Tuesday, November 15, 2011

[Slashdot] Stories for 2011-11-15

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Slashdot Daily Newsletter

In this issue:
* Reviews of Kindle Fire Are a Mixed Bag
* German Copyright Group To Collect From Creative Commons Event
* Diaspora Co-founder Dies At 22
* Scientists Develop Super-Slippery Material
* Man Calls 911 To Fix Broken iPhone
* China Building Gigantic Structures In the Desert
* Did Fracking Cause Recent Oklahoma Earthquakes?
* Schools Buy<nobr> <wbr></nobr>.xxx Domains In Trademark Panic
* Tech Site Sues Ex-Employee, Claiming Rights To His Twitter Account
* Intel Launches Sandy Bridge-E Series Processors
* French Power Company Fined For Hacking Greenpeace
* Report on Web-Surfing Speeds Finds Pervasive Throttling
* First 16-Core Opteron Chips Arrive From AMD
* Secret BBC Documents Reveal Flimsy Case For DRM
* Inside the Duqu Worm's Source Code
* 2011 Geek IQ Test
* Via Launches a New Mini-ITX System
* Pirate Party Gains Another Seat In EU
* Cray Replaces IBM To Build $188M Supercomputer
* Ask Slashdot: Building an Assistive Reading Device?
* Bad Astronomer Phil Plait Responds
* Google Makes Its Search System Slightly More Transparent
* Plasma-Filled Bags Could Replace the Petri Dish
* Deep-sea Camouflage Tactics Revealed

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| Reviews of Kindle Fire Are a Mixed Bag
| from the pretty-good-not-bad-about-the-same dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Monday November 14, @12:37 (Software)
| with 341 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/172247/reviews-of-kindle-fire-are-a-mixed-bag?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]MrSeb writes "Ahead of tomorrow's full-scale launch of Amazon's new
wunderkind, panacea, and lynch-pin of its continuing distribution
domination, [1]initial reviews of the Kindle Fire are starting to trickle
in... and they're not as fantastic as we had hoped. Unsurprisingly, not a
single review is denying that the bright screen, solid construction, and
$200 price point make for a perfect holiday season outing ��� but to
actually win the hearts of consumers, to steal those throbbing,
Cupertino-captivated organs away from the iPad, the Kindle Fire has to be
amazing... and it isn't. Throughout almost every review, one particularly
telling observation rears its ugly head: the Kindle Fire can be sluggish.
Page turns can lag. Menus can be slow to load. Screen touches can be
unresponsive. For a device that is entirely about media consumption, the
Fire will live or die depending on its perceived alacrity. If an E Ink
Kindle or Nook is better for reading books, and a smartphone or iPad is
better for watching movies or listening to music, what space is there for
the Fire?"

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/172247/reviews-of-kindle-fire-are-a-mixed-bag?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://mrseb.co.uk/
1. http://www.extremetech.com/computing/104945-kindle-fire-flames-have-been-doused

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| German Copyright Group To Collect From Creative Commons Event
| from the pay-up dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Monday November 14, @05:16 (Music)
| with 320 comments
| https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/0248208/german-copyright-group-to-collect-from-creative-commons-event?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

bs0d3 writes "In Leipzig, Germany, an 8 hour music/dance party event was
organized to play nothing but [0]creative commons music the entire time.
A German copyright group called GEMA told the organizers that to be
certain that no rights were infringed, it would need a list of all
artists including their full names, place of residency and date of birth.
After the event GEMA sent an invoice for 200 euros. They claim that
behind pseudonyms some of their artists may be hidden and produce things
that they would not earn anything from. According to German law, you are
required to prove that an artist is not with GEMA. So even though GEMA
probably does not have rights to any of the music, they are not required
to prove that they do."

