Back to newsletter listDate:
Mon, February 19, 2007 11:28:44 PMFrom:
slashdot@slashdot.org
Subject:
[Slashdot] Stories for 2007-02-20
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Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* Network Computing Editor Wins RSA Hacking Contest
* World's Largest Tropical Glacier Vanishing
* The Future of Packaging Software in Linux
* Possible 25 Million Year Old Frog Found
* Robotic Arm Aids in Grasping After Stroke
* RIAA Hires Artists, Then Sends In the SWAT team
* Lakes Found Under Antarctic Ice Using Space Lasers
* OSS Music Composer Gaining Attention
* Red Hat Dismissing Microsoft, Oracle
* How A "Superbaby" Is Helping To Find Muscular Dystrophy Treatments
* Fermi Paradox Predicting Humankind's Future?
* OLPC Has Kill-Switch Theft Deterrent
* Ruby Implementation Shootout
* The Wii - Is the Magic Gone?
* Cold Fusion Scientist Exonerated
* New Blender Released
* Couple Who Catch Cop Speeding Could Face Charges
* XM And SIRIUS Radio Merging
* Regrowing Lost Body Parts Getting Closer All the Time
* Sweden to Make Denial of Service Attacks Illegal
* Pre-Installed Linux Tops Dell Customer Requests
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Network Computing Editor Wins RSA Hacking Contest |
| from the hack-on-hack-off dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Sunday February 18, @20:28 (Security) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/19/0113201 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
richkarpi writes "Network Computing's security editor [0]won the recent
RSA Interactive Testing Challenge. He has up a blow-by-blow description
of the events at their site: 'The most important factor in the contest
besides basic web exploitation skills (cross site scripting (XSS), SQL
injection, cross site request forgeries (CSRF), etc.) was speed ... I
squeaked out a win in the tie-breaking challenge the first day with only
a few seconds to spare as my opponent was right behind in the hunt to
combine three injectable fields into one long javascript function.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/19/0113201
Links:
0. http://www.networkcomputing.com/blog/dailyblog/archives/2007/02/for_hackers_by.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| World's Largest Tropical Glacier Vanishing |
| from the no-rest-for-the-chilly dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Sunday February 18, @22:58 (Science) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/19/0357228 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Socguy wrote with a link to a CBC article about [0]the rapidly
disappearing Peruvian glacier known as the Quelccaya ice cap. The world's
largest tropical glacier was a hot topic this past Thursday at the
meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Glaciologist Lonnie Thompson, and a team of Ohio state scientists,
produced the stunning news that Quelccaya and similar formations are
melting at a rate of some 60 metres per year. While polar ice caps have
commanded attention in the discussion of global warming to date, these
tropical caps are crucial to the well-being of ecosystems relying on an
influx of mountain stream fresh water.
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/19/0357228
Links:
0. http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/02/16/science-glacier.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| The Future of Packaging Software in Linux |
| from the come-together-right-now dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Monday February 19, @00:39 (Software) |
| http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/19/040236 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]michuk writes "There are currently at least five popular ways of
installing software in GNU/Linux. None of them are widely accepted
throughout the popular distributions. This situation is not a problem for
experienced users ?€? they can make decisions for themselves. However, for
a newcomer in the GNU/Linux world, installing new software is always
pretty confusing. The article tries to sum up some of the recent efforts
to fix this problem and examine the possible [1]future of packaging
software in GNU/Linux."
Discuss this story at:
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/19/040236
Links:
0. http://borys.musielak.eu/
1. http://polishlinux.org/linux/the-future-of-packaging-software-in-linux/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Possible 25 Million Year Old Frog Found |
| from the ancient-froggie dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Monday February 19, @02:44 (Science) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/19/0738241 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
dispatch writes "A small frog, found preserved in amber, has been found
by researchers in Mexico City. The frog, according to the scientists, may
be some [0]25 million years old! According to the article: 'The chunk of
amber containing the 0.4-inch frog was uncovered by a miner in southern
Chiapas states in 2005 and was bought by a private collector, who lent it
to scientists for study.' Unfortunately, it doesn't seem as though the
scientists will be allowed to drill into the rock, at the owner's
request."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/19/0738241
Links:
0. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17168489/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Robotic Arm Aids in Grasping After Stroke |
| from the i've-seen-this-anime dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Monday February 19, @04:24 (Robotics) |
| http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/19/0740203 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Roland Piquepaille writes "In the U.S., stroke is a major cause of
long-term disability which affects 700,000 people annually. Most of them
are over 65 years old and some have difficulties grasping objects after
their stroke. This is why Californian researchers have developed [1]a
robotic therapy which helps restore hand use after stroke. The Hand-Wrist
Assisting Robotic Device (HoWARD) has successfully been tested on seven
women and six men who had suffered a stroke at least three months before
the study. These results, while encouraging, need to be balanced. There
must be enough residual motor power in the arm and hand of stroke
patients to initiate some movement for this robotic therapy to work."
