Slashdot Mirror
Domain: silicon.com
Stories and comments across the archive that link to silicon.com.
Stories · 184
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iPhone Rumour Round-up
Coffin Black writes "Apple only has to look askance at a piece of hardware and people are falling over themselves to slap an 'i' all over it and slavering about how cool the theoretical gadgetry is gonna be. So the iPhone may not even exist — beyond a 'just once more thing' gleam in Jobs' eye — but already the column inches are stacking up. Think the iPod is dying? Never fear, says this columnist, it's merely evolving from one form into another (clue: from portable to mobile). This writer, meanwhile, is sticking the boot in early — she says she won't be buying an iPhone, when it of course finally makes it onto the shelves... Though she does add: "If Microsoft created a Phune (a phone and a Zune in one, geddit?), I wouldn't touch it with a bargepole either but that's a different story."" We also covered this story a couple months back. -
French Town Tests Cashless Society
SamiousHaze writes to mention a Silicon.com article about an attempt in a French tourist town, Caen, to do away with cash in some locales. From the article: "Among [the locations in the trial] is an underground car park; the town hall; a bus stop which can transmit timetable information; a cinema poster which downloads video trailers to users' mobiles; a local supermarket, where people can pay for their groceries with a mobile phone, and a tourist information sign outside the historic Abbaye des Hommes. By touching the mobile against the 'Flytag' logo at each of these locations, users can pay for services or receive information straight to their phone." -
Google Copies Corporate Data to Google's Servers?
Penguinisto writes "According to Silicon.com, some CIOs have been seeing their company data being transferred to Google's servers as part of Google Desktop's functionality." From the article: "Mark Saysell, IT director at Coutts Retail Communications UK, said he is planning a network audit to find rogue installations, which will then be de-installed. New security measures will also be put in place to prevent further downloads. He said: 'Google has definitely over-stepped the mark and in turn is forcing IT departments to take a very draconian approach to machine security and web access.'" -
This Text Message Will Self Destruct
mwilliamson writes "Silicon.com is reporting that Staellium UK (cell provider) has created a protocol in which text messages disappear after 40 seconds. This, of course, relies on the implementation of the protocol in the device used to display the message. They're touting a future roll out for photos as well, and service in the US." -
2008 Olympics Aiming For Open Source
An anonymous reader writes "The IOC is considering switching its IT infrastructure to an open source platform for the 2008 Beijng Games, according to an article on silicon.com. The Olympic IT program director says the move will save money on licences but warned that support costs for open source in China could yet derail the plans. There are also some photos of the Olympics IT operation." -
2008 Olympics Aiming For Open Source
An anonymous reader writes "The IOC is considering switching its IT infrastructure to an open source platform for the 2008 Beijng Games, according to an article on silicon.com. The Olympic IT program director says the move will save money on licences but warned that support costs for open source in China could yet derail the plans. There are also some photos of the Olympics IT operation." -
BBC Shuts Down Internal BlackBerry Service
sebFlyte writes "Silicon.com is running a story on a little problem the BBC is having with their email. Apparently, the BBC has suspended service to all its executives BlackBerrys, because the server software was randomly sending chunks of messages to arbitrary users, thus showing execs each others emails. Not what you want from your remote-working solution, really." -
Palm and RIM to Collaborate on Treo Software
Rayaru writes "Palm and RIM have apparantly signed a deal allowing the Treo 650 to use RIM's email software. "The partnership with RIM is unique in that it is Palm's first chance to give Treo customers automatic synchronisation with calendaring." It's interesting that the deal also includes "future Treo products with the Palm operating system." Perhaps a Treo 670 Palm version is in the works?" -
The Future of the iPod
sebFlyte writes "Those of you waiting for a video iPod, an iPod with a radio in, an iPod with Bluetooth in...or in fact an iPod that does anything except play music and have a pretty-but-basic interface, you're likely to be disappointed. According to silicon.com, Steve Jobs and the Apple crew insist that the iPod will remain simple for the time being." From the article: "Whether people want to buy a device just to watch video is not clear - so far the answer's been no. Devices that do video... have not been successful yet. No-one's figured out the right formula." -
Unilever Ditches Global IT Linux Migration
GP writes "One to stir the open source debate. The CIO of global consumer goods giant Unilever says in this interview with silicon.com that the company has ditched plans to migrate its enterprise IT platform to Linux running on Itanium. He reckons hidden support costs and security issues have emerged over the past two years with open source and that proprietary vendors have also raised their game in response to the 'threat'." -