Discuss this story at:
https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/0248208/german-copyright-group-to-collect-from-creative-commons-event?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://activepolitic.com:82/News/2011-11-13e/Copyright_Group_Tries_To_Collect_From_Creative_Commons_Event.html

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| Diaspora Co-founder Dies At 22
| from the fare-thee-well dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Monday November 14, @02:18 (News)
| with 280 comments
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/0236212/diaspora-co-founder-dies-at-22?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

phaedrus5001 writes "Tech Crunch is reporting that one of the co-founders
of Diaspora, [0]Ilya Zhitomirskiy, has passed away. He was only 22. At
the moment, the cause of his death is unknown."

Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/0236212/diaspora-co-founder-dies-at-22?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/13/diaspora-co-founder-ilya-zhitomirskiy-passes-away-at-21/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+(TechCrunch)

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| Scientists Develop Super-Slippery Material
| from the none-more-slick dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Monday November 14, @08:08 (Science)
| with 272 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/0437204/scientists-develop-super-slippery-material?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
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[0]Hugh Pickens writes writes "Anyone who is partial to ketchup with
their food will know how difficult it is to get the final dregs from the
bottle but now the Telegraph reports that scientists have [1]created one
of the most slippery materials ever that promises to result in new
self-cleaning surfaces that never get dirty, could be used to coat the
inside of bottles and jars to help consumers get all of the food inside,
or in the energy industry for making oil flow more efficiently through
pipes. Professor Joanna Aizenberg, a materials scientists at Harvard
University, was [2]inspired by the carnivorous Nepenthes pitcher plants,
which has a highly slippery surface at the top of its flute-shaped leaves
so that insects tumble down into the digestive juices contained inside.
The new material, known as a Slippery Liquid Infused Porous Surface or
[3]SLIPS boasts a rare trait called "omniphobicity", which means it can
repel both water and oily materials. "If we used substance like ours to
coat the inside of bottles, it would be possible to get it all out," says
Aizenberg. "The only problem may be that the sauce may come out a little
too easily on to their food.""

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/0437204/scientists-develop-super-slippery-material?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://hughpickens.com/
1. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8886307/Super-slippery-material-could-mean-end-to-having-to-wait-for-ketchup.html
2. http://www.focushms.com/features/slippery-slope-cues-from-a-carnivorous-plant/
3. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v477/n7365/full/nature10447.html

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| Man Calls 911 To Fix Broken iPhone
| from the and-bring-me-a-pizza-while-you're-at-it dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Monday November 14, @00:38 (Iphone)
| with 235 comments
| https://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/0255223/man-calls-911-to-fix-broken-iphone?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]tekgoblin writes "For some reason Michael Skopec of Illinois thought
that [1]calling 911 would get his broken iPhone fixed. It got him
arrested instead. From the article: 'After the five calls were made
police traced the calls to his home in Illinois where they found him
drunk and belligerent. He was arrested because he would not follow the
police officers orders. It has yet to be made clear what he was actually
trying to accomplish by calling 911 to get help with his iPhone. Although
he was arrested he only faces misdemeanor charges and has to be in court
next week.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/0255223/man-calls-911-to-fix-broken-iphone?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.tekgoblin.com/
1. http://www.tekgoblin.com/2011/11/12/man-calls-911-to-fix-broken-iphone/

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| China Building Gigantic Structures In the Desert
| from the what's-your-best-guess? dept.
| posted by timothy on Monday November 14, @18:01 (China)
| with 234 comments
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/2221240/china-building-gigantic-structures-in-the-desert?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

vbraga writes "New photos have appeared in Google Maps showing
[0]unidentified titanic structures in the middle of the Chinese desert.
The first one is an intricate network of what appears to be huge metallic
stripes. It's located in Dunhuang, Jiuquan, Gansu, north of the Shule
River, which crosses the Tibetan Plateau to the west into the Kumtag
Desert. It covers an area approximately one mile long by more than 3,000
feet wide. The tracks are perfectly executed, and they seem to be
designed to be seen from orbit."

Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/2221240/china-building-gigantic-structures-in-the-desert?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/11/china-gigantic/

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| Did Fracking Cause Recent Oklahoma Earthquakes?
| from the fracking-geological-facts dept.
| posted by timothy on Monday November 14, @14:53 (Earth)
| with 231 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/1950245/did-fracking-cause-recent-oklahoma-earthquakes?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
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[0]Hugh Pickens writes writes "Oklahoma is typically seismically stable,
with about 50 small quakes a year ��� but in 2009, that number jumped up to
more than 1,000 and on November 5 a [1]5.6-magnitude tremor rattled
Oklahoma ��� one of the strongest to ever hit the state ��� leading
scientists to wonder if the increasingly common use of fracking, the
controversial practice of blasting underground rock formations with
high-pressure water, sand, and chemicals to extract natural gas, may have
[2]put stress on fault lines. Human intervention has caused earthquakes
before with [3]one 'textbook case' occurring in 1967 in India, says Peter
Fairley at IEEE Spectrum, when the reservoir behind the hydroelectric
Koyna Dam was filled up. The added water 'unleashed a magnitude 6.3
quake' by placing stress 'on a previously unknown fault, killing 180
people and leaving thousands homeless.' Last week's earthquakes and
aftershocks are centered in rural Lincoln County, in an area about 30
miles east of Oklahoma City and [4]there are 181 injection wells In
Lincoln County. But a recent study by Austin Holland, a seismologist with
the Oklahoma Geological Survey, says that it's possible that hydraulic
fracking caused a series of small earthquakes, peaking at 2.8, in an area
south of Oklahoma City but [5]doesn't believe fracking caused the big
Nov. 5, 6 and 8 earthquakes comparing a man-made earthquake to a mosquito
bite. 'It's really quite inconsequential,' says Holland."

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/1950245/did-fracking-cause-recent-oklahoma-earthquakes?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://poncacityweloveyou.com/
1. http://news.slashdot.org/story/11/11/06/1450202/oklahoma-hit-by-its-strongest-ever-recorded-quake
2. http://theweek.com/article/index/221398/can-fracking-cause-earthquakesnbsp
3. http://spectrum.ieee.org/energywise/energy/fossil-fuels/is-gas-fracking-inducing-earthquakes-
4. http://oilprice.com/Energy/Natural-Gas/U.S.-Government-Confirms-Link-Between-Earthquakes-and-Hydraulic-Fracturing.html
5. http://www.kansas.com/2011/11/12/2099938/scientists-search-for-link-between.html

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| Schools Buy<nobr> <wbr></nobr>.xxx Domains In Trademark Panic
| from the keep-them-off-the-pole dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Sunday November 13, @20:13 (The Internet)
| with 223 comments
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/11/13/2155257/schools-buy-xxx-domains-in-trademark-panic?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

bs0d3 writes "Schools nationwide, including The University of Missouri
and Washington University, are [0]snapping up .xxx domain names to avoid
people making porn sites with their names in the url. The new .xxx domain
will be launched later this year, and before that, everyone with a
trademark will have the opportunity to reserve names during what's called
a [1]"sunrise period". Someone is promoting the possible horrors of what
could happen as a way to sell these domains, which cost up to [2]$200
dollars per domain per year. Even though these schools may already be
protected from defamation and trademark infringement, they still feel
compelled to buy these names."

Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/11/13/2155257/schools-buy-xxx-domains-in-trademark-panic?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501465_162-57321368-501465/schools-grab-.xxx-sites-to-protect-names-from-porn/
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunrise_period
2. http://activepolitic.com:82/Outside_News/9217.html

