======================================================================
Throughout its 18-year history, RSA Conference consistently attracts the
worlds best and brightest in the field, creating opportunities for Conference
attendees to learn about information securitys most important issues through
interactions with peers, luminaries and emerging and established companies.
http://p.sf.net/sfu/rsaconference======================================================================
Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* 7 of the Best Free Linux Calculators
* US Dir. of Citizen Participation Patents the News
* Give Space a Chance, Says Phil Plait
* Japan Will Start 3D TV Programming This Summer
* UK Gov't Says "No Evidence" IE Is Less Secure
* Facebook Rewrites PHP Runtime For Speed
* Chemistry Tasks For the Computer Lab?
* Obama Budget To Triple Nuclear Power Loan Guarantees
* Tesla Motors To Suspend Roadster Production
* Newzbin.com Usenet Indexing Trial Set To Begin Next Week
* Using Infrared Cameras To Find Tastiness of Beef
* Apple's Trend Away From Tinkering
* Making Sense of ACTA
* Toyota Pedal Issue Highlights Move To Electronics
* DIY Texting System For Really Underground Radio
* Mum's the Word On Google Attack At Davos
* FOSS CAD and 3D Modeling Software?
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 7 of the Best Free Linux Calculators |
| from the open-in-tabs dept. |
| posted by timothy on Saturday January 30, @19:36 (Math) |
| https://linux.slashdot.org/story/10/01/30/2355206/7-of-the-Best-Free-Linux-Calculators |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "One of the basic utilities supplied with any
operating system is a desktop calculator. These are often simple
utilities that are perfectly adequate for basic use. They typically
include trigonometric functions, logarithms, factorials, parentheses and
a memory function. However, the calculators featured in this article are
significantly more sophisticated with the ability to process difficult
mathematical functions, to plot graphs in 2D and 3D, and much more.
Occasionally, the calculator tool provided with an operating system did
not engender any confidence. The classic example being the calculator
shipped with Windows 3.1 which could not even reliably subtract two
numbers. Rest assured, the [0]calculators listed below are of precision
quality."
Discuss this story at:
http://linux.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/01/30/2355206
Links:
0. http://www.linuxlinks.com/article/20100129194223103/Calculators.html
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| US Dir. of Citizen Participation Patents the News |
| from the overlay-of-obvious dept. |
| posted by timothy on Saturday January 30, @21:12 (Patents) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/01/31/002259/US-Dir-of-Citizen-Participation-Patents-the-|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
theodp writes "Ex-Googler and now [0]White House Director of Citizen
Participation Katie Stanton is charged with [1]promoting open public
dialogues. Last Thursday, Stanton and Google snagged a patent on
[2]displaying financial news. Google explains that Stanton's invention ���
[3]Interactive Financial Charting and Related News Correlation ��� will
'facilitate and encourage the user's use and understanding of financial
information,' which does jibe nicely with [4]Stanton's appointment to
Obama's New Media Team. Too bad it'll be encumbered by a Google patent
until 2027."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/01/31/002259
Links:
0. http://techpresident.com/blog-entry/new-director-citizen-participation-brings-google-ology-1600-penn
1. http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/kaite-stanton-internet-and-shanghai-town-hall
2. http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4027/4305492261_2b0ba47474_o.jpg
3. http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?patentnumber=7,653,582
4. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/President-Obama-Announces-More-Key-White-House-Staff/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Give Space a Chance, Says Phil Plait |
| from the to-not-bless-is-not-to-negate dept. |
| posted by timothy on Sunday January 31, @00:08 (Government) |
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/10/01/31/0033206/Give-Space-a-Chance-Says-Phil-Plait |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]The Bad Astronomer writes "A lot of pundits, scientists, and people
who should know better are decrying the demise of NASA, saying that the
President's budget cutting the Constellation program and the Ares rockets
will sound the death knell of manned space exploration. This simply is
not true. The budget will call for a new rocket design, and a lot of
money will go toward private space companies, who [1]may be able to
launch people into orbit years ahead of Ares being ready anyway."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/01/31/0033206
Links:
0. mailto:thebadastronomer@gmAUDENail.comminuspoet
1. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/01/30/give-space-a-chance/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Japan Will Start 3D TV Programming This Summer |
| from the but-that-takes-up-more-room dept. |
| posted by timothy on Sunday January 31, @03:04 (Television) |
| https://entertainment.slashdot.org/story/10/01/31/065238/Japan-Will-Start-3D-TV-Programming|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "Japan HD TV operator Sky Perfect [0]will
start 3D programming this summer, with focuses on live events and sports
events. As more Hollywood movies are shot in 3D, and 3D TVs are expected
to come onto the market in the very near future, Sky Perfect is hoping
that people will switch to 3D TV just like people switched from black and
white to color. How about 3D TV in other countries?"
