Slashdot: Features
http://features.slashdot.org/
News for nerds, stuff that mattersen-usCopyright 1997-2009, Geeknet, Inc. All Rights Reserved.2009-11-04T21:30:30+00:00Geeknet, Inc.help@slashdot.orgTechnologyhourly11970-01-01T00:00+00:00Slashdot: Featureshttp://a.fsdn.com/sd/topics/topicslashdot.gif
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Silicon Valley Culture Originated In Radio Days
http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~3/gOT29HphEe0/Silicon-Valley-Culture-Originated-In-Radio-Days
yroJJory writes to recommend a piece up at SFGate on the history of Silicon Valley and its roots in radio, accompanied by some great old photos. "When the Traitorous Eight [founders of Fairchild], as they're sometimes called, held their hush-hush meeting in San Francisco, they had reason to fear discovery — but no way to know that by quitting safe jobs for a risky startup, they would earn a place among what Stanford University historian Leslie Berlin calls the 'Founding Fathers of Silicon Valley'... Roughly 30 years before Hewlett and Packard started work in their garage, and almost 50 years before the Traitorous Eight created Fairchild, the basic culture of Silicon Valley was forming around radio: engineers who hung out in hobby clubs, brainstormed and borrowed equipment, spun new companies out of old ones, and established a meritocracy ruled by those who made electronic products cheaper, faster and better."<p><a href="http://features.slashdot.org/story/07/09/30/1926242/Silicon-Valley-Culture-Originated-In-Radio-Days?from=rss"><img src="http://features.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&op=image&style=h0&sid=07/09/30/1926242"></a></p><p><a href="http://features.slashdot.org/story/07/09/30/1926242/Silicon-Valley-Culture-Originated-In-Radio-Days?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p>
<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/gRLHszcTflNZL55SLTl4u4JTncU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/gRLHszcTflNZL55SLTl4u4JTncU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/gRLHszcTflNZL55SLTl4u4JTncU/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/gRLHszcTflNZL55SLTl4u4JTncU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~4/gOT29HphEe0" height="1" width="1"/>kdawson2007-09-30T21:35:00+00:00businessengineers-money-and-riskfeatures8484,82,65,49,17,9,5http://features.slashdot.org/story/07/09/30/1926242/Silicon-Valley-Culture-Originated-In-Radio-Days?from=rssMDN presents 'Manglish - Manga in English'
http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~3/6MePYKPk9_s/MDN-presents-Manglish---Manga-in-English
Mainichi Daily News writes "Japan's leading English news site revolutionizes manga -- Manga lovers rejoice! A never-seen-before approach to manga made its debut on the Mainichi Daily News on Monday, July 3, 2006. Manglish takes some of Japan's hottest young manga talents -- showcased in the Mainichi's MangaTown site -- and places their creations on the MDN in their original Japanese format. However, cool thing is that while it appears on the site in the original Japanese, but if you run your mouse over it you get the translation in English.<p><a href="http://features.slashdot.org/story/06/07/03/1159239/MDN-presents-Manglish---Manga-in-English?from=rss"><img src="http://features.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&op=image&style=h0&sid=06/07/03/1159239"></a></p><p><a href="http://features.slashdot.org/story/06/07/03/1159239/MDN-presents-Manglish---Manga-in-English?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p>
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<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/sT_m4JQPwQRRG35h_tiX7FA83-I/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/sT_m4JQPwQRRG35h_tiX7FA83-I/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~4/6MePYKPk9_s" height="1" width="1"/>Hemos2006-07-03T12:07:00+00:00animefeatures101101,95,75,49,15,8,3http://features.slashdot.org/story/06/07/03/1159239/MDN-presents-Manglish---Manga-in-English?from=rssDas Keyboard II: A Switch for the Better
http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~3/k19UeXFBCdc/Das-Keyboard-II-A-Switch-for-the-Better
