[Slashdot] Stories for 2010-08-03
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Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* Linux Kernel 2.6.35 Released
* A How-To Website For Australian Voters
* Mozilla Finds Flaw With Black Hat Video Stream
* Negroponte Offers OLPC Technology For India's $35 Tablet
* Microsoft's Ad Team Trumps IE Developers' Privacy Aims
* Equatorial Mounts For Budget Astrophotography?
* Browser-Based Jailbreak For iPhone 4 Released
* Is <em>StarCraft II</em> Killing Graphics Cards?
* Defeating Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle
* Does Net Neutrality Violate the Fifth Amendment?
* Indian Police Using Facebook to Catch Scofflaw Drivers
* The Great Operating System Games
* Radioactive Boar On the Rise In Germany
* Sex Boosts Brain Growth
* Obama Sets End of Iraq Combat For August 31st
* UK Government Refuses To Ditch IE6
* Beautiful Data
* Why Bad 3D, Not 3D Glasses, Gives You Headaches
* Stanford's New Solar Tech Harnesses Heat, Light
* Intuit Still Fighting Government Tax Software
* WikiLeaks 'a Clear and Present Danger,' Says WaPo
* The Sun Unleashes Coronal Mass Ejection At Earth
* Boeing's Hybrid Electric Airliner of the Future
* Terry Childs Denied Motion For Retrial
* NAMCO Takes Down Student <em>Pac-man</em> Project
* Sun Founders' Push For Open Source Education
* Xfire Purchased, Team Leaving
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Linux Kernel 2.6.35 Released |
| from the everything-new-is-new-again dept. |
| posted by timothy on Sunday August 01, @22:47 (Announcements) |
| https://linux.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/0055205/Linux-Kernel-2635-Released |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
eldavojohn writes "Linus has [0]announced the release of 2.6.35 for
people to download and test after he found not a lot of changes between
this week and last. The [1]big features to look out for include:
'Transparent spreading of incoming network traffic load across CPUs,
Btrfs improvements, KDB kernel debugger frontend, Memory compaction and
Support for multiple multicast route tables' as well as various
performance and graphics improvements. Linus also praised the community
saying that 'regression changes only' after rc1 improved this time around
and gave numbers to back it up saying 'in the [2]2.6.34 release, there
were 3800 commits after -rc1, but in the current 35 release cycle we had
less than 2000.' Good to see the process is becoming more refined and
controlled after the first release candidate — [3]hopefully there's no
impending burnout."
Discuss this story at:
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/08/02/0055205
Links:
0. http://lwn.net/Articles/398371/
1. http://kernelnewbies.org/Linux_2_6_35
2. http://linux.slashdot.org/story/10/05/17/0218214/Linux-2634-Released
3. http://linux.slashdot.org/story/10/07/23/123209/The-Scalability-of-Linus
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| A How-To Website For Australian Voters |
| from the voting-by-esp-was-ruled-out dept. |
| posted by timothy on Monday August 02, @00:26 (Australia) |
| https://politics.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/046214/A-How-To-Website-For-Australian-Voters |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Twisted64 writes "If you're interested in voting [0]below the line in the
upcoming federal election in Australia, but don't want to waste time in
the booth individually ranking up to 76 candidates (for the unfortunates
in New South Wales), then [1]Cameron McCormack's website may have what
you need. The website allows voters to set their preferences beforehand,
dragging and dropping Stephen Conroy at the bottom of the barrel and
thrusting the Sex Party into pole position (as an utterly random
example). Once preferences are set, the site can generate a PDF to be
printed and taken to the booth." (More, below.)
This story continues at:
https://politics.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/046214/A-How-To-Website-For-Australian-Voters
Discuss this story at:
http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/08/02/046214
Links:
0. http://www.aec.gov.au/Voting/How_to_vote/Voting_Senate.htm
1. http://belowtheline.cc/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Mozilla Finds Flaw With Black Hat Video Stream |
| from the fair-play dept. |
| posted by timothy on Monday August 02, @01:55 (Mozilla) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/0024215/Mozilla-Finds-Flaw-With-Black-Hat-Video-St|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "Mozilla web security researcher Michael
Coates [0]found a flaw in Black Hat's paid video feed. The flaw allowed
him to watch a live feed of the conference for free instead of the $395 a
head to connect. Unlike many presenters at Black Hat, Michael responsibly
disclosed the flaw to organizers, who quickly fixed the issue."