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/19/0740203
Links:
0. http://www.primidi.com/
1. http://today.uci.edu/news/release_detail.asp?key=1569
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| RIAA Hires Artists, Then Sends In the SWAT team |
| from the dirty-pool-riaa-dirty-pool dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Monday February 19, @06:03 (The Almighty Buck) |
| http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/19/0744236 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]cancan writes "The NY times is carrying an article about how the RIAA
is hiring hip hop artists to make mix tapes, and then helping the police
[1]raid their studios. In the case of DJ Drama and DJ Don Cannon, they
were raided by SWAT teams with their guns drawn. The local police chief
said later that they were 'prepared for the worst.' Men in RIAA jackets
helped cart away 'evidence'. Just the same, 'Record labels regularly hire
mixtape D.J.'s to produce CDs featuring a specific artist. In many cases,
these arrangements are conducted with a wink and a nod rather than with a
contract; the label doesn't officially grant the D.J. the right to
distribute the artist's songs or formally allow the artist to record work
outside of his contract.' " This is more of the shenanigans that we've
[2]previously discussed on the site.
Discuss this story at:
http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/19/0744236
Links:
0. http://www.cambridgeaction.net/
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/18/magazine/18djdrama.t.html?ref=slashdot
2. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/18/1845234&tid=141
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Lakes Found Under Antarctic Ice Using Space Lasers |
| from the space-sharks-still-in-development dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday February 19, @08:35 (NASA) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/19/1319228 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Reverse Gear writes "There is a new study circling the media about new
[1]lakes found underneath the antarctic ice sheets that apparently empty
and fill back up quite fast. 'The scientists allay fears that global
warming has created these pockets of water. They say these lakes lie some
2,300 feet below compressed snow and ice, too deep for environmental
temperature to reach. However, it is necessary to understand what causes
the phenomenon as it can facilitate an understanding of the impact of
climate change on the ice sheet in Antarctica.' NASA also has some
information on the [2]technique used to detect these lakes."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/19/1319228
Links:
0. http://www.bargheer.dk/eng_index.htm
1. http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/31276.html
2. http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/lookingatearth/antarctic_plumb_mm.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| OSS Music Composer Gaining Attention |
| from the sounds-like-fun dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday February 19, @09:17 (Software) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/19/1325246 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "Following in the footsteps of Psycle, VioLet
Composer is a completely GPLed music composer for Windows that has slowly
but surely been gaining attention. In an interview at Laptoprockers the
author covers not only the program itself but the his reasoning behind
[0]choosing to open the source using the GPL."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/19/1325246
Links:
0. http://www.laptoprockers.eu/technology/p1/buzzlike-violet-composer/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Red Hat Dismissing Microsoft, Oracle |
| from the cool-under-fire dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday February 19, @10:03 (Red Hat So|
| http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/19/141235 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Robert writes to tell us Red Hat's CEO Matthew Szulik is encouraging
customers to take Microsoft up on their [0]support voucher offer for
Novell's rival Linux system in order to "get the issue over with."
Dismissing the impact that the Microsoft-Novell deal has had on business,
Szulik is just happy to see customers taking Microsoft's money. "Szulik
also dismissed Oracle Corp's attempt to under-cut it on Linux support on
similar grounds, insisting that customers were unlikely to be convinced
by cost savings that are a small percentage of their overall software
spend."
Discuss this story at:
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/19/141235
Links:
0. http://www.cbronline.com/article_news.asp?guid=CAF72D0F-D5DB-4883-8661-270EDB803CC9
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| How A "Superbaby" Is Helping To Find Muscular Dystrophy Treatments|
| from the hercules-hercules dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday February 19, @10:45 (Biotech) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/19/1425240 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes to tell us that a baby boy with unusually big
muscles ?€? caused by a gene mutation ?€? is helping scientists to discover
[0]new muscular dystrophy drugs. "Myostatin was discovered in mice in
1992 in Lee's Johns Hopkins lab. In 1996 he proved its importance by
showing that mice without the myostatin-producing gene got twice as big.