Discuss this story at:
http://entertainment.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/01/31/065238
Links:
0. http://eming.com/en/japan-sky-perfect-jsat-offers-3d-programme-this-summer/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| UK Gov't Says "No Evidence" IE Is Less Secure |
| from the maxwell-smart-elocution dept. |
| posted by timothy on Sunday January 31, @06:00 (Internet Explorer) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/01/31/0424240/UK-Govt-Says-No-Evidence-IE-Is-Less-Secure|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]aliebrah writes "Lord Avebury tabled a parliamentary question in the
UK regarding the security of Internet Explorer and whether the UK
government would reconsider its use. He [1]got an answer from the UK Home
Office that's unlikely to please most Slashdot readers. The UK government
[2]contends that 'there is no evidence that moving from the latest fully
patched versions of Internet Explorer to other browsers will make users
more secure.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/01/31/0424240
Links:
0. mailto:aliNO@SPAMebrahim.org
1. http://blog.ebrahim.org/2010/01/28/uk-government-says-no-evidence-ie-is-less-secure/
2. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld200910/ldhansrd/text/100126w0003.htm#10012667000351
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Facebook Rewrites PHP Runtime For Speed |
| from the if-not-this-then-something-else dept. |
| posted by timothy on Sunday January 31, @08:13 (PHP) |
| https://developers.slashdot.org/story/10/01/31/0252201/Facebook-Rewrites-PHP-Runtime-For-Sp|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
VonGuard writes "Facebook has gotten fed up with the speed of PHP. The
company has been working on a [0]skunkworks project to rewrite the PHP
runtime, and on Tuesday of this week, they will be announcing the
availability of their new PHP runtime as an open source project. The
rumor around this began last week when the Facebook team invited some of
the core PHP contributors to their campus to discuss some new open source
project. I've written up everything I know about this story on the SD
Times Blog."
Discuss this story at:
http://developers.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/01/31/0252201
Links:
0. http://www.sdtimes.com/blog/post/2010/01/30/Facebook-rewrites-PHP-runtime.aspx
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Chemistry Tasks For the Computer Lab? |
| from the just-the-basics dept. |
| posted by timothy on Sunday January 31, @08:38 (Education) |
| https://ask.slashdot.org/story/10/01/31/0759259/Chemistry-Tasks-For-the-Computer-Lab |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
soupman55 writes "I teach Chemistry to students completing their last two
years of high school. Basically it's a 'teach and test' course with a few
experiments thrown in. I want to jazz up the course using computer and
internet resources. For instance, I could set some tasks that require
Excel spreadsheet calculations. Or I could set some web quests where
students search for information online. One of the decisions to be made
is: Do I use computer/internet tasks to help the students grasp the
material that is already in the course, or do I help them become aware of
ideas that are extensions to their course? Also, when I compare Chemistry
classes with Accounting classes, it strikes me that unlike Accounting
where learning to use software like Quick Books is an integral part of
the course, that there is no particular software that a chemistry student
must learn to use. Or is there? What in terms of chemistry and computers
worked for you? Or what is there computer-wise that wasn't in your high
school chemistry course but should have been?"
