Genral Web Comments
Saturday, July 31, 2004
Corante > The Importance of... > JibJab
Corante > The Importance of... > JibJab: "As noted previously, Bloomberg News reported that EFF had filed a lawsuit on behalf of JibJab (JibJab Files Lawsuit for Right to Distribute Parody?). I've now received anonymous confirmation that a lawsuit was filed." (PDF)
Star-Telegram | 07/31/2004 | JibJab defends use of 'This Land'
Star-Telegram | 07/31/2004 | JibJab defends use of 'This Land': "'This Land' was made for you and me, JibJab Media says in a lawsuit seeking the right to use the Woody Guthrie song This Land Is Your Land in an online parody of President Bush and Sen. John Kerry."
(PDF)
Moving Water Molecules By Light
Moving Water Molecules By Light: "An interdisciplinary team of researchers at Arizona State University (ASU) has discovered a new nanotechnology effect, the ability of moving water molecules by light. This is a far better way than current methods such as damaging electric fields and opens the way to a new class of microfluidic devices used in analytical chemistry and for pharmaceutical research. For example, this makes possible to design a device that can move drugs dissolved in water, or droplets of water and samples that need to be tested for environmental or biochemical analyses."
Moving water molecules by light. New nanotech effect
Moving water molecules by light. New nanotech effect: "A team of researchers at Arizona State University has demonstrated the ability to move water molecules by light -- a phenomenon they believe could have widespread use in analytical chemistry and possibly pharmaceutical research. "
(PDF)
Excite News
Excite News: "SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - In the latest misstep for the world's largest chip maker, Intel Corp. (INTC) said a faster version of its flagship Pentium 4 microprocessor will not be available by the end of the year as previously promised."
Electronic News - IBM Intros Chip Morphing Technology
Electronic News - IBM Intros Chip Morphing Technology: "Challenging laser fuse techniques, IBM today announced a chip morphing technology based on electromigration it says can allow a new class of semiconductor products that monitor and adjust their functions without human intervention."
Blender Demo Reel :: blender.org :: the dot org era
Blender Demo Reel :: blender.org :: the dot org era: "In preparation for Siggraph 2004, we have created a short compilation of some of the best Blender stills and animations. For me, it was a warming up to this year's Blender Art Festival, more about which will be posted on this site next week. You can grab your copy here [40MB DivX Avi]."
OfB.biz: Open for Business - Why GNOME's Got it Right
OfB.biz: Open for Business - Why GNOME's Got it Right: "Last week, some developers disagreeing with the direction of the GNOME Project decided to create what appears to be the beginning of a fork of the project -- GoneME. Like many from KDE Project and elsewhere in the community, GoneME's major complaints boil down to what has proven to be GNOME's most controversial move: simplifying the user interface. While naysayers, including the GoneME developers, seem to feel that the simplification of the interface, undertaken with the encouragement of such GNOME leaders as Havoc Pennington of Red Hat, is actually just 'dumbing down' the interface, I think these critics are actually missing the point completely. "
OfB.biz: Open for Business - Stirring the GNOME Fires
OfB.biz: Open for Business - Stirring the GNOME Fires: "Over the past two years or so, Tim Butler and I have discussed GNOME quite a bit. He likes the current trend, and I don't. Tim's article, 'Why GNOME's Got It Right' was partly stirred by the Slashdot article but also by our discussion."
Meltdown 2004: Microsoft Longhorn Reinvents Desktop Graphics
Meltdown 2004: Microsoft Longhorn Reinvents Desktop Graphics: "Microsoft's Meltdown conference is all about building games on Windows. Originally started as a compatibility test-fest for hardware makers and software developers, the event has matured into a Windows game developer convention. Highlights from this year's gathering, held July 27th and 28th in Seattle, included presentations about the company's XNA development tools and how to get the most out of Direct3D and DirectSound."
LinuxWorld preview: Linux jobs on the rise, so do your homework
LinuxWorld preview: Linux jobs on the rise, so do your homework: "IT pros heading to LinuxWorld next week with resumes in hand, or just looking for a job in their hometowns, have more grounds for optimism than in recent years, according to Scot Melland, CEO and president of Dice Inc., a New York City-based firm that provides online recruiting services for technology professionals. If you're doing some last minute homework before hitting the IT street, read on. Just before he headed out to LinuxWorld, Melland shared Dice's research on the current job market and advised how to stand out from the crowd."
Friday, July 30, 2004
Transportation Futuristics : A Presentation of the Harmer E. Davis Transportation Library
Transportation Futuristics : A Presentation of the Harmer E. Davis Transportation Library
Slashdot Poll
Slashdot Poll: "'Will the highways on the Internet become more few?' G.W. Bush, Concord, N.H., Jan. 29, 2000"
Under-the-skin ID chips move toward U.S. hospitals | CNET News.com
Under-the-skin ID chips move toward U.S. hospitals | CNET News.com: "VeriChip, the company that makes radio frequency identification--RFID--tags for humans, has moved one step closer to getting its technology into hospitals."
