Back to newsletter listDate:
Thu, February 28, 2008 11:19:23 PMFrom:
slashdot@slashdot.org
Subject:
[Slashdot] Stories for 2008-02-29
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Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* FreeBSD 7.0 Release Now Available
* Former FBI Agent Calls for a Second Internet
* The U.S. Patent Backlog
* Correcting Misperceptions About Evolution
* NASA Plans to Smash Spacecraft into the Moon
* Wave Powered Boat to Sail From Hawaii to Japan
* Researchers Transmit Optical Data at 16.4 Tbps 2550km
* McNealy Says Telcos Falling Behind in Net Race
* IBM Measures Force Required To Move Atoms
* NASA to Demonstrate Moon Rover
* Where's Our Terabit Ethernet?
* Adobe To Port AIR To Linux
* Microsoft Internal Emails Show Dismay With Vista
* Bank Julius Baer Issues Statement On WikiLeaks
* Critical VMware Vulnerability, Exploit Released
* Military Steps Up War On Blogs
* Researchers Expose New Credit Card Fraud Risk
* Ubuntu Brainstorm Launched
* EU Views Net Censorship As a "Trade Barrier"
* RIAA Not Sharing Settlement Money With Artists
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| FreeBSD 7.0 Release Now Available |
| from the get-it-while-it's-hot dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Wednesday February 27, @19:31 (Software) |
| http://bsd.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/27/2255229 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]cperciva writes "The first release from the new 7-STABLE branch of
FreeBSD development, [1]has been released. FreeBSD 7.0 brings with it
many new features including support for ZFS, journaled filesystems, and
SCTP, as well as dramatic improvements in performance and SMP
scalability. In addition to being available from many FTP sites, ISO
images can be downloaded via the [2]BitTorrent tracker, or for users of
earlier FreeBSD releases, [3]FreeBSD Update can be used to perform a
binary upgrade."
Discuss this story at:
http://bsd.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/27/2255229
Links:
0. http://www.daemonology.net/blog/
1. http://www.freebsd.org/releases/7.0R/announce.html
2. http://torrents.freebsd.org:8080/
3. http://www.daemonology.net/blog/2007-11-11-freebsd-major-version-upgrade.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Former FBI Agent Calls for a Second Internet |
| from the it-became-necessary-to-destroy-the-internet-to-save-it d|
| posted by samzenpus on Wednesday February 27, @20:58 (The Interne|
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/27/2310247 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "Former FBI Agent Patrick J. Dempsey warns
that the Internet has become a [0]sanctuary for cyber criminals and the
only way to rectify this is to create a second, more secure Internet.
Dempsey explains that, in order to successfully fight cyber crime, law
enforcement officials need to move much faster than average investigators
and cooperate with international law enforcement officials. The problem
is various legal systems are unprepared for the fight, which is why he
claims we must change the structure of the Internet."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/27/2310247
Links:
0. http://www.internetevolution.com/author.asp?section_id=593&doc_id=147027&
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| The U.S. Patent Backlog |
| from the we-will-be-with-you-shortly dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Wednesday February 27, @23:01 (Patents) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/27/2314231 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]coondoggie writes "Even with its increased hiring estimates of 1,200
patent examiners each year for the next 5 years, the US Patent and
Trademark Office patent application [1]backlog is expected to increase to
over 1.3 million at the end of fiscal year 2011 the Government Accounting
Office reported today. The USPTO has also estimated that if it were able
to hire 2,000 patent examiners per year in fiscal year 2007 and each of
the next 5 years, the backlog would continue to increase by about 260,000
applications, to 953,643 at the end of fiscal year 2011, the GAO said.
