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Sun, January 21, 2007 11:47:39 PMFrom:
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[Slashdot] Stories for 2007-01-22
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Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* Microsoft Answers Vista DRM Critics' Claims
* NYC 911 to Accept Cellphone Pics and Video
* MIT Labs Moves Ahead In Synthesizing Spider Silk
* Ubuntu Studio Announced
* Google Checkout Sees Poor Customer Satisfaction
* Spam is Back With A Vengence
* Building a Programmer's Rosetta Stone
* Apple to Charge for Boot Camp?
* Microsoft to Launch Zune in EU
* Web 2.0 Mashups Almost Ready For Enterprise
* Google Working To Make 'iPod/iTunes for Books'
* The Anatomy of Pump N' Dump Stock Spamming
* Why the iPhone Keynote Was A Mistake
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| Microsoft Answers Vista DRM Critics' Claims |
| from the don't-believe-everything-you-read-on-the-interwebs dept.|
| posted by Zonk on Saturday January 20, @20:27 (Microsoft) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/21/0042202 |
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skepsis writes "Recently have been some recent stories on Slashdot
claiming that Vista would downgrade the quality of audio and video for
every application in a machine where protected content was running. One
of the stories painted a scary scenario where a 'medical IT worker who's
using a medical imaging PC while listening to audio/video played back by
the computer' would have his medical images 'deliberately degraded'. A
post has been put up on the Vista team blog [0]explaining exactly how the
content protection works, and it turns out the medical IT staff and audio
pros can relax. From the post: 'It's important to emphasize that while
Windows Vista has the necessary infrastructure to support commercial
content scenarios, this infrastructure is designed to minimize impact on
other types of content and other activities on the same PC. For example,
if a user were viewing medical imagery concurrently with playback of
video which required image constraint, only the commercial video would be
constrained -- not the medical image or other things on the user's
desktop.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/01/21/0042202
Links:
0. http://windowsvistablog.com/blogs/windowsvista/archive/2007/01/20/windows-vista-content-protection-twenty-questions-and-answers.aspx
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| NYC 911 to Accept Cellphone Pics and Video |
| from the looking-through-the-phone dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday January 20, @22:34 (The Internet) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/21/0044254 |
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[0]SpaceAdmiral writes "New York City is developing a plan to [1]allow
images to be sent to 911 emergency operators from cellphones. This will
likely give emergency operators better information to pass along to
responders. They're also planning on implimenting a program of
streetcorner video cameras, as seen in the city of London. According to
John A. Feinblatt, Mayor Michael Bloomberg's criminal justice
coordinator: 'The more information that the police have and the more
quickly that they get it, the more likely that they are going to fight a
crime.'" How practical do you think it is to expand this sort of project
to cities across the country? Moreover, is it worth the expense?
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/01/21/0044254
Links:
0. http://www.fanehenderson.com/
1. http://www.newsday.com/technology/ny-nycell185056789jan18,0,7313521.story?coll=ny-technology-print
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| MIT Labs Moves Ahead In Synthesizing Spider Silk |
| from the spiderweave-cap-of-the-bear dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Sunday January 21, @02:14 (Science) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/21/076246 |
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icepick72 writes in with a link to an ExtremeTech article on [0]new
methods for creating synthetic spider silk. This material, like lycra in
many ways, has a number of unique properties. The MIT lab that created it
is being monitored by military elements, keenly interested in
applications of this material to front-line technologies. From the
article: "The secret of spider silk's combined strength and flexibility,
according to scientists, has to do with the arrangement of the
nano-crystalline reinforcement of the silk as it is being produced--in
other words, the way these tiny crystals are oriented towards (and adhere
to) the stretchy protein. Emulating this process in a synthetic polymer,
the MIT team focused on reinforcing solutions of commercial rubbery
substance known as polyurethane elastomer with nano-sized clay platelets
instead of simply heating the mixing the molten plastics with reinforcing
agents."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/01/21/076246
Links:
0. http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,2085873,00.asp?kc=ETRSS02129TX1K0000532
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| Ubuntu Studio Announced |
| from the another-toy-for-ubuntu-users dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Sunday January 21, @04:54 (Software) |
| http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/21/0944240 |
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[0]lukeknipe writes "Ubuntu has set up a page for the April release of
the [1]Ubuntu Studio. An ambitious project, it is described by Ubuntu as
a 'multimedia editing flavor of Ubuntu for the Linux audio, video, and
graphic enthusiast or professional who is already familiar with the
Ubuntu-Gnome environment.' They've set up an [2]Ubuntu Studios Wiki for
the project, and their stated goal is to have a the package ready for use
in time for 'Feisty Fawn'."
