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Domain: nyud.net

Stories and comments across the archive that link to nyud.net.

Stories · 155

  1. Nemesis, the Sun's Binary Star Companion?

    Science · Space · · posted by Zonk · from the burning-brother dept. · 271 comments
    0xC2 writes "The Binary Companion or 'Nemesis' theory asserts that a yet-to-be discovered companion to our Sun may actually exist. Recent observations of two nearby stars (assumed companions) show debris disks 'strikingly like the Kuiper Belt int the outer part of our Solar System'. The Binary Research Institute site is devoted to the theory, and presents a concise introduction, list of evidence, and sample calculations in support of the theory. A fascinating read, although the physics and related calculations are not trivial." Has the 'unique theory on the internet' vibe to it, but interesting nonetheless.

  2. New iMac disassembled

    Apple · Hardhack · · posted by Hemos · from the rip-it-to-shreds dept. · 277 comments
    wild_berry writes "Found, via Ars Technica's Apple journal, Infinite Loop, a Japanese site disassembling Intel Core Duo iMac. Clint, from the Ars blog, points out that the Core Duo processor is socket-mounted, allowing for possible upgrades, unlike the IBM chips which were soldered to the PCB's. Please use the - cached pages."

  3. New iMac disassembled

    Apple · Hardhack · · posted by Hemos · from the rip-it-to-shreds dept. · 277 comments
    wild_berry writes "Found, via Ars Technica's Apple journal, Infinite Loop, a Japanese site disassembling Intel Core Duo iMac. Clint, from the Ars blog, points out that the Core Duo processor is socket-mounted, allowing for possible upgrades, unlike the IBM chips which were soldered to the PCB's. Please use the - cached pages."

  4. RFID Cookware

    Tech · Technology · · posted by CmdrTaco · from the never-burn-your-water-again dept. · 133 comments
    HaggiZ writes "Vitacraft are claiming to have what they call RFIQin Robotic Cookware (unfortunate name). It's basically pots and pans that you can place RFID cooking cards in the handle with. The communicate with the induction stove 16 times a second to adjust the cooking when required. Neat idea, although I'm not sure anything I cook needs to have it's temperature reviewed or adjusted every 0.06 of a second." For all the evil uses of RFID that have been floated over the years, it's nice to see that someone is going to finally make it so I stop burning my lunch.

  5. RFID Cookware

    Tech · Technology · · posted by CmdrTaco · from the never-burn-your-water-again dept. · 133 comments
    HaggiZ writes "Vitacraft are claiming to have what they call RFIQin Robotic Cookware (unfortunate name). It's basically pots and pans that you can place RFID cooking cards in the handle with. The communicate with the induction stove 16 times a second to adjust the cooking when required. Neat idea, although I'm not sure anything I cook needs to have it's temperature reviewed or adjusted every 0.06 of a second." For all the evil uses of RFID that have been floated over the years, it's nice to see that someone is going to finally make it so I stop burning my lunch.

  6. Students Compete at Video Game Creation

    Games · Education · · posted by CmdrTaco · from the games-people-make dept. · 147 comments
    zalas writes "Stanford's computer graphics class holds a video game writing competition each year at the end of the term, and this year's results are finally online. You can download all the finalist entries from the website. The winning entries featured very original game concepts, such as sending a spiked soccer ball through wormhole planets or infesting a growing maze of cheese with mold. Judges at the competition included representatives from Electronic Arts, Microsoft and the creator of Pong, Allan Alcorn. Ironically enough, the winners of the wacky category who received a voucher for an XBOX360 wrote a game that only worked on OSX laptops with the drop-protection motion sensors."

  7. Scanjet Music

    Hardware · Hardhack · · posted by Hemos · from the the-hills-are-alive dept. · 240 comments
    Popadopolis writes "Hack a day is reporting that HP Scanjets have a hidden ability to play music. According to the article, "The HP ScanJet 3c/4c have a variable speed scan head that is driven by a stepper motor. The Play Tune command can be used to move the head at different frequencies." They also have a video of a scanner playing "Fur Elise.""

  8. Crossing America on a Segway

    Tech · Movies · · posted by Hemos · from the like-going-from-holland-to-utah-in-one-sitting dept. · 224 comments
    Harald Paulsen writes "What do you do if you are tired of working in a cubicle and want to escape the Office Space? Two guys asked themselves this and decided to go across America on a Segway, making a documentary of their road trip. A trailer is available and the movie might show up at Sundance."

  9. Getting Around PDF Rights Restrictions?

    Ask · Software · · posted by Cliff · from the users-have-rights-too dept. · 21 comments
    RedBear asks: "It is common these days for government agencies to offer official forms online as fillable PDF forms. What is not so common is for them to offer 'rights-enabled' versions of these PDF forms that can be filled, saved locally and changed using free the Adobe Acrobat Reader PDF software. I'm sure many of you have experienced this phenomenon: You take the time to fill in a PDF form online and then discover that the only way to retain your changes is to print it. What cross-platform methods exist to allow common users to save filled PDF forms in a way that will allow easy future editing, without costing hundreds of dollars? FOSS software is of course preferable, and cross-platform between at least Mac and Windows is essential." "The main problem is this: At a small non-profit I do tech support, for it would cost hundreds of dollars to outfit just a few client computers with the full version of Adobe Acrobat, which is the only way to let their users save and update the government PDF forms they use. The official Adobe method for creating 'rights-enabled' PDF forms is currently by using Adobe LiveCycle Reader Extensions. As is typical for 'enterprise' software, you won't easily find a price for it online, only a link to contact Adobe. A line on this page that says something about it costing 'several thousands of dollars'. Talks with the document creators (state government agency) to get them to create 'rights-enabled' versions of these documents have predictably gone nowhere. I thought PDF was a relatively open format, so the question is what alternatives exist to let small agencies, or even individuals, either save the forms in a portable/re-editable manner with some inexpensive extra software or completely bypass the restrictions the same way that LiveCycle Reader Extensions does?

