pij - Slashdot User

Submission + - White House Panel Considers New Paths To Space (nasa.gov)

Submitted by Neil H. on Saturday June 20, 2009 @06:48AM

Neil H. writes: The White House's Human Space Flight Plans blue-ribbon panel has posted the material from their first public meeting on the future of NASA's spaceflight program. NASA officials presented their Ares I rocket plans and their belief that they can work around its design flaws, with projected development costs ballooning to $35 billion. The panel also heard several alternative proposals, such as adapting already-existing EELV and SpaceX rockets to carry crew to orbit; these proposals would have better safety margins than the Ares I, be ready sooner, and cost NASA less than $2 billion to complete, but are politically unattractive.

Submission + - 400 battle bots fight, toss enemies at games \vid (automationmag.com)

Submitted by

Andre

on Saturday June 20, 2009 @05:17AM

Andre writes: "The 6th annual RoboGames were held in San Francisco last weekend as they welcomed a horde of 400 non-sentient, metallic warriors to do violent battle—against each other, of course. This army of remote-controlled and autonomous combat robots, along with walking humanoids, soccer 'bots, sumo 'bots and even androids that do kung-fu, was put to the test. Among the big winners was Canadian-made "Ziggy"—one of the combatants in the 340-pounds super-heavyweight division (the biggest division)—who took home a gold medal for the fourth year in a row. The bionic brute proved its might against its final opponent, the "Juggernaut," by tossing it around like an empty pop can (and promptly making a mockery of its name) using its pneumatic flipper. Its newly improved weapon results (as you may expect) in unwanted (but totally cool) free-flying lessons for its opponents, and at full power, the flipper can launch an opponent to the arena ceiling."

Submission + - SPAM: Intel, AMD take battle to new ultra-thin laptops

Submitted by FinalAnkleHealer on Friday June 19, 2009 @11:14PM

FinalAnkleHealer writes: Laptops an inch thick that multitask and edit multimedia content, but cost only $500? Intel and AMD are betting they aren't too good to be true.

Submission + - The Truth Behind the Death of Linux on the Netbook (groklaw.net)

Submitted by

eldavojohn

on Friday June 19, 2009 @08:36PM

eldavojohn writes: "Groklaw brings us news of Microsoft holding the smoking gun in regards to the death of Linux on netbooks. You see, the question of Linux on netbooks in Taiwan was put forth to the Taiwan Trade Authority director who replied, 'In our association we operate as a consortium, like the open source consortium. They want to promote open source and Linux. But if you begin from the PC you are afraid of Microsoft. They try to go to the smart phone or PDA to start again.' It's simple, fear will keep them in line. PJ points out 'So next time you hear Microsoft bragging that people *prefer* their software to Linux on netbooks, you'll know better. If they really believed that, they'd let the market speak, on a level playing field. If I say my horse is faster than yours, and you says yours is faster, and we let our horses race around the track, that establishes the point. But if you shoot my horse, that leaves questions in the air. Is your horse *really* faster? If so, why shoot my horse?'"

Submission + - Obama taps IBM Open Source Advocate for USPTO (uspto.gov)

Submitted by langelgjm on Friday June 19, 2009 @03:03PM

langelgjm writes: President Obama has announced his intent to nominate David Kappos, a VP and general counsel at IBM, to head the US Patent and Trademark Office. This move is particularly notable not only because of IBM's much friendlier attitudes towards open source compared with some of their rivals, but also because Kappos himself is open source-friendly: "We are now the biggest supporters of the open source development project," explains David. "Admittedly this policy is not easily reconcilable with our traditional IP strategy, but we are convinced that it is the way to go for the future."

Not just a lawyer, Kappos earned an engineering degree before working in the legal field. Kappos has been described as "critical of the American approach to patent policy." Given his background, could this mean a new era for US patent policy?

Submission + - What do you do with a personal domain? 2

Submitted by bmerr71 on Wednesday June 03, 2009 @04:05PM

bmerr71 writes: I bought my own domain name to use as a self-promotion tool. I use a subdomain, "profile.mydomain.com", which I selectively put on my email signatures to link to my linkedin profile. I also loaded up Google Apps to use for email. But when you go directly to my domain name, there is nothing there. I didn't want GoDaddy getting ad revenue off my name (and it doesn't look very professional), so I killed the ad page, but it seems like I should be able to put something up on my main page. But, I am not interesting in blogging, I do not want too much personal information up there, and I do not want to spend a lot of money (none, if possible). Are there any free apps that I can load up on my domain to fill the blank space? What do non-bloggers do with their personal domains?

Submission + - Device Reads Messages From Surface of the Brain (technologyreview.com)

Submitted by

Al

on Wednesday June 03, 2009 @01:14PM

Al writes: "Technology Review has a story about a start-up company that has developed a more-accurate and less-invasive way to read a patients thoughts. Neurolutions, based in St Louis has developed a small implanted device that translates signals recorded from the surface of the brain into computer commands. The device, which is less invasive than implants and more accurate that scalp electrodes, uses a grid of electrodes placed directly on the surface of the brain to monitor electrical activity. This technology is currently used to find the origin of seizures in patients with uncontrolled epilepsy before surgery. But the company says it could also help paralyzed patients control a computer and perhaps prosthetic limbs using their thoughts. Tests involving more than 20 patients have shown that people can quickly learn to move a cursor on a computer screen using their brain activity."

