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Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* Design of Next-Gen NASA Rocket Showing Flaws
* Online Crime Seen as Growing Threat to Business, Politics
* Researchers Work To Perfect Computerized Lip Reading
* Personal Weather Stations Helping With Weather Forecasting
* Novels Composed on Cellphones Topping Japanese Best Seller Lists
* Hacking the XO Laptop
* Asteroid Missions May Replace Lunar Base Plans
* Wal-Mart Pushing Suppliers For RFID
* Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash
* Two AI Pioneers, Two Bizarre Suicides
* Do Any Companies Power Down at Night?
* Thinkpad X300 Specs Leaked
* Training From America's Army Game Saved a Life
* EPA Asserts Executive Privilege In CA Emissions Case
* Messenger Probe Sends Back Mercury Photos
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Design of Next-Gen NASA Rocket Showing Flaws |
| from the back-to-the-drawing-board dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday January 19, @20:30 (NASA) |
|
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/20/0118206
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]caffiend666 writes "According to an AP news article, NASA engineers
are [1]concerned about the design for the new rocket meant to replace the
shuttle. Work on the project has revealed that the first few minutes of
flight could see 'violent shaking', a serious flaw that might destroy the
craft soon after launch. 'NASA officials hope to have a plan for fixing
the design as early as March, and they do not expect it to delay the goal
of returning astronauts to the moon by 2020. The shaking problem, which
is common to solid rocket boosters, involves pulses of added acceleration
caused by gas vortices in the rocket similar to the wake that develops
behind a fast-moving boat.'
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/20/0118206
Links:
0. http://www.geocities.com/critter_75075/
1. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080119/ap_on_sc/moon_rocket;_ylt=AqnEV9_GLb6fn.8Gy2zAJM.s0NUE
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Online Crime Seen as Growing Threat to Business, Politics |
| from the can't-we-all-just-play-some-wow dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday January 19, @22:40 (Security) |
|
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/20/0132249
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
BobB passed us a link to a NetworkWorld article, exploring the ongoing
realization in business circles of [0]the dangers online criminals pose.
The piece raises the possibility that criminal elements are gaining
access to US research labs in an effort to ferret out corporate and
governmental information. One institute referred to in the article
states: "Economic espionage will be increasingly common as nation-states
use cyber theft of data to gain economic advantage in multinational
deals. The attack of choice involves targeted spear phishing with
attachments, using well-researched social engineering methods to make the
victim believe that an attachment comes from a trusted source." We just
recently discussed possible [1]hacker involvement in several municipal
blackouts.
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/20/0132249
Links:
0. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2008/011708-cyberespionage.html
1. http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/19/0138209&tid=172
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Researchers Work To Perfect Computerized Lip Reading |
| from the eee-aye-eee-aye-oh dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Sunday January 20, @00:13 (Security) |
|
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/20/0141203
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Iddo Genuth writes "Researchers at the University of East Anglia are
working to develop computerized lip-reading systems. Lip-reading is
extremely hard for humans to master, but a software-based system has
several benefits over even the most highly trained expert. The ultimate
goal of the project is to [1]convert lip-read speech into text. 'Apart
from being extremely helpful to hearing-disabled individuals, researchers
say that such a system could be used to noiselessly dictate commands to
electronic devices equipped with a simple camera - like mobile phones,
microwaves or even a car's dashboard. England's Home Office Scientific
Development Branch ... is currently investigating the feasibility of
using lip-reading software as an additional tool for gathering
information about criminals or for collecting evidence.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/20/0141203
Links:
0. http://www.tfot.info/
1. http://www.tfot.info/news/1089/criminals-beware-computerized-lip-reading.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Personal Weather Stations Helping With Weather Forecasting |
| from the forecast-your-own-nipper dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Sunday January 20, @02:37 (Networking) |
|
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/19/1835237
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Weather Storm writes "Weather information from thousands of personal
weather stations are being used for weather forecasting by several
private and government agencies, including the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Department of Homeland Security
(DHS). The [0]Citizens Weather Observation Program (CWOP) was created by
a few amateur radio operators experimenting with transmitting weather
data with packet radios, but it has expanded to include Internet-only
weather stations as well. As of September 2007, nearly 5,000 stations
worldwide reported weather data regularly to CWOP's FindU database. The
weather data is forwarded every 15 minutes to NOAA's [1]Meteorological
Assimilation Data Ingest System (MADIS), checked for temporary and
spatial consistency, than utilized by computer forecast models and
internal forecast verification programs. In a [2]Febuary 2007 report
(PDF) DHS listed CWOP as a national assets to the 'BioWatch' Network,
stating that data from personal weather stations could be useful in
weather forecasts for hazardous releases. In 2007, the FindU server
received 422,262,687 weather reports which is a 29.5% increase over
2006." The personal weather stations certainly come in [3]stylish shapes.
