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Wed, November 19, 2008 10:59:35 PMFrom:
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Subject:
[Slashdot] Stories for 2008-11-20
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Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* NASA Tests Deep-Space Network Modeled On the Internet
* Microsoft To Offer Free Anti-Virus Software
* Ted Stevens Loses Senate Re-Election Bid
* Should You Get Paid While Your Computer Boots?
* Court Slams Door On Sale of Spyware
* The Importance of Procedural Content Generation In Games
* Oldest Nuclear Family Found Murdered In Germany
* Psystar Antitrust Claim Against Apple Dismissed
* Fewer Than 1% Arrested From TSA's "Behavior Detection"
* Ray Kurzweil Wonders, Can Machines Ever Have Souls?
* Astronaut Loses Tools While Performing an EVA
* American Nerd
* Microsoft Feared Mac Vs. Vista In '05
* Lunar Oxygen and Water Production Tech Tested
* Wolfram Research Releases Mathematica 7
* London's Oystercard Gets New Contract, But Same Suppliers
* NRDC Rates Energy Efficiency of Video Game Consoles
* FCC Publishes "White Spaces" Rules
* Monty Python Banks On the Long Tail Via YouTube
* Interviewing Experienced IT People?
* Windows Breaks Into Supercomputer Top10
* Apple's New MacBooks Have Built-In Copy Protection
* Adobe Releases C/C++ To Flash Compiler
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| NASA Tests Deep-Space Network Modeled On the Internet |
| from the here-hold-this dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday November 18, @19:31 (Networking) |
| http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/18/2145202 |
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hcg50a writes "NASA has successfully tested the first [0]deep space
communications network modeled on the Internet. Working as part of a
NASA-wide team, engineers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in
Pasadena, CA, used software called Disruption-Tolerant Networking, or
DTN, to transmit dozens of space images to and from a NASA science
spacecraft located about 20 million miles from Earth. The
store-and-forward protocol was designed by NASA in consultation with Vint
Cerf. Here's a discussion from last July [1]before the test began."
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/18/2145202
Links:
0. http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2008/nov/HQ_08-298_Deep_space_internet.html
1. http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/07/24/1728214&tid=160
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| Microsoft To Offer Free Anti-Virus Software |
| from the another-industry-done-gone dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday November 18, @21:19 (Microsoft) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/18/2319243 |
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[0]Dynamoo writes "The good news is that Microsoft have announced [1]free
anti-virus software for consumers, dubbed Morro, available late next
year. The bad news is ... well, exactly the same. Although Microsoft's
anti-malware products are [2]pretty good, this move could drive many
competitors out of business and create a dangerous security monoculture;
major rivals will be [3]lawyering up already. On the other hand, many
malware infections could be prevented even by basic software. So is this
going to be a good or bad thing overall?"
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/18/2319243
Links:
0. http://www.dynamoo.com/
1. http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2008/nov08/11-18NoCostSecurityPR.mspx
2. http://mtc.sri.com/live_data/av_rankings/
3. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10101652-56.html
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| Ted Stevens Loses Senate Re-Election Bid |
| from the down-the-tubes dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Tuesday November 18, @23:06 (Government) |
| http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/19/0351224 |
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JakartaDean writes "Senator [0]Ted Stevens of Alaska, famed Internet
regulator, has lost his Senate seat. The AP is reporting that '[1]Stevens
was declared the loser in Alaska on Tuesday night after a two-week-long
process of counting nearly 90,000 absentee and early votes from across
Alaska. With this victory, Democrat Mark Begich (the mayor of Anchorage)
has defeated one of the giants in the US Senate by a 3,724-vote margin, a
stunning end to a 40-year Senate career marred by Stevens' conviction on
corruption charges a week before the election.' It's probably too early
to tell what this means for Internet regulation, but at least there's a >
0 chance that the next committee chair will understand something about
the Net."
