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[Slashdot] Stories for 2008-02-25
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Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* Half-Petaflop Supercomputer Deployed In Austin
* Best Technology For Long-Distance Travel?
* "Vista Capable" Lawsuit Is Now a Class Action
* iPhone SDK May Be 1-3 Weeks Late
* Military Grounds Stealth Bomber Fleet
* White House Says Phone Wiretaps Will Resume For Now
* Very Large Array Gets Expanded Capability
* Privacy Fears Send DNA Tests Underground
* Banks, Wall St. Feel Pinch from Computer Intrusion
* Pakistan Blocks YouTube
* Multitouch Gesture Patents Could Prevent Standardization
* Library of Congress's $3M Deal With Microsoft
* Linux At the Point of Sale
* Microsoft To Drop HD DVD
* Electronic Arts Offers $2B For Take Two
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Half-Petaflop Supercomputer Deployed In Austin |
| from the one-teraflop-per-researcher dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Saturday February 23, @20:54 (Supercomputing|
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/23/2024256 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]SethJohnson writes "Thanks to a $59 million National Science
Foundation grant, there's likely to be a new king of the High Performance
Computing Top 500 list. The contender is [1]Ranger, a 15,744 Quad-Core
AMD Opteron behemoth built by Sun and hosted at the University of Texas.
Its peak processing power of 504 teraflops will be shared among over 500
researchers working across the even larger [2]TeraGrid system. Although
its expected lifespan is just four years, Ranger will provide 500 million
processor hours to projects attempting to address societal grand
challenges such as global climate change, water resource management, new
energy sources, natural disasters, new materials and manufacturing
processes, tissue and organ engineering, patient-specific medical
therapies, and drug design."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/23/2024256
Links:
0. http://www.austinskatenotes.org/
1. http://www.rangersupercomputer.com/release.html
2. http://www.teragrid.org/about/index.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Best Technology For Long-Distance Travel? |
| from the unbeaten-path-warrior dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Saturday February 23, @23:09 (Portables) |
| http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/23/1848248 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "Over the past year I have traveled across the
globe for work but I can't seem to find the right balance of technology
to take with me. After reading a CNET article about [0]tech for traveling,
I'm still slightly undecided about what hardware suits me best. On the
work side of things I need a laptop, nothing fancy but it can't be too
heavy or slow. I also need a smart phone that can receive emails across
the world and if possible a satellite navigation device, as I need to get
to less-traveled locations on a regular basis. From a personal
perspective I need my music but I don't care about video, so I'm looking
for something with high-quality audio and great battery life. A compact
camera wouldn't go amiss but dSLRs are too heavy for my needs and
carrying strength, so something I can tuck in a pocket would be perfect.
Any suggestions greatly appreciated."
Discuss this story at:
http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/23/1848248
Links:
0. http://crave.cnet.co.uk/gadgets/0,39029552,49295676-3,00.htm
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| "Vista Capable" Lawsuit Is Now a Class Action |
| from the go-to-the-head-of-the-class dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Sunday February 24, @02:04 (The Courts) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/23/183219 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader notes an update in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
reporting that the lawsuit against Microsoft's "Windows Vista Capable"
marketing campaign has been [0]granted class-action status. We discussed
the company's [1]internal misgivings with this campaign a while back. The
suit alleges that "...Microsoft unjustly enriched itself by promoting PCs
as 'Windows Vista Capable' even when they could only run a bare-bones
version of the operating system, called 'Vista Home Basic.'" In the 2006
pre-holiday season, Microsoft had placed "Windows Vista Capable" stickers
on machines to keep the sale of Windows XP machines going after Vista was
delayed. Microsoft didn't lose out totally in the recent ruling ?€? the
article notes that the judge "narrowed the basis on which plaintiffs
could move forward with their claims."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/23/183219
Links:
0. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/352442_vista23.html
1. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/12/1658249&tid=109
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| iPhone SDK May Be 1-3 Weeks Late |
| from the say-it-ain't-so dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Sunday February 24, @05:02 (Cellphones) |
| http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/23/2031203 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]tuxeater123 writes "According to a blog posting at BusinessWeek.com,
the iPhone SDK could be [1]pushed back by another 1-3 weeks.
Unfortunately, the evidence provided, such as the media announcements
that are usually made before most Apple releases, suggests that this may
indeed be true. Apple usually sticks to their announced deadlines,
however they have been known to break them occasionally."
