Home | Poem | Jokes | Games | Science | Biography | Celibrity Video | বাংলা


[Slashdot] Stories for 2011-10-21

======================================================================
The demand for IT networking professionals continues to grow, and the
demand for specialized networking skills is growing even more rapidly.
Take a complimentary Learning@Cisco Self-Assessment and learn
about Cisco certifications, training, and career opportunities.
http://p.sf.net/sfu/cisco-newsltr
======================================================================

Slashdot Daily Newsletter

In this issue:
* Ron Paul Suggests Axing 5 U.S. Federal Departments (and Budgets)
* US Student Loans Exceed $1 Trillion
* Legal Tender? Maybe Not, Says Louisiana Law
* EU Debates Installing a Black Box On Your Computer
* Android Source Code Gone For Good?
* TSA Doing Random Truck Searches On Tennessee Highway
* Reuters Reports Death of Gaddafi In Libyan City of Sirte
* Ubuntu Turns 7
* OS X Notifier App Growl Goes Closed Source
* ACTA Signed By 8 of 11 Participating Countries
* Google+ To End Real Names Policy
* High Court Rules In Favor of Top Gear Over Tesla Remarks
* French Court Orders ISP To Block Police Misconduct Website
* Librarian Attacks Amazon's Kindle Lending Program
* Paywalled NYT Now Has 300,000 Online Subscribers
* When Political Mapping Leaks Into Science Research
* Ask Slashdot: Computer Test Lab Set-Up For Home?
* Gnarly Programming Challenges Help Recruit Coders
* MC Hammer Launches a Search Engine
* China Says Its Internet Policies Are Open and Clear
* A Vigorous Discussion of Our Future In Space
* British Police Accused of Stealing Software
* OCZ Releases First 1TB Laptop SSD
* SMH Outs Copyright-Violation Hunters As Porn-Pushing Brothers
* Open Source CPUs Coming To a Club Near You?
* Federated Media Lands WordPress.com Deal
* Tokai University Team Wins World Solar Challenge

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Ron Paul Suggests Axing 5 U.S. Federal Departments (and Budgets)
| from the sounds-pretty-good-to-me dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday October 20, @11:46 (Government)
| with 1974 comments
| https://politics.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1541224/ron-paul-suggests-axing-5-us-federal-departments-and-budgets?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

sciencehabit writes with this selection from Science: "Presidential
hopeful Ron Paul's new proposal to slash federal spending would wipe out
large chunks of the government's research portfolio. The congressman from
Texas and Republican candidate has unveiled a budget plan to reduce the
deficit that [0]would eliminate five federal departments: Energy,
Commerce, Interior, Education, and Housing and Urban Development. In one
fell swoop, such a step would erase, among other programs, the Energy
Department's $5-billion Office of Science, the $4.5-billion National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the $750-million National
Institute of Standards and Technology, and the $1.1-billion U.S.
Geological Survey."

Discuss this story at:
https://politics.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1541224/ron-paul-suggests-axing-5-us-federal-departments-and-budgets?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2011/10/ron-paul-would-erase-billions-in.html?ref=hp

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| US Student Loans Exceed $1 Trillion
| from the incentives-and-disincentives dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday October 20, @09:32 (Education)
| with 857 comments
| https://politics.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1243212/us-student-loans-exceed-1-trillion?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

sycodon writes "Politico reports that student loan debt [0]now exceeds
one trillion dollars, an amount that should impress even Dr. Evil.
Politico further reports that this is one of the more concrete issues
driving the OWS protests and provides some enlightening examples of their
particular gripes."

Discuss this story at:
https://politics.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1243212/us-student-loans-exceed-1-trillion?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1011/66347.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Legal Tender? Maybe Not, Says Louisiana Law
| from the this-is-pretty-nuts dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday October 20, @16:26 (Bitcoin)
| with 521 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1956211/legal-tender-maybe-not-says-louisiana-law?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First time accepted submitter [0]fyngyrz writes "[1]Lousiana has passed a
law that says people [2]may no longer use cash for second hand
transactions. The idea is to make all transactions traceable, thus
foiling copper theft, etc. This move has profound implications that range
from constitutional rights to Bitcoin, Craigslist and so forth; I wonder
if there are any Slashdotters at all that support such a move." On the
list of exceptions: people who deal in used goods or "junk" less
frequently than once per month, and (drumroll, please) pawn shops. That
means a pretty big chunk of the population who post in online classified
ads in Louisiana are probably already in violation.