Discuss this story at:
http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/01/31/0759259
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Obama Budget To Triple Nuclear Power Loan Guarantees |
| from the sky's-the-limit dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Sunday January 31, @09:29 (Power) |
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/10/01/31/1327238/Obama-Budget-To-Triple-Nuclear-Power-Loan-|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
[0]Hugh Pickens writes "When President Obama said in his State of the
Union address on Wednesday that the country should build 'a new
generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants,' it was one of the few
times he got bipartisan applause. Now the NY Times reports that
administration officials have confirmed their 2011 federal budget request
next week will [1]raise potential loan guarantees for nuclear projects to
more than $54 billion, from $18.5 billion, and a new Energy Department
panel will examine a vastly expanded list of options for nuclear waste,
including a new kind of nuclear reactor that would use some of it. The
Energy Department appears to be [2]getting close to offering its first
nuclear loan guarantee. Earlier this week, Southern Co. Chief Executive
David Ratcliffe said the company expects to finalize an application for a
loan guarantee 'within the next couple months,' while Scana Corp., which
has also applied, is 'a couple months behind Southern' and is hopeful of
receiving a conditional award 'sometime in the next months.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/01/31/1327238
Links:
0. http://hughpickens.com/
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/30/science/earth/30nuke.html
2. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aC7VY11v6aMw
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Tesla Motors To Suspend Roadster Production |
| from the vacation-time dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Sunday January 31, @10:44 (Transportation) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/01/31/1437210/Tesla-Motors-To-Suspend-Roadster-Productio|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Wyatt Earp writes with news that a recent SEC filing from Tesla Motors
revealed the company plans to [0]stop production on its electric Roadster
(and the Roadster Sport as well) in 2011. This will [1]leave the
automaker without any cars to sell until the launch of its Model S sedan
(financed in part by [2]$465 million in DoE loans) in 2012. Tesla plans
to resume production of Roadster models "at least a year" after the Model
S arrives. From Wired's Autopia blog: "'As a result, we anticipate that
we may generate limited, if any, revenue from selling electric vehicles
after 2011 until the launch of the planned model S,' the company says in
the SEC filing. That may not be a problem if S production starts on plan
and goes off without a hitch, but if Tesla hits any snags, things could
get ugly fast ��� a point it concedes in the filing. 'The launch of the
Model S could be delayed for a number of reasons and any such delays may
be significant and would extend the period in which we would generate
limited, if any, revenues from sales of our electric vehicles.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/01/31/1437210
Links:
0. http://jalopnik.com/5460062/tesla-to-kill-electric-roadster-in-2011
1. http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/01/teslas-roadster-to-exit-in-2011/
2. http://news.slashdot.org/story/09/06/24/1947208/Tesla-Nabs-465M-Government-Loan-To-Build-Model-S
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Newzbin.com Usenet Indexing Trial Set To Begin Next Week |
| from the ease-of-use dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Sunday January 31, @11:56 (Media) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/01/31/1545245/Newzbincom-Usenet-Indexing-Trial-Set-To-Beg|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
An anonymous reader writes "Only a few weeks after a jury [0]acquitted
Alan Ellis, the owner of the BitTorrent site 'OinK's Pink Palace,' of
copyright infringement, another [1]high profile case is about to start
next week, this time for the newsgroup side of things. The MPA (Motion
Picture Association) trial against Newzbin.com, a website that indexes
NZB files and content on the newsgroups, will begin in London on Monday.
Will lightning strike twice in favor of website indexing?" Torrentfreak
points out [2]one major difference between the cases: "Ellis���s charge was
one of fraud, allegedly conducted by an individual and dealt with under
criminal law, while that leveled against Newzbin is one of allowing and
inducing illegal copying, i.e copyright infringement, but carried out by
a bona fide company under civil law."