Despite its recent increases in hiring, the agency has acknowledged that
it cannot hire its way out of the backlog and is now focused on slowing
the growth of the backlog instead of reducing it. This too is but one of
the goals of the Patent Reform Act currently making the rounds in the US
Senate."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/27/2314231
Links:
0. http://networkworld.com/
1. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/25467
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Correcting Misperceptions About Evolution |
| from the lost-cause dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Thursday February 28, @01:13 (Education) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/28/0424240 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Beagle writes "The science of evolution is often misunderstood by the
public and a [0]session at the recent AAAS meeting in Boston covered
three frequently misapprehended topics in evolutionary history, the
Cambrian explosion, origin of tetrapods, and evolution of human
ancestors, as well as the origin of life. The final speaker, Martin
Storksdieck of the [1]Institute for Learning Innovation, covered how to
communicate the data to a public that 'has such a hard time accepting
what science is discovering.' His view: 'while most of the attention has
focused on childhood education, we really should be going after the
parents. Everyone is a lifelong learner, Storksdieck said, but once
people leave school, that learning becomes a voluntary matter that's
largely driven by individual taste.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/28/0424240
Links:
0. http://arstechnica.com/articles/culture/state-of-the-art-evolution.ars
1. http://www.ilinet.org/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| NASA Plans to Smash Spacecraft into the Moon |
| from the hit-it-hard dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Thursday February 28, @04:15 (Moon) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/28/0427213 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
djasbestos writes "[0]NASA is planning to smash a spacecraft into the
Moon in order to look for hydrogen deposits in the poles. More notably,
it will impact with significantly greater force (100x, per the article)
than previous Moon collisions, such as by the Lunar Prospector and
Smart-1 probes. Admiral Ackbar was unreachable for comment as to the
exact location and size of the Moon's thermal exhaust port."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/28/0427213
Links:
0. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23371839
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Wave Powered Boat to Sail From Hawaii to Japan |
| from the clean-sailing-ahead dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Thursday February 28, @07:50 (Transportati|
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/28/0436206 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
CaroKann writes "In the middle of May 2008, Kenichi Horie, an adventurer
known for such feats as paddling a pedal powered boat 4,660 miles from
Hawaii to Okinawa in 1993, will be [0]sailing a wave powered boat from
Honolulu's Hawaii Yacht Club to the Kii Channel in Japan. The boat, a
3-ton catamaran named the [1]Suntory Mermaid II, works by virtue of the
fins located at the front of the boat. These fins "generate thrust force
by moving up and down like the tails of dolphins and whales and absorbing
the energy of the waves." The system can propel the boat no matter which
direction the waves come from. Because the wave propulsion system absorbs
the energy from the waves, a passenger on the boat will experience a
smooth ride. With a top speed of about 5 knots, the journey is expected
to take about 2 to 3 months."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/28/0436206
Links:
0. http://www.popsci.com/gear-gadgets/article/2008-02/wave-runner
1. http://www.tsuneishi.co.jp/english/horie/index.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Researchers Transmit Optical Data at 16.4 Tbps 2550km |
| from the someone-compute-the-porntential dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday February 28, @08:41 (Networking) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/28/1332224 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Stony Stevenson writes "The [0]goal of 100 Gbps Ethernet transmission is
closer to reality with the announcement Wednesday that Alcatel-Lucent
researchers have recorded an optical transmission record along with three
photonic integrated circuits. Carried out by researchers in Bell Labs in
Villarceaux, France, the successful transmission of 16.4 Tbps of optical
data over 2,550 km was assisted by Alcatel's Thales' III-V Lab and Kylia,
an optical solution company. The researchers utilized 164
wavelength-division multiplexed channels modulated at 100-Gbps in the
effort."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/28/1332224
Links:
0. http://www.itnews.com.au/News/71036,researchers-transmit-optical-data-at-164-tbps.aspx
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| McNealy Says Telcos Falling Behind in Net Race |
| from the also-low-on-gas dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday February 28, @09:25 (Sun Microsyst|
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/28/146241 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
BobB-nw writes "Telecommunication companies need to [0]go beyond just
providing bandwidth and look into acquiring Internet destination sites
that are heavily trafficked, says Sun Microsystems Chairman Scott
McNealy. "I have explained to every telco that either you become a
destination site, or the destination site will become a telco," McNealy
said at a news conference at Sun Microsystems' Worldwide Education and
Research Conference in San Francisco on Wednesday."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/28/146241
Links:
0. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/022808-mcnealy-telcos-falling-behind-in.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| IBM Measures Force Required To Move Atoms |
| from the i-bet-i'm-strong-enough-to-do-that dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday February 28, @10:18 (IBM) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/28/1449215 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Tjeerd writes "IBM scientists, in collaboration with the University of
Regensburg in Germany, are the first ever to [1]measure the force it
takes to move individual atoms on a surface. This fundamental measurement
provides important information for designing future atomic-scale devices:
computer chips, miniaturized storage devices, and more." I've [2]attached
a video if you are interested.