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/19/1835237
Links:
0. http://www.wxqa.com/index.html
1. http://www-sdd.fsl.noaa.gov/MADIS/index.html
2. http://www.pnl.gov/main/publications/external/technical_reports/PNNL-16422.pdf
3. http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9842340-1.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Novels Composed on Cellphones Topping Japanese Best Seller Lists |
| from the tiny-text-long-tail dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Sunday January 20, @04:38 (Cellphones) |
|
http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/20/0724249
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "The New York Times has up an article
examining the rise of [0]blogs/novels that make the transition to
published books. Recent Japanese best-seller lists have been heavy with
these texts, many of them actually written on cellphones for a cellphone
reading audience. Commentators note the popularity of this form of
literature coincides with cell providers moving to unlimited data
packages. 'The affordability of cellphones coincided with the coming of
age of a generation of Japanese for whom cellphones, more than personal
computers, had been an integral part of their lives since junior high
school. So they read the novels on their cellphones, even though the same
Web sites were also accessible by computer. They punched out text
messages with their thumbs with blinding speed, and used expressions and
emoticons, like smilies and musical notes, whose nuances were lost on
anyone over the age of 25.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://mobile.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/20/0724249
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Hacking the XO Laptop |
| from the new-uses-tiny-toys dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Sunday January 20, @06:41 (Hardware Hacking) |
|
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/20/0645223
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
dulceLeche writes "While the OLPC was not [0]designed with the American
consumer in mind, people that took part in the [1]Give One Get One
program have been having fun with their XOs. The XO has a number of
limitations, but with some work you can get Opera running, chat over your
mesh network, and much more. An article at Geek.com explains what [2]a
few folks were able to do with their XOs."
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/20/0645223
Links:
0. http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/06/0138238&tid=184
1. http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/12/138246&tid=146
2. http://www.geek.com/feature-hacking-the-xo-laptop/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Asteroid Missions May Replace Lunar Base Plans |
| from the take-a-triangular-ship-just-in-case dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Sunday January 20, @08:19 (Space) |
|
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/20/1252252
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader alerts us to a story about efforts to modify the
United States' space exploration plans to [0]focus on asteroid missions
rather than a lunar base. Scientists, astronauts, and former NASA
division directors will be meeting next month to develop an alternative
to the Bush administration's Vision for Space Exploration. We have
previously discussed the possibility of a [1]manned asteroid mission.
