Wednesday, January 4, 2012

[Slashdot] Stories for 2012-01-04

======================================================================
Save Money With Cloud Computing and Google Apps

Google Apps offers simple, powerful communication and collaboration tools for enterprises of any size in business, education, or government - all hosted by Google to streamline setup. Watch Now!

http://www.accelacomm.com/jaw/sfnl/114/51425172/
======================================================================

Slashdot Daily Newsletter

In this issue:
* What's Keeping You On XP?

* Iran Tests Naval Cruise Missile During War Games

* Are Engineers Natural Libertarians Or Technocrats?

* Ask Slashdot: Which Web Platform Would You Use?

* Ask Slashdot: Writing Hardened Web Applications?

* Why Do All Movie Tickets Cost the Same?

* Chile Forbids Carriers From Selling Network-Locked Phones

* Feature Phones Make Java ME, Not Android, the #2 Mobile Internet OS

* German Hackers Propose Uncensorable Global Grid — With Satellites

* Instead of a Wheel Chair, How About an Exoskeleton?

* Facebook a Factor in a Third of UK Divorces

* When Getting Rid of College Lectures Makes Sense

* Judge Doesn't Care About Supreme Court GPS Case

* Why Politicians Should Never Make Laws About Technology

* RIM's Playbook On Clearance

* The Semantic Line Interface

* Fujitsu To Develop Vigilante Computer Virus For Japan

* Gigabyte Board Sets Intel X79 Overclocking Record

* EU Proposal Would Encourage Web Users To Flag Suspicious Web Pages

* Bob Anderson, the Man Behind Vader's Lightsaber, Dies at 89

* Spanish Website Blocking Law Implemented

* Rare Moon Mineral Found On Earth

* Remotely Pat Your Pet With Kinect and a Wiimote

* China Trials Its First 3D TV Channel

* Testing the MongoDB Global Write Lock Improvements

* Online Clearinghouse Offers To Defend Privacy

* Chaos Communication Congress Releases Talks


+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| What's Keeping You On XP?
| from the bosses-and-laziness dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday January 03, @15:47 (Windows)
| with 646 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/1930242/whats-keeping-you-on-xp?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]Hugh Pickens writes "PC World reports that Windows XP lost more than
11 percent of its share from September to December 2011, to post a
December average of 46.5 percent, a new low for the aged OS as [1]users
have gotten Microsoft's message that the operating system should be
retired. Figures indicate that Windows 7 will become the most widely used
version in April, several months earlier than previous estimates. Two
months ago, as Microsoft quietly [2]celebrated the 10th anniversary of
XP's retail launch, the company touted the motto 'Standing still is
falling behind' to promote Windows 7 and demote XP. In July, [3]Microsoft
told customers it was 'time to move on' from XP, reminding everyone that
the OS would exit all support in April 2014. Before that, the Internet
Explorer team had dismissed XP as the 'lowest common denominator' when
they explained why it wouldn't run IE9. The deadline for ditching Windows
XP is in April 2014, when Microsoft stops patching the operating system.
'Enterprises [4]don't want to run an OS when there's no security fixes,'
says Michael Silver, an analyst with Gartner Research rejecting the idea
that Microsoft would extend the end-of-life date for Windows XP to please
the 10% who have no plans to leave the OS. 'The longer they let them run
XP, the more enterprises will slow down their migration.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/1930242/whats-keeping-you-on-xp?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://hughpickens.com/
1. http://www.pcworld.com/article/247174/users_bail_on_windows_xp_bigtime.html
2. http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/news/2011/10/what-does-windows-xps-ten-year-anniversary-mean-to-you.ars
3. http://www.pcworld.com/article/235472/microsoft_wants_windows_xp_shoved_out_the_door.html
4. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9221403/Windows_XP_loses_record_share_as_decline_quickens