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| Tech Site Sues Ex-Employee, Claiming Rights To His Twitter Account
| from the depends-what-the-meaning-of-his-is dept.
| posted by timothy on Monday November 14, @17:12 (Businesses)
| with 198 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/225205/tech-site-sues-ex-employee-claiming-rights-to-his-twitter-account?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

nonprofiteer writes "Noah Kravitz worked as a mobile phone reviewer for a
tech website called Phonedog for four and a half years. While there, he
started a Twitter account (of his own volition) with the handle
@PhoneDog_Noah to tweet his stories and videos for the site as well as
personal stuff about sports, food, music, etc. When he left Phonedog, he
had approximately 17,000 followers and changed his Twitter handle to
@noahkravitz. This summer, Phonedog started barking that it [0]wanted the
Twitter account back, and sued Kravitz, valuing the account at $340,000
(!), or $2.50 per follower per month. Kravitz claims the Twitter account
was his own property. A California judge ruled that the case can proceed
and theoretically go to trial. Meanwhile, Kravitz continues to tweet."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/225205/tech-site-sues-ex-employee-claiming-rights-to-his-twitter-account?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2011/11/14/phonedog-sues-ex-employee-for-his-twitter-account-valuing-his-followers-at-2-50-each/

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| Intel Launches Sandy Bridge-E Series Processors
| from the the-new-kids dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Monday November 14, @08:52 (Intel)
| with 183 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/1210238/intel-launches-sandy-bridge-e-series-processors?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]MojoKid writes "Today marks the release of Intel's [1]Sandy Bridge-E
processor family and its companion X79 Express chipset. The first
processor to arrive is the Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition, a six-core chip
manufactured using Intel's 32nm process node that features roughly 2.27
billion transistors. The initial batch of Sandy Bridge-E CPUs will
feature 6 active execution cores that can each process two threads
simultaneously via Intel Hyper-Threading technology. Although, the chip's
[2]die actually has eight cores on board (two inactive), due to power and
yield constraints, only six are active at this time. These processors
will support up to 15MB of shared L3 Intel Smart Cache and feature
integrated quad-channel memory controllers with official support for DDR3
memory at speeds up to 1600MHz, as well as 40 integrated PCI Express 3.0
compatible lanes. [3]Performance-wise, Sandy Bridge-E pretty much crushes
anything on the desktop currently, including AMD's pseudo 8-core FX-8150
processor."

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/1210238/intel-launches-sandy-bridge-e-series-processors?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://hothardware.com/
1. http://hothardware.com/Reviews/Intel-Core-i73960X-Extreme-Edition-Sandy-BridgeE-Review/
2. http://hothardware.com/Reviews/Intel-Core-i73960X-Extreme-Edition-Sandy-BridgeE-Review/?page=2
3. http://hothardware.com/Reviews/Intel-Core-i73960X-Extreme-Edition-Sandy-BridgeE-Review/?page=9

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| French Power Company Fined For Hacking Greenpeace
| from the rubber-boat-envy dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Monday November 14, @10:22 (Government)
| with 180 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/1434243/french-power-company-fined-for-hacking-greenpeace?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]judgecorp writes "Electricite de France (EDF) which uses nuclear
reactors to generate the majority of France's electricity, has been found
guilty of [1]hacking into Greenpeace computers in 2006. EDF has been
fined fined ���1.5 million and ordered to pay Greenpeace a further half a
million euros, for what the judge described as an act of 'industrial
scale espionage.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/1434243/french-power-company-fined-for-hacking-greenpeace?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/
1. http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/edf-fined-for-greenpeace-computer-hack-45629