Last year, I reviewed the original Das Keyboard, the all-black, all-the-time keyboard from MetaDot, and found it disappointing. MetaDot was kind enough to pass on an example of their next generation keyboard for comparison. The upshot is that the new version is quite a bit better than the original: it's now equal in keyfeel to the best keyboards I could find at local superstores, which dampens my major complaint. It's still a cool-looking but questionably useful all-black, and is still more eye-candy than finger-food. Just the same, this unique product now bears more consideration. (Read on for the rest of my review.)<p><a href="http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/06/06/02/1731212/Das-Keyboard-II-A-Switch-for-the-Better?from=rss"><img src="http://features.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&op=image&style=h0&sid=06/06/02/1731212"></a></p><p><a href="http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/06/06/02/1731212/Das-Keyboard-II-A-Switch-for-the-Better?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p>
<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/m3hVsuYrxJn7ldfx9QIxZ3vGl4E/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/m3hVsuYrxJn7ldfx9QIxZ3vGl4E/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/m3hVsuYrxJn7ldfx9QIxZ3vGl4E/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/m3hVsuYrxJn7ldfx9QIxZ3vGl4E/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~4/k19UeXFBCdc" height="1" width="1"/>timothy2006-06-02T20:08:00+00:00inputdevblack-like-a-springfield-xd-45hardware257257,252,201,138,26,16,7http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/06/06/02/1731212/Das-Keyboard-II-A-Switch-for-the-Better?from=rssBuilding the "Social Internet" From the Outside In
http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~3/o5U1RBtL_Yg/Building-the-Social-Internet-From-the-Outside-In
What initially struck me about Freecycle was that it was the first useful thing on the Internet I learned about by reading a newspaper instead of through the leading-edge online news sources I follow. The next thing I noticed about Freecycle was that, unlike Craigslist, Flickr, and other "Social Internet" phenomena, it wasn't centered on major cities but had local groups all over the place, even in towns like Apache Junction, Arizona, and Bradenton, Florida. And then, when I actually used my local Freecycle group, I discovered something else: A high percentage of users were over 50, female, or both.<p><a href="http://features.slashdot.org/story/06/01/16/1550241/Building-the-Social-Internet-From-the-Outside-In?from=rss"><img src="http://features.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&op=image&style=h0&sid=06/01/16/1550241"></a></p><p><a href="http://features.slashdot.org/story/06/01/16/1550241/Building-the-Social-Internet-From-the-Outside-In?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p>
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<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/N5pR5TiSbcEn7kj05PRGST6lsUs/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/N5pR5TiSbcEn7kj05PRGST6lsUs/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~4/o5U1RBtL_Yg" height="1" width="1"/>Roblimo2006-01-16T20:27:00+00:00editorialsometimes-the-amateurs-outdo-the-professionalsfeatures130130,125,98,60,20,13,9http://features.slashdot.org/story/06/01/16/1550241/Building-the-Social-Internet-From-the-Outside-In?from=rssDas Keyboard: Hit Any Key
http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~3/i181BOasOII/Das-Keyboard-Hit-Any-Key
Black hardware just can't help looking cool (think TIE fighters, NeXT Cubes, and the hard-to-find black SE/30 case you might have lusted for in 1994), but have you ever wanted an all-black keyboard? Das Keyboard, from Austin-based Metadot, fills the craving for those so afflicted, and by "all-black," I mean something very nearly that: except a small white label ("Das Keyboard") in the upper left corner and labels for the three usual indicator lights -- num lock, caps lock, and scroll lock -- there's nothing but black to see. The keys are unlabeled in any conventional sense, though the index-finger keys of the conventional home row (F and J) are marked with the usual small bumps; theoretically, this should make typing more accurate after a time, just because cheating with one's eyeballs isn't a possibility. It's the aesthetic opposite of the recently announced Optimus keyboard; this is high minimalism applied to the modern keyboard. The truth is, I wanted to like Das Keyboard. It looks cool, and the concept sounds, well, sound. The thing itself left me a bit disappointed, though; I've outlined my reasoning below.<p><a href="http://features.slashdot.org/story/05/09/08/1725252/Das-Keyboard-Hit-Any-Key?from=rss"><img src="http://features.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&op=image&style=h0&sid=05/09/08/1725252"></a></p><p><a href="http://features.slashdot.org/story/05/09/08/1725252/Das-Keyboard-Hit-Any-Key?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p>