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Iran Tests Naval Cruise Missile During War Games
| from the 2008-wants-their-diplomatic-tensions-back dept.
| posted by Unknown Lamer on Tuesday January 03, @05:16 (The Military)
| with 499 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/0448225/iran-tests-naval-cruise-missile-during-war-games?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]Hugh Pickens writes "Iran says it has successfully [1]test fired a
cruise missile during naval exercises near the Strait of Hormuz, and the
surface-to-sea missile, known as the [2]Qader, struck its targets with
precision and destroyed them. Iran had previously announced that it
intended to test a missile during the exercises, raising fears that it
might try to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for
tougher international sanctions. The Qader missile is said to be
[3]capable of striking warships at a range of about 125 miles, a distance
that would include some American forces in the Gulf region as Iran is
about 140 miles at its nearest point from Bahrain, where the U.S. Fifth
Fleet is based. Analysts say Iran's increasingly strident rhetoric, which
has pushed oil prices higher, is aimed at sending a message to the West
that it should think twice about the economic [4]cost of putting further
pressure on Tehran. 'No order has been given for the closure of the
Strait of Hormuz,' Iran's state television quoted navy chief Habibollah
Sayyari as saying. 'But we are prepared for various scenarios.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/0448225/iran-tests-naval-cruise-missile-during-war-games?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://hughpickens.com/slashdot/
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/03/world/middleeast/iran-tests-naval-cruise-missile.html
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qader_(missile)
3. http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/02/iran-missile-idUSL6E8C201Q20120102
4. http://politics.slashdot.org/story/11/12/31/0241240/tensions-over-hormuz-raise-ugly-possibilities-for-war

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Are Engineers Natural Libertarians Or Technocrats?
| from the those-are-your-only-choices dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday January 03, @15:06 (Government)
| with 496 comments
| https://politics.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/1926249/are-engineers-natural-libertarians-or-technocrats?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]uctpjac writes "This openDemocracy article uses Scott Adams'
presidential bid to argue that however much engineers ��� especially
Silicon Valley types ��� like to think that they're libertarians, [1]they
are in fact much more likely to be control-freak technocrats. Quoting:
'Sensibly if uncharismatically, Adams has pledged if elected to delegate
most of his decisions to people who know more than him, and flip-flop on
any issue where new evidence causes him to modify his position. His
worldview has its limitations ��� he underestimates the value of ways of
thinking other than the engineer's, and it's na��ve of him to claim his
approach to policy is purely pragmatic and non-ideological.' Is this a
fair account? Has the author wrongly read Dilbert, or wrongly interpreted
the relationship between the engineering mindset and Adams'
representation of it in the cartoon strip?"

Discuss this story at:
https://politics.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/1926249/are-engineers-natural-libertarians-or-technocrats?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. mailto:tony@curzon.com
1. http://www.opendemocracy.net/james-warner/dilberts-presidential-bid-is-technocracy-dressed-up-as-libertarianism-natural-political

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Ask Slashdot: Which Web Platform Would You Use?
| from the support-babies-pie-and-goodness dept.
| posted by timothy on Tuesday January 03, @09:53 (PHP)
| with 444 comments
| https://ask.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/148209/ask-slashdot-which-web-platform-would-you-use?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New submitter [0]datavirtue writes "I'm about to embark on developing
active content (database driven, and web services) for the first time for
my website and I have grown to love PHP. Knowing that there are other web
development platforms available, and noticing some disdain for PHP in
some circles, I'm curious to know which platforms slashdotters prefer
along with the reasons why. Before I get started into heavy development I
would like to get some opinions and more facts. Why shouldn't I use PHP?"

Discuss this story at:
https://ask.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/148209/ask-slashdot-which-web-platform-would-you-use?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.datavirtue.com/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Ask Slashdot: Writing Hardened Web Applications?
| from the i-hear-plain-text-password-databases-are-secure dept.
| posted by Unknown Lamer on Monday January 02, @19:10 (Programming)
| with 316 comments
| https://ask.slashdot.org/story/12/01/02/2338221/ask-slashdot-writing-hardened-web-applications?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]rhartness writes "I am a long time Software Engineer, however, almost
all of my work has been developing server-side, intranet applications or
applications for the Windows desktop environment. With that said, I have
recently come up with an idea for a new website which would require
extremely high levels of security (i.e. I need to be sure that my servers
are as 100% rock-solid, unhackable as possible.) I am an experienced
developer, and I have a general understanding of web security; however, I
am clueless of what is requires to create a web server that is as secure
as, say, a banking account management system. Can the Slashdot community
recommend good websites, books, or any other resources that thoroughly
discuss the topic of setting up a small web server or network for hosting
a site that is as absolutely secure as possible?"