    Adobe notes that LiveCycle Reader Extensions enables 'hidden functionality' in Adobe Acrobat Reader software. I'm assuming this doesn't mean just flipping a bit in the file, or this would already be easy to do with some third-party software. I'm also assuming that PDF password crackers have nothing to do with adding this functionality. Last but not least I'm assuming that even if a rights-enabled PDF document is obtained the additional functionality of saving and re-editing forms will only work in Adobe Acrobat Reader and not in other free PDF viewer applications like Apple's Preview.app, xpdf, Foxit PDF Reader, etc. This last isn't really a technical problem since Acrobat Reader 5.1 or later is available for Mac, Win32 and Linux. Any corrections to the above assumptions would be very welcome.

    Alternatives we have found so far:
    • A website that offers inexpensive conversion of the PDF document into a rights-enabled version. Would have to be used for every form and every new version of the form that came out. Anyone used this service? Is it legit and/or legal? How are they doing the conversion? If they can do it, why can't we do it locally? What exactly is involved with creating a rights-enabled PDF anyway?
    • One cross-platform commercial software product (pdf-FormServer)that seems to offer the ability to save and re-edit PDF forms for under $45 per computer. Available for Mac OS X and Windows. A lot cheaper than Acrobat but would still need to be on every computer used by clients. Not cheap for a non-profit on a shoe-string budget. Anyone using this software care to comment? How seamless is it?
    Supplemental question: Can this problem be put into the light of being an accessibility issue to help motivate these government agencies to comply with the current online accessibility laws? My hunch is no, since it's only about saving the filled form that you've already accessed, but maybe we can work in something about not being able to use the form(s) offline? (Which would be possible with a rights-enabled version of the documents and any local copy of Acrobat Reader.) The IRS website notes that every PDF form they provide after October 25, 2004 will be rights-enabled. Are they doing it solely for user convenience or are they complying with some official government policy that we can reference? Any thoughts?

    Note that all links have been coralized, so remove '.nyud.net:8090' from the domain name if you really want to /. the original website.    "

  10. Getting Around PDF Rights Restrictions?

    Ask · Software · · posted by Cliff · from the users-have-rights-too dept. · 21 comments
    RedBear asks: "It is common these days for government agencies to offer official forms online as fillable PDF forms. What is not so common is for them to offer 'rights-enabled' versions of these PDF forms that can be filled, saved locally and changed using free the Adobe Acrobat Reader PDF software. I'm sure many of you have experienced this phenomenon: You take the time to fill in a PDF form online and then discover that the only way to retain your changes is to print it. What cross-platform methods exist to allow common users to save filled PDF forms in a way that will allow easy future editing, without costing hundreds of dollars? FOSS software is of course preferable, and cross-platform between at least Mac and Windows is essential." "The main problem is this: At a small non-profit I do tech support, for it would cost hundreds of dollars to outfit just a few client computers with the full version of Adobe Acrobat, which is the only way to let their users save and update the government PDF forms they use. The official Adobe method for creating 'rights-enabled' PDF forms is currently by using Adobe LiveCycle Reader Extensions. As is typical for 'enterprise' software, you won't easily find a price for it online, only a link to contact Adobe. A line on this page that says something about it costing 'several thousands of dollars'. Talks with the document creators (state government agency) to get them to create 'rights-enabled' versions of these documents have predictably gone nowhere. I thought PDF was a relatively open format, so the question is what alternatives exist to let small agencies, or even individuals, either save the forms in a portable/re-editable manner with some inexpensive extra software or completely bypass the restrictions the same way that LiveCycle Reader Extensions does?

    Adobe notes that LiveCycle Reader Extensions enables 'hidden functionality' in Adobe Acrobat Reader software. I'm assuming this doesn't mean just flipping a bit in the file, or this would already be easy to do with some third-party software. I'm also assuming that PDF password crackers have nothing to do with adding this functionality. Last but not least I'm assuming that even if a rights-enabled PDF document is obtained the additional functionality of saving and re-editing forms will only work in Adobe Acrobat Reader and not in other free PDF viewer applications like Apple's Preview.app, xpdf, Foxit PDF Reader, etc. This last isn't really a technical problem since Acrobat Reader 5.1 or later is available for Mac, Win32 and Linux. Any corrections to the above assumptions would be very welcome.