The Tech Used to Catch Vegas Cheats
Black Jack writes "Interesting piece on silicon.com about the technology used in Vegas for catching the cheats. It goes into detail on a number of things from facial recognition and RFID to some CIA-developed systems for background checking staff. Surprised they're so open about what they do! ...or is this just the stuff they admit to?" -
Real Worried About Apple Lawsuits
sebFlyte writes "silicon.com is reporting that Real is very worried that Apple will sue it over its Harmony technology that 'breaks' iTunes' FairPlay DRM to allow its music to play on the iPod. They acknowledged in an SEC filing that a lawsuit from Apple would potentially be very damaging to the company's bottom line, as it accepts that a court might not agree that the reverse-engineering is legal." -
PlayStation 3 Could Support Mac OS X
ucahg writes "Sony's website has a press release stating that they will release the PS3 in 2006. The most interesting part about the page, though, is the last sentence which reads: 'The integrated Cell processor will be able to support a variety of operating systems (such as Linux or Apple's Tiger).' Is this what Steve Jobs was talking about when he said Apple and Sony looked forward to cooperating more in the future?" -
Europe Home to Majority of Zombies
Rei writes "According to a recent CipherTrust study, the majority of Zombie PCs reside not in the US or China, but in Europe. Of the European zombies, 2/3 were either in Germany, France, or Britain. The results were released with the announcement of CipherTrust's new ZombieMeter. As a response to previous reports of high zombie activity, the London Action Plan launched Operation Spam Zombies in cooperation with numerous governments around the world." -
Firefox Growth Slowing?
ninja_assault_kitten writes "Silicon.com has an interesting article on the apparently slowing growth of Firefox. To quote the article, 'The slackening of Firefox's growth could mean that the browser has converted a substantial proportion of its natural constituency, thought to be early adopters and the technically savvy. It could also show that the browser's widely publicised security flaws have begun to undermine the foundation's argument that people should switch from IE to be safer.' One thing's for sure, with the release of 1.0.3 and now 1.0.4 we can probably expect to breach the 80 million download mark shortly." -
Librarians Fighting to Save Moore's Law Issue
wambaugh writes "As reported earlier, Intel is offering $10,000 for a copy of the April 19, 1965 issue of Electronics containing Moore's original article predicting 'Moore's Law.' Now it is being reported that academic science libraries are having to make sure no go-getters make off with their copies. At least one copy is already missing from the University of Illinois. Too bad Intel won't settle for a pdf." -
Congress Ponders Opening up iTunes DRM
hammeredpeon writes "Congress is debating whether or not to require that music shops keep their DRM open for interoperability. Apple wasn't present at the hearings, but Napster's CEO was, arguing that the market should make the decision about interoperability. Considering that previous standards (FireWire/USB, Betamax/VHS) have been decided by the market, could it be that Apple isn't big enough to keep the government out of its industry?" -
Monkeys Don't Like Macs
sebFlyte writes "silicon.com is reporting on a new twist on some oft-done probability research, into the suggestion that an infinite number of monkeys will eventually produce a perfect script for Hamlet , given typewriters (or indeed keyboards) and enough time. The researchers claims that the monkeys used in their test preferred using systems running Windows XP to those running Mac OS X. Which begs the question -- do only monkeys use Windows, or can even monkeys tell Macs aren't worth bothering with?" -
Symantec: Mac OS X Becoming a Malware Target
tb3 writes "According to ZDNet 'Security vendor Symantec is warning that Apple's OS X operating system is increasingly becoming a target for hackers and malware authors.' They go on to warn that the only thing that's protected Apple users from exploits so far has been the small number of Macs on the net. Now that people are buying Apple products for 'style over function,' according to one analyst, Apple computer has become a target for new attacks. More coverage on Australian IT and Silicon.com. I guess sales of Norton Anti-Virus for Mac needed a boost." Symantec may well be right about this, but note that they also have the world's biggest vested interest in making Mac owners nervous enough to buy their anti-virus products. -
European Piracy Crackdowns
