Back to newsletter listDate:
Fri, November 16, 2007 11:54:50 PMFrom:
slashdot@slashdot.org
Subject:
[Slashdot] Stories for 2007-11-17
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======================================================================
Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* A New Theory of Everything?
* Wi-Fi Piggybacking Widespread
* Intel Core 2 'Penryn' and Linux
* IT's Love-Hate Relationship With Laptops
* AT&T Invests in Filtered Networking
* Gene Simmons Blames College Kids For Music Industry Woes
* Anatomically Strange Dinosaur Vacuumed Up Food
* US Control of Internet Remains an Issue
* Apple Shareholder Lawsuit Dismissed
* Google Plans to Bid 4.6 Billion on 700MHz Band
* The Latest From the Front in the Console Wars
* Anti-P2P College Bill Moving Through House
* TB-Sized Solid State Drives Announced
* Potential Landing Sites for EU Mars Rover Selected
* WWII Colossus Codecracker Outdone by a German
* Major Breakthrough in Direct Neural Interface
* Warner Music CEO Says War With Consumers Was Wrong
* Tabula Rasa Launch Impressions
* What's the Best Way to Recycle Old Tech in the US?
* Meet the Drivers Behind NASA's Mars Rovers
* High-Quality YouTube Videos Coming Soon
* Vonage Loses Appeal; Verizon Owed $120 Million
* Microsoft Claims Patent On Elements of Embedded Linux?
* The Last DC Power Grid Shut Down in NYC
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| A New Theory of Everything? |
| from the it's-all-made-of-stars dept. |
| posted by CowboyNeal on Thursday November 15, @19:20 (Math) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/15/2322225 |
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goatherder writes "The Telegraph is running a story about a [0]new
Unified Theory of Physics. Garrett Lisi has presented a paper called
[1]"An Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything" which unifies the
[2]Standard Model with gravity ?€? without using string theory. [3]The
trick was to use [4]E8 geometry which you may remember from an earlier
Slashdot article. Lisi's theory predicts 20 new particles which he hopes
might turn up in the Large Hadron Collider."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/15/2322225
Links:
0. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/core/Content/displayPrintable.jhtml?xml=/earth/2007/11/14/scisurf114.xml&site=30&page=0
1. http://arxiv.org/abs/0711.0770
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standard_Model
3. http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/03/19/117259&tid=228
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E8_(mathematics)
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Wi-Fi Piggybacking Widespread |
| from the five-finger-discounts dept. |
| posted by CowboyNeal on Thursday November 15, @20:18 (Wireless Ne|
| http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/15/2332246 |
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BaCa sent in this article about stealing network access that opens,
"Sophos has revealed new research into the use of other people's Wi-Fi
networks to piggyback onto the internet without payment. The research
shows that [0]54 percent of computer users have admitted breaking the law,
by using someone else's wireless internet access without permission." Of
course, online polls being what they are, the results are hardly a plank
for a full investigation, but a good share of the answerers did 'fess up
to it as well.
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/15/2332246
Links:
0. http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=5617
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| Intel Core 2 'Penryn' and Linux |
| from the two-great-tastes dept. |
| posted by CowboyNeal on Thursday November 15, @21:43 (Intel) |
| http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/15/2349259 |
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An anonymous reader writes "Linux Hardware has posted a [0]look at the
new Intel "Penryn" processor and how the new processor will work with
Linux. Intel recently released the new "Penryn" Core 2 processor with
many new features. So what are these features and how will they equate
into benefits to Linux users? The article covers all the high points of
the new "Penryn" core and talks to a couple Linux projects about end-user
performance of the chip."
Discuss this story at:
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/15/2349259
Links:
0. http://www.linuxhardware.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/15/2015212&mode=thread
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| IT's Love-Hate Relationship With Laptops |
| from the caucophony-of-pleasure-and-pain dept. |
| posted by CowboyNeal on Thursday November 15, @23:11 (Portables) |
| http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/15/2355217 |
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Ian Lamont writes "Are laptops really as great as they're cracked up to
be? We love their portability, and we've been [0]charting the steady rise
of laptop sales for years. Yet while many of us depend on them for work,
our IT departments view them with mixed feelings. IT managers point to
wi-fi configuration, complicated authentication procedures, and eight
other issues [1]as making their jobs a lot harder. What else is missing
from the list of laptop limitations? What would you like to see in the
next generation of laptop computers?"
