Top Stories From Slashdot - Tuesday July 11 - (1)
Your Rights Online: BPI Requests ISPs Suspend Suspected Filesharers
Posted by timothy on Tuesday July 11, @02:47AMfrom the sounds-like-a-reasonable-approach-overall dept.
MartinJW writes "The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) has written to two of the UKs larger ISPs, Tiscali and Cable & Wireless, asking them to suspend the accounts of 59 users they have identified as 'illegal file sharers.' The BPI says they have 'unequivocal evidence' of IP addresses that were used to upload 'significant quantities' of music. Although the IP addresses were used to identify the ISPs involved, the providers are the only people able to identify the exact individuals responsible. This marks a significant change in the BPI's tactics; previously they have targeted individuals but it seems that they are now taking it one step further and requesting the ISPs take decisive action to uphold the terms in their own 'acceptable use policies.'"
Read More...
52 of 61 comments
yro.slashdot.org
Hardware: Vermont Launches 'Cow Power' System
Posted by timothy on Tuesday July 11, @12:08AMfrom the excuse-me-are-you-saying-moo? dept.
odyaws writes "Central Vermont Public Service has launched Cow Power, a system by which power users can opt to buy 25, 50, or 100% of their electricity from dairy farms that run generators on methane obtained from cow manure. Cow Power costs only 4 cents/kWh more than market price, so a household like mine would only pay $5-6/month more at 100% usage. The big question now is whether Vermont-based Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream will use power generated from the manure of cows treated with Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone."
Read More...
119 of 156 comments
hardware.slashdot.org
Your Rights Online: U.S. Access Board Advisory Committee Named 4 of 5 comments
IT: Adware Spreads Through Myspace
Posted by timothy on Monday July 10, @09:57PMfrom the so-doesn't-that-make-it-really-ourspace? dept.
Sandbagger writes "Here's an interesting problem for MySpace — groups of websites that entice MySpace users into placing videos onto their profile pages (under the guise of 'free content'), without disclosing a key piece of information that might make them think twice. When someone visits one of these profiles carrying the video, a DRM acquisition box pops up and attempts to install Zango adware. In all likelihood, the profile owners don't even know these videos are doing this to their visitors. The end result is an Adware affiliate effectively removing himself from the distribution chain and letting kids promote these videos instead, in a strange example of viral marketing gone wrong."
Read More...
86 of 114 comments
it.slashdot.org
Science: Gold and Helium Combine for Needle-Free Injections 44 of 50 comments
Hardware: First Look at Sony's Tiny Vaio UX180p
Posted by timothy on Monday July 10, @09:01PMfrom the weentsy dept.
An anonymous reader writes "MobileTechReview has posted a first look at the Sony Vaio UX180P Micro PC and comparison of it with UMPC and OQO. "When I first heard about the Sony UX series, I nearly dismissed it because I just couldn't imagine that 1024 x 600 on a 4.5" screen could ever be readable. Yes, the price is certainly another issue-- consumers don't flock to spend twice as much on a "notebook" that's less than half the size of a standard ultralight. At least not in the SUV-lovin' US. Well, happily I was wrong. That tiny XBRITE display is easily readable, despite the number of pixels squeezed into close company""
Read More...
82 of 117 comments
hardware.slashdot.org
Science: Astronauts Pull Off Risky Spacewalk
Posted by timothy on Monday July 10, @08:09PMfrom the insist-on-redundant-backups- dept.
dylanduck writes "A pair of NASA astronauts overcame an issue with a loose jet pack to make crucial repairs to the International Space Station, according to a story on New Scientist Space. No jet pack means not getting home if you inadvertently push yourself away from the space station and into space. That's a long goodbye that doesn't bear thinking about."
Read More...
135 of 166 comments
science.slashdot.org
Rights Online: When Wikipedia Fails
Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday July 10, @07:13PMfrom the just-as-many-edits-on-the-right-side-of-the-table dept.
PetManimal writes "Frank Ahrens of The Washington Post looks at how Wikipedia stumbles when entries for controversial people are altered by partisan observers. Case in point: Enron's Kenneth Lay, who died of natural causes last week, shortly after being sentenced to prison. His Wikipedia entry was altered repeatedly to include unfounded rumors that he had killed himself, or the stress from his trial had caused the heart attack. From the article: '... Here's the dread fear with Wikipedia: It combines the global reach and authoritative bearing of an Internet encyclopedia with the worst elements of radicalized bloggers. You step into a blog, you know what you're getting. But if you search an encyclopedia, it's fair to expect something else. Actual facts, say. At its worst, Wikipedia is an active deception, a powerful piece of agitprop, not information.'"
