http://slashdot.org/ News for nerds, stuff that matters en-us Copyright 1997-2008, SourceForge, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 2009-07-12T18:10:13+00:00 SourceForge, Inc. help@slashdot.org Technology hourly 1 1970-01-01T00:00+00:00 http://s.fsdn.com/sd/topics/topicslashdot.gif http://slashdot.org/ http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/slashdot/eqWf/~3/Sl4YUTVTvJw/Is-emCataclysmem-the-Next-emWorld-of-Warcraftem-Expansion ajs writes "There has been no official announcement yet, but a number of moves by Blizzard Entertainment seem to indicate that the next expansion for World of Warcraft could be titled Cataclysm. Speculation began when Blizzard trademarked Cataclysm recently, and then later when a test server briefly popped up with the word 'Maelstrom' in its name. If true, the name would fall neatly into the WoW lore and expected expansion list. The Cataclysm is another name for the Great Sundering, an event that created a swirling vortex of water and mystical energies (the 'Maelstrom') that has appeared on the world map in-game since release. There are also indications that early design work included some of the islands in this area, which has long fueled anticipation of a Maelstrom-based expansion involving the former Night Elf noble, Azshara, queen of the Naga and the Goblins whose main city is in the south seas."<p><a href="http://games.slashdot.org/story/09/07/12/1631246/Is-emCataclysmem-the-Next-emWorld-of-Warcraftem-Expansion?from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/07/12/1631246"></a></p><p><a href="http://games.slashdot.org/story/09/07/12/1631246/Is-emCataclysmem-the-Next-emWorld-of-Warcraftem-Expansion?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/J3nUaSiFtxGVDdws_0WwvvuD6Kw/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/J3nUaSiFtxGVDdws_0WwvvuD6Kw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/J3nUaSiFtxGVDdws_0WwvvuD6Kw/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/J3nUaSiFtxGVDdws_0WwvvuD6Kw/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Soulskill 2009-07-12T17:52:00+00:00 pcgames either-that-or-it's-not games 6 6,6,3,1,0,0,0 http://games.slashdot.org/story/09/07/12/1631246/Is-emCataclysmem-the-Next-emWorld-of-Warcraftem-Expansion?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/slashdot/eqWf/~3/VHUe5DLfmXk/Robotic-Glider-Set-To-Break-Autonomous-Flight-Records SoaringIsAwesome writes "Dan Edwards, a student at NC State University, is attempting to break two records by creating an autonomous glider. The project goal is a 142-mile cross country flight and a 25-mile flight (with return) without human intervention. The glider finds thermal updrafts and automatically circles them to gain altitude, much like birds and insects do. Recently, the glider flew in the desert for 4.5 hours, covering 70.5 miles by itself using only air currents to stay aloft. Since the NC State demonstration vehicle does not have a motor, this shows real promise for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that actually have a motor, with possibilities of extending flight duration considerably. Combine daytime soaring with a solar energy system to charge batteries for the night, such as the 84-hour flight by QinetiQ's Zephyr, and you might just get an answer to flying for months on end. With this kind of endurance, the eye in the sky that the city of Lancaster is considering might be even more practical."<p><a href="http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/07/12/1612230/Robotic-Glider-Set-To-Break-Autonomous-Flight-Records?from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/07/12/1612230"></a></p><p><a href="http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/07/12/1612230/Robotic-Glider-Set-To-Break-Autonomous-Flight-Records?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/12Z4UpqynuG9vZa7nHaEMyDG7h4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/12Z4UpqynuG9vZa7nHaEMyDG7h4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/12Z4UpqynuG9vZa7nHaEMyDG7h4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/12Z4UpqynuG9vZa7nHaEMyDG7h4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Soulskill 2009-07-12T16:40:00+00:00 robot leaf-on-the-wind hardware 12 12,12,9,7,1,1,1 http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/07/12/1612230/Robotic-Glider-Set-To-Break-Autonomous-Flight-Records?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/slashdot/eqWf/~3/XjTgRAHU5eE/Swearing-Provides-Pain-Relief-Say-Scientists Hugh Pickens writes "Scientific American reports that although cursing is notoriously decried in the public debate, scientists have discovered that swearing may serve an important function in relieving pain. 