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<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/lZwbTJMXgiELCAeRb6byd5_Lnxk/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/lZwbTJMXgiELCAeRb6byd5_Lnxk/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~4/i181BOasOII" height="1" width="1"/>timothy2005-09-08T21:15:00+00:00inputdevperfect-for-tech-hipster-tv-showsfeatures479479,473,380,243,57,36,23http://features.slashdot.org/story/05/09/08/1725252/Das-Keyboard-Hit-Any-Key?from=rssDialup Redeemed: The WiFlyer Modem+Hotspot
http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~3/uwACXeXv5bw/Dialup-Redeemed-The-WiFlyer-ModemHotspot
Those who've moved to broadband connections and wireless links to each PC on their home or office network are unlikely to look back fondly on the days of 56K (or the not-so-snappy 300 baud of my first modem). Still, even if most Internet users really do have broadband, and (unless you've forsaken a landline telephone completely), dialup is a useful adjunct to even the spiffiest broadband access. And sometimes, it's the only access available. Most city dwellers don't face the distance limits of DSL (or even the geographic limitations of cable service), and cheapskate travelers know that free local calls are more common than hotels with free WiFi. However, wireless access and modems aren't the most common combination (especially when you're talking about laptops with a built-in modem port), and it's not fun being tied to whatever length of phone cord you have to hand. AlwaysOn Wireless's device called the WiFlyer (about $150) combines a wireless access point, a DHCP server, and a modem to make dealing with dialup a bit easier, and tosses in a few other features as well. The WiFlyer is a brilliant device, with some limitations; read on for my review.<p><a href="http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/05/07/21/194255/Dialup-Redeemed-The-WiFlyer-ModemHotspot?from=rss"><img src="http://features.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&op=image&style=h0&sid=05/07/21/194255"></a></p><p><a href="http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/05/07/21/194255/Dialup-Redeemed-The-WiFlyer-ModemHotspot?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p>
<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ITXnoVCYyLbw0zygBurG-n3GggU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ITXnoVCYyLbw0zygBurG-n3GggU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ITXnoVCYyLbw0zygBurG-n3GggU/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ITXnoVCYyLbw0zygBurG-n3GggU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~4/uwACXeXv5bw" height="1" width="1"/>timothy2005-07-22T15:37:00+00:00wirelessbetter-than-a-sharp-blow-to-the-headmobile170170,166,123,70,19,12,5http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/05/07/21/194255/Dialup-Redeemed-The-WiFlyer-ModemHotspot?from=rssReview: Star Wars Episode III
http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~3/VyTE1sIabIM/Review-Star-Wars-Episode-III
erikharrison writes "I just watched Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. And it is good. There are lots of things I would like to say about it that I won't, as Slashdot isn't the place. Slashdot is the place to ask two questions, however. 1) How are the special effects and 2)What has Lucas done to the possibly tattered remains of my childhood?" Read on for Harrison's answers to those questions, and for Jamie's quite different impression of the sixth (and final?) Star Wars feature film.<p><a href="http://news.slashdot.org/story/05/05/22/199200/Review-Star-Wars-Episode-III?from=rss"><img src="http://features.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&op=image&style=h0&sid=05/05/22/199200"></a></p><p><a href="http://news.slashdot.org/story/05/05/22/199200/Review-Star-Wars-Episode-III?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p>
<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/yFBClvOYwXmtju1TaGVTdpbS-Bk/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/yFBClvOYwXmtju1TaGVTdpbS-Bk/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/yFBClvOYwXmtju1TaGVTdpbS-Bk/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/yFBClvOYwXmtju1TaGVTdpbS-Bk/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~4/VyTE1sIabIM" height="1" width="1"/>timothy2005-05-22T20:50:00+00:00mediawatched-two-different-moviesnews12651265,1248,973,572,125,69,50http://news.slashdot.org/story/05/05/22/199200/Review-Star-Wars-Episode-III?from=rssThe Early History of Nupedia and Wikipedia, Part II
http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~3/QMkSP7g3NHI/The-Early-History-of-Nupedia-and-Wikipedia-Part-II
