The Palm PDK Hot Apps Program offers developers who use the
Plug-In Development Kit to bring their C/C++ apps to Palm for a
share of $1 Million in cash or HP Products. Visit us here for more details:
http://p.sf.net/sfu/palm-sdnews
======================================================================
Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* Google Says Microsoft Is Driving Antitrust Review
* Australia To Fight iPod Use By Pedestrians
* Breathing New Life Into Old DirectDraw Games
* Self-Assembling Photovoltaic Tech From MIT
* Former HP CEO Selected As Oracle Co-President
* Pirate Bay Down; Police Raids Across Europe
* Behind the Scenes and Inside Workings of a CERT
* Separating Hope From Hype In Quantum Computing
* The Gaping Holes In the UAE's Net Firewall
* NYT Password Security Discussion Overlooks Universal Logins
* Researchers Say Happiness Costs $75k
* NSA Director Says the US Must Secure the Internet
* Robot Snake Can Climb Trees
* Sony Releases PS3 Firmware Update To Fight Jailbreaks
* White House Correspondent Tweets His Heart Attack
* Stanford's Authoritative Alternative To Wikipedia
* HP Sues Hurd For Joining Oracle
* Tech Sector Slow To Hire
* Journalist Tricked Captors Into Twitter Access
* They Finally Found Out We Like Our Computers
* Smallest Manned Electric Plane Flies
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Google Says Microsoft Is Driving Antitrust Review |
| from the water-is-wet-film-at-eleven dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Monday September 06, @20:20 (Google) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/09/06/2353226/Google-Says-Microsoft-Is-Driving-Antitrust|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
GovTechGuy writes "On Friday we discussed news that Texas Attorney
General Greg Abbott [0]opened a probe into whether Google ranks its
search listings with an eye toward nicking the competition. Google
suggested [1]the concerns have a major sponsor: Microsoft. In question is
whether the world's biggest search engine could be unfairly
disadvantaging some companies by giving them a low ranking in free search
listings and in paid ads that appear at the top of the page. That could
make it tough for users to find those sites and might violate antitrust
laws. Abbott's office asked for information about three companies who
have publicly complained about Google, according to blog post by Don
Harrison, the company's deputy general counsel. Harrison [2]linked each
of the companies to Microsoft."
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/09/06/2353226
Links:
0. https://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/09/04/0459243/Texas-Opens-Inquiry-Into-Google-Search-Rankings
1. http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/117293-google-suggests-search-neutrality-concerns-originate-with-microsoft-
2. http://googlepublicpolicy.blogspot.com/2010/09/texas-inquires-on-our-approach-to.html
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Australia To Fight iPod Use By Pedestrians |
| from the hard-to-fight-that-logic dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Monday September 06, @23:20 (Australia) |
| https://apple.slashdot.org/story/10/09/07/0124228/Australia-To-Fight-iPod-Use-By-Pedestrian|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Kilrah_il writes "In recent years the number of people killed on roads in
New South Wales, Australia has dropped, but strangely enough, the number
of pedestrians killed has risen. Some [0]think it's because of the use of
iPods and other music players making people not attentive to road dangers
(the so-called 'iPod Zombie Trance'). Based on this (unproven)
assumption, the Pedestrian Council has started [1]a campaign in an effort
to educate the people, but apparently it isn't enough. Now, some are
pushing for the government to enact laws to help eradicate the problem.
'The government is quite happy to legislate that people can lose two
demerit points for having music up too loud in their cars, but is
apparently unconcerned that listening devices now appear to have become
lethal pieces of entertainment,' [Harold Scruby of the Pedestrian Council
of Australia] said. 'They should legislate appropriate penalties for
people acting so carelessly towards their own welfare and that of others.
