Back to newsletter listDate:
Thu, February 01, 2007 11:35:17 PMFrom:
slashdot@slashdot.org
Subject:
[Slashdot] Stories for 2007-02-02
======================================================================
Using Tomcat but need to do more? Need to support web services, security?
Get stuff done quickly with pre-integrated technology to make your job
easier Download IBM WebSphere Application Server v.1.0.1 based on Apache
Geronimo
http://sel.as-us.falkag.net/sel?cmd=lnk&kid=120709&bid=263057&dat=121642
======================================================================
Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* Teen Accuses Record Companies of Collusion
* Scientists Attempt To Calm Volcano
* Three Months of Britain's e-Petition System
* Solving DRM in the BitTorrent Age
* Biology Could Be Used To Turn Sugar Into Diesel
* Michael Dell Returns to CEO Role at Dell
* iPods Becoming Entrenched In Major League Baseball
* Congress Hears From Muzzled Scientists
* Microsoft Applies To Patent DRM'ed OS Modules
* Install Vista Upgrade Without Preexisting XP
* Become the Fifth Space Tourist
* Remote Exploit of Vista Speech Control
* Are TV Pharmaceutical Ads Damaging?
* Netvibes May Give My Yahoo Run For Money
* 10 Years of Pushing For Linux — and Giving Up
* Sony Open to Considering PS3 Price Cuts
* Freeing the Good Stuff From University Labs
* Defused Googlebombs May Backfire
* Flickr To Abandon Early Adopters
* Blu-ray/HD DVD Disc Sales Numbers Revealed
* Net Neutrality and BitTorrent - No More Throttling?
* Maxwell's Demon Soon A Reality?
* Survey Indicates ID Theft May Be Diminishing
* Piracy Built the Romanian IT Industry
* Vista Indicates A Shift in Microsoft's Priorities
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Teen Accuses Record Companies of Collusion |
| from the sue-me-sue-you dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Wednesday January 31, @19:43 (Music) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/31/2328237 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]evilned1 writes "A 16-year-old boy being sued by five record companies
accusing him of online music piracy, [1]accused the recording industry on
Tuesday of violating antitrust laws, conspiring to defraud the courts and
making extortionate threats."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/01/31/2328237
Links:
0. mailto:evilned1@gmail.com
1. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MUSIC_DOWNLOAD_SUIT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-01-31-00-46-59
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Scientists Attempt To Calm Volcano |
| from the you-can-plug-anything dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Wednesday January 31, @20:58 (Science) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/31/2336202 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "Since May 2006, a [0]mud volcano in Indonesia
has spewed out up to 126,000 cubic metres of mud a day, flooding an area
of more than 4 square kilometres. This unprecedented natural disaster has
become so bad that [1]geophysicists now plan to enact an untested scheme
to try and slow the flow: dropping concrete balls into the volcano."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/01/31/2336202
Links:
0. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mud_volcano
1. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v445/n7127/full/445470a.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Three Months of Britain's e-Petition System |
| from the I-wish-to-register-a-complaint dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Wednesday January 31, @22:17 (The Internet|
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/31/2343240 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]eldavojohn writes "The idea seems simple. Provide feedback for your
government via the internet. If enough people sign a petition, address
it. That was the idea when an [1]e-Petition site was launched in Nov 06
for Prime Minister Tony Blair. The BBC is reporting on the [2]million or
so petitions that the PM has received since the site went live. While
most petitions are rejected or ignored, they have a top ten with one
petition having 600,000 signers. Is this a valid way to provide feedback
to the government or merely an exercise in keeping the populace happy?"
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/01/31/2343240
Links:
0. http://www.koyaanisqatsi.org/
1. http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/
2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6314117.stm
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Solving DRM in the BitTorrent Age |
| from the just-let-us-steal dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Wednesday January 31, @23:49 (Movies) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/0211240 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "FiringSquad has a new article on [0]DRM in
the BitTorrent Age. They argue that the movie industry looking for
"perfect DRM" should aim for the printed book model (people still buy
books even though they can read them for free at Barnes & Noble). They
argue that the missing element is that screenwriters are not marketed by
Hollywood in the same way the book industry markets its authors."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/01/0211240
Links:
0. http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/drm_editorial/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Biology Could Be Used To Turn Sugar Into Diesel |
| from the goodbye-mr.-fusion dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Thursday February 01, @01:32 (Biotech) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/0219248 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
ABCTech has an interesting article about an Emeryville-based tech
startup, Amyris Biotechnologies, that is planning to use microbes to
[0]turn sugar into diesel. Ethanol is made by adding sugar to yeast, but
Amyris believes that it can reprogram the microbes to make something
closer to gasoline. The company was initially given a $43 million grant
from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to attempt to research the
applications of Synthetic Biology for making a cost-effective malaria
drug. Jack Newman, the Vice-President of Amyris said, "Why are we making
ethanol if we're trying to make a fuel? We should be making something
that looks a lot more like gasoline. We should be making something that
looks a lot more like diesel. And if you wanted to design, you name it, a
jet fuel? We can make that too."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/01/0219248
Links:
0. http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=sci_tech&id=4983691
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Michael Dell Returns to CEO Role at Dell |
| from the hey-dude-you're-back-at-dell dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Thursday February 01, @04:13 (Businesses) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/0228204 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]head_dunce writes "It looks like [1]Michael Dell is jumping back into
the big chair at Dell because his company is slipping under the direction
of Kevin Rollins. I wonder if they should be looking outside the company
for new ideas, or if going back to basics is what needs to be done?"