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Report on Web-Surfing Speeds Finds Pervasive Throttling
| from the slow-down-cowboy dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Monday November 14, @11:52 (The Internet)
| with 171 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/1611235/report-on-web-surfing-speeds-finds-pervasive-throttling?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]Stirling Newberry writes "New York Times has a [1]report on
web-surfing speed tests that their reporter ran using [2]Glasnost, a tool
that mimics the bittorrent protocol and measures the results. BT in the
UK was among the worst. From the article: 'In the United States,
throttling was detected in 23 percent of tests on telecom and
cable-television broadband networks, less than the global average of 32
percent. The U.S. operators with higher levels of detected throttling
included Insight Communications, a cable-television operator in New York,
Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio, where throttling was detected in 38 percent
of tests; and Clearwire Communications, where throttling was detected in
35 percent of the tests.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/1611235/report-on-web-surfing-speeds-finds-pervasive-throttling?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://symbalitics.blogspot.com/
1. http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/14/technology/putting-the-brakes-on-web-surfing-speeds.html&OQ=_rQ3D4&OP=130f4400Q2FeQ27FQ7DeXif7niisKeKgqqeqqeq.esFfR2i@i_(eBjssd2_Q7BsRFQ7BQ7DnQ7CQ22F7Q7Bi2Q7BQ27FQ7DQ7B7jnQ51d2_Q7B7BFFX7Q26Rsp@
2. http://broadband.mpi-sws.org/transparency/bttest.php

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| First 16-Core Opteron Chips Arrive From AMD
| from the one-for-each-candle dept.
| posted by timothy on Monday November 14, @13:46 (AMD)
| with 149 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/1836246/first-16-core-opteron-chips-arrive-from-amd?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]angry tapir writes "After a brief delay and more than a year of
chatter, Advanced Micro Devices has announced the availability of [1]its
first 16-core Opteron server chips, which pack the largest number of
cores available on x86 chips today. The new Opteron 6200 chips,
code-named Interlagos, are 25 per cent to 30 per cent faster than their
predecessors, the 12-core Opteron 6100 chips, according to AMD."

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/1836246/first-16-core-opteron-chips-arrive-from-amd?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.techworld.com.au/
1. http://www.techworld.com.au/article/407302/amd_16-core_opteron_chips_arrive_after_wait

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| Secret BBC Documents Reveal Flimsy Case For DRM
| from the rationale-irrational dept.
| posted by timothy on Monday November 14, @14:06 (DRM)
| with 144 comments
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/1857259/secret-bbc-documents-reveal-flimsy-case-for-drm?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
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[0]mouthbeef writes "The Guardian just published my investigative story
on the [1]BBC and Ofcom's abuse of secrecy laws to hide the reasons for
granting permission for DRM on UK public broadcasts. The UK public
overwhelmingly rejected the proposal, but Ofcom approved it anyway,
saying they were convinced by secret BBC arguments that couldn't be
published due to 'commercial sensitivity.' As the article shows, the
material was neither sensitive nor convincing ��� a fact that Ofcom and the
BBC tried to hide from the public."

Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/1857259/secret-bbc-documents-reveal-flimsy-case-for-drm?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://craphound.com/
1. http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/nov/14/bbc-hd-drm

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| Inside the Duqu Worm's Source Code
| from the taking-a-closer-look dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Sunday November 13, @23:12 (Security)
| with 143 comments
| https://it.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/024258/inside-the-duqu-worms-source-code?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]angry tapir writes "Wrapped in the code the [1]Duqu worm uses to
infect computers is the message: 'Copyright (c) 2003 Showtime Inc. All
rights reserved. DexterRegularDexter.' An [2]analysis of the worm has
also revealed that Duqu, which is similar to Stuxnet and may even have
been written by the same developers, may be four years old and that it
generally tries to steal information on Wednesdays."

Discuss this story at:
https://it.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/024258/inside-the-duqu-worms-source-code?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.techworld.com.au/
1. http://news.slashdot.org/story/11/11/06/0354207/open-source-tool-scans-for-duqu-drivers
2. http://www.techworld.com.au/article/407207/duqu_authors_sprinkle_humor_dangerous_code

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| 2011 Geek IQ Test
| from the what-do-you-know dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Monday November 14, @11:27 (It's funny. Laugh.)
| with 141 comments
| https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/1528206/2011-geek-iq-test?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
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[0]snydeq writes "Active Directory object catalogs, quad-core processors,
Debian default configurations, Star Trek TNG guest appearances ��� find out
how much you know where it really counts by taking [1]InfoWorld's 2011
Geek IQ Test."