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/01/31/1545245
Links:
0. http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/01/15/174249/In-UK-Oink-Admin-Cleared-of-Fraud
1. http://www.slyck.com/story1904_Newzbin_Trial_Begins_Next_Week_in_London
2. http://torrentfreak.com/usenet-indexer-prepares-for-mpaa-high-court-battle-100130/
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Using Infrared Cameras To Find Tastiness of Beef |
| from the i-use-a-fork dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Sunday January 31, @12:31 (Science) |
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/10/01/31/1610228/Using-Infrared-Cameras-To-Find-Tastines|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
JoshuaInNippon writes "Might we one day be able to use our cell phone
cameras to pick out the best piece of meat on display at the market? Some
Japanese researchers seem to hope so. A team of scientists is using
infrared camera technology to try and [0]determine the tastiest slices of
high-grade Japanese beef. The researchers believe that the levels of
Oleic acid found within the beef strongly affect the beef's tenderness,
smell, and overall taste. The infrared camera can be tuned to pick out
the Oleic acid levels through a whole slab, a process that would be
impossible to do with the human eye. While the accuracy is still
relatively low ��� a taste test this month resulted in only 60% of
participants preferring beef that was believed to have had a higher level
of Oleic acid ��� the researchers hope to fine tune the process for market
testing by next year."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/01/31/1610228
Links:
0. http://www.examiner.com/x-16352-Japan-Headlines-Examiner~y2010m1d31-Researchers-use-infrared-cameras-to-determine-taste-quality-of-Japanese-beef
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Apple's Trend Away From Tinkering |
| from the hey-what's-this-do dept. |
| posted by Soulskill on Sunday January 31, @13:12 (Hardware Hacking) |
| https://apple.slashdot.org/story/10/01/31/1657233/Apples-Trend-Away-From-Tinkering |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
theodp writes "Having cut his programming teeth on an Apple ][e as a
ten-year-old, Mark Pilgrim laments that Apple now seems to be doing
everything in their power to [0]stop his kids from finding the sense of
wonder he did: 'Apple has declared war on the tinkerers of the world.
With every software update, the previous generation of "jailbreaks" stop
working, and people have to find new ways to break into their own
computers. There [1]won't ever be a MacsBug for the iPad. There won't be
a ResEdit, or a Copy ][+ sector editor, or an iPad Peeks & Pokes Chart.
And that's a real loss. Maybe not to you, but to somebody who doesn't
even know it yet.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://apple.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/01/31/1657233
Links:
0. http://diveintomark.org/archives/2010/01/29/tinkerers-sunset
1. http://al3x.net/2010/01/28/ipad.html
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Making Sense of ACTA |
| from the wholly-geist dept. |
| posted by timothy on Sunday January 31, @14:17 (Government) |
| https://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/01/31/1915257/Making-Sense-of-ACTA |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Hodejo1 writes "This past week Guadalajara, Mexico hosted the 7th secret
meeting of ACTA proponents who [0]continue to ignore demands worldwide to
open the debate to the public. Piecing together official and leaked
documents from various global sources, [1]Michael Geist has coalesced it
all into a five part ACTA Guide that offers structured insight into what
these talks might foist upon the populace at large. 'Questions about ACTA
typically follow a familiar pattern ��� what is it ([2]Part One of the ACTA
Guide listing the timeline of talks), do you have evidence ([3]Part Two),
why is this secret ([4]Part Three), followed by what would ACTA do to my
country's laws ([5]Part Four)? Countering the momentum behind ACTA will
require many to speak out" ([6]Part Five).'"
