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Technology: CRTC Rules Bell Can Squeeze Downloads 2008-11-20 12:21

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday November 20, @12:21PM
from the throttle-away dept.

pparsons writes "Bell Canada Inc. will not have to suspend its practice of "shaping" traffic on the Internet after a group of companies that resell access to Bell's network complained their customers were also being negatively affected. The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission today released a decision that denied the Canadian Association of Internet Providers' request that Bell be ordered to cease its application of the practice to its wholesale customers."

Science: MIT and NASA Designing Silent Aircraft 2008-11-20 11:42

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday November 20, @11:42AM
from the Fly-the-silent-skies dept.

Iddo Genuth writes "Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics recently won a contract from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to design quieter, more energy efficient, and more environmentally friendly commercial airplanes. The two million dollar contract from NASA is just an initial step in bringing green technologies to the sky."

Science: Spider Missing After Trip To Space Station 2008-11-20 10:56

Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday November 20, @10:56AM
from the lost-in-space dept.

Garabito writes "A spider that had been sent to the International Space Station for a school science program was lost. Two arachnids were sent in order to know if spiders can survive and make webs in space, but now only one spider can be seen in the container. NASA isn't sure where the other spider could have gone. I, for one, welcome our new arachnid overlords."

Technology: Studios Sue Oz ISP Over Allowing Piracy 2008-11-20 10:10

Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday November 20, @10:10AM
from the you-can't-make-this-up dept.

Da Massive writes "Leading Hollywood film studios Village Roadshow, Universal Pictures, Warner Bros Entertainment, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation and Disney Enterprises are suing Australia's second largest ISP, iiNet, saying it's complicit in the infringement of their copyrighted material. According to a statement of claim, 'the ISP knows that there are a large number of customers who are engaging in continuing infringements of copyright by using BitTorrent file sharing technology.'"

Technology: Google Terminates Lively 2008-11-20 09:33

Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday November 20, @09:33AM
from the we-hardly-knew-ye dept.

FornaxChemica writes "In a surprise move, Google announced today, both on-site and in its blog, that it will permanently shut down its 3D virtual world, Lively, by the end of the year. This makes Lively one of Google's few scrapped products, and one of the most short-lived, too, barely lasting 6 months. No official reason was given, only that Google wants to 'prioritize [its] resources and focus more on [its] core search, ads and apps business.' Lively might have taken too much and given back too little, even by Google's standards."

Technology: IRS Looking at Google/Mozilla Relationship 2008-11-20 08:45

Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday November 20, @08:45AM
from the can't-imagine-why dept.

ric482 writes "With the release of the Mozilla Foundation's 2007 financial report, questions have been raised by the IRS, who are due to perform an audit on the non-profit organization behind the massively popular Firefox browser. Last year, the Foundation received $66 million of its total $75 million revenue (88 percent) from search engine maestros Google, so the IRS are looking for blood over the organization's tax exempt status. Back in 2006, Mozilla got $59.5 million from Google — around 85 percent of the organization's revenue. Google and Mozilla are part of a 'you scratch my back, I'll pay your bills' sort of agreement with the Google search bar firmly placed in the toolbar, and on the default homepage. Things were a bit rocky a couple of months back when Google unveiled the Beta-run of its Chrome browser, but Mozilla and Google hugged it out and sealed a deal that will last for another three years. That deal will expire in November 2011."

Science: Most of Woolly Mammoth Genome Reconstructed 2008-11-20 07:57

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday November 20, @07:57AM
from the I-want-a-cave-bear dept.

geekmansworld writes "From the Washington Post, 'An international team of scientists has reconstructed more than three-quarters of the genome of the woolly mammoth using DNA extracted from balls of hair, the first time this has been accomplished for an extinct species.' Who wants a pet mammoth?"

Games: New Xbox Experience Goes Live 2008-11-20 03:30

Posted by Soulskill on Thursday November 20, @03:30AM
from the quick-get-some-of-those-mii-things dept.