Counting Debian
Counting Debian: "'[...] we use David A. Wheeler's sloccount system to determine the number of physical source lines of code (SLOC) of Debian 2.2 (aka potato). We show that Debian 2.2 includes more than 55,000,000 physical SLOC (almost twice than Red Hat 7.1, released about 8 months later), showing that the Debian development model (based on the work of a large group of voluntary developers spread around the world) is at least as capable as other development methods [...] It is also shown that if Debian had been developed using traditional proprietary methods, the COCOMO model estimates that its cost would be close to $1.9 billion USD to develop Debian 2.2. In addition, we offer both an analysis of the programming languages used in the distribution (C amounts for about 70%, C for about 10%, LISP and Shell are around 5%, with many others to follow), and the largest packages (Mozilla, the Linux kernel, PM3, XFree86, etc.)'"
RFDUMP.ORG
RFDUMP.ORG: "RFDump is a tool to detect RFID-Tags and show their meta information: Tag ID, Tag Type, manufacturer etc. The user data memory of a tag can be displayed and modified using either a Hex or an ASCII editor. In addition, the integrated cookie feature demonstrates how easy it is for a company to abuse RFID technology to spy on their customers. RFDump works with the ACG Multi-Tag Reader or similar card reader hardware."
rfdump.tar.gz
RFID tags become hacker target | CNET News.com
RFID tags become hacker target | CNET News.com: "LAS VEGAS--Privacy advocates may not be the only people taking issue with the current crop of radio-frequency identification tags--merchants will likely have problems with a lack of security as well, a German technology consultant said Wednesday."
Segway owners beat each other with homemade mallets | The Register
Segway owners beat each other with homemade mallets | The Register: "The only thing worse than paying $4,000 for a scooter has to be using said scooter for a game of polo.
Yes, friends, it has come to that. A small band of Bay Area Segway owners have set a new low for the device - an almost impossible feat when you consider that 'IT' was meant to have revolutionized cities by now but has actually ended up being little more than a poor selling toy. About ten of the Segway grunts recently gathered for a disturbing go at scooter polo."
Apple: RealNetworks is a hacker - Jul. 29, 2004
Apple: RealNetworks is a hacker - Jul. 29, 2004: "NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Apple Computer accused RealNetworks Thursday of adopting the tactics of a hacker and breaking into the technology behind its popular iPod music player."
EFF: DES Cracker Project
EFF: DES Cracker Project: "The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) raised the level of honesty in crypto politics by revealing that the Data Encryption Standard (DES) is insecure. The U.S. government has long pressed industry to limit encryption to DES (and even weaker forms), without revealing how easy it is to crack. Continued adherence to this policy would put critical infrastructures at risk; society should choose a different course."
Advanced Encryption Standard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Advanced Encryption Standard - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "In cryptography, the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), also known as Rijndael, is a block cipher adopted as an encryption standard by the US government, and is expected to be used worldwide and analysed extensively, as was the case with its predecessor, the Data Encryption Standard (DES). It was adopted by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as US FIPS PUB 197 in November 2001 after a 5-year standardisation process (see Advanced Encryption Standard process for more details).
The cipher was developed by two Belgian cryptographers, Joan Daemen and Vincent Rijmen, and submitted to the AES selection process under the name 'Rijndael', a portmanteau comprised of the names of the inventors. Rijndael can be pronounced 'Rhine dahl' (a long 'i' and a silent 'e')."
Microsoft: Out-of-Cycle Security Patch Coming
Microsoft: Out-of-Cycle Security Patch Coming: "Microsoft (Quote, Chart) plans to release an out-of-cycle security patch next week to fix a software flaw that led to the sophisticated Download.Ject malware attack, company officials disclosed on Wednesday."
The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Microsoft outsourcing high-level work, labor group says
The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Microsoft outsourcing high-level work, labor group says: "A Seattle labor group said it has new evidence that Microsoft is shifting high-level work to foreign contractors, including work on the next version of Windows."
Hackers go after DoubleClick - (United Press International)
Hackers go after DoubleClick - (United Press International): "New York, NY, Jul. 28 (UPI) -- Hackers swarmed over the Web site of New York's DoubleClick Inc., the company that handles online advertising for hundreds of commercial sites."
EE Times -That sucking sound? It's your cell
EE Times -That sucking sound? It's your cell: "From maelstroms to black holes, whirlpools make compelling images. A powerful force draws all around it into a singularity. The swirling disk of motion masks the nature of its peril until it is too late, paradoxically increasing in force as it pulls in more victims."
stdout : code/cpan_sloccount.html
stdout : code/cpan_sloccount.html: "If you don't write it down, it never happened, OR, Yet More Meaningless Numbers
Out of curiousity, I ran SLOCCount by David Wheeler over all of CPAN. The headline news is that it reports that CPAN took 5,012 person-years to develop and cost about $677 million. There's also a more detailed SLOCCount report on CPAN."