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1956211/legal-tender-maybe-not-says-louisiana-law?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://fyngyrz.com/
1. http://www.mygov365.com/legislation/view/id/4db66f7549e51bd334be0300/tab/overview/
2. http://www.klfy.com/story/15717759/second-hand-dealer-law

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| EU Debates Installing a Black Box On Your Computer
| from the all-the-better-to-track-you-with dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Thursday October 20, @04:16 (EU)
| with 446 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/0311234/eu-debates-installing-a-black-box-on-your-computer?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

bs0d3 writes "EU MEP Tiziano Motti (Italy), wants [0]everything you do
online to be logged and saved, for the sake of the children. Like a black
box installed on every computer. He proposes an early warning system of
criminal activity, specifically whenever an image of sexually abused
children is detected, an alarm, goes to the authorities to be able to see
who uploaded it. Tiziano Motti was a politician who just over a year ago
managed to get a majority of European Members of Parliament to support
the proposal to expand the data storage directive to Google searches. The
purpose was to protect children from pedophiles ��� the same excuse he is
using now. His proposal involves a technology called Logbox. And just as
with an aircraft's black box, Logbox is installed on computers, laptops,
smartphones, and e-readers because yes, all that can be connected to the
internet."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/0311234/eu-debates-installing-a-black-box-on-your-computer?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://activepolitic.com:82/News/2011-10-19d/EU_Parliament_Debates_Installing_A_Black_Box_On_Your_Computer.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Android Source Code Gone For Good?
| from the not-for-your-eyes dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Wednesday October 19, @22:40 (Android)
| with 347 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/012227/android-source-code-gone-for-good?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First time accepted submitter [0]vyrus128 writes "Many people were upset
at the revelation, reported here in May, that [1]the Honeycomb version of
Android would not be open sourced. But Google promised that the next
version, Ice Cream Sandwich, would have full source available. Now that
ICS is out, though, the source is [2]nowhere in sight. In the thread,
Android's Jean-Baptiste Queru offers the following, as to the question of
whether source will ever be made available: 'At the moment I don't have
anything to say on that subject.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/012227/android-source-code-gone-for-good?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. mailto:gwillen@nerdnet.org
1. http://linux.slashdot.org/story/11/05/11/0041250/android-honeycomb-will-not-be-open-sourced
2. http://groups.google.com/group/android-building/browse_thread/thread/ade6fcd847fbb3fb?pli=1

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| TSA Doing Random Truck Searches On Tennessee Highway
| from the papers-please dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Thursday October 20, @18:49 (Security)
| with 320 comments
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/2212225/tsa-doing-random-truck-searches-on-tennessee-highway?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

OverTheGeicoE writes "TSA is expanding its presence to the American road
system. As part of its Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response (VIPR)
program, [0]TSA agents are now working at 5 weigh stations and two bus
stations in Tennessee. They are randomly checking trucks with 'drug and
bomb sniffing dogs', and encouraging truck drivers to join their First
Observer Highway Security Program an report anything suspicious that they
see to authorities. VIPR is allegedly not a response to any particular
threat."

Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/2212225/tsa-doing-random-truck-searches-on-tennessee-highway?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.newschannel5.com/story/15725035/officials-claim-tennessee-becomes-first-state-to-deploy-vipr-statewide

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Reuters Reports Death of Gaddafi In Libyan City of Sirte
| from the now-you-can-spell-his-name-however-you-want dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday October 20, @10:16 (News)
| with 289 comments
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1334214/reuters-reports-death-of-gaddafi-in-libyan-city-of-sirte?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

syngularyx writes with a snippet from Reuters' report that "Former Libyan
leader [0]Muammar Gaddafi died of wounds suffered on Thursday as fighters
battling to complete an eight-month-old uprising against his rule overran
his hometown Sirte, Libya's interim rulers said. His killing, which came
swiftly after his capture near Sirte, is the most dramatic single
development in the Arab Spring revolts that have unseated rulers in Egypt
and Tunisia and threatened the grip on power of the leaders of Syria and
Yemen." An anonymous reader links to the news [1]as reported by Al
Jazeera (citing confirmation from the military spokesman of the National
Transition Council). Time reports that [2]many Libyans were celebrating
even preliminary reports of Gaddafi's death.

Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1334214/reuters-reports-death-of-gaddafi-in-libyan-city-of-sirte?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/20/us-libya-idUSTRE79F1FK20111020
1. http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2011/10/20111020111520869621.html
2. http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2097367,00.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Ubuntu Turns 7
| from the lots-of-work-and-much-success dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday October 20, @09:53 (Ubuntu)
| with 220 comments
| https://linux.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1320231/ubuntu-turns-7?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

sfcrazy writes "Ubuntu, the world's most popular GNU/Linux based
operating system is [0]celebrating its 7th year today. Ubuntu was first
released on 20 October 2004. In these 7 years Ubuntu has changed the
GNU/Linux desktop segment by making it more useful for ordinary user."
Besides the work that Ubuntu has done to popularize and polish the Linux
desktop, and to present a humane entry point for non-guru users, it's
provided a base for many other distributions (like Mint and Puppy) and
helped make people realize just how powerful is the Debian infrastructure
that Ubuntu itself launched from.

Discuss this story at:
https://linux.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1320231/ubuntu-turns-7?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.muktware.com/news/2747

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| OS X Notifier App Growl Goes Closed Source
| from the what-order-will-emerge? dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday October 20, @14:18 (Software)
| with 219 comments
| https://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1757226/os-x-notifier-app-growl-goes-closed-source?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

First time accepted submitter para_droid writes "Version 1.3 of the
popular open source notification system for Mac OS X, [0]Growl has
surprised its users by going closed-source and only available for
purchase on the Mac App Store. Any users who provide links to [1]bugfixes
and source for the previous version 1.2 are being banned from the
discussion group, and their [2]messages deleted. Could it be time for the
community to create an OpenGrowl fork?" The linked post above about
bugfixes and source ends "Hopefully the Growl 1.3 branch from the
official Growl maintainers will eventually become open source again and
get straightened out so that it works for most users, but if it doesn't,
a fork of the project will be able to provide a working Growl to Mac
users."

Discuss this story at:
https://apple.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1757226/os-x-notifier-app-growl-goes-closed-source?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://growl.info/
1. https://bitbucket.org/pmetzger/growl/
2. http://www.mail-archive.com/growldiscuss@googlegroups.com/msg09614.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| ACTA Signed By 8 of 11 Participating Countries
| from the authority-to-engage-in-trainwrecks dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday October 20, @08:52 (Piracy)
| with 203 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1228255/acta-signed-by-8-of-11-participating-countries?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An anonymous reader writes with this news on the ACTA treaty, [0]straight
from the EFF's release on the news: "On Saturday October 1st, eight
countries (the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New
Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea) signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade
Agreement (ACTA) in Tokyo, Japan. Three of the participating countries
(the European Union, Mexico, and Switzerland) have not yet signed the
treaty, but have issued a joint statement affirming their intentions to
sign it 'as soon as practicable.' ACTA will remain open for signature
until May 2013. While the treaty's title might suggest that it deals only
with counterfeit physical goods such as medicines, it is in fact far
broader in scope. ACTA contains new potential obligations for Internet
intermediaries, requiring them to police the Internet and their users,
which in turn pose significant concerns for citizens' privacy, freedom of
expression, and fair use rights." Update: 10/20 13:24 GMT by [1]T : As
several readers have pointed out, the quoted news from the EFF describes
the EU as a country; I'm sure they know it's not.

