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Sat, December 01, 2007 11:04:26 PMFrom:
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[Slashdot] Stories for 2007-12-02
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Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* Comcast Continues to Block Peer to Peer Traffic
* Wearing a Computer at Work
* How Mainstream Can Code Scavenging Go?
* Recipe for a Storm — Forecasting a Hurricane Season
* Texas Science Director Forced To Resign Over ID Statements
* AT&T Playing Hardball With Apple?
* On-Call-IT Assists In Government Data Destruction
* Coming Soon, Mobile Torrents
* MTV Takes on P2P by Making South Park Free
* BBC Creates 'Perl on Rails'
* Firefox 2.0.0.11 Released
* Heavily Discounted Zune Outpacing iPod Sales
* iPhone Dev Team to Open Source Free Unlock
* Wikipedia to be Licensed Under Creative Commons
* Native Windows PE File Loading on OS X?
* Duke Scientists Map 'Silenced Genes'
* Google Wants You to Report Malware
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| Comcast Continues to Block Peer to Peer Traffic |
| from the seems-to-have-a-hyperinflated-sense-of-self dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday November 30, @20:25 (The Internet) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/01/0011253 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]narramissic writes "A report released Thursday by the Electronic
Frontier Foundation (EFF) finds that [1]Comcast continues to use
hacker-like techniques to slow down customers' connections to some P-to-P
(peer-to-peer) applications. The EFF said that Comcast appears to be
injecting RST, or reset, packets into customers' connections, causing
connections to close. 'The investigators say that their tests confirmed
an earlier one conducted by the Associated Press that showed that Comcast
is interfering with BitTorrent traffic. BitTorrent is a protocol used to
efficiently distribute the online transmission of large files, and some
entertainment companies have partnered with its creators to distribute
its content online. Comcast has said that it doesn't block BitTorrent, or
any kind of content.'" If you're the type that always looks for a silver
lining, Comcast's skulduggery may be [2]pushing Congress to reconsider
Net Neutrality.
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/01/0011253
Links:
0. http://www.itworld.com/
1. http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/11/comcast-using-m.html
2. http://www.news.com/Net-neutrality-may-not-resolve-Comcast-vs.-BitTorrent/2100-1028_3-6220802.html?tag=newsmap
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Wearing a Computer at Work |
| from the practically-do-anyway dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday November 30, @22:36 (Handhelds) |
| http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/30/2017234 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Roland Piquepaille writes "The European Union has funded an ambitious
project related to wearable technology. The project, named [1]WearIT@work,
will end in one year and invested funds are expected to exceed 23 million
euros. The goal is to replace traditional interfaces, such as screen,
keyboard or computer unit, by speech control or gesture control without
modifying the applications. This wearable system is [2]currently being
tested in four different fields including aircraft maintenance, emergency
response, car production and healthcare."
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/30/2017234
Links:
0. http://www.primidi.com/2007/11/29.html
1. http://www.wearitatwork.com/
2. http://blogs.zdnet.com/emergingtech/?p=759
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| How Mainstream Can Code Scavenging Go? |
| from the unwanted-easter-eggs dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Saturday December 01, @00:13 (Programm|
| http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/30/2321200 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
The time-honored tradition of code scavanging has long been a way for new
programmers to "break in" to a new language or task that they may not
want to build from the ground up. The re-use of old code, cleaned up and
tweaked to a new purpose can help developers learn many useful skills and
accomplish tasks quickly, especially for small tasks that aren't of vital
importance. One blogger wondered if this process [0]could be formalized
and tools could be built to help foster and enable code scavanging on a
mass level. Is this a viable option, or are there just too many things to
consider?