Discuss this story at:
http://yro.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/01/31/1915257
Links:
0. http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100129/0505077972.shtml
1. http://www.michaelgeist.ca/
2. http://www.mp3newswire.net/stories/0102/acta-guide.htm
3. http://www.mp3newswire.net/stories/0102/acta-guide-2.htm
4. http://www.mp3newswire.net/stories/0102/acta-guide-3.htm
5. http://www.mp3newswire.net/stories/0102/acta-guide-4.htm
6. http://www.mp3newswire.net/stories/0102/acta-guide-5.htm
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Toyota Pedal Issue Highlights Move To Electronics |
| from the drive-by-wire dept. |
| posted by timothy on Sunday January 31, @15:20 (Transportation) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/01/31/2017247/Toyota-Pedal-Issue-Highlights-Move-To-Elec|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
cyclocommuter writes with an excerpt from a brief WSJ story on increasing
electronic control of car components: "The gas pedal system used Toyota
Motor Co.'s recall crisis was born from a movement in the auto industry
to rely more on electronics to carry out a vehicle's most critical
functions. The intricacy of such systems, which [0]replace hoses and
hydraulic fluid with computer chips and electrical sensors, has been a
focus as Toyota struggled to find the cause for sudden acceleration of
vehicles that led the company to halt sales of eight models this week."
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/01/31/2017247
Links:
0. http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100131/NEWS11/100139963
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| DIY Texting System For Really Underground Radio |
| from the nitpickers-will-come-out-of-their-caves-now dept. |
| posted by timothy on Sunday January 31, @16:24 (Communications) |
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/10/01/31/2114242/DIY-Texting-System-For-Really-Underground-|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Gulthek writes "Sixteen-year-old Alexander Kendrick has created a device
that allows [0]texting and other data transfer from almost 1000 feet
underground. The tech could allow rapid emergency communication with the
surface and opens the potential for scientific measurements without the
need to continually visit (and disturb) the cave environment." There's
some kvetching in the NPR story's comments that it's not the first use of
cave radios, but that seems to miss the point.
Discuss this story at:
http://tech.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/01/31/2114242
Links:
0. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123116417&ft=1&f=1001
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Mum's the Word On Google Attack At Davos |
| from the still-deciding-on-culprit-perhaps dept. |
| posted by timothy on Sunday January 31, @17:30 (Businesses) |
| https://politics.slashdot.org/story/10/01/31/2227235/Mums-the-Word-On-Google-Attack-At-Davo|
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
theodp writes "BusinessWeek reports that the [0]cyber attack on Google
was the elephant-in-the-room at the annual meeting of world leaders in
Davos. 'China didn't want to discuss Google,' Josef Ackermann, CEO of
Deutsche Bank AG and a co-chair of [1]this year's World Economic Forum,
said in an interview. China's Vice Premier Li Keqiang made that clear, he
added. Even Google CEO Eric Schmidt didn't bring up China, and Bill Gates
was mum on the topic in an interview. The reluctance of companies to talk
about China illustrates the pressure on them to protect their business in
the country, while the US government doesn't want to upset Chinese
investors, said Andy Mok of Red Pagoda Concepts LLC. 'People have their
commercial interests,' explained Deutsche Bank's Ackermann."
Discuss this story at:
http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/01/31/2227235
Links:
0. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-01-31/china-bosses-davos-as-nobody-discusses-what-happened-to-google.html
1. http://www.weforum.org/en/events/AnnualMeeting2010/Sun31/index.htm
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| FOSS CAD and 3D Modeling Software? |
| from the blue-sky-all-around dept. |
| posted by timothy on Sunday January 31, @18:37 (Graphics) |
| https://ask.slashdot.org/story/10/01/31/2327234/FOSS-CAD-and-3D-Modeling-Software |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Paul server guy writes "I work at a [0]privately funded, open source,
manned, return to the moon mission ��� Yes really, and Yes, we really are
going to put man (and woman) back on the moon. Since we are open source,
we want all of our tools to be, too. What we are looking for is CAD
software that we can feed into Blender (or the like) to do 3D modeling
with. Many of the engineers have tried working with Blender and Art of
Illusion, but have not been pleased. They want to just draw the parts,
then feed them to the art people who will run them through the 3D
modelers for videos, illustrations and such. What is your preference?"
Discuss this story at:
http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=10/01/31/2327234
Links:
0. http://www.openluna.org/
Copyright 1997-2009 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/my/messages
You can log in and change your preferences from there.