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1228255/acta-signed-by-8-of-11-participating-countries?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/10/acta-signed-8-members-are-we-doomed-yet
1. http://www.monkey.org/~timothy/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Google+ To End Real Names Policy
| from the just-keep-an-eye-on-the-birdie dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday October 20, @15:21 (Google)
| with 189 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1845252/google-to-end-real-names-policy?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

bs0d3 writes "After months of Google+ being [0]unsuccessful at taking the
edge over Facebook, Google announces a new plan. Google executive Vic
Gundotra [1]announced yesterday that they will be 'adding features that
will "support other forms of identity,"' a [2]major victory for security
[3]and privacy advocates. If Google+ gets rid of their 'real names'
policy, they will finally be the social networking site that people will
flock to when running away from Facebook." [4]JWZ is a skeptic; he
describes as "[5]premature victory" (and much harsher things, too) any
rejoicing in the announced policy change, writing in part "My guess? I'll
bet they still require you to register with your 'real' name, but then
they'll graciously allow you to have a linked nickname or two, meaning
they're still fully prepared to roll over on you to authoritarian
governments or advertisers at the drop of a hat."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1845252/google-to-end-real-names-policy?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/10/10/1624207/google-loses-60-of-active-users
1. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/10/victory-google-surrenders-nymwars
2. http://activepolitic.com:82/blog/2011-07-27/Security_Experts_Slam_Google_Real_Name_Policy.html
3. http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111019/17181916420/google-realizing-that-its-real-names-policy-is-excessive.shtml
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamie_Zawinski
5. http://www.jwz.org/blog/2011/10/eff-declares-premature-victory-in-nymwars/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| High Court Rules In Favor of Top Gear Over Tesla Remarks
| from the we-all-win-when-top-gear-wins dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday October 20, @18:03 (The Courts)
| with 170 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/2155243/high-court-rules-in-favor-of-top-gear-over-tesla-remarks?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

esocid writes "In 2008, BBC's 'Top Gear' aired an episode featuring the
Tesla Roadster. One of the show's car reviewers, Jeremy Clarkson, gave a
less-than-flattering analysis of the vehicle, sparking a legal case with
the automaker that doesn't seem to be working out in Tesla's favor. Now,
it [0]looks as though Tesla is losing this battle after a full-day
hearing yesterday at the high court in London. 'In my judgment, the words
complained of are wholly incapable of conveying any meaning at all to the
effect that the claimant [Tesla] misled anyone,' said [Mr. Justice]
Tugendhat. 'This is because there is a contrast between the style of
driving and the nature of the track as compared with the conditions on a
public road [...] are so great that no reasonable person could understand
that the performance on the [Top Gear] track is capable of a direct
comparison with a public road.' The [1]hearing now continues on Tesla's
claim that 'Top Gear' made five other false accusations about the
Roadster. Tugendhat has postponed judgment on Tesla's malicious falsehood
claim, and is expected to deliver a verdict in the coming weeks."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/2155243/high-court-rules-in-favor-of-top-gear-over-tesla-remarks?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.egmcartech.com/2011/10/19/tesla-loses-major-claim-against-top-gear/
1. http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=23066

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| French Court Orders ISP To Block Police Misconduct Website
| from the don't-look-at-that dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Thursday October 20, @01:20 (Censorship)
| with 169 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/0259217/french-court-orders-isp-to-block-police-misconduct-website?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Freddybear writes "A French court has ordered ISPs to [0]block access to
Copwatch Nord Paris I-D-F, a website designed to allow civilians to post
videos of alleged police misconduct. French police unions applauded the
decision. Jean-Claude Delage, secretary general of the APN, said that
'[t]he judges have analyzed the situation perfectly���this site being a
threat to the integrity of the police ��� and made the right decision.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/0259217/french-court-orders-isp-to-block-police-misconduct-website?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://jurist.org/paperchase/2011/10/france-court-orders-block-on-copwatch-website.php

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Librarian Attacks Amazon's Kindle Lending Program
| from the ungrateful-whelps dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday October 20, @13:56 (Books)
| with 156 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1624223/librarian-attacks-amazons-kindle-lending-program?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

