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Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* Why Make a Sequel of the Napster Wars?
* Gouge Found on Shuttle Endeavour's Underside
* The Heretical Freeman Dyson
* Space Hotel to Open in 2012
* DirectX 10 Hardware Is Now Obsolete
* Oracle Contributes Linux Code, Expands Hardware Support
* Pico-ITX, Because Size Matters
* Federal Anti-Obscenity Program Comes Up Limp
* Buffer Overflow Found in RFID Passport Readers
* Google Video Store Shutting Down
* Batteries the Focus of AT&T Investigation
* Linux Foundation Calls for 'Respect for Microsoft'
* DHS Plans Changes in Air Passenger Screening
* SCO Fiasco Over for Linux, Starting For Solaris?
* Perfect Crystals Grown by Cancelling Out Gravity on Earth
* How to Reach 200 MPH on Hydrogen Fuel Cells
* DARPA Develops Dolphin-like Tail For Divers
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Why Make a Sequel of the Napster Wars? |
| from the did-well-in-test-groups dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday August 10, @21:12 (Media) |
|
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/11/015244
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]6 writes "Cory Doctorow has an interesting article over at Information
Week about [1]Hollywood's strategy of suing sites such as YouTube. Says
Doctorow: 'It's been eight years since Sean Fanning created Napster in
his college dorm room. Eight years later, there isn't a single authorized
music service that can compete with the original Napster. Record sales
are down every year, and digital music sales aren't filling in the
crater. The record industry has contracted to four companies, and it may
soon be three if EMI can get regulatory permission to put itself on the
block. The sue-'em-all-and-let-God-sort-'em-out plan was a flop in the
box office, a flop in home video, and a flop overseas. So why is
Hollywood shooting a remake?'"
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/08/11/015244
Links:
0. http://www.mywaves.com/
1. http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201400131
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Gouge Found on Shuttle Endeavour's Underside |
| from the i-hear-duct-tape-works-well dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday August 10, @23:05 (NASA) |
|
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/11/0110236
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]SonicSpike writes " NASA has discovered [1]a chunk missing from the
underside of the space shuttle Endeavour. It was discovered after the
shuttle docked with the ISS earlier today. Technicians theorize it may
have been caused by ice ripping free of a fuel take during takeoff. From
the article:'The gouge ��� about 3 inches square ��� was spotted in zoom-in
photography taken by the space station crew shortly before Endeavour
delivered teacher-astronaut Barbara Morgan and her six crewmates to the
orbiting outpost ... On Sunday, the astronauts will inspect the area,
using Endeavour's 100-foot robot arm and extension beam. Lasers on the
end of the beam will gauge the exact size and depth of the gouge, Shannon
said, and then engineering analyses will determine whether the damage is
severe enough to warrant repairs. Radar images show a white spray or
streak coming off Endeavour 58 seconds after liftoff. Engineers theorize
that if the debris was ice, it pierced the tile and then broke up,
scraping the area downwind. Pictures from Friday's photo inspection show
downwind scrapes."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/08/11/0110236
Links:
0. mailto:matt@ultrasonicdesigns.com
1. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5045365.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| The Heretical Freeman Dyson |
| from the is-he-a-duck-or-a-witch dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday August 11, @01:31 (Education) |
|
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/11/0515250
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
dublin writes "Big-thinker Freeman Dyson has written a new essay in which
he points out [0]the need for heretics in science, and goes on to gore
some sacred cows, including global climate change: 'My first heresy says
that all the fuss about global warming is grossly exaggerated ... There
is no doubt that parts of the world are getting warmer, but the warming
is not global ... When I listen to the public debates about climate
change, I am impressed by the enormous gaps in our knowledge, the
sparseness of our observations and the superficiality of our theories ...
All our fashionable worries and all our prevailing dogmas will probably
be obsolete in fifty years. My heresies will probably also be obsolete.
It is up to [the people of 2070] to find new heresies to guide our way to
a more hopeful future.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/08/11/0515250
Links:
0. http://www.edge.org/documents/archive/edge219.html#dysonf
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Space Hotel to Open in 2012 |
| from the l5-or-l4 dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday August 11, @03:27 (Space) |
|
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/11/0516213
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
blackdefiance writes "The New York Times is reporting that firm plans for
[0]the first hotel in space are now in the works. Slated for a 2012
opening, 'Galactic Suite' will cost about $4 million for a three-day
stay. 'They may have solved the issue of how to take a shower in
weightlessness -- the guests will enter a spa room in which bubbles of
water will float around. When guests are not admiring the view from their
portholes they will take part in scientific experiments on space travel.
