Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

News for nerds, stuff that matters

Log in

[ Create a new account ]

Slashdot Poll

Poll Your E306 Console War Pick?
Sony Owns My Wallet
Nintendo Makes Me Say Wii!
Microsoft Has Me Live
Waiting for CowboyNealBox3

Results | Polls
Comments:389 | Votes:25075

Older Stuff


Older Articles
Yesterday's News
Recent reviews from Slashdot readers:

Submitting a review for consideration is easy; please first read Slashdot's book review guidelines. Updated: 20051129 by hemos

Cool Sites:
· AnimeFu (Addicted to Anime?)
· Penny Arcade (The First one is always Free)
· Everything (Blow your Mind)
· Themes.freshmeat.net (Make X Perty)

Support Slashdot:
· ThinkGeek (Clothe Yourself in Slashdot)

Apple: Google's Love For Small Businesses

Posted by Zonk on Sunday May 14, @02:21PM
from the no-one-is-small-on-the-internet dept.
Google
bariswheel writes "The Fearless Frog is at it again: In his latest post, Cringely aims to slap some sense into Microsoft, Apple, and IBM altogether. From the article: 'What counts is that for Microsoft the platform is the PC while for Google the platform is the Internet and nobody can hope to control the Internet -- not Microsoft OR Google. Google is making a ton of money from people [small/medium sized businesses] who never were even in business before. This is not only a fundamental change in how advertising is done; it is a fundamental change in how BUSINESS is done.'"

Firefox 2 Alpha 2 Reviewed

Posted by CmdrTaco on Sunday May 14, @12:32PM
from the guess-what's-coming dept.
Mozilla
pcabello writes "Firefox 2 Alpha 2 was released yesterday. Check what's new in this review at mozillalinks.org with screenshots."

Developers: What's the Secret Sauce in Ruby on Rails?

Posted by CmdrTaco on Sunday May 14, @11:25AM
from the having-a-hard-time-caring dept.
Programming
An anonymous reader writes "Ruby on Rails seems to be a lightning rod for controversy. At the heart of most of the controversy lies amazing productivity claims. Rails isn't a better hammer; it's a different kind of tool. This article explores the compromises and design decisions that went into making Rails so productive within its niche."

Hardware: The Treo 700p Confirmed

Posted by CmdrTaco on Sunday May 14, @10:09AM
from the thank-god-we-can-sleep-easy dept.
Portables
Tam Hanna writes "People have been rumoring about the Treo 700p for quite some time, Now, HandMark has "officially" confirmed the Treo 700p's existance on their home page. While developers have had access to the machine for quite some time; this is the first "real" sighting""

Politics: Chinese Scientist Admits To Stealing Chip Research

Posted by Zonk on Sunday May 14, @09:25AM
from the do-you-want-to-make-money-sure-we-all-do dept.
Politics
An anonymous reader writes "A prominent Chinese scientist, one of the founders of the chip manufacturing industry in the country, has admitted to stealing his research." From the article: "Chen Jin, a dean of Shanghai's prestigious Jiaotong University and the leader of a government-funded high-tech research project, was dismissed from his university posts this week and stripped of other government titles and perks. The government also said that Chen had been permanently banned from taking part in any government-funded science projects. In a statement Friday, Jiaotong University--one of the nation's elite schools--said, 'Chen Jin has breached the trust of being a scientist and educator. His behavior is despicable.'"

In-Flight VOIP Coming Soon

Posted by Zonk on Sunday May 14, @07:23AM
from the i-am-talking-to-you-from-the-skies dept.
Communications
hdtv writes "U.S. airline customers are likely to be thrilled with an opportunity to sit next to someone constantly chatting on the phone. Information Week magazine is reporting that government auction is opening a way for telecoms to introduce voice-over-IP links on in-flight communication systems." From the article: "Airfone already offers phone service on many flights, but its high cost has limited its use. JetBlue has declined to say what its LiveTV LCC unit would do with a winning frequency. Although many frequent flyers and airline attendants favor a ban on the phone chatter, Connexion by Boeing, whose Internet service is already offered on nearly 200 international flights a day, notes that there have been no complaints of in-cabin incidents about the technology. The Connexion service is regularly used by passengers to make VoIP calls. "