'Swearing is such a common response to pain that there has to be an underlying reason why we do it,' says Richard Stephens of Keele University in England. A study measured how long college students could keep their hands immersed in cold water. During the chilly exercise, they could repeat an expletive of their choice or chant a neutral word. When swearing, the 67 student volunteers reported less pain and on average endured about 40 seconds longer. How swearing achieves its physical effects is unclear, but the researchers speculate that brain circuitry linked to emotion is involved. Earlier studies have shown that unlike normal language, which relies on the outer few millimeters in the left hemisphere of the brain, expletives hinge on evolutionarily ancient structures buried deep inside the right half like the amygdala, an almond-shaped group of neurons that can trigger a fight-or-flight response in which our heart rate climbs and we become less sensitive to pain."<p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/07/12/1433249/Swearing-Provides-Pain-Relief-Say-Scientists?from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/07/12/1433249"></a></p><p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/07/12/1433249/Swearing-Provides-Pain-Relief-Say-Scientists?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/64MfDDrbttNkfb-IdBrc-mMXVvY/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/64MfDDrbttNkfb-IdBrc-mMXVvY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/64MfDDrbttNkfb-IdBrc-mMXVvY/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/64MfDDrbttNkfb-IdBrc-mMXVvY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Soulskill 2009-07-12T15:33:00+00:00 medicine take-two-$#&amp;!@-and-call-me-in-the-%!#@!$&amp; science 93 93,93,72,59,18,7,5 http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/07/12/1433249/Swearing-Provides-Pain-Relief-Say-Scientists?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/slashdot/eqWf/~3/JXd6VBBaD3c/Outlook-Inertia-the-Main-Factor-Holding-Business-From-Google-Apps Meshach writes "There's an interesting article in PC World claiming that the major factor preventing businesses from transferring their communication interface from Outlook to Google Apps is employees' unwillingness to give up a tool that's so familiar. Basically, Google is underestimating how attached businesses and their workers are to Office and Outlook in particular. Quoting: 'Google has found out that, yes, many companies are happy to ditch Exchange for Gmail if it means saving money and eliminating the grief of maintaining Exchange in-house. However, and maybe to a degree unexpected by Google, it also discovered that many companies consider it a deal-breaker to lose the functionality that the Outlook-Exchange combo provides, thanks to the deep links that exist between this client-server tandem.'"<p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/07/12/1334246/Outlook-Inertia-the-Main-Factor-Holding-Business-From-Google-Apps?from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/07/12/1334246"></a></p><p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/07/12/1334246/Outlook-Inertia-the-Main-Factor-Holding-Business-From-Google-Apps?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/xr260ODDdsW99Fb9y8Pew2a2yj8/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/xr260ODDdsW99Fb9y8Pew2a2yj8/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/xr260ODDdsW99Fb9y8Pew2a2yj8/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/xr260ODDdsW99Fb9y8Pew2a2yj8/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Soulskill 2009-07-12T14:23:00+00:00 software safety-blanket tech 193 193,192,158,130,39,20,9 http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/07/12/1334246/Outlook-Inertia-the-Main-Factor-Holding-Business-From-Google-Apps?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/slashdot/eqWf/~3/VuPV3tVwL7o/Unsung-Unpaid-Coders-Behind-Federal-IT-Dashboard theodp writes "The Federal CIO got a standing ovation for the new Federal IT Dashboard. Federal contractors got the cash. But sneak a peek at the 'customcode' directory behind the Dashboard, and you'll see that some individuals also helped bring it to life with their free software. For starters, there's Timothy Groves' Auto Suggest (Creative Commons License), Alf Magne Kalleland's Ajax Tooltip and Dynamic List (GNU Lesser General Public License), and Gregory Wild-Smith's Simple AJAX Code-Kit (SACK) (modified X11 License)."<p><a href="http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/07/12/1127253/Unsung-Unpaid-Coders-Behind-Federal-IT-Dashboard?from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/07/12/1127253"></a></p><p><a href="http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/07/12/1127253/Unsung-Unpaid-Coders-Behind-Federal-IT-Dashboard?