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/08/02/0024215
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Negroponte Offers OLPC Technology For India's $35 Tablet |
| from the so-happy-togeeeether dept. |
| posted by timothy on Monday August 02, @04:59 (Displays) |
| https://mobile.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/0322242/Negroponte-Offers-OLPC-Technology-For-In|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]angry tapir writes "One Laptop Per Child wants to join forces to help
develop the Indian government's planned [1]$35 tablet. In a
congratulatory note to the government, OLPC Chairman Nicholas Negroponte
said the world needs the $35 tablet, and he [2]offered the country full
access to OLPC hardware and software technology."
Discuss this story at:
http://mobile.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/08/02/0322242
Links:
0. http://www.goodgearguide.com.au/
1. http://linux.slashdot.org/story/10/07/23/1338249/Indias-35-Tablet-Computer
2. http://www.goodgearguide.com.au/article/355270/negroponte_offers_olpc_technology_35_tablet/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Microsoft's Ad Team Trumps IE Developers' Privacy Aims |
| from the sounds-like-a-movie-script dept. |
| posted by timothy on Monday August 02, @08:11 (Internet Explorer) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/0036205/Microsofts-Ad-Team-Trumps-IE-Developers-Pri|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
phantomfive writes "The company everyone loves to hate is after your
private information, as the Wall Street Journal reports. The IE8 design
team had planned on adding the best privacy features available, but
[0]the advertising executives wanted to track users. From the story: 'In
the end, the product planners lost a key part of the debate. The winners:
executives who argued that giving automatic privacy to consumers would
make it tougher for Microsoft to profit from selling online ads.
Microsoft built its browser so that users must deliberately turn on
privacy settings every time they start up the software.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/08/02/0036205
Links:
0. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703467304575383530439838568.html
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Equatorial Mounts For Budget Astrophotography? |
| from the rubber-band-and-hope dept. |
| posted by timothy on Monday August 02, @08:36 (Input Devices) |
| https://ask.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/0346231/Equatorial-Mounts-For-Budget-Astrophotograp|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Timoris writes "With the Perseids approaching rapidly, I am looking for a
good beginner's motorized [0]equatorial mount for astrophotography. I
have seen a few for $150 to $200, but apparently the motor vibrations
make for poor photographs. Orion makes good mounts, but are out of my
price range ($350) and the motor is sold separately, adding to the price
half over again. Does anyone have any good experience with any low- or
mid-priced mounts?"
Discuss this story at:
http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/08/02/0346231
Links:
0. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equatorial_mount
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Browser-Based Jailbreak For iPhone 4 Released |
| from the oh-yeah-totally-secure dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday August 02, @08:56 (Cellphones) |
| https://apple.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/126253/Browser-Based-Jailbreak-For-iPhone-4-Relea|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
WrongSizeGlass writes "Apple Insider is reporting on a [0]browser-based
'jailbreak' for iPhone 4. Hackers on Sunday released the first
'jailbreak' for the iPhone 4, a browser-based exploit that allows users
to run unauthorized code. Unlike previous jailbreaks, which required
users to run software on their Mac or PC and tether their iPhone to their
computer, the latest hack is done entirely within the Safari browser.
Users simply visit the URL to begin the process, which modifies the iOS
mobile operating system found on the iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Some
users have reported that the modification results in broken MMS and
FaceTime functionality. This jailbreak does not work on iPads running iOS
3.2.1. "
Discuss this story at:
http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/08/02/126253
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Is <em>StarCraft II</em> Killing Graphics Cards? |
| from the wish-i-had-a-copy dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday August 02, @09:39 (Graphics) |
| https://games.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/1251203/Is-StarCraft-II-Killing-Graphics-Cards |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "One of the more curious trends emerging from
last week's StarCraft II launch is people alleging that [0]the game kills
graphics cards.The between-mission scenes onboard Jim Raynor's ship
aren't framerate capped. These are fairly static scenes, and don't take
much work for the graphics card to display them. Because of this, the
card renders the scene as quickly as possible, which then taxes your
graphics card as it works to its full potential. As the pipelines within
your graphics card work overtime, the card will heat up and if it can't
cope with that heat it will crash."
Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/08/02/1251203
Links:
0. http://www.pcauthority.com.au/News/223306,how-to-dust-away-starcraft-2-overheating-issues.aspx
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Defeating Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle |
| from the schrodinger's-cat-is-next dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday August 02, @10:18 (Data Storage) |
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/1359211/Defeating-Heisenbergs-Uncertainty-Prin|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
eldavojohn writes "As we strive closer and closer to quantum computing,
physics may need to be improved. A paper released in Nature Physics
suggests that [0]the limit defined by Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle
can be beaten with quantum memory. From the article, 'The cadre of
scientists behind the current paper realized that, by using the process
of entanglement, it would be possible to essentially use two particles to
figure out the complete state of one. They might even be able to measure
incompatible variables like position and momentum. The measurements might
not be perfectly precise, but the process could allow them to beat the
limit of [1]the uncertainty principle.' Will we find out that Heisenberg
was [2]shortsighted in limiting the power of quantum physics or will the
scientists be surprised to find that such a theoretical scenario — once
conducted — performs unexpectedly in Heisenberg's favor?"
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/08/02/1359211
Links:
0. http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2010/08/quantum-memory-may-topple-heisenbergs-uncertainty-principle.ars
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncertainty_principle
2. http://science.slashdot.org/story/01/07/31/128247/Resolution-Of-The-Heisenberg-Uncertainty-Principle
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Does Net Neutrality Violate the Fifth Amendment? |
| from the constitution-guarantees-short-sleeve-shirts dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday August 02, @11:00 (The Courts) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/1422250/Does-Net-Neutrality-Violate-the-Fifth-Amend|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
SonicSpike writes "A forthcoming paper from Boston College Law Professor
Daniel Lyons offers an even [0]stronger basis for challenge: The Fifth
Amendment. Under Prof. Lyons's theory, net neutrality would run afoul of
eminent domain. It would constitute a regulatory taking, requiring just
compensation. Under US Supreme Court precedent, any governmental
regulation that results in 'permanent, physical occupation' of private
property constitutes a per se taking. This is true even where the
government itself is not doing the occupying. If the government grants
access to other parties to freely traipse across private property, it's
still a taking. In effect, the government has forced one party to give a
permanent easement to another party, destroying the first's 'right to
exclude.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/08/02/1422250
Links:
0. http://www.openmarket.org/2010/07/30/give-take-fifth-amendment-complicates-net-neutrality/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Indian Police Using Facebook to Catch Scofflaw Drivers |
| from the check-your-status dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Monday August 02, @11:05 (Crime) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/1412202/Indian-Police-Using-Facebook-to-Catch-Scoff|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
New Delhi police have a new weapon in the battle against bad drivers,
Facebook. Two months ago the police created [0]a Facebook page that
allowed people to inform on others breaking traffic laws, and upload
pictures of the violations. The page has more than 17,000 fans, and 3,000
pictures currently. From the article: "The online rap sheet was
impressive. There are photos of people on motorcycles without helmets,
cars stopped in crosswalks, drivers on cellphones, drivers in the middle
of illegal turns and improperly parked vehicles. Using the pictures, the
Delhi Traffic Police have issued 665 tickets, using the license plate
numbers shown in the photos to track vehicle owners, said the city's
joint commissioner of traffic, Satyendra Garg."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/08/02/1412202
Links:
0. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/technology/02traffic.html?_r=2&ref=global-home
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| The Great Operating System Games |
| from the remember-.bas-files dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday August 02, @11:41 (Microsoft) |
| https://apple.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/1532213/The-Great-Operating-System-Games |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
harrymcc writes "For decades, the simple little games that come with
operating systems have been some of the [0]most-used software on the
planet. Legendary geeks such as Bill Gates, Steve Wozniak, and Andy
Herzfeld have tried their hands at writing them. And yet they get no
respect — or, actually, attention of any kind. Technologizer's Benj
Edwards aimed to rectify that with a look at forty years' worth of
bundled OS games, from 1971 Unix text-based ones to Woz's Little Brick
Out to such Windows mainstays as Solitaire, Minesweeper, and Reversi."