Read More...
290 of 349 comments
yro.slashdot.org
Games: Fun vs. Casual At EA 17 of 21 comments
IT: Inside the Google-Plex
Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday July 10, @06:33PMfrom the belly-of-the-beast dept.
tappytibbins writes "Baseline magazine has an in-depth story about how Google manages its own IT infrastructure. From the article: 'In general, Google has a split personality when it comes to questions about its back-end systems. To the media, its answer is, "Sorry, we don't talk about our infrastructure." Yet, Google engineers crack the door open wider when addressing computer science audiences, such as rooms full of graduate students whom it is interested in recruiting.'"
Read More...
78 of 103 comments
it.slashdot.org
CEO Calls For AOL Paradigm Shift
Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday July 10, @05:49PMfrom the johnsmith12102343823-email-address-still-available dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The New York Times is reporting that Jonathan Miller, AOL's chief executive, is calling for the effective dismantling of marketing for their dialup service. In a new plan to be presented to the Time Warner board in a couple of weeks, Miller outlines a new direction for AOL which moves towards using advertising as the main source of revenue while offering most everything they have (software, AOL.com email addresses, etc) for free."
Read More...
99 of 125 comments
Apple: Microsoft's Handheld Codenamed Argo 69 of 77 comments
IT: Spam Detection Using an Artificial Immune System
Posted by timothy on Monday July 10, @05:04PMfrom the lymp0cty3z-narf-poit!-claire-said-the-laundry-wheel dept.
rangeva writes "As anti-spam solutions evolve to limit junk email, the senders quickly adapt to make sure their messages are seen. an interesting article describes the application of an artificial immune system model to effectively protect email users from unwanted messages. In particular, it tests a spam immune system against the publicly available SpamAssassin corpus of spam and non-spam. It does so by classifying email messages with the detectors produced by the immune system. The resulting system classifies the messages with accuracy similar to that of other spam filters, but it does so with fewer detectors."
Read More...
81 of 103 comments
it.slashdot.org
Book Reviews: WxPython in Action
Posted by samzenpus on Monday July 10, @04:20PMfrom the snakes-on-a-computer dept.
aceydacey writes ""WxPython in Action" is a new and definitive guide to the popular wxPython GUI framework. WxPython has been growing in popularity by leaps and bounds in recent years but has been hampered by a comparative lack of good, comprehensive documentation, so much so that many people have turned to studying the documentation for the underlying wxWidgets framework, that is written in C++. "WxPython in Action" fills the void by combining a good introduction to the framework with a comprehensive and accessible reference document. At 552 pages, Manning Publications has produced a definitive book." Read the rest of Ron's review.
Read 6210 More Bytes...
49 of 59 comments
books.slashdot.org
Apple: Parallels Desktop for OS X Reviewed
Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday July 10, @03:46PMfrom the virtualization-hot-emulation-not dept.
phaedo00 writes "Ars Technica has put up a great review of the first full release of Parallels' virtualization software for OS X, Parallels Desktop 1.0. From the article: 'Move over emulation, virtualization is in and it's hotter than two Jessica Albas wresting the devil himself in a pit of molten steel. It's no contest, virtualization has it all: multiple operating systems running on the same machine at nearly the full speed of the host's processor with each system seamlessly networking with the next. Add to that the fact that it's cheaper than getting a new machine and you have the guaranteed latest craze. Not even the Hula Hoop can stop this one.'"
Read More...
228 of 266 comments
apple.slashdot.org
Science: Shuttle Cameras Yield Excellent Footage
Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday July 10, @03:02PMfrom the mr-griffin's-wild-ride dept.
Jivecat writes "All those extra cameras NASA has added to the Space Shuttle to watch for debris impacts have yielded what may be the coolest Shuttle launch footage ever. The forward-facing view from the right-hand SRB shows, at about the 2:58 mark, booster separation and Discovery zooming away. Other views are available at the main mission site."
Read More...
