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The Internet

Submission + - FCC decides 4.6 billion minimum bid for Spectrum (wired.com)

ChainedFei writes: From Wired News, In a surprising turn for the Spectrum auction, the FCC have stated that the minimum bid for the C-block spectrum being offered in the auction will be $4.6 billion, which coincidentally was the amount that GOOG fronted as a minimum bid to endorse certain open standards for the spectrum being sold.

It is essentially a move to shut out smaller possible competitors while also maximizing the money the auction will generate for the grade-A areas of the spectrum. In addition, any single bidder wishing to purchase the entirety of the spectrum must front a minimum of $10 billion.

Networking

Submission + - How do you build a new internet? | Guardian.co.uk (guardian.co.uk)

Kraisch writes: "How do you cut online crime, tackle child pornography, halt crippling viruses and get rid of spam? The answers could lie in a £200m successor to the internet that computer experts are already referring to as the next rendition of the virtual world. Researchers in the US want at least $350m (£175m) to build the Global Environment for Network Innovations (Geni), touted by some as the possible replacement for today's internet. In Europe, similar projects are under way as part of the EU's Future and Internet Research (Fire) programme, which is expected to cost at least £27m."
It's funny.  Laugh.

Submission + - Futurama Movie Set for November 27th (tvsquad.com)

kevin_conaway writes: "TV Squad informs us that the new Futurama movie will be available on November 27th. The show will return as a full-length high-def film sold on DVD. It will be followed by three additional films, and each film will be divided into four episodes each to be aired on Comedy Central. So, that's 4 DVD movies or 16 new episodes depending on how you look at it."
Television

Submission + - Reboot to get Reboot

superstick58 writes: "Reboot, one of the first CG animated TV shows is returning as a trilogy of feature-length films. This was a great cartoon for me as a budding geek in the mid 90's. Perhaps it also helped stimulate other developing nerds to embrace the computers that are supposedly run by these enjoyable CG characters."
Music

Submission + - Net Radio Wins Partial Reprieve (wired.com)

Joren writes: Wired News is reporting that Internet radio broadcasters have won a temporary reprieve from the new rates, although apparently the details are still being worked out. Updates will be posted here.

A coalition of webcasters have worked out a deal with the recording industry that could temporarily stave off a portion of crippling net radio royalties set to take effect Sunday, according to people familiar with the negotiations. [...] For now, the parties involved in what's described as ongoing negotiations have agreed to waive at least temporarily the minimum charge of $6,000 per channel required under a scheme created by the Copyright Royalty Board, or CRB. The deal, brokered late Thursday, is not final and could change. One person involved in the talks described the situation as a reprieve, and said that "internet radio won't be saved until a workable royalty rate is set."

Databases

Submission + - Linux HR Management Systems

dgcrawford writes: "A growing, 100-person company I work for is looking to integrate a Human Resources Management System into their Linux computer base. Does anyone have experience with any products that fit this need? Does it interface well with payroll, applicant tracking, maybe even finance and stock or other non-monetary compensation? I realize most of you would look at this from an IT point of view, but how did the system work across fields? And how important/useful did you find this interoperability?"
Businesses

Submission + - 1st Asian Nation to Adopt Open Software Standards

em8chel writes: "Japan has adopted a policy under which government ministries and agencies will solicit bids from software vendors whose products support internationally recognized open standards and thus becomes the first country in Asia to embrace the open software Standards, The OpenDocument Format Alliance (ODF Alliance) says in a press release (PDF).

"By giving preference to open software formats such as ODF, it is saying that information should be competitively priced, innovative, and easily available to the widest range of people, now and in the future. We hail Japan for its diligence and vision," congratulates Marino Marcich, ODF alliance Managing Director.

"Securing open standards based interoperability is critical to accelerate innovation. The interoperability framework will propel healthy competition and open up more opportunities for small and medium siye companies in Japan", says Masayuki Hayase of Justsystems Corporation.

The new guidelines are available (in Japanese) from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry."
Space

Submission + - Scientists find water on extra-solar planet (pressesc.com)

amigoro writes: "Scientists have, for the first time, conclusively discovered the presence of water vapour in the atmosphere of a planet beyond our Solar System, according to an article appearing in Nature. They made the discovery by analysing the transit of the gas giant HD 189733b across its star, in the Infrared using data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope. HD 189733b is a 'hot jupiter', a gas giant that is roughly the size and mass of Jupiter but orbits very close to the star, so no chance of life there."
Linux Business

Submission + - Linux creator calls GPLv3 authors 'hypocrites' (informationweek.com)

AlexGr writes: "We hear conflicting tales regarding Linus Torvalds acceptance of GPLv3. For example, this one by Paul McDougall (InformationWeek): Linux creator Linus Torvalds said the authors of a new software license expected to be used by thousands of open source programmers are a bunch of hypocrites and likened them to religious fanatics — the latest sign of a growing schism in the open source community between business-minded developers like Torvalds and free software purists. In an online post, Torvalds slammed executives at the Free Software Foundation, likening their mind-set to that of "religious fanatics and totalitarian states." Harsh! http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/ 2007/07/linux_creator_c.html"
Businesses

Submission + - Marketing yourself as an IT "jack-of-all-trade

ultimatemonty writes: As an IT professional looking for a new job, I'm trying to figure out how to market myself as a "jack-of-all-trades" IT worker. I'm currently employed at a medium sized university as a video conferencing specialist. I'm good (competent) at many IT related tasks (Linux server management, programming, Windows/Linux desktop support, video conferencing support, etc...), but specialize or excel in none of them, sort of like the lone IT manager in a small shop. What kinds of jobs would the Slashdot community look for with this kind of work experience, and how would you market yourself (design your resume, cover letter, etc) to prospective employers so they get the full-breadth of your capabilities without over-stating your abilities?
Music

Submission + - Putting Piracy in Perspective

An anonymous reader writes: Over the past year, Slashdot has pointed to many industry claims and governmental pressure (here, here, and here) arguing that Canada as a piracy haven. Canadian law prof Michael Geist has produced Putting Canadian "Piracy" in Perspective, a video that demonstrates how the claims are hugely exaggerated. For example, it shows how despite the MPAA's claim of movie piracy, Canada was the industry's fastest growing market last year. Similarly, while the recording industry says Canada is the world's top P2P country, the data shows that the Canadian music industry is experiencing record gains and that most of the decline from the major labels is due to retail pricing pressures.
XBox (Games)

Submission + - Microsoft sued about scratched Xbox 360 discs (hdtvinfo.eu)

Xbm360 writes: "Microsoft has been sued by Jorge Brouwer from the US who claims that Xbox 360s scratched his game discs, making them unusable. Jack Evans, a Microsoft spokesman, stated about these complaints; "Out of the millions of Xbox consoles in use, Microsoft has not received any widespread reports of Xbox 360s scratching discs""

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