Discuss this story at:
https://ask.slashdot.org/story/12/01/02/2338221/ask-slashdot-writing-hardened-web-applications?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. mailto:rhartness@gmail.com

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Why Do All Movie Tickets Cost the Same?
| from the dollars-and-sense dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday January 03, @18:36 (Movies)
| with 273 comments
| https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/2225208/why-do-all-movie-tickets-cost-the-same?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]gambit3 sends this quote from The Atlantic: "Like tens of millions of
Americans, I have paid money to see Mission: Impossible, which made $130
million in the last two weeks, and I have not paid any money to see Young
Adult, which has made less than $10 million over the same span. Nobody is
surprised or impressed by the discrepancy. The real question is: If
demand is supposed to move prices, [1]why isn't seeing Young Adult much
cheaper than seeing Mission: Impossible?"

Discuss this story at:
https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/2225208/why-do-all-movie-tickets-cost-the-same?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.neolibrarium.com/
1. http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2012/01/why-do-all-movie-tickets-cost-the-same/250762/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Chile Forbids Carriers From Selling Network-Locked Phones
| from the as-regulations-go-not-a-bad-idea dept.
| posted by timothy on Tuesday January 03, @11:34 (Cellphones)
| with 263 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/1553213/chile-forbids-carriers-from-selling-network-locked-phones?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An anonymous reader writes "As from today, network operators in Chile are
[0]no longer allowed to sell carrier-locked phones, and must unlock free
of charge all devices already sold to costumers through a simple form on
their respective websites. The new regulation came into effect in
preparations for the rollout of Mobile Number Portability, set to begin
on January 16th. This is one among other restrictions that forbid
carriers to lock in the customers through 'abusive clauses' in their
contracts, one of which was through selling locked devices. Now if a
customer wishes to change carriers he/she needs only to have the bills up
to date and the process of porting the number should only take 24 hours."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/1553213/chile-forbids-carriers-from-selling-network-locked-phones?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. https://twitter.com/#!/subtel_chile/status/153819039112757248

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Feature Phones Make Java ME, Not Android, the #2 Mobile Internet OS
| from the feature-creature dept.
| posted by timothy on Tuesday January 03, @10:12 (Android)
| with 260 comments
| https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/1434211/feature-phones-make-java-me-not-android-the-2-mobile-internet-os?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

bonch writes "According to a report from NetApplications, which has
measured browser usage data since 2004, Oracle's [0]Java Mobile Edition
has surpassed Android as the #2 mobile OS on the internet at 26.80%, with
iOS at 46.57% and Android at 13.44%. And the trend appears to be growing.
[1]Java ME powers hundreds of millions of low-end 'feature phones' for
budget buyers. In 2011, feature phones [2]made up 60% of the install base
in the U.S." Looking at the linked chart, it looks Java ME's been ahead
of Android for all of 2011, too, except for the month of October.

Discuss this story at:
https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/1434211/feature-phones-make-java-me-not-android-the-2-mobile-internet-os?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=9&qpcustomb=1
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Java_ME
2. http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/40-percent-of-u-s-mobile-users-own-smartphones-40-percent-are-android/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| German Hackers Propose Uncensorable Global Grid — With Satellites
| from the das-klingt-aber-gut dept.
| posted by timothy on Tuesday January 03, @13:00 (Communications)
| with 230 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/1723225/german-hackers-propose-uncensorable-global-grid-with-satellites?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

braindrainbahrain writes "The members of the [0]Stuttgart Hackerspace
have [1]taken it upon themselves to launch [2]their own space program.
The immediate goal of the Hacker Space Program is to create an
uncensorable internet in space beyond the control of terrestrial entities
using a network of ground stations and communications satellites. In the
longer term (think the year 2035), they'd like to put a hacker astronaut
on the moon!"