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/01/0228204
Links:
0. http://www.carguygarage.com/
1. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070131/ap_on_hi_te/dell_ceo
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| iPods Becoming Entrenched In Major League Baseball |
| from the You-can-observe-a-lot-just-by-watching dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Thursday February 01, @07:43 (Media (Apple|
| http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/0425216 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]DreadfulGrape writes "ESPN.com reports on how video [1]iPods are being
used increasingly by baseball players to study opponents' game footage.
In fact, Houston Astros' pitcher Jason Jennings credits the device with
improving his game last summer." Jennings says, "Eventually, more than
two-thirds of the roster had piled on and turned this team into
baseball's official iSquad. Every player gets his own custom set of
videos loaded onto his personal iPod, sorted by date, hitter, pitcher and
opponent ?€? and updated every week or so."
Discuss this story at:
http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/01/0425216
Links:
0. http://willcate.com/wordpress
1. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/hotstove06/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=2744070
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Congress Hears From Muzzled Scientists |
| from the global-mmpphhhh dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Thursday February 01, @08:16 (Censorship) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/132241 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
BendingSpoons writes "More than 120 scientists across seven federal
agencies have been [0]pressured to remove the phrases 'global warming'
and 'climate change' from various documents. The documents include press
releases and, more importantly, communications with Congress. Evidence of
this sort of political interference has been largely anecdotal to date,
but is now detailed in a new report by the Union of Concerned Scientists.
The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee [1]held hearings on
this issue Tuesday; the hearing began by Committee members, including
most Republicans, stating that global warming is happening and greenhouse
gas emissions from human activity are largely to blame. The OGR hearings
presage a landmark moment in climate change research: the release of the
2007 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The IPCC
report, drafted by 1,250 scientists and reviewed by an additional 2,500
scientists, is expected to state that [2]'there is a 90% chance humans
are responsible for climate change' ?€? up from the 2001 report's 66%
chance. It probably won't make for comfortable bedtime reading; [3]'The
future is bleak', said scientists."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/01/132241
Links:
0. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0131/p01s04-uspo.html
1. http://environment.newscientist.com/article/dn11074-us-climate-scientists-pressured-on-climate-change.html
2. http://environment.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,1999968,00.html
3. http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6364246,00.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Microsoft Applies To Patent DRM'ed OS Modules |
| from the imagine-the-possibilities dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Thursday February 01, @08:55 (Microsoft) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/1327244 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]wellingj writes "Microsoft has applied for a [1]patent that sounds on
the face of it like it ought to improve OS stability and reliability: the
patent proposes to modularize device drivers much like Linux does. But,
going further, Microsoft would apply DRM to these modules ?€? as Groklaw
puts it, '[2]using modularity plus DRM to restrict and contain and
enforce.' The net result is that you might have to pay extra for OS
hardware support. Things like USB keys, DVD-ROMS, Raid drives, and video
cards might not be supported out of the box. LXer indulges in some
[3]dystopian speculation."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/01/1327244
Links:
0. mailto:jesse.welling@gmail.com
1. http://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PG01&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsrchnum.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=%2220060282899%22.PGNR.&OS=DN/20060282899&RS=DN/20060282899
2. http://www.groklaw.net/article.php?story=2007012808444146
3. http://lxer.com/module/newswire/view/79728/index.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Install Vista Upgrade Without Preexisting XP |
| from the loophole dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Thursday February 01, @09:36 (Windows) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/147254 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Johannes K. writes "It has [0]previously been claimed that to install
Windows Vista from an upgrade DVD requires having Windows XP installed on
your computer. DailyTech reports on a workaround: [1]no previous version
of Windows is required at all." Anyone know whether this workaround moots
the finding by LXer that [2]during upgrade Microsoft invalidates your
original XP CD-key?