Submission + - Should Auditors Be Liable for Certifications? (channelinsider.com)

Submitted by

dasButcher

on Wednesday June 03, 2009 @12:40PM

dasButcher writes: "Enterprises and mid-size business rely on auditors and service providers to certify their systems as compliant with such security regs and standards as PCI-DSS or SOX. But, as Larry Walsh speculates, a lawsuit filed by a bank against an auditor/managed service provider could change that (http://blogs.channelinsider.com/secure_channel/content/data_security/breach_lawsuit_could_reset_security_liabilities_to_service_providers.html). The bank wants to hold the auditor liable for a breach at its credit card processor because the auditor certified the processor as PCI compliant. If the bank wins, it could change the standards and liabilities of auditors and service providers in the delivery of security services."

Submission + - Illegal CD's smell different. (yahoo.com)

Submitted by

sgt scrub

on Wednesday June 03, 2009 @12:14PM

sgt scrub writes: "I've never thought about sniffing my CD's before buying them but that is all about to change. According to this Yahoo! news article, dogs can be trained to tell the difference between a legit copy of a DVD and one from those pesky pirates.
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — A DVD-sniffing anti-piracy dog named Paddy has uncovered a huge cache of 35,000 discs in Malaysian warehouses, many destined for export to Singapore, industry officials said on Wednesday.
Paddy was given to Malaysia by the MPA to help close down piracy syndicates who churn out vast quantities of illegal DVDs. The dog is specially trained to detect chemicals in the discs."

Submission + - Police take step closer to crime breathalysers (silicon.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 03, 2009 @12:07PM

An anonymous reader writes: UK police are talking to private companies about using plug-in USB devices that can scour the hard drive of any device they are attached to, searching for evidence of illegal activity. The UK's Association of Chief Police Officers is considering using commerical devices that can perform targeted searches of text, pictures and computer code on hard drives, allowing untrained cops to detect anything from correspondence on stolen goods to child pornography. Police in the UK are desperate for a way of slashing the backlog of machines seized by the police in raids, with many forces having a backlog that will take a year to process.

Submission + - Music streaming "to overtake downloads" (pcpro.co.uk)

Submitted by

Barence

on Wednesday June 03, 2009 @10:57AM

Barence writes: "Streaming will overtake download services to become the dominant force in the online music industry, according to industry insiders. The claim comes in the wake of the PRS cutting the amount of royalties streaming services have to pay songwriters by about a third. Sites will now pay the PRS 0.085p per track, compared to the 0.22p they paid previously. On-demand streaming services still have to pay the record labels about 1p for every track streamed, however. Steve Purdham, CEO of music service We7, says the move will accelerate the growing trend towards online streaming which has seen newcomers such as his site and Spotify attract millions of users in less than a year. "Over the next 12-24 months you'll see a move towards listening [online]," Purdham told PC Pro. "Why do you actually need to have something downloaded on your PC? The streaming idea is really the future.""

Submission + - Google, Y!, Apple targeted in DOJ Antitrust Probe (washingtonpost.com)

Submitted by suraj.sun on Wednesday June 03, 2009 @08:40AM

suraj.sun writes: The Justice Department has launched an investigation into whether some of the nation's largest technology companies violated antitrust laws by negotiating the recruiting and hiring of one another's employees, according to two sources with knowledge of the review.

The review, which is said to be in its preliminary stages, is focused on Google; its competitor Yahoo; Apple; and the biotech firm Genentech, among others, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing.

The sources said the review includes other tech companies and is "industry-wide." By agreeing not to hire away top talent, the companies could be stifling competition and trying to maintain their market power unfairly, antitrust experts said.

The Justice Department last month launched a review of the board ties between Google and Apple, which some say are competitors. The Federal Trade Commission has initiated a review of Google's settlement with book authors and publishers on digital records of their works. Obama's antitrust chief at the Justice Department, Christine Varney, has said she plans to look at the network effects of high-tech companies and how their grasp on markets has cut out competitors and hurt consumers.

Washington Post : http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/02/AR2009060203412.html

Submission + - Intel's new-ish desktop socket: LGA 1366 explained (pcauthority.com.au) 1

Submitted by Slatterz on Monday June 01, 2009 @12:05AM

Slatterz writes: LGA 1366 is Intel's first new desktop socket in four years. It uses the same ZIF design as the familiar LGA 775 architecture, but it incorporates many more contacts. These big architectural changes are backed up by some less visible advances. Until now, Intel's quad-core processors have been constructed from two dual-core dies, but now Core i7 brings together four cores on a single die. It's also Intel's first processor design to use an L3 cache, shared between all four cores.

Sperm Made From Female Bone Marrow, Men Obsolete? 459

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Saturday February 02, 2008 @07:22AM from the what-some-women-have-been-saying-for-years dept.

Shaitan Apistos writes "British scientists have discovered a way to turn female bone marrow into sperm, allowing women to reproduce without the need of male companionship. All children born of this method would be female, due the lack Y chromosomes, and there is high chance of birth defects. Eggs also can be created from male bone marrow, but men looking to reproduce would still need to find a surrogate mother to handle the gestation period. I'd like to take a moment to welcome our new amazonian overlords and remind them that men are still very good at mowing lawns and fixing cars."

Linux Has Better Windows Compatibility Than Vista 347

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Saturday February 02, 2008 @05:33AM from the wine-keeps-getting-better-with-age dept.

Several readers have written to tell us about one users rant in which he tells the story of being so frustrated with gaming on Windows Vista that he tried comparing gaming on Vista to that on Linux using Wine, with surprising results. "This post is clearly a bit biased. What shocked me though was how easy it was to find games that didn't run under Vista but did in Linux by using Wine or DOSBox. I'm not a huge gamer, so I don't have a huge collection of games to try out, but even still with just a few hours of frustrating work, I have been able to show that not only is Linux a reasonable alternative to Vista for gaming (XP is still king though), but also that Linux handles application failures more gracefully than Vista. Every game but Blackthorne crashed my Vista box, this didn't happen a single time under Linux."

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