Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
Novell

Journal Journal: Novell: "Windows is cheaper then linux"?

A recent article on ZDNet seems to claim that Novell had connections to a comment made about the total cost of ownership of Linux being more expensive then that of Windows. This connection will undoubtedly continue to anger the Open Source Community and bring about an even worse reputation to Novell who seems to have been blacklisted by some Linux users since it's deal with Microsoft a few months back.

Google

Using Google Earth to See Destruction 194

An anonymous reader writes "On Monday, an environmental advocacy group [Appalachian Voices] joined with Google to deliver a special interactive layer for Google Earth. This new layer will tell "the stories of over 470 mountains that have been destroyed from coal mining, and its impact on nearby ecosystems. Separately, the World Wildlife Fund has added the ability to visit its 150 project sites using Google Earth."
Biotech

Submission + - Genetically Engineered Maize Is Toxic

gandracu writes: It appears that a variety of Genetically Engineered maze produced by Monsanto is toxic for the liver and kidneys. What's worse, Monsanto knew about it, but tried to conceal the facts in its own publications. Greenpeace had to fight in court to obtain the incriminatory data and had it analyzed by a team of experts. MON863, the variety of GE maze in question, has been authorised for markets in Australia, Canada, China, Japan, Mexico, the Phillipines, and USA, besides the EU. Here is a link[PDF] to Greenpeace's brief on the study, and here is their account[PDF] of how the story was unearthed.
Censorship

Submission + - SCO Chair's Anti-Porn Act to be Signed Into Law

iptables -A FORWARD writes: "Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. of Utah reportedly plans to sign the ICPA (Internet Community Ports Act) into law. The ICPA proposes that online content be divided by port, rather like TVs have channels with adult and family content, so that certain internet ports will be "clean" and others will be "dirty." Thus, they hope to remove objectionable content from port 80 and require that it be moved elsewhere (port 666 was already taken by Doom, sorry), so that people could more easily block objectionable content, or have their ISPs block the ports with objectionable content for them. This law was originally suggested by the CP80 group, which is chaired by Ralph Yarro, who also chairs the SCO Group. That probably explains why they didn't choose to adopt RFC 3514, instead."
Security

File Sharing — Harmful to Children and a Threat to National Security 342

jkrobin writes to mention that a recent report from the US Patent office calls peer-to-peer file sharing harmful to children and a threat to national security. "Interestingly, the report makes numerous references to RIAA and MPAA legal actions against file actions, as well as cites a 2005 Department of Homeland Security report that government workers had installed file-sharing programs that accessed classified information without their knowledge."
Space

Submission + - spacecraft that ride magnetic fields

Maggie McKee writes: "Future spacecraft may surf the magnetic fields of Earth and other planets, taking previously unfeasible routes around the solar system, according to a proposal funded by NASA's Institute for Advanced Concepts. The electrically charged craft would not need rockets or propellant of any kind. To get charged up, the spacecraft could either fire a beam of charged particles into space or simply allow a radioactive isotope to emit charged particles. Because long thin filaments have large surface areas for holding charge, the spacecraft might look like Einstein's head — with wiry filaments sticking out from all angles — or a weird space 'stocking'."
Music

Submission + - EU Commissioner slams closed music ecosystems

Nonu writes: EU Commissioner for Consumer Protection Meglena Kuneva has come out against DRM lock-ins like Apple's iPod-iTunes combo. Kuneva said she believes the tie-in that keeps music bought from the iTunes Store from playing on MP3 players other than the iPod was unreasonable. '"Do you find it reasonable that a CD will play in all CD players, but an iTunes song will only play on an iPod?" asked Kuneva. "It doesn't to me. Something must change."' The EU is in the midst of an effort to harmonize its consumer protection laws, and long with the question of DRM tie-ins, it is also looking at mandating "cooling-off" periods whereby customers could "return" downloaded music.
Microsoft

Microsoft Cracking Open the Door To OSS 222

AlexGr sends us to a long piece in Redmond Magazine on Microsoft's changing relationship to open source. The article centers around a profile of Bill Hilf, Microsoft's internal and external evangelist for OSS. It's an even-handed piece that fully reflects the continuing deep skepticism in the community of Microsoft's motives and actions.
Windows

Submission + - Microsoft Quietly Releases Windows 2003 SP 2

Misterfred22 writes: Microsoft quietly released 32-bit Windows 2003 Service Pack 2 today for download. You can download it here. Be sure to read the very long list of fixes, too. The 64-bit edition is still showing as a release canidate on their site.

Slashdot Top Deals

Real Users find the one combination of bizarre input values that shuts down the system for days.

Working...