Today, Microsoft launched the New Xbox Experience for Xbox Live. The list of new features includes the streaming of TV shows and movies through Netflix, the ability to install games to the HDD, an avatar system, and the Community Games platform. The launch itself was shaky at first, but most issues have been smoothed out. Sony-owned Columbia Pictures immediately pulled their movie selection, though it may return when a licensing deal gets worked out. Halo 3 developer Bungie pointed out that not all games will run faster when installed to a HDD because of the way the games already interact with the drive.

Science: NASA Exploring 8 New Space Expeditions 2008-11-20 01:06

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday November 20, @01:06AM
from the a-whole-lot-of-exploring-going-on dept.

coondoggie writes "NASA is trying to decide between eight space exploration missions that include further exploring Venus and comet composition as well landing on an asteroid or examining the space around Jupiter. The space agency today began accepting solicitations for these space exploration opportunities and will ultimately pick one of them to begin perusing in 2009 with a launch date targeted at 2018. The solicitations and ultimate expedition are part of NASA's New Frontiers program, which has as its main objective to explore the solar system with medium-class spacecraft missions that will conduct high-quality, focused scientific investigations, NASA said. The first New Frontiers mission was selected in 2003 and will result in the launch of Juno, a Jupiter polar orbiter mission set to blast off in 2011."

Technology: Towards a World Wide Grid? 2008-11-19 22:02

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday November 19, @10:02PM
from the one-world-government dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "In recent months, the concept of 'cloud computing' was all the buzz. European researchers think about another name, the World Wide Grid, which could run on top of the Internet. In an article to appear soon, ICT Results will report about the g-Eclipse project. As the scientists said, 'the g-Eclipse project aims to build an integrated workbench framework to access the power of existing Grid infrastructures. The framework will be built on top of the reliable eco-system of the Eclipse community to enable a sustainable development.' The project started in July 2006 and was successfully completed in June 2008 for a total cost of 2.5 million including a EU contribution of 1.96 million."

Games: 10 Years of Half-Life 2008-11-19 21:38

Posted by Soulskill on Wednesday November 19, @09:38PM
from the wisely-done-mr.-freeman dept.

intenscia writes "After 10 years of Half-Life and dealing with its silent protagonist Gordon Freeman, ModDB looks back at everything that Valve made possible with the release of its first game. The freedom and flexibility the Gldsource platform gave modders resulted in a plethora of user-generated content such as Counter-Strike and Team Fortress. In this article they take a brief look at the mods that made the jump to retail as well as the top non-commercial mods that have become perennial classics." Planet Half-Life used the occasion to look back at the history of Valve. Valve is celebrating by offering the original Half-Life for less than a dollar on Steam.

Technology: Researchers Getting the Lead Out of Electronics 2008-11-19 19:57

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday November 19, @07:57PM
from the space-age-polymers dept.

alphadogg writes "Researchers at the University of Maryland say they have discovered a material to replace lead, a potential environmental hazard, in electronics products. The material, bismuth samarium ferrite (BSFO), was found by researchers in the university's A. James Clark School of Engineering. It can be used in products such as biomedical imaging devices and inkjet printers, and if implemented commercially could keep lead out of landfills and the ecosystem, they say. While manufacturers have developed replacements for lead in many products, until now no commercial replacement existed for lead zirconate titanate (PZT) — the material of choice for transducers, actuators, sensors and microelectromechanical systems used in common electronic devices, the university says."

Developers: Adobe Releases C/C++ To Flash Compiler 2008-11-19 18:47

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday November 19, @06:47PM
from the transmutations dept.

SnT2k writes "Adobe recently released the beta version of Alchemy which compiles C/C++ code into AS3 bytecode (which runs on AVM2) that can run on the Flash or Flex platform and boasts increased performance for computationally-intensive tasks (but still slower than native C/C++). It was demonstrated last year during the Chicago MAX 2007 to run Quake. A few months later it has been demonstrated to run a Python interpreter and Nintendo Emulator. One interesting tidbit is that the thing is built upon the open source LLVM Compiler Infrastructure."