    Alternatives we have found so far:
    • A website that offers inexpensive conversion of the PDF document into a rights-enabled version. Would have to be used for every form and every new version of the form that came out. Anyone used this service? Is it legit and/or legal? How are they doing the conversion? If they can do it, why can't we do it locally? What exactly is involved with creating a rights-enabled PDF anyway?
    • One cross-platform commercial software product (pdf-FormServer)that seems to offer the ability to save and re-edit PDF forms for under $45 per computer. Available for Mac OS X and Windows. A lot cheaper than Acrobat but would still need to be on every computer used by clients. Not cheap for a non-profit on a shoe-string budget. Anyone using this software care to comment? How seamless is it?
    Supplemental question: Can this problem be put into the light of being an accessibility issue to help motivate these government agencies to comply with the current online accessibility laws? My hunch is no, since it's only about saving the filled form that you've already accessed, but maybe we can work in something about not being able to use the form(s) offline? (Which would be possible with a rights-enabled version of the documents and any local copy of Acrobat Reader.) The IRS website notes that every PDF form they provide after October 25, 2004 will be rights-enabled. Are they doing it solely for user convenience or are they complying with some official government policy that we can reference? Any thoughts?

    Note that all links have been coralized, so remove '.nyud.net:8090' from the domain name if you really want to /. the original website.    "

  11. Getting Around PDF Rights Restrictions?

    Ask · Software · · posted by Cliff · from the users-have-rights-too dept. · 21 comments
    RedBear asks: "It is common these days for government agencies to offer official forms online as fillable PDF forms. What is not so common is for them to offer 'rights-enabled' versions of these PDF forms that can be filled, saved locally and changed using free the Adobe Acrobat Reader PDF software. I'm sure many of you have experienced this phenomenon: You take the time to fill in a PDF form online and then discover that the only way to retain your changes is to print it. What cross-platform methods exist to allow common users to save filled PDF forms in a way that will allow easy future editing, without costing hundreds of dollars? FOSS software is of course preferable, and cross-platform between at least Mac and Windows is essential." "The main problem is this: At a small non-profit I do tech support, for it would cost hundreds of dollars to outfit just a few client computers with the full version of Adobe Acrobat, which is the only way to let their users save and update the government PDF forms they use. The official Adobe method for creating 'rights-enabled' PDF forms is currently by using Adobe LiveCycle Reader Extensions. As is typical for 'enterprise' software, you won't easily find a price for it online, only a link to contact Adobe. A line on this page that says something about it costing 'several thousands of dollars'. Talks with the document creators (state government agency) to get them to create 'rights-enabled' versions of these documents have predictably gone nowhere. I thought PDF was a relatively open format, so the question is what alternatives exist to let small agencies, or even individuals, either save the forms in a portable/re-editable manner with some inexpensive extra software or completely bypass the restrictions the same way that LiveCycle Reader Extensions does?

    Adobe notes that LiveCycle Reader Extensions enables 'hidden functionality' in Adobe Acrobat Reader software. I'm assuming this doesn't mean just flipping a bit in the file, or this would already be easy to do with some third-party software. I'm also assuming that PDF password crackers have nothing to do with adding this functionality. Last but not least I'm assuming that even if a rights-enabled PDF document is obtained the additional functionality of saving and re-editing forms will only work in Adobe Acrobat Reader and not in other free PDF viewer applications like Apple's Preview.app, xpdf, Foxit PDF Reader, etc. This last isn't really a technical problem since Acrobat Reader 5.1 or later is available for Mac, Win32 and Linux. Any corrections to the above assumptions would be very welcome.

    Alternatives we have found so far:
    • A website that offers inexpensive conversion of the PDF document into a rights-enabled version. Would have to be used for every form and every new version of the form that came out. Anyone used this service? Is it legit and/or legal? How are they doing the conversion? If they can do it, why can't we do it locally? What exactly is involved with creating a rights-enabled PDF anyway?
    • One cross-platform commercial software product (pdf-FormServer)that seems to offer the ability to save and re-edit PDF forms for under $45 per computer. Available for Mac OS X and Windows. A lot cheaper than Acrobat but would still need to be on every computer used by clients. Not cheap for a non-profit on a shoe-string budget. Anyone using this software care to comment? How seamless is it?
    Supplemental question: Can this problem be put into the light of being an accessibility issue to help motivate these government agencies to comply with the current online accessibility laws? My hunch is no, since it's only about saving the filled form that you've already accessed, but maybe we can work in something about not being able to use the form(s) offline? (Which would be possible with a rights-enabled version of the documents and any local copy of Acrobat Reader.) The IRS website notes that every PDF form they provide after October 25, 2004 will be rights-enabled. Are they doing it solely for user convenience or are they complying with some official government policy that we can reference? Any thoughts?

    Note that all links have been coralized, so remove '.nyud.net:8090' from the domain name if you really want to /. the original website.    "

  12. Getting Around PDF Rights Restrictions?

    Ask · Software · · posted by Cliff · from the users-have-rights-too dept. · 21 comments
    RedBear asks: "It is common these days for government agencies to offer official forms online as fillable PDF forms. What is not so common is for them to offer 'rights-enabled' versions of these PDF forms that can be filled, saved locally and changed using free the Adobe Acrobat Reader PDF software. I'm sure many of you have experienced this phenomenon: You take the time to fill in a PDF form online and then discover that the only way to retain your changes is to print it. What cross-platform methods exist to allow common users to save filled PDF forms in a way that will allow easy future editing, without costing hundreds of dollars? FOSS software is of course preferable, and cross-platform between at least Mac and Windows is essential." "The main problem is this: At a small non-profit I do tech support, for it would cost hundreds of dollars to outfit just a few client computers with the full version of Adobe Acrobat, which is the only way to let their users save and update the government PDF forms they use. The official Adobe method for creating 'rights-enabled' PDF forms is currently by using Adobe LiveCycle Reader Extensions. As is typical for 'enterprise' software, you won't easily find a price for it online, only a link to contact Adobe. A line on this page that says something about it costing 'several thousands of dollars'. Talks with the document creators (state government agency) to get them to create 'rights-enabled' versions of these documents have predictably gone nowhere. I thought PDF was a relatively open format, so the question is what alternatives exist to let small agencies, or even individuals, either save the forms in a portable/re-editable manner with some inexpensive extra software or completely bypass the restrictions the same way that LiveCycle Reader Extensions does?