Article is an annoyingly long slide show (would it kill people to put a
reasonable amount of content on pages?) but there's some fun stuff in
there.
Discuss this story at:
http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/08/02/1532213
Links:
0. http://technologizer.com/2010/08/01/the-great-operating-system-games/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Radioactive Boar On the Rise In Germany |
| from the stay-in-the-car-while-I-check-this-out dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Monday August 02, @12:14 (Earth) |
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/1446211/Radioactive-Boar-On-the-Rise-In-Germany |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Germans who go out in the woods today are sure of a big surprise,
[0]radioactive boars. A portion of the wild boar population in Germany
was irradiated after the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown, and the boars are
thriving. In the last two years government payments to compensate hunters
for radioactive boar have quadrupled. From the article: "According to the
Environment Ministry in Berlin, almost €425,000 ($555,000) was paid out
to hunters in 2009 in compensation for wild boar meat that was too
contaminated by radiation to be sold for consumption. That total is more
than four times higher than compensation payments made in 2007." I think
the Germans are overlooking just how much money there is to be made from
regenerating bacon.
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/08/02/1446211
Links:
0. http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,709345,00.html
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Sex Boosts Brain Growth |
| from the do-it-for-my-brain-baby dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday August 02, @12:23 (Science) |
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/1544205/Sex-Boosts-Brain-Growth |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]climenole writes "Sex apparently can [1]help the brain grow, according
to new findings in rats. Sexually active rodents also seemed less anxious
than virgins, Princeton scientists discovered. Past findings had shown
that stressful, unpleasant events could stifle brain cell growth in
adults. To see if pleasant albeit stressful experiences could have the
opposite effect, researchers studied the effects of sex in rats."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/08/02/1544205
Links:
0. mailto:climenole.gmail@com
1. http://www.livescience.com/culture/sex-boosts-brain-cells-100728.html
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Obama Sets End of Iraq Combat For August 31st |
| from the end-of-an-era dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday August 02, @12:57 (Announcements) |
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/1637254/Obama-Sets-End-of-Iraq-Combat-For-August-3|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
eldavojohn writes "President Barack Obama has announced that on August
31st the United States will [0]cease all combat operations in Iraq,
although 50,000 troops will remain until the end of 2011. It's been a
long [1]seven-and-a-half years, with no guarantee of this announcement
actually signifying the end of violence. Pundits are [2]already
speculating on whether or not this withdrawal speech is 'Mission
Accomplished 2.' It's possibly the most significant confirmation of and
commitment to a withdrawal the world will hear from the United States in
Iraq."
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/08/02/1637254
Links:
0. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10839342
1. http://news.slashdot.org/story/03/03/20/038213/Strike-on-Iraq
2. http://www.aolnews.com/surge-desk/article/obamas-iraq-withdrawal-speech-mission-accomplished-2/19577524
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| UK Government Refuses To Ditch IE6 |
| from the good-plan-guys dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Monday August 02, @12:57 (Government) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/169202/UK-Government-Refuses-To-Ditch-IE6 |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
ChiefMonkeyGrinder writes "The UK government has said it [0]will not
upgrade its departments computers from Microsoft Internet Explorer 6
because it would not be 'cost-effective'. A recent online petition posted
to Number10.gov.uk received 6,223 signatures that called for the 'Prime
Minister to encourage government departments to upgrade away from
Internet Explorer 6' due to its alleged vulnerability to attack, and
because it requires web developers to specially craft sites to support
the browser. This raises the question, what is the cost of an upgrade
compared to a massive security breach?"
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/08/02/169202
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Beautiful Data |
| from the read-all-about-it dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Monday August 02, @13:43 (Math) |
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/1258208/Beautiful-Data |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]eldavojohn writes "Beautiful Data: The Stories Behind Elegant Data
Solutions is an addition to [1]six or so other books in the 'Beautiful'
series that O'Reilly has put out. It is not a comprehensive guide on data
but instead a glimpse into success stories about twenty different
projects that succeeded in displaying data — oftentimes in areas where
others have failed. While this provides, for the most part, disjointed
stories, it is a very readable book compared to most technical books.