Discuss this story at:
http://mobile.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/15/2355217
Links:
0. http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/07/20/1618258&tid=184
1. http://computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9046858&intsrc=hm_list
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| AT&T Invests in Filtered Networking |
| from the dark-futures dept. |
| posted by CowboyNeal on Friday November 16, @00:49 (The Internet)|
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/16/0017258 |
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Filtered Coward writes "Last summer, [0]AT&T announced its intention to
begin filtering copyrighted content at some point. The telecom has [1]now
bought a chunk of Vobile, whose core product is VideoDNA. "Like other
systems of its kind, VideoDNA develops a unique signature from every
frame of video. The signature is meant to be robust enough to survive
various transformations and edits, and it can then be used to run matches
against incoming content.' Vobile claims that VideoDNA is good enough to
be used on video when transmitted over a network. 'Based on the
complexity of the problem, we suspect that anything initially deployed by
AT&T will fall far short of a robust P2P video filter. But should AT&T
truly have its eyes on just such a prize, the company would be in a
powerful position to impose its own policies on the entire US, since it
owns major parts of the Internet backbone.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/16/0017258
Links:
0. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/13/2057251&tid=95
1. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071114-att-takes-another-step-towards-filtered-network-with-investment-in-vobile.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Gene Simmons Blames College Kids For Music Industry Woes |
| from the pointing-fingers dept. |
| posted by CowboyNeal on Friday November 16, @03:41 (Music) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/16/0553242 |
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[0]drcagn writes "Gene Simmons has [1]blasted 'college' kids and claims
that they have destroyed the music industry, with the labels also to
blame for not properly suing them out of existence when they had the
chance. When asked about Radiohead and Trent Reznor's recent support of a
different direction in music distribution, he says "that's not a business
model that works. I open a store and say 'Come on in and pay whatever you
want.' Are you on f---ing crack?" When asked about music being free and
making money off of merchandise, he says, "The most important part is the
music. Without that, why would you care?" even though earlier in the
interview he brags that he believes that KISS's merchandise is more
profitable than Elvis's or the Beatles.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/16/0553242
Links:
0. http://dcemulation.com/
1. http://ca.today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=entertainmentNews&storyID=2007-11-14T183959Z_01_N14187018_RTRIDST_0_ENTERTAINMENT-KISS-COL.XML
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| Anatomically Strange Dinosaur Vacuumed Up Food |
| from the things-that-suck dept. |
| posted by CowboyNeal on Friday November 16, @05:26 (Biotech) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/16/062230 |
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[0]TaeKwonDood writes "A paleontologist has discovered a 110
million-year-old dinosaur that had a [1]mouth that worked like a vacuum
cleaner, hundreds of tiny teeth and nearly translucent skull." The
creature's vertebrae also consisted of more air than bone, and CT scans
of the head suggest it continually held its head low for food vacuuming.
Low-hanging fruit, indeed.
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/16/062230
Links:
0. mailto:perfectommy@yahoo.com
1. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/discoveries/2007-11-15-dinosaur-vacuum_N.htm?csp=34
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| US Control of Internet Remains an Issue |
| from the holding-all-the-cards dept. |
| posted by CowboyNeal on Friday November 16, @07:36 (The Internet)|
| http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/16/0548242 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Hugh Pickens writes "A UN-sponsored Internet conference ended with
little progress on the issue of [1]US control over the domain name system
run by ICANN, a California-based nonprofit over which the US. government
retains veto power. By controlling the core systems, the United States
indirectly influences the way much of the world uses the Internet. As the
conference drew to a close, the Russian representative, Konstantin
Novoderejhkin, called on the United Nations secretary-general to create a
working group to develop ''practical steps'' for moving [2]Internet
governance ''under the control of the international community.'' The
United States insists that the existing arrangements ensure the
Internet's stability and there's little indication that the US government
and ICANN plan to cede their roles over domain names anytime soon. ''I
think (there are) a small number of countries that are very agitated and
almost don't care what the facts are,'' said [3]Internet pioneer Vint Cerf,
who stepped down as ICANN's chairman earlier this month. ''It's a very
small vocal group bothered by this issue. ICANN has existed for eight
years and done a great job with its plans for internationalization.''