Galactic Suite began as a hobby for former aerospace engineer Claramunt,
until a space enthusiast decided to make the science fiction fantasy a
reality by fronting most of the $3 billion needed to build the hotel. An
American company intent on colonizing Mars, which sees Galaxy Suite as a
first step, has since come on board, and private investors from Japan,
the United States and the United Arab Emirates are in talks.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/08/11/0516213
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DirectX 10 Hardware Is Now Obsolete |
| from the shouldn't-have-blinked dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday August 11, @05:41 (Windows) |
|
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/11/0524250
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
ela_gervaise writes "SIGGRAPH 2007 was the stage where Microsoft dropped
the bomb, informing gamers that the currently available DirectX 10
hardware [0]will not support the upcoming DirectX 10.1 in Vista SP1. In
essence, all current DX10 hardware is now obsolete. But don't get too
upset just yet: 'Gamers shouldn't fret too much - 10.1 adds virtually
nothing that they will care about and, more to the point, adds almost
nothing that developers are likely to care about. The spec revision
basically makes a number of things that are optional in DX10 compulsory
under the new standard - such as 32-bit floating point filtering, as
opposed to the 16-bit current. 4xAA is a compulsory standard to support
in 10.1, whereas graphics vendors can pick and choose their anti-aliasing
support currently. We suspect that the spec is likely to be ill-received.
Not only does it require brand new hardware, immediately creating a
minuscule sub-set of DX10 owners, but it also requires Vista SP1, and
also requires developer implementation.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/08/11/0524250
Links:
0. http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=41577
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Oracle Contributes Linux Code, Expands Hardware Support |
| from the getting-more-for-the-cost-of-free dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday August 11, @07:07 (Oracle) |
|
http://developers.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/11/0520242
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Jaden writes "Oracle expanded [0]the list of hardware compatible with its
Linux distribution and added support for Novell's YAST administration
tool. They have now certified [1]six hardware configurations able to run
Oracle Enterprise Linux. Certified products include those made by
Compellent Technologies, Dell, Egenera, EMC, Hewlett-Packard, Pillar Data
Systems and Unisys. Oracle also said it is releasing an open-source
version of the [2]YAST Linux installation and configuration tool for
Oracle Enterprise Linux and Red Hat Enterprise Linux under the General
Public License."
Discuss this story at:
http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/08/11/0520242
Links:
0. http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/software/0,39044164,62030655,00.htm
1. http://www.oracle.com/technology/tech/linux/validated-configurations/index.html
2. http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/hardware/0,39042972,39172443,00.htm
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pico-ITX, Because Size Matters |
| from the on-the-head-of-a-pin dept. |
| posted by CowboyNeal on Saturday August 11, @08:11 (Hardware Hack|
|
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/11/1113212
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "It's not every day that a new form factor
comes out, especially not one that is 10cm x 7.2cm. Despite its size,
[0]Pico-ITX is the hottest new thing in the rapidly changing small form
factor market. It is considerably smaller than Mini-ITX (17cm x 17cm)
which has proven itself to be quite versatile and though some sacrifices
had to be made to shrink the platform, Pico-ITX is surprisingly complete.
The system was tested with Feather Linux but the PX10000 has the power to
run Windows XP or Ubuntu if you want to add on a hard drive."