Quoting: "Numerous planetary managers told Aviation Week & Space
Technology they now fear a manned Moon base and even shorter sorties to
the Moon will bog down the space program for decades and inhibit, rather
than facilitate, manned Mars operations--the ultimate goal of both the
Bush and alternative visions. The first lunar sortie would be flown by
about 2020 under the Bush plan. If alternative-vision planners have their
way, the mission could instead be flown to an asteroid in about 2025."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/20/1252252
Links:
0. http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0801/18avweek/
1. http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/11/16/1456222&tid=160
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Wal-Mart Pushing Suppliers For RFID |
| from the their-way-or-the-highway dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Sunday January 20, @09:32 (The Almighty Bu|
|
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/20/1327206
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Weather Storm brings us an InformationWeek article about [0]Wal-Mart's
push for suppliers to RFID tag their product shipments. Wal-Mart seems to
have lost patience in [1]waiting for its suppliers to adopt the
[2]inventory tracking initiative. From InformationWeek: "The retailer
says that beginning Jan. 30, it will charge suppliers a $2 fee for each
pallet they ship to its Sam's Club distribution center in Texas that
doesn't have an RFID tag. The charge is to cover Sam's Club's cost to
affix tags on each pallet, says a Wal-Mart spokesman. The retailer hasn't
taken such a strong-arm approach yet with the more than 15,000 suppliers
that still haven't complied with its request to tag pallets and cases
headed for its Wal-Mart stores. Instead, it seems focused on turning its
700-store Sam's Club warehouse-outlet division into an example of RFID
supply chain technology in action, down to requiring item-level RFID in
22 distribution centers by 2010."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/20/1327206
1. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/04/2122256&tid=215
2. http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=03/06/06/188239&tid=158
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Failed Avionics a Possible Cause of BA038 Crash |
| from the we-will-be-landing-shortly dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Sunday January 20, @10:50 (Bug) |
|
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/20/1430224
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Muhammar writes "As you may have heard by now, both engines of the
Boeing 777 aircraft flight BA038 suddenly cut off without warning at very
low altitude and low speed during autopilot-assisted landing at Heathrow.
A prompt reaction of the pilots prevented the stall and saved all lives
aboard. The crash landing short of the runway tore off the landing gear
on impact, and the fuselage plowed a long, deep gouge in the grass. With
the investigation ongoing, the available information points to an
[1]electronic control problem as the [2]most likely cause of the sudden
engine power loss."
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/20/1430224
Links:
0. mailto:tomasv@scripps.edu
1. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2004133993_plane19.html
2. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3216746.ece
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Two AI Pioneers, Two Bizarre Suicides |
| from the unfortunate-losses dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Sunday January 20, @12:04 (Software) |
|
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/20/1534247
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
BotnetZombie writes "Wired tells the quite sad but very interesting
stories of Chris McKinstry and Pushpinder Singh. Initially self-educated,
both had the idea to create [0]huge fact databases from which AI agents
could feed, hoping to eventually have something that could reason at a
human level or better. McKinstry leveraged the dotcom era to grow his
database. Singh had the backing of MIT, where he eventually got his PhD
and had been offered a position as a professor alongside his mentor,
Marvin Minsky. Sadly, personal life was more troublesome for them, and
the story ends in a tragic way.
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/20/1534247
Links:
0. http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/16-02/ff_aimystery?currentPage=all
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Do Any Companies Power Down at Night? |
| from the when-else-can-employees-run-their-torrents dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Sunday January 20, @13:11 (Power) |
|
http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/20/1642202
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "My Health Sciences Campus has about 8,000
desktop computers, and on any given night about half of them are left on.
I know this because I track all the MAC addresses in case there is a
virus outbreak. Aside from the current fad of 'being green', has anyone
had any success in encouraging users to power-down at night? You could
potentially eliminate running bots, protect yourself from the next virus
outbreak, keep your data safe, etc. Do security concerns and power
consumption issues matter enough to do this?"
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/20/1642202
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Thinkpad X300 Specs Leaked |
| from the little-tiny-thinker dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Sunday January 20, @14:22 (Portables) |
|
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/20/1738253
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Kyokushi writes "Gizmodo reports that some specifications of [0]a new
ultralight Lenovo X300 have been leaked. 'It appears that Lenovo have
themselves a new ultralight X300 series Thinkpad ��� and outside of the
price and release date, we have all of the specs that you need to know.
At a glance, some of the major features include: a 13.3-inch LED backlit
1440X900 screen, an ultralight 2.5 pound form factor, and Intel Merom
Santa Rosa Dual Core CPU (2.0 Ghz / 880 Mhz ), a 64 GB SSD, up to 4GB of
DDR2 PC2-5300 memory, and 4 hours of battery life.' If this is true, then
Lenovo looks to have some heavy competition for the Macbook Air." Update:
01/20 22:55 GMT by S : Corrected Gizmondo->Gizmodo.