    Adobe notes that LiveCycle Reader Extensions enables 'hidden functionality' in Adobe Acrobat Reader software. I'm assuming this doesn't mean just flipping a bit in the file, or this would already be easy to do with some third-party software. I'm also assuming that PDF password crackers have nothing to do with adding this functionality. Last but not least I'm assuming that even if a rights-enabled PDF document is obtained the additional functionality of saving and re-editing forms will only work in Adobe Acrobat Reader and not in other free PDF viewer applications like Apple's Preview.app, xpdf, Foxit PDF Reader, etc. This last isn't really a technical problem since Acrobat Reader 5.1 or later is available for Mac, Win32 and Linux. Any corrections to the above assumptions would be very welcome.

    Alternatives we have found so far:
    • A website that offers inexpensive conversion of the PDF document into a rights-enabled version. Would have to be used for every form and every new version of the form that came out. Anyone used this service? Is it legit and/or legal? How are they doing the conversion? If they can do it, why can't we do it locally? What exactly is involved with creating a rights-enabled PDF anyway?
    • One cross-platform commercial software product (pdf-FormServer)that seems to offer the ability to save and re-edit PDF forms for under $45 per computer. Available for Mac OS X and Windows. A lot cheaper than Acrobat but would still need to be on every computer used by clients. Not cheap for a non-profit on a shoe-string budget. Anyone using this software care to comment? How seamless is it?
    Supplemental question: Can this problem be put into the light of being an accessibility issue to help motivate these government agencies to comply with the current online accessibility laws? My hunch is no, since it's only about saving the filled form that you've already accessed, but maybe we can work in something about not being able to use the form(s) offline? (Which would be possible with a rights-enabled version of the documents and any local copy of Acrobat Reader.) The IRS website notes that every PDF form they provide after October 25, 2004 will be rights-enabled. Are they doing it solely for user convenience or are they complying with some official government policy that we can reference? Any thoughts?

    Note that all links have been coralized, so remove '.nyud.net:8090' from the domain name if you really want to /. the original website.    "

  13. Stem Cells to Treat Brain Injury in Children

    Science · Biotech · · posted by samzenpus · from the grow-a-better-brain dept. · 222 comments
    BigDukeSix writes "The first stem cell trial with widespread public health implications is set to begin in Houston. From the article: "Trauma is far and away the main cause of death and disability among children, and the main reason children die from trauma is brain injury...The clinical trial is the first to apply stem cells to treat traumatic brain injury. It does not involve embryonic stem cells.""

  14. Stem Cells to Treat Brain Injury in Children

    Science · Biotech · · posted by samzenpus · from the grow-a-better-brain dept. · 222 comments
    BigDukeSix writes "The first stem cell trial with widespread public health implications is set to begin in Houston. From the article: "Trauma is far and away the main cause of death and disability among children, and the main reason children die from trauma is brain injury...The clinical trial is the first to apply stem cells to treat traumatic brain injury. It does not involve embryonic stem cells.""

  15. Hacking Santa

    Hardware · Hardhack · · posted by CmdrTaco · from the because-you-can dept. · 204 comments
    Inigo Montoya writes "Josh McCormick outlines how he has hacked a 5-foot tall, $49.84 Wal*Mart animated dancing and singing Santa into saying and doing things his creator, Gemmy, just hadn't intended him to do. With some outboard electronics hacked into the right places, Josh has made this Santa sound and act like a drunken old mall santa on Christmas Eve. There is also a video too."

  16. Hacking Santa

    Hardware · Hardhack · · posted by CmdrTaco · from the because-you-can dept. · 204 comments
    Inigo Montoya writes "Josh McCormick outlines how he has hacked a 5-foot tall, $49.84 Wal*Mart animated dancing and singing Santa into saying and doing things his creator, Gemmy, just hadn't intended him to do. With some outboard electronics hacked into the right places, Josh has made this Santa sound and act like a drunken old mall santa on Christmas Eve. There is also a video too."

  17. Bionic Hands to Become a Reality Soon?

    Science · Biotech · · posted by ScuttleMonkey · from the can-you-handle-it dept. · 188 comments
    Spy der Mann writes "A highly dexterous, bio-inspired artificial hand and sensory system that could provide patients with active feeling, is being developed by a European project called cyberhand. The final prototype includes sensors for tension, force, joint angle, end stroke and contact."

  18. MD5 Collision Source Code Released

    It · Security · · posted by Zonk · from the collisiontacular dept. · 411 comments
    SiliconEntity writes "The crypto world was shaken to its roots last year with the announcement of a new algorithm to find collisions in the still widely-used MD5 hash algorithm. Despite considerable work and commentary since then, no source code for finding such collisions has been published. Until today! Patrick Stach has announced the availability of his source code for finding MD5 collisions and MD4 collisions (Coral cache links provided to prevent slashdotting). MD4 collisions can be found in a few seconds (but nobody uses that any more), while MD5 collisions (still being used!) take 45 minutes on a 1.6 GHz P4. At last we will be able to implement various attacks which have been purely hypothetical until now. This more than anything should be the final stake in the heart of MD5, now that anyone can generate collisions whenever they want."