Discuss this story at:
http://mobile.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/23/2031203
Links:
0. mailto:tuxeater123@gmail.com
1. http://www.businessweek.com/technology/ByteOfTheApple/blog/archives/2008/02/the_iphone_sdk.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Military Grounds Stealth Bomber Fleet |
| from the take-it-out-of-their-paychecks dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Sunday February 24, @08:01 (The Military) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/23/2247214 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Ponca City, We Love You writes "America's entire B-2 stealth bomber
fleet, which has played a crucial part in all major US conflicts since
1989, has been [1]grounded after one of the jets crashed near a military
base in Guam. The crash ?€? the first involving the B-2 ?€? was the most
expensive single aircraft accident in history. (The p***s cost $1.2B
each.) Officials assume the crash was caused by either mechanical failure
or human error, but have grounded all B-2s to ensure there is not some
fundamental fault developing in the 21-strong fleet. The crash occurred
Saturday morning local time as the B-2 was taking off from Andersen Air
Force base on Guam, a US territory south of Japan. An Air Force spokesman
said, 'The cause of crash is unknown, pending an investigation. The
pilots had ejected safely ?€? no serious injuries. One is mobile, one is
still in the hospital under observation.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/23/2247214
Links:
0. http://poncacityweloveyou.com/
1. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/02/23/wbomber223.xml
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| White House Says Phone Wiretaps Will Resume For Now |
| from the can-we-hear-you-now dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Sunday February 24, @09:03 (Privacy) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/24/135225 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]austinhook brings us news that the [1]U.S. government has resumed
wiretapping with the help of telecommunications companies. The companies
are said to have "understandable misgivings" over the [2]unresolved issue
of retroactive immunity for their participation in past wiretapping. Spy
agencies have claimed that the expiration of the old legislation has
caused them to [3]miss important information. The bill that would grant
the immunity [4]passed in the Senate, but [5]not in the House.
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/24/135225
Links:
0. mailto:austin@computershop.ca
1. http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSN2229053420080224
2. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/24/1720200&tid=158
3. http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSN2229053420080222?sp=true
4. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/12/1856240&tid=158
5. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/15/049215&tid=158
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Very Large Array Gets Expanded Capability |
| from the really-long-distance-calling-plan dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Sunday February 24, @10:06 (Space) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/24/1343249 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Active Seti points out a story about [1]upgrades for the Very Large
Array radio telescope. The improvements will increase the VLA's
capabilities 10-fold, allowing it to "pick up a cell phone signal on
Jupiter." Work on the 28-antenna array is already underway, and it is
expected to finish by 2012. From Scientific American: "Data gathered by
all 28 of the 82-foot- (25-meter-) diameter dish antennas are brought to
a correlator--a central, special-purpose computer--which merges the input
into a form that allows scientists to produce detailed, high-quality
images of the astronomical objects under investigation. A new fiber-optic
system replaces the older waveguide system for taking data collected by
the receivers to the central control building and increases the amount of
data that can be delivered from the antenna to the new $17-million
correlator being built by Canadian scientists and engineers to handle the
increased data flow."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/24/1343249
Links:
0. http://activeseti.com/
1. http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=very-large-array-radio-telescope&sc=rss
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Privacy Fears Send DNA Tests Underground |
| from the no-not-literally dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Sunday February 24, @11:08 (Medicine) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/24/149234 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
biobricks writes "The New York Times is reporting that people who could
benefit from genetic testing are too afraid their health insurance
companies are going to raise their rates or deny them coverage to find
out the health information contained in their own genes. [0]There is a
growing "genetic underground" where people pay for their own tests so
they won't have to share the results with insurers, and beg doctors not
to divulge their genetic status in medical records. A bill that would ban
genetic discrimination by insurers and employers ?€? and presumably make
people feel safer about taking care of their health ?€? is stalled in the
Senate. We've discussed these types of [1]personal DNA tests in the
past."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/24/149234
Links:
0. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/health/24dna.html?hp
1. http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/17/1947210&tid=191
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Banks, Wall St. Feel Pinch from Computer Intrusion |
| from the only-going-to-get-worse dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Sunday February 24, @12:10 (Security) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/24/1513232 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "Financial institutions and companies in the
securities/futures business are reporting [0]sizable increases in the
amount of losses and suspicious activity attributed to computer
intrusions and identity theft, says the Washington Post's Security Fix
blog. The Post obtained a confidential report compiled by the FDIC which
analyzed Suspicious Activity Reports from the 2nd Quarter of 2007. SARs
are filed when banks experience fraud or fishy transactions that exceed
$5,000. The bank insurance agency found that losses from computer
intrusions averaged $29,630 each ?€? almost triple the estimated loss per
SAR during the same time period in 2006 ($10,536). According to the Post,
'The report indicates that the 80 percent of the computer intrusions were
classified as "unknown unauthorized access ?€? online banking," and that
"unknown unauthorized access to online banking has risen from 10 to 63
percent in the past year."' Another [1]set of figures analyzed by The
Post looks at similar increases affecting the securities and futures
industry."
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/24/1513232
Links:
0. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2008/02/banks_losses_from_computer_int.html
1. http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2008/02/wall_street_reports_higher_pc_1.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pakistan Blocks YouTube |
| from the out-of-sight-out-of-mind dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Sunday February 24, @13:02 (Censorship) |
| http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/24/1628213 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Multiple readers have written to tell us of news that Pakistan has
ordered its ISPs to [0]block access to YouTube "for containing
blasphemous web content/movies." This follows [1]increasing unrest in
Pakistan over a Danish newspaper's reprinting of cartoons which depict
Islam in a less-than-favorable light. The cartoons also [2]sparked
controversy when they were first published a few years ago.
