Slashdot Mirror
Domain: ou.edu
Stories and comments across the archive that link to ou.edu.
Stories · 14
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Scientists May Have Discovered the First Planets Outside the Milky Way (washingtonpost.com)
Using data from a NASA X-ray laboratory in space, Xinyu Dai, an astrophysicist and professor at the University of Oklahoma, detected a population of planets beyond the Milky Way galaxy (Warning: source may be paywalled; alternative source). The planets range in size from Earth's moon to the massive Jupiter. From the report: There are few methods to determine the existence of distant planets. They are so far away that no telescope can observe them, Dai told The Washington Post. So Dai and postdoctoral researcher Eduardo Guerras relied on a scientific principle to make the discovery: Albert Einstein's theory of relativity. Einstein's theory suggests light bends when tugged by the force of gravity. In this case, the light is coming from a quasar -- the nucleus of a galaxy with a swirling black hole -- that emits powerful radiation in the distance. Between that quasar and the space-based laboratory is the galaxy of newly discovered planets. The gravitational force of the galaxy bends the light heading toward the Milky Way, illuminating the galaxy in an effect called microlensing. In that way, the galaxy acts as a magnifying glass of sorts, bringing a previously unseen celestial body into X-ray view. In a university news release, Guerras had a less formal way to describe the complicated process: "This is very cool science." -
USGS: Oil and Gas Operations Could Trigger Large Earthquakes
sciencehabit writes: The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has taken its first stab at quantifying the hazard from earthquakes associated with oil and gas development. The assessment, released in a preliminary report today, identifies 17 areas in eight states with elevated seismic hazard. And geologists now say that such induced earthquakes could potentially be large, up to magnitude 7, which is big enough to cause buildings to collapse and widespread damage. Update: 04/23 15:56 GMT by T : New submitter truavatar adds: At the same time, the Oklahoma Geological Survey released a statement explicitly calling out deep wastewater injection wells to Oklahoma earthquakes, stating "The OGS considers it very likely that the majority of recent earthquakes, particularly those in central and north-central Oklahoma, are triggered by the injection of produced water in disposal wells." -
Tsunami Satellite Images
JakeisBland writes "Here is a collection of before/after satellite pictures of the devastation in Asia due to the tsunami/earthquake." -
The Law and P2P
Anonymous Coward writes "Here's some interesting legal commentary on the continuing saga of copyright enforcement and Apple's attempt at a constructive approach." -
Streaming Multiple Live Channels?
Maxwell'sSilverLART asks: "I work for a University's Aviation Department. For several years now, we've run a streaming audio server to rebroadcast air traffic control communications over the web as an educational service to our students. This job had been handled by Winamp + SHOUTcast. We've just added a second channel to the system (we're now rebroadcasting approach control, in addition to the local tower), which means I need to find a way to get a second live audio stream into the system (signal comes from radio receivers tuned to the appropriate frequency), encoded (we're using 8-bit, 22kHz mono MP3, which is more than adequate given the source), and broadcast. Has anybody done this before? Surely I'm not the first to want to encode multiple live streams. How did you do it, and what were the pros/cons? Does anybody know of a good hardware device at a reasonable price (I'd need to sell my boss on two of them)? Ideas are always welcome.""I thought about setting up a Linux box with two sound cards, but I know that can be problematic, and I was also having trouble finding streaming software that would work with multiple soundcards (LiveIce only seems to support one). I would prefer not to use multiple machines. I was looking for software, and it occurred to me that I might be going about this the wrong way--perhaps a hardware encoder/server would be better. I poked around on the web, and only found one (for $2800--I'll pass). If I do end up using a PC, I want the system to be daemonized, and initialize at startup; I'm sick of having to restart Winamp every time the power cycles. (I inherited this system; I would have done things differently)"
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Streaming Multiple Live Channels?