SLOCCount
SLOCCount: "This is the home page of 'SLOCCount', a set of tools for counting physical Source Lines of Code (SLOC) in a large number of languages of a potentially large set of programs. This suite of tools was used in my papers More than a Gigabuck: Estimating GNU/Linux's Size and Estimating Linux's Size to measure the SLOC of entire GNU/Linux distributions. Others have measured Debian GNU/Linux using this tool suite. SLOCCount runs on GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, Apple Mac OS X, Windows, and hopefully on other systems too. To run on Windows, you have to install Cygwin first to create a Unix-like environment for SLOCCount (Cygwin users: be sure to use ``Unix'' newlines, not ``DOS'' newlines, when you install Cygwin)."
Technology News Article | Reuters.com
Technology News Article | Reuters.com: "SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research) , which is challenging market leader Google Inc. in the online search market, demonstrated for the first time on Thursday a search engine that looks for information on computer hard drives as well as information on the Web."
Prion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Prion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Prions - short for proteinaceous infectious particle - are infectious self-reproducing protein structures. Though their exact mechanisms of action and reproduction are still unknown, it is now commonly accepted that they are responsible for a number of previously known but little-understood diseases generally classified under transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSEs) diseases, including scrapie (a disease of sheep), kuru (found in members of the cannibalistic For� tribe in Papua New Guinea), and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease). These diseases affect the structure of brain tissue and are all fatal and untreatable."
(PDF)
Thursday, July 29, 2004
Wednesday, July 28, 2004
Great Hackers
Great Hackers: "A few months ago I finished a new book, and in reviews I keep noticing words like 'provocative'' and 'controversial.'' To say nothing of 'idiotic.''"
(PDF)
Wired 12.08: Craig Venter's Epic Voyage to Redefine the Origin of the Species
Wired 12.08: Craig Venter's Epic Voyage to Redefine the Origin of the Species: "Picture this: You are standing at the edge of a lagoon on a South Pacific island. The nearest village is 20 miles away, reachable only by boat. The water is as clear as air. Overhead, white fairy terns hover and peep among the coconut trees. Perhaps 100 yards away, you see a man strolling in the shallows. He is bald, bearded, and buck naked. He stoops every once in a while to pick up a shell or examine something in the sand."
Sandia's Red Storm Detailed Architecture
Sandia's Red Storm Detailed Architecture: "Bill Camp & Jim Tomkins, from Sandia National Laboratories, have published a 77-page document about the architecture of the Red Storm supercluster built by Cray Inc. The new nickname for the 40 teraflops system is 'Thor's Hammer.'"
Smartmoney.com: One-Day Wonder: Crunch Time at Cray
Smartmoney.com: One-Day Wonder: Crunch Time at Cray: "THE CRAY X1, 'designed to be the world's most powerful supercomputer product,' can model hurricanes and bioterrorism outbreaks. It features 'ultra-fast' 12.8 gigaflop individual processors, boasts 'up to 819 gigaflops of peak computing power in a single chassis,' and can generate a maximum 52.4 teraflops of pure nerd joy. That means the X1 can, theoretically, perform 52.4 trillion floating-point operations per second."
Forbes.com: U.S. Plays Supercomputer Catch-up
Forbes.com: U.S. Plays Supercomputer Catch-up: "WASHINGTON, D.C. - Government miscalculations in the late 1990s about the willingness of private industry to research and build supercomputers have left the U.S. lagging behind the Japanese in this area and struggling to meet urgent national interests. "
Some say U.S. supercomputing needs a jump-start - Computerworld
Some say U.S. supercomputing needs a jump-start - Computerworld
See What You Share on P2P
See What You Share on P2P: "A Showcase of Material Found on Peer-to-Peer Networks throughout the World. Here you will find Everything from Raunchy Personal Photos to Confidential Police Reports."
seewhatyoushare.com
MSNBC - Consumers still falling for phish
MSNBC - Consumers still falling for phish: "Confused by what's arriving in your inbox? You're not alone. Nearly one out of three Internet users was unable to tell the difference between fraudulent e-mails designed to steal their identities and legitimate corporate e-mail, a new study finds."Xpjob_20040728162040_xp_pdf_spooldir_tmp_Xprintjobs_title_MSNBC_-_Consumers_still_falling_for_phish.pdf
Protein discovery could help prevent premature birth
Protein discovery could help prevent premature birth: "Scientists have taken a big step toward developing an earlier, safer and simple test that could help prevent perhaps 175,000 premature births in the United States each year."
(PDF)
ABCNEWS.com : STD Rates Continue to Rise in Britain
ABCNEWS.com : STD Rates Continue to Rise in Britain
NewsFactor Network - - Virus Possibly Set To Target Microsoft
NewsFactor Network - - Virus Possibly Set To Target Microsoft: "Microsoft may be the target of a denial-of-service attack involving Zindos -- a worm that piggybacks on the MyDoom virus, which flared up again this week and caused service interruptions at Google, Yahoo and other search sites. Both programs are apparently the work of the same author. "
Discovery Channel :: News :: Countdown Begins for Private Space Race
Discovery Channel :: News :: Countdown Begins for Private Space Race
The Next Great Space Race: SpaceShipOne and Wild Fire to Go For the Gold
The Next Great Space Race: SpaceShipOne and Wild Fire to Go For the Gold: "A piloted rocket ship race to claim a $10 million Ansari X Prize purse for privately financed flight to the edge of space is heating up."