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/1723225/german-hackers-propose-uncensorable-global-grid-with-satellites?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://shackspace.de/wiki/doku.php
1. http://shackspace.de/wiki/doku.php?id=project:hgg:faq
2. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16367042

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Instead of a Wheel Chair, How About an Exoskeleton?
| from the yes-please dept.
| posted by timothy on Tuesday January 03, @12:19 (Medicine)
| with 201 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/1715226/instead-of-a-wheel-chair-how-about-an-exoskeleton?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New submitter the_newsbeagle writes "This year, Ekso Bionics will roll
out its [0]most sophisticated exoskeleton ever. The company's robotic
walking suit, called the Ekso, allows paraplegics to get back on their
feet and walk on their own. The first commercial model will be sold to
rehab hospitals for on-site physical therapy, but the company plans to
have a model ready for at-home physical therapy by the end of 2012. In a
few years, they plan to sell an Ekso that a paraplegic person can wear to
the post office, to work, etc."

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/1715226/instead-of-a-wheel-chair-how-about-an-exoskeleton?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://spectrum.ieee.org/biomedical/bionics/goodbye-wheelchair-hello-exoskeleton

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Facebook a Factor in a Third of UK Divorces
| from the divorce-by-relationship-status-change dept.
| posted by Unknown Lamer on Tuesday January 03, @00:04 (Facebook)
| with 178 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/0053259/facebook-a-factor-in-a-third-of-uk-divorces?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

hypnosec writes with an excerpt from an IT Pro Portal article: "A recent
survey conducted by a UK based divorce website disclosed that [0]33
percent of behavior divorce petitions filed cite Facebook as a cause for
filing for divorce in 2011. In 2009 this figure was 20 per cent. 5000
people were surveyed by Divorce-Online, the UK divorce website, during
2009 and 2011 covering Facebook as a means to check behavior of spouse
with the opposite sex and spouses using the social networking platform to
comment about their exes post the separation. [1]Three reasons that came
out on the top for listing Facebook in divorce petition were
inappropriate messages sent to the opposite sex, posting nasty comments
about exes, and friends on Facebook reporting about spouse's behavior."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/0053259/facebook-a-factor-in-a-third-of-uk-divorces?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.itproportal.com/2012/01/02/facebook-responsible-third-divorces-uk/
1. http://www.t3.com/news/facebook-cited-in-a-third-of-divorces-in-the-uk

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| When Getting Rid of College Lectures Makes Sense
| from the cutting-back-on-nap-time dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday January 03, @16:29 (Education)
| with 165 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/2040253/when-getting-rid-of-college-lectures-makes-sense?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

timothy writes "NPR reports that Harvard physicist and professor Eric
Mazur has [0]largely gotten rid of the lecture in his classes, after
finding that in lecture-based classes, students tend to commit to memory
formulae and heuristics, but fail to develop deep understanding of
concepts. Mazur has tried ��� and seemingly succeeded ��� to cultivate deeper
learning with a combination of small group peer-instruction and a tight
feedback loop based on in-class polling about particular problems. Joe
Redish also teaches physics, at the University of Maryland, and says,
'With modern technology, if all there is is lectures, we don't need
faculty to do it. ... Get 'em to do it once, put it on the Web, and fire
the faculty.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/2040253/when-getting-rid-of-college-lectures-makes-sense?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.npr.org/2012/01/01/144550920/physicists-seek-to-lose-the-lecture-as-teaching-tool?sc=fb&cc=fp

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Judge Doesn't Care About Supreme Court GPS Case
| from the he-is-the-decider dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday January 03, @17:10 (Privacy)
| with 148 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/2121251/judge-doesnt-care-about-supreme-court-gps-case?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

nonprofiteer writes "The Supreme Court is currently deciding whether or
not law enforcement [0]needs a warrant before they put a GPS tracker on a
person's car. A judge in St. Louis [1]doesn't seem to care about that,
though. He [2]ruled last week (PDF) that the FBI didn't need a warrant to
track the car of a state employee they suspected was collecting a
paycheck without actually going to work. (Their suspicions were
confirmed.) While in favor of corrupt government employees being caught,
it's a bit disturbing that a federal judge would decide a warrant wasn't
needed while the Supreme Court has said the issue is unclear."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/2121251/judge-doesnt-care-about-supreme-court-gps-case?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.scotusblog.com/case-files/cases/united-states-v-jones/
1. http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/01/03/st-louis-judge-not-waiting-for-supreme-courts-gps-tracking-decision/
2. http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/threatlevel/2012/01/gpsruling.pdf