... Manufacturers should be made to [warn] consumers of the risks they
run.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/09/07/0124228
Links:
0. http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/mp3s/pedestrian-death-rise-blamed-on-ipods-20100905-14w4d.html
1. http://www.walk.com.au/pedestriancouncil/images/elements/contentpics/2010/lambs_to_the_slaughter.jpg
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Breathing New Life Into Old DirectDraw Games |
| from the new-love-to-old-games dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday September 07, @02:22 (Classic Games (Games)) |
| https://games.slashdot.org/story/10/09/07/0344257/Breathing-New-Life-Into-Old-DirectDraw-Ga|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "I bought a bunch of old Wing Commander games
for Windows, but they use DirectDraw, which Microsoft has deprecated.
They don't work too well under Windows 7, so I ended up reimplementing
ddraw.dll using OpenGL to output the games' graphics. I wrote an article
[0]describing the process and all the fun workarounds I had to come up
with, and released all related source code for others to hack on."
Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/09/07/0344257
Links:
0. http://sol.gfxile.net/ddhack/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Self-Assembling Photovoltaic Tech From MIT |
| from the bright-ideas dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday September 07, @05:17 (Biotech) |
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/10/09/07/0424217/Self-Assembling-Photovoltaic-Tech-From-|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
telomerewhythere writes "Michael Strano and his team at MIT have made a
self-assembling and indefinitely repairable [0]photovoltaic cell based on
the principle found in chloroplasts inside plant cells. 'The system
Strano's team produced is made up of seven different compounds, including
the carbon nanotubes, the phospholipids, and the proteins that make up
the reaction centers, which under the right conditions spontaneously
assemble themselves into a light-harvesting structure that produces an
electric current. Strano says he believes this sets a record for the
complexity of a self-assembling system. When a surfactant is added to the
mix, the seven components all come apart and form a soupy solution. Then,
when the researchers removed the surfactant, the compounds spontaneously
assembled once again into a perfectly formed, rejuvenated photocell.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/09/07/0424217
Links:
0. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2010-09/miot-mrc090110.php
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Former HP CEO Selected As Oracle Co-President |
| from the out-with-the-old-in-with-the-old dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday September 07, @08:14 (Businesses) |
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/10/09/07/012240/Former-HP-CEO-Selected-As-Oracle-Co-Preside|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
theodp writes "Late on Monday, Oracle announced that [0]ousted HP CEO
Mark Hurd has joined the company as a co-president and a director. Hurd
[1]resigned from HP a month ago, after an investigation by the board into
a personal relationship with a contractor turned up questionable
expenses. Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, a personal friend of Hurd,
[2]criticized HP's board at the time, saying it was 'the worst personnel
decision since the idiots on the Apple board fired Steve Jobs.' 'Mark did
a brilliant job at HP and I expect he'll do even better at Oracle,'
Ellison said in a statement Monday. 'There is no executive in the IT
world with more relevant experience than Mark.' Stepping down to make
room for Hurd was Charles E. Phillips Jr., who had some [3]personal
relationship issues of his own."
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/09/07/012240
Links:
0. http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/technology/07oracle.html&OQ=_rQ3D4Q26srcQ3Dbusln&OP=2a00e1b4Q2FyPWbyQ5EEQ3CnkEEQ3E0y0Q27Q3BQ27yQ27GyQ27AyQ3EWQ3C2RE(EQ3A5yQ27AEkQ7CQ3C(WS2Q3EQ5D(
1. http://news.slashdot.org/story/10/08/06/213242/HP-CEO-Resigns-During-Sexual-Harassment-Investigation
2. http://slashdot.org/story/10/08/10/136213/Larry-Ellison-Rips-HP-Board-a-New-One
3. http://gawker.com/5453986/billboards-and-web-site-were-a-gift-from-a-scorned-mistress
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Pirate Bay Down; Police Raids Across Europe |
| from the knock-knock-joke dept. |
| posted by timothy on Tuesday September 07, @09:00 (Piracy) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/09/07/1253244/Pirate-Bay-Down-Police-Raids-Across-Europe |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Stoobalou contributes a link to this story at Thinq.co.uk, from which he
excerpts: "Torrent-tracking site The Pirate Bay is currently unavailable
as reports come in of [0]co-ordinated police raids against file sharers
across Europe. Police in up to 14 countries carried out raids against
suspected file-sharing servers this morning. According to file-sharing
news site TorrentFreak, the bulk of police action seems to have taken
place in Sweden. Swedish Internet service provider ISP, which hosts both
The Pirate Bay and whistle-blowing site WikiLeaks, earlier denied rumours
of a police raid, saying that officers had visited them to ask questions
over two suspect IP addresses, and that no computers or other goods had
been seized."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/09/07/1253244
Links:
0. http://www.thinq.co.uk/2010/9/7/pirate-bay-down-police-swoop-across-europe/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Behind the Scenes and Inside Workings of a CERT |
| from the with-retsin dept. |
| posted by timothy on Tuesday September 07, @09:42 (Security) |
| https://it.slashdot.org/story/10/09/07/1232211/Behind-the-Scenes-and-Inside-Workings-of-a-C|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "Ireland's Computer Emergency Response Team
differs from what you can find in most other countries, since it's not
government-backed and relies mainly on the good will of several security
professionals. In this interview, the founder and head of the CERT, Brian
Honan, talks about [0]how the CERT was formed, what equipment they use
and what challenges they face in their daily work without having a
government to back them up."