CNN.com - Trial examines role of dashboard electronics - Jul 27, 2004
CNN.com - Trial examines role of dashboard electronics - Jul 27, 2004: "ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) -- When a pickup truck crossed the double yellow line along Seward Highway and killed two occupants of a Jeep Grand Cherokee, police initially thought the accident was another tragic mistake by a momentarily distracted driver."
GameDev.net -- Designing Games for the Wage Slave
GameDev.net -- Designing Games for the Wage Slave: "This sentence embodies the sad reality that has hamstringed my gaming hobby since becoming an unwilling maze-dweller in the rat race of full-time employment. Four years ago, when not otherwise distracted by the mundanities of dodging college work or chores, I could (and did) devote countless hours to the challenges and pleasures of digital worlds. My funding was limited, but I took pride in completing every game, every cover disk demo that I purchased. I reveled in replayability, gloried in gameplay depth, marveled at multiplayer. Life was good."
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
Computer Stupidities
Computer Stupidities: "The following is a large collection of stories and anecdotes about clueless computer users. It's a baffling phenomenon that in today's society an individual, who might in other circumstances be considered smart and wise, can sit down in front of a computer screen and instantly lose every last shred of common sense he ever possessed. Complicate this phenomenon with a case of 'computerphobia,' and you end up with tech support personnel having phone conversations that are funny in retrospect but seem like perfectly valid motives for wild machine gun shooting sprees at the time. You will read stories in this file that will convince you that among the human race are human-shaped artichokes futilely attempting to break the highly regarded social convention that vegetables should not operate electronic equipment. And yet, amidst the vast, surging quantities of stupidity are perfectly excusable technological mishaps -- but that are amusing nonetheless. After all, even the best of us engages in a little brainless folly every once in a while."
Natural Programming
Natural Programming: "End-users must write programs to control many different kinds of applications. Examples include multimedia authoring, controlling robots, defining manufacturing processes, setting up simulations, programming agents, scripting, etc. The languages used today for these tasks are usually difficult to learn and are based on professional programming languages. This is in spite of years of research highlighting the problems with these languages for novice programmers. The Natural Programming Project is developing general principles, methods, and programming language and environment designs that will significantly reduce the amount of learning and effort needed to write programs for people who are not professional programmers. These principles are based on a thorough analysis of previous empirical studies of programmers and new studies designed to discover more natural approaches to programming."
CNN.com - Researchers seek simpler software debugging - Jul 27, 2004
CNN.com - Researchers seek simpler software debugging - Jul 27, 2004: "PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Computer bugs, or errors in software, can mess up just about anything: They've been blamed for missing homework, blackouts, prison breaks and even the loss of multimillion-dollar space probes."
Space Science Pioneer Van Allen Questions Human Spaceflight
Space Science Pioneer Van Allen Questions Human Spaceflight: "A leading space scientist has called to question the validity of human spaceflight, suggesting that sending astronauts outward from Earth is outdated, too costly, and the science returned is trivial."
SQLite Database Speed Comparison
SQLite Database Speed Comparison: "A series of tests were run to measure the relative performance of SQLite 2.7.6, PostgreSQL 7.1.3, and MySQL 3.23.41. The following are general conclusions drawn from these experiments:
*
SQLite 2.7.6 is significantly faster (sometimes as much as 10 or 20 times faster) than the default PostgreSQL 7.1.3 installation on RedHat 7.2 for most common operations.
*
SQLite 2.7.6 is often faster (sometimes more than twice as fast) than MySQL 3.23.41 for most common operations.
*
SQLite does not execute CREATE INDEX or DROP TABLE as fast as the other databases. But this is not seen as a problem because those are infrequent operations.
*
SQLite works best if you group multiple operations together into a single transaction.
The results presented here come with the following caveats:
*
These tests did not attempt to measure multi-user performance or optimization of complex queries involving multiple joins and subqueries.
*
These tests are on a relatively small (approximately 14 megabyte) database. They do not measure how well the database engines scale to larger problems.
"
CNN.com - Mercury mission set for launch - Jul 25, 2004
CNN.com - Mercury mission set for launch - Jul 25, 2004: "CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) -- NASA is about to embark on its hottest mission ever, to Mercury"
Stargate Information Archive - Federal Charges Filed Against SG-1 Archive
Stargate Information Archive - Federal Charges Filed Against SG-1 Archive: "Federal charges were filed against Adam McGaughey, creator of the popular SG1Archive.com website - a fan website devoted to the MGM-owned television show Stargate SG-1. The charges allege that the website engaged in Criminal Copyright Infringement and Trafficking in Counterfeit Services. The charges were the culmination of a three-year FBI investigation, set in motion by a complaint from the Motion Picture Association (MPAA) regarding the content of the SG1Archive.com website."