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/nPr3mNUiTmgWcaRXpdmxpxSm67U/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/nPr3mNUiTmgWcaRXpdmxpxSm67U/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/nPr3mNUiTmgWcaRXpdmxpxSm67U/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/nPr3mNUiTmgWcaRXpdmxpxSm67U/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> Soulskill 2009-07-12T13:10:00+00:00 government where-credit-is-due news 60 60,57,42,32,14,4,2 http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/07/12/1127253/Unsung-Unpaid-Coders-Behind-Federal-IT-Dashboard?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/slashdot/eqWf/~3/hBRPWyyOEhM/Cruising-Fishermans-Wharf-For-New-Passports-Serial-Numbers schwit1 writes "Fox News has an AP story on a SF hacker driving around and needing as little as 20 minutes to be successful in acquiring a passport number: 'Zipping past Fisherman's Wharf, his scanner detected, then downloaded to his laptop, the unique serial numbers of two pedestrians' electronic US passport cards embedded with radio frequency identification, or RFID, tags. Within an hour, he'd "skimmed" the identifiers of four more of the new, microchipped PASS cards from a distance of 20 feet. ... Meanwhile, Homeland Security has been promoting broad use of RFID even though its own advisory committee on data integrity and privacy warned that radio-tagged IDs have the potential to allow "widespread surveillance of individuals" without their knowledge or consent.'"<p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/07/12/0611201/Cruising-Fishermans-Wharf-For-New-Passports-Serial-Numbers?from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/07/12/0611201"></a></p><p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/07/12/0611201/Cruising-Fishermans-Wharf-For-New-Passports-Serial-Numbers?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Eoesu92g5cmHPU5gN6YyuQVUnJ4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Eoesu92g5cmHPU5gN6YyuQVUnJ4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Eoesu92g5cmHPU5gN6YyuQVUnJ4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Eoesu92g5cmHPU5gN6YyuQVUnJ4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> timothy 2009-07-12T12:02:00+00:00 privacy sub-exactly-because-for-even-though yro 129 129,126,98,78,25,11,4 http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/07/12/0611201/Cruising-Fishermans-Wharf-For-New-Passports-Serial-Numbers?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/slashdot/eqWf/~3/8UgFsKTygCA/Stealing-Data-Via-Electrical-Outlet Ponca City, We love you writes "NetworkWorld reports that security consultants Andrea Barisani and Daniele Bianco are preparing to unveil their methodology at the Black Hat USA conference for stealing information typed on a computer keyboard using nothing more than the power outlet to which the computer is connected. When you type on a standard computer keyboard, electrical signals run through the cable to the PC. Those cables aren't shielded, so the signal leaks via the ground wire in the cable and into the ground wire on the computer's power supply. The attacker connects a probe to a nearby power socket, detects the ground leakage, and converts the signal back into alphanumeric characters. So far, the attack has proven successful using outlets up to about 15 meters away. The cost of the equipment to carry out the power-line attack could be as little as $500 and while the researchers admit their hacking tools are rudimentary, they believe they could be improved upon with a little time, effort and backing. 'If our small research was able to accomplish acceptable results in a brief development time (approximately a week of work) and with cheap hardware,' they say, 'Consider what a dedicated team or government agency can accomplish with more expensive equipment and effort.'"<p><a href="http://it.slashdot.org/story/09/07/12/0259246/Stealing-Data-Via-Electrical-Outlet?from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/07/12/0259246"></a></p><p><a href="http://it.slashdot.org/story/09/07/12/0259246/Stealing-Data-Via-Electrical-Outlet?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/5rYguY8Zj6tAz7Q80WXD3-CC0zU/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/5rYguY8Zj6tAz7Q80WXD3-CC0zU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/5rYguY8Zj6tAz7Q80WXD3-CC0zU/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/5rYguY8Zj6tAz7Q80WXD3-CC0zU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> timothy 2009-07-12T08:57:00+00:00 security accidentally-forget-to-label-some-220v-outlets it 147 147,146,113,86,21,14,8 http://it.slashdot.org/story/09/07/12/0259246/Stealing-Data-Via-Electrical-Outlet?