destinyland writes "A California librarian is [0]urging librarians to
complain to Amazon over issues with privacy and advertising in Amazon's
new Kindle ebook lending program for libraries. 'In our greedy attempt to
get content into our users' hands, we have failed to uphold the highest
principle of our profession, which is intellectual freedom,' she argues
in a 10-minute video. ([1]Read the transcript here). Amazon keeps your
history of reading library ebooks on their corporate servers, 'so it's an
instant violation of all of our privacy policies. And we haven't told
people that, and we need to tell people that.' And while many libraries
have strict policies against endorsing a particular product, the
check-out process concludes on Amazon.com with a pitch urging library
patrons to purchase more Amazon books ��� and there's even book-buying
plugs in their 'due date' reminders."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1624223/librarian-attacks-amazons-kindle-lending-program?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://librarianinblack.net/librarianinblack/2011/10/wegotscrewed.html
1. http://www.beyond-black-friday.com/libraries-got-screwed-by-amazon-and-overdrive-a-transcript/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Paywalled NYT Now Has 300,000 Online Subscribers
| from the hopefully-you-won't-have-to-log-in dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday October 20, @14:39 (The Media)
| with 154 comments
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1810247/paywalled-nyt-now-has-300000-online-subscribers?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An anonymous reader writes "It looks like the derided-on-slashdot paywall
for the NY Times hasn't brought down the paper so far. The Times now
reports [0]300,000 digital subscribers (to e-reader versions and the web
combined) and digital advertising revenue for the part of the company
that includes the paper has increased 6% this quarter."

Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1810247/paywalled-nyt-now-has-300000-online-subscribers?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/21/business/media/the-new-york-times-company-reports-a-profit.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| When Political Mapping Leaks Into Science Research
| from the dashed-line-means-prison dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday October 20, @13:13 (China)
| with 139 comments
| https://politics.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1557205/when-political-mapping-leaks-into-science-research?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An anonymous reader writes "Political and territorial disputes have been
leaking to scientific venues like Nature, Science and Climatic Change.
Many recent scientific papers submitted to these journals promote the
highly disputed Chinese [0]U-shaped line. One of the authors refused to
change her map after being requested by the journals, stating that that
her published map [1]was requested by the Chinese government. This
practice was condemned by Nature in its latest editorial, which asserts
that political maps that seek to advance disputed territorial claims
[2]have no place in scientific papers."

Discuss this story at:
https://politics.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1557205/when-political-mapping-leaks-into-science-research?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine-dotted_line
1. http://www.nature.com/news/2011/111019/full/478293a.html
2. http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v478/n7369/full/478285a.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Ask Slashdot: Computer Test Lab Set-Up For Home?
| from the why-we-didn't-have-homes-or-feet dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday October 20, @12:30 (Cloud)
| with 124 comments
| https://ask.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1612259/ask-slashdot-computer-test-lab-set-up-for-home?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An anonymous reader writes "For as long as I've been playing around with
computers I've had a home test lab. I found it to be a great learning
tool. However, I haven't invested much money into it lately and because
of aging hardware I can't get what I want out of it anymore. So a revamp
is in order. I've looked into several cloud vendors for a box I can rent
to do some virtualization, but it doesn't seem to be cost effective or
practical. What are your thoughts on it? What set-up do you have at home
for tinkering? Have you looked into hosted solutions for this?"

Discuss this story at:
https://ask.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1612259/ask-slashdot-computer-test-lab-set-up-for-home?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Gnarly Programming Challenges Help Recruit Coders
| from the what-is-your-favorite-algorithm dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday October 20, @17:21 (Facebook)
| with 124 comments
| https://developers.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/2025241/gnarly-programming-challenges-help-recruit-coders?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]Hugh Pickens writes "George Anders writes that companies like Facebook
are finding that old-fashioned hiring channels aren't paying off fast
enough and are [1]publishing gnarly programming challenges and inviting
engineers anywhere to solve them. 'We developed this theory that
occasionally there were these brilliant people out there who hadn't found
their way to Silicon Valley,' says Facebook engineer Yishan Wong who
volunteered to [2]draft puzzles so hard that he couldn't solve them. The
problems aren't the superficial brainteasers that some companies use,
like estimating the number of basketballs sold every year or [3]why are
manhole covers round, but developing sophisticated algorithms ��� like ways
of automatically seating a clique of people in a movie theater, given
that best friends want to be side by side and rivals need to be far
apart. David Eisenstat has [4]compiled an unofficial guide to the
Facebook Engineering Puzzles. Our favorite: 'Liar, Lair,' seems
particularly applicable to slashdot: 'As a newbie on a particular
internet discussion board, you notice a distinct trend among its veteran
members; [5]everyone seems to be either unfailingly honest or
compulsively deceptive,' says the description of the problem. 'You must
write a program to determine, given all the information you've collected
from the discussion board members, which members have the same attitude
toward telling the truth.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://developers.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/2025241/gnarly-programming-challenges-help-recruit-coders?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://poncacityweloveyou.com/
1. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/the-rare-find-reinventing-recruiting-10132011.html
2. http://www.facebook.com/PuzzleMaster
3. http://books.google.com/books?id=_gtIgXEVBfgC&pg=PA90&lpg=PA90&dq=microsoft+recruitment+manhole&source=bl&ots=3qhphCh2la&sig=qdXkPBtZbM6j-iZBDSRW7X6MHmY&hl=en&ei=d2SfTr6VB4Lf0QH_2bn-BA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=7&ved=0CFcQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=microsoft%20recruitment%20manhole&f=false
4. http://www.davideisenstat.com/fbpfaq/
5. http://www.facebook.com/careers/puzzles.php?puzzle_id=20