Xpjob_20040727101046_xp_pdf_spooldir_tmp_Xprintjobs_title_Stargate_Information_Archive_-_Federal_Charges_Filed_Against_SG-1_Archive.pdf
Google News faces Microsoft rival - News - ZDNet
Google News faces Microsoft rival - News - ZDNet: "In conjunction with its own MSNBC news site, the software giant is creating a page dubbed 'Newsbot' that will draw news headlines from more than 4,800 other sites, in a manner similar to the Google News service."
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | World's tiniest fish identified
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | World's tiniest fish identified: "The smallest, lightest animal with a backbone has been described for the first time, by scientists in the US."
Quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "The term Quasi-Autonomous Non-Governmental Organisation (or QuANGO), attributed to Sir Douglas Hague, was originally invented as a joke, but fell into common usage in the United Kingdom to describe the agencies produced by the growing trend of government devolving power to appointed, or self-appointed bodies."
News
News: "Ministers consider vaccination scheme. Heroin, cocaine and nicotine targeted"Xpjob_20040727073502_xp_pdf_spooldir_tmp_Xprintjobs_title_News.pdf
NewsForge | Patents in an open source world
NewsForge | Patents in an open source world: "Some argue that the threat of patents is vastly overstated. They point out that, while there are from time to time serious assertions of software patents, patent litigation is in practice very rare. This reflects both the high cost of such litigation and the difficulty of winning. "
Monday, July 26, 2004
Load Testing Gmail – fillmybox@gmail.com
: "A few weeks ago, you may remember that we decided to load test Google's new email service, Gmail. I called on all of you to email me your favorite 5MB attachments to 'fillmybox@gmail.com'. Well, we did it! My Gmail account is now 102% maxed out."
Meta Moderation
Meta Moderation: "Re:Uh... but...
by - on Sunday July 18, @08:32PM (#9734371)
It's all fun and games til goatse.cx comes up..."
Shuttle's XPC SB81P mini-barebones system - The Tech Report - Page 1
Shuttle's XPC SB81P mini-barebones system - The Tech Report - Page 1: "WE'VE BEEN REVIEWING Shuttle's small form factor systems since the first SV24, when they were the only game in town. Over the course of time, we've watched the XPC line evolve from a quirky but cute little niche product into a diverse army of mini PCs that rival full-sized computers in most respects."
US nuclear clean-up carries major risks | New Scientist
US nuclear clean-up carries major risks | New Scientist: "There is a 50% chance of a major accident while the US government attempts to clean up its dirtiest nuclear site over the next three decades, a new study concludes. Even without an accident, the groundwater, a nearby river and fish could end up badly contaminated."Xpjob_20040726171911_xp_pdf_spooldir_tmp_Xprintjobs_title_US_nuclear_clean-up_carries_major_risks__New_Scientist.pdf
IHT: A car that winks, laughs and cries
IHT: A car that winks, laughs and cries: "The expression 'road rage' usually refers to infuriated drivers who lose their temper and lash out at other motorists. But what if a car could also express anger, crouching low on its wheel base and glowering with red headlights like a lion about to pounce?"Xpjob_20040726171714_xp_pdf_spooldir_tmp_Xprintjobs_title_IHT_A_car_that_winks_laughs_and_cries.pdf
MercuryNews.com | 07/23/2004 | Google's challenge of Froogles.com name rejected
MercuryNews.com | 07/23/2004 | Google's challenge of Froogles.com name rejected: "WASHINGTON (Dow Jones/AP) -- Google Inc.'s right to use the name ``Froogle'' for its online shopping service came into question Friday when an arbitration panel rejected the company's challenge of a Web site named Froogles.com."
MercuryNews.com | 07/23/2004 | Google's challenge of Froogles.com name rejected
MercuryNews.com 07/23/2004 Google's challenge of Froogles.com name rejected: "WASHINGTON (Dow Jones/AP) -- Google Inc.'s right to use the name ``Froogle'' for its online shopping service came into question Friday when an arbitration panel rejected the company's challenge of a Web site named Froogles.com."
Yahoo! News - Google: IPO Could Be Worth $3.3 Billion
Yahoo! News - Google: IPO Could Be Worth $3.3 Billion: "LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Google Inc., the world's No. 1 Web search provider, said on Monday its highly anticipated initial public offer could be worth as much as $3.3 billion, pricing its stock in a range that could value the company at more than $36 billion at its opening."
US nuclear clean-up carries major risks | New Scientist
US nuclear clean-up carries major risks | New Scientist: "There is a 50% chance of a major accident while the US government attempts to clean up its dirtiest nuclear site over the next three decades, a new study concludes. Even without an accident, the groundwater, a nearby river and fish could end up badly contaminated."
ImmInst.org -> Neural Interfacing Resources
ImmInst.org -> Neural Interfacing Resources: "'We must develop as quickly as possible technologies that make
possible a direct connection between brain and computer, so that artificial
brains contribute to human intelligence rather than opposing it.'