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/slashdot/eqWf/~3/qS3Ag-eHe6Y/Plastic-Circuits-Designed-To-Enable-Tough-Green-Computers DanS writes "Computerworld has an article about two Australian engineers who have invented 'Circuits in Plastic' technology. CIP designs aim to be more environmentally friendly than traditional circuits as they can be made from recycled plastic, don't contain any hazardous substances, and since packaging is part of the base circuit board, there is no need for additional packaging material. As an added bonus, different 3D shaped circuits can be made using CIP, which are also waterproof. No more ruining cell phones by getting them wet! The hope is that the technology will reduce the amount of toxic electronic waste in landfills, as even with lead-free technology, etching of existing printed circuit boards (and disposal of the chemicals) is a significant issue during manufacturing."<p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/07/12/0354212/Plastic-Circuits-Designed-To-Enable-Tough-Green-Computers?from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/07/12/0354212"></a></p><p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/07/12/0354212/Plastic-Circuits-Designed-To-Enable-Tough-Green-Computers?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/jp7MBGadb2_2HmfPdBIlpjaJAR8/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/jp7MBGadb2_2HmfPdBIlpjaJAR8/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/jp7MBGadb2_2HmfPdBIlpjaJAR8/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/jp7MBGadb2_2HmfPdBIlpjaJAR8/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> timothy 2009-07-12T05:50:00+00:00 earth I-believe-the-plastics-are-the-future tech 48 48,46,40,31,14,9,6 http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/07/12/0354212/Plastic-Circuits-Designed-To-Enable-Tough-Green-Computers?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/slashdot/eqWf/~3/xXGiY9zynmI/French-3-Strikes-Law-Returns-In-Slightly-Altered-Form suraj.sun writes with this excerpt from Ars Technica: "The French Senate has once again approved a reworked version of the country's controversial 'three strikes' bill designed to appease the Constitutional Council. Instead of a state-appointed agency cutting off those accused of being repeat offenders, judges will have the final say over punishment. The approval comes exactly one month after the country's Constitutional Council ripped apart the previous version of the Cr&#233;ation et Internet law. ... Not content to let the idea die, President Nicolas Sarkozy's administration reworked the law in hopes of making it amenable to the Council &mdash; instead of HADOPI deciding on its own to cut off users on the third strike, it will now report offenders to the courts. A judge can then choose to ban the user from the Internet, fine him or her 300,000 (according to the AFP), or hand over a two-year prison sentence."<p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/07/12/0111247/French-3-Strikes-Law-Returns-In-Slightly-Altered-Form?from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/07/12/0111247"></a></p><p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/07/12/0111247/French-3-Strikes-Law-Returns-In-Slightly-Altered-Form?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/PtDAyWEtpSQ_-QvVB1FFf9Zzowg/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/PtDAyWEtpSQ_-QvVB1FFf9Zzowg/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/PtDAyWEtpSQ_-QvVB1FFf9Zzowg/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/PtDAyWEtpSQ_-QvVB1FFf9Zzowg/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> timothy 2009-07-12T02:37:00+00:00 internet more-where-that-came-from tech 131 131,127,95,84,36,27,21 http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/07/12/0111247/French-3-Strikes-Law-Returns-In-Slightly-Altered-Form?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/slashdot/eqWf/~3/_15HtkXmVyI/Militarys-Satellite-Meteor-Data-Sharing-May-Soon-Resume jbdigriz writes "Leonard David has a followup piece to his original story, referenced here on June 22nd ('US Military Blocks Data On Incoming Meteors'). Air Force Brig. Gen. Robert Rego explains his decision to suspend the meteor data sharing program due to 'loopholes' in the informal arrangement. He and Congressman Dana Rohrabacher hold out some hope that the program will resume on a more secure basis at some unspecified but not too distant point."<p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/07/11/2319232/Militarys-Satellite-Meteor-Data-Sharing-May-Soon-Resume?from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/07/11/2319232"></a></p><p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/07/11/2319232/Militarys-Satellite-Meteor-Data-Sharing-May-Soon-Resume?