Discuss this story at:
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/01/21/0944240
Links:
0. http://www.lukeknipe.com/
1. http://ubuntustudio.org/
2. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuStudio
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Google Checkout Sees Poor Customer Satisfaction |
| from the do-better dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Sunday January 21, @06:24 (Google) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/21/1036212 |
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[0]Aryabhata writes "Ars Technica reports on a survey by investment firm
J.P. Morgan Securities, stating that Google Checkout has had a relatively
quick and modest market penetration of six percent since its launch in
June of 2006, [1]but lags behind in customer satisfaction vs PayPal. On
the customer satisfaction front, only 18.8 percent reported having a
'good' or 'very good' experience with Google Checkout, while 81.2 percent
indicated a fair to poor experience customer experience compared to
PayPal's 44.2 percent reporting good experiences. Some users have
reported anecdotally that Google Checkout mistakenly canceled sales
without warning or that the checkout process took too long."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/01/21/1036212
Links:
0. http://talentscanonline.com/
1. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070119-8661.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Spam is Back With A Vengence |
| from the bring-me-my-bazooka dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Sunday January 21, @09:00 (Spam) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/21/1249257 |
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[0]Ant writes "The Red Tape Chronicles reports that just last December
(2006), the FTC published an optimistic state-of-spam report. It cites
research indicating spam had leveled off or even dropped during the
previous year. It now appears spammers had simply gone back to the
drawing board. There's [1]more spam now than ever before. In fact,
there's twice as much spam now as opposed to this time last year. And the
messages themselves are causing more trouble. About half of all spam sent
now is "image spam," containing server-clogging pictures that are up to
10 times the size of traditional text spam. And most image spam is
stock-related, pump-and-dump scams which can harm investors who don't
even use e-mail. About one-third of all spam is stock spam now."
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/01/21/1249257
Links:
0. http://aqfl.net/
1. http://redtape.msnbc.com/2007/01/spam_is_back_an.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Building a Programmer's Rosetta Stone |
| from the still-waiting-for-programmer's-tower-of-babel dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Sunday January 21, @10:09 (Programming) |
| http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/21/1410208 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Did you ever run into the problem where you knew how to do something in
one programming language, but really needed to do it in another? That's
what [0]Rosetta Code is all about. A variety of programming tasks are
solved using as many languages as possible. You can [1]examine existing
tasks, or [2]create your own.
Discuss this story at:
http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/01/21/1410208
Links:
0. http://rosettacode.org/
1. http://rosettacode.org/wiki/Category:Programming_Tasks
2. http://rosettacode.org/wiki/Help:Adding_a_new_programming_task
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Apple to Charge for Boot Camp? |
| from the now-wait-a-minute dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Sunday January 21, @11:15 (OS X) |
| http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/21/1556259 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "According to a report MacScoop has obtained,
[0]Apple will charge current users of Mac OS X Tiger for the final
version of Boot Camp that will be released at the same time as Mac OS X
Leopard, this Spring."