  19. MD5 Collision Source Code Released

    It · Security · · posted by Zonk · from the collisiontacular dept. · 411 comments
    SiliconEntity writes "The crypto world was shaken to its roots last year with the announcement of a new algorithm to find collisions in the still widely-used MD5 hash algorithm. Despite considerable work and commentary since then, no source code for finding such collisions has been published. Until today! Patrick Stach has announced the availability of his source code for finding MD5 collisions and MD4 collisions (Coral cache links provided to prevent slashdotting). MD4 collisions can be found in a few seconds (but nobody uses that any more), while MD5 collisions (still being used!) take 45 minutes on a 1.6 GHz P4. At last we will be able to implement various attacks which have been purely hypothetical until now. This more than anything should be the final stake in the heart of MD5, now that anyone can generate collisions whenever they want."

  20. MD5 Collision Source Code Released

    It · Security · · posted by Zonk · from the collisiontacular dept. · 411 comments
    SiliconEntity writes "The crypto world was shaken to its roots last year with the announcement of a new algorithm to find collisions in the still widely-used MD5 hash algorithm. Despite considerable work and commentary since then, no source code for finding such collisions has been published. Until today! Patrick Stach has announced the availability of his source code for finding MD5 collisions and MD4 collisions (Coral cache links provided to prevent slashdotting). MD4 collisions can be found in a few seconds (but nobody uses that any more), while MD5 collisions (still being used!) take 45 minutes on a 1.6 GHz P4. At last we will be able to implement various attacks which have been purely hypothetical until now. This more than anything should be the final stake in the heart of MD5, now that anyone can generate collisions whenever they want."

  21. SCO Demands Linux 2.7 Information

    Yro · Court · · posted by Zonk · from the not-so-fast dept. · 410 comments
    dr_d_19 writes "According to Groklaw, SCO is now demanding IBM to turn over 'all documents concerning IBM's contributions to the Linux 2.7 kernel, including development work'. Of course, there is no 2.7 kernel and no plans at all to create one."

  22. Snooping Through Walls with Microwaves

    Science · Privacy · · posted by ScuttleMonkey · from the time-to-buy-stock-in-tinfoil dept. · 217 comments
    denis-The-menace writes "According to an article from newscientist, scientists have devised a system to use microwave energy for surveillance. If people are speaking inside the room, any flimsy surface, such as clothing, will be vibrating. This modulates the radio beam reflected from the surface. Although the radio reflection that passes back through the wall is extremely faint, the kind of electronic extraction and signal cleaning tricks used by NASA to decode signals in space can be used to extract speech. Although, I doubt it would work in this room"

  23. Snooping Through Walls with Microwaves

    Science · Privacy · · posted by ScuttleMonkey · from the time-to-buy-stock-in-tinfoil dept. · 217 comments
    denis-The-menace writes "According to an article from newscientist, scientists have devised a system to use microwave energy for surveillance. If people are speaking inside the room, any flimsy surface, such as clothing, will be vibrating. This modulates the radio beam reflected from the surface. Although the radio reflection that passes back through the wall is extremely faint, the kind of electronic extraction and signal cleaning tricks used by NASA to decode signals in space can be used to extract speech. Although, I doubt it would work in this room"

  24. VoIP Backlash From Phone Companies

    Tech · Communications · · posted by Zonk · from the free-calls-can-cost dept. · 281 comments
    denis-The-menace writes "An article from the online edition of IEEE Spectrum says phone companies in France, Germany, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have announced they will block VoIP calls on their networks. Using new software from Narus Inc., the carriers can detect data packets belonging to VoIP applications and block the calls. Gotta love Ma Bell." From the article: "Narus's software does far more than just frustrate Skype users. It can also diagnose, and react to, denial-of-service attacks and dangerous viruses and worms as they wiggle through a network. It makes possible digital wiretaps, a capability that carriers are required by law to have. However, these positive applications for Narus's software may not be enough to make Internet users warm to its use. 'Protecting its network is a legitimate thing for a carrier to do ... But it's another thing for a Comcast to charge more if I use my own TiVo instead of the personal video recorder they provide, or for Time Warner, which owns CNN, to charge a premium if I want to watch Fox News on my computer.'"

  25. Lunar Eclipse October 17 12:00 GMT

    Science · Moon · · posted by ScuttleMonkey · from the coming-to-a-store-near-you dept. · 33 comments
    saskboy writes "Space Weather gives viewing instructions for tonight's partial lunar eclipse. 'According to folklore, October's full moon is called the "Hunter's Moon" or sometimes the "Blood Moon." It gets its name from hunters who tracked and killed their prey by autumn moonlight, stockpiling food for the winter ahead. The Hunter's Moon of 2005 is due on Oct. 17th.'"

  26. Lunar Eclipse October 17 12:00 GMT

    Science · Moon · · posted by ScuttleMonkey · from the coming-to-a-store-near-you dept. · 33 comments
    saskboy writes "Space Weather gives viewing instructions for tonight's partial lunar eclipse. 'According to folklore, October's full moon is called the "Hunter's Moon" or sometimes the "Blood Moon." It gets its name from hunters who tracked and killed their prey by autumn moonlight, stockpiling food for the winter ahead. The Hunter's Moon of 2005 is due on Oct. 17th.'"