Discuss this story at:
http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/19/0351224
Links:
0. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Stevens
1. http://news.yahoo.com/s/politico/20081119/pl_politico/15754_2
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| Should You Get Paid While Your Computer Boots? |
| from the define-work-and-give-two-examples dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Wednesday November 19, @00:02 (The Almighty |
| http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/18/1754236 |
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An anonymous reader notes a posting up at a law blog with the provocative
title [0]Does Your Boss Have to Pay You While You Wait for Vista to Boot
Up?. (Provocative because Vista doesn't boot more slowly than anything
else, necessarily, as one commenter points out.) The National Law Journal
article behind the post requires subscription. Quoting: "Lawyers are
noting a new type of lawsuit, in which employees are suing over time
spent booting [up] their computers. ... During the past year, several
companies, including AT&T Inc., UnitedHealth Group Inc. and Cigna Corp.,
have been hit with lawsuits in which employees claimed that they were not
paid for the 15- to 30-minute task of booting their computers at the
start of each day and logging out at the end. Add those minutes up over a
week, and hourly employees are losing some serious pay, argues
plaintiffs' lawyer Mark Thierman, a Las Vegas solo practitioner who has
filed a handful of computer-booting lawsuits in recent years. ... [A]
management-side attorney... who is defending a half-dozen employers in
computer-booting lawsuits... believes that, in most cases, computer
booting does not warrant being called work."
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/18/1754236
Links:
0. http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2008/11/does-your-boss-have.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Court Slams Door On Sale of Spyware |
| from the mother-may-i-install dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Wednesday November 19, @00:55 (The Internet)|
| http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/18/2344225 |
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[0]coondoggie writes "The Federal Trade Commission yesterday had a US
District Court issue a temporary restraining order [1]halting the sale of
RemoteSpy keylogger spyware. According to the FTC's complaint, RemoteSpy
spyware was sold to clients who would then secretly monitor unsuspecting
consumers' computers. The defendants provided RemoteSpy clients with
detailed instructions explaining how to disguise the spyware as an
innocuous file, such as a photo, attached to an email."
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/18/2344225
Links:
0. mailto:mcooney@nww.com
1. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/35340
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| The Importance of Procedural Content Generation In Games |
| from the see-what-grows dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Wednesday November 19, @02:09 (Games) |
| http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/19/0329249 |
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Gamasutra reports on a talk by Far Cry 2 developer Dominic Guay in which
he discussed why [0]procedural content generation is [1]becoming more and
more important as games get bigger and more complex. He also talks about
some of the related difficulties, such as the amount of work required for
the tools and the times when it's hard to retain control of the art
direction. Quoting: "Initially, the team created a procedural sky
rendering approach based on algorithms ?€? which led to a totally
unconvincing skybox that was clearly inferior to what a hand-authored
skybox would be. 'We considered it to be a total failure,' he said. He
explained that a great deal of focus must be put on the tools that
surround the algorithms, to allow the systems to be properly harnessed.
In the end, the game shipped with a revamped procedural sky system that
ended up much more effective than the first attempt."
Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/19/0329249
Links:
0. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Procedural_generation
1. http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21165
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| Oldest Nuclear Family Found Murdered In Germany |
| from the calling-csi-stone-age dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Wednesday November 19, @03:16 (Biotech) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/18/236232 |
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[0]Pickens writes "The oldest genetically identifiable nuclear family met
a violent death, according to analysis of remains from 4,600-year-old
burials in Germany where the broken bones of these stone age people show
they were [1]killed in a struggle. Comparisons of DNA from one grave
confirm it contained a mother, father, and their two children. 'We're
really sure, based on hard biological facts not just supposing or
assuming,' says Dr. Wolfgang Haak, from The Australian Centre for Ancient
DNA. The stone-age people are thought to belong to a group known as the
Corded Ware Culture, signified by their pots decorated with impressions
from twisted cords. The children and adult males had the same type of
strontium in their teeth ?€? which was also found locally, but the nearest
match to the women's teeth was at least 50km away, suggesting they had
moved to the area. 'They were definitely murdered, there are big holes in
their heads, fingers and wrists are broken,' says Dr. Alistair Pike from
Bristol University. He noted that one victim even had the [2]tip of a
stone weapon embedded in a vertebra. 'You feel some kind of sympathy for
them, it's a human thing, somebody must have really cared for them. ...
