http://alterslash.org the unofficial SlashDot digest This is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site, subject to copyright and fair use. http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/346728330/ Generally, very little. Yes, most low-level things in CS have been patented in some sense (XOR cursors, one-click checkout, run-length image encoding, multi-hash lookup, stacktrace error display strategies.)In theory, all software development grinds to a halt. http://alterslash.org/#Microsoft_s_Decade_old_Patent_On_Tree_view_Mode http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/346728331/ You can be sure that these people are also trying to:get backdoors into Ethernet firmware and BIOSesget backdoors into routers and other infrastructureget backdoors into commercial softwareget backdoors into open source packagesYou can be equally certain that they are not doing it right and that the backdoors they are trying to put in make your system less secure.Running open source software is your best bet, but even there, you aren’t completely protected. http://alterslash.org/#More_Skype_Back_Door_Speculation http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/346641033/ Comcast is now monitoring blogs as a way of improving its image among customers. Here is an idea don’t throttle P2P connections also, don’t block websites, don’t keep logs, and stand up for fair use and anonymity on the internet. http://alterslash.org/#Comcast_Is_Reading_Your_Blog http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/346594044/ It seems to me that the only thing worse than the incessant squabbling between Democrats and Republicans is when they arrive at a consensus on a piece of “important” legislation.People who are old like me and remember the famous battles between Tip O’Neill and Ronald Reagan remember when Republicans really were conservative and Democrats really were liberal. Now we just have two parties of triangulating whores selling out to try and grab the middle and flipping sides on every issue at the earliest possible opportunity. http://alterslash.org/#PRO_IP_and_PIRATE_Acts_Fused_Into_New_Bill http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/346534912/ No pics of the studio where they filmed the moon landing :( http://alterslash.org/#NASA_Opens_Space_Image_Library http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/346469445/ Tate had insisted that the companies settle charges that they violated FCC rules before she would approve the deal. The companies agreed this week to pay $19.7 million to the U.S. Treasury for violations related to radio receivers and ground-based signal repeaters.Oh well that’s different! http://alterslash.org/#Sirius_XM_Merger_Gets_FCC_Approval http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/346469446/ I think google.com’s search engine achieved its peak usefuleness about 5 years ago. Now, for the most part when I google for a certain electronic component I get some crappy webstore front (and by crappy I mean I can’t actually order the component but must “contact by phone” first) or if I search for an electronic device, be it pro or just home electronics, I get those “Read reviews and compare prices”-sites. http://alterslash.org/#Google_URL_Index_Hits_1_Trillion http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/346261700/ “HD stations often have wildly varying levels of picture quality that change from one moment to the next”Huh? You mean Stargate Atlantis is being broadcast on changing resolutions in midstream?No, not exactly, I bet.I’ve seen pleny of my best friend’s 52” LCD, and HD can be very very nice. http://alterslash.org/#Lack_of_Bandwidth_Oversight_Damages_HDTV_Quality http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/346181058/ Frankly, I’m surprised by the number of people who opted out. For something that was done to ~30 thousand people, disclosed only in the byzantine back layers of some policy somewhere(I’m guessing this is one of those policies that get to change without notice) and, so far as I know, not previously known to the geek news sources at large, 15 opt outs is pretty high.    http://alterslash.org/#ISP_Embarq_Monitors_User_Traffic http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/346119060/ Does anyone realize that the passwords would have never been given to the DA’s office if it wasn’t for his actions? The passwords would then not be part of public record. http://alterslash.org/#San_Francisco_DA_Discloses_City_s_Passwords http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/346097586/ Dear Open Source Community, We were wrong and we’re sorry. As a token of our apology, here’s a nice big wooden horse.Sincerely, Microsoft http://alterslash.org/#Microsoft_Blesses_LGPL_Joins_Apache_Foundation http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/346065043/ I’ve been using every weekly build for SuSE 10.3 since 4.0 came out and have seen it get more and more stable. I have some issues, some are KDE’s fault, some aren’t.No OTR for Kopete yet, which is in Kopete 3.5In Kopete, if you’re logged in, and log in from another computer, rather than saying “there are now two of you logged in”, it crashesOkular (Awesome!) http://alterslash.org/#What_To_Expect_In_KDE_4_1 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/346019117/ For reference, the vast majority of digital projectors in existence are 2K. There are a few 4K ones in the wild, but the most popular tech for electronic projection (namely DLP) currently maxes out at 2K. http://alterslash.org/#Delivering_8K_VFX_Shots_For_the_Dark_Knight http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/346019118/ This was already ancient news when a nearly identical story came my way nine months ago.Here is Nokia’s statement from 2006 (one of many companies to establish a policy regarding tantalum sourcing as a result of the Congo conflict), sitting in plain sight on their website:http://www.nokia.com/A4230065“Our position: Tantalum / Coltan“Nokia is not buying tantalum or other raw materials but processed components and assemblies from suppliers around the world. Suppliers’ activities account for a substantial part of the life-cycle environmental impact of Nokia products. http://alterslash.org/#Thirst_For_Coltan_Fueling_African_Conflict http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/346019119/ One of my first jobs was a bank teller. Our passwords were sealed in an envelop, which we initialed, and locked in a vault which needed two keys to open.If the two officers needed my password, they’d open the vault, open the envelope, breaking my seal (letting me off the hook of responsibility).IT has to learn from banks. http://alterslash.org/#SF_Not_an_Exception_In_Giving_IT_Too_Much_Control http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/346019120/ I’ve had the book for about a month now. I’ve read most of it, but I haven’t finished it yet due to work and personal projects and tv and games… Anyway, I think it is really well written. http://alterslash.org/#JavaScript_The_Good_Parts http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/345880811/ From what I’ve seen reported on the study, the authors were looking at averages being the same. That’s what I’ve seen over the years as well. http://alterslash.org/#No_Gap_Found_In_Math_Abilities_of_Girls_Boys http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/345880812/ How is this Craiglist’s fault? “Daniel” was doing something he was barred from doing. http://alterslash.org/#Craigslist_Forced_To_Reveal_a_Seller_s_Identity