  27. TurboGears: Python on Rails?

    · posted by ryuzaki0 · from the i-like-choo-choos dept. · 279 comments
    gcantallopsr writes "If you liked Ruby on Rails and its 15m intro video (.mov) you will probably like TurboGears and its 20 minute wiki tutorial. (.mov) It shows you the development of a simple wiki in just 20 minutes, and there is a text version of the tutorial. TurboGears uses Python, SQLObject, CherryPy, Kid, MochiKit and some extra pythonic glue to help you to (in their own words) 'Create a database-driven, ready-to-extend application in minutes. All with designer friendly templates, easy AJAX on the browser side and on the server side, not a single SQL query in sight with code that is as natural as writing a function.'"

  28. TurboGears: Python on Rails?

    · posted by ryuzaki0 · from the i-like-choo-choos dept. · 279 comments
    gcantallopsr writes "If you liked Ruby on Rails and its 15m intro video (.mov) you will probably like TurboGears and its 20 minute wiki tutorial. (.mov) It shows you the development of a simple wiki in just 20 minutes, and there is a text version of the tutorial. TurboGears uses Python, SQLObject, CherryPy, Kid, MochiKit and some extra pythonic glue to help you to (in their own words) 'Create a database-driven, ready-to-extend application in minutes. All with designer friendly templates, easy AJAX on the browser side and on the server side, not a single SQL query in sight with code that is as natural as writing a function.'"

  29. TurboGears: Python on Rails?

    · posted by ryuzaki0 · from the i-like-choo-choos dept. · 279 comments
    gcantallopsr writes "If you liked Ruby on Rails and its 15m intro video (.mov) you will probably like TurboGears and its 20 minute wiki tutorial. (.mov) It shows you the development of a simple wiki in just 20 minutes, and there is a text version of the tutorial. TurboGears uses Python, SQLObject, CherryPy, Kid, MochiKit and some extra pythonic glue to help you to (in their own words) 'Create a database-driven, ready-to-extend application in minutes. All with designer friendly templates, easy AJAX on the browser side and on the server side, not a single SQL query in sight with code that is as natural as writing a function.'"

  30. TurboGears: Python on Rails?

    · posted by ryuzaki0 · from the i-like-choo-choos dept. · 279 comments
    gcantallopsr writes "If you liked Ruby on Rails and its 15m intro video (.mov) you will probably like TurboGears and its 20 minute wiki tutorial. (.mov) It shows you the development of a simple wiki in just 20 minutes, and there is a text version of the tutorial. TurboGears uses Python, SQLObject, CherryPy, Kid, MochiKit and some extra pythonic glue to help you to (in their own words) 'Create a database-driven, ready-to-extend application in minutes. All with designer friendly templates, easy AJAX on the browser side and on the server side, not a single SQL query in sight with code that is as natural as writing a function.'"

  31. TurboGears: Python on Rails?

    · posted by ryuzaki0 · from the i-like-choo-choos dept. · 279 comments
    gcantallopsr writes "If you liked Ruby on Rails and its 15m intro video (.mov) you will probably like TurboGears and its 20 minute wiki tutorial. (.mov) It shows you the development of a simple wiki in just 20 minutes, and there is a text version of the tutorial. TurboGears uses Python, SQLObject, CherryPy, Kid, MochiKit and some extra pythonic glue to help you to (in their own words) 'Create a database-driven, ready-to-extend application in minutes. All with designer friendly templates, easy AJAX on the browser side and on the server side, not a single SQL query in sight with code that is as natural as writing a function.'"

  32. The Quintessential Sentry Gun

    Hardware · Robot · · posted by CowboyNeal · from the deadly-secure dept. · 276 comments
    mollyhackit writes "Aaron and Ezra built an automatic sentry gun using an airsoft gun, some hobby servos and a webcam.The camera automatically identifies and tracks targets. They tested it on each other to make sure it worked; video included!"

  33. Trigonometry Redefined without Sines And Cosines

    Science · Math · · posted by CowboyNeal · from the numbers-and-stuff dept. · 966 comments
    Spy der Mann writes "Dr. Norman Wildberger, of the South Wales University, has redefined trigonometry without the use of sines, cosines, or tangents. In his book about Rational Trigonometry (sample PDF chapter), he explains that by replacing distance and angles with new concepts: quadrance, and spread, one can express trigonometric problems with simple algebra and fractional numbers. Is this the beginning of a new era for math?"

  34. Trigonometry Redefined without Sines And Cosines

    Science · Math · · posted by CowboyNeal · from the numbers-and-stuff dept. · 966 comments
    Spy der Mann writes "Dr. Norman Wildberger, of the South Wales University, has redefined trigonometry without the use of sines, cosines, or tangents. In his book about Rational Trigonometry (sample PDF chapter), he explains that by replacing distance and angles with new concepts: quadrance, and spread, one can express trigonometric problems with simple algebra and fractional numbers. Is this the beginning of a new era for math?"