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/20/1738253
Links:
0. http://gizmodo.com/346797/ultralight-lenovo-x300-series-thinkpad-leaked
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Training From America's Army Game Saved a Life |
| from the learning-is-half-the-battle dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Sunday January 20, @15:42 (The Military) |
|
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/20/1741234
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]russoc4 writes "Most people who play the United States Army's freeware
FPS sit through training simulations so that they may be able to get into
the action and rack up some kills. The medic skills learned in the
training allow you to heal teammates in the game, but it seems that they
also [1]apply in real life situations. According to Wired and the
America's Army forums, 'a North Carolina man who saw an SUV flip and roll
on a highway last November was able to provide medical aid to the victims
with skills he learned from the America's Army.'" See? We learn things
from videogames! [2]Feign Death works sometimes, too.
Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/20/1741234
Links:
0. mailto:russoc4@scranton.edu
1. http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/01/americas-army-t.html
2. http://www.wowinsider.com/2007/12/05/boy-attacked-by-moose-feigns-death-thanks-wow/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| EPA Asserts Executive Privilege In CA Emissions Case |
| from the interesting-use-of-term-executive dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Sunday January 20, @16:33 (Government) |
|
http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/20/1747201
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Brad Eleven writes "The AP reports that the United States
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has [1]invoked executive privilege
to justify withholding information in its response to [2]a lawsuit. The
state of California is challenging the agency's decision to block their
attempt to [3]curb the emissions from new cars and trucks. In response,
the EPA has delivered documents requested by the Freedom of Information
Act for the discovery phase of the lawsuit ��� but the documents are
heavily redacted. That is, the agency has revealed that it did spend many
hours meeting to discuss the issue, but refuses to divulge the details or
the outcomes of the meetings. Among the examples cited, 16 pages of a
43-page Powerpoint presentation are [4]completely blank except for the
page titles. An EPA spokesperson [5]used language similar to other recent
claims of executive privilege, citing 'the chilling effect that would
occur if agency employees believed their frank and honest opinions and
analysis expressed as part of assessing California's waiver request were
to be disclosed in a broad setting.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/20/1747201
Links:
0. mailto:brad.eleven@gmail.com
1. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080119/ap_on_bi_ge/california_greenhouse_gases
2. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/03/us/03suit.html
3. http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/24/2018250&tid=123
5. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/19/MNO3UI3N7.DTL
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Messenger Probe Sends Back Mercury Photos |
| from the been-a-while-since-we-were-there dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Sunday January 20, @18:39 (NASA) |
|
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/20/239238
|
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]arbitraryaardvark writes "NASA's Messenger probe [1]flew past Mercury
at a distance of 125 miles. The spacecraft took [2]hundreds of pictures
during the pass, [3]updating photos from the now [4]30-year-old Mariner
mission. According to an article at the International Business Times, the
probe will eventually [5]settle into orbit around Mercury in 2011. 'The
images obtained by the $446 million MESSENGER mission (MErcury Surface,
Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging) this week contain some of
those unexplored areas. One image released Saturday was taken after
Messenger made its closest approach to Mercury last week. In the photos
released this week, scientists have observed unexplored cratered areas of
the planet. On Monday, Messenger made its closest approach to Mercury
yet, aiming for new discoveries. Among its goals is to discover if
Mercury has ice water in its polar craters and to complete the mapping of
the whole planet.' Meanwhile here on Earth, [6]a joint EU/Japan probe
with an ion drive is set to head towards Mercury sometime in 2013."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=08/01/20/239238
Links:
0. http://vark.blogspot.com/
1. http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/01/14/2147243&tid=160
2. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/messenger/multimedia/index.html
3. http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/01/new-photos-show.html
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mariner_10
5. http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20080119/nasa-messenger-mercury.htm
6. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080118101918.htm
Copyright 1997-2006 OSTG. All rights reserved.
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