We don't know how hard daily life was back there and if there was any
space for love,' added Dr. Haak."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/18/236232
Links:
0. http://hughpickens.com/
1. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7733372.stm
2. http://www.bris.ac.uk/news/2008/6006.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Psystar Antitrust Claim Against Apple Dismissed |
| from the oh-give-me-a-clone dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Wednesday November 19, @05:40 (The Courts) |
| http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/18/2353259 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
CNet has a report that a federal judge has [0]dismissed Psystar's
antitrust suit against Apple. Observers had said that the counter-suit
embodied the Mac clone-maker's best chance of prevailing and staying in
business. We've been following [1]Psystar and the [2]dueling [3]lawsuits
since the beginning.
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/18/2353259
Links:
0. http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10101581-37.html
1. http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/04/14/1919237&tid=174
2. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/07/15/1739202&tid=123
3. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/08/26/2148250&tid=123
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Fewer Than 1% Arrested From TSA's "Behavior Detection" |
| from the department-of-funny-walks dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Wednesday November 19, @08:01 (Security) |
| http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/18/2326220 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "Fewer than 1% of airline passengers singled
out at airports using the much vaunted '[0]suspicious behavior detection'
techniques are arrested, Transportation Security Administration figures
show. The TSA program, launched in early 2006, looks for terrorists using
a controversial surveillance method based on behavior detection and has
led to more than 160,000 people in airports receiving scrutiny, such as a
pat-down search or a brief interview. It has resulted in only 1,266
arrests, often on charges of carrying drugs or fake IDs, the TSA said.
The TSA has not publicly said whether it has caught a terrorist through
the program." In related news, the odds of sanity coming to the TSA
plummeted today when Schneier said he's [1]not interested in the top job
there.
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/18/2326220
Links:
0. http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20081118/1a_offlede18_dom.art.htm
1. http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2008/11/schneier_for_ts.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Ray Kurzweil Wonders, Can Machines Ever Have Souls? |
| from the i'd-settle-for-a-chobit dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday November 19, @08:52 (Sci-Fi) |
| http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/19/1334239 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Celery writes "There's an interview with Ray Kurzweil on silicon.com
talking up the prospects of gene therapy as a means to reverse human
aging, discussing different approaches to developing artificial
intelligence, and giving his take on whether [0]super intelligent
machines could ever have souls. From the interview: 'The soul is a
synonym for consciousness ... and if we were to consider where
consciousness comes from we would have to consider it an emerging
property. Brain science is instructive there as we look inside the brain,
and we've now looked at it in exquisite detail, you don't see anything
that can be identified as a soul ?€? there's just a lot of neurons and
they're complicated but there's no consciousness to be seen. Therefore
it's an emerging property of a very complex system that can reflect on
itself. And if you were to create a system that had similar properties,
similar level of complexity it would therefore have the same emerging
property.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/19/1334239
Links:
0. http://www.silicon.com/silicon/management/itpro/0,39024675,39345605,00.htm
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Astronaut Loses Tools While Performing an EVA |
| from the only-human dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday November 19, @09:32 (NASA) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/19/1344240 |
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tpheiska writes "NASA press release states that 'At approx. 3:33 p.m.
EST, Piper reported that one of the Braycote lubrication guns had
released grease into her toolbag. As she was cleaning the bag and wiping
the tools and equipment inside, [0]the bag floated away. Another bag
carrying identical equipment is now being shared by Piper and Bowen.'
Luckily they had a spare."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/19/1344240
Links:
0. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts126/news/STS-126-09.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| American Nerd |
| from the read-all-about-it dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Wednesday November 19, @10:23 (Book Review|
| http://books.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/19/0325247 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Adam Jenkins writes "This book seemed to have potential, particularly
since the image of nerds has changed in recent times. Once objects of
derision and schoolyard bullying, nerds are now acknowledged as having a
place in society. The Lord of the Rings became a multi-million dollar
movie trilogy, the internet is now used by an incredible number of
people, and computer games are no longer seen as being 'just for kids.'