The next year he discovered that the bulging Belgian Blue cow was a
myostatin mutant, the first of eight prized cattle breeds later found to
have the mutation. The company he had co-founded, MetaMorphix, is working
on manipulating myostatin to beef up livestock. Wyeth picked up the
rights to develop a drug for humans. Its experimental antibody drug
produced bulked-up mice in 2002, and results of a trial in adults with
muscular dystrophy are expected as early as March."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/19/1425240
Links:
0. http://www.forbes.com/free_forbes/2007/0226/074.html?partner=yahoomag
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Fermi Paradox Predicting Humankind's Future? |
| from the magic-eight-ball dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday February 19, @11:31 (Space) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/19/1515205 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "The [0]Fermi paradox says that if
extraterrestrial civilizations exist, at least one of them should have
[1]colonized the entire galaxy by now. But since there is no evidence of
this, humankind must be the only intelligent life in the galaxy. The
Space Review has an article on how the [2]Fermi paradox can be applied to
human civilization. It says that, like the extraterrestrials, humans have
three choices: colonize the galaxy, remain on Earth, or become extinct."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/19/1515205
Links:
0. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fermi_paradox
1. http://stuff.mit.edu/people/etekle/Articles/aliens.html
2. http://www.thespacereview.com/article/810/1
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| OLPC Has Kill-Switch Theft Deterrent |
| from the paperweight-maker dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday February 19, @12:13 (Portables)|
| http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/19/1654231 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Sid writes "Ars Technica reports that the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) XO
has an [0]anti-theft daemon in the OS that can be used to remotely
disable machines, much like WGA. The Project added the kill switch at the
behest of a few countries concerned about laptop theft. From the report,
'OLPC has responded to such concerns by developing an anti-theft daemon
that the project claims cannot be disabled, even by a user with root
access. Participating countries can then provide identifying information
such as a serial number to a given country's OLPC program oversight
entity, which can then disable the devices in certain scenarios.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/19/1654231
Links:
0. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070218-8872.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Ruby Implementation Shootout |
| from the always-with-the-shooting dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday February 19, @13:04 (Programmin|
| http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/19/1721229 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "Ruby has an ever growing number of
alternative implementations, and many of these attempt to improve the
suboptimal performance of the current mainstream interpreter. Antonio
Cangiano has an interesting article in which he [0]benchmarks a few of
the most popular Ruby implementations, including Yarv (the heart of Ruby
2.0), JRuby, Ruby.NET, Rubinius and Cardinal (Ruby on Parrot). Numerical
evidence is provided rather than shear opinions. The tests show that Yarv
is the fastest implementation and that it offers a promising future when
it comes to the speed of the next Ruby version."
Discuss this story at:
http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/19/1721229
Links:
0. http://www.antoniocangiano.com/articles/2007/02/19/ruby-implementations-shootout-ruby-vs-yarv-vs-jruby-vs-gardens-point-ruby-net-vs-rubinius-vs-cardinal
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| The Wii - Is the Magic Gone? |
| from the do-the-clowns-always-cry-when-you-pack-up-the-paper-sky |
| posted by Zonk on Monday February 19, @13:31 (Wii (Games)) |
| http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/19/185211 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Computer And Video Games asks the tough question: [0]is the Wii's magic
gone? After the flurry of excitement around the launch, lackluster ports
and a persistent inability for Nintendo to keep units on the shelves has
made it hard for gamers to sustain their enthusiasm for the system. It
doesn't help that most of the good games slated for this year won't be
out for months. In some cases, there's doubt they'll even make it out
this year: Reggie Fils-Aime appears to be [1]backpedaling on Metroid
Prime 3 by Christmas, which would be a shame. [2]GigaGamez has additional
commentary. Are you still as excited about the Wii as you were when it
launched?
Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/19/185211
Links:
0. http://computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=158325
1. http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=158391
2. http://gigagamez.com/2007/02/18/wii-what-to-do-when-the-magics-gone/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Cold Fusion Scientist Exonerated |
| from the cold-hearted dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday February 19, @13:47 (Science) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/19/1811214 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Icarus1919 writes "New Scientist reports that the scientist who
discovered a possible cold fusion reaction by bombarding a solvent with
neutrons and sonic waves has [0]recently been exonerated of accusations
of scientific misconduct following the verification of his results by
another scientist."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/19/1811214
Links:
0. http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19325913.900-tabletop-fusion-back-with-a-pop.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| New Blender Released |
| from the i-am-blender-please-insert-image-of-girder dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday February 19, @14:32 (Software) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/19/193224 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "Blender, the cross-platform, open source 3d
suite, has [0]released version 2.43 along with a [1]website redesign.