Discuss this story at:
http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/24/1628213
Links:
0. http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/080224/world/denmark_media_islam_pakistan_internet_youtube
1. http://www.reuters.com/article/blogBurst/technology?type=technologyNews&w1=B7ovpm21IaDoL40ZFnNfGe&w2=B8jR2GIu7TLKBj1N4Ufg5Sg&src=blogBurst_technologyNews&bbPostId=Cz1Gv91h41vGFCz16NNhbwsU29Cz6genkeavROSB7sPoNqFkHUr&bbParentWidgetId=B8jR2GIu7TLKBj1N4Ufg5Sg
2. http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/02/09/142259&tid=172
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Multitouch Gesture Patents Could Prevent Standardization |
| from the reach-out-and-multitouch-someone dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Sunday February 24, @13:59 (Input Devices)|
| http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/24/1727205 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]ozmanjusri brings us a Wired report on Apple's efforts to [1]patent
the multitouch gestures used on their laptops, smartphones, and tablets.
The article discusses concerns over how this could affect the
standardization of certain gestures in developing multitouch technology.
We've previously discussed the [2]patent applications themselves. Quoting
Wired: "If Apple's patent applications are successful, other
manufacturers may have no choice but to implement multitouch gestures of
their own. The upshot: You might pinch to zoom on your phone, swirl your
finger around to zoom on your notebook, and triple-tap to zoom on the
web-browsing remote control in your home theater. That's an outcome many
in the industry would like to avoid. Synaptics, a company that by most
estimates supplies 65 to 70 percent of the notebook industry with its
touchpad technology, is working on its own set of universal touch
gestures that it hopes will become a standard. These gestures include
scrolling by making a circular motion, moving pictures or documents with
a flip of the finger, and zooming in or out by making, yes, a pinching
gesture."
Discuss this story at:
http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/24/1727205
Links:
0. mailto:aussie_bob@hotmail.com
1. http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscel***ous/news/2008/02/multitouch_patents
2. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/02/04/2019218&tid=155
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Library of Congress's $3M Deal With Microsoft |
| from the just-haggling-over-the-price dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Sunday February 24, @15:03 (Microsoft) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/24/1939214 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Cory Doctorow sounds the alarm over a Library of Congress deal with
Microsoft that will have [0] collections locked up in Silverlight. I'll
double the Microsoft deal and offer them $6M in perl scripts and an
infinite value of free OS software if they let me (or Google or any other
honest company) publish their collections in free formats. "This deal
involves the donation of 'technology, services and funding' (e.g., mostly
not money) with a purported value of $3M from Microsoft to the Library of
Congress. The Library, in turn, agrees to put kiosks running Vista in the
library and to use Microsoft Silverlight to 'help power the library's new
Web site, www.myloc.gov.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/24/1939214
Links:
0. http://www.boingboing.net/2008/02/20/library-of-congress-1.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Linux At the Point of Sale |
| from the pos-that-refreshes dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Sunday February 24, @16:05 (Linux Business) |
| http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/24/2012230 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]NegativeK writes "I work at a local comic and games shop, and I've
been kicking around what it would take to implement a barcode scanner and
more detailed inventory control. Currently, the setup is a low-tech
register that tracks general areas of sales: new comics, ccgs, Games
Workshop, rpgs, etc. Requirements include FOSS on Linux, the ability to
use a cheap scanner, datamining, and output in a useful format (perhaps
OpenOffice spreadsheet). The idea hasn't been pitched to the shop owner
yet, so ease of use is probably more important than anything ?€? but
breaking out the programming books to work on parts isn't out of the
question for me. Assuming the actual register stays, what resources are
out there for a barcode/inventory implementation?"
Discuss this story at:
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/24/2012230
Links:
0. mailto:tekarien.hotmail@com
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Microsoft To Drop HD DVD |
| from the quelle-surprise dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Sunday February 24, @17:06 (Media) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/24/2132255 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
HockeyPuck writes to let us know that Microsoft has decided to [0]stop
making HD DVD players for the Xbox 360. No word on supporting Blu-ray on
the platform though. "Microsoft said Saturday it would continue to
provide standard warranty support for its HD DVD players. Toshiba
President Atsutoshi Nishida last week estimated about 300,000 people own
the Microsoft video player, sold as a separate $130 add-on for the Xbox
360."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/24/2132255
Links:
0. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ifXeLMB28kre9AK-YgVq7Y4ZEJ9wD8V0RI780
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Electronic Arts Offers $2B For Take Two |
| from the something-in-the-air dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Sunday February 24, @18:11 (PC Games (Games)|
| http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/24/2251209 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
quanticle writes "The New York Times is reporting that [0]EA has offered
$2B for Take Two Entertainment. The effort appears to be a move to
consolidate the two companies before Take Two releases the next iteration
of its blockbuster franchise, Grand Theft Auto 4. Take Two has politely
declined the offer."
Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/24/2251209
Links:
0. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/25/technology/25game-web.html?ex=1361595600&en=c30718ffc68829f3&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
Copyright 1997-2006 OSTG. All rights reserved.
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