With no concrete recommendations for action, the only certainty going
forward is that any resentment about the American influence will only
grow as more users from the developing world come online, changing the
face of the global network. The next forum will held next year in New
Delhi, India."
Discuss this story at:
http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/16/0548242
Links:
0. http://hughpickens.com/
1. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/world/AP-Internet-Governance.html?ex=1352869200&en=92cbee1dbf87a2a9&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icann#Arguments_about_ICANN
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vint_Cerf
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Apple Shareholder Lawsuit Dismissed |
| from the hard-to-get-anything-past-them dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday November 16, @08:39 (The Courts) |
| http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/16/1323219 |
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[0]explosivejared wrote with a ZDNet article about [1]Apple's win in the
shareholder stock-options backdating lawsuit. This jives with Apple's own
[2]internal investigation of the matter. "The New York City Employees
Retirement System had sued Apple claiming that the company's practice of
backdating stock options diluted the value of the stock. Apple has
admitted that it improperly backdated stock options on several occasions,
including two awards to CEO Steve Jobs, and last December it took a $84
million charge to account for the options. But the suit had to show that
Apple shareholders lost money in order to recover damages ..."
Discuss this story at:
http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/16/1323219
Links:
0. mailto:hagan...jared@@@gmail...com
1. http://www.news.com/8301-13579_3-9818148-37.html
2. http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/29/1942239&tid=187
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Google Plans to Bid 4.6 Billion on 700MHz Band |
| from the dude-you've-been-googed dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday November 16, @09:23 (Cellphones) |
| http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/16/1326214 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]NickCatal writes "The Wall Street Journal is reporting that [1]Google
plans to bid $4.6 Billion on the 700 MHz radio spectrum being auctioned
off by the FCC. What is most interesting is that they are not planning on
partnering with other companies to raise the cash, they are going to
spend their own cash and possibly borrow some. With partners such as
Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile in their 'Open Handset Alliance' is this a
sign that they are willing to directly compete with the people they
courted to join?"
Discuss this story at:
http://mobile.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/16/1326214
Links:
0. http://nickcatalano.com/
1. http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB119517445580795065.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| The Latest From the Front in the Console Wars |
| from the look-out-for-low-flying-sales-figures dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday November 16, @09:28 (Wii (Games)) |
| http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/16/1421204 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
The October NPD numbers are out, and (now that we know [0]we'll keep
getting the information) it's time once again for analysis and reaction
from media and businesses alike. GameDaily has a [1]one year later look
at the fight that began last holiday season. As for [2]the numbers
themselves, with Halo 3 now a known quantity in the market the 360 is
down to 366,000 from 527,800 in September. Microsoft is [3]still quite
happy with software sales, though. The PS3 only saw 121,000 units sold
last month, but early news from November [4]has Sony very excited. And
all the while, somehow, [5]the Wii manages to sell even more units. The
system is up to 519,000 from 501,000 in September, with the DS slight
down to 458,000 from 495,800. As the GameDaily analysis article
concludes: "the race for console dominance is still anyone's to win. The
2007 holiday buying season will be crucial to setting all three players'
market positions going into next year. Which is all nice to know, of
course, but not that important to actually enjoying your system of choice
well into the future."
Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/16/1421204
Links:
0. http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/13/1452246&tid=187
1. http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/features/console-wars-one-year-later/71156/?page=1
2. http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3164417
3. http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7975&Itemid=2
4. http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3164411
5. http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7965&Itemid=2
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Anti-P2P College Bill Moving Through House |
| from the just-about-the-worst-idea-ever dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday November 16, @10:05 (Education) |
| http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/16/1432257 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "A news.com article is covering an amendment
to the [0]College Opportunity and Affordability Act (pdf) that should
make folks in Hollywood, the RIAA, and the MPAA well pleased. The tiny
section seeks to hinge government approval of an institution of higher
learning on [1]whether or not they adequately dissuade Peer-to-Peer
filesharing of copyrighted materials. The Act came out of the House
Education and Labor Committee, which agreed on the terms unanimously.
There is still some question, though, as to what penalties should be
handed down for institutions that don't do enough to protect intellectual
property. 'Some university representatives and fair-use advocates worry
that schools run the risk of losing aid for their students if they fail
to come up with the required plans. "The language in the bill appears to
be clear that failure to carry out the mandates would make an institution
ineligible for participation in at least some part of Title IV (which
deals with federal financial aid programs)," Steven Worona, director of
policy and networking programs for the group Educause, said in a
telephone interview Thursday.'" Update: 11/16 16:36 GMT by [2]Z : PDF
link corrected.
Discuss this story at:
http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/16/1432257
Links:
0. http://edlabor.house.gov/publications/20071109COAASummary.pdf
1. http://www.news.com/Anti-P2P-college-bill-advances-in-House/2100-1028_3-6218834.html?tag=nefd.top
2. http://slashdot.org/~Zonk/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| TB-Sized Solid State Drives Announced |
| from the soon-to-be-implantable dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday November 16, @10:45 (Data Storage) |
| http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/16/151251 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]prostoalex writes "Several companies have announced [1]solid state
hard drives in excess of one terrabyte in size. ComputerWorld describes
one from BitMicro that's just 3.5". Their [2]flash drive will support up
to 4 Gbps data transfer rate. From the article: 'SSDs access data in
microseconds, instead of the millliseconds that traditional hard drives
use to retrieve data. The BitMicro E-Disk Altima 4Gb FC delivers more
than 55,000 I/O operations per second (IOPS) and has a sustained data
transfer rate over 230MB/sec. By comparison, a fast hard drive for
example will run at around 300 IOPS.'" Ah, the speed of tech. Seems like
only last month we were talking about [3]500GB drives.
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/16/151251
Links:
0. http://www.moskalyuk.com/blog
1. http://www.superssd.com/products/tera-ramsan/
2. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9047158
3. http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/28/1337207&tid=198
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Potential Landing Sites for EU Mars Rover Selected |
| from the going-on-up dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday November 16, @11:21 (Mars) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/16/1511239 |
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[0]kfz versicherung writes "In 2013 the European Space Agency will launch
its mission to Mars - [1]ExoMars. The multi-million-euro mission calls
for a rover weighing just over 200kg that can trundle over the martian
soil in search of past and present life. Now [2]prime landing spots have
been selected. The list includes two sites at Meridiani Planum, the flat
expanse near Mars' equator where Nasa's Opportunity found possible
evidence for an ancient sea. Early in Earth's history, all the primordial
biochemistry took place in phyllosilicates, some kind of mineral that is
a good matrix for preserving organic matter. Scientists are guessing that
a similar site is the best place to start looking for fossil life on the
Red P***t."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/16/1511239
Links:
0. http://kfz-versicherung.einsurance.de/
1. http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Aurora/SEM1NVZKQAD_0.html
2. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7093172.stm
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| WWII Colossus Codecracker Outdone by a German |
| from the oh-irony-you-are-so-sweet dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday November 16, @12:03 (Encryption) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/16/163241 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]superglaze writes "The [1]Colossus codecracker contest was a
short-lived ordeal. Not only has it been outdone in a cipher-breaking
challenge, but ?€? irony of ironies ?€? it was [2]beaten by a German! From
the story: 'The winner was Joachim Sch??th, from Bonn, who completed the
task using software he wrote himself. "[Sch??th] cracked the most
difficult code yesterday," said the museum's spokesperson on Friday.
"We're absolutely delighted. He used specially written software for the
challenge. Colossus is still chugging away, as we got the signals late.