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/09/07/1232211
Links:
0. http://www.net-security.org/article.php?id=1485
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Separating Hope From Hype In Quantum Computing |
| from the semi-un-non-deterministic dept. |
| posted by timothy on Tuesday September 07, @10:29 (Software) |
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/10/09/07/1344210/Separating-Hope-From-Hype-In-Quantum-C|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
pgptag writes "[0]This talk by Dr. Suzanne Gilbert (video) explains why
quantum computers are useful, and also dispels some of the myths about
what they can and cannot do. It addresses some of the practical ways in
which we can build quantum computers and gives realistic timescales for
how far away commercially useful systems might be."
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/09/07/1344210
Links:
0. http://nextbigfuture.com/2010/09/quantum-computing-separating-hope-from.html
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| The Gaping Holes In the UAE's Net Firewall |
| from the dirty-dirty-holes dept. |
| posted by timothy on Tuesday September 07, @11:15 (Censorship) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/09/06/133218/The-Gaping-Holes-In-the-UAEs-Net-Firewall |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Barence writes "The United Arab Emirates has its own Chinese-style
firewall to weed out pornography and other 'unsavory' content. But as PC
Pro's correspondent has found out, [0]the firewall has more than a few
holes in it. ISP helplines routinely suggest proxy server software that
circumvents the filters. Access to Flickr is blocked, in case citizens'
eyes should fall upon a naked buttock, but The Pirate Bay, which 'offers
a range of bottoms to suit every need, including midget and donkey
bottoms for anybody having a really slow afternoon ��� remains blissfully
undisturbed.' 'Ultimately, I'm quite glad the UAE's authorities block
websites, and thrilled that they're so inept at it,' concludes PC Pro's
writer. 'Just like everybody in Dubai, all they've done is made me a
master of internet chicanery.'" Guess that depends how closely they're
watching the evaders.
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/09/06/133218
Links:
0. http://www.pcpro.co.uk/blogs/2010/09/06/dubais-dubious-internet-censorship/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| NYT Password Security Discussion Overlooks Universal Logins |
| from the your-voice-is-your-password dept. |
| posted by timothy on Tuesday September 07, @12:02 (Privacy) |
| https://it.slashdot.org/story/10/09/07/1528225/NYT-Password-Security-Discussion-Overlooks-U|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
A recent NYT piece explores the [0]never-ending quest for password-based
security, to which reader [1]climenole responds with a snippet from
ReadWriteWeb that argues it's time to think more seriously about life
beyond passwords, at least beyond keeping a long list of individual
login/password pairs: "These protective measures don't go very far,
according to the New York Times, because hackers can get ahold of
passwords with software that remotely tracks keystrokes, or by tricking
users into typing them in. The story touches on a range of issues around
the problem, but neglects to mention the obvious: the march toward a
[2]centralized login for multiple sites."