Your Rights Online: London 2006, Meet London 1984

Posted by Zonk on Sunday May 14, @05:31AM
from the what-is-the-newspeak-for-change-the-channel dept.
Privacy
Draape writes "Shoreditch TV is an experiment TV channel beaming live footage from the street into people's homes. According to the Telegraph U.K. television will broadcast from 400 surveillance cameras on the streets, into people's homes. For now they are only showing it to 22,000 homes, but next year they plan on going national with the 'show'. They fly under the flag 'fighting crime from the sofa'."

Your Rights Online: Australians Allowed to Format Shift Media

Posted by Zonk on Sunday May 14, @03:28AM
from the yay-for-rights dept.
Media
An anonymous reader writes "Australian Federal law will now allow format shifting of media (ie:Ripping CDs to MP3s). Something long allowed under US copyright legislation, but only now coming to the Land Down Under." From the article: "Once the new laws are passed, 'format shifting' of music, newspapers and books from personal collections onto MP3 players will become legal. The new laws will also make it legal for people to tape television and radio programs for playback later, a practice currently prohibited although millions of people regularly do it. Under the current regime, millions of households a day are breaking the law when they tape a show and watch it at another time."

Examining Tokyo's Media Immersion Pods

Posted by Zonk on Sunday May 14, @01:23AM
from the import-this-concept-please dept.
Media
the terminal of geoff goodfellow writes "The New York Times has an article on the Bagus Gran Cyber Café in Tokyo, where customers rent so-called media immersion pods. From the article: 'At first glance the spread looks officelike, but be warned: these places are drug dens for Internet addicts outfitted with VHS and DVD players, satellite and regular television on a Toshiba set, PlayStation 2, Lineage II and a Compaq computer loaded with software, all the relevant downloads and hyperspeedy Internet. In the nearby library were thousands of comic books, magazines and novels.'"

Science: First Ever Wild Grizzly/Polar Hybrid Shot 125 of 150 comments

Science: Ready to Test a 'SmartShirt'?

Posted by Zonk on Saturday May 13, @11:32PM
from the wear-one-for-that-harsh-deathmatch-session dept.
Wireless Networking
Roland Piquepaille writes "In a very brief article, Health Data Management reports that Sensatex Inc. is looking for beta testers for its SmartShirt system. These fully washable shirts are using nanotechnology to weave a conductive fiber grid into the cotton fabric to monitor your movements or your heart rate and transmitted wirelessly to a central computer. If the tests are successful, these shirts could be used to remotely check old people living alone, but also soldiers in the field or athletes. Read more for additional details and pictures of these 'smart' shirts."

IT: The Economy of Online Crime

Posted by Zonk on Saturday May 13, @09:36PM
from the honor-among-thieves dept.
Security
hdtv writes "You might call the thugs or thieves, but on their own closed forums and referral-only Web sites, they value honesty and reputation. Fortune magazine looks into the black market for stolen credit card numbers and identities. What's interesting is that so few of the criminals retrieve their information via breaking into online stores." From the article: "Gaffan says these credit card numbers and data are almost never obtained by criminals as a result of legitimate online card use. More often the fraudsters get them through offline credit card number thefts in places like restaurants, when computer tapes are stolen or lost, or using 'pharming' sites, which mimic a genuine bank site and dupe cardholders into entering precious private information. Another source of credit card data are the very common 'phishing' scams, in which an e-mail that looks like it's from a bank prompts someone to hand over personal data."

