Slashdot Mirror

xcleetusx wonders: "I've been a fan of Apple for years, and with their current strangle-hold on mainstream media my desire to make the switch has been growing ever more, but the same nagging issue that has prevented my switch for years still remains: I'm an engineer, and I simply can't invest in a computer that won't run modeling/simulation software like CATIA and Solidworks. Since this software is available on Unix (which Mac OS X is built on) and also on Windows (Intel hardware), is the Apple switch to Intel-based hardware going to better my chances for a Mac OS X CAD workstation, or will it remain a pipedream?"

GreyArtist asks: "I took a course in C++ a year ago in which the instructor claimed that global (file-scope or inter-file-scope) variables were antiquated and not to be used under any circumstances. I immediately thought of a counter argument that involved the method I use for saving game data. The games (and many of the other programs) I write use not only global variables, but consecutive global variables declared in their own separate module. To save the game (or user settings) to file, I simply save a single large segment of data that contains all the necessary information. How do other coders do it? Would they create a 'MyObject.savemyself()' method for every object in their game? Do they save all the game code along with the data? Either way, it seems like a horrid case of code (or data) bloat. What do you die-hard object-oriented fanatics have to say about this, and what method they would you use for saving games?"

phosphor-boy asks: "Age old story: a friend and I have a fun, part-time technology venture that's actually generating a little cash. To take this to the next level, we need to raise few hundred thousand dollars. There's good reason to believe that it has enormous potential to make money - but since it's a new concept, it's (obviously) extremely speculative, so going to the bank won't work. We've been tentatively offered venture capital funding, but would have to take A LOT more than we need ($millions!), and give up way more control than we'd like - giving up some control is OK, but we've seen firsthand how VC money can run amok, and it's not pretty. However, a few hundred thousand is more than is do-able with friends, family, and second mortgages. So to sum up: too little for VCs, (maybe?) too much for friends and family. Have any others on Slashdot faced this situation? What works here, and what doesn't?"

brghntr writes "The gentoo guys (and girls) have released 2004.2 for the x86, AMD64, HPPA, and SPARC. You can read the information page here or go straight to the mirrors."

compgenius3 writes "The FCC unanimously voted today to allow wireless providers to use the frequencies between television stations to broadcast WiFi in rural areas. Broadcasters argue that this will cause interference on television stations but the FCC chairman says otherwise." Update: 05/18 23:40 GMT by T : compgenius3 points out NAB president Edward Fritts' skepticism of the plan, as reflected in this press release citing fears of intereference to over-the-air broadcasts.

compgenius3 writes "The FCC unanimously voted today to allow wireless providers to use the frequencies between television stations to broadcast WiFi in rural areas. Broadcasters argue that this will cause interference on television stations but the FCC chairman says otherwise." Update: 05/18 23:40 GMT by T : compgenius3 points out NAB president Edward Fritts' skepticism of the plan, as reflected in this press release citing fears of intereference to over-the-air broadcasts.

Petrochard writes "For all of you programmers who are big chess fans, check out Apple's release of Chess 2.0's source code. It would be cool if somebody could make a Simpson's Chess mod." Chess is based on sjeng (logic) and glChess (interface).

amigoro writes "After having contaminated Earth's Oceans, it seems that there are plans to send a probe drilling through Europa's ice sheet and explore the purported ocean below the crust. The plan seems to be to find Life there. But I wonder how long the time lag will be between the probe finding life, and a leak in the radioactive heater wiping all of it out."

OriginalSpaceMan asks: "I have a lot of hardware, so I've been looking for some sort of a static free PC parts storage solution. Preferably this would be something modular. I have Googled this for a while now and, as you can guess, I can't find much other than data storage solutions. I'm picturing something that is specifically designed to store drives, memory, CPUs, expansion cards and maybe mother boards. Also, it could have smaller compartments for screws, cables, LEDs, switches, case accessories and etc. It would be really neat to have built in slots to hold expansion cards in a static free case. Does anyone make anything remotely similar to this, or will this end up being my next project?"

