Comment Re:What's the point? (Score 2, Insightful) 168
Because MKV and MP4 are containers, whereas VP8 is a codec...
I'm more than half convinced that you're just trolling.
Comment Re:Penrith isn't in Sydney... (Score 1) 120
Really? Did someone pick it up and move it since the last time I was there?
Comment Re:g'day mate (Score 1) 189
So, serious answer to a stupid question:
Australia has had a long history in space exploration purely because it's an island on the opposite side of the world to the US and most other space age nations. This includes broadcasting the pictures back from the moon and being a hub for a large number of satellites.
Basically, you can't contact a satellite directly very easily from the US if the satellite is on the other side of the world. Australia's always going to have its place.
Australia has had a long history in space exploration purely because it's an island on the opposite side of the world to the US and most other space age nations. This includes broadcasting the pictures back from the moon and being a hub for a large number of satellites.
Basically, you can't contact a satellite directly very easily from the US if the satellite is on the other side of the world. Australia's always going to have its place.
Comment Re:$500 a "netbook"? (Score 5, Informative) 234
This is in Australian dollars (approx. $330 USD) and includes a maintenance contract.
Clarifying the Next Step in Australia's Net-Censorship Scheme 193
teh moges writes "I recently received a response from the Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy, regarding issues I had with the ISP filtering proposed for Australia. My comment can be summed up by 'Any efficient filter won't be effective and any effective filter won't be efficient.' His response clarifies the issue of using the blacklist for censorship." Read on for the gist of Conroy's mistakes-were-made response, which seems to sidestep teh moges' critique, but offers Australian Internet users some idea of what they're in for.
Diebold Disks May Have Been For Testers 182
opencity writes "The Washington Post reports on the two Diebold source disks that were anonymously sent to a Maryland election official this past week. Further investigation has lead individuals involved to believe the disks came from a security check demanded by the Maryland legislature sometime in 2003." From the article: "Critics of electronic voting said the most recent incident in Maryland casts doubt on Lamone's claim that Maryland has the nation's most secure voting system. "There now may be numerous copies of the Diebold software floating around in unauthorized hands," said Linda Schade, co-founder of TrueVoteMD, which has pressed for a system that provides a verifiable paper record of each vote."
Bacteria As Fuel Cells? 122
KantIsDead writes "MIT's Tech Review is running an interview with Boston University Bioengineer Tim Gardner about the possibility of using bacteria to produce electricity. If fuel cells running off sugar are nearly here, alcohol-powered robots cannot be far." From the article: "While typical fuel cells use hydrogen as fuel, separating out electrons to create electricity, bacteria can use a wide variety of nutrients as fuel. Some species, such as Shewanella oneidensis and Rhodoferax ferrireducens, turn these nutrients directly into electrons. Indeed, scientists have already created experimental microbial fuel cells that can run off glucose and sewage. Although these microscopic organisms are remarkably efficient at producing energy, they don't make enough of it for practical applications."
SpaceX Successful Static Fire 122
ron_ivi writes "SpaceX's website is announced that they had a "
great static fire today" where their Falcon rocket successfully had 3 seconds of thrust. Nice pictures and video of the test; and if analysis shows all was well, they'll be launching Thursday."
GoDaddy.com Dumps Linux for Microsoft 445
RobertB-DC writes "Bargain-basement registrar GoDaddy.com has decided to move all its parked domains to Microsoft servers, saying that they'll provide 'a technology platform that is security-enhanced, highly scalable and easy to manage.' This is a shift away from Linux, a decision met with derision by other registrars such as Gandi.net, which greeted the news with the headline 'Go Daddy and never come back'. Late last year, GoDaddy.com had some 'issues', shall we say, with non-Microsoft browsers."
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