Today, read the continuation of Larry Sanger's account of the early history of Nupedia and Wikipedia (below), in which Sanger talks about the difficulties of governance in a large, free-wheeling project, some final attempts to save Nupedia, and how he came to resign from the organization. (And if you missed it, you might want to start with yesterday's installment.)<p><a href="http://features.slashdot.org/story/05/04/19/1746205/The-Early-History-of-Nupedia-and-Wikipedia-Part-II?from=rss"><img src="http://features.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&op=image&style=h0&sid=05/04/19/1746205"></a></p><p><a href="http://features.slashdot.org/story/05/04/19/1746205/The-Early-History-of-Nupedia-and-Wikipedia-Part-II?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p>
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<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/rfv39TWN5-GvhgAzJDrABBxyvEc/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/rfv39TWN5-GvhgAzJDrABBxyvEc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~4/QMkSP7g3NHI" height="1" width="1"/>timothy2005-04-19T19:10:00+00:00internetrecent-pastfeatures140140,123,79,56,13,9,6http://features.slashdot.org/story/05/04/19/1746205/The-Early-History-of-Nupedia-and-Wikipedia-Part-II?from=rssThe Early History of Nupedia and Wikipedia: A Memoir
http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~3/tEJYmQAaOXw/The-Early-History-of-Nupedia-and-Wikipedia-A-Memoir
Larry Sanger was one of the moving forces behind the pioneering Nupedia project. That makes him one of the people to thank for Wikipedia, which has been enjoying more and more visibility of late. Sanger has prepared a lengthy, informative account of the early history of Nupedia and Wikipedia, including some cogent observations on project management, online legitimacy, dealing with trolls, and other hazards of running a large, collaborative project over the Internet. As Sanger writes, "A virtually identical version of this memoir is due to appear this summer in Open Sources 2.0, published by O'Reilly and edited by Chris DiBona, Danese Cooper, and Mark Stone. The volume is to be a successor to Open Sources: Voices from the Open Source Revolution (1999)." Read on below for the story (continued tomorrow). Update: 04/20 19:19 GMT by T : Here's a link to the continuation of Sanger's memoir.<p><a href="http://features.slashdot.org/story/05/04/18/164213/The-Early-History-of-Nupedia-and-Wikipedia-A-Memoir?from=rss"><img src="http://features.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&op=image&style=h0&sid=05/04/18/164213"></a></p><p><a href="http://features.slashdot.org/story/05/04/18/164213/The-Early-History-of-Nupedia-and-Wikipedia-A-Memoir?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p>
<p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ukun9BueygRWxDUvbix_zhIPpYU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ukun9BueygRWxDUvbix_zhIPpYU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/>
<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ukun9BueygRWxDUvbix_zhIPpYU/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ukun9BueygRWxDUvbix_zhIPpYU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~4/tEJYmQAaOXw" height="1" width="1"/>timothy2005-04-18T17:00:00+00:00internetlonger-than-my-memoryfeatures156156,139,118,73,34,17,10http://features.slashdot.org/story/05/04/18/164213/The-Early-History-of-Nupedia-and-Wikipedia-A-Memoir?from=rssThe State of the Open Source Union, 2004
http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~3/8wguJVfbq1Y/The-State-of-the-Open-Source-Union-2004
Mark Stone writes with a thoughtful look back at the year 2004 in open source, pointing out both major gains and inevitable uncertainties. He writes "2004 stands out as a year in which open source consolidated its position as a valuable and accepted approach to business and technology policy. A less obvious but significant trend underlies all of this: even as open source business models join the mainstream, the open source development model remains a mysterious process on which large technology companies struggle to capitalize. Key issues and developments have played out in four areas: legal, policy, business, and technology." Read on for the rest.<p><a href="http://features.slashdot.org/story/05/02/28/1848252/The-State-of-the-Open-Source-Union-2004?from=rss"><img src="http://features.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&op=image&style=h0&sid=05/02/28/1848252"></a></p><p><a href="http://features.slashdot.org/story/05/02/28/1848252/The-State-of-the-Open-Source-Union-2004?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p>