192 of 242 comments
science.slashdot.org
Games: The Short Memory of Game Design 87 of 101 comments
Science: Einstein- Husband, Lover and Father
Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday July 10, @02:11PMfrom the man-myth-and-hairdo dept.
evilsheep writes "A large collection of correspondence shedding light on Einstein's personal life and perspectives was made public today by The Albert Einstein Archives at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Spanning almost 3500 pages, the correspondence encompasses letters to and from his first and second wives and children between the years 1912- 1955.This newly released batch of letters fill in details to create a 'higher resolution' image of Einstein beyond what was previously known of his personal life. The collection has been in the Einstein Archives at the Hebrew University for many years, but was not made public in accordance with the will of Einstein's stepdaughter, Margot, who specified that they not be revealed until 20 years after her death. Margot died in July 1986. Einstein wrote almost daily letters to his second wife Elsa and to her daughter Margot whilst away from home about delivering and listening to boring lectures, playing music with friends, or trying to stop smoking."
Read More...
128 of 188 comments
science.slashdot.org
Linux: GnuCash 2.0.0 Released
Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday July 10, @01:17PMfrom the as-long-as-they-have-support-for-very-small-balances dept.
tashanna writes "After a very welcome GTK2 conversion and some additional feature hacking, GnuCash has released version 2.0.0. Other notable changes include: 'OFX DirectConnect which can directly retrieve and import account statements over the Internet, a "Hide account" feature to keep a better overview of your current accounts tabbed window functionality, the ability to create budgets within GnuCash using your account data, support for Accounting Periods, the data file format has been improved with respect to international characters data files with international characters can be transferred to other countries flawlessly, GnuCash Help and Guide are now fully integrated with the GNOME Help system (Yelp).'"
Read More...
207 of 251 comments
linux.slashdot.org
Science: Physicists Find Users Uninterested After 36 Hours
Posted by Hemos on Monday July 10, @12:25PMfrom the yawn-show-me-something-new dept.
SuperGrads writes "Statistical physicists working in the US and Hungary have found that the number of people reading a particular news story on the web decreases with time by a power law rather than exponentially as was previously thought. The finding has implications for the study of information flow in social networks, marketing and web design."
Read More...
105 of 132 comments
science.slashdot.org
Posted by timothy on Tuesday July 11, @02:47AMfrom the sounds-like-a-reasonable-approach-overall dept.
MartinJW writes "The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) has written to two of the UKs larger ISPs, Tiscali and Cable & Wireless, asking them to suspend the accounts of 59 users they have identified as 'illegal file sharers.' The BPI says they have 'unequivocal evidence' of IP addresses that were used to upload 'significant quantities' of music. Although the IP addresses were used to identify the ISPs involved, the providers are the only people able to identify the exact individuals responsible. This marks a significant change in the BPI's tactics; previously they have targeted individuals but it seems that they are now taking it one step further and requesting the ISPs take decisive action to uphold the terms in their own 'acceptable use policies.'"
Read More...
52 of 61 comments
yro.slashdot.org
Hardware: Vermont Launches 'Cow Power' System
Posted by timothy on Tuesday July 11, @12:08AMfrom the excuse-me-are-you-saying-moo? dept.
odyaws writes "Central Vermont Public Service has launched Cow Power, a system by which power users can opt to buy 25, 50, or 100% of their electricity from dairy farms that run generators on methane obtained from cow manure. Cow Power costs only 4 cents/kWh more than market price, so a household like mine would only pay $5-6/month more at 100% usage. The big question now is whether Vermont-based Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream will use power generated from the manure of cows treated with Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone."
Read More...
119 of 156 comments
hardware.slashdot.org
Your Rights Online: U.S. Access Board Advisory Committee Named 4 of 5 comments
IT: Adware Spreads Through Myspace
Posted by timothy on Monday July 10, @09:57PMfrom the so-doesn't-that-make-it-really-ourspace? dept.
Sandbagger writes "Here's an interesting problem for MySpace — groups of websites that entice MySpace users into placing videos onto their profile pages (under the guise of 'free content'), without disclosing a key piece of information that might make them think twice. When someone visits one of these profiles carrying the video, a DRM acquisition box pops up and attempts to install Zango adware. In all likelihood, the profile owners don't even know these videos are doing this to their visitors. The end result is an Adware affiliate effectively removing himself from the distribution chain and letting kids promote these videos instead, in a strange example of viral marketing gone wrong."