Beautiful Data proves to be quite the cover-to-cover page turner for
anyone involved in building interfaces for data or the statistician at a
loss for the best way to intuitively and effectively relay knowledge when
given voluminous amounts of raw data. That said, it took me almost two
months to make it through this book, as each chapter revealed a data
repository or tool I had no idea existed. I felt like a child with an
attention deficit disorder trying my hand at nearly everything. While the
book isn't designed to relay complete theory on data (like Tufte), it is
a great series of short success stories revolving around the entire real
world practice of consuming, aggregating, realizing and making beautiful
data." Keep reading for the rest of eldavojohn's review.
This story continues at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/1258208/Beautiful-Data
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/08/02/1258208
Links:
0. http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596157128
1. http://books.slashdot.org/story/09/07/06/137217/Beautiful-Security
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Why Bad 3D, Not 3D Glasses, Gives You Headaches |
| from the subset-equal-to-set dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Monday August 02, @14:24 (Movies) |
| https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/1657242/Why-Bad-3D-Not-3D-Glasses-Gives-Y|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Barence writes "The most common complaint about 3D is that the glasses
give you a headache, but that's not actually true, according to the man
who teaches the pros how to make better 3D. Speaking at the BBC in
London, Buzz Hays, chief instructor for the Sony 3D Technology Center in
Culver City, California, explained: 'It's not the technology's fault,
[0]it's really the content that can cause these problems. It's easy to
make 3D but it's hard to make it good — and by "good" I mean taking care
to make sure that this isn't going to cause eyestrain.' He went on to
detail some of the mistakes made by inexperienced 3D film makers, from
poor composition of shots, through uncomfortable convergence settings, to
overuse of on-set monitors without viewing their content on a big screen.
But the biggest admission Buzz made was that not even the 'experts' know
all the tricks yet, which is why 3D should only get better from here. In
the same seminar, Buzz also explained [1]why 3D glasses are here to stay
— at least for the next few years."
Discuss this story at:
http://entertainment.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/08/02/1657242
Links:
0. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2010/08/02/why-bad-3d-not-3d-glasses-is-what-gives-you-a-headache/
1. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2010/07/28/why-we-can%E2%80%99t-ditch-3d-glasses-just-yet/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Stanford's New Solar Tech Harnesses Heat, Light |
| from the doubling-down dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Monday August 02, @15:05 (Power) |
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/1826223/Stanfords-New-Solar-Tech-Harnesses-Hea|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes with this excerpt from a Stanford news
release: "Stanford engineers have figured out how to [0]simultaneously
use the light and heat of the sun to generate electricity in a way that
could make solar power production more than twice as efficient as
existing methods and potentially cheap enough to compete with oil. Unlike
photovoltaic technology currently used in solar panels — which becomes
less efficient as the temperature rises — the new process excels at
higher temperatures. ... 'This is really a conceptual breakthrough, a new
energy conversion process, not just a new material or a slightly
different tweak,' said Nick Melosh, an assistant professor of materials
science and engineering, who led the research group. 'It is actually
something fundamentally different about how you can harvest energy.' And
the materials needed to build a device to make the process work are cheap
and easily available, meaning the power that comes from it will be
affordable." The [1]abstract for the researchers' paper is available at
Nature.