Eric Savage writes "The IETF, through IRTF, has formed an Anti-Spam Research Group. If there is any hope for a technical solution the problem, it appears the first significant step has been taken. More info here in itworld and here in ComputerWorld." Three more exciting spam related posts inside, including news from the Nevada legislature regarding spam, Arkansas dislike of the meaty email and "when students go bad" torklugnutz writes "The NV state assembly just voted 41-0 in favor of a bill which allows spam recipients to collect up to $500 per piece of spam. The new law also requires ADV to be added to the subject line so that recipients can more easilly identify unwanted ads. In addition, spoofing of sender's email address or having an invalid return address is made illegal. The old law imposed a $10 fine on spammers, but required prosecuters to collect it. This law will, more than likely, increase my chances of reading the spam I get so that I can try to cash in. So, maybe I CAN make an incredible amount of money from this "Amazing Offer""

And in Arkansas: A.G. Russell writes "With House Bill 1008, Subtitled "Unsolicited Commercial and Sexually Explicit Electronic Mail Fair Practices Act." Arkansas looks to join other states that have criminal and cival legislation in place to deal with spam. Can we help them craft this?"

And from academia: mansemat writes "Seems spammers are using a new tactic these days by paying students to send spam over univeristy networks. This particular student will be disciplined by losing his computing privileges, and being educated on the policy he violated. One can only hope the education includes being subscribed to every pr0n, male enhancement, mortage, etc. spam on the planet." Should have booted the miscreant.

DiZASTiX writes "An article from Zdnet says Linux on the desktop has become a reality. It is now possible, for example, to buy a Linux-based PC (running LindowsOS) from Evesham. In the United States, Wal-Mart sells machines based on Lindows, Mandrake Linux and others. But though Linux may have its foot in the door, taking the next step to becoming a mainstream success is proving a more difficult proposition."

DiZASTiX writes "An article at MSNBC says, Orangutans share distinct "tricks of the trade" for feeding, nesting and communicating. Scientists say these behaviors represent humanlike culture. The discovery offers tantalizing new clues about our own evolution. By documenting these behaviors scientists are finding more and more information on our past. We may be more related to monkeys than we think."

fader writes: "On gnome.org is an article indicating that there are now GTK bindings for C#. Basically, when combined with MONO, this means that you should be able to write at least some rudimentary .NET applications for GNOME." Update: 04/12 00:30 GMT by T : Hetz points out that Qt already has this capability (also in Alpha): here's a link to the Qt-CSharp project, and a proof-of-concept screenshot as well.

Stargazer writes "Scott Draeker, of Loki Entertainment Software (the company porting Civ3 to Linux if you haven't been paying attention) has an article featured in Game Developer Magazine (sorry, no online version). While most of the article focuses on the strengths of Linux, he does go into the power open-source can give to games -- namely, well-designed developer kits and the ability to modify the OS to the game's needs. Heavy stuff, considering all the craziness among distributions that could cause... " BTW, having recieved my copy of the beta for Civ:CFP. Wow. I'm salivating for the review/final version.

cyril sent this cartoon over with an interesting take on world domination, while no-s sent an interesting picture high-lighting some of the problems with X Proliferation. President John F. Kennedy has announced volume 1 of PROPAGANDA-check it out for Desktop enhancements. It also appears that X11.org needs some assistance with news updating. If you can help out send mail to xteam@x11.org. Finally, I got one of the most interesting pleas from Eric Savage. If you are living in the Boston area, and want high-bandwidth living, click below for his plea. ...Two, our apartment has a dual T1 connection because we run several ISP' s (www.jerky.net and www.hotpop.com). This makes it pretty appealing to most nerdy types. We're looking for two roommates.

Its in Boston (Mission Hill) and the rent is $420/month.

I understand if you can't help, but we would be grateful if you could.

Thanks

Eric Savage
esavage@hotpop.com

cyril sent this cartoon over with an interesting take on world domination, while no-s sent an interesting picture high-lighting some of the problems with X Proliferation. President John F. Kennedy has announced volume 1 of PROPAGANDA-check it out for Desktop enhancements. It also appears that X11.org needs some assistance with news updating. If you can help out send mail to xteam@x11.org. Finally, I got one of the most interesting pleas from Eric Savage. If you are living in the Boston area, and want high-bandwidth living, click below for his plea. ...Two, our apartment has a dual T1 connection because we run several ISP' s (www.jerky.net and www.hotpop.com). This makes it pretty appealing to most nerdy types. We're looking for two roommates.

Its in Boston (Mission Hill) and the rent is $420/month.

I understand if you can't help, but we would be grateful if you could.

Thanks

Eric Savage
esavage@hotpop.com