Read More...
86 of 114 comments
it.slashdot.org
Science: Gold and Helium Combine for Needle-Free Injections 44 of 50 comments
Hardware: First Look at Sony's Tiny Vaio UX180p
Posted by timothy on Monday July 10, @09:01PMfrom the weentsy dept.
An anonymous reader writes "MobileTechReview has posted a first look at the Sony Vaio UX180P Micro PC and comparison of it with UMPC and OQO. "When I first heard about the Sony UX series, I nearly dismissed it because I just couldn't imagine that 1024 x 600 on a 4.5" screen could ever be readable. Yes, the price is certainly another issue-- consumers don't flock to spend twice as much on a "notebook" that's less than half the size of a standard ultralight. At least not in the SUV-lovin' US. Well, happily I was wrong. That tiny XBRITE display is easily readable, despite the number of pixels squeezed into close company""
Read More...
82 of 117 comments
hardware.slashdot.org
Science: Astronauts Pull Off Risky Spacewalk
Posted by timothy on Monday July 10, @08:09PMfrom the insist-on-redundant-backups- dept.
dylanduck writes "A pair of NASA astronauts overcame an issue with a loose jet pack to make crucial repairs to the International Space Station, according to a story on New Scientist Space. No jet pack means not getting home if you inadvertently push yourself away from the space station and into space. That's a long goodbye that doesn't bear thinking about."
Read More...
135 of 166 comments
science.slashdot.org
Rights Online: When Wikipedia Fails
Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday July 10, @07:13PMfrom the just-as-many-edits-on-the-right-side-of-the-table dept.
PetManimal writes "Frank Ahrens of The Washington Post looks at how Wikipedia stumbles when entries for controversial people are altered by partisan observers. Case in point: Enron's Kenneth Lay, who died of natural causes last week, shortly after being sentenced to prison. His Wikipedia entry was altered repeatedly to include unfounded rumors that he had killed himself, or the stress from his trial had caused the heart attack. From the article: '... Here's the dread fear with Wikipedia: It combines the global reach and authoritative bearing of an Internet encyclopedia with the worst elements of radicalized bloggers. You step into a blog, you know what you're getting. But if you search an encyclopedia, it's fair to expect something else. Actual facts, say. At its worst, Wikipedia is an active deception, a powerful piece of agitprop, not information.'"
Read More...
290 of 349 comments
yro.slashdot.org
Games: Fun vs. Casual At EA 17 of 21 comments
IT: Inside the Google-Plex
Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday July 10, @06:33PMfrom the belly-of-the-beast dept.
tappytibbins writes "Baseline magazine has an in-depth story about how Google manages its own IT infrastructure. From the article: 'In general, Google has a split personality when it comes to questions about its back-end systems. To the media, its answer is, "Sorry, we don't talk about our infrastructure." Yet, Google engineers crack the door open wider when addressing computer science audiences, such as rooms full of graduate students whom it is interested in recruiting.'"
Read More...
78 of 103 comments
it.slashdot.org
CEO Calls For AOL Paradigm Shift
Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday July 10, @05:49PMfrom the johnsmith12102343823-email-address-still-available dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The New York Times is reporting that Jonathan Miller, AOL's chief executive, is calling for the effective dismantling of marketing for their dialup service. In a new plan to be presented to the Time Warner board in a couple of weeks, Miller outlines a new direction for AOL which moves towards using advertising as the main source of revenue while offering most everything they have (software, AOL.com email addresses, etc) for free."
Read More...
99 of 125 comments
Apple: Microsoft's Handheld Codenamed Argo 69 of 77 comments
IT: Spam Detection Using an Artificial Immune System
Posted by timothy on Monday July 10, @05:04PMfrom the lymp0cty3z-narf-poit!-claire-said-the-laundry-wheel dept.
rangeva writes "As anti-spam solutions evolve to limit junk email, the senders quickly adapt to make sure their messages are seen. an interesting article describes the application of an artificial immune system model to effectively protect email users from unwanted messages. In particular, it tests a spam immune system against the publicly available SpamAssassin corpus of spam and non-spam. It does so by classifying email messages with the detectors produced by the immune system. The resulting system classifies the messages with accuracy similar to that of other spam filters, but it does so with fewer detectors."
