http://slashdot.org/firehose.pl News for nerds, stuff that matters en-us Copyright 1997-2009, Geeknet, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 2009-12-15T13:03:12+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/submission/1134386/Would-You-Buy-A-Nintendo-Cell-Phone?from=rss It's been rumoured and denied for years but what if Nintendo made a cell phone, would you buy it? A recent article on recombu.com, discusses how Nintendo should make a phone and could make one with the help of Nokia. It's pointed out though that Nintendo is quoted as saying that “telephony is not in our wheelhouse,” but it is in Nokia's “wheelhouse”. While some may think it's a great idea, what do you think? Are gaming cell phones the future or do you prefer you handheld gaming devices to come in standalone flavors? andylim 2009-12-15T13:01:09+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1134380/GNOME-not-splitting-from-the-GNU-as-reported?from=rss This mail[0] in the GNOME mailing list confused a lot of people. In reply to the news of GNOME splitting from the GNU, Johannes Schmid wrote, "there simply never was a plan about splitting up from GNU other than Philip has raised his as last consequence in a (quite useless, personal, etc.) discussion with RMS."The rumor started from a OSNews story [1] that reported, "it started with complaints received about the content on Planet GNOME, and ended with people proposing and organising a vote to split GNOME from the GNU Project." The real origin point of this is a thread [2] in the GNOME mailing list titled "Code of Conduct and Foundation membership." This long discussion was participated by Richard Stallman. He wrote [3], ".. they (developers of non-free software certainly shouldn't promote them (non-free softwares) on Planet GNOME." In another thread, he wrote [4], "GNOME should not provide proprietary software developers with a platform topresent non-free software as a good or legitimate thing.... It should not invite people to talk about their proprietary software projects just because they are also GNOME contributors" and [5] "GNOME is part of the GNU Project, and it ought to support the free software movement. The most minimal support for the free software movement is to refrain from going directly against it; that is, to avoid presenting proprietary software as legitimate." In reply to RMS, Philip Van Hoof wrote [6], "I propose to have a vote on GNOME's membership to the GNU project." Things were getting more complex, as is evident from this post [7] by Lefty "If muzzling people is a condition of being "part of the GNU project", then maybe we should rethink _that_ aspect of things. Maybe the FSF should start its own planet and set its own rules there rather than attempting to impose its various litmus tests on the contributors to Planet GNOME."http://mail.gnome.org/archives/foundation-list/2009-December/msg00151.htmlhttp://www.osnews.com/story/22610/GNOME_To_Split_from_GNU_Project_http://www.mail-archive.com/foundation-list@gnome.org/msg03962.htmlhttp://www.mail-archive.com/foundation-list@gnome.org/msg04036.htmlhttp://mail.gnome.org/archives/foundation-list/2009-December/msg00037.htmlhttp://www.mail-archive.com/foundation-list@gnome.org/msg04063.htmlhttp://www.mail-archive.com/foundation-list@gnome.org/msg04068.htmlhttp://www.mail-archive.com/foundation-list@gnome.org/msg04066.html bibekpaudel 2009-12-15T12:56:26+00:00 //slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=7811580&from=rss Study shows morale collapse A quarter of staff at troubled telco France Telecom are on the verge of a nervous breakdown or worse according to a workforce study unveiled this week. Web threats: Why conventional protection doesn't work registerfeed 2009-12-15T12:52:49+00:00 //slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=7811578&from=rss Customers asked to activate using phone, people Microsoft's volume licensing websites have been offline for over a week while the software giant has been tweaking its service. registerfeed 2009-12-15T12:52:38+00:00 //slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=7811572&from=rss If you’re an audio or video professional, IT consultant, or have prosumer level storage and security needs, QNAP’s TS-239 Pro Turbo NAS might be on your wish list this holiday season. macworldfeed 2009-12-15T12:52:19+00:00 //slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=7811570&from=rss Looking for an... alternative after being given a 1080p-streaming brick by Western Digital earlier this month? A.C. Ryan has a new option, the Playon!HD Mini. It's a smaller version of the bigger Playon!HD that seems to lose only its internal drive bay, card reader, and €50, meaning this one retails for €99 -- about $144. Yes, a good bit more than the WD TV, but it hits all the right marks, including 1080p output over HDMI or component, support for streaming media or USB mass storage, and even the ability to tune into Shoutcast and other undisclosed "internet feeds." The company also promises "very active new firmware releases" which, without a little restraint, could be a recipe to repeat WD's disaster. Gallery: A.C. Ryan Playon!HD Mini [Thanks, Gavie] A.C. Ryan's Playon!HD Mini player is tiny, still pushes 1080p worth of pixels originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Dec 2009 07:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Playon!HD Mini preview |Email this|Comments engfeed 2009-12-15T12:52:06+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1134378/Wiimote-finding-new-use-as-sensors-for-scientists?from=rss