Maxwell'sSilverLART asks: "I work for a University's Aviation Department. For several years now, we've run a streaming audio server to rebroadcast air traffic control communications over the web as an educational service to our students. This job had been handled by Winamp + SHOUTcast. We've just added a second channel to the system (we're now rebroadcasting approach control, in addition to the local tower), which means I need to find a way to get a second live audio stream into the system (signal comes from radio receivers tuned to the appropriate frequency), encoded (we're using 8-bit, 22kHz mono MP3, which is more than adequate given the source), and broadcast. Has anybody done this before? Surely I'm not the first to want to encode multiple live streams. How did you do it, and what were the pros/cons? Does anybody know of a good hardware device at a reasonable price (I'd need to sell my boss on two of them)? Ideas are always welcome.""I thought about setting up a Linux box with two sound cards, but I know that can be problematic, and I was also having trouble finding streaming software that would work with multiple soundcards (LiveIce only seems to support one). I would prefer not to use multiple machines. I was looking for software, and it occurred to me that I might be going about this the wrong way--perhaps a hardware encoder/server would be better. I poked around on the web, and only found one (for $2800--I'll pass). If I do end up using a PC, I want the system to be daemonized, and initialize at startup; I'm sick of having to restart Winamp every time the power cycles. (I inherited this system; I would have done things differently)"
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Some Fundamental Questions on Fair-Use-vs.-DRM Issues?
InspectorPraline asks: "I'm doing a paper on the 'cultural aspects' of both sides of the MP3/DMCA/CBDTPA/DeCSS/etc debate, and I'm trying to find out some of the possible reasoning behind why each side feels so strongly about the way it feels. (Yes, I do understand what I'm doing.) Specifically, since the Slashdot crowd is presumably on the opposing side to the RIAA/MPAA side, I have a few questions I'd like answered so that I can do a well-informed, balanced paper (note - this isn't an opinion paper, merely a statement-of-fact paper).""Feel free to answer (or not answer) any of the following questions:
- What do you think the legal (or appropriate) uses of MP3 technology should be?
- We all know the RIAA complains about the illegitimate uses of P2P technology. Since its most prevalent usage is (by the RIAA's definition) illegal use, what are some applications of the technology that the P2P crowd can use to swing the tide in its favor?
- The DMCA is frequently seen as a flawed piece of legislation which is easily abused and so broadly worded that such abuse is unpreventable. Despite this, what positive or useful elements can be taken from the DMCA and used to formulate a new law that would do what the media companies want without infringing on consumers' rights?
- An argument frequently levied at the RIAA and MPAA is that they are more than content to label the large majority of consumers as thieves and pirates. What can the RIAA and MPAA do to change this? How can these organizations polish this image up?
- With laws such as the DMCA and possible future legislation such as the CBDTPA, many consumers feel that their freedoms to enjoy the entertainment they purchase are being slowly eroded away by content companies. What rights (other than the right to listen or view) do you feel that consumers should have with media they purchase?
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The Open Source Cookbook?
InspectorPraline asks: "I'm currently working on a cookbook that is intended to provide good food at a reasonable price - the kind of stuff you'd make before sitting down for a long coding session, with the occasional idea that would feed a LAN party. I've got some ideas I can put down, but the book would be quite thin, so I thought I'd put the call for submissions to Slashdot. I'm calling it 'The Open Source Cookbook,' and I'd release it under the GFDL, in PDF, ASCII text, and Word formats. Of course, I'd take submissions as comments here or via email. I'd 'publish' the book via the web once I got enough submissions to make the book at least about 40-50 pages in length or 30 recipes (whichever comes last), and as submissions came in I'd update the book. Anyway, I'm asking for submissions for the book, which could be recipes for dinners, lunches, even drinks. Two webpages that will serve as temporary homes for the project can be found here and here, and those addresses list my email as well as some submission guidelines. So, any ideas, folks?" Hey, if you ever wanted to share your favorite dishes with geeks around the world, this might be the way to do it. What great dishes have you prepared? -
Music Companies Convicted of Price Fixing Again
InspectorPraline writes "Providing more proof that the record industry is indeed a oligopoly, this article at the New York Times reports that two major record companies, Vivendi Universal and Warner Communications, have been convicted of price fixing by the FTC over a recording from 1998 of the Three Tenors. While Warner reached an agreement with the FTC about a year ago, Vivendi continues to deny wrongdoing and will, of course, appeal." The FTC's release is quite informative, describing the entire case. -
Cheap 3D Computer Vision?
