carbon nanotubes (cnn.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: FTA: "Lashmore's company, Nanocomp Technologies, is the first in the world to make sheets of carbon nanotubes — microscopic tubes stronger than steel but lighter than plastic.(...) In April, Lashmore had a mechanical multicaliber gun shoot bullets at different versions of his sheet, each less than a fifth of an inch thick, at a speed of 1,400 feet per second. Four sheets were breached, but three showed no damage."

Other possible uses: Shark suit? Bullet-proof Faraday cage?

Submission + - Australian Goverment to break up Telstra (abc.net.au)

Submitted by benz001
benz001 writes: The same Minister in charge of the ridiculous broadband filter plan has at least won a few brownie points with today's press conference (http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/09/15/2686143.htm). Telstra, Australia's largest ISP and the countries main infrastructure owner is to voluntarily split off its network and wholesale arms or the Goverment will step in with legislation.

The official press release can be found on the Ministers site (http://www.minister.dbcde.gov.au/media/media_releases/2009/088)
Government

Submission + - Firefox Plugin Liberates Paywalled Court Records (recapthelaw.org)

Submitted by
Timothy B. Lee
Timothy B. Lee writes: "If you want to access federal court records, you're often forced to use PACER, a cumbersome, paywalled website run by the federal judiciary. My colleagues and I at Princeton's Center for IT Policy have released a new Firefox extension called RECAP that allows users to automatically upload the documents they download from PACER into a public archive hosted by the Internet Archive. It also saves users money by automatically notifying them if a document they're searching for is available for free from the public archive. Over time, we hope to build a comprehensive, free repository of federal court records that's available to everyone."
Privacy

Submission + - Digsby quietly installs malware (lifehacker.com)

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: Instant messenging company Digsby has quietly included malware in an update to their client software that utilizes users' computing power and bandwidth while "idle" for a quick buck. When questioned, developers at Digsby claim that they have done no wrong and that users should not complain because the client software is "free".
Government

Submission + - FTC says "We'll 'come calling' about deceptive

Submitted by
Jane Q. Public
Jane Q. Public writes: "At the FTC's Seattle conference on DRM, FTC Director Engle started off by referencing the Sony rootkit debacle, and said that companies are going to have to get serious about disclosing DRM that may affect the usability of products. She also said that the fine print in a EULA is not good enough, and "If your advertising giveth and your EULA taketh away, don't be surprised if the FTC comes calling."
The conference was webcast live from the FTC website."

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