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| MC Hammer Launches a Search Engine
| from the can't-find-this dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Thursday October 20, @11:25 (The Internet)
| with 115 comments
| https://idle.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/157222/mc-hammer-launches-a-search-engine?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]MC Hammer was among tech entrepreneurs announcing new products at the
Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco. The rapper's product is a new search
engine called WireDoo. Sadly, it is not an index of things you can't
touch, but instead a search engine focusing on relational items.
Searching for the word "car" will bring up topics related to a car, like
insurance, pricing and safety ratings. WireDoo is still being built and
not available to the public yet.

Discuss this story at:
https://idle.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/157222/mc-hammer-launches-a-search-engine?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/19/m-c-hammer-announces-wiredoo-a-search-start-up/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| China Says Its Internet Policies Are Open and Clear
| from the do-as-we-say-not-as-we-do dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Thursday October 20, @19:34 (Censorship)
| with 106 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/2217201/china-says-its-internet-policies-are-open-and-clear?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]itwbennett writes "Responding to a U.S. request to explain China's
policies regarding blocking U.S. websites, China's foreign ministry said
the country's [1]Internet policies have been open and clear. 'The Chinese
government encourages and actively supports the Internet's development
and we also protect the freedom of expression of citizens in China,' said
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu. 'We welcome foreign
companies to invest and develop here, and we will continue to foster an
open policy market.' The request, filed under World Trade Organization
rules, is an effort to understand the trade impact of such blocking after
a number of U.S. businesses have made complaints about access to their
websites in China."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/2217201/china-says-its-internet-policies-are-open-and-clear?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.itworld.com/
1. http://www.itworld.com/internet/215119/chinese-government-defends-its-internet-policies-open-and-clear

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| A Vigorous Discussion of Our Future In Space
| from the how-amazing-was-it dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday October 20, @12:06 (Space)
| with 88 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1518236/a-vigorous-discussion-of-our-future-in-space?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]Nethead writes "At [1]TAM 2011, presented by [2]The James Randi
Foundation (JREF), a panel with Pamela Gay, Lawrence Krauss, Bill Nye,
and Neil deGrasse Tyson, and moderated by [3]Phil Plait, discussed our
future in space in an environment where they could freely express their
opinions. This is an [4]hour-long video (so lay off first-posts until
you've watched it) with humor, depth and frank realism. Where do we spend
our dwindling monetary science funding, manned or robotic exploration?"

Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1518236/a-vigorous-discussion-of-our-future-in-space?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. mailto:joe@nethead.com
1. http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/amazing-meeting.html
2. http://www.randi.org/site/
3. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/author/pplait/
4. http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/swift-blog/1477-tam-2011-panel-our-future-in-space.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| British Police Accused of Stealing Software
| from the was-that-wrong? dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Thursday October 20, @08:09 (Crime)
| with 75 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/0342209/british-police-accused-of-stealing-software?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]judgecorp writes "The West Yorkshire police force is in the British
High court today, [1]accused of stealing intellectual property from a
firm whose software decodes forensic data from mobile phones. Forensic
Telecoms Services claims the force illegally used and sold copyright data
from a commercial mobile phone forensics application it had been using in
high profile cases."