Mobile: Apple's New MacBooks Have Built-In Copy Protection 2008-11-19 17:46

Posted by timothy on Wednesday November 19, @05:46PM
from the presumption-from-on-high dept.

raque writes "Appleinsider is reporting that the new MacBooks/MacBookPros have built-in copy protection. Quote: 'Apple's new MacBook lines include a form of digital copy protection that will prevent protected media, such as DRM-infused iTunes movies, from playing back on devices that aren't compliant with the new priority protection measures.' Ars Technica is also reporting on the issue. Is this the deal they had to make to get NBC back? Is this a deal breaker for Apple or will fans just ignore it to get their hands on the pretty new machines? Is this a new opportunity for Linux? And what happened to Jobs not liking DRM?"

Technology: Windows Breaks Into Supercomputer Top10 2008-11-19 17:02

Posted by timothy on Wednesday November 19, @05:02PM
from the adversity-breeds-strength-in-redmond-too dept.

yanx0016 writes "Wow, that's some news this week at SuperComputing 08. Apparently Microsoft Windows HPC Server 2008, with a Chinese hardware OEM (Dawning), made #10 on the Top500 list, edging out #11 by only 600 Gflops. Folks were shocked to see Microsoft getting so serious around HPC; I think we are only beginning to see a glimpse of Microsoft in the HPC field."

Ask Slashdot: Interviewing Experienced IT People? 2008-11-19 16:19

Posted by timothy on Wednesday November 19, @04:19PM
from the experience-is-not-just-a-euphemism dept.

thricenightly writes "After more than 20 years in IT I've learned that the most valuable people in a team are frequently the old timers. Young pups straight out of college might (think they) know all the latest buzzwords and techniques, but in the real world, where getting working products delivered on time and on budget is of paramount importance, people who have been doing the job for a decade or two tend to be the people I'd rather be working alongside. I've recently been elevated to a position where I get to interview and choose those who get hired in my department. Although I'm very much focused on choosing the right person for the role regardless of age, experience or whatever, it's probably fair to say the more mature applicants will get a more sympathetic hearing from me than they might from most other interviewers for IT roles. The question is, what do I ask older applicants to get them to demonstrate the value of their experience? My current gambit is something like 'IT is seen as a young man's game. My next applicant after you is 23 years old. What do you know that he doesn't?' This gets responses ranging from the vague to the truly enlightened. All next week I'm interviewing for a number of senior software designer and developer roles. What should I be asking of the more experienced applicants, and what responses should I be looking out for?"

Science: Successful Stem Cell Replacement of Windpipe 2008-11-19 15:59

Posted by timothy on Wednesday November 19, @03:59PM
from the difficult-to-gasp dept.

thepacketmaster writes "In what is being hailed as a medical milestone, CNN reports a woman suffering from long-term tuberculosis had her lower trachea and bronchial tube replaced by tissue grown from her own stem cells. A team from the universities of Barcelona, Spain; Bristol, England; and Padua and Milan, Italy, decided to go ahead with the surgery instead of having to remove her left lung. The operation, reported Wednesday in the British medical journal The Lancet, has been hailed as a major leap for medicine that could offer new hope for patients suffering from serious illness."

Entertainment: Monty Python Banks On the Long Tail Via YouTube 2008-11-19 15:31

Posted by timothy on Wednesday November 19, @03:31PM
from the finally-a-perfect-use-for-the-foot-icon dept.

JTRipper writes "Monty Python seems to have done the right thing. Instead of issuing take down notices of their videos on YouTube, they are doing it better themselves with their own YouTube channel. They are putting all their clips (including snips from their movies) up in a decent resolution, with the only caveat being a link to buying the movies and TV episodes from Amazon."

Ask Slashdot: Good Deep-Knowledge Analog Design Books? 2008-11-19 15:14

Posted by timothy on Wednesday November 19, @03:14PM
from the ice-blocks-the-cave-door dept.