DigitumDei writes "The British Phonographic Industry has been busy over the last half year. Their recent success which netted them £50,000 in out of court settlements is certainly not going to be the end of it with the UK courts forcing 6 ISP's to release information on a further 31 file sharers. The ISPs have 14 days to comply. And once located will be offered the opporunity to settle out of court. 'We would particularly advise parents to check what their children are doing on the internet and make sure that they are not breaking the law by filesharing illegally,' said Geoff Taylor, BPI General Counsel." And in other news, the oldest and largest ISP in Sweden, Bahnnof was the subject of a raid that netted what looks to be the biggest results in Europe ever; as well papper writes "The Swedish organization Antipiratbyrån, which has nothing to do with Swedish goverment, recently got hacked. This was both revenge for and an attempt to stop similair raids like the one who took place this friday, against the ISP Banhof. During the raid several FTP-servers were seized. On the hacked site the responsible group, AUH, posts some private e-mails about an alleged informer and makes threats to release more information and of course there is the mandatory braging. The site is located at Antripiratbyran with a mirror elsewhere and a translated verison also online (although it seems unreachable at the moment). " -
Bill Gates Claims OSS Has Poor Interoperability
XeRXeS-TCN writes "In yet another example of Bill Gates seemingly 'not getting it' (or getting it just fine and spreading FUD), he has sent out an email to all MSFT's corporate customers, stating that if they are looking for interoperability, they should not look to Linux or OSS software. What he really means of course, is free alternatives trying to interoperate with Microsoft's non-documented proprietary standards." -
Napster to Offer Movie Downloads
sebFlyte writes "silicon.com is reporting that Napster is going to move into legal movie downloads. They are aiming particularly to tap the younger video-game generation." -
Spammers Sue Spamee
sebFlyte writes "In an interesting take on the law, some (alleged) spammers are suing some poor chap who got them blocked by ISPs due to the fact they kept sending him spam. According to Spamhaus the company doing the suing is on their books as spammer, and also as a spyware company... If this case goes the wrong way, things could get very sticky for anyone wanting to report spam." -
Tech Headlines You Won't Read in 2005
prostoalex writes "Folks at Silicon.com posted a list of tech headlines that you won't see in 2005. Read about spam volume decreasing, Sun revenues soaring, Longhorn operating system delivered on time and bug-free and other news you're unlikely to see in the papers." -
Cross-Platform Java Sandbox Exploit
DrWho520 points out this report at silicon.com which begins "A flaw in Sun's plug-in for running Java on a variety of browsers and operating systems could allow a virus to spread through Microsoft Windows and Linux PCs. The vulnerability, found by Finnish security researcher Jouko Pynnonen in June, was patched last month by Sun, but its details were not made public until Tuesday." The hole affects Linux and Windows. -
Are Your Peripherals Monitoring You?
An anonymous reader writes " Engadget is reporting that 'Lexmark, makers of printers and scanners, has been caught monitoring users' printer, scanning, and ink cartridge usage.'" Newsgroup comp.periphs.printers readers noticed the software; the Engadget report says that "Lexmark say they're just tracking printer and cartridge usage, but the registration information and packets being sent say otherwise." -
No-Click Phishing On The Way
An anonymous reader writes "MessageLabs has discovered a pretty nasty - though fairly crude - phishing scam which doesn't even require recipients to click on a link in order to hand over personal data. Simply opening the email is enough to activate a script which 'lies in wait for its victim' according to one report. The script rewrites the host files of the machine and directs users to a fake web page the next time they legitimately attempt to access an online banking page. ... However, this will only affect users who have Windows Scripting Host enabled and certain ActiveX controls, according to MessageLabs." -
Spam-maker Hormel Spends to Reclaim Name
An anonymous reader writes "Hormel, the company behind Spam (the meat product, not the unsolicited email), is launching an advertising campaign in Europe in an attempt to remind people it has been around a lot longer than offers of generic Viagra and fake Rolex watches. The BBC claims it will cost Hormel £2m." -
Spam-maker Hormel Spends to Reclaim Name
An anonymous reader writes "Hormel, the company behind Spam (the meat product, not the unsolicited email), is launching an advertising campaign in Europe in an attempt to remind people it has been around a lot longer than offers of generic Viagra and fake Rolex watches. The BBC claims it will cost Hormel £2m." -
Child Porn Accusation As Online Extortion Tactic
Glenn writes "There's a story on silicon.com about a new twist in the tactics used by online extortionists trying to blackmail ecommerce sites with denial of service attacks. Yesterday one blackmailer threatened to send out child pornography emails in UK gambling site Blue Square's name if it didn't pay up 7000 Euros." This sounds even worse than simple DoS threats. -
Child Porn Accusation As Online Extortion Tactic
Glenn writes "There's a story on silicon.com about a new twist in the tactics used by online extortionists trying to blackmail ecommerce sites with denial of service attacks. Yesterday one blackmailer threatened to send out child pornography emails in UK gambling site Blue Square's name if it didn't pay up 7000 Euros." This sounds even worse than simple DoS threats. -
Could IM Be The Next Step For Google?