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/0342209/british-police-accused-of-stealing-software?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/
1. http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-police-accused-of-copyright-theft-42849

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| OCZ Releases First 1TB Laptop SSD
| from the want-want-want-want dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday October 20, @18:24 (Data Storage)
| with 73 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/2147243/ocz-releases-first-1tb-laptop-ssd?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lucas123 writes "OCZ today released a new line of 2.5-in solid state
drives that have [0]up to 1TB of capacity. The new Octane SSD line is
based on Indilix's new Everest flash controller, which allows it to
reduce boot-up times by half over previous SSD models. The new SSD line
is also selling for $1.10 to $1.30 per gigabyte of capacity, meaning you
can buy the 128GB for about $166."

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/2147243/ocz-releases-first-1tb-laptop-ssd?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9221040/OCZ_releases_first_1TB_laptop_SSD_with_instant_on_boot_up

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| SMH Outs Copyright-Violation Hunters As Porn-Pushing Brothers
| from the mixed-motives dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday October 20, @11:01 (Media)
| with 72 comments
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1255238/smh-outs-copyright-violation-hunters-as-porn-pushing-brothers?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

An anonymous reader writes "Media Rights Group, the company preparing
mass U.S. style piracy law suits in Australia, has had its directors
outed by the Sydney Morning Herald as [0]Internet pornography kingpins
Matthew and Richard Clapham. They also linked the pair to password
hacking sites and a site previously being investigated by Australian
authorities for its statement [to find drunk women and] 'call your
friends, bring out the camera and then take turns to f### that drunk slut
to a pulp.'"

Discuss this story at:
https://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1255238/smh-outs-copyright-violation-hunters-as-porn-pushing-brothers?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/playing-dirty-in-a-web-of-intrigue-20111018-1lu98.html

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Open Source CPUs Coming To a Club Near You?
| from the more-the-better dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday October 20, @16:05 (Graphics)
| with 36 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/193245/open-source-cpus-coming-to-a-club-near-you?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

lekernel writes "The [0]Milkymist project (also [1]mentioned earlier this
year) have started shipping their so-called 'video synthesizer,' a device
used by concert and other event organizers to create live visual effects.
Most interestingly, the device is based on their fully open source
system-on-chip design, including both a CPU and graphics accelerators ���
the latter being a significant part of what the [2]Open Graphics project
is still struggling with."

Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/193245/open-source-cpus-coming-to-a-club-near-you?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.milkymist.org/
1. http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/05/10/232229/consumer-device-with-open-cpu-out-of-beta-soon
2. http://wiki.opengraphics.org/tiki-index.php?page=OGD1+components+guide

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Federated Media Lands WordPress.com Deal
| from the ad-for-your-thoughts dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Wednesday October 19, @20:25 (Advertising)
| with 33 comments
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/10/19/2258227/federated-media-lands-wordpresscom-deal?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[0]tekgoblin writes "Federated Media has just announced [1]a partnership
with WordPress.com. This deal follows shortly after Federated Media
acquired the advertising network Lijit. The deal will include all of the
blogs that are hosted under the company which comes to around 25 million.
WordPress.com users will now be able to choose to allow sponsored posts,
and Federated Media ads on their blog."

Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/10/19/2258227/federated-media-lands-wordpresscom-deal?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.tekgoblin.com/
1. http://www.tekgoblin.com/2011/10/19/federated-media-lands-wordpress-com-advertising-deal/

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Tokai University Team Wins World Solar Challenge
| from the congratulations-all-around dept.
| posted by timothy on Thursday October 20, @08:30 (Australia)
| with 23 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1217231/tokai-university-team-wins-world-solar-challenge?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mike_EE_U_of_I writes "My wife and I went to Australia for the [0]World
Solar Challenge. My wife put up video of the start, and now an
[1]interview with one of the drivers of the winning team. Congratulations
Tokai University!"

Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/10/20/1217231/tokai-university-team-wins-world-solar-challenge?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting

Links:
0. http://www.worldsolarchallenge.org/
1. http://www.sunisthefuture.net/


Copyright 1997-2011, Geeknet, Inc. All Rights Reserved.


======================================================================

You have received this message because you subscribed to it
on Slashdot. To stop receiving this and other
messages from Slashdot, or to add more messages
or change your preferences, please go to your user page.

http://slashdot.org/prefs/messages

You can log in and change your preferences from there.