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/28/1449215
Links:
0. http://www.tjeerd.net/
1. http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/23544.wss
2. http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/28/1449215&tid=136
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| NASA to Demonstrate Moon Rover |
| from the 0-to-60-in-never dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday February 28, @11:10 (Moon) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/28/1522210 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]coondoggie writes "NASA will this week [1]demonstrate its lunar robot
rover equipped with a drill designed to find water and oxygen-rich soil
on the moon. NASA said the engineering challenge of building such as
drilling system was daunting because a robot rover designed for
prospecting within lunar craters has to operate in continual darkness at
extremely cold temperatures with little power. The moon has one-sixth the
gravity of Earth, so a lightweight rover will have a difficult job
resisting drilling forces and remaining stable.The project is just one
demonstration of the collaboration NASA is utilizing to bring together
its next moon shot. For example, Carnegie Mellon was responsible for the
robot's design and testing, and the Northern Centre for Advanced
Technology built the drilling system. NASA's Glenn Research Center
contributed the rover's power management system. NASA's Ames Research
Center built a system that navigates the rover in the dark. The Canadian
Space Agency funded a Neptec camera that builds three-dimensional images
of terrain using laser light, NASA said."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/28/1522210
Links:
0. http://networkworld.com/
1. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/25456
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Where's Our Terabit Ethernet? |
| from the i-already-made-a-bandwidth-pr0n-joke-today dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday February 28, @11:52 (Networking) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/28/1523256 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]carusoj writes "Five years ago, we were talking about using [1]Terabit
Ethernet in 2008. Those plans have been pushed back a bit, but Ethernet
inventor Bob Metcalfe this week is starting to throw around a new date
for [2]Terabit Ethernet: 2015. He's also suggesting that this be done in
a non-standard way, at least at first, saying it's an opportunity to
"break loose from the stranglehold of standards and move into some fun
new technologies.""
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/28/1523256
Links:
0. http://www.networkworld.com/
1. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/08/27/155237&tid=95
2. http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/lans/2008/0225lan2.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Adobe To Port AIR To Linux |
| from the breath-of-fresh dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Thursday February 28, @12:32 (Programming) |
| http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/28/1727232 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
unityofsaints writes "Up until now, Adobe hasn't done much in terms of
porting its applications to Linux, as its only product to have recieved
any kind of Linux implementation is Flash. This may be about to change
because the company has announced a [0]Linux port of AIR, its web
application development software. No definite release date is mentioned
in the interview with Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch, just a vague 'later this
year.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/28/1727232
Links:
0. http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Application-Development/Adobe-to-Deliver-AIR-for-Linux/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Microsoft Internal Emails Show Dismay With Vista |
| from the you-scratch-my-back dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Thursday February 28, @13:14 (The Courts) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/28/1746211 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]bfwebster writes "Microsoft is currently facing a [1]class-action suit
over its designation of allegedly under-powered hardware as being 'Vista
Capable.' The discovery process of that lawsuit has now compelled
Microsoft to produce some internal emails discussing those issues. The
Seattle Post-Intelligencer has published [2]extracts of some of those
emails, along with a link to a a PDF file containing a [3]more extensive
email exchange. The emails reflect a lot of frustration among senior
Microsoft personnel about Vista's performance problems and hardware
incompatibilities. They also appear to indicate that Microsoft lowered
the hardware requirements for 'Vista Capable' in order to include certain
lower-end Intel chipsets, apparently as a favor to Intel: 'In the end, we
lowered the requirement to help Intel make their quarterly earnings so
they could continue to sell motherboards with 915 graphics embedded.'
Read the whole PDF; it is informative, interesting, and at times
(unintentionally) funny."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/28/1746211
Links:
0. mailto:bwebster@bfwa.com
1. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/23/183219&tid=123
2. http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/132891.asp
3. http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/library/vistaone3046.pdf
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Bank Julius Baer Issues Statement On WikiLeaks |
| from the 11-days-to-say-very-little dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Thursday February 28, @13:58 (Censorship) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/28/1838226 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]dtwood writes "The bank that got WikiLeaks.org erased from DNS finally
hired a PR agency and issued a [1]press release filled with half truths
and non-statements. Tynan on Tech has it, along with some brief
commentary. Worth a look."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/28/1838226
Links:
0. mailto:dan@dantynan.com
1. http://www.dantynan.com/?p=39
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Critical VMware Vulnerability, Exploit Released |
| from the heads-up-incoming dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Thursday February 28, @14:41 (Security) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/28/1920247 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
BaCa writes "Core Security has issued an advisory disclosing a
vulnerability that could severely impact organizations relying on
[0]VMware's desktop virtualization software. It involves directory
traversal using VMware's shared folders, and could allow an attacker
access to the host system from a guest VM. Core also released an exploit
for the vulnerability."