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<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/qnY-HJNBmCLeVcYq4TLy8N-LcQk/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/qnY-HJNBmCLeVcYq4TLy8N-LcQk/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~4/8wguJVfbq1Y" height="1" width="1"/>timothy2005-02-28T19:22:00+00:00softwarewide-angle-lensfeatures211211,194,155,103,35,21,10http://features.slashdot.org/story/05/02/28/1848252/The-State-of-the-Open-Source-Union-2004?from=rssUnited Paper Shuffle
http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~3/j8NWbc1DcAc/United-Paper-Shuffle
We've reviewed Wall Street Meat, by Andy Kessler. Andy's recently released Running Money. Andy sent this piece on to us, and it's one that I think will be appreciated.<p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/story/05/01/11/1926211/United-Paper-Shuffle?from=rss"><img src="http://features.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&op=image&style=h0&sid=05/01/11/1926211"></a></p><p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/story/05/01/11/1926211/United-Paper-Shuffle?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p>
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<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/RWJG7iIpjcN-szqAAQBQ58qiRqQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/RWJG7iIpjcN-szqAAQBQ58qiRqQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~4/j8NWbc1DcAc" height="1" width="1"/>Hemos2005-01-17T14:30:00+00:00businessinertia's-dictatorshiptechnology8282,75,59,41,15,5,2http://tech.slashdot.org/story/05/01/11/1926211/United-Paper-Shuffle?from=rssCanary Wireless Digital Hotspotter Reviewed
http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~3/wKMtbzm5aLM/Canary-Wireless-Digital-Hotspotter-Reviewed
The postman brought me a review sample last week of what is without doubt the best thing to hit my keychain in ... well, since keys. It's Canary Wireless's Digital Hotspotter, a Wi-Fi signal finder which, despite a few quirks, is the best (and most sophisticated) of the current crop of cheap hand-held detectors. Read on for my review of the device, which was also mentioned in this detector round-up linked to last month.<p><a href="http://features.slashdot.org/story/04/12/21/005224/Canary-Wireless-Digital-Hotspotter-Reviewed?from=rss"><img src="http://features.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&op=image&style=h0&sid=04/12/21/005224"></a></p><p><a href="http://features.slashdot.org/story/04/12/21/005224/Canary-Wireless-Digital-Hotspotter-Reviewed?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p>
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<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/rZi2BqeWAUOqhWoDOWIwpmeY33o/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/rZi2BqeWAUOqhWoDOWIwpmeY33o/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~4/wKMtbzm5aLM" height="1" width="1"/>timothy2004-12-21T17:30:00+00:00wirelesspolymorphously-perversefeatures8787,81,64,42,15,7,4http://features.slashdot.org/story/04/12/21/005224/Canary-Wireless-Digital-Hotspotter-Reviewed?from=rssReview: Evil Genius
http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~3/pxgRhYa55nY/Review-Evil-Genius
The drive to be an evil genius is an easily understandable one. Riches, power, eventual fame, and plenty of minions to order around are just some of the perks of the vocation. Vivendi's Evil Genius (flash required) gives you the opportunity to exercise your lust for worldly power in a seriously stylish way. A rich musical score, tons of polish, and enough dastardly deeds to keep even Dr. Claw happy are the game's high points. An overabundance of micromanagement and a lack of proper GUI interaction marrs what have could been a classic in the strategy genre. Read on for a more in-depth examination of the first real-time strategy game whose tag line could have been "Mwahahahahahahahaha!"<p><a href="http://games.slashdot.org/story/04/11/05/2031254/Review-Evil-Genius?from=rss"><img src="http://features.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&op=image&style=h0&sid=04/11/05/2031254"></a></p><p><a href="http://games.slashdot.org/story/04/11/05/2031254/Review-Evil-Genius?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p>
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<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/PLpT5L3RczR6SsEuQW20hRtEvu0/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/PLpT5L3RczR6SsEuQW20hRtEvu0/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~4/pxgRhYa55nY" height="1" width="1"/>Zonk2004-11-05T23:20:00+00:00rtsdoomsday-laser-built-for-peaceful-purposesgames197197,189,152,97,37,25,20http://games.slashdot.org/story/04/11/05/2031254/Review-Evil-Genius?from=rssThere is no "byte" in the worldwide bestse