Discuss this story at:
http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/01/21/1556259
Links:
0. http://www.macscoop.com/articles/2007/01/20/apple-to-charge-mac-os-x-tiger-users-for-final-boot-camp-release
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Microsoft to Launch Zune in EU |
| from the worked-well-here-why-not-there dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Sunday January 21, @13:51 (Microsoft) |
| http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/21/1843216 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "Happy with the sales from the little brown
music player here in the states, Microsoft is working to [0]launch the
Zune media player in Europe by the end of the year. According to the
Washington Post article, they are trying to have a realistic outlook on
the entrenched Apple product line. They're not trying to play catch-up at
the moment ... they're just trying to get on the map. From the article:
'"Our next round of introductions will probably be in time for the
holiday of this year." [Jason Reindorp] said Microsoft planned extensive
research with focus groups in Europe to see how it could be modified for
a European consumer. He said the Zune had a 10.2 percent market share in
the U.S. in the 30 gigabyte category, according to the latest data, and
that it was still in line to sell over a million units by June 30, the
end of its current fiscal year.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/01/21/1843216
Links:
0. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/20/AR2007012000491.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Web 2.0 Mashups Almost Ready For Enterprise |
| from the roll-your-own-indeed dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Sunday January 21, @14:46 (The Internet) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/21/194222 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Dion Hinchcliffe, in a blog post over at ZDNet, talks about the
[0]increasing business value of 'Mashup' projects. Some of these, he
believes, may soon or already be ready for use in an enterprise
environment. He demonstrates one of these upcoming projects, showing off
[1]IBM's QEDWiki in a Flash demonstration. The software allows users to
create their own mashups from canned widgets, turning data into simple
applications with fairly straightforward functionality. From the article:
"The motivations for mashups are quite different inside of organizations,
where application backlogs and demand for more software that will improve
collaboration and productivity are often rampant. If this state of
affairs is true, far from having too much software, most enterprises
don't have enough to satisfy demand, despite the prevalence of mountains
of existing enterprise systems, many of which are underutilized. The
arguments for letting users self-service themselves with end-user
application tools and getting IT out of the critical path for the backlog
of simpler applications are extensive." How important do you think
'self-made' software will be in the future?
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/01/21/194222
Links:
0. http://blogs.zdnet.com/Hinchcliffe/?p=78
1. http://hinchcliffeandcompany.com/screencasts/qedwiki.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Google Working To Make 'iPod/iTunes for Books' |
| from the books-are-already-portable dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Sunday January 21, @15:45 (Google) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/21/2024201 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
nettamere writes to mention an initiative by Google to [0]take the
library online. The end result of the Google Book Search, the company
hopes to see a future where they are not mearly referring customers to
Amazon, but instead offering them [1]the ability to download books
directly. According to the Times Online, Google hopes to 'do for books
what the iPod did for music'. From the article: "One of Google's
partners, Evan Schnittman of Oxford University Press, said he foresaw a
number of categories becoming popular downloads: 'Do you really want to
go on holiday carrying four novels and a guide book?' The book initiative
would be part of Google's Book Search service and its partnership with
publishers, which will make books searchable online with publishers'
approval. At present, only a sample of each book is available online."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/01/21/2024201
Links:
0. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2092-2557653,00.html
1. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2095-2557728,00.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| The Anatomy of Pump N' Dump Stock Spamming |
| from the ugly-in-there dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Sunday January 21, @16:34 (Spam) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/21/2029210 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
giorgiofr writes "Laura Frieder and Jonathan Zittrain have analyzed pump
n' dump spam activity in their paper '[0]Spam Works: Evidence from Stock
Touts and Corresponding Market Activity'. Unbelievably, it appears that
spammers are able to achieve a 5% gain on pumped stock before dumping it,
along with a dramatic increase in transaction volume of the stock. From
the synopsis: ' We suggest that the effectiveness of spammed stock
touting calls into question prevailing models of securities regulation
that rely principally on the proper labeling of information and
disclosure of conflicts of interest to protect consumers, and we propose
several regulatory and industry interventions. Based on a large sample of
touted stocks listed on the Pink Sheets quotation system, we find that
stocks experience a significantly positive return on days prior to heavy
touting via spam. Volume of trading responds positively and significantly
to heavy touting.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/01/21/2029210
Links:
0. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=920553
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Why the iPhone Keynote Was A Mistake |
| from the should-have-worn-a-hat dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Sunday January 21, @17:44 (Apple) |
| http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/21/2032239 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
jcatcw writes "Mike Elgan at Computerworld lists six reasons why [0]it
was a mistake to make the iPhone keynote at Macworld. He argues that
extremely high expectations can only lead to disappointment for consumers
and investors. The focus on the phone during the keynote also took away
from the Apple TV announcement, put iPod sales at risk, gave competitors
a head start, and (perhaps worst of all) ruined the company's talks with
Cisco over the iPhone name. From the article: 'The iPhone, despite its
many media-oriented virtues and its sweet design, will do far less than
most existing smart phones. The problem Apple now faces because of Jobs'
premature detail-oriented announcement is that of dashed expectations.
When customers expect more and don't get it, they become dissatisfied.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/01/21/2032239
Links:
0. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9008439
Copyright 1997-2006 OSTG. All rights reserved.
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