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/08/11/1113212
Links:
0. http://www.geek.com/first-look-via-px10000-pico-itx-motherboard/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Federal Anti-Obscenity Program Comes Up Limp |
| from the excellent-use-of-resources dept. |
| posted by CowboyNeal on Saturday August 11, @09:16 (Censorship) |
|
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/11/1126245
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
kotj.mf writes "The New York Times reports that the Federally funded
anti-Web pornography campaign run by Morality in Media, a conservative
religious group, [0]has yet to result a single prosecution for obscenity,
despite having generated more than 67,000 citizen complaints. The group,
better known for its [1]campaign to have Cosmopolitan removed from
supermarket checkout stands, is pushing the Justice Department to more
aggressively pursue cases against what it sees as 'a prime threat to
society, the growth on the Internet of sexual material involving
consenting adults.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/08/11/1126245
Links:
0. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/10/us/10obscene.html?ref=us
1. http://www.moralityinmedia.org/index.htm?mediaIssues/supmktmags.htm
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Buffer Overflow Found in RFID Passport Readers |
| from the never-too-careful dept. |
| posted by CowboyNeal on Saturday August 11, @10:20 (Security) |
|
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/11/1133217
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]epee1221 writes "Wired ran a story describing Lukas Grunwald's Defcon
talk on an attack on airport passport readers. After extracting data from
the (read-only) chip in a legitimate passport, he placed a version of the
data with an altered passport photo (JPEG2000 is used in these chips)
into a writable chip. The altered photo created a [1]buffer overflow in
two RFID readers he tested, causing both to crash. Grunwald suggests that
vendors are typically using off-the-shelf JPEG2000 libraries, which would
make the vulnerability common."
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/08/11/1133217
Links:
0. http://slashdot.org/~epee1221/
1. http://www.wired.com/politics/security/news/2007/08/epassport
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Google Video Store Shutting Down |
| from the calling-it-quits dept. |
| posted by CowboyNeal on Saturday August 11, @11:31 (Google) |
|
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/11/1253237
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
babbling writes "Google is going to [0]close the Google Video Store,
leaving users who bought videos that used Digital Restrictions Management
without their purchases. The users of Google Video Store will be
compensated with Google Checkout credit, but it seems they will be out of
luck if they don't happen to be Google Checkout users."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/08/11/1253237
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Batteries the Focus of AT&T Investigation |
| from the and-going-and-going-and-going dept. |
| posted by CowboyNeal on Saturday August 11, @12:19 (Power) |
|
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/11/1436206
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "AT&T is [0]focusing on the batteries supplied
by Avestor as the cause of its 2006 equipment explosion in a suburban
Houston neighborhood. The carrier says it has 17,000 of those same
batteries still in its network. Some [1]photos of the equipment that was
shredded in the blast are also available."
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/08/11/1436206
Links:
0. http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=131211
1. http://www.lightreading.com/document.asp?doc_id=131210
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Linux Foundation Calls for 'Respect for Microsoft' |
| from the so-what-macos-is-chopped-liver dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday August 11, @13:21 (Microsoft) |
|
http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/11/1535257
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]kripkenstein writes "Jim Zemlin (executive director for the Linux
Foundation) gave a talk at LinuxWorld saying that [1]the open source
community should stop poking fun at Microsoft. From the VNU article:
'Open source vendors have to recognize that Windows is here to stay and
that together with Microsoft it will form a duopoly in the market for
operating systems. This also requires that the Linux community respects
Microsoft rather than ridicule it. "There are some things that Windows
does pretty well," Zemlin said. Microsoft for instance has excelled in
marketing the operating system, and has a good track record in fending
off competition.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/08/11/1535257
Links:
0. http://neolicity.blogspot.com/
1. http://www.vnu.co.uk/vnunet/news/2196258/linux-foundation-calls-respect
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DHS Plans Changes in Air Passenger Screening |
| from the oh-you-mean-we-get-to-fly-now dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday August 11, @14:28 (Security) |
|
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/11/1734252
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]narramissic writes "The Department of Homeland Security on Thursday
announced plans to [1]revamp its Secure Flight program, with the agency
no longer assigning risk scores to passengers or using predictive
behavior technology. In addition, the Transportation Security
Administration, part of DHS, will have direct control of checking
domestic passenger lists against terrorist watch lists, instead of the
airlines, said DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff. Just the same Marc
Rotenberg, executive director of privacy advocacy group the Electronic
Privacy Information Center (EPIC), notes, air passengers still can't see
the reasons why they're targeted for extensive searches or kept off
flights, nor can they correct bad information on the terrorist watch
lists. 'The problems with the watch list are still valid and are not
going away,' said Rotenberg."
