http://slashdot.org/ News for nerds, stuff that matters Copyright 1997-2008, SourceForge, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 2008-05-13T03:50:25+00:00 SourceForge, Inc. help@slashdot.org hourly 1 1970-01-01T00:00+00:00 http://images.slashdot.org/topics/topicslashdot.gif http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/13/0139226&from=rss

religious freak sends word of the public beta of Powerset, a closely watched San Francisco startup that promises an "understanding engine" to revolutionize Web search. An article in SearchEngineLand points out that Powerset is reaching higher than for mere "natural language." Techcrunch has more details and analysis. For the beta, Powerset makes available all of Wikipedia to search &mdash; not all the Web. It's said that their understanding engine required a month to grok Wikipedia's 2.5M articles. The Web is currently at least 8,000 times as large.<p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/13/0139226&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/13/0139226"></a></p><p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/13/0139226&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotatom/~4/289129677" height="1" width="1"/>

2008-05-13T02:53:00+00:00 kdawson do-what-i-mean tech 31 31,30,22,16,11,6,4 http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/13/0139226&from=rss http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/13/0118240&from=rss

Smivs writes "US researchers say they have developed an effective way to kill unwanted plants and animals that hitch a ride in the ballast waters of cargo vessels. Tests showed that a continuous microwave system was able to remove all marine life within the water tanks. The UN lists 'invasive species' dispersed by ballast water discharges as one of the four main threats to the world's marine ecosystems. For example European zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) have infested more than 40% of the US's inland waterways. Between 1989 and 2000, up to $1B is estimated to have been spent on controlling the spread of the alien invader."<p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/13/0118240&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/13/0118240"></a></p><p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/13/0118240&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotatom/~4/289091119" height="1" width="1"/>

2008-05-13T01:29:00+00:00 kdawson avast-and-adios tech 66 66,64,46,31,15,9,6 http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/13/0118240&from=rss http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/2330200&from=rss

Fields writes "It's well known that failed hard drives can be recovered, but few people actually use a recovery service because they're expensive and not always successful. Even fewer people ever get any insights into the process, as recovery companies are secretive about their methods and rarely reveal any more information that is necessary for billing. Geek.com has an article walking through a drive recovery handled by DriveSavers. The recovery team did not give away many secrets, but they did reveal a number of insights into the process. From the article, "'[M]y drive failed in about every way you can imagine. It had electro-mechanical failure resulting in severe media damage. Seagate considered it dead, but I didn't give up. It's actually pretty amazing that they were able to recover nearly all of the data. Of course, they had to do some rebuilding, but that's what you expect when you send it to the ER for hard drives.'" Be sure to visit the Museum of Disk-asters too.<p><a href="http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/2330200&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/12/2330200"></a></p><p><a href="http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/2330200&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotatom/~4/289054066" height="1" width="1"/>

2008-05-13T00:02:00+00:00 kdawson it's-dead-jim hardware 130 130,126,106,74,30,16,10 http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/2330200&from=rss http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/2152225&from=rss

mattnyc99 writes "Popular Mechanics is reporting that NASA &mdash; faced with the looming retirement of the space shuttle, and planning for longer missions like the one to Mars we've been discussing &mdash; is looking to free up its budget and depend a lot more on private space startups to carry key payloads into orbit in the next few years. For an agency so steeped in bureaucracy, it seems like everyone from NASA chief Mike Griffin to contracted officials to the key players in this in-depth podcast roundtable is finally acknowledging that commercial rocketeering (space tourists aside) is a more efficient a means of getting back into space for NASA. Quoting: 'Because of a new focus for NASA's strategic investments &mdash; not to mention incentives like the Ansari X Prize, which spurred the space-tourism business, and the Google Lunar X Prize, which could do the same for payloads &mdash; private-sector spaceships could be ready for government service soon, says Sam Scimemi, who heads NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program. "The industry has grown up," he tells PM. "It used to be that only NASA or the Air Force could do such things."'"<p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/2152225&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/12/2152225"></a></p><p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/2152225&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotatom/~4/289028051" height="1" width="1"/>

2008-05-12T23:23:00+00:00 kdawson facing-skyward-thumb-out science 42 42,42,33,29,8,3,2 http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/2152225&from=rss http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/2055255&from=rss

Linux.com has an interesting look at Google Gears and one of its leading evangelists, Brad Neuberg. "For Neuberg -- as for most developers -- the idea of expanding the Web's capabilities is intriguing in itself. But both inside and outside Google, his argument is that there's more at stake than just a particular piece of technology. In fact, he does not even seem particularly concerned whether Gears or some rival project takes on the role he envisions. What matters, he says, is that finding a solution to the problems of the Web is essential not only to the continued evolution of the Web, but also to its continued freedom. "<p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/2055255&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/12/2055255"></a></p><p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/2055255&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotatom/~4/289013372" height="1" width="1"/>