  35. Nintendo's First Podcast

    Tech · Communications · · posted by Zonk · from the big-n-entering-the-modern-era dept. · 49 comments
    celerityfm writes "With the US release of an MP3/multimedia player add-on for the Nintendo DS and Gameboy Advance just around the corner, Nintendo is already busy creating content for it with their first Podcast, produced by podcast pioneer Carl Franklin. Check out the first episode, it's all about Nintendogs." Commentary is available at Press the Buttons. From that post:"From the sound of things, girls love Nintendogs. Dog training tips are exchanged, fans are briefly interviewed, and even a parent weighs in now and then. Ms. McCollom's segment goes in to why girls are apt to love raising portable puppies and just how the Nintendo DS's wireless mode enables gamers to meet new players and their dogs. Teen People even proclaims the experience 'better than Barbie', so if that's not a young girl stamp of approval, I don't know what is. "

  36. Star Wreck 6 Finally Complete

    Entertainment · Scifi · · posted by Hemos · from the ready-for-viewing dept. · 376 comments
    EvilNTUser writes "Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning can now be ordered on DVD, and will hopefully be shipped before 2005-09-06 unless you slashdot them (the link uses Coral). The independent movie is a 103 minute parody of Star Trek and Babylon 5, with all special effects rendered by the makers themselves. It looks like all the delays were worth it, so make sure you don't miss Captain Pirk's quest for world domination."

  37. TI Calculators Play Movies

    Hardware · Matrix · · posted by ScuttleMonkey · from the bridging-the-gap dept. · 227 comments
    ipapusha writes "TI Calculator enthusiasts rejoice. A few weeks ago, Dan Englender released a new flash application usb8x. Usb8x is a driver that interfaces with the On-the-Go USB port in the TI-84 Plus and TI-84 Plus Silver Edition. It is designed to be used by other programmers to create drivers for a variety of USB peripherals, including a keyboard and mouse. Already, ticalc.org's own Michael Vincent has interfaced his Lexar JumpDrive to play The Matrix's famous lobby scene. (mirror) ."

  38. Oregon Government Supporting Open Source

    Usa · · posted by ryuzaki0 · from the lets-get-em-all-on-the-wagon dept. · 124 comments
    amountlad writes "In a pair of articles released today on N4N.org, Oregon continues to lead the way in government open source adoption in the USA. The Oregon State University's Open Source Lab will host a Government Open Source Conference in October. The GOSCON has strong support from within the state government. The State's Department of Administrative Services released a white paper detailing their use of Asterisk for audio conferencing for more than 500 conferences a week. The set-up includes a web-based interface for judges to manage recording the hearings. In doing so the State joins Metro, a Portland area regional government which uses Asterisk along side its Beowulf Cluster."

  39. Oregon Government Supporting Open Source

    Usa · · posted by ryuzaki0 · from the lets-get-em-all-on-the-wagon dept. · 124 comments
    amountlad writes "In a pair of articles released today on N4N.org, Oregon continues to lead the way in government open source adoption in the USA. The Oregon State University's Open Source Lab will host a Government Open Source Conference in October. The GOSCON has strong support from within the state government. The State's Department of Administrative Services released a white paper detailing their use of Asterisk for audio conferencing for more than 500 conferences a week. The set-up includes a web-based interface for judges to manage recording the hearings. In doing so the State joins Metro, a Portland area regional government which uses Asterisk along side its Beowulf Cluster."

  40. Oregon Government Supporting Open Source

    Usa · · posted by ryuzaki0 · from the lets-get-em-all-on-the-wagon dept. · 124 comments
    amountlad writes "In a pair of articles released today on N4N.org, Oregon continues to lead the way in government open source adoption in the USA. The Oregon State University's Open Source Lab will host a Government Open Source Conference in October. The GOSCON has strong support from within the state government. The State's Department of Administrative Services released a white paper detailing their use of Asterisk for audio conferencing for more than 500 conferences a week. The set-up includes a web-based interface for judges to manage recording the hearings. In doing so the State joins Metro, a Portland area regional government which uses Asterisk along side its Beowulf Cluster."

  41. Robot Catches High Speed Objects

    Hardware · Robot · · posted by Zonk · from the voom dept. · 273 comments
    shpoffo writes "Engineers at the University of Tokyo in Japan have created a robot that can catch a ball moving faster than 186 miles per hour (300 kph) - more than 270 feet per second. It uses an array of photodetectors to directly control the three finger actuators - which can rotate 180 degrees in 0.1 seconds. It's only catching softballs at the moment, but operators are optimistic for it to soon catch other objects and grasp moving things. A video with odd sci-fi TV-series (coral cache) accents is available."

  42. POSSE Rides With Linus during OSCON

    Linux · Linux · · posted by Zonk · from the see!-the-oss-folks-in-action dept. · 72 comments
    amountlad writes "In addition to other activities like FOSCON happening outside of the "official" OSCON this week in Portland, Oregon, N4N.org is running a story and photos of the OSU/OTBC/POSSE party Thursday night. From Linus and IBM's Dan Frye to the OSU's Open Source Lab director and Open Technology Business Center founder LaVonne Reimer - Bar 71 was hopping as the N4N coverage details in word and images. The event was a joint effort by local OSS organizations POSSE (Portland OSS Entrepreneurs), the OTBC (Open Technology Business Center) and Oregon State University's OSL (Open Source Lab.)"

  43. POSSE Rides With Linus during OSCON

    Linux · Linux · · posted by Zonk · from the see!-the-oss-folks-in-action dept. · 72 comments
    amountlad writes "In addition to other activities like FOSCON happening outside of the "official" OSCON this week in Portland, Oregon, N4N.org is running a story and photos of the OSU/OTBC/POSSE party Thursday night. From Linus and IBM's Dan Frye to the OSU's Open Source Lab director and Open Technology Business Center founder LaVonne Reimer - Bar 71 was hopping as the N4N coverage details in word and images. The event was a joint effort by local OSS organizations POSSE (Portland OSS Entrepreneurs), the OTBC (Open Technology Business Center) and Oregon State University's OSL (Open Source Lab.)"