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Why Politicians Should Never Make Laws About Technology
| from the internet-is-a-series-of-tubes dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday January 03, @17:53 (Government)
| with 133 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/229233/why-politicians-should-never-make-laws-about-technology?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]snydeq writes "As the world gets more and more technical, [1]we can't
let Luddites decide the fate of dangerous legislation like SOPA, writes
Deep End's Paul Venezia. 'Very few politicians get technology. Many
actually seem proud that they don't use the Internet or even email, like
it's some kind of badge of honor that they've kept their heads in the
sand for so long. These are the same people who will vote on [2]noxious
legislation like SOPA, openly dismissing the concerns and facts presented
by those who know the technology intimately. The best quote from the SOPA
debates: "We're operating on the Internet without any doctors or nurses
on the room." That is precisely correct,' Venezia writes. 'The best we
can do for the short term is to throw everything we can behind
legislation to reinstate the [3]Office of Technology Assessment. From
1974 through 1995, this small group with a tiny budget served as an
impartial, nonpartisan advisory to the U.S. Congress on all matters
technological.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/229233/why-politicians-should-never-make-laws-about-technology?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.infoworld.com/
1. http://www.infoworld.com/d/data-center/why-politicians-should-never-make-laws-about-technology-182374
2. http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/02/157217/net-companies-consider-the-nuclear-option-to-combat-sopa
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Technology_Assessment

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| RIM's Playbook On Clearance
| from the 64GB-sounds-nice-doesn't-it? dept.
| posted by timothy on Tuesday January 03, @08:44 (Android)
| with 129 comments
| https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/1323244/rims-playbook-on-clearance?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

symbolset writes "Engadget reports that the much-maligned [0]RIM Playbook
tablet has hit the clearance skids. I've confirmed that all three models
(16GB, 32GB, 64GB) are for sale on [1]RIM's website for the same price:
$299, or up to $400 off. The site says until February 4, but presumably
that's 'or while supplies last.' If you're into clearance merch and
rooting, the Engadget article includes instructions on getting Android
and the Android market on the thing. If you'd rather have a tablet made
for Android, the original Acer Iconia A500 may be a better choice at only
a few dollars more ��� but without the capacious internal storage."

Discuss this story at:
https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/1323244/rims-playbook-on-clearance?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/02/blackberry-playbook-fire-sale-android-market-access-hack/
1. http://us.blackberry.com/playbook-tablet/#!tabletWhereToBuy

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| The Semantic Line Interface
| from the do-what-i-mean-not-what-i-click dept.
| posted by Unknown Lamer on Monday January 02, @19:56 (GUI)
| with 119 comments
| https://developers.slashdot.org/story/12/01/02/2358240/the-semantic-line-interface?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First time accepted submitter [0]yuriyg_ua writes "[The] semantic line
interface may combine features of both command line and graphical
interface, which would [1]allow even more complex applications than we
have seen before." The idea is that the layer underlying user interfaces
should define the [2]semantic relations between data enabling the UI to
provide better contextual information. Kind of a modern version of the
[3]CLIM presentation system.

Discuss this story at:
https://developers.slashdot.org/story/12/01/02/2358240/the-semantic-line-interface?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. mailto:yu.guskov@gmail.com
1. http://on-meaning.blogspot.com/2012/01/2012-end-of-world-of-user-interfaces-as.html
2. http://www.w3.org/RDF/
3. http://www.sts.tu-harburg.de/~r.f.moeller/uims-clim/clim-intro.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Fujitsu To Develop Vigilante Computer Virus For Japan
| from the which-will-lead-to-anti-anti-virus-viruses dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday January 03, @14:25 (Japan)
| with 117 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/1857225/fujitsu-to-develop-vigilante-computer-virus-for-japan?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

