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Domain: altavista.net
Stories and comments across the archive that link to altavista.net.
Stories · 16
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"Decryption" of Bush Memo
jjq writes "A decryption of the so-called Bush Memo, see the CNN news, http://edition.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/04/10/bush .briefing/ was presented at Eurocrypt 2004 (Interlaken) during the rump session. David Naccache shown how to recover words from removed text in several memos. See more about this story at Lemonde.fr (sorry, it is written in French)." Just use the the fish. -
Transparent Aluminium
Lynx writes "As the german magazine Spiegel reports, scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute for Ceramic Technologies have developed a transparent tile made from aluminium oxide pellets baked at 1200C. The material is very hard, and could be used as bulletproof windows." Use the fish. -
NASA Robots Beat Each Other Up
Shturmovik[KGB] writes ""Let's get ready to rumblllllllllllllle!" On Saturday night NASA is webcasting the big robot fight. A total of 49 machines, constructed by 2,000 high school students, will battle it out at the LA Arena. Should be good. Be there! You can watch it on the JPL website" -
DataPlay - Flash Killer or Copy-Control Nightmare?
theancient1 asks: "Coming soon to MP3 players, PDAs, and digital cameras: DataPlay: a $10 coin-sized disc that holds 500 MB of data. The catch? The discs have content control implemented as part of the file system. If a file has the 'protected' bit set, you'll need a key to access it. Keys can expire after a given interval, and although you can transfer files to your friends, they'll need their own key. This proprietary, SDMI-ready device is the RIAA's dream -- if all music were distributed this way, services like Napster wouldn't exist." And the war over digitally control content escalates. Will this system be cracked as easily as SDMI, or might this be something to worry about?"On CNNfn, the CMO says it's great for record companies that want to re-sell their old music in a new format. In their press FAQ, they essentially claim to have invented the CD-R. (Patents pending.) All new hardware technologies seem to come with content control strings attatched. Is CD-R the last truly open storage medium? Is DataPlay the next big thing, or something to avoid?"
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Clearcase vs. CVS?
briany asks: "I have been asked to evaluate Clearcase vs. CVS. I am wondering what kind of experiences people have had (good and bad) with either product, or if there are other products that should be considered. The projects that will be stored are rather large (10+ GB) and need to be accessible from Solaris, Linux, and NT/Win2k." Of course, it should be mentioned that Clearcase is available for Linux, as well as other unix clones. -
What Is The Current State Of SDMI On The Market?
theancient1 asks: "With malls already decorating for Christmas, it's time to start thinking about gifts. Since MP3 players are making their way onto more people's lists this year, I thought this would be an excellent time to get a round-up of the current state of SDMI with respect to current hardware. Are any players currently looking for a watermark within a standard MP3 file? What restrictions do current players have on what I do with my music? To what extent are the popular vendors caving to the demands of the recording industry? Numerous vendors are advertising their players as 'SDMI compliant to allow you to download music from major labels.' How can we get the message across that SDMI is not a feature without a price? I'm looking for some good Web resources for the average non-geek consumer." -
Obfuscated C Code Contest Begins
slashdot-me writes "The International Obfuscated C Code Contest (IOCCC) has begun. See the rules at the IOCCC homepage. The contest runs from Feb. 1 to March 31. " As always, the results will be only readable by Martians. -
Microsoft Plans Media Player for Linux?
theancient1 writes "According to this article, Microsoft is considering releasing a Linux version of Windows Media Player. 'Paul Boudreau, Microsoft's programme manager for music and entertainment, said at a briefing on the software giant's plans for digital media: We see a need for Unix players and are working in that direction, including Linux.' Of course, a little quote is quite a bit different from actually seeing a product, but it's still not exactly expected." -
Ultra-Quiet Linux Boxes?
Percival asks: "For both noise and power-consumption reasons, I would like to build a silent linux box (i.e: no hard drive, no CPU fan, no PS fan). In my case, I need the box to IP masquerade as well as serve small print jobs through samba, but I can see many uses for a silent linux box. I would like to learn how to build a linux bootdisk that would load everything necessary into a ramdisk. The bootdisk HOWTO is very helpful, but it does not really address building a permanent linux system on a floppy, being aimed at rescue and tool disk creation. (The particulars: 2.2v Pentium MMX CPU with large heat sink, small, low-power PS, floppy disk, motherboard, two NICs, HP LaserIIp). Would I be better-off going with a diskless system (I would rather not have to rely on another linux box to boot)? Is this a pipe dream? " -
Microsoft Janus
nadador writes "Apparently, Microsoft is readying an enterprise class clustering and failover version of Windows 2000. Techweb, and Microsoft, I'm sure, seem to think this is going to be a "Unix Killer". It also mentions Linux as a driving force in making Windows truly enterprise class software" It actually sounds quite impressive. I can't wait to see what some of the upcoming HA (high-availability) enhancements for Linux will look like. -
Linux Community vs. Linux Industry
RC Pavlicek writes "An opinion about the notion that the Linux community must be sacrificed to expand the Linux industry. 'The concept that the Linux community must cease in order for the Linux industry to grow is utter twaddle.' " (Russ Pavlicek, who wrote this, is one of the most outstanding Linux advocates I've ever met. Well worth reading.) -
MontaVista porting Linux to "tiny" computers
redmist writes " MontaVista Software will write a version of Linux called Hard Hat for use on Force Computers "tiny" computers with embedded processors. The project will begin with Intel-based machines and later will include PowerPC machines. MontaVista will focus on "the need for small memory footprint, guaranteed response, high availability, and other key issues that desktop Linux does not provide," the company said. Get the whole story here. " -
Type with your Mind
Benedict Wright writes "Another nugget from the BBC... Researchers led by a German scientist have developed non-invasive brainwave sensors that enable totally paralysed people to type messages on a computer. Previous attempts required risky surgery to implant electrodes into the brain. The new electrodes just sit on top of the head." -
DNA-based nanometer-sized moving arm
Benedict Wright writes "Scientists from New York have created a naonmeter sized "robot arm". The two parts of the arm, made from synthetic DNA, can be made to move up to 6 nanometers apart by the addition of a special cobalt compound. Freaky!" -
Dual Medocino
Fredrik Hult writes "It seems like the the new Celerons also work in SMP and overclocked to 463 MHz. Hopefully they'll get cheaper soon. info " Wow. I am impressed. For what it's worh, the new Celeron is called "Medocino" and has 128kb of L2 cache on chip that runs at full clock, which makes it about as fast as a P2. But I wonder if it's as overclockable as the original Celeron - which could go from 266->448, I believe. Your US$0.02? -
Window Managers and More
Frank Ranner writes "A good writeup on free desktop environments can be found at this link with a brief history of X and XFree and an overview of 3 Window Managers and 3 Desktop Environments. "