-- Stephen Hawking"
Sunday, July 25, 2004
StudioQB.com - About Frustration: The Trivia Game
StudioQB.com - About Frustration: The Trivia Game: "Frustration: The Trivia Game is based upon the concept of measuring question difficulty based on when questions are answered correctly and incorrectly and correlating that data to create a 100-level ranking system for the questions. For players, the object of the game is to climb as far as possible up the levels by answering questions of increasing difficulty, and to try to beat the game by answering an entire stack of 100 questions."
Slashdot Poll
Slashdot Poll: "'Outlook not so good.' That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next."
Slashdot Poll
Slashdot Poll: "'Outlook not so good.' That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next."
CBC News: Music industry drills dentists for royalties
CBC News: Music industry drills dentists for royalties
Lockheed Martin Workers Damage NOAA N Prime Satellite in Mishap
Lockheed Martin Workers Damage NOAA N Prime Satellite in Mishap: "As the NOAA-N Prime spacecraft was being repositioned from vertical to horizontal on the 'turn over cart' at approximately 7:15 PDT today, it slipped off the fixture, causing severe damage. (See attached photo). The 18' long spacecraft was about 3' off the ground when it fell. "
Innovative Transportation Technologies for better urban livability and improved mobility
Innovative Transportation Technologies for better urban livability and improved mobility
Bladerunner dualmode concept from the United Kingdom features large truck that can operate on an existin railroad
Bladerunner dualmode concept from the United Kingdom features large truck that can operate on an existin railroad
EDN - Waiting for the big gig: Ethernet at 10 Gbps
EDN - Waiting for the big gig: Ethernet at 10 Gbps: "Waiting for the big gig: Ethernet at 10 Gbps"
Saturday, July 24, 2004
Clasic Slashdot
http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=115523&cid=9789729
Vigilantes, I support you! (Score:3, Funny)
by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 24, @02:06PM (#9789729)
Please don't hack my computer at 127.0.0.1. Thanks!
The sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
Spring follows Winter follows Fall follows Summer follows Spring.
The moon follows its phases across the sky, the constallations move in the same patterns that they have for 10,000 years, and the planets dance the same waltz they have since the dinosaurs roamed the earth.
Yet none of these things is as predictable as a "127.0.0.1" joke in a Slashdot article about hacking.
BBC NEWS | Technology | Robots get bookish in libraries
BBC NEWS | Technology | Robots get bookish in libraries: "Robots have disappointed humans so far in their ability to mix and help people in their everyday lives."
Are You Annoying? - Computerworld
Are You Annoying? - Computerworld: "Irritating behaviors not only annoy your co-workers, but they can also compromise your effectiveness and even derail your career. "
Dartmouth News - Investigating digital images - 07/01/04
Dartmouth News - Investigating digital images - 07/01/04: "'Seeing is no longer believing. Actually, what you see is largely irrelevant,' says Dartmouth Professor Hany Farid. He is referring to the digital images that appear everywhere: in newspapers, on Web sites, in advertising, and in business materials, for example."
Asteroid Arena
Asteroid Arena: "Asteroid Arena is a simple Asteroids clone that uses OpenGL and the ClanLib programming library. It features pretty graphics, somewhat-realistic particle interactions, powerups, UFO opponents and many other things. The object is to simply shoot asteroids and UFOs for points. Once you've cleared all the asteroids in a level, you move on. The asteroids grow more numerous and the asteroid fragments begin to speed up. If you hit something with 75% or more of your shots, you get a special accuracy award. "
Friday, July 23, 2004
Memtest86 - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool
Memtest86 - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool: "Based on the well-known original memtest86 written by Chris Brady, memtest86 is a port by some members of the x86-secret team. Our goal is to provide an up-to-date and completly reliable version of this software tool aimed at memory failures detection. "
Army rations rehydrated by urine | New Scientist
Army rations rehydrated by urine | New Scientist: "Would you eat food cooked in your own urine? Food scientists working for the US military have developed a dried food ration that troops can hydrate by adding the filthiest of muddy swamp water or even peeing on it."
BBC NEWS | Americas | US army food... just add urine
BBC NEWS | Americas | US army food... just add urine: "The US military has devised a way to ensure its troops in battle need never go hungry - with dried food that can be rehydrated using dirty water or urine."
Amaya Home Page
Amaya Home Page: "Amaya is a Web editor, i.e. a tool used to create and update documents directly on the Web. Browsing features are seamlessly integrated with the editing and remote access features in a uniform environment. This follows the original vision of the Web as a space for collaboration and not just a one-way publishing medium."
The W3C Markup Validation Service
The W3C Markup Validation Service: "Welcome to the W3C Markup Validation Service; a free service that checks documents like HTML and XHTML for conformance to W3C Recommendations and other standards."
