noretsa - Slashdot User

Comment No homebrew though. (Score 5, Informative) 58

by noretsa on Tuesday February 06, 2007 @12:51PM (#17906174) Attached to: First Wii Mod Chip Shipping Out

From the article it sounds like this hack is very similar to the XBox360 DVD firmware hack in that it tricks the system into thinking the disc is a different type than it really is (pressed as opposed to DVD-R). However, the executables are still signed and the only thing this enables is "back ups" aka piracy.

This strategy will not enable custom user applications which is what a lot of us really want. However, this is definitely a step in the right direction. Even though the executables are signed, it is likely that the data on DVDs is unencrypted. Maybe by modifying this data a more effective exploit can be found?

Verizon Rejected iPhone Deal 290

Posted by kdawson on Monday January 29, 2007 @09:16PM from the just-saying-no dept.

SnowDog74 writes "According to an article in USA Today, Verizon Wireless rejected an Apple deal over the iPhone. The article says that Verizon wasn't happy with the strict terms Apple demanded — a Verizon Wireless VP is quoted saying that Apple wanted a cut of monthly revenues and control of the customer relationship. What's perhaps equally interesting, however, is the implication from sources that say Cingular's exclusive 5-year deal with Apple applies within the United States only. If this is true, it undermines some of the criticism Apple has been receiving for their business strategy surrounding the iPhone, given the size of the cell-phone market outside the US."

Navy Gets 8-Megajoule Rail Gun Working 650

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wednesday January 17, 2007 @03:33PM from the high-flyers dept.

prototypo writes "The Free Lance-Star newspaper is reporting that the Navy Surface Warfare Center in Dahlgren, Virginia has successfully demonstrated an 8-megajoule electromagnetic rail gun. A 32-megajoule version is due to be tested in June. A 64-megajoule version is anticipated to extend the range of naval gunfire (currently about 15 nautical miles for a 5-inch naval gun) to more than 200 nautical miles by 2020. The projectiles are small, but go so fast that have enough kinetic punch to replace a Tomahawk missile at a fraction of the cost. In the final version, they will apex at 95 miles altitude, well into space. These systems were initially part of Reagan's SDI program ("Star Wars"). An interesting tidbit in the article is that the rail gun is only expected to fire ten times or less per day, presumably because of the amount of electricity needed. I guess we now need a warp core to power them."

Unofficial Win2K Daylight Saving Time Fix 299

Posted by kdawson on Thursday January 11, 2007 @03:29PM from the it's-about-time dept.

Saturn2003a writes "Microsoft has stated that they will not be offering a patch for the new US Daylight Saving Time for Windows 2000 and earlier. Only customers with an extended support agreement can get a Hotfix from Microsoft. To get around this, IntelliAdmin has created an unofficial patch (source code provided) that will fix Daylight Saving Time on Windows 2000 and Windows NT machines."

FDA Decides Cloned Animals Safe to Eat 323

Posted by Zonk on Saturday December 30, 2006 @12:31AM from the mmmmm-frankenburger dept.

friedo writes "After five years of research, the Food and Drug Administration has decided that meat and milk from cloned animals is safe to eat. From the article: 'The government believes meat and milk from cattle, swine and goat clones is as safe to eat as the food we eat every day, said Stephen F. Sundlof, director of the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine. Meat and milk from the offspring of clones is also safe, the agency concluded. Officials said they did not have enough information to decide whether food from sheep clones is safe. If food from clones is indistinguishable, FDA doesn't have the authority to require labels, Sundlof said. Companies trying to distance themselves from cloning must be careful with their wording, he added.'"

2006 Board Games Gift Guide 99

Posted by Zonk on Monday December 18, 2006 @03:52PM from the penguin-jokes dept.

SlantyBard writes "As per previous years, the Morning News has published their annual guide to Good Gift Games. You can also always check out BoardGameGeek's gift guide to boardgames or Funagain's all time top bestseller list for great gifts for your family and friends." From the Morning news post: "Occasionally I'll play a new game so elegant in design that I'll come away amazed that it hadn't been thought of before. Hey! That's My Fish! is the most recent example. Sixty small hexagons (each showing one, two, or three fish) are assembled into an ice floe. Players then place their penguins onto the board, and play begins. On a turn, a player moves one of his penguins and then claims the hex the penguin just vacated, scoring points for the fish shown thereon. The ice floe slowly melts as more and more hexes are taken. Eventually there will be no more legal moves, and the person with the most fish wins. It's extremely simple and remarkably strategic."

What Earth Without People Would Look Like 671

Posted by Zonk on Wednesday October 18, 2006 @06:42PM from the earth-sans-peepul dept.

Raynor writes "Imagine a world without people. What if every human being, all 6.5 billion of us, were suddenly abducted and the planet was left to fend for itself? The planet would heal. 'The sad truth is, once the humans get out of the picture, the outlook starts to get a lot better,' says John Orrock, a conservation biologist. Pollution would cease being created. It would remain around for many years, CO2 taking as long as 20,000 years to be restored to it's natural level, but will decrease. Even if we were all whisked away and our nuclear reactors melted down, it would have a surprisingly little effect on the planet. Chernobyl gives hope to this end. 'I really expected to see a nuclear desert there,' says Ronald Chesser, an environmental biologist. 'I was quite surprised. When you enter into the exclusion zone, it's a very thriving ecosystem.' In the grand scheme of the world there would be little evidence of our existence at 100,000 years. The most permanent piece is the radio waves we've emitted of the last century. As the article puts it, 'The humbling — and perversely comforting — reality is that the Earth will forget us remarkably quickly.'"

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