Rob_Warwick writes "Silicon.com has released an article theorizing that Google might be thinking about releasing an Instant Message client. Between a google_im:// protocol embedded in the Google Desktop Search, and their acquisition of Picasa and their IM client this summer, it almost sounds possible." -
Could IM Be The Next Step For Google?
Rob_Warwick writes "Silicon.com has released an article theorizing that Google might be thinking about releasing an Instant Message client. Between a google_im:// protocol embedded in the Google Desktop Search, and their acquisition of Picasa and their IM client this summer, it almost sounds possible." -
Ballmer Says iPod Users are Thieves
A 'music thief' (apparently) writes "According to Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft: "The most common format of music on an iPod is 'stolen'." He appears convinced Microsoft will lead the way in Digital Rights Management and also believes Microsoft will steal a march on Apple in making the digital home a reality because Apple "doesn't have the volumes". "There is no way that you can get there with Apple. The critical mass has to come from the PC, or a next-generation video device," he said." -
Ballmer Says iPod Users are Thieves
A 'music thief' (apparently) writes "According to Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft: "The most common format of music on an iPod is 'stolen'." He appears convinced Microsoft will lead the way in Digital Rights Management and also believes Microsoft will steal a march on Apple in making the digital home a reality because Apple "doesn't have the volumes". "There is no way that you can get there with Apple. The critical mass has to come from the PC, or a next-generation video device," he said." -
Gates, Jobs, Torvalds: Who is Most Important?
Ian Wilson writes "silicon.com has launched its latest Agenda Setters poll which puts together a list of the top 50 people influencing tech. I remember Slashdot carried last year's poll - which was won by Steve Jobs. The full top 50 includes many of the usual suspects. Last year's winner Steve Jobs has slipped down to second place, but perhaps most interesting is the fact that the panel of judges couldn't separate Linus Torvalds and Bill Gates - they are tied in seventh place." -
Would You Hire A Hacker?
theodp writes "A German security company has divided opinion in the IT industry by offering a job to the teen charged with creating Sasser. Silicon.com asks its CIO Jury: Would you hire a hacker? and finds the jury split down the middle, with one IT Director saying doing so would be like hiring serial-killing doctor Harold Shipman to treat your ailing and aged mother." -
Would You Hire A Hacker?
theodp writes "A German security company has divided opinion in the IT industry by offering a job to the teen charged with creating Sasser. Silicon.com asks its CIO Jury: Would you hire a hacker? and finds the jury split down the middle, with one IT Director saying doing so would be like hiring serial-killing doctor Harold Shipman to treat your ailing and aged mother." -
Would You Hire A Hacker?