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/kTx5gzl6tFW3t6jmgb8pWaDShcM/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/kTx5gzl6tFW3t6jmgb8pWaDShcM/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/kTx5gzl6tFW3t6jmgb8pWaDShcM/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/kTx5gzl6tFW3t6jmgb8pWaDShcM/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> timothy 2009-07-11T23:42:00+00:00 military so-we'll-know-what's-about-to-hit-us tech 35 35,34,28,23,12,8,5 http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/07/11/2319232/Militarys-Satellite-Meteor-Data-Sharing-May-Soon-Resume?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/slashdot/eqWf/~3/u8fY0yi3jQQ/Five-Years-of-PC-Storage-Performance-Compared theraindog writes "PC storage has come a long way in the last few years. Perpendicular recording tech has fueled climbing capacities, 10k-RPM spindle speeds have migrated from SCSI to Serial ATA, Native Command Queuing has made mechanical drives smarter, and a burgeoning SSD market looks set to fundamentally change the industry. The Tech Report has taken a look back at the last four and a half years of PC storage solutions, probing the capacity and performance of a whopping 70 different notebook and desktop hard drives, SSDs, and exotic RAM disks. There's a lot of test data to digest, but the overall trends are easy to spot, potentially foretelling the future of PC storage."<p><a href="http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/07/11/224246/Five-Years-of-PC-Storage-Performance-Compared?from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/07/11/224246"></a></p><p><a href="http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/07/11/224246/Five-Years-of-PC-Storage-Performance-Compared?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/u8nRBs976H1jEkl0Qd3GQytvHck/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/u8nRBs976H1jEkl0Qd3GQytvHck/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/u8nRBs976H1jEkl0Qd3GQytvHck/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/u8nRBs976H1jEkl0Qd3GQytvHck/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> timothy 2009-07-11T22:40:00+00:00 storage professor-it-seems-to-be-getting-cheaper hardware 81 81,75,49,38,22,13,9 http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/09/07/11/224246/Five-Years-of-PC-Storage-Performance-Compared?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/slashdot/eqWf/~3/oT5jmBNUAWs/How-To-Teach-Programming-To-Kids-Via-Xbox An anonymous reader writes "Chris Wilson reviews Kodu, the new XBox game that he calls 'Logo on Steroids.' The game allows you to build a world and program every object in it with an in-house graphical language, making the game a primitive example of 'reactive state machines' in a 'multi-agent concurrent system.' It sounds like what we call 'application specific integrated circuits' in engineering, where every line of code runs in parallel."<p><a href="http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/07/11/2124218/How-To-Teach-Programming-To-Kids-Via-Xbox?from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/07/11/2124218"></a></p><p><a href="http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/07/11/2124218/How-To-Teach-Programming-To-Kids-Via-Xbox?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/2h__u4YbmF_X4HV1bq1WmpIFbh4/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/2h__u4YbmF_X4HV1bq1WmpIFbh4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/2h__u4YbmF_X4HV1bq1WmpIFbh4/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/2h__u4YbmF_X4HV1bq1WmpIFbh4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> timothy 2009-07-11T21:37:00+00:00 education if-it's-fun-it's-educational news 103 103,101,78,56,13,6,4 http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/07/11/2124218/How-To-Teach-Programming-To-Kids-Via-Xbox?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/slashdot/eqWf/~3/qa6hDR_5f48/Searching-Google-Where-Internet-Access-is-Scarce Internet searching means that finding information mundane, obscure, or fantastically useful is just a few keystrokes away &mdash; but not if you're without a connection to the Internet (or can't read), both the norm for many of the world's poor. itwbennett writes "Rose Shuman developed a contraption for this under-served population called Question Box that is essentially a one-step-removed Internet search: 'A villager presses a call button on a physical intercom device, located in their village, which connects them to a trained operator in a nearby town who's sitting in front of a computer attached to the Internet. A question is asked. While the questioner holds, the operator looks up the answer on the Internet and reads it back. All questions and answers are logged. For the villager there is no keyboard to deal with. No complex technology. No literacy issues.' This week, Jon Gosier, of Appfrica, launched a web site called World Wants to Know that displays the QuestionBox questions being asked in real time. As Jon put it, it's allowing 'searching where Google can't.' And providing remarkable insight into the real information needs of off-the-grid populations."