Around the years of the dot-com boom, successful nerds were driving
Ferraris and going to cool parties. So it's not so surprising that the
definition of a nerd has changed over time, nor that a society which has
generally become better at accepting people who are different, has
accepted nerds." Read below for the rest of Adam's review.
This story continues at:
http://books.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/19/0325247
Discuss this story at:
http://books.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/19/0325247
Links:
0. mailto:adam@snorkelDOTrtfm.net.REMOVEau
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Microsoft Feared Mac Vs. Vista In '05 |
| from the not-so-much-any-more dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday November 19, @11:08 (Microsoft) |
| http://apple.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/19/1518253 |
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[0]CWmike writes "Gregg Keizer sifted through many threads of e-mails
released under the 'Vista Capable' lawsuit to dig up this jewel...More
than a year before Windows Vista's release ?€? and long before Apple
started poking fun at the OS ?€? Microsoft officials were already
[1]worried about comparisons between Mac OS X and Vista. An e-mail thread
from October 2005 showed that an article in the Wall Street Journal by
Walt Mossberg grabbed the attention of managers at Microsoft. In a column
headlined [2]What PC to Buy If You Are Planning On a Vista Upgrade,
Mossberg alarmed one Windows manager who forwarded a bit from the
column.... 'You won't have to worry about Vista if you buy one of Apple
Computer's Macintosh computers, which don't run Windows,' Mossberg had
written. 'Every mainstream consumer doing typical tasks should consider
the Mac. Its operating system, called Tiger, is better and more secure
than Windows XP, and already contains most of the key features promised
for Vista.' Warrier added a comment of his own: 'A premium experience as
defined by Walt = Apple. This is why we need to address [the column].'"
Discuss this story at:
http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/19/1518253
Links:
0. http://www.computerworld.com/
1. http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9120798
2. http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20051013/desktop-computer-guide/
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| Lunar Oxygen and Water Production Tech Tested |
| from the bathtub-in-space dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday November 19, @11:50 (Moon) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/19/1521250 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]savuporo writes "NASA and its industry partners organized a two-week
lunar [1]in-situ resource utilization field test in Hawaii. The tested
machines included a few different rovers and prototype plants for
generating oxygen and water from lunar regolith. Astrotoday has a
[2]picture gallery and a video report. This follows on the heels of the
recent ESA [3]lunar robotics challenge event held on Tenerife, which
tasked student teams to build a lunar robot that would be able to search
for water ice in lunar polar craters."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/19/1521250
Links:
0. http://t/
1. http://potentiatenebrasrepellendi.blogspot.com/2008/11/nasa-tests-lunar-rovers-and-oxygen.html
2. http://www.astroday.net/MKrovers.html
3. http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM4GKRTKMF_index_0.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Wolfram Research Releases Mathematica 7 |
| from the just-installing-it-would-make-me-feel-dumber dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday November 19, @12:23 (Math) |
| http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/19/1534204 |
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mblase writes "[0]Wolfram Research has released the seventh version of
Mathematica, and [1]it does a lot more than symbolic algebra. New
features range from things as simple as [2]cut-and-paste integration with
Microsoft Word's Equation Editor to [3]instant 3D models of mathematical
objects to [4]the most expensive clone of Photoshop ever. Full suites of
genome, chemical, weather, astronomical, financial, and geodesic data (or
support for same) is designed to make Mathematica as invaluable for
scientific research as it is for mathematics."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/19/1534204
Links:
0. http://www.wolfram.com/
1. http://www.wolfram.com/products/mathematica/newin7/
2. http://www.wolfram.com/products/mathematica/newin7/content/OptimizedNotebookErgonomics/
3. http://reference.wolfram.com/mathematica/guide/MathematicalData.html
4. http://www.wolfram.com/products/mathematica/newin7/content/BuiltInImageProcessing/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| London's Oystercard Gets New Contract, But Same Suppliers |
| from the captain-amazing-wears-no-glasses dept. |
| posted by timothy on Wednesday November 19, @13:15 (Transportatio|
| http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/19/189246 |
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[0]nk497 writes "Over the summer, the London travelcard ticketing system
?€? called Oyster ?€? [1]fell over twice, forcing the transport authority to
offer free travel to the six million Londoners using the system. After
that, it [2]cut its contract with the supplier of the system, a
consortium called TranSys. But now, [3]Transport for London has signed a
new contract to replace the TranSys one ?€? with the same two companies
that made up the TranSys consortium. Sure, that should fix everything."