  44. Computing in Rwanda?

    Ask · Education · · posted by Cliff · from the coders-in-the-cradle-of-civilization dept. · 56 comments
    gehel asks: "In September I will be going to Rwanda, working for a year in a developement project as a Computer Science guy. I'm leaving with an association that doesn't have much experience in sending CS guys over there, but I'm sure some Slashdot readers have some experience in that field. For all those who know Rwanda or Africa better than me, or for those who have been working in developement projects: What should I be prepared for? What would you bring with you to go there? How do you think we can bring Computer Science to a developement project in Africa, without creating too much dependencies on the North? What are the typical failures of such projects?" "I don't know much about what I am going to do there except : I will be based in Kigali. I will be working (at least partly) as a sysadmin with existing computer installations (most probably Windows based), I will do some teaching (mostly in system administration), and I might work a bit to help creating a new radio station. Finally, I'd like to add that I am proud to be doing this as a service for my country."

  45. NASA's Astronaut Glove Design Competition

    Science · Space · · posted by Zonk · from the build-a-better-glove-and-the-world-will-beat-a-path-to-your-door dept. · 149 comments
    FleaPlus writes "NASA's Centennial Challenges program has announced its latest prize contest, the Astronaut Glove Challenge. The competition, a collaboration between NASA and the non-profit Volanz Aerospace, will be held in late 2006 and will award $250K to the team which produces the best-performing glove within contest parameters. The basic idea was originally proposed last year on Rand Simberg's Transterrestrial Musings blog to improve on current gloves, which have difficulties with remaining flexible while maintaining constant internal pressure in the vacuum of space. Previously-announced competitions include prizes for superstrong tethers, beaming power, and extracting oxygen from lunar regolith. These prizes are intended to lay the groundwork for larger competitions to further NASA's Vision for Space Exploration, possibly including 'an eight-figure prize for the first privately developed robotic moon lander.'"

  46. Researchers Create 3-Dimensional Chips

    Tech · Technology · · posted by timothy · from the hypercubic dept. · 243 comments
    Spy der Mann writes "Professor James Lu and other researchers of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, managed to create three-dimensional chips (coral cache) to optimize the design of future processors and prevent overheating. "Make the interconnect wire shorter, and you cut the delay time," says Lu. "A simple way to make them shorter is to stack the transistors.""

  47. Researchers Create 3-Dimensional Chips

    Tech · Technology · · posted by timothy · from the hypercubic dept. · 243 comments
    Spy der Mann writes "Professor James Lu and other researchers of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, managed to create three-dimensional chips (coral cache) to optimize the design of future processors and prevent overheating. "Make the interconnect wire shorter, and you cut the delay time," says Lu. "A simple way to make them shorter is to stack the transistors.""

  48. MySQL Mug and Ten Years of MySQL and PHP

    Developers · Database · · posted by timothy · from the how-many-landlords-work-at-mysql dept. · 109 comments
    Jamesday writes "Monty Widenius accepted a plaque celebrating ten years of MySQL and PHP at LinuxTag. Until the end of June MySQL also has some 10th anniversary MySQL mugs on sale which feature the names of all MySQL employees in April 2005, about 200 people who can personally testify that you can make a living from open source software. Since Slashdot and MySQL share many users in common, I asked the MySQL community manager to give some mugs away to the Slashdot crowd. An arbitrary number of registered Slashdot posters, at least one, whose answers are closest to the exact date when MySQL 1.0 was first released internally will get one. Answers in response to this post, 24 hour time limit; no employees, former employees, their relatives or others we think should be ineligible. Winner(s) will be notified by a reply to their post."

  49. Study Links Genetic Diseases to Intelligence

    Science · Biotech · · posted by timothy · from the marfan's-syndrome dept. · 689 comments
    FleaPlus writes "The Economist, Sun-Sentinel, and FuturePundit report on a controversial study by Gregory Cochran and others which proposes a link between certain genetic conditions and above-average intelligence in Ashkenazi Jews. The 40-page study, published in the Journal of Biosocial Science, analyzes data on unusual patterns of genetic disease and relates it to a number of intelligence metrics. Although the intelligence data have traditionally been attributed to cultural factors, Cochran proposes that due to the unusual selection pressures the Ashkenazi faced between 800 and 1600AD certain genes developed which promote intelligence as single copies, but lead to particular diseases when somebody inherits two copies. According to Harvard cognitive scientist Steven Pinker, "It would be hard to overstate how politically incorrect this paper is... [though] it's certainly a thorough and well-argued paper, not one that can easily be dismissed outright.""

  50. Too Much Homework Can Be Counterproductive

    Science · Education · · posted by Zonk · from the studies-funded-by-calvin dept. · 573 comments
    Spy der Mann writes "An interesting study made by to two Penn State researchers shows that increases in homework may actually hinder educational achievement (Coral Cache) instead of improving it. The researchers analyzed a large amount of data collected by the Third International Study of Mathematics and Sciences (TIMSS) in 1994 from schools in 41 nations across the fourth, eighth and 12th grades. For some analyses, they used data from an identical study carried out in '99." From the article: "An unintended consequence may be that those children who need extra work and drill the most are the ones least likely to get it. Increasing homework loads is likely to aggravate tensions within the family, thereby generating more inequality and eroding the quality of overall education."