Scientists are repurposing Wiimotes (the controllers for the Nintendo Wii console) as scientific sensors to help measure wind speed or evaporation from lakes, among other things. At about $40 per unit, the controller is much cheaper than specialized sensors. The scientists are still considering how to add storage and extend the battery life. garg0yle 2009-12-15T12:49:12+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1134374/Massive-social-media-campaign-for-RATM-kicks-off?from=rss I thought some readers would be interested to see the extent to which social media users have mobilised in a campaign to get Rage Against The Machine's Killing In The Name to the top of the UK charts this Christmas. The Facebook group has amassed over 3/4 of a million fans, desperate to prevent the X-Factor from obtaining another Christmas No.1. Those loyal to the cause have launched a highly disciplined assault on the X-Factor marketing machine, managing to get high profile coverage in major UK media including the BBC, and Radio 1 (with an amusing remix from Zane Lowe).How much longer can commercial music last if their marketing is dwarfed by a Facebook campaign? Or will the empire strike back? Anonymous Coward 2009-12-15T12:48:27+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1134372/Microsoft-China-accused-of-pilfering-webcode?from=rss A popular Asian microblogging site has accused Microsoft of ripping off its code and interface design to build a new MSN social-networking site in China. Microsoft tells The Reg it's investigating the matter. According to reports, the software giant is suspending access to the MSN site, but it appears it is still online. "Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but blatant theft of code, design, and UI elements is just not cool, especially when the infringing party is the biggest software company in the world. Yes, we’re talking about Microsoft," reads a blog post from Canada-based startup Plurk, which claims a membership in the "mid seven figures" concentrated primarily in Taiwan, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, and Singapore. According to a company spokesman, it also has members in the UK, US, Australia, and Canada. superapecommando 2009-12-15T12:44:43+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1134360/Adobe-warns-of-Reader-Acrobat-attack-in-the-wild?from=rss Adobe is investigating new reports that hackers are attacking a previously unknown bug in the latest version of the company's Reader and Acrobat software. "This afternoon, Adobe received reports of a vulnerability in Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.2 and earlier versions being exploited in the wild," Adobe wrote in a post to its Product Security Incident Response Team blog http://blogs.adobe.com/psirt/2009/12/new_adobe_reader_and_acrobat_v.html Monday afternoon. "We are currently investigating this issue and assessing the risk to our customers." Adobe heard of the vulnerability from "partners in the security community," she said, adding that she had seen no public reports of the issue apart from Adobe's own blog posting. alphadogg 2009-12-15T12:34:01+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1134356/Open-source-company-bids-to-take-MySQL-from-Oracle?from=rss French ERP (enterprise resource planning) vendor Nexedi made a public bid to take over stewardship of the open-source MySQL database from Sun Microsystems, offering a symbolic €1 in return. Oracle announced plans to buy Sun in April. The deal has been held up for months while European regulators conduct an antitrust review, which has reached a climax in recent days. A main concern of the EU has been the fate of MySQL if owned by Oracle, which holds a major chunk of the database market with its own proprietary platform. superapecommando 2009-12-15T12:30:42+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1134352/Google-Unveils-googl-URL-Shortening-Service?from=rss The Sultan of Search is unveiling a new service (currently only available for Google Toolbar and Feedburner) that will tackle a very old problem usually solved by bit.ly or tinyurl--URL shortening. Now, we've heard cries for sanity to prevent potential issues (like what if tr.im had shut down and broken millions of links?) but with one of the goliaths of the industry jumping in the ring it looks like URL shortening is here to stay. And a quick note for people who enjoy privacy, goo.gl explicitly states: 'Please note that Google may choose to publicly display aggregate and non-personally identifiable statistics about particular shortened links, such as the number of end user clicks.' You didn't think Google was going to sit back and let bit.ly harvest juicy data on 2.1 billion links that were clicked in November without trying to corner some of that action to make their ad suggestions more accurate did you? eldavojohn 2009-12-15T12:24:58+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1134350/IBM-slapped-with-unfair-mainframe-competition-suit?from=rss IBM has been disparaging products made by a smaller rival in order to protect its lucrative mainframe business, according to a lawsuit filed on Monday. The suit was filed by Neon Enterprise Software and concerns a software tool called zPrime that the company released in July. Neon says zPrime can reduce operating costs for mainframe users by allowing them to shift more of their computing jobs onto IBM's zAAP and zIIP specialty mainframe processors. Customers