Slashdot 11216 Waples Mill Rd., Suite 100, Fairfax, VA 22030

[GV Weekly] Ethiopia: Netizens Take Campaign for Shweya Mullah Online

Global Voices - Weekly Highlights
Find us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Visit our blog
Global Voices authors  call attention to the most important and interesting stories in blogs and online citizen media worldwide.
 

About Global Voices
Get Involved

Subscribe

Contact Us
Donate via Paypal

More Languages
Global Voices Lingua Project

More Projects
Global Voices Advocacy

Oct 13 - Making the Internet work for Human Rights: The Internet Rights and Principles Coalition
October 13-19, 2011
Ethiopia: Netizens Take Campaign for Shweya Mullah Online
A social media campaign for justice is raging amongst Ethiopians online after a CNN journalist, Dan Rivers, revealed the horrifying abuse of Shweyga Mullah who was brutally injured after the wife of Gaddafi's son poured boiled water on her body for allegedly failing to keep a crying child quiet.  read>>  
Japan: We're Losing to Apple, and Here's Why
Blogger Isseki Nagae considers the sorry state of the Japanese personal electronics industry in light of the recent success of Apple in Japan. Through the words of Steve Jobs, Nagae argues that Japanese manufacturers pay too much attention to the views of the average user rather than developing new ideas.  read>>  
Tunisia: Democratic Test for Tunisians on October 23 Election Day
Tunisians will head to polls on October 23 to elect a national constituent assembly which will write a new constitution for the country that was the spark of the so called Arab Spring. Though, the election is much anticipated, about half of Tunisian voters are still undecided, and there are fears of a low turnout rate.  read>>  
Food Around the World on Blog Action Day 2011
Every year since 2007, Blog Action Day has united bloggers from around the world in talking about one global issue. Collectively, the thousands of bloggers participating have an audience of millions. And this year on October 16, 2011 they talked about food.  read>>  
South Korea: Photos from Occupy Wall Street Protest in Seoul
The Occupy Wall Street movement has landed in the South Korean capital, Seoul. Despite heavy rain, lightening and thunder, and a sudden drop in temperature, about 300 people came together for the Occupy Seoul protest on October 15, 2011.  read>>  
More posts on Global Voices this week...
Chile: Calls for Government Action One Year Since Rescue of 'the 33'
Zambia: Netizens Bay for Ex-President's Blood
Hungary: 'How Many Policemen Does It Take to Arrest A Homeless Person?'
Whose Language? The Royal Spanish Academy and Copyright
Bolivia: A Judicial Election Without Campaigning
Russia: Networked Volunteers Save Lives of Missing Children
Israel: Netanyahu Rapped for Exploiting Shalit's Return

Thank you very much for reading Global Voices!

 Sincerely,

Deborah Dilley, Digest Editor
Global Voices Online
This email was sent to omsstraffic.0000@blogger.com by digests@globalvoicesonline.org |  
Stichting Global Voices | Strawinskylaan 3105 | Amsterdam | 1077 ZX | Netherlands

‘Don’t Shoot’: Desperate Gadhafi Begged for Life


Breaking News from Newsmax.com


Gadhafi Begged for Life in Last Minutes

ALERT: 24-Hour Sale: Get Our Emergency Radio — Just $8.97. Protect Your Family.

Rush: Obama Not the Hero in Gadhafi's Death

Fred Fleitz: 'New Libya' Will Need Guiding to Democracy

Napolitano Defends DHS Policy Allowing Illegals to Work

More Links:

Special: 50% Unemployment, 90% Stock Market Drop, 100% Inflation. See the Evidence.

Doctor Reveals: These Four Things Happen, Right Before a Heart Attack



Forward to a Friend

This e-mail is never sent unsolicited. You have received this Newsmax e-mail because you subscribed to it or someone forwarded it to you. To opt out, see the links below.


TO ADVERTISE

For information on advertising, please contact Newsmax Advertising Sales via e-mail.

TO SUBSCRIBE

If this e-mail has been forwarded to you and you would like to sign up, please click here.

Remove your e-mail address from our list or modify your profile. We respect your right to privacy. View our policy.

This e-mail was sent by:
Newsmax.com
4152 West Blue Heron Blvd., Ste. 1114
Riviera Beach, FL 33404 USA

1294247
D4DB-1