theodp writes "A German security company has divided opinion in the IT industry by offering a job to the teen charged with creating Sasser. Silicon.com asks its CIO Jury: Would you hire a hacker? and finds the jury split down the middle, with one IT Director saying doing so would be like hiring serial-killing doctor Harold Shipman to treat your ailing and aged mother." -
Windows Upgrade, FAA Error Cause LAX Shutdown
fname writes "The recent shutdown of LAX due to an FAA radio outage was apparently caused by a Windows 2000 integration flaw, possibility related to an old Windows 95 bug. An article at the LA Times claims that the outage was caused by human error, as the system will automatically shut down after 49.7 days (related to this Windows 95 flaw?), and a technician didn't reboot the system monthly as he should have. This happened after an upgrade from Unix to Windows. I don't think blame should be assigned to the technician who missed the task; rather, it seems a gross oversight for the FAA to guarantee that such a critical system will crash after only one missed maintenance task. Who's really at fault?" -
"E-Jihad" Exaggerated by Russian Media Spin
decompiler writes "Earlier reports that cyber-terrorists would be bringing down the internet today have now been denounced as "Russian media sensationalist spin", and Jose Nazario of Arbor Networks says, "There have been no precursors to a large-scale attack."" -
RF-Blocking Wallpaper
spitefulcrow writes "Silicon.com is reporting on a new application for RF-absorbing materials: Wallpaper that blocks Wi-Fi. BAE, the British defense contractor, has announced that the same material used to foil radar by stealth bombers can be used to selectively block certain frequencies and prevent wireless networking signals from entering or exiting a building. Is this the next take on lining the walls with lead?" -
RF-Blocking Wallpaper
spitefulcrow writes "Silicon.com is reporting on a new application for RF-absorbing materials: Wallpaper that blocks Wi-Fi. BAE, the British defense contractor, has announced that the same material used to foil radar by stealth bombers can be used to selectively block certain frequencies and prevent wireless networking signals from entering or exiting a building. Is this the next take on lining the walls with lead?" -
Operation FastLink Yields Three Arrests
Doomrat writes "As promised (see previous story), Operation FastLink has led to the arrests of 3 key members of the Fairlight group. NHTCU officers and local police executed search warrants and arrested three men at separate locations in Sheffield, Manchester and Belfast. Over 200 computers have been seized, along with 100 CD copiers. Raids were carried out in the UK, the U.S., Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, the Netherlands, Singapore and Sweden." -
Slashback: Flashmob, Currency, Verification
The first Slashback in a while, with updates and reactions to previous Slashdot stories, including a Flash-mod supercomputing reminder, the upside of microwave-tested currency, CUPS' user-interface foibles, an alternative to MD5 sums, and more. Read on for the details.Reminder of your scheduled spontaneous appointment. Zero_K writes "As previously posted on Slashdot and the NY Times, the University of San Francisco's, Computer Science department is building a 'flash mob' supercomputer on April 3rd. On their newly updated official web-site (Main Site, ISO's) the team has now posted the ISO image of their custom morphix that will be used to boot all the computers into the cluster, documentation is on the website (under 'downloads') and on the CD (index.html). I personally plan on downloading and testing this ISO tonight. And after the cluster is taken off line, there will be a massive LAN PARTY (Possibly one of the biggest in San Francisco...) On a 10-Gigabit LAN...Oh sweetness ... So if you are in or around the SF Bay Area on April 3rd, be sure to sign up and bring your laptop or desktop to campus and help make history."
Whaddya mean, "no pun intended"? Rudiger writes "After the dust (no pun intended) has settled around the whole Operation Dust Bunny thing, McAfee updates their signature database classifying Dust Bunny as an application. To be more specific: 'This program is detected as a "potentially unwanted application."' They also say 'This is not a virus or trojan.' Should we leave it to the experts this time?"
Would you read Atlas Shrugged on this screen? An anonymous reader writes "The so-called 'electronic paper,' being a high-clarity monochrome display to become a foundation for comfortable and inexpensive 'electronic papers,' has finally shown its face. The new electronic paper, which looks a bit like an iPod, has 10MB memory, keyboard, Memory Stick PRO slot, voice recorder, speaker, and headphones output, and USB2.0 interface."
(We mentioned the device yesterday, but this link provides better images of it.)
Now they're Pragmatic Publishers as well -- much success! AndyHunt writes "As you may have heard, the Pragmatic Programmers have started their own publishing company (see Slashdot reviews here and here). We've just signed our first outside author: Mike Clark, editor of the JUnit FAQ and developer of JUnitPerf and JDepend. He'll be writing the eagerly-anticipated Pragmatic Project Automation book, the third volume in our Jolt Productivity award-winning series."
Exactly how many bits, Ma'am? And in what order, did you say? jlcooke writes "Two months (almost to the day) after getting slashdotted for an innocent post to sci.crypt - the MD5CRK project has launched. The aim is to get the thousands of applications and websites to drop MD5 for SHA-1 or SHA-256 by finding a counter-example of a security requirement in MD5. Press Release is here."