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/08/02/1826223
Links:
0. http://news.stanford.edu/news/2010/august/new-solar-method-080210.html
1. http://www.nature.com/nmat/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/nmat2814.html
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Intuit Still Fighting Government Tax Software |
| from the no-public-option dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Monday August 02, @15:47 (Government) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/1856215/Intuit-Still-Fighting-Government-Tax-Softwa|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Back in January we discussed [0]Intuit's opposition to California's free,
convenient software to file tax returns. [1]TechDirt noticed a recent
article in the LA Times about [2]Intuit's continued lobbying efforts to
get rid of those programs. Quoting: "Most importantly, Intuit is offering
nothing that California doesn't already have. The state has arranged with
other tax software providers to do exactly what Intuit proposes: Help
low-income folks fill in and file state and federal returns for free —
although Intuit refuses to participate. It apparently only wants in on
this deal if the state knocks out its free programs, thereby creating a
larger potential paying customer base for TurboTax. Not surprisingly,
Intuit has been greasing the wheels in order to try to sell its scheme in
California. Since 2005, public filings indicate that Intuit has spent
$1.25 million on lobbyists in the state. Over the same period, it
contributed an additional $2.12 million to statewide campaigns, including
more than $1 million to state Sen. Tony Strickland (R-Thousand Oaks), a
ReadyReturn foe who is running for state controller. In all, Intuit has
doled out cash to nearly 120 politicians. The impact has been clear, even
if Intuit hasn't gotten its way — yet. As documented in The Times, in
2009 California Republican legislators held back their votes on 20 bills
in an attempt to do the corporation's bidding and force the abolition of
ReadyReturn and CalFile. They didn't succeed in killing the tax programs,
but they did kill funding for domestic violence shelters, police and fire
departments, and prevention of swine flu outbreaks."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/08/02/1856215
Links:
0. http://news.slashdot.org/story/10/01/24/1554207/Why-the-IRS-Should-Automatically-Fill-In-Returns-With-What-It-Knows
1. http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100723/09055310339.shtml
2. http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-ventry-intuit-20100721,0,6498588.story
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| WikiLeaks 'a Clear and Present Danger,' Says WaPo |
| from the rhetoric-reaching-critical-levels dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Monday August 02, @16:31 (Government) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/2014219/WikiLeaks-a-Clear-and-Present-Danger-Says-W|
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[0]bedmison writes "In an op-ed in the Washington Post titled 'WikiLeaks
must be stopped,' Marc A. Thiessen writes that '[1]WikiLeaks represents a
clear and present danger to the national security of the United States,'
and that the US has the authority to arrest its spokesman, Julian
Assange, even if it has to contravene international law to do so.
Thiessen also suggests that the new USCYBERCOM be unleashed to destroy
WikiLeaks as an internet presence." Reader praps tips an interview with
another WikiLeaks spokesman, Daniel Schmitt, who says [2]they have no
regrets about releasing [3]the Afghanistan documents, and says WikiLeaks
is "changing the game." Several other readers have pointed out that
[4]WikiLeaks posted a mysterious, encrypted "insurance" file on Thursday,
which sent the media into a speculative frenzy over what it could
possibly contain.
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/08/02/2014219
Links:
0. http://.ude.tv.cisum..ta..808./
1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/02/AR2010080202627_pf.html
2. http://www.thelocal.de/society/20100730-28855.html
3. http://politics.slashdot.org/story/10/07/26/0128249/WikiLeaks-Publishes-Afghan-War-Secrets?from=rss
4. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/08/02/wikileaks_insurance/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| The Sun Unleashes Coronal Mass Ejection At Earth |
| from the return-fire dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Monday August 02, @16:54 (NASA) |
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/2028228/The-Sun-Unleashes-Coronal-Mass-Ejection|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]astroengine writes "Yesterday morning, at 08:55 UT, NASA's Solar
Dynamics Observatory [1]detected a C3-class flare erupt inside a sunspot
cluster. 100,000 kilometers away, deep within the solar atmosphere (the
corona), an extended magnetic field filled with cool plasma forming a
dark ribbon across the face of the sun (a feature known as a 'filament')
erupted at the exact same time. It seems very likely that both eruptions
were connected after a powerful shock wave produced by the flare
destabilized the filament, causing the eruption. A second solar
observatory, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, then spotted a huge
coronal mass ejection blast into space, straight in the direction of
Earth. Solar physicists have calculated that this magnetic bubble filled
with energetic particles should hit Earth on August 3, [2]so look out for
some intense aurorae — a solar storm is coming."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/08/02/2028228
Links:
0. http://www.astroengine.com/
1. http://news.discovery.com/space/incoming-the-sun-unleashes-cme-at-earth.html
2. http://news.discovery.com/space/aurora-northern-lights-space-phenomena.html
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Boeing's Hybrid Electric Airliner of the Future |
| from the flying-rice-burner dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Monday August 02, @17:17 (Transportation) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/2050225/Boeings-Hybrid-Electric-Airliner-of-the-Fu|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
fergus07 writes "Borne out of the same NASA research program that gave
birth to MIT's D '[0]double bubble,' Boeing's Subsonic Ultra Green
Aircraft Research (SUGAR) Volt concept is a twin-engine aircraft design
notable for its trussed, elongated wings and [1]electric battery gas
turbine hybrid propulsion system — a system designed to reduce fuel burn
by more than 70 percent and total energy use by 55 percent. The goal of
the NASA [2]supersonic research program is to find aircraft designs that
will significantly reduce noise, nitrogen oxide emissions, fuel burn and
air traffic congestion by the year 2035."