http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~3/J_f1SJbWC_0/There-is-no-byte-in-the-worldwide-bestse
Dr D.C.Misra writes "There is no "byte" in the worldwide bestsellers. Whatever then happened to the dotcom deluge? There is a remarkable omission of any book on information and communication technologies (ICTs) from the latest list of bestsellers on science. This glaring omission stares at your face blankly when you look at the list in the light of the oft-repeated assertion that we are living in the information age or in an era of ongoing ICTrevolution.What happened then to the deluge of books on ICTs in the days of dotcom boom, the last decade of the twentieth century (followed no doubt by books explaining the dotcom bust as well)? Does the omission mean that we have no popular writers on ICTs producing "bestsellers" or "classics"(the two need not be same of course) and people(read lay readers) are not interested in ICTs but are interested in, say,mathematics and physics? Commenting on the list The Economist, London, which has compiled the list and published it in its issue of 2nd-8th October, notes that science writing for the lay reader is getting better and better, and the best explains even the most complex subjects without condescension. It notes that the books by the populariser, Bill Bryson, and by Richard Dawkins, evolutionist,predominate. But classic works continue to sell well, years after publication.What happened then, for example,to Brook's Mythical Man-Month or Bill Gates' The Road Ahead (or, for that matter, to his Business@The Speed of Thought) or Tim Berners-Lee's Weaving the Web or Nicholas Negroponte's Being Digital or Makimoto and Manners' Digital Nomad or indeed to George Gilder's Telecosm, just to mention half a dozen or so rather familiar titles in ICTs? Does it mean that there was no paradigm shift and that the book that invented the term- The Structure of Scientific Revolutions - merrily finds a place (rank 10)in the list despite having been published way back in 1962 when many of the present day geeks were not even born? Or, does it mean that people's initial enthusiasm and curiosity in ICTs have just waned, perhaps unnoticed? The list has another surprise- the size of books. The size of a number of bestsellers ranges from rather formidable 500 to awesome 1,000 pp. The slot for the slimmest, at 240 pp, is co-shared by Hawkins and Kuhn. This is against the popularly held belief that people do not like "tombs" of scholarship. Apparently people are prepared to spend time (and money as well) on lengthy books if interesting content is offered to them or does it mean that such bestsellers are only "must have, read later" books and those who can afford buy them and then put them on the shelves, never to be read? And who is this "lay reader" who buys these books on esoteric subjects in science? Whosoever this "lay reader" may be, no one should deny him the access to Sir Roger Penrose's The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe (rank 4). The Economist describes it as "An extraordinary account of the underlying mathematics of the physical universe. Not for the lay reader." Pray, why not? If "lay readers" are not reading these bestsellers then how doesSir Roger's book attain a very honourable rank 4? Or does it mean that only libraries buy these bestsellers and individual "lay readers" have no role in the `making' of these bestsellers? And how can any one forget Sir Roger's classic The Emperor's New Mind, a very powerful attack on 'strong artificial intelligence (AI)' whose proponents continue to remain unshaken in their claim that it is just a question of time when human beings will be replaced by computers and Sir Roger showed that human thinking can never be emulated by a computer.It certainly is surprising that this book is missing from the list of bestsellers, a case of missing another "byte"! Or its sequel The Shadows of Mind, described as 'one of the most important works of the second half of the 20th century' by The Times, London which provided more rigorous proof of consciousness far beyond the `computational activity.' Here is then the list of top 15 Amazon worldwide bestsellers on science (with figures following the author indicating the number of pages): 1.A Short History of Nearly Everything (Bill Bryson 560),2.The Ancestor's Tale (Richard Dawkins 520), 3.Guns, Germs, and Steel (Jared Diamond 512), 4.The Road to Reality (Roger Penrose 1,000), 5.The Fabric of the Cosmos (Brian Greene 569), 6.Stiff (Mary Roach 303), 7.The Elegant Universe (Brian Greene 464), 8.The Selfish Gene (Richard Dawkins 366), 9.A Brief History of Time (Stephen Hawking 240), 10. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (Thomas S. Kuhn 240), 11.Eine kurze Geschichte von fast allem.(Bill Bryson 672), 12.The End of Oil (Paul Roberts 389), 13. Kosmos Himmelsjahr 2005 (Hans-Ullrich Keller 288), 14.The Secret Life of Lobsters (Trevor Corson 289), and 15.How the Mind Works (Steven Pinker 672).(Read the complete list, together with the comments of The Economist, at http://economist.com/books/displayStory.cfm?story_ id=3242474). But what happened to the books which enthused us,those which tried to demystify the ICTs and those which simply excited us, some of which even forcing us to lose our sleep and read them from A to Z? What happened, for example, to Isaac Asimov's I, Robot, which, among other things laid down the three laws of robotics? Or to former Stanford professor Robert X. Cringely's Accidental Empires which became the basis for PublicTV's miniseries Triumph of the Nerds? Or to Matt Ridley's Genome, appropriately sub-titled the autobiography of a species in 23 chapters? Or to Where Wizards stay Up Late giving us the origin of Internet or to K.Eric Drexler's Engines of Creation on the coming era of nanotechnology? The proprietary versus open source debate continues unresolved. Both sides appear to have only strengthened their respective defences with the passage of time.Yet Glyn Moody's rebel code dealing with Linux and the open source revolution has failed to make to the list.While security continues to be an over-riding concern, The Art of Deception by Kevin D.Mitnick, who is described as `a cyber-desperado and fugitive from one of the most exhaustive FBI manhunts in history' did not find favour with the reading public. Mitnick,understandably,is also described as `one of the most sought-after computer security experts worldwide.'Or may be these books do not fall under the category of "science"? Whatever may be the reason, there appears to be lull in the field of ICTs today.Absence of books on ICTs from the bestseller list perhaps only indicates the present lull. This, however, may only be partly true as age appears to have no bearing on bestsellers otherwise Kuhn's book, for example, published in 1962,would not have found a place in the bestseller list. Perhaps a classic in ICTs is yet to be written. Any takers, techies or non-techies? Dr D.C.MisraOctober 13, 2004"<p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/story/04/10/13/1738203/There-is-no-byte-in-the-worldwide-bestse?from=rss"><img src="http://features.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&op=image&style=h0&sid=04/10/13/1738203"></a></p><p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/story/04/10/13/1738203/There-is-no-byte-in-the-worldwide-bestse?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p>
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<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/UaNLRRxtBmq1qPBXIWT2IRxDTiA/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/UaNLRRxtBmq1qPBXIWT2IRxDTiA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~4/J_f1SJbWC_0" height="1" width="1"/>timothy2004-10-14T18:16:00+00:00booksscience0,0,0,0,0,0,0http://science.slashdot.org/story/04/10/13/1738203/There-is-no-byte-in-the-worldwide-bestse?from=rssRio Karma User Review
http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~3/ow2fr1GktCc/Rio-Karma-User-Review
FuzzyBad-Mofo writes "On 8/24/2004, I took the plunge and bought a Rio Karma digital music player. My needs were simple: Decent storage capacity, Linux friendly, and Ogg Vorbis compatible. The Karma has a generous 20 GB capacity, decent battery life, is OS-agnostic, and plays a wide variety of file formats, including Ogg." Read on for the rest of FuzzyBad-Mofo's review.<p><a href="http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/04/10/09/1813228/Rio-Karma-User-Review?from=rss"><img src="http://features.slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&op=image&style=h0&sid=04/10/09/1813228"></a></p><p><a href="http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/04/10/09/1813228/Rio-Karma-User-Review?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p>
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<a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ptmx5115_G_hiKcEIodq0YG1pxQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ptmx5115_G_hiKcEIodq0YG1pxQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdotFeatures/~4/ow2fr1GktCc" height="1" width="1"/>timothy2004-10-12T16:31:00+00:00portablescute-and-musicalmobile393393,383,307,190,66,45,30http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/04/10/09/1813228/Rio-Karma-User-Review?from=rssSearch SlashdotSearch Slashdot storiesquery
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