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/28/1920247
Links:
0. http://www.coresecurity.com/?action=item&id=2129
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Military Steps Up War On Blogs |
| from the don't-post-don't-read dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Thursday February 28, @15:21 (Censorship) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/28/1953222 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "The military's [0]war on blogs, first
reported last spring, is picking up. Now the Air Force is [1]tightening
restrictions on which blogs its troops can read. One senior Air Force
official calls the squeeze so 'utterly stupid, it makes me want to
scream.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/28/1953222
Links:
0. http://www.wired.com/politics/onlinerights/news/2007/05/army_bloggers
1. http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/02/air-force-banni.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Researchers Expose New Credit Card Fraud Risk |
| from the tamper-proof-isn't dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Thursday February 28, @16:01 (Security) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/28/2018228 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "Researchers from the University of Cambridge
have discovered flaws in the card payment systems used by millions of
customers worldwide. Ross Anderson, Saar Drimer, and Steven Murdoch
demonstrated how a simple [0]paper clip can be used to capture account
numbers and PINs from so-called 'tamper-proof' equipment. In [1]their
paper (PDF), they warn how with a little technical skill and
off-the-shelf electronics, fraudsters could empty customers' accounts.
British television featured a [2]demonstration of the attack on BBC
Newsnight."
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/28/2018228
Links:
0. http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/research/security/banking/ped/
1. http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/techreports/UCAM-CL-TR-711.pdf
2. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2532888875266883498
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Ubuntu Brainstorm Launched |
| from the good-ideas-are-where-you-find-them dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Thursday February 28, @16:42 (Linux) |
| http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/28/2029218 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]thorwil writes "Brainstorm is a new site where everyone can [1]submit
and vote on ideas for Ubuntu. It's inspired by Dell's Ideastorm. By
default, you see the ideas submitted by the community sorted by
popularity. Each idea is accompanied by arrows so you can vote it up or
down (you have to log in first). You can only click once per idea. So
this is an easy way to submit ideas and see what people are really
wanting."
Discuss this story at:
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/28/2029218
Links:
0. http://thorwil.wordpress.com/
1. http://brainstorm.ubuntu.com/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| EU Views Net Censorship As a "Trade Barrier" |
| from the do-as-i-say dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Thursday February 28, @17:25 (Censorship) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/28/2117256 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "The European Parliament
just passed a proposal to [1]treat internet censorship as a trade barrier,
in particular the 'Great Firewall of China.' If passed by the European
Council, the issue would be raised in trade negotiations and could lead
to economic sanctions and trade restrictions for those countries
unwilling to remove oppressive Net censorship." We have discussed some of
the ways in which the EU, and its member countries, engage in their
[2]own brand of [3]censorship.
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/28/2117256
Links:
0. http://www.eff.org/support
1. http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080227-eu-may-begin-treating-net-censorship-as-a-trade-barrier.html
2. http://slashdot.org/articles/00/05/23/0136220_F.shtml
3. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/04/25/2040200&tid=95
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| RIAA Not Sharing Settlement Money With Artists |
| from the play-nicely-now dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Thursday February 28, @18:08 (Music) |
| http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/28/2123213 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Klatoo55 writes "Various artists are considering lawsuits in order to
press for their [1]share of the estimated hundreds of millions of dollars
the RIAA has obtained from settlements with services such as Bolt, KaZaA,
and Napster. According to TorrentFreak's report on the potential action,
there may not even be much left to pay out after monstrous legal fees are
taken care of. The comments from the labels all claim that the money is
on its way, and is simply taking longer due to difficulties dividing it
all up."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/02/28/2123213
Links:
0. mailto:tony@logoma.ch
1. http://torrentfreak.com/riaa-keeps-settlement-money-080228/
Copyright 1997-2006 OSTG. All rights reserved.
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