nodnarb1978 - Slashdot User

British Royal Navy Submarines Now Run Windows 725

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday December 18, 2008 @04:53AM from the deep-blue-screen dept.

meist3r writes "On his Government blog, Microsoft's Ian McKenzie announced today that the Royal Navy was ahead of schedule for switching their nuclear submarines to a customized Microsoft Windows solution dubbed 'Submarine Command System Next Generation (SMCS NG)' which apparently consists of Windows 2000 network servers and XP workstations. In the article, it is claimed that this decision will save UK taxpayers £22m over the next ten years. The installation of the new system apparently took just 18 days on the HMS Vigilant. According to the BAE Systems press release from 2005, the overall cost of the rollout was £24.5m for all eleven nuclear submarines of the Vanguard, Trafalgar and Swiftsure classes. Talk about staying with the sinking ship."

Gartner Reveals Top 10 Technologies For Next 4 Years 163

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday May 30, 2008 @03:30PM from the guessing-game dept.

Dr. Jim writes "The good folks over at the Gartner Group have revealed the top 10 technologies that they believe will change the world over the next four years. The usual suspects including multi-core chips, virtualization, and cloud computing are on the list. Multicore servers and virtualization will mean that firms will need fewer boxes, and apps can be easily moved from box to box (and right out the door to an outsourced data center). Workplace social networks and cloud computing means that the need for a centralized IT department will go away. Firms will no longer need to own/maintain the boxes that they use to run their firm's apps. With no need to touch a box, there will be no need to have the IT staff co-located with the boxes."

Bookmark 5 Reasons the Web Design Client isn't always right (brandondawson.org)

by nodnarb1978 on Thursday March 20, 2008 @05:58AM

Robots Fly Over Antarctica 45

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday March 19, 2008 @09:16PM from the the-mountains-of-madness dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have successfully run a series of flights by autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) over Antarctica. These robotic planes have a 2-meter wingspan and weigh 6 kilograms. They are powered by Lithium Ion Polymer (LIPo) battery packs — similar to the ones in your cellphones or laptops. So far, these autonomous UAVs have completed about 20 flights lasting 40 minutes each. These robots can fly over 45 kilometers while taking about 100 measurements per second about the exchange of heat between the lower atmosphere and sea ice. According to one of the scientists, 'the future of atmospheric research will be robotic.'"

Comment Does AA have a Cardboard Box? (Score 2, Funny) 379

by nodnarb1978 on Sunday January 20, 2008 @05:40PM (#22120010) Attached to: Training From America's Army Game Saved a Life

Everything I needed to know about warfare and life I learned from Metal Gear. Yeah, that's right. The original.

You can infiltrate classified military installations by disguising yourself as an innocuous cardboard box. There's nothing more indispensable than a pack of smokes. And nothing in the entire arsenal of the Military-Industrial Complex is as singularly lethal as a ninja.

Submission + - Montana says no to Real ID, passes law to deny it

Submitted by SoCalChris on Wednesday April 18, 2007 @02:09PM

SoCalChris writes: Montana's governor signed a bill yesterday saying "no, nope, no way, hell no" to the Real ID Act. House Bill 287 (pdf) requires the Montana Motor Vehicle Division to not implement the provisions of the Real ID Act, and to report to the governor any attempts by any agent or agency of the Department of Homeland Security to attempt to implement the bill. Montana is the first state to implement such a law, the Billings Gazette has more info

Submission + - Australia Outlaws Incandescent Lightbulb

Submitted by

passthecrackpipe

on Tuesday February 20, 2007 @05:05AM

passthecrackpipe writes: "The Australian Government is planning on making the incandescent ligtbulb a thing of the past. In three years time, standard lightbulbs will no longer be available for sale in the shops in Australia (expect a roaring grey market) and everybody will be forced to switch to more energy efficient Fluorescent bulbs. In this move to try and curb emissions, the incandescent bulb — which converts the majority of used energy to heat rather then light — will be phased out. Environmental groups have given this plan a lukewarm reception. They feel Australia should sign on to the Kyoto protocol first. (Article in Dutch). A similar plan was created together with Phillips, one of the worlds largest lighting manufacturers. What do other slashdotters think? Is this a move in the right direction? Will this boost the development of better fluorescent bulbs? Improve the design and lower the costs of LED lightbulbs? Will this plan make a big difference to the environment at all?"

Submission + - Europe's Plan to Track Phone and Net Use

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 20, 2007 @03:50AM

An anonymous reader writes: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/20/business/worldbu siness/20privacy.html February 20, 2007 Europe's Plan to Track Phone and Net Use PARIS, Feb. 19 — European governments are preparing legislation to require companies to keep detailed data about people's Internet and phone use that goes beyond what the countries will be required to do under a European Union directive. In Germany, a proposal from the Ministry of Justice would essentially prohibit using false information to create an e-mail account, making the standard Internet practice of creating accounts with pseudonyms illegal.

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