For those of you that do not read SLASHDOT, here are the stories that
They are reporting. They are a very good source of "Techie" information.
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Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* Retail Store Scalping Wii Consoles on eBay
* Norway Mandates Government Use of ODF and PDF
* Could An ExtraTerrestrial Find Earth with a Telescope?
* Specs For the New KITT
* NASA's Invention of the Year Award Goes to Synthetic Muscles
* Many Analog TV Watchers Aren't Aware of Upcoming Switchover
* Notebook Makers Moving to 4 GB Memory As Standard
* New Jersey Judge Shields Anonymous Blogger
* IRS Data Security Still a Concern
* Mystery Company Recruiting Talent With a Puzzle
* FBI Prepares Vast Database of Biometrics
* U.Maine Law Clinic Is First To Fight RIAA
* Analog Cellular Shutdown To Hit Built-In Devices
* GNU Octave 3.0 Released After 11 Years
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| Retail Store Scalping Wii Consoles on eBay |
| from the with-a-name-like-slackers-... dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday December 21, @20:55 (Wii (Games)) |
|
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/22/0159248
|
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C0rinthian writes "ArsTechnica reports that the games retailer Slackers
has been keeping their stock of the Nintendo Wii off their store shelves,
and is instead [0]selling the system on eBay for $400-500. (A $150-$250
markup)" This follows their look at the other side of the coin: [1]why
some retailers insist on Wii Bundles.
Discuss this story at:
http://games.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/22/0159248
Links:
0.
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20071220-exclusive-retail-chain-scalpin
g-wii-allotment-on-ebay.html
1.
http://arstechnica.com/journals/thumbs.ars/2007/12/19/forced-wii-bundles-an-
independent-game-stores-perspective
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| Norway Mandates Government Use of ODF and PDF |
| from the playing-nice-with-everyone dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Friday December 21, @22:30 (Government) |
|
http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/22/026216
|
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siDDis writes "Earlier this year Slashdot mentioned that Norway was
[0]moving towards mandatory use of ODF and PDF. Now it's official: the
Norwegian government has [1]mandated the use of open document formats
from January 1st, 2009. There are three formats that have been mandated
for all documentation between authorities, users and partners. HTML for
all public information on the Web, PDF for all documents where layout
needs to be preserved and ODF for all documents that the recipient is
supposed to be able to edit. Documents may also be published in other
formats, but they must always be available in either ODF or PDF."
Discuss this story at:
http://politics.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/22/026216
Links:
0. http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/05/14/1616248&tid=185
1.
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/12/20/norway-mandates-gover
nment-odf
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| Could An ExtraTerrestrial Find Earth with a Telescope? |
| from the helloooo-up-there dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday December 22, @00:38 (Space) |
|
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/22/0454227
|
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[0]Active Seti writes "If aliens were hunting life outside their own
planet, could they peer through the vastness of space and lock onto
[1]Earth as a likely home for life? Researchers say with a roughly
Hubble-sized array observers could measure Earth's 24-hour rotation
period, possibly leading to observations of oceans and the chance of
life. 'They would only be able to see Earth as a single pixel, rather
than resolving it to take a picture,' said Astronomer Eric Ford. 'But
that could be enough for them to identify our planet as one that likely
contains clouds and oceans of liquid water.' The research will be useful
to astronomers designing the next generation of space telescopes on our
planet, because it provides an outline of the capabilities required for
studying the surfaces of Earth-like worlds."
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/22/0454227
Links:
0. http://activeseti.com/
1. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-12/uof-tca122107.php
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| Specs For the New KITT |
| from the a-shadowy-flight-into-the-dangerous-world dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday December 22, @02:22 (Television) |
|
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/22/0647213
|
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An anonymous reader writes "The upcoming made-for-TV Knight Rider movie
features an [0]all-new version of the Knight Industries Two Thousand
(KITT). Popular Mechanics has the 'specs' for the original
Hasslehoff-mobile, as well as for the digital-effects enhanced version in
[1]the 2008 production. 'Designer Harald Belker, who has created the
Batmobile for Batman and Robin and a next-gen space shuttle for
Armageddon, came onboard to give the new KITT. a unique look. "The goal
was to make it look more aggressive without being hokey or garish,"
Belker says.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/22/0647213
Links:
0. http://www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/4237588.html
1. http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/09/29/0621228&tid=129
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| NASA's Invention of the Year Award Goes to Synthetic Muscles |
| from the we're-so-close-to-cyborgs dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday December 22, @04:28 (NASA) |
|
http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/22/0655243
|
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[0]coondoggie writes "It sounds like something out of a sci-fi movie:
technology that can [1]act like muscle and nerves to expand and contract.
The invention has been named the NASA Government Invention of the Year
for 2007. 'The Macro-Fiber Composite, or MFC, is made up of ceramic
fibers and can be attached to a structure to bend it, reduce vibrations
and monitor force. By applying voltage to the MFC, the ceramic fibers
change shape to expand or contract and turn the resulting force into a
bending or twisting action on the material. MFC technology could also
find its way into inflatable space structures can be used for antennas,
communication satellites, space station trusses, and solar sail support
structures, NASA said.'"
Discuss this story at:
http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/22/0655243
Links:
0. http://networkworld/
1. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/23284
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| Many Analog TV Watchers Aren't Aware of Upcoming Switchover |
| from the it's-coming dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday December 22, @06:19 (Television) |
|
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/22/0657258
|
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A recent poll of TV watchers shows that many Americans aren't aware
[0]the end times are coming for analog broadcast signals. "The survey
found that the group most affected by the analog cutoff -- those with no
cable or satellite service -- are most in the dark about what will happen
to their sets: Only one-third of them had heard that their TVs are set to
stop receiving programs. Of course, there are solutions. Congress is
subsidizing the purchase of digital television receivers. And the cable
TV industry is hoping that this will spur the last holdouts to buy pay
TV."
Discuss this story at:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=07/12/22/0657258
Links:
0.
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/20/rabbit-ear-users-dont-know-the-end-
of-analog-tv-is-near/index.html?ex=1356066000&en=95ec892a3d55c747&ei=5088&pa
rtner=rssnyt&emc=rss
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| Notebook Makers Moving to 4 GB Memory As Standard |
| from the living-in-the-wacky-future dept. |
| posted by Zonk on Saturday December 22, @08:24 (Portables) |
|
http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/12/22/076211
|
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akintayo writes "Digitimes reports that first-tier notebook manufacturers
are [0]increasing the standard installed memory from the current 1 GB to
4GB. They claim the move is an attempt to shore up the costs of DRAM
chips, which are currently depressed because of a glut in market. The
glut is supposedly due to [1]increased manufacturing capacity and the
slow adoption of Microsoft's Vista operating system. The proposed move is
especially interesting, given that [2]32-bit Vista and XP cannot access 4
GB of memory. They have a practical 3.1 b
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