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/08/11/1734252
Links:
0. http://www.itworld.com/
1. http://security.itworld.com/5009/070810dhs/page_1.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| SCO Fiasco Over for Linux, Starting For Solaris? |
| from the wheel-turns-turns-turns dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday August 11, @15:18 (Sun Microsystems) |
|
http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/11/1741256
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]kripkenstein writes "We have just heard that the SCO fiasco is
[1]finally going to end for Linux. But Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols at
DesktopLinux.com points out that the favorable result for Linux [2]may
cause unpleasant consequences for rival open-source operating system
OpenSolaris: 'At one time, Sun was an SCO supporter ... Sun's Jonathan
Schwartz ��� then Sun VP of software and today Sun's president and CEO ���
said in 2003 that Sun had bought "rights equivalent to ownership" to
Unix. SCO agreed. In 2005, SCO CEO Darl McBride said that SCO had no
problem with Sun open-sourcing Unix code in what would become
OpenSolaris. "We have seen what Sun plans to do with OpenSolaris and we
have no problem with it," McBride said. "What they're doing protects our
Unix intellectual property rights." Sun now has a little problem, which
might become a giant one: SCO never had any Unix IP to sell. Therefore,
it seems likely that Solaris and OpenSolaris contains Novell's Unix IP.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/08/11/1741256
Links:
0. http://neolicity.blogspot.com/
1. http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/10/2148253&tid=88
2. http://desktoplinux.com/news/NS3180933176.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Perfect Crystals Grown by Cancelling Out Gravity on Earth |
| from the hippies-across-the-globe-cheer dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday August 11, @16:23 (Biotech) |
|
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/11/1940247
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]willatnewscientist writes "Researchers in the Netherlands and Japan
have [1]found a way to grow perfect crystals in 'zero gravity' here on
Earth. By exploiting the way a powerful magnet influences diamagnetic
materials they have been able to grow protein crystals without the
defects normally introduced as a result of gravity (The same trick has
been used to levitate a frog before). Normally, such crystals are grown
in space, such as aboard the International Space Station."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/08/11/1940247
Links:
0. http://www.newscientist.com/
1. http://www.newscientisttech.com/article/dn12467-magnetic-gravity-trick-grows-perfect-crystals.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| How to Reach 200 MPH on Hydrogen Fuel Cells |
| from the good-use-of-ice dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday August 11, @17:43 (Power) |
|
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/11/1956204
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
the_manatee writes "Ford's 999 hydrogen-powered speedster is making waves
for its upcoming speed record attempt in the Bonneville Salt Flats, but
details on what's actually going on under the hood have been scarce.
[0]As it turns out, there are NASCAR-style brakes, steering, and
suspension components, along with 16 Ballard Mk902 fuel cells that
produce 350 kW of electricity. All that juice spins up a 770-hp motor and
the rest is (hopefully) history. One final ingredient: [0]400 lbs of ice
for cooling, which will melt in seconds once the car gets up to speed."
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/08/11/1956204
Links:
0. http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/automotive_news/4220281.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DARPA Develops Dolphin-like Tail For Divers |
| from the chimera-tech dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday August 11, @19:14 (Robotics) |
|
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/11/1527243
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]willatnewscientist writes "Forget flippers, the latest idea from the
guys at DARPA is a [1]tail-like prosthetic for divers. The
(forward-facing) tail, demonstrated at [2]DARPA Tech 2007, is designed to
help a diver maintain a speed of 2 knots for up to 300 metres. 'The
unpowered, carbon-fibre structure straps to a diver's shins and is used
with a motion that is not unlike the way Patrick Duffy swims in The Man
from Atlantis. The design is inspired by the way mammals like Seals and
Dolphins swim. I caught [3]this video of Powerswim (3.5 MB .avi) at the
DARPATech 2007 gathering in Anaheim, California. It would be nice to grab
one and try it out when I next head down to the beach, but unless its
designers DEKA (the same people who make the Segway) come up with a
budget version, the $500 price-tag is going to keep me firmly in my
flippers.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/08/11/1527243
Links:
0. http://www.newscientist.com/
1. http://www.newscientist.com/blog/technology/2007/08/be-man-from-atlantis.html
2. http://www.darpa.mil/DARPATech2007/index.html
3. http://media.newscientist.com/data/images/ns/av/blogtechswim.avi
Copyright 1997-2006 OSTG. All rights reserved.
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