<p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/07/11/2012247/Searching-Google-Where-Internet-Access-is-Scarce?from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/07/11/2012247"></a></p><p><a href="http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/07/11/2012247/Searching-Google-Where-Internet-Access-is-Scarce?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/V30YF7NoFtGl2HXTaum_b7vM1p8/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/V30YF7NoFtGl2HXTaum_b7vM1p8/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/V30YF7NoFtGl2HXTaum_b7vM1p8/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/V30YF7NoFtGl2HXTaum_b7vM1p8/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> timothy 2009-07-11T20:32:00+00:00 internet guessing-isn't-quite-a-substitute tech 120 120,116,97,70,24,15,8 http://tech.slashdot.org/story/09/07/11/2012247/Searching-Google-Where-Internet-Access-is-Scarce?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/slashdot/eqWf/~3/CRPSaSO0hu0/Lightning-Strikes-Delay-Shuttle-Launch Tisha_AH writes "The Space Shuttle has had its launch delayed for inspection after several lightning strikes to the launch tower and/or shuttle. Several different technologies have been applied by NASA to divert the strike energy to ground potentials with Air Terminals (lightning rods), surge protectors or the often-disputed use of static dissipator brushes. One technology that appears promising is to cause a lightning strike (to a safe location) through the use of short pulsed ultraviolet lasers. Maybe in the future, once the technology matures, we may find widespread use of UV lasers to protect space launch vehicles, antenna towers or buildings."<p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/07/11/1844205/Lightning-Strikes-Delay-Shuttle-Launch?from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/07/11/1844205"></a></p><p><a href="http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/07/11/1844205/Lightning-Strikes-Delay-Shuttle-Launch?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/fsfUK2Wk3ilKH9_Ng8hnXrXhcOI/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/fsfUK2Wk3ilKH9_Ng8hnXrXhcOI/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/fsfUK2Wk3ilKH9_Ng8hnXrXhcOI/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/fsfUK2Wk3ilKH9_Ng8hnXrXhcOI/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> timothy 2009-07-11T19:28:00+00:00 space hey-we've-all-got-problems science 48 48,47,39,29,14,10,3 http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/07/11/1844205/Lightning-Strikes-Delay-Shuttle-Launch?from=rss http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/slashdot/eqWf/~3/mMX7AoVvjBo/British-Men-Jailed-For-Online-Hate-Crimes chrb writes "Two British men have become the first to be jailed for inciting racial hatred online. The men believed that material they published on web servers based in the United States did not fall under the jurisdiction of UK law and was protected under the First Amendment. This argument was rejected by the British trial judge. After being found guilty, the men fled to Los Angeles, where they attempted to claim political asylum, again arguing that they were being persecuted by the British government for speech that was protected under the First Amendment. The asylum bid was rejected and the two were deported back to the UK after spending over a year in a US jail."<p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/07/11/1746206/British-Men-Jailed-For-Online-Hate-Crimes?from=rss"><img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rss&amp;op=image&amp;style=h0&amp;sid=09/07/11/1746206"></a></p><p><a href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/07/11/1746206/British-Men-Jailed-For-Online-Hate-Crimes?from=rss">Read more of this story</a> at Slashdot.</p> <p><a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/rFcljOsgBANgTzywwKKtY39DvkQ/0/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/rFcljOsgBANgTzywwKKtY39DvkQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a><br/> <a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/rFcljOsgBANgTzywwKKtY39DvkQ/1/da"><img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/rFcljOsgBANgTzywwKKtY39DvkQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"></img></a></p> timothy 2009-07-11T18:33:00+00:00 censorship don'tcha-just-hate-online-crime yro 644 644,632,486,366,97,54,30 http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/07/11/1746206/British-Men-Jailed-For-Online-Hate-Crimes?from=rss Search Slashdot stories query http://slashdot.org/search.pl