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/01/147254
Links:
0. http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/28/2240200&tid=164
1. http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=5932
2. http://lxer.com/module/forums/t/24560/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Become the Fifth Space Tourist |
| from the getting-high dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Thursday February 01, @10:12 (Space) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/1443237 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]MattSparkes writes "There have been four space tourists so far. You
could become the fifth ?€? even if you aren't a dot-com millionaire. New
Scientist is running a [1]competition to send one person on a sub-orbital
flight, 62 miles above the Earth. All you have to do is write 250 words
on what the best ever patented invention is. Personally I think it has to
be the [2]Levitationarium." Of course if you win you'll probably have to
[3]pay the taxes.
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/01/1443237
Links:
0. http://www.thebikeblog.co.uk/
1. http://www.winatriptospace.co.uk/blogs/patent/index.html
2. http://www.bpmlegal.com/wlevitat.html
3. http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/29/0242257&tid=103
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Remote Exploit of Vista Speech Control |
| from the format-C-yes dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Thursday February 01, @10:54 (Security) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/1457252 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "George Ou writes in his blog that he found a
[0]remote exploit for the new and shiny Vista Speech Control.
Specifically, websites playing soundfiles can trigger arbitrary commands.
Ou reports that [1]Microsoft confirmed the bug and suggested as
workarounds that either 'A user can turn off their computer speakers
and/or microphone'; or, 'If a user does run an audio file that attempts
to execute commands on their system, they should close the Windows Media
Player, turn off speech recognition, and restart their computer.' Well,
who didn't see that coming?"
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/01/1457252
Links:
0. http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=416
1. http://blogs.zdnet.com/Ou/?p=418
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Are TV Pharmaceutical Ads Damaging? |
| from the decisions-best-left-to-the-professionals dept. |
| posted by Cliff on Thursday February 01, @11:18 (Biotech) |
| http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/018255 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
trivialscene asks: "ABC News is carrying an article about a [0]recently
published study in the medical research journal Annals of Family Medicine
which examined prime time television ads run by pharmaceutical companies.
The researchers concluded that the generally ambiguous ads, which appeal
almost entirely to emotion rather than fact, tend to confuse viewers.
They also suggest that the ads may be creating problems at the doctor's
office, as some people might become convinced they need a particular
medication and insist on getting it, rather than leaving the decision to
trained medical professionals. What do you think about the presence of
drug advertisements on television?"
Discuss this story at:
http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/01/018255
Links:
0. http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=2833516&page=1&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Netvibes May Give My Yahoo Run For Money |
| from the widgets-on-steroids dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Thursday February 01, @11:32 (Yahoo!) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/1518256 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Carl Bialik from WSJ writes "Wall Street Journal columnist [1]Walter
S. Mossberg reviews Netvibes, which allows users to create personalized
pages with modules that gather headlines, email, weather and other data
from all over the Web, and 'combines some of the best features of My
Yahoo and [Apple's] Dashboard,' Mossberg writes. More from the article:
'Among the modules you can add to your Netvibes page right from this
menu, without navigating to any setup page, are weather forecasts, a
notepad, a to-do list and calendar, and modules that perform searches for
Web pages, blogs, pictures, videos and podcasts. There are also email
modules that will display your new messages from Gmail, Yahoo Mail,
Hotmail, AOL Mail or any regular old email account you configure. Others
display content from eBay, MySpace, Fox Sports and more.' In an
accompanying video, [2]Mossberg demonstrates Netvibes."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/01/1518256
Links:
0. mailto:wsjarticles@wsj.com
1. http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB117028617379994289-LFRvPDIeP06m0FuTHCymy1DXu7Q_20080131.html?mod=blogs
2. http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid428895185/bclid428948076/bctid464190603
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 10 Years of Pushing For Linux — and Giving Up |
| from the one-thing-after-another dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Thursday February 01, @12:12 (Linux Business|
| http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/1536251 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]boyko.at.netqos writes "Jim Sampson at Network Performance Daily
writes about his attempts over a decade to get Linux working in a
business/enterprise environment, but each time, he says, something
critical just didn't work, and eventually, [1]he just gave up. The
article caps with his attempts to use Ubuntu Edgy Eft ?€? only to find a
bug that still prevented him from doing work." Quoting: "For the next ten
years, I would go off and on back to this thought: I wanted to support
the Open Source community, and to use Linux, but every time, the reality
was that Linux just was not ready... Over the last six years, I've tried
periodically to get Linux working in the enterprise, thinking, logically,
that things must have improved. But every time, something ?€? sometimes
something very basic ?€? prevented me from doing what I needed to do in
Linux."
