Slashdot Mirror

First time accepted submitter Bas_Wijnen writes "3D printing is being condemned in the media because of the potential for printing guns. Engineers at Michigan Tech believe there is far more potential for 3D printers to make our lives better rather than killing one another. To encourage thinking about constructive uses of 3D printing technology Michigan Tech Open Sustainability Technology (MOST) Lab and Type A Machines sponsor the first 3-D Printers for Peace Contest. Designers are encouraged to consider: If Mother Theresa of Ghandi had access to 3D printing what would they print? What kind of designs could help reduce military spending and conflict while making us all safer and more secure? Anyone in the United States may enter and there is no cost."

First time accepted submitter Bas_Wijnen writes "3D printing is being condemned in the media because of the potential for printing guns. Engineers at Michigan Tech believe there is far more potential for 3D printers to make our lives better rather than killing one another. To encourage thinking about constructive uses of 3D printing technology Michigan Tech Open Sustainability Technology (MOST) Lab and Type A Machines sponsor the first 3-D Printers for Peace Contest. Designers are encouraged to consider: If Mother Theresa of Ghandi had access to 3D printing what would they print? What kind of designs could help reduce military spending and conflict while making us all safer and more secure? Anyone in the United States may enter and there is no cost."

An anonymous reader writes with the latest advance in the quest for a cloak of invisibility (Michigan Tech University's press release). We've been following this research as it develops; here are stories from each of the last four years. "Invisibility cloaks are slowly working their way up to shorter wavelengths — starting at millimeter-long microwaves and working their way to the nanometer wavelengths of visible light. EETimes says we are about half way there — micrometer wavelengths — in this story about using chalcogenide glass to create invisibility cloaks in the infrared. Quoting: 'Invisibility cloaks cast in chalcogenide glass can render objects invisible to infrared frequencies of light, according to researchers at Michigan Technological University... Most other demonstrations of invisibility cloaks have used metamaterials composed of free-space split-ring resonators that were constructed from metal printed-circuit board traces surrounded by traditional dielectric material. The Michigan Tech researchers... claim that by substituting nonmetallic glass resonators made from chalcogenide glass, infrared cloaks are possible too...'"

Volkov137 asks: "As I ponder where to go after high school for a future job in Network Administration, I have a couple of choices. Either go to a University and get a 4-year bachelors degree in Computer Networking and Administration, or go to a 2-year trade school that will be much more focused on what I need to know. Is the University really worth paying for, and will it mean anything more in today's IT world? Also, how important are certifications (Network+, Cisco, Linux+, etc) when entering this job market?"

mediareport writes "Science News offers a timely antidote to simplistic mumbo-jumbo about the "mythical power" of animal earthquake detection. Anyone intrigued by reports of possible tsunami-avoidance behavior in Sri Lankan wildlife will enjoy this detailed examination of the latest research into low-frequency sound. Elephant rumblings that produce Rayleigh waves are now under serious study for the first time, while others are designing "highly unusual" experiments to test infrasound sensitivity in humans."

neutron_p writes "Ground-breaking work to investigate the migratory movements of marine turtles in the UK Overseas Territories began on the Caribbean "Emerald Isle" of Montserrat this week. Staff from Government of Montserrat attached a satellite transmitter to 'Montserrat', a 150kg green turtle, which will enable her migratory movements to be logged from space and followed live on the internet at http://seaturtle.org/tracking/ Since leaving Montserrat's shores she has already passed through the waters of St Kitts and Nevis but where will she stop? Picture is here."