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/08/02/2050225
Links:
0. http://www.gizmag.com/mit-double-bubble-green-aircraft/15142/
1. http://www.boeing.com/Features/2010/06/corp_envision_06_14_10.html
2. http://www.nasa.gov/topics/aeronautics/features/future_airplanes.html
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Terry Childs Denied Motion For Retrial |
| from the out-of-options dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Monday August 02, @18:05 (The Courts) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/214221/Terry-Childs-Denied-Motion-For-Retrial |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]snydeq writes "The former San Francisco network administrator who
refused to hand over passwords for one of the city's networks has been
[1]denied a new trial and is expected to be sentenced Aug. 6. Terry
Childs had been due for sentencing Friday but the court instead heard two
defense motions, one requesting a new trial and the other for arrested
judgment — essentially to have his [2]original conviction overturned. The
motions were both denied but the court then ran out of time before the
sentencing phase could be conducted."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/08/02/214221
Links:
0. http://www.infoworld.com/
1. http://infoworld.com/d/adventures-in-it/terry-childs-denied-motion-retrial-418
2. http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/04/27/2245223/Terry-Childs-Found-Guilty
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| NAMCO Takes Down Student <em>Pac-man</em> Project |
| from the chasing-ghosts dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Monday August 02, @18:30 (Education) |
| https://games.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/219233/NAMCO-Takes-Down-Student-Pac-man-Project |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "The core of how people first learn to do
stuff — programming, music, writing, etc. — is to imitate others. It's
one of the best ways to learn. Apparently a bunch of students using MIT's
[0]educational Scratch programming language understand this. But not
everyone else does. NAMCO Bandai [1]sent a takedown notice to MIT because
some kids had recreated Pac-man with Scratch. The NAMCO letter is pretty
condescending as well, noting that it understands the educational purpose
of Scratch, but 'part of their education should include concern for the
intellectual property of others.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/08/02/219233
Links:
0. http://scratch.mit.edu/
1. http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100730/17081510430.shtml
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Sun Founders' Push For Open Source Education |
| from the network-is-the-textbook dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Monday August 02, @18:54 (Education) |
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/222200/Sun-Founders-Push-For-Open-Source-Education|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
theodp writes "Unfortunately for textbook publishers, Scott McNealy has
some extra time on his hands since Oracle acquired Sun and put him out of
a job. The Sun co-founder has [0]turned his attention to the problem of
math textbooks, the price of which keeps rising while the core
information inside of them stays the same. 'Ten plus 10 has been 20 for a
long time,' McNealy quips. 'We are spending $8 billion to $15 billion per
year on textbooks' in the US, he adds. 'It seems to me we could put that
all online for free.' McNealy's [1]Curriki is an online hub for free
textbooks and other course material. Others hoping to bring elements of
the Open Source model to the school textbook world include Vinod Khosla
(who co-founded Sun with McNealy), whose wife Neeru heads up the [2]CK-12
Foundation, which has already developed nine of the core textbooks for
high school."
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/08/02/222200
Links:
0. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/01/technology/01ping.html
1. http://www.curriki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Main/WebHome
2. http://about.ck12.org/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Xfire Purchased, Team Leaving |
| from the chat-on dept. |
| posted by kdawson on Monday August 02, @19:40 (Businesses) |
| https://games.slashdot.org/story/10/08/02/2334219/Xfire-Purchased-Team-Leaving |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]phorce phed and several other readers sent news that a system
notification was sent out this evening through the [1]Xfire IM client, to
wit: "Xfire was bought by new owners today. Most of the team that has
built Xfire over the last six years is leaving. We enjoyed working for
you for the last 127 releases and wish we could stay to create the next
127. Good bye, good luck, and game on. — The Xfire Team." According to
Wikipedia, [2]the new owner is 3D Realms.
Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/08/02/2334219
Links:
0. mailto:phorceph@yakko.cs.wmich.edu
1. http://media.xfire.com/down.html
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xfire
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