NorthNitro writes "I live in a part of the world where quality technical books are not accessible from local distributors. When I order, from international distributors, I have to keep exchange rate and shipping costs in mind; so I really need to be careful with my choices when purchasing books. I am a graduate engineer (5 years experience) that focuses on analog and digital hardware design. Next year I will be starting a complicated analog design project. This design will include circuits that integrating Pico amp currents, a lot of discrete transistor circuits and high precision op-amp circuits. I don't want a cookbook; I rather want something that can provide me with solid theoretical descriptions/models of circuits. The kind of knowledge that gives you deep understanding of analog circuits design. Can anyone suggest good books and maybe where to order them from?"

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Technology: CRTC Rules Bell Can Squeeze Downloads 2008-11-20 12:21

Science: MIT and NASA Designing Silent Aircraft 2008-11-20 11:42

Science: Spider Missing After Trip To Space Station 2008-11-20 10:56

Technology: Studios Sue Oz ISP Over Allowing Piracy 2008-11-20 10:10

Technology: Google Terminates Lively 2008-11-20 09:33

Technology: IRS Looking at Google/Mozilla Relationship 2008-11-20 08:45

Science: Most of Woolly Mammoth Genome Reconstructed 2008-11-20 07:57

Games: New Xbox Experience Goes Live 2008-11-20 03:30

Science: NASA Exploring 8 New Space Expeditions 2008-11-20 01:06

Games: iPhone Gaming Continues To Grow 2008-11-19 23:31

Technology: Towards a World Wide Grid? 2008-11-19 22:02

Games: 10 Years of Half-Life 2008-11-19 21:38

Technology: Researchers Getting the Lead Out of Electronics 2008-11-19 19:57

Developers: Adobe Releases C/C++ To Flash Compiler 2008-11-19 18:47

Mobile: Apple's New MacBooks Have Built-In Copy Protection 2008-11-19 17:46

Technology: Windows Breaks Into Supercomputer Top10 2008-11-19 17:02

Ask Slashdot: Interviewing Experienced IT People? 2008-11-19 16:19

Science: Successful Stem Cell Replacement of Windpipe 2008-11-19 15:59

Entertainment: Monty Python Banks On the Long Tail Via YouTube 2008-11-19 15:31

Ask Slashdot: Good Deep-Knowledge Analog Design Books? 2008-11-19 15:14

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Technology: CRTC Rules Bell Can Squeeze Downloads 2008-11-20 12:21

Science: MIT and NASA Designing Silent Aircraft 2008-11-20 11:42

Science: Spider Missing After Trip To Space Station 2008-11-20 10:56

Technology: Studios Sue Oz ISP Over Allowing Piracy 2008-11-20 10:10

Technology: Google Terminates Lively 2008-11-20 09:33

Technology: IRS Looking at Google/Mozilla Relationship 2008-11-20 08:45

Science: Most of Woolly Mammoth Genome Reconstructed 2008-11-20 07:57

Games: New Xbox Experience Goes Live 2008-11-20 03:30

Science: NASA Exploring 8 New Space Expeditions 2008-11-20 01:06

Games: iPhone Gaming Continues To Grow 2008-11-19 23:31

Technology: Towards a World Wide Grid? 2008-11-19 22:02

Games: 10 Years of Half-Life 2008-11-19 21:38

Technology: Researchers Getting the Lead Out of Electronics 2008-11-19 19:57

Developers: Adobe Releases C/C++ To Flash Compiler 2008-11-19 18:47

Mobile: Apple's New MacBooks Have Built-In Copy Protection 2008-11-19 17:46

Technology: Windows Breaks Into Supercomputer Top10 2008-11-19 17:02

Ask Slashdot: Interviewing Experienced IT People? 2008-11-19 16:19

Science: Successful Stem Cell Replacement of Windpipe 2008-11-19 15:59

Entertainment: Monty Python Banks On the Long Tail Via YouTube 2008-11-19 15:31

Ask Slashdot: Good Deep-Knowledge Analog Design Books? 2008-11-19 15:14

YRO

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