Sender Policy Framework
Sender Policy Framework: "Publishing records is the first step to using SPF. Thousands of domains have already published, with more doing so daily."
libspf2 - Home
libspf2 - Home: "libspf2 implements the Sender Policy Framework, a part of the SPF/SRS protocol pair. libspf2 is a library which allows email systems such as Sendmail, Postfix, Exim, Zmailer and MS Exchange to check SPF records and make sure that the email is authorized by the domain name that it is coming from. This prevents email forgery, commonly used by spammers, scammers and email viruses/worms."
Sender Policy Framework
Sender Policy Framework: "SPF: Sender Policy Framework
The Anti-Forgery solution
That's making the world a
Safer place for email."
InfoWorld: Microsoft to enforce Sender ID checks: July 22, 2004: By : SECURITY
InfoWorld: Microsoft to enforce Sender ID checks: July 22, 2004: By : SECURITY: "Microsoft Corp. will soon put some bite into its Sender ID antispam plans by checking e-mail messages sent to its Hotmail, MSN and Microsoft.com mail accounts to see if they come from valid e-mail servers, as identified by the Sender ID, according to a company executive."
Features Item : Computers advance stoneworking technology
Features Item : Computers advance stoneworking technology: "In this age of technological advances, computers have become a necessity in many businesses, including those in the stone industry. With the addition of computer numerically controlled (CNC) systems to stoneworking machines, fabricating shops have taken advantage of the greater precision, faster speeds and automation that is now available. The result is a higher rate of automated production, which saves both time and money."
The New York Times > Technology > Circuits > When Technology Imitates Art
The New York Times > Technology > Circuits > When Technology Imitates Art: "FEW weeks ago, a sculptor in France contacted Studio Roc, a new stone-milling company in North Hollywood, Calif., with the type of challenge the company was seeking. He had a 19th-century limestone lion's face that he wanted to reproduce for a line of fountains. But carving each face by hand was a tedious chore for which he no longer had the time or resources."
CBC News: Monkey hits stride after near-death experience
CBC News: Monkey hits stride after near-death experience: "JERUSALEM - A five-year-old monkey at an Israeli zoo started walking exclusively on her hind legs after recovering from a serious illness."
UCLA News
UCLA News: "Quantum computing, which holds the promise of nearly unlimited processing power, secure communications and the ability to decode encrypted conversations by terrorists and others, is a significant step closer to becoming a reality today with new research published by a team of UCLA scientists in the journal Nature."
Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage
Reuters | Latest Financial News / Full News Coverage: "SYDNEY (Reuters) - Fiddler crabs may not be the smartest creatures on the planet but research shows they are bright enough to know about stranger danger."
PC Pro - Computing in the Real World
PC Pro - Computing in the Real World
ICANN, the steward of the Internet, has concluded a week-long meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with a string of initiatives that includes a move towards IPv6 technology.
Olympics arms against virus threat - ZDNet UK News
Olympics arms against virus threat - ZDNet UK News: "Terrorism isn't the only security threat officials are worried about at this summer's Olympic Games in Athens. They're also concerned about viruses and worm attacks that could cripple the Olympics' data network."
Army Raises Cost of Combat Modernization (TechNews.com)
Army Raises Cost of Combat Modernization (TechNews.com): "The Army outlined yesterday a restructuring of its modernization program, the Future Combat System, increasing the cost by between $20 billion and $25 billion, accelerating the deployment of key technology and adding new models of drones and ground vehicles."
eBCVG - Report faults cyber-security
eBCVG - Report faults cyber-security: "The Department of Homeland Security's efforts to battle computer-network and Internet attacks by hackers and other cyber-criminals suffer from a lack of coordination, poor communication and a failure to set priorities, according to an internal report released yesterday."
CBC News: Monkey hits stride after near-death experience
CBC News: Monkey hits stride after near-death experience: "JERUSALEM - A five-year-old monkey at an Israeli zoo started walking exclusively on her hind legs after recovering from a serious illness."
Thursday, July 22, 2004
Large MTU Networks - Ethernet Jumbo Frames
Large MTU Networks - Ethernet Jumbo Frames: "Statistically, most Internet communications pass through an Ethernet network somewhere on the way. This is why Ethernet's 1,500 byte MTU has become the standard MTU, and the main Internet bottleneck. Due to the constant increase in Ethernet spped, and to the fact that Gbit Ethernet has no standard MTU, the discussions of increasing the Ethernet frame size have been rapidly increasing."
Boston.com / Business / Technology / Laptops at the FleetCenter at risk of breaches, attack
Boston.com / Business / Technology / Laptops at the FleetCenter at risk of breaches, attack: "The Democratic National Convention will attract thousands of visitors armed with laptop computers that feature wireless Internet access. And that could be a formula for disaster, according to a Boston data security firm that recently ran a vulnerability test in the area around the FleetCenter."
FreeBSD Foundation Java Downloads
FreeBSD Foundation Java Downloads: "The FreeBSD Foundation has negotiated a license with Sun Microsystems to distribute FreeBSD binaries for the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and Java Development Kit (JDK). These implementations have been made possible through the hard work of the BSD Java team, and contributors (particularly WorldGate Communications, Inc.) as well as through donations to the FreeBSD Foundation that supported hardware, developer time, testing resources, and license negotiation."