Discuss this story at:
http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/30/2321200
Links:
0. http://www.regdeveloper.co.uk/2007/11/30/code_scavanging/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Recipe for a Storm — Forecasting a Hurricane Season |
| from the not-just-blow-hards dept. |
| posted by ScuttleMonkey on Saturday December 01, @02:24 (Science)|
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/30/2331238 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers investigating the ingredients
that go into a hurricane think they have found a reliable basis for
predicting the overall [0]strength of a hurricane season. Jim Kossin and
Dan Vimont have found a basin-wide circulation pattern that offer one
possible explanation in the previously unexplained differences in
long-term hurricane trends. "Kossin and Vimont, a professor in the
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, noticed that warmer water
is just one part of a larger pattern indicating that the conditions are
right for more frequent, stronger hurricanes in the Atlantic. The
atmosphere reacts to ocean conditions and the ocean reacts to the
atmospheric situation, creating a distinct circulation pattern known as
the Atlantic Meridional Mode (AMM). The AMM unifies the connections among
the factors that influence hurricanes such as ocean temperature,
characteristics of the wind, and moisture in the atmosphere."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/11/30/2331238
Links:
0. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071129183753.htm
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Texas Science Director Forced To Resign Over ID Statements |
| from the best-state-to-get-edumacated dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday December 01, @04:30 (United States) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/01/0551221 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]jeffporcaro writes "Texas' Director of Science Curriculum was 'forced
to step down' for [1]favoring evolution over intelligent design (ID). She
apparently circulated an e-mail that was critical of ID ?€? although state
regulations require her not to have any opinion 'on a subject on which
the agency must remain neutral.' 'The agency documents say that officials
recommended firing Ms. Comer for repeated acts of misconduct and
insubordination. The officials said forwarding the e-mail message
conflicted with her job responsibilities and violated a directive that
she not communicate with anyone outside the agency regarding a pending
science curriculum review.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/01/0551221
Links:
0. mailto:jeffporcaro@hotmail.com
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/30/us/30resign.html?ex=1354078800&en=fdeb788cd7207717&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| AT&T Playing Hardball With Apple? |
| from the trouble-in-the-boardroom dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday December 01, @06:28 (The Almighty Buck|
| http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/01/0555258 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Ponca City, We Love You writes "There's some interesting speculation
from Cringley on why AT&T chief executive Randall Stephenson let drop
that [1]a new version of Apple's iPhone will be introduced in 2008. The
announcement is sure to cut into Apple's Christmas sales and could also
cost ATT a million new customers and at least $1 billion in market cap,
says Cringley. 'It is no coincidence that [2]Stephenson made his remarks
in Silicon Valley, rather than in San Antonio or New York,' says
Cringley. 'He came to the turf of his 'partner' and delivered a message
that will hurt Apple as much as AT&T, a message that says AT&T doesn't
really need Apple despite the iPhone's success.' What may be troubling
the relationship between AT&T and Apple is the upcoming auction for
700-MHz wireless spectrum and AT&T's discovery that Apple may be joining
Google in bidding."
Discuss this story at:
http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/01/0555258
Links:
0. http://poncacityweloveyou.com/
1. http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2007/pulpit_20071129_003521.html
2. http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=204301051&cid=RSSfeed_IWK_News
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| On-Call-IT Assists In Government Data Destruction |
| from the outside-their-pay-grade dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday December 01, @08:18 (Government) |
| http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/01/065203 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]covaro writes "Seems those on-site computer services may be [1]helping
to cover up government dirty deeds these days. The Wall Street Journal
reports: 'Investigators learned that [Office of Special Counsel head
Scott Bloch, who has been under investigation since 2005] erased all the
files on his office personal computer late last year. They are now trying
to determine whether the deletions were improper or part of a cover-up,
lawyers close to the case said ... Bypassing his agency's computer
technicians, Mr. Bloch phoned for Geeks on Call, the mobile PC-help
service ... Bloch had his computer's hard disk completely cleansed using
a "seven-level" wipe: a thorough scrubbing that conforms to Defense
Department data-security standards. The process makes it nearly
impossible for forensics experts to restore the data later.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/01/065203
Links:
0. mailto:scott.cover@gmail.com
1. http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119621772122306160.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Coming Soon, Mobile Torrents |
| from the i-still-don't-even-have-3g dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Saturday December 01, @09:23 (Cellphones) |
| http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/01/1256223 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]explosivejared writes "ZDNet is running an article on the "[1]mobile
implementation of the bittorent protocol which says 'Mobile
implementations of the BitTorrent protocol are nearly certain to be part
of whatever Google Android comes up with, and if not someone will have
one for the open platform straightaway. Already a Windows Torrent product
is on Version 2.0, and given the video capability of the iPhone it's
clear Apple is not going to let this opportunity pass by. A Symbian
Torrent program is on Version 1.3."
