http://slashdot.org/firehose.pl News for nerds, stuff that matters en-us Copyright 1997-2009, Geeknet, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 2009-12-17T01:33:13+00:00 Geeknet, Inc. help@slashdot.org Technology hourly 1 1970-01-01T00:00+00:00 http://a.fsdn.com/sd/topics/topicslashdot.gif http://slashdot.org/firehose.pl //slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=7860146&from=rss Asking subscribers to pay for the same content twice will not work. cnetfeed 2009-12-17T01:32:57+00:00 //slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=7860134&from=rss Some 400 mobile seismic stations inch eastward across North America, as the researchers behind the US Array Project work to explain the slow quakes rumbling across the Pacific Northwest. wiredfeed 2009-12-17T01:32:45+00:00 //slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=7860124&from=rss The classic movie's air rifle and decoder ring were cool back in 1983, but they're quaint today. Here's Wired's update. wiredfeed 2009-12-17T01:32:34+00:00 //slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=7860118&from=rss Ryan Tibshirani was tired of losing at darts, so the Stanford statistics student put his math skills to use, calculating where he should aim to maximize his points. His app's online for pub athletes everywhere. wiredfeed 2009-12-17T01:32:23+00:00 //slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=7860116&from=rss The House of Representatives is declining to take up legislation to refine the nation's spy laws under the Patriot Act, and instead is extending three expiring provisions of the measure for two months. wiredfeed 2009-12-17T01:32:11+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1135504/Practical-Javascript-Multi-Threading-Using-IFRAMEs?from=rss Here is the most definitive, practical and real-world example of Javascript Multi-threading you can find on the web. This article discusses the methodology, provides a graph showing the response time gains using this technique and finishes up with a dsicussion and a real world example. The real concrete example is a twitter/yahoo widget that displays Kim Kardashian's thoughts for the week. No bull such as asynchronous processing, timeouts and fancy bits of theoretical code that does nothing save to demonstrate some useless concept. righteousninja 2009-12-17T01:22:57+00:00 //slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=7859802&from=rss Saving Earth from an asteroid will take unprecedented international collaboration. Some methods of deflecting an asteroid away from Earth will require temporarily putting some countries in more danger, so it could be understandably difficult to get those countries to sign on to the idea. wiredfeed 2009-12-17T01:12:28+00:00 //slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=7859794&from=rss Anyone looking for the highest-end Windows Mobile experience you can buy on AT&T, go ahead and form a line to the left, please, because your knight in shining armor has arrived. The LG eXpo -- complete with a Snapdragon core, 5 megapixel camera, 3.2-inch WVGA display, fingerprint scanner, QWERTY slide, and optional microprojector -- is now available, albeit at a $199.99 after-rebate, on-contract price that puts it pretty far into the realm of the high-power smartphone elite. The downside is that the aforementioned projector isn't yet available for purchase, which makes the whole package a little less compelling -- then again, that means you're walking out of the store with $179 that you wouldn't have otherwise had, so just look at your eXpo purchase as a fantastic money-making opportunity. LG eXpo goes on sale at AT&T, sans projector originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. PermalinkGearlog | AT&T |Email this|Comments engfeed 2009-12-17T01:12:15+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1135502/Worldlogger-does-real-time-analytics-it-shows-you?from=rss http://www.worldlogger.com/ japetheape 2009-12-17T01:08:54+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1135500/Years-Best-Gift-Could-Be-A-Job-From-Santa?from=rss Outsourcing the delivery of Christmas presents to mere mortals would provide a jolt to the staggering global economy. In this year's myriad discussions of stimulus and jobs programs, no one has yet publicly raised the idea to ask Santa Claus to take Christmas Eve off by subcontracting his own small army to deliver presents to children across the globe. SciNye 2009-12-17T00:59:53+00:00 //slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=7859490&from=rss The online classroom isn't the same one you remember from your flesh-and-blood college days. These courses have traded in textbooks for PDFs and chalkboards for web forums. If you want to make the grade, you better study up the new rules of today's online classroom. wiredfeed 2009-12-17T00:52:32+00:00 //slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=7859486&from=rss A few users have hacked Barnes & Noble's Nook e-book reader to run Pandora and other apps. wiredfeed 2009-12-17T00:52:21+00:00 //slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=7859478&from=rss digg_url = 'http://digg.com/apple/Israeli_security_guards_blow_up_woman_s_MacBook'; Young American woman travels over to Jerusalem to meet some friends, see the sights, live the life. Overzealous border security officers ask her a bunch of questions, take issue with her answers, and a few well-placed bullets later she is allowed entry into the country with a somewhat altered MacBook in tow. So what can we all learn from this incident? Firstly, back up all the data you consider important; B, Israeli policemen don't mess about; and 3, distressed laptops look gorgeous no matter how they got there -- just look at the way the glass trackpad has wrinkled up from the force of the bullet penetrating near it, it's a borderline work of art. The young lady in question has been promised compensation, but lest you think this is a one one-off you can see pictures of an equally dead Dell at the Flickr link below. We've got a couple more close-ups of the ravaged MacBook after the break. [Thanks, Itai N.] Update - We've tracked down a video interview with Lily herself, which shows off a few more angles of the former MacBook and current article of modern art -- check it after the break. P.S. - As always, we encourage a discussion. A sensitive, intellectual, worldly discussion. If you can't infer what it is we're asking of our dear readers tempted to intone on this matter, then please skip commenting on this thread, mkay? Continue reading Border security guards kill -- literally kill -- a MacBook (update: video!) Border security guards kill -- literally kill -- a MacBook (update: video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Lily Sussman, Flickr |Email this|Comments engfeed 2009-12-17T00:52:05+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1135498/Facebook-Mafiosi-go-to-the-mattresses-vs-Zynga?from=rss Zynga has the lion's share of traffic in Facebook applications, and Mafia Wars is one of their most popular social games. Collapsing under the weight of over 26 million users, Zynga has been scrambling to thwart hard-core gamers who reverse-engineer URLs or script the game to optimize their enjoyment. Many of the workarounds have annoyed users who were accustomed to various game features, and even worse, the hastily-deployed changes have resulted in many players losing access to the game, in-game prizes, or statistics.Fed up with a software company seemingly bent on discouraging people from enjoying their product, a number of tagged players have organized a boycott of all Zynga games. The first 24-hour boycott on Sunday 12/13 resulted in an 11% decline in Daily Active Users, and an emergency thread on Zynga's forums (from which most of the flames were deleted). The current boycott, extending Wednesday through Sunday is being supported by a 428K strong Facebook group. At issue is the social contract between software companies and their devoted user base, as well as the nefarious tactics Zynga has used to raise cash. sympleko 2009-12-17T00:48:36+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1135496/Hair-Regrowth-Products?from=rss hair regrowth products Anonymous Coward 2009-12-17T00:38:31+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1135494/Fake-Steve-Jobs-aims-to-show-ATampT-network-suck?from=rss Subject: Operation ChokeholdOn Friday, December 18, at noon Pacific time, we will attempt to overwhelm the AT&T data network and bring it to its knees. The goal is to have every iPhone user (or as many as we can) turn on a data intensive app and run that app for one solid hour. Send the message to AT&T that we are sick of their substandard network and sick of their abusive comments. THe idea is we'll create a digital flash mob. We're calling it in Operation Chokehold. Join us and speak truth to power! aka_bigred 2009-12-17T00:35:44+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1135492/Notes-from-the-No-Lone-Zone---ICBM-Security?from=rss Computer security guru Matt Blaze takes a tour of a decommissioned ICBM complex in Arizona. Cool photos, insightful perspective on two man control, perimeter security, human factors and why we didn't blow ourselves up. Anonymous Coward 2009-12-17T00:33:36+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1135490/New-Earth-like-planet-orbiting-a-nearby-star-is-ri?from=rss An Earth-like planet found orbiting a nearby star is rich in water — a major step forward in the search for worlds like our own, U.S. scientists say. Anonymous Coward 2009-12-17T00:33:00+00:00 //slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=7859148&from=rss We're guessing it won't be the tipping point that finally convinces you to buy an Audi A8, but it looks like those in the market for the car will be able to add a nice little option to the 2011 model: a built-in nav system complete with Google Earth and a GPRS / EDGE modem. Yeah, so it's not 3G, but it is apparently the first time that Google Earth has been made available in a production vehicle, which certainly counts for something. In addition to serving up Google Earth and various Google-sourced points of interest, that modem will also let you download a range of other up-to-date information to the nav unit, and it'll of course allow for simultaneous voice and data connections as well. No word on how much it'll add to the cost of the A8, but it looks like it won't be available right when the car rolls out early next year -- Audi is only saying "mid 2010" at the moment 2011 Audi A8 packs optional EDGE, Google Earth originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 16 Dec 2009 19:08:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Autoblog |Email this|Comments engfeed 2009-12-17T00:32:09+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1135488/BBC-Lowers-HDTV-bitrate-users-notice?from=rss According to an article on the bbc website, BBC HD lowered the bitrate of their broadcasts by almost 50% and are surprised that users noticed. From the article: "The replacement encoders work at a bitrate of 9.7Mbps (megabits per second), while their predecessors worked at 16Mbps, the standard for other broadcasters". The BBC claims "We did extensive testing on the new encoders which showed that they could produce pictures at the same or even better quality than the old encoders..." I got a good laugh off of this, but is it really possible to get better quality from a lower bitrate? aws910 2009-12-17T00:21:50+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1135486/26-Gigapixel-photo-sets-new-worlds-record?from=rss The largest gigapixel photograph ever created with a DSLR camera was made by A.F.B. Media GmbH in Dresden, Germany. 1655 images, each 21.6 megapixels in size, were taken with a Canon 5D Mark II and a 400 mm lens over a period of 176 minutes. The images were stitched on a 16 processor system with 48 G of main memory, taking 94 hours to create the final result. The interactive view can be found here: http://www.dresden-26-gigapixels.com/dresden26GP. FrenchSilk 2009-12-17T00:19:18+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1135484/18-button-mouse-is-back-in-black?from=rss This is about the lamest thing I've ever heard of. Warmouse has re-released their mouse in Black. Maybe this time around it will be a big Hit? Doubtful, but who's going to use this? Bill G? He's too old for video games and pron, unless he has V1@6RA. RandomUsr 2009-12-17T00:16:26+00:00 //slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=7858856&from=rss Two new wearable motion sensors are available to monitor your physical activity and provide feedback. nytfeed 2009-12-17T00:13:08+00:00 //slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=7858848&from=rss The government said it was seeking the source of the leak, which resulted in the movie being uploaded to the Web before its release in theaters. nytfeed 2009-12-17T00:12:57+00:00 //slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=7858844&from=rss These days, the fantasy of building a career on Etsy, an eBay of sorts of the do-it-yourself movement, is not just the stuff of dreams. nytfeed 2009-12-17T00:12:46+00:00