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Slashdot Daily Newsletter

In this issue:
* Ubuntu 10.10 Release Candidate Launched
* EFF, Apache Side With Microsoft In i4i Patent Case
* Berlin Wall 'Death Strip' Game Sparks Outrage In Germany
* Copyrights and CD-Rs Endanger Audio History
* Lost Online Games From the Pre-Web Era
* How Will the Constellations Change In 50K Years?
* China Successfully Launches Second Moon Probe
* Paleontologists Unearth Giant Fossilized Penguin
* Army DNS ROOT Server Down For 18+ Hours
* US Copyright Group — Lawsuits, DDoS, and Bomb Threats
* Masterpieces Online — High Culture At High Resolution
* Iran Arrests Alleged Spies Over Stuxnet Worm
* Genetically Altering Trees To Sequester More Carbon
* Retro Gaming Technologies Released Before Their Time
* 'The Laws Are Written By Lobbyists,' Says Google's Schmidt
* Creative Commons Video Challenges Hollywood's Best
* Minnesota Moving To Microsoft's Cloud

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Ubuntu 10.10 Release Candidate Launched |
| from the almost-to-the-finish-line dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Friday October 01, @20:07 (Ubuntu) |
| https://linux.slashdot.org/story/10/10/01/2214200/Ubuntu-1010-Release-Candidate-Launched |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

tuXx writes "On Thursday, Canonical [0]rolled out the official release
candidate of its upcoming Ubuntu OS version 10.10, codenamed Maverick
Meerkat. The [1]release announcement has a feature list, and [2]a review
of the RC is up at ITWorld. It's [3]available for download at the Ubuntu
wiki site. If all goes well, the stable release is planned for Oct.
10th."

Discuss this story at:
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/10/01/2214200

Links:
0. http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/206673/ubuntu_1010_approaches_with_meerkat_release_candidate.html
1. https://lists.ubuntu.com/archives/ubuntu-announce/2010-September/000138.html
2. http://www.itworld.com/operating-systems/122710/itworld-review-ubuntu-1010-scores-close-a-ten
3. https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MaverickMeerkat/TechnicalOverview#Download%20Release%20Candidate

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| EFF, Apache Side With Microsoft In i4i Patent Case |
| from the of-pots-and-kettles dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Friday October 01, @22:12 (Microsoft) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/10/01/2232224/EFF-Apache-Side-With-Microsoft-In-i4i-Paten|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

msmoriarty writes "Looks like Microsoft has gained some unlikely allies
in its ongoing (and [0]losing) i4i XML patent dispute: the Electric
Frontier Foundation and the Apache Software Foundation. The reason?
Microsoft has decided the strategy for its Supreme Court appeal will be
to argue that [1]the standards of proof in patent cases are too high —
this from a company that has [2]thousands of patents it regularly
defends. The EFF explains in a blog post [3]why it decided to file the
'friend of the court' brief on Microsoft's side."

Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/10/01/2232224

Links:
0. http://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/12/22/1936214/Microsoft-Ordered-To-Pay-290M-Stop-Selling-Word
1. http://redmondmag.com/articles/2010/09/30/microsoft-argues-legal-standard-too-high-in-patent-cases.aspx
2. http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2Fsearch-adv.html&r=0&p=1&f=S&l=50&d=ptxt&Query=an%2Fmicrosoft%24
3. http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/09/eff-supports-microsoft-seeking-make-it-easier