Discuss this story at:
https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/1528206/2011-geek-iq-test?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.infoworld.com/
1. http://www.infoworld.com/t/misadventures/the-2011-infoworld-geek-iq-test-178642

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Via Launches a New Mini-ITX System
| from the no-kiddin'-why-back-in-the-day dept.
| posted by timothy on Monday November 14, @15:45 (Upgrades)
| with 129 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/2043254/via-launches-a-new-mini-itx-system?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]primesuspect writes "Coming in close to the 10th anniversary of the
format and billed as a 'motherboard for digital home media DIY
enthusiasts,' VIA have [1]paired their Nano X2 1.4ghz dual-core CPU with
their VX900 chipset to produce an intriguing addition to their mini-ITX
lineup." Mini-ITX, to my pleasure, has never gone completely away:
witness the (slow, but not stopped) flow of news at [2]Mini-ITX.com.

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/2043254/via-launches-a-new-mini-itx-system?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://icrontic.com/
1. http://tech.icrontic.com/news/via-ve900/
2. http://www.mini-itx.com/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Pirate Party Gains Another Seat In EU
| from the soon-only-pirates-won't-be-pirates dept.
| posted by timothy on Monday November 14, @15:24 (Piracy)
| with 104 comments
| https://politics.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/2010258/pirate-party-gains-another-seat-in-eu?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

bs0d3 writes "Amelia Andersdotter is a member of the Swedish Pirate Party
elected in 2009. Originally her votes were not enough to beat fellow
pirate Christian Engstrom for a seat on the European Parliament. Today
the [0]EU has redrawn the lines and 12 countries are to gain one or more
MEPs ��� including Sweden, where [1]Andersdotter is set to be confirmed."

Discuss this story at:
https://politics.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/2010258/pirate-party-gains-another-seat-in-eu?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://euobserver.com/843/114270
1. http://activepolitic.com:82/News/2011-10-14c/Amelia_Andersdotter_will_be_in_the_EU_parliament.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Cray Replaces IBM To Build $188M Supercomputer
| from the we-have-the-technology-we-can-make-it-better dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Monday November 14, @09:37 (IBM)
| with 94 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/1327208/cray-replaces-ibm-to-build-188m-supercomputer?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

wiredmikey writes "Supercomputer maker Cray today said that the
University of Illinois' National Center for Supercomputing Applications
(NCSA) awarded the company a contract to build a supercomputer for the
National Science Foundation's [0]Blue Waters project. The supercomputer
will be powered by new 16-core AMD Opteron 6200 Series processors
(formerly code-named 'Interlagos') a next-generation GPU from NVIDIA,
called 'Kepler,' and a new integrated storage solution from Cray. IBM was
originally selected to build the supercomputer in 2007, but terminated
the contract in August 2011, saying the project was more complex and
required significantly increased financial and technical support beyond
its original expectations. Once fully deployed, the system is expected to
have a [1]sustained performance of more than one petaflops on demanding
scientific applications."

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/1327208/cray-replaces-ibm-to-build-188m-supercomputer?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.ncsa.illinois.edu/BlueWaters/
1. http://www.securityweek.com/cray-takes-over-ibm-build-188-million-supercomputer

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Ask Slashdot: Building an Assistive Reading Device?
| from the start-with-the-C3P0-and-subtract-parts dept.
| posted by timothy on Monday November 14, @18:46 (Hardware Hacking)
| with 85 comments
| https://ask.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/2259251/ask-slashdot-building-an-assistive-reading-device?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]RulerOf writes "A few years ago, my girlfriend's grandfather was
diagnosed with [1]Macular Degeneration. Ever since, he has had
progressively more trouble with daily activities. While his wife and
family are able to help him with most things, at the age of 88 and
without many living friends left, he dearly misses the ability to read
printed text. He was able to get by for some time with magnifying glasses
and other basic aids but now even those do not help. Recently, a local
clinic which specializes in treatment for low-sight and blind individuals
made him aware of and showed him several assistive reading devices that
successfully allowed him to read. He mentioned this to his family
members, and when I was told about it, I thought that these devices
sounded like they were not much more than a camera attached to an LCD
monitor or television with a little bit of special software thrown into
the mix." (Read on below for more.)