2008-05-12T22:41:00+00:00 ScuttleMonkey where-are-we-headed tech 27 27,26,22,19,9,7,5 http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/2055255&from=rss http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/2041232&from=rss

Wired is reporting that Cornell University researchers genetically modified a human embryo in 2007, but have only recently been gaining publicity as their work is being reviewed. "The research raises a number of thorny ethical questions. Though adding a fluorescent protein was merely a proof-of-principle step, scientists say that modified embryos could be used to research human diseases. They say embryos wouldn't be allowed to develop for more than a few weeks, much less implanted in a woman and brought to term."<p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/2041232&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/12/2041232"></a></p><p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/2041232&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotatom/~4/288984832" height="1" width="1"/>

2008-05-12T21:57:00+00:00 ScuttleMonkey gattaca-suing-for-patent-infringement science 272 272,269,215,149,51,27,15 http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/2041232&from=rss http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/205217&from=rss

PHPNerd writes "Over at space.com is an interesting article about the first space lawyer. He graduated from the University of Mississippi. 'Any future space lawyer might have to deal with issues ranging from the fallout over satellite shoot-downs to legal disputes between astronauts onboard the International Space Station. The expanding privatization of the space sector may also pose new legal challenges [...] "We are particularly proud to be offering these space law certificates for the first time, since ours is the only program of its kind in the U.S. and only one of two in North America," said Samuel Davis, law dean at the University of Mississippi.'"<p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/205217&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/12/205217"></a></p><p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/205217&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotatom/~4/288960126" height="1" width="1"/>

2008-05-12T21:11:00+00:00 ScuttleMonkey great-more-lawyers science 154 154,152,130,88,25,17,14 http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/205217&from=rss http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1949251&from=rss

emj writes to tell us project jDome has started actively soliciting consumer feedback and, of course, donations. They are currently promising to deliver their "180 degree FOV monitor" this year for a pricepoint of around $200. The videos and talk have been circulating for the last couple of weeks or so, but they have added a video of the supposed tech in action. Buyer beware, but I would love to see a couple of reviewers get ahold of this and let us know what the story is.<p><a href="http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1949251&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/12/1949251"></a></p><p><a href="http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1949251&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotatom/~4/288936428" height="1" width="1"/>

2008-05-12T20:17:00+00:00 ScuttleMonkey exercizes-in-skepticism hardware 147 147,144,118,75,29,15,11 http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1949251&from=rss http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1926247&from=rss

coondoggie writes to tell us that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will be taking a look at contactless payment systems and the consumer protection issue surrounding them. "RFID technology provides obvious benefits, the FTC said. For example, the ability of producers using RFID to track exactly where in the supply chain their products are and by which retailer they were ultimately sold to a consumer has the potential to make product recalls more effective. However, there also may be costs regarding consumers' individual privacy rights associated with it."<p><a href="http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1926247&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/12/1926247"></a></p><p><a href="http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1926247&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotatom/~4/288909320" height="1" width="1"/>

2008-05-12T19:34:00+00:00 ScuttleMonkey after-they-are-already-in-passports it 89 89,89,73,65,29,17,6 http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1926247&from=rss http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1744209&from=rss

Techdirt is reporting that Canada may be considering a "three strikes" policy which could see users internet access privileges revoked for file sharing violations. "Given how secretive the industry and the government have been about new copyright laws, perhaps this isn't too surprising. We do know that the industry was pushing for greater ISP liability as part of copyright law changes a few months back, so it wouldn't be surprising if ISPs were negotiating a "three strikes" type rule to avoid the liability issues. Of course, they probably want to keep it secret, as publicity (and resulting anger) about these types of laws in Europe has at least some politicians moving away from them. However, as the entertainment industry does keep succeeding in getting these types of laws to move forward, how long will it be before similar laws are proposed in the US, with "everyone else is doing it" as part of the reasoning?"<p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1744209&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/12/1744209"></a></p><p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1744209&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotatom/~4/288882880" height="1" width="1"/>

2008-05-12T18:44:00+00:00 ScuttleMonkey can't-stop-the-signal tech 335 335,325,265,197,61,42,29 http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1744209&from=rss http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1648223&from=rss