How to take criticism, by example. slashdot_commentator writes "Eric S. Raymond has recently written a wonderful piece explaining to the Linux zealot why it may not be the operating system of choice of all users. (Or what user aspects open source developers need to focus on to further Linux World Domination.) The op-ed specifically focuses on the CUPS printing system. (But it would be a mistake to dismiss it as a screed against CUPS.) The CUPS authors surprisingly acknowledged ESR's points, and he wrote a followup to the article."
Hitting them where it figuratively hurts. Ian Wilson writes with a followup to the Slashdot post earlier this month on "website thieves stealing content and designs from others, taken from silicon.com. Well, now silicon.com is reporting that it has contacted the offending site's advertisers and forced them to stop paying ad revenues - thus effectively crippling the illegal site - after all, no revenue, no reason to the run the site."
Express your appreciation with PizzaPal. Chuck writes "After you guys published the article on $20 bills exploding when microwaved, a co-worker of mine went to put his soup in the microwave and found a $20 bill in it. Too bad it was an older one, but someone around the office must have left it in there after reading your article. The co-worker then took me out to lunch. Thanks, Slashdot!"
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Slashback: Flashmob, Currency, Verification
The first Slashback in a while, with updates and reactions to previous Slashdot stories, including a Flash-mod supercomputing reminder, the upside of microwave-tested currency, CUPS' user-interface foibles, an alternative to MD5 sums, and more. Read on for the details.Reminder of your scheduled spontaneous appointment. Zero_K writes "As previously posted on Slashdot and the NY Times, the University of San Francisco's, Computer Science department is building a 'flash mob' supercomputer on April 3rd. On their newly updated official web-site (Main Site, ISO's) the team has now posted the ISO image of their custom morphix that will be used to boot all the computers into the cluster, documentation is on the website (under 'downloads') and on the CD (index.html). I personally plan on downloading and testing this ISO tonight. And after the cluster is taken off line, there will be a massive LAN PARTY (Possibly one of the biggest in San Francisco...) On a 10-Gigabit LAN...Oh sweetness ... So if you are in or around the SF Bay Area on April 3rd, be sure to sign up and bring your laptop or desktop to campus and help make history."
Whaddya mean, "no pun intended"? Rudiger writes "After the dust (no pun intended) has settled around the whole Operation Dust Bunny thing, McAfee updates their signature database classifying Dust Bunny as an application. To be more specific: 'This program is detected as a "potentially unwanted application."' They also say 'This is not a virus or trojan.' Should we leave it to the experts this time?"
Would you read Atlas Shrugged on this screen? An anonymous reader writes "The so-called 'electronic paper,' being a high-clarity monochrome display to become a foundation for comfortable and inexpensive 'electronic papers,' has finally shown its face. The new electronic paper, which looks a bit like an iPod, has 10MB memory, keyboard, Memory Stick PRO slot, voice recorder, speaker, and headphones output, and USB2.0 interface."
(We mentioned the device yesterday, but this link provides better images of it.)
Now they're Pragmatic Publishers as well -- much success! AndyHunt writes "As you may have heard, the Pragmatic Programmers have started their own publishing company (see Slashdot reviews here and here). We've just signed our first outside author: Mike Clark, editor of the JUnit FAQ and developer of JUnitPerf and JDepend. He'll be writing the eagerly-anticipated Pragmatic Project Automation book, the third volume in our Jolt Productivity award-winning series."
Exactly how many bits, Ma'am? And in what order, did you say? jlcooke writes "Two months (almost to the day) after getting slashdotted for an innocent post to sci.crypt - the MD5CRK project has launched. The aim is to get the thousands of applications and websites to drop MD5 for SHA-1 or SHA-256 by finding a counter-example of a security requirement in MD5. Press Release is here."
How to take criticism, by example. slashdot_commentator writes "Eric S. Raymond has recently written a wonderful piece explaining to the Linux zealot why it may not be the operating system of choice of all users. (Or what user aspects open source developers need to focus on to further Linux World Domination.) The op-ed specifically focuses on the CUPS printing system. (But it would be a mistake to dismiss it as a screed against CUPS.) The CUPS authors surprisingly acknowledged ESR's points, and he wrote a followup to the article."