Yesterday the atmospheric conditions were such that we couldn't get good
signals.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/16/163241
Links:
0. mailto:superglaze@hotmail.com
1. http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/13/1818239&tid=172
2. http://news.zdnet.co.uk/security/0,1000000189,39290869,00.htm
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Major Breakthrough in Direct Neural Interface |
| from the ready-for-my-dni-thanks dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday November 16, @12:43 (Biotech) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/16/178248 |
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[0]jd writes "In a major breakthrough, neurologists are reporting that
they can [1]decypher neurological impulses into speech with an 80%
accuracy. A paralyzed man who is incapable of speech has electrodes
implanted in his brain which detect the electrical pulses in the brain
relating to speech. These signals are then fed into computers which
covert these pulses into signals suitable for speech synthesis. As a
biotech marvel, this is astonishing. Depending on the rate of development
it is possible to imagine Professor Hawking migrating to this, as it
would be immune to any further loss of body movement and would vastly
accelerate his ability to talk. On the flip-side, direct brain I/O is
also a major step towards William Gibson's Neuromancer and other
cyberpunk dark futures."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/16/178248
Links:
0. http://imipakatyahoodotcom/
1. http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7094526.stm
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| Warner Music CEO Says War With Consumers Was Wrong |
| from the couldn't-have-figured-this-out-two-years-ago dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday November 16, @13:20 (Music) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/16/1733216 |
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l2718 writes "Edgar Bronfman, CEO of the Warner Music Group, has publicly
framed the music industry's failure to accommodate file-sharing as [0]an
'inadvertent' war on consumers. I'm left wondering how you can file a
[1]series of lawsuits inadvertently. 'We expected our business would
remain blissfully unaffected even as the world of interactivity, constant
connection and file sharing was exploding ... By ... moving at a glacial
pace, we inadvertently went to war with consumers by denying them what
they wanted and could otherwise find and as a result of course, consumers
won.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/16/1733216
Links:
0. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/macuser/news/138990/music-boss-we-were-wrong-to-go-to-war-with-consumers.html
1. http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Tabula Rasa Launch Impressions |
| from the trippy-butterfly-unicorns-would-have-been-cool dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday November 16, @14:05 (Sci-Fi) |
| http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/16/1620212 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
While I love Massively Multiplayer games, for a lot of people they've
become very rote. When I say "MMOG" you almost certainly think of a
fantasy game like World of WarCraft or EverQuest 2; even the
most-anticipated in-development titles are fantasy games, like Warhammer
Online or Age of Conan. The [0]pre-launch death of Gods and Heroes ,
though, should be proof enough that the fantasy market is becoming a
tough one to crack into. So what's the alternative? Sci-Fi, of course.
Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa (TR) dodges these sword and sorcery
pitfalls by offering a bleak view of the far future. TR is a departure
from the genre standard in a number of ways, with fast-action FPS-like
gameplay alongside its alien main course. Though this title isn't the
second coming of the Massive genre, it's an enjoyable departure from the
norm. Read on for my impressions of the return of Richard Garriott.
This story continues at:
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/16/1620212
Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/16/1620212
Links:
0. http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/10/177241&tid=209
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| What's the Best Way to Recycle Old Tech in the US? |
| from the reuse-for-reduction dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday November 16, @14:37 (Upgrades) |
| http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/16/1423217 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Tim Danhamn writes "[0]SmartP***t.com, a green-focused Web site, has put
up an [1]article about the best way to recycle your old tech, including
local recycling centers and reusing old technology in other ways. I'm
about to upgrade to a new PC and I have a lot of old radios, MP3 players
and other electronic goods lying around the house. The article though is
mostly about solutions in the UK, so I want to know - what is the best
way to recycle old tech in the US?"