Discuss this story at:
http://it.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/09/07/1528225
Links:
0. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/05/business/05digi.html?_r=1
1. http://moc.liamgtaelonemilc/
2. http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/password_security_and_universal_logins.php
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Researchers Say Happiness Costs $75k |
| from the money-fixes-everything dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Tuesday September 07, @12:45 (The Almighty Buck) |
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/10/09/07/1519221/Researchers-Say-Happiness-Costs-75k |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
SpuriousLogic writes "Does happiness rise with income? In one of the more
scientific attempts to answer that question, researchers from Princeton
have put a price on happiness. [0]It's about $75,000 in income a year.
They found that not having enough money definitely causes emotional pain
and unhappiness. But, after reaching an income of about $75,000 per year,
money can't buy happiness. More money can, however, help people view
their lives as successful or better. The study found that people's
evaluations of their lives improved steadily with annual income. But the
quality of their everyday experiences ��� their feelings ��� did not improve
above an income of $75,000 a year. As income decreased from $75,000,
people reported decreasing happiness and increasing sadness, as well as
stress. The study found that being divorced, being sick and other painful
experiences have worse effects on a poor person than on a wealthier one."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/09/07/1519221
Links:
0. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-heb-money-20100906,0,989980.story
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| NSA Director Says the US Must Secure the Internet |
| from the self-proclaimed-internet-police dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday September 07, @13:27 (Government) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/09/07/1627233/NSA-Director-Says-the-US-Must-Secure-the-In|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Trailrunner7 writes "The United States has [0]a responsibility to take a
leadership role in securing the Internet against both internal and
external attackers, a duty that the federal government takes very
seriously, the country's top military cybersecurity official said
Tuesday. However, [1]Gen. Keith Alexander, director of the National
Security Agency and commander of the US Cyber Command, provided virtually
nothing in the way of details of how the government intends to accomplish
this rather daunting task. 'We made the Internet and it seems to me that
we ought to be the first folks to get out there and protect it,'
Alexander said. 'The challenge before us is large and daunting. But we
have an obligation to meet it head-on.' It's unlikely that any of
Alexander's comments Tuesday will do much to quiet the criticisms of the
Obama administration's security efforts thus far. Speaking mostly in
generalities, Alexander emphasized the administration's commitment to the
Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative, a plan developed by the
Bush administration and recently partially de-classified by Obama
administration officials."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/09/07/1627233
Links:
0. http://threatpost.com/en_us/blogs/nsa-director-says-us-has-duty-secure-internet-090710
1. http://www.nsa.gov/about/leadership/bio_alexander.shtml
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Robot Snake Can Climb Trees |
| from the as-long-as-they-aren't-on-planes dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday September 07, @14:10 (Robotics) |
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/10/09/07/1712248/Robot-Snake-Can-Climb-Trees |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
kkleiner writes "The latest in a line of 'modsnakes' from Carnegie
Mellon's Biorobotics Lab, Uncle Sam can move in a variety of different
ways, including rolling, wiggling, and side-winding. It can also [0]wrap
itself around a pole and climb vertically, and even scale a tree. You
have to watch this thing in action. There is something incredibly
life-like and eerie about the way it scales the tree outdoors and then
looks around with its camera 'eye.' Projects like Uncle Sam show how
life-mimicking machines could revolutionize robotics in the near future."
Discuss this story at:
http://hardware.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/09/07/1712248
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Sony Releases PS3 Firmware Update To Fight Jailbreaks |
| from the i-think-they-just-escalated dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday September 07, @14:51 (Sony) |
| https://games.slashdot.org/story/10/09/07/1821231/Sony-Releases-PS3-Firmware-Update-To-Figh|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]RyuuzakiTetsuya writes "Destructoid is reporting that the 3.42
firmware has been released for the PlayStation 3, and [1]it has fixed the
USB vulnerability that allows the PSJailbreak exploit to work." Sony's
[2]brief announcement of the update refers only to "additional security
features," though the EU blog post acknowledges that [3]a vulnerability
was addressed. PS3-Hacks.com confirms that the patch is [4]effective
against the various jailbreak tools, and they point out a different tool
for bypassing the update. Sony told the BBC, "... as we always have, we
will continue to take necessary actions to both hardware and software to
[5]protect the intellectual content provided on the PlayStation 3."
Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/09/07/1821231
Links:
0. mailto:taikiNO@SPAMcox.net
1. http://www.destructoid.com/sony-is-updating-your-ps3-firmware-to-v3-42-183259.phtml
2. http://blog.us.playstation.com/2010/09/06/playstation-3-system-software-update-v3-42-now-available/
3. http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2010/09/07/ps3-system-software-update-ver-3-42/
4. http://www.ps3-hacks.com/2010/09/06/ps3-firmware-3-42-released/
5. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11213618
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| White House Correspondent Tweets His Heart Attack |
| from the dedication-to-the-job dept. |
| posted by samzenpus on Tuesday September 07, @15:11 (Medicine) |
| https://idle.slashdot.org/story/10/09/07/1532251/White-House-Correspondent-Tweets-His-Heart|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Tommy Christopher, who writes for mediate.com, has reporting in his
blood, so much so that he [0]livetweeted every part of his recent heart
attack. "I gotta be me. Livetweeting my heart attack. Beat that!" and
"This is not like the movies. Most deadpan heart attack evar. Still hurts
even after the morphine," were among his updates as he was rushed to the
hospital. Christopher is now in stable condition after recovering from
emergency surgery.
Discuss this story at:
http://idle.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/09/07/1532251
Links:
0. http://www.mediaite.com/online/mediaites-tommy-christopher-live-tweets-major-heart-attack/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Stanford's Authoritative Alternative To Wikipedia |
| from the citation-provided dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday September 07, @15:35 (Education) |
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/10/09/07/1921205/Stanfords-Authoritative-Alternative-To-Wik|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
eldavojohn writes "For decades, Stanford has been working on a different
kind of Wikipedia. It might even be considered closer to a peer-reviewed
journal, since [0]you have get submissions past a 120 person group of
leading philosophers around the world, not to mention Stanford's
administration. It has several layers of approval, but the authoritative
model produces high quality content ��� even if it only amounts to 1,200
articles. Content you can read straight through to find everything
pertinent ��� not hop around following link after link like the regular
Wikipedia. You might question the need for this, but one of the
originators says, 'Our model is authoritative. [Wikipedia's] model is one
an academic isn't going to be attracted to. If you are a young academic,
who might spend six months preparing a great article on Thomas Aquinas,
you're not going to publish in a place where anyone can come along and
change this.' The site has articles covering topics from [1]Quantum
Computing to technical luminaries like [2]Kurt Friedrich G��del and
[3]Alan Turing. The principal editor said, 'It's the natural thing to do.
I'm surprised no one is doing it for the other disciplines.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/09/07/1921205
Links:
0. http://news.stanford.edu/news/2010/september/encyclopedia-philosophy-090710.html
1. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/qt-quantcomp/
2. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/goedel/
3. http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/turing/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| HP Sues Hurd For Joining Oracle |
| from the following-the-hurd dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday September 07, @16:18 (HP) |
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/10/09/07/206228/HP-Sues-Hurd-For-Joining-Oracle |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
CWmike writes "Hewlett-Packard is reported to be [0]suing former CEO Mark
Hurd, who was named [1]co-president of rival Oracle on Monday. The Wall
Street Journal first reported the news, and has now [2]posted the full
text of the suit on Google Docs. Among other things, it says, 'In his new
positions, Hurd will be in a situation in which he cannot perform his
duties for Oracle without necessarily using and disclosing HP's trade
secrets and confidential information to others.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/09/07/206228
Links:
0. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9183859/HP_reportedly_sues_former_CEO_Mark_Hurd
1. http://news.slashdot.org/story/10/09/07/012240/Former-HP-CEO-Selected-As-Oracle-Co-President
2. https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/hphurdsuit09072010.pdf
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Tech Sector Slow To Hire |
| from the because-hp-might-sue-you dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday September 07, @17:01 (Businesses) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/09/07/2042201/Tech-Sector-Slow-To-Hire |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Iftekhar25 writes "The NY Times is running an article about [0]soaring