InspectorPraline writes "According to this article at the New York Times [free reg req'd], a tech firm known as Tyzx is developing optics technology that will have three-dimensional capability -- using two cameras attached by a high-bandwidth connection to a custom processing card inside a PC. The article makes one believe that the system would have a top speed of as much as 132 stereo frames per second, which could be very useful in security systems. Of course, the real question is who's behind the cameras, but we can all drool over the other possibilities, right?" -
Buying Unix?
BarefootClown asks: "I'm currently the sysadmin for the University of Oklahoma Aviation Department. (I know the website looks horrible, it's being redesigned right now by somebody with talent.) Our systems here include two Intel-based servers, one running Windows 2000, one running Linux. The webserver is running on the Linux box. We need a new server, as the old one is about to die (I've lost two of the six hard drives, only one of the two processors is working, and it's just old--we got it second-hand). My boss has been very indulgent in letting me put Linux on a few boxes here, including the webserver, and a couple of web-only terminals (weather/flight planning stations), but he's expressed concern that, if I were to leave my job for some reason, having *nix machines would leave the department unsupported, and out of luck if problems were to occur. Our official departmental (one level up) support channel doesn't support Unix (he didn't support Windows 2000 until the end of last year...), though I might be able to talk to Campus support. This is all becoming a concern because I want to replace the dying box with a Sun NetraX1, which (obviously) doesn't even have the option of running Windows. Any suggestions on how I can convince my boss that it's worth doing? The price on that box is fabulous, at just a bit over a thousand (US) dollars out the door. The nearest PC/Linux box from Dell is about $1400. It seems to me that I know enough *nix people on campus who are looking for jobs that he wouldn't have trouble finding support if I were to leave. How do I convince him that Unix isn't that big of a risk?" -
Buying Unix?
BarefootClown asks: "I'm currently the sysadmin for the University of Oklahoma Aviation Department. (I know the website looks horrible, it's being redesigned right now by somebody with talent.) Our systems here include two Intel-based servers, one running Windows 2000, one running Linux. The webserver is running on the Linux box. We need a new server, as the old one is about to die (I've lost two of the six hard drives, only one of the two processors is working, and it's just old--we got it second-hand). My boss has been very indulgent in letting me put Linux on a few boxes here, including the webserver, and a couple of web-only terminals (weather/flight planning stations), but he's expressed concern that, if I were to leave my job for some reason, having *nix machines would leave the department unsupported, and out of luck if problems were to occur. Our official departmental (one level up) support channel doesn't support Unix (he didn't support Windows 2000 until the end of last year...), though I might be able to talk to Campus support. This is all becoming a concern because I want to replace the dying box with a Sun NetraX1, which (obviously) doesn't even have the option of running Windows. Any suggestions on how I can convince my boss that it's worth doing? The price on that box is fabulous, at just a bit over a thousand (US) dollars out the door. The nearest PC/Linux box from Dell is about $1400. It seems to me that I know enough *nix people on campus who are looking for jobs that he wouldn't have trouble finding support if I were to leave. How do I convince him that Unix isn't that big of a risk?" -
First Arcology?
vortmax(OU) writes: "OK, so it isn't that new, but I hadn't seen it posted on /. yet, so I thought I'd bring it up. According to World's Tallest Buildings, there's a proposal for a new supertall (3,700 ft) Bionic Building" in Shanghai, China. It will house 100,000 people as well as hotels, offices, cinemas, and hospitals -- a "vertical city" as the London Sunday Times put it. If actually built, it will dwarf the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lampur and the Sears Tower in Chicago. It should be interesting to see if it goes forward... The complete story is here." -
WSJ Says Linux Lags
TroyD sent us a link to a WSJ Article on Linux that Says Linux is Good, but that it lags behind its rivals. Troy also sent a choice quote from the article: "...Linux currently lacks some of the features demanded by corporations. [...] Among them are the ability to run simultaneously on many processors in a single computer and to keep a log of what the computer has done." Cool. I can save a lot of diskspace: rm -rf /var/log.