An anonymous reader writes to tell us that Procera Networks is launching a new weapon on the deep packet inspection (DPI) front. At $800,000 these 80 Gbps tanks aren't going to be sitting in everyone's closet, but it could mean that more traffic shaping is on the way. "The PL10000 can handle up to 5 million subscribers and can track 48 million real-time data flows. That's certainly a potent piece of hardware, but larger ISPs will need more. That's why Procera designed the new machines with full support for synchronizing traffic flows where return traffic might be routed to a different PacketLogic machine. The machine receiving the return traffic can make the machine monitoring the outbound traffic aware that it sees the other half of a TCP/IP conversation, for example, giving the devices more accuracy than those which might only have access to one side."<p><a href="http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1648223&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/12/1648223"></a></p><p><a href="http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1648223&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotatom/~4/288854543" height="1" width="1"/>

2008-05-12T17:53:00+00:00 ScuttleMonkey comcast-on-backorder-for-months hardware 156 156,155,131,102,31,22,10 http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1648223&from=rss http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1633251&from=rss

The New York Times is reporting that a school district in Texas is trying a new angle in combating truancy. Instead of punishing students with detention they are tagging them with electronic monitoring devices. "But the future of the Dallas program is uncertain. Mr. Pottinger's company, the Center for Criminal Justice Solutions, is seeking $365,000 from the county to expand the program beyond Bryan Adams. But the effort has met with political opposition after a state senator complained that ankle cuffs used in an earlier version were reminiscent of slave chains. Dave Leis, a spokesman for NovaTracker, which makes the system used in Dallas, said electronic monitoring did not have to be punitive. 'You can paint this thing as either Big Brother, or this is a device that connects you to a buddy who wants to keep you safe and help you graduate.'"<p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1633251&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/12/1633251"></a></p><p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1633251&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotatom/~4/288829682" height="1" width="1"/>

2008-05-12T17:15:00+00:00 ScuttleMonkey kids-aren't-people yro 370 370,361,293,184,58,35,25 http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1633251&from=rss http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1525257&from=rss

sowjetarschbajazzo writes "Air Force Col. Charles W. Williamson III believes that the United States military should maintain its own botnet, both as a deterrent towards those who would attempt to DDoS government networks, and an offensive weapon to be used against the networks of unfriendly nations, criminal groups, or terrorist organizations. "Some people would fear the possibility of botnet attacks on innocent parties. If the botnet is used in a strictly offensive manner, civilian computers may be attacked, but only if the enemy compels us. The U.S. will perform the same target preparation as for traditional targets and respect the law of armed conflict as Defense Department policy requires by analyzing necessity, proportionality and distinction among military, dual-use or civilian targets. But neither the law of armed conflict nor common sense would allow belligerents to hide behind the skirts of its civilians. If the enemy is using civilian computers in his country so as to cause us harm, then we may attack them." What does Slashdot think of this proposal?"<p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1525257&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/12/1525257"></a></p><p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1525257&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotatom/~4/288799828" height="1" width="1"/>

2008-05-12T16:24:00+00:00 CmdrTaco all-to-steal-wow-gold tech 379 379,375,282,201,60,40,33 http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1525257&from=rss http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1522221&from=rss

alphadogg writes "An interview with James Fallows, national correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly, who has experienced "The Great Firewall of China" firsthand, an experience people from around the world will share this summer when the Olympics comes to that country. Based in Beijing, Fallows has researched the underlying technology that the Chinese use for Internet censorship. One good thing to know: With VPNs and proxies, you can get around it pretty easily." Will these Olympics lead to a more free China, or is it just corporate pandering?<p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1522221&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/12/1522221"></a></p><p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1522221&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotatom/~4/288771211" height="1" width="1"/>

2008-05-12T15:40:00+00:00 CmdrTaco must-protect-general's-secret-recipe tech 136 136,134,119,88,25,15,9 http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1522221&from=rss http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1419204&from=rss

paradoxSpirit writes "Physorg has a paper comparing the cost of text messaging versus the cost of getting data from Hubble Space Telescope. From the article: 'The maximum size for a text message is 160 characters, which takes 140 bytes because there are only 7 bits per character in the text messaging system, and we assume the average price for a text message is 5p. There are 1,048,576 bytes in a megabyte, so that's 1 million/140 = 7490 text messages to transmit one megabyte. At 5p each, that's &pound;374.49 [$732.95] per MB &mdash; or about 4.4 times more expensive than the 'most pessimistic' estimate for Hubble Space Telescope transmission costs." "Hubble is by no means a cheap mission &mdash; but the mobile phone text costs were pretty astronomical!""<p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1419204&amp;from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=08/05/12/1419204"></a></p><p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1419204&amp;from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p><img src="http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotatom/~4/288746760" height="1" width="1"/>

2008-05-12T15:00:00+00:00 CmdrTaco and-much-less-space-porn science 369 369,366,299,228,63,39,27 http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/05/12/1419204&from=rss