wiedzmin writes "Japanese Defense Ministry has awarded Fujitsu a contract
to [0]develop a vigilante computer virus, which will track down and
eliminate other viruses, or rather ��� their sources of origin. Are 'good'
viruses a [1]bad idea? Sophos [2]seems to think so, saying, 'When you're
trying to gather digital forensic evidence as to what has broken into
your network, and what data it may have stolen, it's probably not wise to
let loose a program that starts to trample over your hard drives, making
changes.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/1857225/fujitsu-to-develop-vigilante-computer-virus-for-japan?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120102002799.htm
1. http://www.people.frisk-software.com/~bontchev/papers/goodvir.html
2. http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2012/01/03/japan-cyber-weapon-bad/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Gigabyte Board Sets Intel X79 Overclocking Record
| from the central-heating-system-replacement dept.
| posted by Unknown Lamer on Monday January 02, @22:01 (Intel)
| with 108 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/017217/gigabyte-board-sets-intel-x79-overclocking-record?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]MojoKid writes "Renowned overclocker '[1]Hicookie' achieved [2]a new
high clock speed on the Intel Core i7 3930K processor by cranking the
chip past 5.6GHz using a Gigabyte GA-X79-UD3 motherboard, the first mobo
in the world to achieve a mulitplier of 57x. There was a bit of a scandal
with Gigabyte recently when a YouTube video showed one of its X79 boards
going [3]up in smoke. Gigabyte released a BIOS update for several of its
X79 boards to prevent such incidents from happening, and there were
outcries that the new F7 BIOS would ... [reduce] overclocking
performance; Hicookie's achievement should erase those concerns."

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/017217/gigabyte-board-sets-intel-x79-overclocking-record?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://hothardware.com/
1. http://hwbot.org/user/hicookie/
2. http://hothardware.com/News/Gigabyte-X79UD3-Motherboard-Obliterates-X79-Overclocking-Record-with-F7-BIOS/
3. http://hothardware.com/News/Gigabyte-Issues-Emergency-BIOS-Update-for-Certain-X79-Series-Motherboards/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| EU Proposal Would Encourage Web Users To Flag Suspicious Web Pages
| from the dude-karma-is-so-prior-art dept.
| posted by timothy on Tuesday January 03, @09:31 (EU)
| with 92 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/1345250/eu-proposal-would-encourage-web-users-to-flag-suspicious-web-pages?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

littlekorea writes "Web surfers in Europe [0]might soon be asked to
'flag' for law enforcement follow-up any web content they suspect incites
terrorism, under an plan a group of EU governments has put to the
internet industry. The plan asks for ISPs, search engines, web hosts and
everyday users to play a larger role in identifying suspect content.
Google already has a similar feature on YouTube ��� will we see it in the
browser?"

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/1345250/eu-proposal-would-encourage-web-users-to-flag-suspicious-web-pages?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.itnews.com.au/News/285670,users-to-8216flag8217-terrorist-web-pages-under-eu-proposal.aspx

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Bob Anderson, the Man Behind Vader's Lightsaber, Dies at 89
| from the sad-news-for-the-new-year dept.
| posted by timothy on Tuesday January 03, @09:05 (Canada)
| with 81 comments
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/1332216/bob-anderson-the-man-behind-vaders-lightsaber-dies-at-89?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from Australia's ABC News:
"Bob Anderson, an Olympic swordsman who staged fights for films including
the Star Wars and Lord of the Rings trilogy, has [0]died at the age of 89.
... Anderson donned Darth Vader's black helmet and fought light-saber
battles in two of the three original Star Wars films, The Empire Strikes
Back and Return of the Jedi, but his role was not initially publicized."
The accompanying video clips are great; I never thought about anyone
being in the Vader suit besides David Prowse.

Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/1332216/bob-anderson-the-man-behind-vaders-lightsaber-dies-at-89?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-03/movie-sword-fight-master-bob-anderson-dies/3755988?WT.svl=news5

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Spanish Website Blocking Law Implemented
| from the banning-things-is-fun dept.
| posted by Unknown Lamer on Tuesday January 03, @03:08 (EU)
| with 65 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/0241248/spanish-website-blocking-law-implemented?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sir Mal Fet writes "In a very polemic move by the Spanish parliament, the
infamous 'Sinde' law, [0]already discussed here, was [1]implemented on
December 31st. Albeit modified from their original version, the law will
allow the Spanish government to request ISPs to [2]summarily close a
website due to copyright infringement ([3]English translation). If the
ISP refuses, then it's passed to court where a judge can order the
website closed. It seems it's [4]one good, one bad over there. The law is
in public consult until March, and No Les Votes, a Spanish organization
that opposes the law, has already [5]started a campaign to boycott it ([6]English
translation)."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/0241248/spanish-website-blocking-law-implemented?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/06/03/1731208/spain-to-clamp-down-on-file-sharers
1. http://torrentfreak.com/website-blocking-law-implemented-by-new-spanish-government-120102/
2. http://www.elpais.com/articulo/cultura/ley/Sinde/aprobada/PP/entrara/vigor/marzo/elpepucul/20120102elpepucul_3/Tes
3. http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.elpais.com%2Farticulo%2Fcultura%2Fley%2FSinde%2Faprobada%2FPP%2Fentrara%2Fvigor%2Fmarzo%2Felpepucul%2F20120102elpepucul_3%2FTes
4. http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/12/22/0235235/spanish-court-rules-in-favor-of-p2p-engineer
5. http://wiki.nolesvotes.org/wiki/Boicot
6. http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwiki.nolesvotes.org%2Fwiki%2FBoicot

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Rare Moon Mineral Found On Earth
| from the made-in-wisconsin dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday January 03, @18:15 (Earth)
| with 46 comments
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/2215227/rare-moon-mineral-found-on-earth?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

sciencehabit writes "A mineral previously [0]known only from moon rocks
and lunar meteorites has now been found on Earth. Researchers discovered
the substance ��� dubbed tranquillityite after the Sea of Tranquility,
where Apollo 11 astronauts landed on the Moon in July 1969��� at six sites
in Western Australia ([1]abstract). The mineral occurs only in minuscule
amounts and has no economic value, but scientists say it could be used
for age-dating the rocks in which it occurs."

Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/2215227/rare-moon-mineral-found-on-earth?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/01/rare-moon-mineral-found-on-earth.html?ref=hp
1. http://geology.gsapubs.org/content/40/1/83.abstract

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Remotely Pat Your Pet With Kinect and a Wiimote
| from the petting-at-a-distance dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Tuesday January 03, @16:08 (Robotics)
| with 44 comments
| https://idle.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/1722236/remotely-pat-your-pet-with-kinect-and-a-wiimote?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]MrSeb writes "Taylor Valtrop, an enterprising roboticist with a
penchant for kitties, has crafted the mother of all Kinect (and Wiimote!)
hacks: The [1]teleoperation of a robot to groom a cat. Using a Nao, a
$15,000 robot; a treadmill (for moving the robot forward); a head-mounted
display (to see what the robot sees); Kinect (for tracking his
movements); and two Wiimotes (to move the robot's hands), Valtrop is able
to pat a cat with surprising accuracy and gentleness (except for where he
accidentally hits the cat in the face)."

Discuss this story at:
https://idle.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/1722236/remotely-pat-your-pet-with-kinect-and-a-wiimote?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://mrseb.co.uk/
1. http://www.extremetech.com/computing/111571-remotely-pat-your-pet-with-kinect-and-wiimote

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| China Trials Its First 3D TV Channel
| from the smell-o-rama-next dept.
| posted by timothy on Tuesday January 03, @10:54 (Businesses)
| with 43 comments
| https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/1445230/china-trials-its-first-3d-tv-channel?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]rtoz writes with the news that Chinese viewers will soon be able to
watch a [1]3D TV channel service, to be opened in late January.
Excerpting: "The first stations for the 3D trial are China Central
Television, Beijing Television, Tianjing Broadcasting TV, Jiangsu TV and
Shenzhen TV. 3D programs will be offered daily from 10:30 am to midnight.
The programs include animation, sports, documentaries, TV dramas,
entertainment and live broadcasting of big events, such as CCTV New
Year's Gala and the London 2012 Olympic Games. The stations will charge
no viewing fees during the early phase of operation."

