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Comment Not a new idea (Score 1) 161

These guys use a fabric composite; that's probably more effective than the Safariland Ballistic Clipboard made of 3/8" Lexan back in the 70's. I had one. It was big and a bit awkward -- about the size of this one. And the Lexan wasn't expected to be effective against supersonic bullets like 9mm, .357 Magnum or .44 Magnum. This Kevlar sandwich should be more effective and may be a bit lighter, but it still requires another hand. How does it integrate with a flashlight? A good cop will keep his/her weapon hand free -- just in case. At night the other hand will be holding a light. If they want to make a real winner they will incorporate a good LED light with the control(s) where the left hand is holding the clipboard. The hard part will be to make the light control simple and intuitive without accidental on (or off) events. Did they do any research on the name? Did they even offer a deal for the name to Ballistic Clipboard, LLC?
Security

Adobe Download Manager Installing Software Without Consent 98

"Not all is worth cheering about as Adobe turns 20," writes reader adeelarshad82, who excerpts from a story at PC Magazine's Security Watch: "Researcher Aviv Raff has found a problem in ADM (Adobe Download Manager) and the method through which it is delivered from adobe.com. The net effect of the problem is that a user can be tricked into downloading and installing software using ADM without actual consent. Tonight Adobe acknowledged the report and said they were working on the issue with Raff and NOS Microsystems, the company that wrote ADM."
Image

Zoe's Tale 109

stoolpigeon writes "John Scalzi, the author of Hugo Award-nominated science fiction novel Old Man's War, has built what started as a story serialized in his blog into a series of full novels and short stories. The latest installment in the OMW universe, Zoe's Tale, is quite a departure from the previous three books. It is the first of Scalzi's sci-fi novels written intentionally as young adult fiction. In a move that I am sure will continue to fuel Scalzi/Heinlein comparisons, Zoe is a precocious young woman thrust into a world of adventure and danger. In just three years Scalzi has built an impressive resume as an author of fiction, and Zoe's Tale will be no small part of what looks to be an influential and outstanding career." Keep reading for the rest of JR's review.
Upgrades

Cell Chip Coming To the PC Via a PCI Express Card 164

arcticstoat writes with an excerpt from Custom PC: "After developing a brand new CPU architecture from the ground-up, you'd expect that Toshiba, Sony and IBM would have more uses for the Cell architecture than the PlayStation 3, and Toshiba has been quick to make use of the architecture's HD video transcoding abilities in its new Qosimo laptops. However, Leadtek is now taking Toshiba's efforts a step further by putting the chip onto a PCI-E card for desktop PCs. The WinFast PxVC1100 is based on Toshiba's SpursEngine SE1000 processor, which is a cut-down version of the Cell chip. The SpursEngine chip features four SPEs (synergistic processing elements) based on 128-bit RISC cores, along with H.264 and MPEG-2 codecs, but it doesn't contain its own CPU as the chip in the PS3 does. The chip is capable of encoding and decoding H.264, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 video streams in hardware."
Image

Man Uses Remote Logon To Help Find Laptop Thief 251

After his computer was stolen, Jose Caceres used a remote access program to log on every day and watch it being used. The laptop was stolen on Sept. 4, when he left it on top of his car while carrying other things into his home. "It was kind of frustrating because he was mostly using it to watch porn," Caceres said. "I couldn't get any information about him." Last week the thief messed up and registered on a web site with his name and address. Jose alerted the police, who arrested a suspect a few hours later. The moral of the story: never go to a porn site where you have to register.
Power

Toshiba Battery Charges In 10 Minutes 203

Slatterz writes "Toshiba has unveiled a battery prototype that offers a 90 percent charge capacity in just 10 minutes. The Super Charge Ion Battery (SCIB) is capable of handling 5,000 to 6,000 recharge cycles, compared to the typical 500 offered by standard lithium-ion batteries. The new battery is composed of a durable material that offers a high level of thermal stability and prevents overheating."
Upgrades

How Big Should My Swap Partition Be? 900

For the last 10 years, I have been asking people more knowledgeable than I, "How big should my swap be?" and the answer has always been "Just set it to twice your RAM and forget about it." In the old days, it wasn't much to think about — 128 megs of RAM means 256 megs of swap. Now that I have 4 gigs of RAM in my laptop, I find myself wondering, "Is 8 gigs of swap really necessary?" How much swap does the average desktop user really need? Does the whole "twice your RAM" rule still apply? If so, for how much longer will it likely apply? Or will it always apply? Or have I been consistently misinformed over the last 10 years?