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Berlin Wall 'Death Strip' Game Sparks Outrage In Germany |
| from the sweet-zombie-reagan dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Friday October 01, @23:29 (First Person Shooters (Games)) |
| https://games.slashdot.org/story/10/10/02/0122238/Berlin-Wall-Death-Strip-Game-Sparks-Outra|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

gzipped_tar writes "According to Spiegel Online, 'A new computer game
where players assume the roles of border guards and [0]shoot people
trying to escape from communist East Germany has unleashed a storm of
controversy in Germany. The game's creator says he wanted to teach young
people about history, but he has been accused of glorifying violence. ...
The name of the multi-player FPS game, 1,378 (kilometers), was inspired
by the length of the border between East and West Germany. ... [Players]
choose between the roles of the border guards or would-be escapees: the
escapee only has one goal — to get over the wall, but the border guard
has more options, and can shoot or capture the escapee. He can also swap
sides and try to clamber over the border defenses himself.' By
[1]choosing to play the border guard and kill the escapee, the player
would win an in-game medal from the government of East Germany. But then
the guard would time-travel forward to the year 2000, where he would have
to stand trial. Jens Stober, 23, designed the game as a media art student
at the University of Design, Media and Arts in Karlsruhe. He said that
his intention was to teach young people about German history."

Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/10/02/0122238

Links:
0. http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,720467,00.html
1. http://www.spiegel.de/fotostrecke/fotostrecke-59976-7.html

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Copyrights and CD-Rs Endanger Audio History |
| from the digital-erosion dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday October 02, @00:15 (Media) |
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/10/10/02/013231/Copyrights-and-CD-Rs-Endanger-Audio-History|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

SEWilco writes "A study by the Library of Congress has found that many
audio recordings are being [0]lost due to copyright restrictions and
temporary media. Old audio recordings are protected by a various US state
copyrights, so it's hard for preservationists to get and copy material.
Recent data is threatened by being put on writable CDs, because CD-Rs
begin to lose data after a few years, so recordings from as recently as
9/11 and the 2008 elections are already at risk."

Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/10/02/013231

Links:
0. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100929/ap_en_ot/us_endangered_digital_recordings

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Lost Online Games From the Pre-Web Era |
| from the you-are-no-match-for-my-imperial-starship dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday October 02, @01:42 (Classic Games (Games)) |
| https://games.slashdot.org/story/10/10/02/0128202/Lost-Online-Games-From-the-Pre-Web-Era |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

harrymcc writes "Long before the Web came along, people were playing
online games — on BBSes, on services such as Prodigy and CompuServe, and
elsewhere. Gaming historian Benj Edwards has rounded up a dozen [0]RPGs,
MUDs, and other fascinating curiosities from the 1970s, 1980s, and early
1990s — and the cool part is: they're all playable on the Web today."
What old games were good enough for you to watch them scroll by on your
300 baud modem?

Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/10/02/0128202

Links:
0. http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow_viewer/0,1205,l%253D255130%2526a%253D255131%2526po%253D0,00.asp?p=n

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| How Will the Constellations Change In 50K Years? |
| from the late-night-slide-show dept. |
| posted by CmdrTaco on Saturday October 02, @03:25 (Space) |
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/10/10/02/016235/How-Will-the-Constellations-Change-In-50|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

[0]astroengine writes "The stars are not static points in the sky; they
move over time. That means the constellations are shifting too. With the
help of NASA astronomer Robert Hurt, [1]five famous constellations are
visualized 50,000 years in the future."

Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/10/02/016235

Links:
0. http://www.astroengine.com/
1. http://news.discovery.com/space/changing-constellations-50000-years.html

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| China Successfully Launches Second Moon Probe |
| from the space-race-redux dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday October 02, @05:56 (Moon) |
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/10/10/02/026256/China-Successfully-Launches-Second-Moon-|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

China [0]launched its second unmanned Moon mission on Friday, sending the
Chang'e II probe on a five-day journey to reach lunar orbit. "The probe
plans to test technology in preparation for an unmanned moon landing in
2012, with a possible manned lunar mission to follow in 2017. China's
other space plans include the launch of the first module of a future
space station next year followed by the dispatch of manned spacecraft to
dock with it. ... After its six-month mission, Chang'e II will either
land on the moon as an experiment for future probes, fly further into
outer space, or change its course and begin orbiting the Earth, Xinhua
cited chief designer Huang Jiangchuan as saying." The Planetary Society
blog [1]has pictures and video of the launch.

Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/10/02/026256

Links:
0. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/10/01/tech/main6918053.shtml
1. http://www.planetary.org/blog/article/00002693/

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Paleontologists Unearth Giant Fossilized Penguin |
| from the syfy-already-working-on-a-horror-movie dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday October 02, @08:16 (Linux) |
| https://linux.slashdot.org/story/10/10/02/0220210/Paleontologists-Unearth-Giant-Fossilized-|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

[0]Ponca City, We Love You writes "The BBC reports that scientists have
discovered the 36-million-year-old fossil of [1]a penguin nearly five
feet tall and almost twice the weight of an Emperor Penguin, the largest
living species. 'The heavier the penguin, the deeper it dives,' says
Julia Clarke, a palaeontologist at the University of Texas. 'If that
holds true for any penguins, then the dive depths achieved by these giant
forms would've been very different.' The bird, [2]named Inkayacu
paracasensis, or water king, lived during the late Eocene period and had
a long, straight beak, much longer than that of its modern relatives.
But, most surprisingly, the giant penguin's feathers were brown and gray,
distinct from the black 'tuxedo'" Reader SpuriousLogic notes that it's
also getting easier to [3]keep an eye on modern penguins, since Google
has [4]extended Street View to Antarctica.

Discuss this story at:
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/10/02/0220210

Links:
0. http://poncacityweloveyou.com/
1. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-11420635
2. http://www.utexas.edu/news/2010/09/30/fossilized_giant_penguin/
3. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11452025
4. http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&t=h&q=Antarctica&layer=c&cbll=-62.59609,-59.901651&panoid=ZzuMubmHCfCGGo3ePSlpCQ&cbp=12,233.34,,1,0.48&hq=&hnear=Antarctica&ll=-62.59609,-59.901651&spn=0.0008,0.00243&z=19

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Army DNS ROOT Server Down For 18+ Hours |
| from the inter-arma-enim-silent-tubulis dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday October 02, @09:30 (The Internet) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/10/02/1233235/Army-DNS-ROOT-Server-Down-For-18-Hours |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

An anonymous reader writes "The H-Root server, operated by the US Army
Research Lab, [0]spent 18 hours out of the last 48 being a void. Both the
RIPE's DNSMON and the [1]h.root-servers.org site show this. How, in this
day and age of network engineering, can we even entertain one of the
thirteen root servers being unavailable for so long? I mean, the US army
doesn't even seem to make the effort to deploy more sites. [2]Look at the
other root operators who don't have the backing of the US government
money machine. Many of them seem to be able to deploy redundant
instances. Even the much-maligned ICANN seems to have managed deploying
11 sites. All these root operators that have only one site need a good
swift kick, or maybe they should pass the responsibility to others who
are more committed to ensuring the Internet's stability."

Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/10/02/1233235

Links:
0. http://dnsmon.ripe.net/dns-servmon/server/?server=h.root-servers.net&af=ipv4&show=SHOW
1. http://h.root-servers.org/
2. http://root-servers.org/

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| US Copyright Group — Lawsuits, DDoS, and Bomb Threats |
| from the fighting-fire-with-bombs dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday October 02, @10:46 (Piracy) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/10/02/1250228/US-Copyright-Group-mdash-Lawsuits-DDoS-and-|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Andorin writes "The US law firm of Dunlap, Grubb, & Weaver, otherwise
known as the US Copyright Group, [0]filed suit at the end of August
against another 2,177 individuals for allegedly downloading and sharing
the slasher film Cornered! (In total the USCG has now filed suit against
over 16,200 individuals.) In retaliation, Operation Payback, the
Anonymous-led project responsible for [1]DDoSing websites of the RIAA and
MPAA, targeted the US Copyright Group's website with a DDoS, temporarily
bringing it down for a few hours. The group behind the attacks say
they'll continue '[2]until they stop being angry.' Additionally, the
local police department evacuated the office of Dunlap, Grubb, & Weaver
after [3]a bomb threat was emailed to the firm. The building was
searched, but no bomb was found."

Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/10/02/1250228

Links:
0. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/10/bomb-threat-as-us-copyright-group-sues-2000-more-file-swappers.ars
1. http://it.slashdot.org/story/10/09/18/2016207/DDoS-From-4chan-Hits-MPAA-and-Anti-Piracy-Website
2. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/09/operation-payback-attacks-continue-until-we-stop-being-angry.ars
3. http://www.leesburgva.gov/index.aspx?page=29&recordid=872&returnURL=%2Findex.aspx%3Fpage%3D135

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Masterpieces Online — High Culture At High Resolution |
| from the extreme-close-up dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday October 02, @11:59 (The Internet) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/10/02/1415229/Masterpieces-Online-mdash-High-Culture-At-|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

crimeandpunishment writes "You can now [0]see the finest details of some
of the finest Italian masterpieces with just one click of your mouse.
High-resolution images of classic paintings by Leonardo da Vinci,
Caravaggio, and Botticelli are now online with that opportunity. You can
[1]zoom in to the smallest details, even ones you wouldn't see when
viewing the paintings in person at a museum. The images have a resolution
of up to 28 billion pixels, which is about 3,000 times more than a photo
from an average digital camera."

Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/10/02/1415229

Links:
0. http://skunkpost.com/news.sp?newsId=3301
1. http://www.haltadefinizione.com/

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Iran Arrests Alleged Spies Over Stuxnet Worm |
| from the feeding-the-propaganda-machine dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday October 02, @13:13 (Security) |
| https://it.slashdot.org/story/10/10/02/1630223/Iran-Arrests-Alleged-Spies-Over-Stuxnet-Worm|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

kaptink writes "Reports surfacing from Iran claim 'nuclear spies' have
been [0]arrested over the infection at the Busheher nuclear station,
which opened in August. According to Intelligence Minister Heydar
Moslehi, because Stuxnet is so sophisticated, cost so much to write and
uses two stolen security certificates, he believes only a national
intelligence agency or a huge private company could have devised it,
calling them 'enemies' spy services."

Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/10/02/1630223

Links:
0. http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Iran-Arrests-Nuclear-Spies-Amid-Speculation-Stuxnet-Virus-Has-Attached-Busheher-Power-Plant/Article/201010115750083

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Genetically Altering Trees To Sequester More Carbon |
| from the increasing-the-world's-suv-capacity dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday October 02, @14:25 (Biotech) |
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/10/10/02/1730224/Genetically-Altering-Trees-To-Sequester|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

An anonymous reader writes "Forests of genetically altered trees and
other plants could [0]sequester several billion tons of carbon from the
atmosphere each year and so [1]help ameliorate global warming, according
to estimates published in the October issue of BioScience. The study, by
researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Oak Ridge
National Laboratory, [2]outlines a variety of strategies (PDF) for
augmenting the processes that plants use to sequester carbon dioxide from
the air and convert it into long-lived forms of carbon, first in
vegetation and ultimately in soil."

Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/10/02/1730224

Links:
0. http://www.medicaldaily.com/news/20101001/2355/genetically-altered-trees-plants-could-help-counter-global-warming.htm
1. http://caliber.ucpress.net/doi/full/10.1525/bio.2010.60.9.1
2. http://www.aibs.org/bioscience-press-releases/resources/Jansson%20et%20al.pdf

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Retro Gaming Technologies Released Before Their Time |
| from the who-remembers-when-game-companies-took-risks dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday October 02, @15:43 (Classic Games (Games)) |
| https://games.slashdot.org/story/10/10/02/1740230/Retro-Gaming-Technologies-Released-Before|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Barence writes "Motion-sensing golf game controllers that appeared 20
years before the Nintendo Wii and [0]the 1980s handheld console that
operated on solar power are just two of the gems unearthed in this
article about retro gaming secrets. Davey Winder has delved into his
extensive personal collection of retro hardware to unveil the first
handheld console to play '3D games' from 1983, the 'the most realistic
"gun" game controller ever produced' from way back in 1972, and the
device that offered multiplayer computerized Scrabble almost 30 years
before the iPad."

Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/10/02/1740230

Links:
0. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/features/361591/the-top-ten-retro-gaming-secrets

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 'The Laws Are Written By Lobbyists,' Says Google's Schmidt |
| from the bought-and-paid-for dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday October 02, @16:59 (Government) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/10/02/2038241/The-Laws-Are-Written-By-Lobbyists-Says-Goog|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

An anonymous reader sends this excerpt from The Atlantic: "'The average
American [0]doesn't realize how much of the laws are written by lobbyists'
to protect incumbent interests, Google CEO Eric Schmidt told Atlantic
editor James Bennet at the Washington Ideas Forum. 'It's shocking how the
system actually works.' In a wide-ranging interview that spanned human
nature, the future of machines, and how Google could have helped the
stimulus, Schmidt said technology could 'completely change the way
government works.' 'Washington is an incumbent protection machine,'
Schmidt said. 'Technology is fundamentally disruptive.' Mobile phones and
personal technology, for example, could be used to record the bills that
members of Congress actually read and then determine what stimulus funds
were successfully spent." We discussed a specific example of this from
the [1]cable industry back in August.

Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/10/02/2038241

Links:
0. http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2010/10/googles-ceo-the-laws-are-written-by-lobbyists/63908
1. http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/08/27/1724249/State-Senator-Admits-Cable-Industry-Helped-Write-Pro-Industry-Legislation

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Creative Commons Video Challenges Hollywood's Best |
| from the no-giant-rabbits-in-this-one dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday October 02, @18:15 (Movies) |
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/10/10/02/215257/Creative-Commons-Video-Challenges-Hollywood|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Supercharged_Z06 writes "A short film entitled [0]Sintel was [1]released
by the Blender Foundation under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
license ([2]YouTube link). It was created by an international team of
artists working collaboratively using a free, open source piece of 3D
rendering software called Blender. No Hollywood studio was involved in
its making. Pretty remarkable what can be generated these days with open
source software and some dedicated, creative talent. If a short film of
this quality can be produced without Hollywood right now, imagine what
will appear a few more years down the road."

Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/10/02/215257

Links:
0. http://www.sintel.org/news/sintel-online-premiere/
1. http://newteevee.com/2010/10/01/blender-foundation-releases-open-source-movie-sintel/
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRsGyueVLvQ

+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Minnesota Moving To Microsoft's Cloud |
| from the take-the-twins-with-you dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday October 02, @19:36 (Microsoft) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/10/02/2129244/Minnesota-Moving-To-Microsofts-Cloud |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

An anonymous reader writes "The State of Minnesota is apparently the
first state to [0]move into the cloud, agreeing on a deal to have their
messaging and collaboration services [1]delivered through Microsoft's
Business Online Productivity Suite. The thing the article doesn't tell
you in detail is that the agreement precludes the use of open source
software, which could have saved the taxpayers millions of dollars. And
once such a large organization goes Microsoft, it's difficult to go back.
Isn't it interesting that these developments occur right before
elections, as senior officials are trying to keep their jobs with a new
incoming administration? What do you think, Slashdotters? Is this a good
move for Minnesota? Or a conservative move that bucks the trend of saving
money and encouraging open government and transparency by aligning
philosophy and practice with at least the option of utilizing open source
software?"

Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/10/02/2129244

Links:
0. http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/state-of-minnesota-signs-historic-cloud-computing-agreement-with-microsoft-103865608.html
1. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9188400/Minnesota_moves_e_mail_to_Microsoft_s_cloud

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