Discuss this story at:
http://mobile.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/01/1256223
Links:
0. mailto:hagan.jared@NoSpAm.gmail.com
1. http://blogs.zdnet.com/open-source/?p=1742
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| MTV Takes on P2P by Making South Park Free |
| from the oh-my-god-they-killed-viacom dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Saturday December 01, @10:29 (Television) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/01/132223 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
thefickler writes "MTV Networks, the biggest division of Viacom Inc., has
announced plans to make [0]every South Park episode available online for
free as part of a plan to make the show available to a larger audience."
This is apparently largely because of the success of a similar project
where they put every episode of The Daily Show on-line a few months back.
This action didn't hurt ratings, and it may have actually helped them.
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/01/132223
Links:
0. http://tech.blorge.com/Structure:%20/2007/11/30/mtv-to-cut-down-on-p2p-piracy-by-offering-free-south-park-downloads/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| BBC Creates 'Perl on Rails' |
| from the this-isn't-the-third-rail-is-it dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Saturday December 01, @11:28 (Perl) |
| http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/01/1320221 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Bogtha writes "Long-time users of Perl for their public websites, and
having successfully used Ruby on Rails for internal websites, the BBC
have fused the two by creating [0]a 'Perl on Rails' that has the
advantages of rapid development that Rails brings, while performing well
enough to be used for the Beeb's high-traffic public websites. This is
already powering [1]one of their websites, and is set to be used in the
controversial iPlayer project as well."
Discuss this story at:
http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/01/1320221
Links:
0. http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/radiolabs/2007/11/perl_on_rails.shtml
1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Firefox 2.0.0.11 Released |
| from the download-compile-reboot-repeat dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Saturday December 01, @12:37 (Mozilla) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/01/1648206 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]BrianAU writes "Firefox 2.0.0.11 has been released, the [1]Release
Notes show the only major change as a correction of a compatibility issue
with some websites and extensions as discovered in Firefox 2.0.0.10."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/01/1648206
Links:
0. http://www.whitecollargeek.com/
1. http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/2.0.0.11/releasenotes/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Heavily Discounted Zune Outpacing iPod Sales |
| from the christmas-miracle dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday December 01, @13:33 (Microsoft) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/01/187210 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]firegate writes "Yahoo Tech is reporting that the Microsoft Zune,
having been heavily discounted for the holiday season, '[1]is currently
Amazon's top-selling music player, beating out the new iPod Nano and the
80GB iPod on the 'Bestsellers in Electronics' list.' An Associated Press
report even indicates that the Zune's newfound popularity [2]has left it
in short supply, sold out in many locations. Is this a sign that a true
competitor, from Microsoft no less, has finally broken into the
Apple-dominated MP3 player market? And will this spell more success for
Windows-media based music subscription services like Napster?"
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/01/187210
Links:
0. http://www.chandrasharma.com/
1. http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/hughes/21050
2. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/microsoft_zunes_sold_out;_ylt=Ai2UmoYDL0m82jQIu1fjNfm4MJA5
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| iPhone Dev Team to Open Source Free Unlock |
| from the free-as-in-iphone-is-a-little-odd-to-say dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday December 01, @14:34 (Communications) |
| http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/01/1810254 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "In an effort to keep up with changes from
Apple at a faster speed, the iPhone Dev Team is [0]considering open
sourcing AnySIM, the free unlocking solution for the iPhone. In a chat
with Gizmodo, iPhone Dev Team member Sam said that this move could 'open
a lot of possibilities for the future,' mainly in terms of the speed of
the updates and avoiding sloppy and possibly dangerous binary patches.
