CmdrTaco - Slashdot User

Submission + - Prior Art Can Make Apple's iPad Design Invalid (muktware.com)

Submitted by sfcrazy on Monday August 15, 2011 @07:49AM

sfcrazy writes: The heart of the issue is the 'generic/broad' design of a tablet that Apple got approved as EC community design. One may wonder how such a generic design, which cover an entire range of product and overlaps with other already existing products be patented to one single company?

I lot of bloggers like Ken Hess and Apple fans are defending Apple. Ken has defended Apple for patenting the iPad design. The question is how unique is the iPad's design, are there prior arts?

Muktware has gather prior art examples which may make the iPad design patent invalid.

Submission + - The FCC Says ISPs Aren't Hitting Advertised Speeds (hothardware.com)

Submitted by

MojoKid

on Monday August 15, 2011 @07:39AM

MojoKid writes: "The Federal Communications Commission has released the results of a year-long scientific study it conducted with regard to the upload and download speeds of thirteen American Internet service providers. Most of the ISPs hit 90 percent of their advertised upload speeds. Of the 13 providers tested, only four (or less than a third) averaged at or even above their advertised download speeds (Charter, Comcast, Cox, and Verizon Fiber). The tests were performed by a private firm that has run similar tests in the U.K. It measured performance at 6,800 "representative homes" nationally in March."

Submission + - NASA Opens New Office for Deep Space Missions. (space.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 13, 2011 @11:59PM

An anonymous reader writes: NASA has been tasked with landing astronauts on a space rock by 2025, and on the Red Planet by the mid 2030s. To reach those goals, the United States must develop a new heavy-lift rocket capable of traveling that far, and a capsule to bring people safely there and back again.

Submission + - DARPA lost second Mach 22 vehicle (darpa.mil) 1

Submitted by arisvega on Friday August 12, 2011 @07:54AM

arisvega writes: DARPA attempted to fly the fastest aircraft ever built; the Agency’s Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2) is designed to fly anywhere in the world in less than 60 minutes. This capability requires an aircraft that can fly at 13,000 mph (~21000kph), while experiencing temperatures in excess of 3500F (~2000C). Program manager Air Force Maj. Chris Schulz does not see it as a failure; “We know how to boost the aircraft to near space. We know how to insert the aircraft into atmospheric hypersonic flight. We do not yet know how to achieve the desired control during the aerodynamic phase of flight. It’s vexing; I’m confident there is a solution. We have to find it.”

Submission + - 33% of Drug-Related Searches Lead to Fake Pharma (threatpost.com)

Submitted by Trailrunner7 on Thursday August 11, 2011 @11:02AM

Trailrunner7 writes: Researchers at the University of Cambridge will present evidence of what they say is widespread manipulation of search results that direct unwitting Web surfers to dodgy and illicit online pharmacy sites.

The research, which will be presented at the 20th USENIX Security Symposium in San Francisco, is the culmination of a nine month survey of Web search results for 218 drug-related queries. Fully one third of the search results collected in the survey was found to point back to one of 7,000 infected hosts, which in turn redirected visitors to just a few hundred pharmacy Web sites, according to a post by Tyler Moore, a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Research on Computation and Society (CRCS) at Harvard University on the Cambridge University blog Light Blue Touchpaper.

Submission + - Cameron Threatens To Shut Down UK Social Networks (thinq.co.uk)

Submitted by Stoobalou on Thursday August 11, 2011 @09:10AM

Stoobalou writes: In a move worthy of China's communist regime, UK PM David Cameron wants to shut down social networks whenever civil unrest rears its head in Britain's towns and cities.

Speaking in the House of Commons, Cameron said, "Everyone watching these horrific actions will be struck by how they were, organised via social media.

"Free flow of information can be used for good. But it can also be used for ill. So we are working with the police, the intelligence services and industry to look at whether it would be right to stop people communicating via these websites and services when we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality."