Hitting them where it figuratively hurts. Ian Wilson writes with a followup to the Slashdot post earlier this month on "website thieves stealing content and designs from others, taken from silicon.com. Well, now silicon.com is reporting that it has contacted the offending site's advertisers and forced them to stop paying ad revenues - thus effectively crippling the illegal site - after all, no revenue, no reason to the run the site."
Express your appreciation with PizzaPal. Chuck writes "After you guys published the article on $20 bills exploding when microwaved, a co-worker of mine went to put his soup in the microwave and found a $20 bill in it. Too bad it was an older one, but someone around the office must have left it in there after reading your article. The co-worker then took me out to lunch. Thanks, Slashdot!"
-
Slashback: Flashmob, Currency, Verification
The first Slashback in a while, with updates and reactions to previous Slashdot stories, including a Flash-mod supercomputing reminder, the upside of microwave-tested currency, CUPS' user-interface foibles, an alternative to MD5 sums, and more. Read on for the details.Reminder of your scheduled spontaneous appointment. Zero_K writes "As previously posted on Slashdot and the NY Times, the University of San Francisco's, Computer Science department is building a 'flash mob' supercomputer on April 3rd. On their newly updated official web-site (Main Site, ISO's) the team has now posted the ISO image of their custom morphix that will be used to boot all the computers into the cluster, documentation is on the website (under 'downloads') and on the CD (index.html). I personally plan on downloading and testing this ISO tonight. And after the cluster is taken off line, there will be a massive LAN PARTY (Possibly one of the biggest in San Francisco...) On a 10-Gigabit LAN...Oh sweetness ... So if you are in or around the SF Bay Area on April 3rd, be sure to sign up and bring your laptop or desktop to campus and help make history."
Whaddya mean, "no pun intended"? Rudiger writes "After the dust (no pun intended) has settled around the whole Operation Dust Bunny thing, McAfee updates their signature database classifying Dust Bunny as an application. To be more specific: 'This program is detected as a "potentially unwanted application."' They also say 'This is not a virus or trojan.' Should we leave it to the experts this time?"
Would you read Atlas Shrugged on this screen? An anonymous reader writes "The so-called 'electronic paper,' being a high-clarity monochrome display to become a foundation for comfortable and inexpensive 'electronic papers,' has finally shown its face. The new electronic paper, which looks a bit like an iPod, has 10MB memory, keyboard, Memory Stick PRO slot, voice recorder, speaker, and headphones output, and USB2.0 interface."
(We mentioned the device yesterday, but this link provides better images of it.)
Now they're Pragmatic Publishers as well -- much success! AndyHunt writes "As you may have heard, the Pragmatic Programmers have started their own publishing company (see Slashdot reviews here and here). We've just signed our first outside author: Mike Clark, editor of the JUnit FAQ and developer of JUnitPerf and JDepend. He'll be writing the eagerly-anticipated Pragmatic Project Automation book, the third volume in our Jolt Productivity award-winning series."
Exactly how many bits, Ma'am? And in what order, did you say? jlcooke writes "Two months (almost to the day) after getting slashdotted for an innocent post to sci.crypt - the MD5CRK project has launched. The aim is to get the thousands of applications and websites to drop MD5 for SHA-1 or SHA-256 by finding a counter-example of a security requirement in MD5. Press Release is here."
How to take criticism, by example. slashdot_commentator writes "Eric S. Raymond has recently written a wonderful piece explaining to the Linux zealot why it may not be the operating system of choice of all users. (Or what user aspects open source developers need to focus on to further Linux World Domination.) The op-ed specifically focuses on the CUPS printing system. (But it would be a mistake to dismiss it as a screed against CUPS.) The CUPS authors surprisingly acknowledged ESR's points, and he wrote a followup to the article."
Hitting them where it figuratively hurts. Ian Wilson writes with a followup to the Slashdot post earlier this month on "website thieves stealing content and designs from others, taken from silicon.com. Well, now silicon.com is reporting that it has contacted the offending site's advertisers and forced them to stop paying ad revenues - thus effectively crippling the illegal site - after all, no revenue, no reason to the run the site."
Express your appreciation with PizzaPal. Chuck writes "After you guys published the article on $20 bills exploding when microwaved, a co-worker of mine went to put his soup in the microwave and found a $20 bill in it. Too bad it was an older one, but someone around the office must have left it in there after reading your article. The co-worker then took me out to lunch. Thanks, Slashdot!"