Read More...
81 of 103 comments
it.slashdot.org
Book Reviews: WxPython in Action
Posted by samzenpus on Monday July 10, @04:20PMfrom the snakes-on-a-computer dept.
aceydacey writes ""WxPython in Action" is a new and definitive guide to the popular wxPython GUI framework. WxPython has been growing in popularity by leaps and bounds in recent years but has been hampered by a comparative lack of good, comprehensive documentation, so much so that many people have turned to studying the documentation for the underlying wxWidgets framework, that is written in C++. "WxPython in Action" fills the void by combining a good introduction to the framework with a comprehensive and accessible reference document. At 552 pages, Manning Publications has produced a definitive book." Read the rest of Ron's review.
Read 6210 More Bytes...
49 of 59 comments
books.slashdot.org
Apple: Parallels Desktop for OS X Reviewed
Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday July 10, @03:46PMfrom the virtualization-hot-emulation-not dept.
phaedo00 writes "Ars Technica has put up a great review of the first full release of Parallels' virtualization software for OS X, Parallels Desktop 1.0. From the article: 'Move over emulation, virtualization is in and it's hotter than two Jessica Albas wresting the devil himself in a pit of molten steel. It's no contest, virtualization has it all: multiple operating systems running on the same machine at nearly the full speed of the host's processor with each system seamlessly networking with the next. Add to that the fact that it's cheaper than getting a new machine and you have the guaranteed latest craze. Not even the Hula Hoop can stop this one.'"
Read More...
228 of 266 comments
apple.slashdot.org
Science: Shuttle Cameras Yield Excellent Footage
Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday July 10, @03:02PMfrom the mr-griffin's-wild-ride dept.
Jivecat writes "All those extra cameras NASA has added to the Space Shuttle to watch for debris impacts have yielded what may be the coolest Shuttle launch footage ever. The forward-facing view from the right-hand SRB shows, at about the 2:58 mark, booster separation and Discovery zooming away. Other views are available at the main mission site."
Read More...
192 of 242 comments
science.slashdot.org
Games: The Short Memory of Game Design 87 of 101 comments
Science: Einstein- Husband, Lover and Father
Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday July 10, @02:11PMfrom the man-myth-and-hairdo dept.
evilsheep writes "A large collection of correspondence shedding light on Einstein's personal life and perspectives was made public today by The Albert Einstein Archives at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Spanning almost 3500 pages, the correspondence encompasses letters to and from his first and second wives and children between the years 1912- 1955.This newly released batch of letters fill in details to create a 'higher resolution' image of Einstein beyond what was previously known of his personal life. The collection has been in the Einstein Archives at the Hebrew University for many years, but was not made public in accordance with the will of Einstein's stepdaughter, Margot, who specified that they not be revealed until 20 years after her death. Margot died in July 1986. Einstein wrote almost daily letters to his second wife Elsa and to her daughter Margot whilst away from home about delivering and listening to boring lectures, playing music with friends, or trying to stop smoking."
Read More...
128 of 188 comments
science.slashdot.org
Linux: GnuCash 2.0.0 Released
Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday July 10, @01:17PMfrom the as-long-as-they-have-support-for-very-small-balances dept.
tashanna writes "After a very welcome GTK2 conversion and some additional feature hacking, GnuCash has released version 2.0.0. Other notable changes include: 'OFX DirectConnect which can directly retrieve and import account statements over the Internet, a "Hide account" feature to keep a better overview of your current accounts tabbed window functionality, the ability to create budgets within GnuCash using your account data, support for Accounting Periods, the data file format has been improved with respect to international characters data files with international characters can be transferred to other countries flawlessly, GnuCash Help and Guide are now fully integrated with the GNOME Help system (Yelp).'"
Read More...
207 of 251 comments
linux.slashdot.org
Science: Physicists Find Users Uninterested After 36 Hours
Posted by Hemos on Monday July 10, @12:25PMfrom the yawn-show-me-something-new dept.
SuperGrads writes "Statistical physicists working in the US and Hungary have found that the number of people reading a particular news story on the web decreases with time by a power law rather than exponentially as was previously thought. The finding has implications for the study of information flow in social networks, marketing and web design."
Read More...
105 of 132 comments
science.slashdot.org
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