Submission + - Fake Names On Social Networks: A Fake Problem (discovery.com)

Submitted by disco_tracy on Thursday August 11, 2011 @08:57AM

disco_tracy writes: The leading social networks demand that members use their real names, and they're not afraid to evict violators. Many Facebook users have quietly complied, despite the problems that rule creates for political dissidents, stalking survivors and others. Much of this discussion has centered around people in physical or financial danger of having their identities revealed. But there are broader reasons for social networks to stop pushing real-name policies.

Submission + - Games To Blame For London Riots (pcadvisor.co.uk)

Submitted by

jkcity

on Thursday August 11, 2011 @08:43AM

jkcity writes: "The blame game has started against games for causing the riots in UK with police thinking its because kids want to live out what they are doing in games. they seem to think we should still be playing pacman type games."

Submission + - NASA taps7 commercial firms for suborbital flights (networkworld.com)

Submitted by

coondoggie

on Wednesday August 10, 2011 @11:10AM

coondoggie writes: "NASA this week picked seven commercial space companies to fly a manner of experiments on their suborbital aircraft. According to NASA the companies will split $10 million and get a two-year contract that will let NASA set up a pool of reusable suborbital systems that could help it test applications in everything from astrobiology to measuring the impact of a solar storm."

Submission + - Google Shelves Hidden Location Bar (conceivablytech.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 09, 2011 @11:15AM

An anonymous reader writes: The removal of the web address from the browser window may have been a bit too much, even for Google. The company said that it has canceled the project and the flag “Compact Navigation” as well as the menu tab menu option were removed on July 26. While Google disabled the hidden switch to enable compact navigation as well, the code of the feature itself remains in Chrome.

Submission + - Perseid Meteor Shower to be Hampered by Full Moon (ibtimes.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 09, 2011 @10:59AM

An anonymous reader writes: The annual Perseid meteor shower, which is caused by debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle and observed for about 2000 years, will be hampered this year by the full moon, which happens when Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon. The full moon falls on August 13 and is also called 'Grain Moon' or 'Green Corn Moon'. At the full moon, the moon rises about the same time the sun sets and it sets at about the same time the sun rises. This will create difficulty in viewing the Perseid meteor shower, which peaks on the night of Friday and into the early morning of Aug. 13.

Submission + - Tech Survivors: Still Thriving After 25 Years (infoworld.com)

Submitted by

snydeq

on Tuesday August 09, 2011 @09:18AM

snydeq writes: "InfoWorld's Galen Gruman highlights 18 technologies that remain core to the computing experience for IT, engineers, and developers 25 to 50 years since their inception. From Cobol, to the IBM mainframe, to C, to x86, these high-tech senior citizens not only keep kicking but provide the foundations for many vital systems that keep IT humming."

Submission + - Apple sued over OS X's use of quick-booting (networkworld.com) 2

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 08, 2011 @07:04PM

An anonymous reader writes: With a patent originally owned by LG in tow, a Florida based company called Operating Systems Solutions LLC recently filed suit against Apple claiming that OS X's use of quick booting infringes the aforementioned patent.

Submission + - Bletchley Park Finds a Saviour in Google (itproportal.com)

Submitted by hypnosec on Monday August 08, 2011 @12:08PM

hypnosec writes: Internet search behemoth Google Inc. has kick started the fundraising programme to save the derelict Block C at Bletchley Park, the place where the Royal Army deployed their main decryption establishment during the second world war. In a bid to generate more awareness, Google has been using its Street View to capture the pictures of the park and Block C in particular.

Submission + - Building A Better 'Anonymous?' (darkreading.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 08, 2011 @10:23AM

An anonymous reader writes: A hacktivism panel at the DefCon hacker convention conspicuously missing its star member Aaron Barr, who dropped out under legal pressure from his former company HBGary Federal, debated how Anonymous could channel its efforts for the greater good. Members of Anon attending the discussion chimed in, too.

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