Comment Fire the Lawyers (Score 1) 227

The reference to Ralph Nader's "Unsafe at Any Speed" is a good one -- both ways.

Giving them both their due, neither cars nor software are perfect. Both could stand improvement. I don't see anything in this world that couldn't use a little improvement.

On the other hand, "Unsave at Any Speed" unfairly characterized Chevrolette's Corvair as poorly designed when the real problem was that many Corvair owners took no responsibility for routine maintenance. The Corvair has been called the poor man's Porche because it was a well balanced car that would perform well if its tires were properly inflated.

In the same way, much of today's software is amazingly good, especially considering the cost to acquire FLOSS. Most of the software used by people who use /. can be updated at regular intervals (like keeping the tires inflated), and most of us take advantage of those updates to keep our systems clean.

Joe Sixpack wants to surf his p0rn; he doesn't want to "waste time" with those pesky software updates. If his tires run flat he'll just buy new ones. Now let him go where he wants to go!

When was the last time we held car manufacturers liable for damage caused by potholes? Do we expect car manufacturers to keep us safe from the consequences of driving over nails or off a clif?

Yes, everything could stand some improvement, especially those silly shrink-wrap or click-wrap license agreements. I still don't see how the software that is not guaranteed to do anything useful has to be treated like the crown jewels. But that does not seem to be the focus of "Geekonomics." Let's work on reducing the targets for malware while we thank those who provide the software that works as well as it does.
Movies

DSL Gateways to Fight Piracy by Marking Video 337

Stony Stevenson wrote with an article about home gateway devices being set up to identify video pirates. The article reads: "Home gateway manufacturer Thomson SA plans to incorporate video watermarking technology into future set-top boxes and other video devices. The watermarks, unique to each device, will make it possible for investigators to identify the source of pirated videos. By letting consumers know the watermarks are there, even if they can't see them, Thomson hopes to discourage piracy without putting up obstacles to activities widely considered fair use, such as copying video for use on another device in the home or while traveling to work."
NASA

NASA Optimistic About Fuel Tank Repairs 104

DarkNemesis618 writes "NASA is now optimistic Atlantis' fuel tank will be able to be repaired in Florida. Due to a freak hail storm February 26 that had golf-sized hail chunks raining down on the launchpad put several thousand dings in the foam covering the external fuel tank as well as damaging 28 tiles on Atlantis' wing. 20 of the 28 tiles have been repaired and workers have started sanding down the damaged area of the tank itself. After it was decided that Atlantis needed to return to the VAB, NASA was unsure as to whether or not the tank could be repaired. But after bringing it back and doing more extensive inspections, the tank appeared to be in good enough shape that repairs could be done on the spot and a replacement was not necessary. This will allow for Atlantis to be launched late April for its construction mission to the ISS as well as not interfering with the remaining 4 launches planned this year. If the tank needed to be replaced, Atlantis would not have launched until June at the earliest."
Education

What Game Companies Want From Graduates 107

simoniker writes "Game education site Game Career Guide has a new feature talking to recruiters from notable game companies like EA, Insomniac Games, and THQ. They discuss the best university courses and qualifications for getting hired to be a game developer. EA's Colleen McCreary comments on the rise of some TV-advertised mass market game schools: 'Our concern with for-profit institutions is that students may not learn the fundamental tools for understanding and solving complex issues... We are most likely to hire someone who has a BFA or MFA from a traditional art college and a BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science for our entry level artist and software engineer positions.'"
Games

Funcom No Longer Making Offline Games 95

1up has commentary from Funcom, makers of games such as Anarchy Online, Dreamfall, and Longest Journey. The developer has taken the drastic step of deciding to cease creation of games without an online component. The company's CEO pins the blame squarely on game piracy. "Several stats he listed were startling if ... true, including that 200,000 illegal copies of Dreamfall had been downloaded before the game was even released and anywhere from three to ten copies of any PC game are pirated for each one sold. Adventure Gamers suggests that future offline games such as Dreamfall Chapters may require an active internet connection to prove authenticity when you play, similar to how Steam works."

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