Discuss this story at:
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/01/1536251
Links:
0. mailto:brian.boyko@netqos.com
1. http://www.networkperformancedaily.com/2007/01/ten_years_of_pushing_for_linux.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Sony Open to Considering PS3 Price Cuts |
| from the get-em-out-of-the-house dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Thursday February 01, @12:33 (Sony) |
| http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/165200 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]njkid1 writes with word that [1]Sony is considering dropping the PS3's
price. The Mercury news reports that Sony Senior Vice President Takao
Yuhara has admitted they are investigating whether to drop the
PlayStation 3 in price around the world, despite statements previously
made that the 'lower' PS3 price in Japan is hurting Sony's bottom line.
Profits for the company slipped some five percent in the October-December
period, and the shortfall expected through March could be even worse than
previously predicted. The article points out the possibly risky nature of
a price cut for such an expensive item so early in its lifespan, and
notes the stiff competition from the Xbox 360 and the Wii.
Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/01/165200
Links:
0. mailto:njkid1@gmail.com
1. http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/technology/16589429.htm?source=rss&channel=siliconvalley_technology
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Freeing the Good Stuff From University Labs |
| from the window-into-research dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Thursday February 01, @12:54 (Education) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/1549215 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]netbuzz writes "University research labs are not supposed to be like
Vegas: What happens in them is not supposed to stay there. A nonprofit
from the Kauffman Innovation Network launching yesterday at DEMO 07 aims
to [1]free the fruits of academic research that would otherwise sit
trapped on university shelves. Bonus: the site translates academic-speak
into English.
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/01/1549215
Links:
0. http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=buzzblog
1. http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/10959
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Defused Googlebombs May Backfire |
| from the gooooobooooom dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Thursday February 01, @13:39 (Google) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/1739216 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
linguista submits for us today an article on the Guardian site, which
theorizes Google's bomb defusing [0]may backfire on the company. Article
author Nicholas Carr calls out Google for tweaking search results based
on the company public image. As he notes, the Google blog entry
announcing the end to bombing didn't cite a desire for better queries as
the reason behind the change. Instead "... we've seen more people assume
that they are Google's opinion, or that Google has hand-coded the results
for these Googlebombed queries. That's not true, and it seemed like it
was worth trying to correct that misperception." While the general image
of Google is still that it 'does no evil', it's worth noting that the
search engine is not solely a link popularity contest. The results you
get from Google are tweaked by a number of factors, and at the end of the
day the company has complete control over what rises to the top.
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/01/1739216
Links:
0. http://technology.guardian.co.uk/opinion/story/0,,2002708,00.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Flickr To Abandon Early Adopters |
| from the enjoy-the-side-of-the-road-suckers dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Thursday February 01, @14:20 (Yahoo!) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/1754213 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "ZDNet's Steve O'Hear [0]opens old wounds for
Flickr veterans. 'An email dropped into my in-box yesterday from Yahoo.
Titled "Flickr: Update for Old Skool members", the message went on to
explain that Yahoo was discontinuing the old email-based Flickr sign-in
system and that from March the 15th, all users will be required to have a
Yahoo ID to sign-in to Flickr. It was one of those d??j?? vu moments when I
thought, hang on a minute, haven't we been here before?. And of course we
have.' Yahoo tried to pull this stunt almost two years ago, after it
first acquired Flickr. So why open up old wounds? Yahoo say it is to make
the service easier to manage as they add new features, such as
localization. Many users are calling this BS, saying it's all about Yahoo
marketing its other properties to Flickr's user-base. Much of the
criticism is being lead by a prominent user named [1]Thomas Hawk who also
happens to be CEO of Zooomr, a direct competitor to Flickr."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/01/1754213
Links:
0. http://blogs.zdnet.com/social/?p=79
1. http://thomashawk.com/2007/01/theres-some-mighty-pissed-off-flickr.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Blu-ray/HD DVD Disc Sales Numbers Revealed |
| from the battle-of-the-micro-titans dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Thursday February 01, @14:57 (Media) |
| http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/1758222 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "The High-Def format wars finally have a
yardstick against which to measure who's winning with the first public
release of [0]VideoScan sales figures for both HD DVD and Blu-ray. The
first two weeks' worth of data seem to back up what many predicted ?€? that
the Blu-ray-enabled PS3 is helping Sony quickly close the gap with HD
DVD, with almost three Blu-ray discs sold for every one HD DVD during the
first week of January. HD DVD still leads in overall discs sold since
inception, but that lead looks to be quickly dwindling. While they do
show a trend, the results from VideoScan are still fairly vague. Why are
consumers being denied the information they need to make a considered
choice?"
Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/01/1758222
Links:
0. http://www.highdefdigest.com/news/show/456
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Net Neutrality and BitTorrent - No More Throttling? |
| from the my-wow-patch-is-feeling-sad dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Thursday February 01, @15:41 (The Internet) |
| http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/1951226 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Umaga's Purse writes "Will ISPs [0]still be able to throttle BitTorrent
traffic now that a significant proportion of it is legit? It's a tough
question, especially for ISPs like AT&T (which [1]agreed to run a neutral
network in order to gain approval for its merger with BellSouth from the
FCC). It's not just a problem for AT&T, though: 'ISPs that have made no
such agreements may not need to worry about BitTorrent taking over their
networks, but they do need to wrestle with the issue of how to handle it
now that so many legal uses of the protocol are available. Do they want
to irritate their BitTorrent-using contingent, or let BitTorrent flow
unhindered at the risk degrading the experience of those who don't
download torrents?'"
Discuss this story at:
http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/01/1951226
Links:
0. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070201-8750.html
1. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/29/084223&tid=187
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Maxwell's Demon Soon A Reality? |
| from the chomp-chomp-evil-snacking dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Thursday February 01, @16:23 (Biotech) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/2049239 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
DMiax writes "Reuters reports that a group of scientists from University
of Edimburgh [0]may have realized a nanomolecular engine - a Maxwell's
Demon. The device selects and traps other molecules based on their
direction of motion. Physicist James Maxwell first imagined the
nano-scale device in 1867, and the research team cites him as the basis
for their understanding of how lights, heat, and molecules interact. The
device is powered by light, and may spur advances in nano-scale
technology to new heights in coming years."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/01/2049239
Links:
0. http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=116&art_id=qw1170340561317B216
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Survey Indicates ID Theft May Be Diminishing |
| from the we-can-only-hope dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Thursday February 01, @16:49 (The Internet) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/2127224 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]netbuzz passed us a link discussing [1]a survey conducted by major
credit firms. Keeping in mind the source (CheckFree, Visa, and
WellsFargo), the results indicate identity theft may be on the downswing
as consumers wise up to scammers. The number of respondents that reported
a fraudulent account created with a stolen identity dropped by a full
half percentage point between 2005 and 2006. Overall fraud apparently
dropped by some 12% over last year, representing $6.4 billion in fraud
reduction. Again, consider the source: identity fraud is still apparently
costing some $49.3 billion annually.
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/01/2127224
Links:
0. http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=buzzblog
1. http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/11009
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Piracy Built the Romanian IT Industry |
| from the eye-patches-in-europe dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Thursday February 01, @17:13 (Software) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/2156219 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader submitted a link to a Washington Post article about a
very interesting press conference. Romanian President Traian Basescu
stood up in front of international press and [0]discussed the role
pirated Microsoft software played in bringing about the IT industry in
the country. The other big player at the press conference was Microsoft
chair Bill Gates. Gates' company was opening a technical center in
Bucharest, and he declined to comment on the president's remarks. Romania
passed anti-piracy laws nearly 10 years ago, but nearly 70 percent of
software used in the country continues to be of an illicit nature.
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/01/2156219
Links:
0. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/01/AR2007020100715.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Vista Indicates A Shift in Microsoft's Priorities |
| from the end-users-at-the-end dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Thursday February 01, @18:05 (Microsoft) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/01/2220224 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
jcatcw writes "After hundreds of hours of testing Vista, [0]Scot Finnie
is supremely tired of it. And of Microsoft. Although 80% of the changes
in Windows Vista are positive, there is nothing about Vista that is truly
innovative or compelling; there's no transformational, gotta-have-it
feature in Vista. But the real problem isn't with Vista. It's with
Microsoft itself. His opinion is that Microsoft has stopped focusing on
end users. They 'now seemingly make many decisions based on these two
things: 1. Avoiding negative publicity (especially about security and
software quality) 2. Making sure the largest enterprise customers are
happy.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/01/2220224
Links:
0. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9009961
Copyright 1997-2006 OSTG. All rights reserved.
======================================================================
You have received this message because you subscribed to it
on Slashdot. To stop receiving this and other
messages from Slashdot, or to add more messages
or change your preferences, please go to your user page.
http://slashdot.org/my/messages
You can log in and change your preferences from there.