They are now looking for [1]community input to get the project started."
Discuss this story at:
http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/01/1810254
Links:
0. http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/exclusive/iphone-dev-team-to-open-source-free-unlock-software-328846.php
1. http://www.hackint0sh.org/forum/showthread.php?t=17971
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Wikipedia to be Licensed Under Creative Commons |
| from the i'm-betting-it-was-kind-of-a-dorky-party dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday December 01, @15:37 (The Internet) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/01/2032252 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
sla291 writes "Jimmy Wales made an announcement yesterday night at a
[0]Wikipedia party in San Francisco : [1]Creative Commons, [2]Wikimedia
and the [3]FSF just agreed to make the current Wikipedia license
[4]compatible with Creative Commons (CC BY-SA). As Jimbo puts it, 'This
is the party to celebrate the liberation of Wikipedia'."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/01/2032252
Links:
0. http://wikipedia.org/
1. http://creativecommons.org/
2. http://wikimediafoundation.org/
3. http://fsf.org/
4. http://blog.jamendo.com/index.php/2007/12/01/breaking-news-wikipedia-switches-to-creative-commons/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Native Windows PE File Loading on OS X? |
| from the to-what-purpose-and-determination dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday December 01, @16:25 (OS X) |
| http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/01/2040225 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
ozmanjusri writes "Coders working on Wine for Mac have found that the Mac
loader has gained its own undocumented ability to load and understand
Windows Portable Executable (PE) files. They found [0]PE loading
capabilities in Leopard that [1]weren't there in Tiger. Further
dissection showed that Apple is [2]masking references to 'Win' and 'PE'
in the dll, which means it's not an accidental inclusion. Is Apple
planning native PE execution within OS X?"
Discuss this story at:
http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/01/2040225
Links:
0. http://www.winehq.org/pipermail/wine-devel/2007-November/060846.html
1. http://www.winehq.org/pipermail/wine-devel/2007-November/060851.html
2. http://www.winehq.org/pipermail/wine-devel/2007-November/060855.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Duke Scientists Map 'Silenced Genes' |
| from the you-in-the-back-speak-up dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday December 01, @17:26 (Biotech) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/01/2143225 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]palegray.net writes "Wired reports on new [1]research into the
phenomenon of 'silenced genes', genetic constructs that have no 'partner'
in case one goes wrong over the course of your lifetime. Scientists at
Duke University have mapped some 200 genes that may 'play a profound
role' in the health of the average human. 'Many of the newly found
imprinted genes are in regions of chromosomes already linked to the
development of obesity, diabetes, cancer and some other major diseases,
the researchers reported ... Scientists had thought imprinted genes would
account for about 1 percent of the human genome. While scientists must
double-check that the newly identified ones are truly silenced, the new
map matches that tally.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/01/2143225
Links:
0. http://classhelper.org/crossword_software.shtml
1. http://news.wired.com/dynamic/stories/S/SILENCED_GENES?SITE=WIRE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-11-30-06-49-06
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Google Wants You to Report Malware |
| from the there's-a-propaganda-poster-in-this dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday December 01, @18:37 (Google) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/01/2152228 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
darthcamaro writes "As part of its ongoing effort to keep a clean index
Google is soliciting the help of web browsers to [0]let them know when we
find malware in the index. Celebrated Google hacker Johnny Long thinks
it's a good idea, though he told the site Internet News that he
[1]doesn't think it'll stop real hackers. From the article: 'Most in
search of malware for offensive use know the good stuff ?€? it ain't
distributed through public Web ... It's distributed through dark Web
servers, peer-to-peer networks, IRC channels, torrents and the like.
Google's efforts will not affect how skilled hackers get access to
malware.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/01/2152228
Links:
0. http://googleonlinesecurity.blogspot.com/2007/11/help-us-fill-in-gaps.html
1. http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3714041
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