Rade T. writes "Reuters UK reports that HP, the No. 1 personal computer and computer printer maker, said on Wednesday that its putting its weight behind personal computers that run the Linux operating system. I guess this is the first serious step towards solving the problems that Linux faces on the Desktop/Laptop."

kudyadi writes "BBC News has an article on the threat posed to extremophiles by anxious prospectors ready to exploit their unique nature. Potential discoveries include glycoprotein, which prevents Antarctic fish from freezing, and an extract from green algae for use in cosmetic skin treatment, and anti-tumour properties in a strain of yeast. This article explains the issue more lucidly, but in the end, one must consider the environmental ramifications of this biological exploitation before moving ahead full scale. So how is Tux in danger? Let me remind you of a thing called the food chain and then read this."

carambola5 writes "No, this isn't a dupe from a year ago. The University of Wisconsin-Madison team has taken the FutureTruck title for the second year in a row. The overall goals of the competition are to modify an existing Ford Explorer (make and model dependant on year) to improve fuel economy and greenhouse gas emissions while maintaining or exceeding customer expectations. The University of California-Davis team took 2nd, with Michigan Tech, Georgia Tech, and Penn State following close behind. Speaking as a member of the winning team, I am quite sure that all of the students and advisors from the participating teams are well-deserving of appreciation after those many, many hours of preparation." Too bad Ford isn't actually using any of this hard work. One thing to note: The FutureTruck website still has to be updated with the winning info.

mcdude writes "The president of Michigan Technological University has responded to the RIAA suit against one of his students, accusing the RIAA of encouraging cooperation with universities but then bypassing those procedures with the current suit. Curtis Tompkins says, 'I am very disappointed that the RIAA decided to take this action in this manner. As a fully cooperating site, we would have expected the courtesy of being notified early and allowing us to take action following established procedures, instead of allowing it to get to the point of lawsuits and publicity.'" Attention universities: lawsuits are your reward for being a "fully-cooperating site". If you missed the lawsuit news, see our earlier story.

mcdude writes "The president of Michigan Technological University has responded to the RIAA suit against one of his students, accusing the RIAA of encouraging cooperation with universities but then bypassing those procedures with the current suit. Curtis Tompkins says, 'I am very disappointed that the RIAA decided to take this action in this manner. As a fully cooperating site, we would have expected the courtesy of being notified early and allowing us to take action following established procedures, instead of allowing it to get to the point of lawsuits and publicity.'" Attention universities: lawsuits are your reward for being a "fully-cooperating site". If you missed the lawsuit news, see our earlier story.

pazu13 writes "The RIAA is taking action against college "Napster networks". It's suing four network operators, two at Renssalaer Polytechnic Institute, one at Princeton University, and one at Michigan Technological University. Don't know where this is going, but I'm afraid it might get significantly harder for humble college students such as myself to sample an artist's music before going out and buying a disc... my speed across the network is ridiculously faster than when I try to access outside sources."

Jon Kincade writes "The Register has an article about Phoenix Technologies cME software that allows users on anything from servers to embedded systems to run diagnostics, browse the web and other things without having to boot into a full fledged OS. The primary use seems to be recovery from system crashes. Also, this may explain why the Phoenix browser was asked to change its name a few months ago."

dr_delete sent in a story about Athens, Georgia joining the ranks of municipalities creating free public wireless networks. In a counterpoint to that, we have the Pentagon cracking down on wireless devices, trying to control information leakage. And Newsforge has a story about starting your own wireless ISP. Nifty stuff.

jurasource writes "The BBC is running an article about the Aurora Australis, or the southern lights, as opposed to Aurora Borealis, the northen lights. Apparently these pictures are quite rare as hardly anyone lives at the south pole during the winter, and who can blame them !"

Keith Kris writes, "Looks like Virginia [its House of Representatives] has passed the UCITA, got it through unanimously, too. This needs to be stopped quickly. Many people don't even know what this act is. Spread the word." Microsoft, AOL and the Business Software Alliance are pushing this heavily. Virginians, you need to call your state senators immediately since they're still considering the bill. Tell them who you are, tell them you're a constituent, tell them you oppose passage of UCITA because it will destroy consumer rights.