This story continues at:
https://ask.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/2259251/ask-slashdot-building-an-assistive-reading-device?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email

Discuss this story at:
https://ask.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/2259251/ask-slashdot-building-an-assistive-reading-device?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. mailto:rulerof@gmail.com
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macular_degeneration

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Bad Astronomer Phil Plait Responds
| from the does-he-ever dept.
| posted by timothy on Monday November 14, @13:22 (NASA)
| with 45 comments
| https://interviews.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/0657203/bad-astronomer-phil-plait-responds?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]You asked Phil Plait, aka The Bad Astronomer, questions on topics
ranging from debunking superstition to extraterrestrial life to funding
space exploration; read on below for his answers. Thanks for taking part,
Phil!

This story continues at:
https://interviews.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/0657203/bad-astronomer-phil-plait-responds?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email

Discuss this story at:
https://interviews.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/0657203/bad-astronomer-phil-plait-responds?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://science.slashdot.org/story/11/10/24/1734252/ask-the-bad-astronomer

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Google Makes Its Search System Slightly More Transparent
| from the just-a-gentle-touch-here-and-there dept.
| posted by timothy on Monday November 14, @16:28 (Google)
| with 44 comments
| https://search.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/2124219/google-makes-its-search-system-slightly-more-transparent?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meshach writes "The New York Times has an interesting article about how
Google has revealed some of the [0]inner workings of the Google Search
service. The main change is that sites that are not in English will be
translated then included in the search results. Google said it has also
improved the way it recognizes official Web sites, like those published
by the government, and will give those sites higher ranking in search
results. Google does not usually reveal such details but the article
speculates governments have been pushing for more transparancy."

Discuss this story at:
https://search.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/2124219/google-makes-its-search-system-slightly-more-transparent?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/11/14/google-reveals-tweaks-to-its-search-algorithm/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Plasma-Filled Bags Could Replace the Petri Dish
| from the disposable-lab dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Monday November 14, @11:07 (Science)
| with 43 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/1526251/plasma-filled-bags-could-replace-the-petri-dish?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zothecula writes "The humble Petri dish may soon be a thing of the past.
A team of researchers in Germany have developed a new technique for
treating [0]plastic bags with plasma to turn them into sealed, sterile
containers suitable for microbiology work with much less chance of
contamination than traditional containers. This holds the promise of not
only decreasing the possibility of contamination in stem cell and
live-cell therapy techniques, but also the potential for cultivating
whole human organs for transplant surgery."

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/1526251/plasma-filled-bags-could-replace-the-petri-dish?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.gizmag.com/plasma-bag-petri-dish/20403/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Deep-sea Camouflage Tactics Revealed
| from the red-state-vs.-blue-state dept.
| posted by timothy on Monday November 14, @16:47 (Science)
| with 35 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/2139219/deep-sea-camouflage-tactics-revealed?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Honken writes "A recent study by scientists at Duke University has found
that transparent deep-sea octopuses [0]turn red when exposed to blue
light similar to what predators emit, allowing them to hide using both
transparency and by absorbing the wavelengths of the blueish light
emitted by deep-sea predators. The Register quickly made the
[1]not-so-obvious connection to Kindles and squid video playback, whereas
Discovery News reports on [2]slightly more useful yet exotic applications,
such as fishing nets that are invisible only to the species that it
intends to catch."

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/14/2139219/deep-sea-camouflage-tactics-revealed?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/15654086
1. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/11/11/e_ink_display_squid/
2. http://news.discovery.com/animals/octopus-squid-colors-111110.html


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