Discuss this story at:
https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/1445230/china-trials-its-first-3d-tv-channel?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://rtoz.org/
1. http://rtoz.org/2012/01/02/china-launches-first-3d-tv-channel/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Testing the MongoDB Global Write Lock Improvements
| from the heckling-haskell-hackers dept.
| posted by Unknown Lamer on Monday January 02, @23:07 (Databases)
| with 34 comments
| https://developers.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/0315251/testing-the-mongodb-global-write-lock-improvements?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]rick446 writes "I took some time to benchmark the global write lock
improvements in MongoDB 2.0. From the article: 'MongoDB, as some of you
may know, has a [1]process-wide write lock... Per-database and
per-collection locking is [2]on the roadmap ..., but it's not here yet.
What was announced in MongoDB version 2.0 was [3]locking-with-yield. I
was curious about the [4]performance impact of the write lock and the
improvement of lock-with-yield, so I decided to do a little benchmark,
MongoDB 1.8 versus MongoDB 2.0.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://developers.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/0315251/testing-the-mongodb-global-write-lock-improvements?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://blog.pythonisito.com/
1. http://www.mongodb.org/display/DOCS/How+does+concurrency+work
2. https://jira.mongodb.org/browse/SERVER-1240
3. https://jira.mongodb.org/browse/SERVER-2563
4. http://blog.pythonisito.com/2011/12/mongodbs-write-lock.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Online Clearinghouse Offers To Defend Privacy
| from the slaying-the-facebook-dragon dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday January 03, @13:43 (Privacy)
| with 30 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/1820215/online-clearinghouse-offers-to-defend-privacy?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]jfruhlinger writes "Privacy may have become a hot-button issue in the
Internet age, but the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse has been fighting
against corporate privacy violations for 20 years now. Today, they've
[1]launched an online complaint center that will hopefully help keep your
private data private. Fill out the [2]online form and the PRC will follow
up with the privacy compliance officer at the company in question, or
investigate whether a complaint to a government agency is in order."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/1820215/online-clearinghouse-offers-to-defend-privacy?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://jfruh.com/
1. http://www.itworld.com/it-managementstrategy/237221/privacy-been-violated-call-prc
2. https://www.privacyrights.org/complaint

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Chaos Communication Congress Releases Talks
| from the all-hail-the-chaos dept.
| posted by Unknown Lamer on Tuesday January 03, @08:03 (Security)
| with 15 comments
| https://it.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/0610227/chaos-communication-congress-releases-talks?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First time accepted submitter jehan60188 writes with this excerpt from an
article from Hack a Day: "The 28th Annual Chaos Communication Congress
just wrapped things up on December 31st and they've already [0]published
recordings of all the talks at the event. These talks were live-streamed,
but if you didn't find time in your schedule to see all that you wanted,
you'll be happy to find your way to the [1]YouTube collection of the
event. The topics span a surprising range. We were surprised to see a
panel discussion on depression and suicide among geeks ... which joins
another panel called Queer Geeks, to address some social issues rather
than just hardcore security tech. But there's plenty of that as well with
topics on cryptography, security within web applications, and also a
segment on electronic currencies like Bitcoins.'" The CCC wiki has [2]a
list of mirrors with downloads in multiple formats (including WebM).

Discuss this story at:
https://it.slashdot.org/story/12/01/03/0610227/chaos-communication-congress-releases-talks?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://hackaday.com/2012/01/02/watch-all-of-the-freshly-published-talks-from-28c3/
1. http://www.youtube.com/28c3
2. http://events.ccc.de/congress/2011/wiki/Documentation


Copyright 1997-2011, Geeknet, Inc. All Rights Reserved.


======================================================================

You have received this message because you subscribed to it
on Slashdot. To stop receiving this and other
messages from Slashdot, or to add more messages
or change your preferences, please go to your user page.

http://slashdot.org/prefs/messages

You can log in and change your preferences from there.

Slashdot 11216 Waples Mill Rd., Suite 100, Fairfax, VA 22030

No comments:

Post a Comment