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Slashback: Flashmob, Currency, Verification
The first Slashback in a while, with updates and reactions to previous Slashdot stories, including a Flash-mod supercomputing reminder, the upside of microwave-tested currency, CUPS' user-interface foibles, an alternative to MD5 sums, and more. Read on for the details.Reminder of your scheduled spontaneous appointment. Zero_K writes "As previously posted on Slashdot and the NY Times, the University of San Francisco's, Computer Science department is building a 'flash mob' supercomputer on April 3rd. On their newly updated official web-site (Main Site, ISO's) the team has now posted the ISO image of their custom morphix that will be used to boot all the computers into the cluster, documentation is on the website (under 'downloads') and on the CD (index.html). I personally plan on downloading and testing this ISO tonight. And after the cluster is taken off line, there will be a massive LAN PARTY (Possibly one of the biggest in San Francisco...) On a 10-Gigabit LAN...Oh sweetness ... So if you are in or around the SF Bay Area on April 3rd, be sure to sign up and bring your laptop or desktop to campus and help make history."
Whaddya mean, "no pun intended"? Rudiger writes "After the dust (no pun intended) has settled around the whole Operation Dust Bunny thing, McAfee updates their signature database classifying Dust Bunny as an application. To be more specific: 'This program is detected as a "potentially unwanted application."' They also say 'This is not a virus or trojan.' Should we leave it to the experts this time?"
Would you read Atlas Shrugged on this screen? An anonymous reader writes "The so-called 'electronic paper,' being a high-clarity monochrome display to become a foundation for comfortable and inexpensive 'electronic papers,' has finally shown its face. The new electronic paper, which looks a bit like an iPod, has 10MB memory, keyboard, Memory Stick PRO slot, voice recorder, speaker, and headphones output, and USB2.0 interface."
(We mentioned the device yesterday, but this link provides better images of it.)
Now they're Pragmatic Publishers as well -- much success! AndyHunt writes "As you may have heard, the Pragmatic Programmers have started their own publishing company (see Slashdot reviews here and here). We've just signed our first outside author: Mike Clark, editor of the JUnit FAQ and developer of JUnitPerf and JDepend. He'll be writing the eagerly-anticipated Pragmatic Project Automation book, the third volume in our Jolt Productivity award-winning series."
Exactly how many bits, Ma'am? And in what order, did you say? jlcooke writes "Two months (almost to the day) after getting slashdotted for an innocent post to sci.crypt - the MD5CRK project has launched. The aim is to get the thousands of applications and websites to drop MD5 for SHA-1 or SHA-256 by finding a counter-example of a security requirement in MD5. Press Release is here."
How to take criticism, by example. slashdot_commentator writes "Eric S. Raymond has recently written a wonderful piece explaining to the Linux zealot why it may not be the operating system of choice of all users. (Or what user aspects open source developers need to focus on to further Linux World Domination.) The op-ed specifically focuses on the CUPS printing system. (But it would be a mistake to dismiss it as a screed against CUPS.) The CUPS authors surprisingly acknowledged ESR's points, and he wrote a followup to the article."
Hitting them where it figuratively hurts. Ian Wilson writes with a followup to the Slashdot post earlier this month on "website thieves stealing content and designs from others, taken from silicon.com. Well, now silicon.com is reporting that it has contacted the offending site's advertisers and forced them to stop paying ad revenues - thus effectively crippling the illegal site - after all, no revenue, no reason to the run the site."
Express your appreciation with PizzaPal. Chuck writes "After you guys published the article on $20 bills exploding when microwaved, a co-worker of mine went to put his soup in the microwave and found a $20 bill in it. Too bad it was an older one, but someone around the office must have left it in there after reading your article. The co-worker then took me out to lunch. Thanks, Slashdot!"
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Microsoft's Online Music Store
jamshedji noted a short story that talks about Microsoft's Online Music Store. The market is already getting quite crowded, so it will be interesting to see what affect the monopoly's entrance makes when this goes down in the 2nd half of this year. -
Stop! Website Thief!
Rick Zeman writes "We've all heard of people grabbing an image from this web site, ideas from that web site, or some content from yet another web site. But what do you do when someone takes your entire web site and hosts it in a foreign country? Silicon.com has an article that tells the tale of two such web sites."