unemployment rates for IT in the US (6 percent) despite a tech sector
that is thirsting for engineering talent. Quoting: 'The chief hurdles to
more robust technology hiring appear to be increasing automation and the
addition of highly skilled labor overseas. The result is a mismatch of
skill levels here at home: not enough workers with the cutting-edge
skills coveted by tech firms, and too many people with abilities that can
be duplicated offshore at lower cost. That's a familiar situation to many
out-of-work software engineers, whose skills start depreciating almost as
soon as they are laid off, given the dynamism of the industry.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/09/07/2042201
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Journalist Tricked Captors Into Twitter Access |
| from the 140-characters-of-freedom dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday September 07, @17:45 (Social Networks) |
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/10/09/07/2110218/Journalist-Tricked-Captors-Into-Twitter-Ac|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
itwbennett writes "Kosuke Tsuneoka, a Japanese freelance journalist held
captive in Afghanistan since April 1, was released over the weekend. His
freedom came a day after he sent two Twitter messages from a captor's
phone. 'i am still allive [sic], but in jail,' read a message sent at
1:15 p.m. GMT on Friday. It was followed a few minutes later with a
second message, also in English, that read, 'here is archi in kunduz. in
the jail of commander lativ.' The message referred to the Dasht-e-Archi
district of Kunduz where he was being held. On Tuesday, speaking in
Tokyo, Tsuneoka revealed [0]how he managed to convince his captors to
give him access to the Internet. 'He asked me if I knew how to use it, so
I had a look and explained it to him,' said Tsuneoka. 'I called the
customer care number and activated the phone,' he said."
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/09/07/2110218
Links:
0. http://www.itworld.com/mobile-amp-wireless/119845/freed-journalist-tricked-captors-twitter-access
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| They Finally Found Out We Like Our Computers |
| from the who-let-the-cat-out-of-the-bag dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Tuesday September 07, @18:29 (Science) |
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/10/09/07/2146205/They-Finally-Found-Out-We-Like-Our-Comp|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
I'm Not There (1956) writes "Sociologist Clifford Nass is talking about
how [0]people think of their computers as something like human beings. In
one of his experiments, Nass found that people are more willing to 'help'
computers when the computer helped them previously: 'When people were
then asked to help optimize the screen resolution on a computer where the
program had been "helpful," they were much more likely to do so than with
the less helpful version.' He also found that people evaluating
software's performance were more forgiving if the evaluation was done on
the same computer the software was tested on. Nass has recently published
the book The Man Who Lied to His Laptop, in which he 'uses our
interactions with machines to investigate how human relationships could
be improved.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/09/07/2146205
Links:
0. http://venturebeat.com/2010/09/06/new-book-says-we-relate-to-our-computers-like-humans/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Smallest Manned Electric Plane Flies |
| from the if-it-didn't-fly-would-it-be-a-plane dept. |
| posted by timothy on Tuesday September 07, @19:17 (Transportation) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/09/07/231238/Smallest-Manned-Electric-Plane-Flies |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
garymortimer writes "EADs have [0]successfully flown an electrified
Cri-Cri aircraft. The Cri-cri (short for cricket) is the smallest
twin-engined manned aircraft in the world, designed in the early 1970s by
French aeronautical engineer Michel Colomban, the Cri-cri aircraft is the
world's smallest twin-engine . At only 4.9 m (16.1 ft) wingspan and 3.9 m
(12.8 ft) length, it is a single-seater, making an impression of a dwarf
velomobile with wings at close range. After its manned flight trials the
airframe will be configured for autonomous flight. Obviously once the
pilot is removed payload increases dramatically and the airframe itself
has been approved for manned flight so certifying it for UAV flight
should be simpler."
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/09/07/231238
Links:
0. http://www.suasnews.com/2010/09/1056/electric-cri-cri-takes-flight/
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