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/19/189246
Links:
0. http://www.itpro.co.uk/
1. http://www.itpro.co.uk/604866/more-tech-trouble-for-oyster-cards
2. http://www.itpro.co.uk/605334/tfl-terminates-100-million-oyster-contract
3. http://www.itpro.co.uk/608442/tfl-s-oyster-gets-new-contract
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| NRDC Rates Energy Efficiency of Video Game Consoles |
| from the real-costs-for-illusory-worlds dept. |
| posted by timothy on Wednesday November 19, @14:00 (Power) |
| http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/19/1837200 |
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An anonymous reader writes "Today, more than 40 percent of all homes in
the United States contain at least one video game console. Recognizing
that all that gaming could add up to serious demand for electricity, NRDC
and Ecos Consulting performed the [0]first ever comprehensive study on
the energy use of video game consoles and found that they consumed an
estimated 16 billion kilowatt-hours per year ?€? roughly equal to the
annual electricity use of the city of San Diego. Through the
incorporation of more user-friendly power management features, we could
save approximately 11 billion kWh of electricity per year, cut our
nation's electricity bill by more than $1 billion per year, and avoid
emissions of more than 7 million tons of CO2 each year. In this November
2008 issue paper, NRDC provides recommendations for users, video game
console manufacturers, component suppliers and the software companies
that design games for improving the efficiency of video game consoles
already in homes as well as future generations of machines yet to hit the
shelves." The [1]full report is freely downloadable as a PDF.
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/19/1837200
Links:
0. http://www.nrdc.org/media/2008/081119.asp
1. http://www.nrdc.org/energy/consoles/files/consoles.pdf
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| FCC Publishes "White Spaces" Rules |
| from the dude-white-spaces-totally-rule dept. |
| posted by timothy on Wednesday November 19, @14:43 (Communication|
| http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/19/1934231 |
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[0]Stellian writes "The Federal Communications Commission adopted a
[1]Second Report and Order that establishes rules to allow new,
sophisticated wireless devices to operate in broadcast television
spectrum on a secondary basis at locations where that spectrum is open.
It's the first time we have access to clear specifications for these
devices, dubbed TVBDs ?€? 'TV band devices' by the FCC. The published
guidelines allow manufactures to create protocols and build compatible
devices, which [2]could be available in 18 Months, according to Larry
Page. The full [3]PDF text of this Second R&O is published on the FCC
site."
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/19/1934231
Links:
0. http://slashdot.org/~Stellian/
1. http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=168155&site=cdn
2. http://www.wimax.com/commentary/blog/blog-2008/november/WCAI-Conference-Google-and-the-FCC-Laud-White-Spaces-for-Wireless-Internet-1118
3. http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-08-260A1.pdf
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Monty Python Banks On the Long Tail Via YouTube |
| from the finally-a-perfect-use-for-the-foot-icon dept. |
| posted by timothy on Wednesday November 19, @15:31 (Media) |
| http://entertainment.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/19/201255 |
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JTRipper writes "Monty Python seems to have done the right thing. Instead
of issuing take down notices of their videos on YouTube, they are doing
it better themselves with their own YouTube channel. They are putting
[0]all their clips (including snips from their movies) up in a decent
resolution, with the only caveat being a link to buying the movies and TV
episodes from Amazon."