USENIX - 2004 Linux Kernel Developers Summit
USENIX - 2004 Linux Kernel Developers Summit: "For the fourth year, USENIX will be delivering the annual Linux Kernel Developers Summit, bring together the core of the Kernel development team to plan the next phase of Linux Kernel development. Like past Summits, this developer-to-developer, two-day event will deliver substantive technical sessions and workshops where developers and industry leaders can readily share and exchange ideas. This event seeks to further feature developments that bring Linux into Enterprise class and highly available computing environments.
"
Linux: New Kernel Development Model
Linux: New Kernel Development Model: "An interesting thread on the lkml began when Greg KH submitted a patch for the 2.6 kernel saying, 'Ok, to test out the new development model, here's a nice patch that simply removes the devfs code.' This was quickly followed with a comment by Oliver Neukum who said, 'may I point out that 2.6 is supposed to be a _stable_ series?' In one branch of the thread, the usefulness of devfs was examined."
: "As a follow on to our March, 2004 article on PCI-Express, we have decided to do a series of articles better describing the differences and advantages that PCI-E has to offer. This months article will deal with the graphics portion of PCI-E technology and improvements that have been made over the previous generation graphics bus."
[H]ard|OCP - id Software's Official DOOM3 Benchmarks
[H]ard|OCP - id Software's Official DOOM3 Benchmarks: "id Software's Official DOOM3 Benchmarks : The folks at id Software have been kind enough to share with us benchmarks from the upcoming DOOM 3. We look at NVIDIA's and ATI's finest in a head to head comparison."
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
C Programming Tutorial
C Programming Tutorial: "Welcome to About.com's free C programming tutorial. This tutorial features a series of lessons designed to teach you the basics of C programming"
Start-up has feel for 3D chips | CNET News.com
Start-up has feel for 3D chips | CNET News.com: "A Silicon Valley start-up will try to popularize one of the more intriguing ideas that has been tossed around computer labs for years: three-dimensional semiconductors."
IBM labs unveil super-dense storage | CNET News.com
IBM labs unveil super-dense storage | CNET News.com: "IBM researchers have created a storage device that holds up to a trillion bits of information, or about 25 million textbook pages in a postage stamp-size area, as the push to find new storage technologies rolls on."
Start-ups search for hard-drive replacements | CNET News.com
Start-ups search for hard-drive replacements | CNET News.com: "Molten silicon, designer molecules, and protein globules from a cow. Someday, one of these materials could be used to store data in cell phones and PCs."
AOPA Online - Regulatory Brief -- FAA Proposes Sport Pilot/Light Sport Aircraft Rule
AOPA Online - Regulatory Brief -- FAA Proposes Sport Pilot/Light Sport Aircraft Rule: "On February 5, 2002, the FAA published in the Federal Register the highly anticipated Sport Pilot and Light Sport Aircraft Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM). This proposal intends to create new certification categories for Light Sport aircraft and their pilots. Current FAA regulations do not address the 'Sport Pilot' segment of general aviation."
Overview: Sport Pilot and Light-Sport Aircraft Rule
Overview: Sport Pilot and Light-Sport Aircraft Rule: "Certification Of Light-Sport Aircraft (14 CFR Section 1.1) Light-sport aircraft are simple, low-performance aircraft that are limited to 1,320 lbs. maximum weight, two occupants, a single non-turbine powered engine, stall speed of 45 knots, maximum airspeed of 120 knots, and fixed landing gear. Aircraft categories include airplanes, weight-shift-control aircraft, powered parachutes, gyroplanes, gliders, balloons and airships. Due to their complexity, helicopters and powered-lifts are not covered by the rule. Light-sport aircraft standards meet the 'Voluntary Consensus Standards' of OMB Circular A-119."
Wired News: Inside Look at Birth of the IPod
Wired News: Inside Look at Birth of the IPod: "Knauss shared his firsthand knowledge of the device's development, the glitches that almost killed it, and the extraordinary steps Apple took to keep the iPod a secret."
No Second Acts?
No Second Acts?: "Late in life, F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, 'There are no second acts in American lives.' Maybe that was true in his day; if you didn't make it the first time around, nobody gave you a second chance. But today, people reinvent themselves all the time. And even the most successful aren't content to rest on their laurels."
GROKLAW
GROKLAW: "
I have just heard from two readers who did attend the DC hearing. The eyewitness accounts are subject to later clarification, simply because neither is a lawyer and that can lead to missing certain details, as they disclaim in the reports. But with that disclaimer, this is what they say happened. I know we all wish to thank them both for attending the hearing, so we can get a fast report."
Yahoo! News - Singing Japanese plants
Yahoo! News - Singing Japanese plants: "TOKYO (Reuters) - People who like talking to their plants can now enjoy a musical accompaniment, thanks to a Japanese invention that turns petals and leaves into amplifiers."