Stephen Adler wrote a follow up to his article on the Slashdot Effect on the Meta Slashdot Effect. Its the effect of the article about the effect. I found it funny. Cheshire Cat sent us a link to Allcam.com which is a Yahoo-style page devoted solely to web cams. James Morris sent us a link to Linux Australia which has another tux logo. Jeff Hartmann sent us a link to a cute little Ice Penguin from Michigan Technological University's Winter Carnival '99. Surprised someone sobered up long enough to make it. MTU has a great campus though they need something besides snow cows. netweasel sent us a link to an Apple Ad that you will like. Patrik Rådman sent us a "pootified" version of slashdot. Adam Muntner sent us something that we all need: Virtual Crack zzg sent us a link to a bizarre page of cool stuff like ion guns and plasma pens (oh my)

Jon Frisby wrote in to plug his Linux Based and Linux Focued Job Search Engine Brain Power. gr0k sent us a goofy rap by Netmaster 10baseT which you might enjoy, but then again, you may not. I laughed outloud. I was also unable to maintain enough beat to rap along. Mr. Black sent us a link to Stairway to Middle Earth: a page that tracks Tolkein/Zeppelin References. Believe it or not. Hans sent us a link to Stormtrouper Costume HOWTO. Suddenly my fashion sense seems award winning. And finally, Adam Wright wrote in to send us an amusing anecdote: "Some people claim that RedHat Linux 5.2 is not easy to install. Well, my roommate Andy Burchett, has decided to prove those poor lost souls wrong. He installed RH5.2 with his nose. Yes, he used his nose to type ALL stuff for the installation. The installation was started at 10:47pm EST, and was concluded at 11:24pm EST. Andy encourages all Linux users to try using their Linux in new and different ways."

Jon Frisby wrote in to plug his Linux Based and Linux Focued Job Search Engine Brain Power. gr0k sent us a goofy rap by Netmaster 10baseT which you might enjoy, but then again, you may not. I laughed outloud. I was also unable to maintain enough beat to rap along. Mr. Black sent us a link to Stairway to Middle Earth: a page that tracks Tolkein/Zeppelin References. Believe it or not. Hans sent us a link to Stormtrouper Costume HOWTO. Suddenly my fashion sense seems award winning. And finally, Adam Wright wrote in to send us an amusing anecdote: "Some people claim that RedHat Linux 5.2 is not easy to install. Well, my roommate Andy Burchett, has decided to prove those poor lost souls wrong. He installed RH5.2 with his nose. Yes, he used his nose to type ALL stuff for the installation. The installation was started at 10:47pm EST, and was concluded at 11:24pm EST. Andy encourages all Linux users to try using their Linux in new and different ways."

James Bialas writes "CNN's Digitial Jam had a quick blurb on some new encryption software from IBM which they plan to distribute for free. Supposedly this technique can prevent active attacks on encrypted transactions. No info on IBM's web page yet." I'm sure we've all heard about the software before, but this is a nice little writeup. Check it out.

John Hartnup sent us a Perl Script for tracking stuff that happens at Distributed.net. Speaking of Which, Slashdot has broken into the top 10 overall! Keep it going folks! Next, Matthew Kirkwood sent us a link to link to another linux support site. Third, Jesse Off sent us a link to another one of those silly You know you're a nerd when. Mostly Unix jokes. Pretty good. Next, Jason Poll sent us a link to a collection of online books, the site includes programming and Linux books apparently. Continuing along, David Sinck sent us a link to one of those James Bond super cars with fancy video doo dads. This one has instructions to build your own if you have tons of cash to drop on all sorts of strange hardware. It's really pretty cool. Lastly, Harry McKee sent us a link to an article about a Telepathic Clapper. Hopefully they can come up with an ad campaign less obnoxious than 'Clap On/Clap Off'

As per my norm, here is a few tidbits worth checking out: Mike Baker mentioned his Root Tail program which allows you to do some spiffy stuff on your root window with syslogs and stuff. Second we have A Sysadmins Journal from the Future written by Bart Dorsey. It's worth a read, and a wish *grin*. Updates Couple More: Trae warned us that Themes.org has it's second Guest Tile up:Raster's! And We also have a parody of ESR's CatB by Martin Hock , called, well *ahem* The Circus Midget and the Fossilized Dinosaur Turd. Read carefully.