Discuss this story at:
http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/16/1423217
Links:
0. http://www.smartp***t.com/news/tech/10000216/top-tips-for-recycling-your-tech.htm
1. http://digitalliving.cnet.co.uk/specials/0,39030785,49292515-1,00.htm
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Meet the Drivers Behind NASA's Mars Rovers |
| from the best-game-ever dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday November 16, @15:23 (Mars) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/16/1946245 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]StonyandCher writes "Scott Maxwell must have one of the best IT jobs
in the solar system, [1]driving NASA's Mars Rovers. Behind every robot is
a driver. He's one of 14 Rover Drivers that work in NASA's
California-based Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Maxwell discusses what makes
up an average work day, the highlights of the project, how he got the
job, and the tools he uses in his work. A great look at the team of
dedicated IT workers behind the robots, plotting the every move of NASA's
twin robot geologists, Spirit and Opportunity, since they first landed on
Mars at the start of 2004."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/16/1946245
Links:
0. mailto:stonyandcher@gmail.com
1. http://www.pcworld.idg.com.au/index.php/id;563338166;fp;2;fpid;4
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| High-Quality YouTube Videos Coming Soon |
| from the bit-more-like-teevee dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday November 16, @16:02 (The Internet) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/16/1952255 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]mlauzon writes with the news that YouTube's co-founder Steve Chen has
announced [1]high-quality video streams are in the works for the popular
site. He spoke today at the [2]NewTeeVee Live event, discussing the
challenges facing the project and when we can expect to see less grainy
social videos. "The need to buffer the video before it starts playing
will change the experience. Hence the experiment, rather than just a
rapid rollout of this technology. On stage, he said the current
resolution of YouTube videos has been "good enough" for the site until
now. Chen told me he expects that high-quality YouTube videos will be
available to everyone within three months. Chen also confirmed that in
YouTube's internal archive, all video is stored at the native resolution
in which it was sent. However, he said, a large portion of YouTube videos
are pretty poor quality to begin with ?€? 320x240. Streaming them in
high-quality mode isn't going to help much."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/16/1952255
Links:
0. http://moc.liamgtanozualm/
1. http://www.webware.com/8301-1_109-9817732-2.html
2. http://live.newteevee.com/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Vonage Loses Appeal; Verizon Owed $120 Million |
| from the need-to-get-out-of-the-spanking-machine dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday November 16, @16:44 (The Courts) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/16/206226 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Billosaur writes "Things do not look good for Vonage. Yesterday, they
[1]lost their request for reconsideration of their settlement with
Verizon. This means Vonage owes Verizon $120 million to end the patent
lawsuit filed against them. The costs associated with defending the case
have cut into Vonage's bottom line, and despite attempts to cut costs by
laying off 10% of their workforce, they may be unable to make a payment
against their debt come December. According to the settlement, Vonage
will pay $117.5 million to Verizon and another $2.5 million dollars to
charity. Vonage's shares have dropped 87% since their IPO, now hovering
around $1.50 per share."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/16/206226
Links:
0. mailto:wgrotherNO@SPAMoptonline.net
1. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=ab3LRWLagfCw
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Microsoft Claims Patent On Elements of Embedded Linux? |
| from the strange-bedfellows dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday November 16, @17:24 (Linux Business) |
| http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/16/2146233 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Preedit writes "An InformationWeek story points out a recent deal between
Microsoft and Japanese printer maker Kyocera Mita. Under the agreement,
Kyocera obtained from Microsoft a license to patents used in 'certain
Linux-based embedded technologies.' The question the author asks is
[0]why Kyocera needs a patent license from Microsoft to develop its
embedded Linux products."
Discuss this story at:
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/16/2146233
Links:
0. http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2007/11/is_microsoft_cl.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| The Last DC Power Grid Shut Down in NYC |
| from the edison-we-barely-knew-ye dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday November 16, @18:32 (Power) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/16/225213 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
cell-block-9 writes "Today [0]the last section of the old Edison DC power
grid will be shutdown in Manhattan. 'The last snip of Con Ed's direct
current system will take place at 10 East 40th Street, near the
Mid-Manhattan Library. That building, like the thousands of other direct
current users that have been transitioned over the last several years,
now has a converter installed on the premises that can take alternating
electricity from the Con Ed power grid and adapt it on premises.' I guess
Tesla finally won the argument."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/16/225213
Links:
0. http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/off-goes-the-power-current-started-by-thomas-edison/
Copyright 1997-2006 OSTG. All rights reserved.
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