Discuss this story at:
http://entertainment.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/19/201255
Links:
0. http://www.youtube.com/MontyPython
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Interviewing Experienced IT People? |
| from the experience-is-not-just-a-euphemism dept. |
| posted by timothy on Wednesday November 19, @16:19 (Businesses) |
| http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/19/211213 |
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thricenightly writes "After more than 20 years in IT I've learned that
the most valuable people in a team are frequently the old timers. Young
pups straight out of college might (think they) know all the latest
buzzwords and techniques, but in the real world, where getting working
products delivered on time and on budget is of paramount importance,
people who have been doing the job for a decade or two tend to be the
people I'd rather be working alongside. I've recently been elevated to a
position where I get to interview and choose those who get hired in my
department. Although I'm very much focused on choosing the right person
for the role regardless of age, experience or whatever, it's probably
fair to say the more mature applicants will get a more sympathetic
hearing from me than they might from most other interviewers for IT
roles. The question is, what do I ask older applicants to get them to
demonstrate the value of their experience? My current gambit is something
like 'IT is seen as a young man's game. My next applicant after you is 23
years old. What do you know that he doesn't?' This gets responses ranging
from the vague to the truly enlightened. All next week I'm interviewing
for a number of senior software designer and developer roles. What should
I be asking of the more experienced applicants, and what responses should
I be looking out for?"
Discuss this story at:
http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/19/211213
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Windows Breaks Into Supercomputer Top10 |
| from the adversity-breeds-strength-in-redmond-too dept. |
| posted by timothy on Wednesday November 19, @17:02 (Supercomputin|
| http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/19/2144216 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
yanx0016 writes "Wow, that's some news this week at [0]SuperComputing 08.
Apparently Microsoft Windows HPC Server 2008, with a Chinese hardware OEM
([1]Dawning), [2]made #10 on the Top500 list, edging out #11 by only 600
Gflops. Folks were shocked to see Microsoft getting so serious around
HPC; I think we are only beginning to see a glimpse of Microsoft in the
HPC field."
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/19/2144216
Links:
0. http://sc08.supercomputing.org/
1. http://www.dawning.com.cn/en/index.asp
2. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/111808-windows-hpc-supercomputer.html?fsrc=netflash-rss
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Apple's New MacBooks Have Built-In Copy Protection |
| from the presumption-from-on-high dept. |
| posted by timothy on Wednesday November 19, @17:46 (Portables (Ap|
| http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/19/2218217 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]raque writes "Appleinsider is reporting that the [1]new
MacBooks/MacBookPros have built-in copy protection. Quote: 'Apple's new
MacBook lines include a form of digital copy protection that will prevent
protected media, such as DRM-infused iTunes movies, from playing back on
devices that aren't compliant with the new priority protection measures.'
[2]Ars Technica is also reporting on the issue. Is this the deal they had
to make to get NBC back? Is this a deal breaker for Apple or will fans
just ignore it to get their hands on the pretty new machines? Is this a
new opportunity for Linux? And what happened to Jobs not liking DRM?"
Discuss this story at:
http://mobile.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/19/2218217
Links:
0. mailto:jimwall@mac.com
1. http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/11/18/apples_new_macbooks_have_built_in_copy_protection_measures.html
2. http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2008/11/17/apple-brings-hdcp-to-a-new-aluminum-macbook-near-you
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Adobe Releases C/C++ To Flash Compiler |
| from the transmutations dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Wednesday November 19, @18:47 (Software) |
| http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/19/2321230 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
SnT2k writes "Adobe recently released the [0]beta version of Alchemy
which compiles C/C++ code into AS3 bytecode (which runs on AVM2) that can
run on the Flash or Flex platform and boasts increased performance for
computationally-intensive tasks (but still slower than native C/C++). It
was demonstrated last year during the Chicago MAX 2007 to run Quake. A
few months later it has been demonstrated to run a [1]Python interpreter
and Nintendo Emulator. One interesting tidbit is that the thing is built
upon the open source [2]LLVM Compiler Infrastructure."
Discuss this story at:
http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/11/19/2321230
Links:
0. http://labs.adobe.com/technologies/alchemy/
1. http://brajeshwar.com/2008/cc-to-actionscript-compiler/
2. http://www.llvm.org/
Copyright 1997-2008 SourceForge, Inc.. All rights reserved.
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