don't pay software licensing fees to use those specialty processors, or SPs, instead of IBM's standard central processors, which has caused IBM to lash out at Neon in order to protect its mainframe business, according to the lawsuit. http://www.neon.com/doc/misc/lawsuit.pdf alphadogg 2009-12-15T12:22:43+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1134342/Great-Firewall-of-Australia-is-to-be-permanent?from=rss The government of Australia has decided to implement its Great Firewall. Anonymous Coward 2009-12-15T12:01:04+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1134324/SANYO-exits-red-and-infrared-laser-diode-productio?from=rss http://blog.photonic-products.com/index.php/2009/12/15/sanyo-exits-red-and-infrared-laser-diode-production/ photonicphreda 2009-12-15T11:33:25+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1134306/The-perfect-way-to-slice-a-pizza?from=rss New Scientist reports on the quest of two math boffins for the perfect way to slice a pizza. It's an interesting and in-depth article; "The problem that bothered them was this. Suppose the harried waiter cuts the pizza off-centre, but with all the edge-to-edge cuts crossing at a single point, and with the same angle between adjacent cuts. The off-centre cuts mean the slices will not all be the same size, so if two people take turns to take neighbouring slices, will they get equal shares by the time they have gone right round the pizza — and if not, who will get more?" This is useful, of course, if you're familiar with the concept of "sharing" a pizza. iamapizza 2009-12-15T10:53:32+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1134300/Re-Launches-Website-for-Legal-Informational-Purpos?from=rss Opara Law PC, a legal firm providing services for legal problems, re-launches website with dynamic practical legal solutions. Opara 2009-12-15T10:47:45+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1134294/Lucid-Lynx-gets-100-Paper-Cuts?from=rss Lucid Lynx gets 100 Paper CutsInitially introduced during the development of Ubuntu 9.10 "Karmic Koala", the Ubuntu developers have re-launched the One Hundred Paper Cuts project for the next major release of Ubuntu, code named "Lucid Lynx". The project will again focus on improving the user experience for the 10.04 LTS release by "identifying 100 small points of pain for users, or "paper cuts", and healing them". The project is lead by Canonical's Design and User Experience team. Its goal is to channel the necessary resources behind fixing the relatively small and easy to fix bugs, resources that would normally only be focused on fixing larger issues. richs-lxh 2009-12-15T10:37:27+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1134292/Games-What-to-expect-from-2010?from=rss http://teengoblin.blogspot.com/2009/12/games-what-to-expect-from-2010.html zaheer12a 2009-12-15T10:35:49+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1134288/Sophisticated-site-spoofing-confuses-Copenhagen?from=rss Sophisticated spoofs of multiple websites drew attention today in an effort to influence the climate negotiations in Copenhagen. The Huffington Post reports that the Yes Men are claiming responsibility. The group appeared to use virtual mirrors and misleading URLs to plant a single story claiming that Canada was prepared to make major concessions in the carbon emission negotiations.Sites spoofed include Wall Street Journal Europe, Environment Canada, and the conferences own website.The actual sites can be found here:Wall Street Journal Europe, Environment Canada, and UN COP15. JobyKSU 2009-12-15T10:29:16+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1134284/Insider-Bank-Fraud-Uncovered?from=rss There are many ways bank employees can commit fraud and the method often depends on the employee's position inside the institution and their level of access to accounts and systems. Employees also can work directly with organized external crime rings to enable identity theft and other types of fraud. In an interview with Help Net Security, Wachovia Bank veteran Shirley Inscoe discusses insider bank fraud and illustrates how it happens and what we can do to mitigate it. Anonymous Coward 2009-12-15T10:27:05+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1134278/The-Shocking-Provestra-Study?from=rss There was a assertive woman who came to a about because of a abundance problem. sellikawane 2009-12-15T10:23:12+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1134272/Memory-Foam-Mattress-Topper?from=rss Back2comfort carries full line of top qualities memory foam mattresses topper and memory foam pillows at the lowest prices guaranteed. Memory foam toppers benefit the user by providing a more restful sleep, diminished pain and less tossing and turning. back2comfort 2009-12-15T10:18:19+00:00 //slashdot.org/submission/1134266/Aim-High-Dream-Big--Online-Business-Articles?from=rss http://latestarticlehere.blogspot.com/ nhinz000cdi 2009-12-15T10:14:13+00:00 //slashdot.org/firehose.pl?op=view&id=7809306&from=rss Nokia vs Apple - fight, fight, fight Kit of the Year Our choices will be controversial, but for every Register Hardware reader irritated by Apple's command-and-control approach, dozens of phone users don't care so long as their handset delivers a high-quality smartphone experience. And the iPhone 3GS does deliver exactly that. It's not a phone for everyone - but then neither is Nokia's new N900. We like it, though, and all the other top-end touchscreen phones gathered here. registerfeed 2009-12-15T10:12:50+00:00