This version brings powerful new features within reach of every person.
These features include sculpt modeling, retopologizing tools, render
passes, render baking, support for multi-uvs, enhanced fluid simulator
with particles, new rigid body engine, numerous new compositing modes
including defocus (DOF) node and much more. Feature videos are also
available."
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/19/193224
Links:
0. http://www.blendernation.com/2007/02/18/blender-243-released-blenderorg-redesigned/
1. http://www.blender.org/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Couple Who Catch Cop Speeding Could Face Charges |
| from the turnabout-isn't-fair-play dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday February 19, @15:13 (The Courts|
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/19/1924245 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]a_nonamiss writes "A Georgia couple, apparently tired of people
speeding past their house, installed a [1]camera and radar gun on their
property. After it was installed, they caught a police office going 17MPH
over the posted limit. They brought this to the attention of the local
police department, and are now being forced to appear in front of a judge
to answer to charges of stalking."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/19/1924245
Links:
0. http://aunderscorenonamissathawtmaildahtcalm/
1. http://www.daily-tribune.com/NF/omf/daily_tribune/news_story.html?rkey=0041549+cr=
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| XM And SIRIUS Radio Merging |
| from the monopoly-is-such-a-fun-game dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday February 19, @16:07 (Businesses|
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/19/212207 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
lenny6998 writes to tell us Yahoo! News is reporting that XM and Sirius
Radio, the only two major players in the relatively new market of
subscription satellite radio have [0]announced a merger. "The two
companies said in a statement that Mel Karmazin, the CEO of Sirius, would
become chief executive of the new company while Gary Parsons, the
chairman of XM, would remain in that role."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/19/212207
Links:
0. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070219/ap_on_bi_ge/xm_radio_sirius
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Regrowing Lost Body Parts Getting Closer All the Time |
| from the go-go-gadget-hand dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday February 19, @16:49 (Biotech) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/19/2112258 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0][TheBORG] writes "There are two stories on Yahoo! News about regrowing
lost body parts. One is about [1]regrowing lost fingers & limbs and the
other one is about [2]regrowing teeth. The story about regrowing lost
fingers and limbs talks about the experimental use of powdered pig
bladder to regrow fingers and eventually lost limbs for soldiers and
others in need from information that Pentagon-funded scientists hopefully
learn from studying the salamander. The story about regrowing teeth talks
about how Japanese scientists used primitive cells and injected them into
a framework of collagen. Once grown to a certain point, scientists
implanted the growths into mice where the teeth developed normally."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/19/2112258
Links:
0. http://www.borg7609atgmail.com/
1. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070219/ap_on_sc/regrowing_fingers;_ylt=AirhmjGVNWVA0HepbYPIoY7MWM0F
2. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070219/sc_nm/teeth_mice_dc;_ylt=Ap1UHTHqFBVdVPB7xSaEwkzMWM0F
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Sweden to Make Denial of Service Attacks Illegal |
| from the play-nicer dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday February 19, @17:30 (The Courts|
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/19/2129205 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
paulraps writes "Sweden is to pass legislation making [0]Denial of
Service attacks illegal. The offense will carry a maximum jail term of
two years, and is thought to be a direct response to the attack which
[1]crashed the Swedish police's web site last summer. Nobody was charged
for that, but the fact that it came shortly after a raid on the Pirate
Bay's servers was thought by many to be not entirely coincidental.
Sweden's move [2]follows the UK, which is even tougher on web attackers ?€?
there the sentence can be over five years in prison."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/19/2129205
Links:
0. http://www.thelocal.se/6460/20070219/
1. http://www.thelocal.se/3970/20060602/
2. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/11/0922243&tid=123
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pre-Installed Linux Tops Dell Customer Requests |
| from the please-sir-may-I-have-a-penguin dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Monday February 19, @18:11 (Linux Business) |
| http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/02/19/2212213 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]dhart writes "Within only a few days of [1]Dell opening a new customer
feedback website, they discovered that the feature most requested (by an
almost 2-to-1 margin!) is an option on all new Dell PCs: pre-installed
Linux. (And the number 3 request is pre-installed Open Office.) I believe
they'll have a harder time now with the tired old mantra 'There's no
customer demand for Linux.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/02/19/2212213
Links:
0. mailto:dhart@@@sftower...com
1. http://www.dellideastorm.com/
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