Ask Slashdot: Biometric Thumb Drives? 37 of 41 comments
Ask Slashdot: Budgeting for Layoffs? 92 of 111 comments

Your Rights Online: Telecoms Facing $50 Billion Lawsuit for Wiretaps

Posted by Zonk on Saturday May 13, @07:22PM
from the answer-to-the-people dept.
The Courts
hdtv writes "According to a MarketWatch article, BellSouth Corp and Verizon Telecommunications are facing lawsuits seeking billions of dollars in damages for the decision to turn over calling records to the government. The damages amount to $1,000 per person, whose records were turned over to Feds. According to the article, 'consumers could sue the phone service providers under communications privacy legislation that dates back to the 1930s. Relevant laws include the Communications Act, first passed in 1934, and a variety of provisions of the Electronic Communications and Privacy Act, including the Stored Communications Act, passed in 1986.'"

Star Wreck Creators Announce Iron Sky

Posted by Zonk on Saturday May 13, @06:32PM
from the more-from-those-guys dept.
Sci-Fi
An anonymous reader writes "The makers of the Star Trek and Babylon 5 cross-over spoof Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning have announced their upcoming movie Iron Sky. It's apparently another sci-fi comedy with its own universe. Says Director Timo Vuorensola: 'It is still an open question whether it will be distributed also for free. We would very much like it, but it will depend a lot on the financiers.'"

Your Rights Online: U.S. Government Intervenes in EFF vs. AT&T

Posted by Zonk on Saturday May 13, @05:45PM
from the stepping-into-the-fight dept.
Privacy
An anonymous reader writes "Reuters is reporting that the US government has 'filed a motion on Saturday to intervene and seek dismissal of a lawsuit by a civil liberties group against AT&T Inc. over a federal program to monitor U.S. communications.' More from the article: " In its motion seeking intervention, posted on the court's Web site, the government said the interests of the parties in the lawsuit "may well be in the disclosure of state secrets" in their effort to present their claims or defenses ... A hearing is scheduled for June 21 before federal Judge Vaughn Walker." You may recall a few weeks ago when the DOJ asked the judge to dismiss the case. They've now taken the next step required to quash this legal action.

Hardware: Nokia to Put Google Talk on its Linux Tablet

Posted by Zonk on Saturday May 13, @04:44PM
from the lots-of-things-to-like-here dept.
Google
prostoalex writes "The next version of Nokia 770 Linux-based Internet tablet with WiFi support will feature Google Talk with VOIP in its next release, MSNBC reports. The device is priced to sell at $390, and both Google and Nokia agree that right now it might appeal only to niche markets. In related news, however, it means Google's GTalk client will be ported to Linux, even if it's Nokia 770-specific software architecture."

Your Rights Online: U.S. to Gain Access to EU Retained Data

Posted by Zonk on Saturday May 13, @03:32PM
from the fingers-in-other-people's-messes dept.
Privacy
shenanigans writes "After the EU recently ratified controversial data retention laws for ISPs and other telecommunication companies, it now looks like the US government will get full access to the data. From the article: 'US authorities can get access to EU citizens' data on phone calls, sms and emails, giving a recent EU data-retention law much wider-reaching consequences than first expected'. Apparently, the US has been calling members of the EU to 'ensure that the data collected [...] be accessible to them'."

Apple: Apple Patch Released, But Is It Enough?

Posted by Zonk on Saturday May 13, @02:21PM
from the conflicting-viewpoints dept.
Apple
entenman writes "Apple Computer's security update train rumbled into the station with fixes for a whopping 43 Mac OS X and QuickTime vulnerabilities. The Security Update patches 31 flaws in the Mac OS X, most of them serious enough to cause 'arbitrary code execution attacks.'" Unfortunately, InfoWorldMike writes "InfoWorld.com reports that Independent researcher Tom Ferris said there were still holes in Safari, QuickTime, and iTunes that he reported to Apple but were not patched in the latest release on Thursday. Ferris told InfoWorld he is considering releasing the details of the unpatched holes on May 14 on his Web site. He also says he has found new holes in OS X affecting TIFF format files and BOMArchiver, an application used to compress files. He did not provide details about the flaws or proof of their existence."

<  Yesterday's News  >

All trademarks and copyrights on this page are owned by their respective owners. Comments are owned by the Poster. The Rest © 1997-2006 OSTG.