[Slashdot-mailer] Slashdot Daily Report (11/8/2000)
David Jacoby
jacoby@ecn.purdue.edu
Wed, 8 Nov 2000 11:00:03 -0500 (EST)
Slashdot Daily Report ( http://slashdot.org/ )
News for Nerds. Stuff That Matters.
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At Long Last, Election Day
A features article from the "-post-your-own-electoral-sagas-" department
sent by JonKatz
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/11/04/150209
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Dinosaurs Never Held Heads High
A science article from the "shedding-new-light-on-things" department
sent by Hemos
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/11/07/159227
richard_za writes "The common notion that long
necked dinosaurs held there necks high to graze
from treetops has been proven impossible. Roger
Seymour, from Adelaide University's Environmental
Biology Department and Harvey Lillywhite from the
University of Florida. According to a research
paper published at the Proceedings of the Royal
Society in London, he explained that due to heart
size and metablic rates the only way they could
have functioned on land was with a horizontal
neck. This flies in the face of images popularised
in Hollywood movies such as Jurassic Park. However
it is doubted that this new evidence will have any
effect on the Mozilla Project."
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The UNIX Systems Administration Handbook
A books article from the "weighty-tome" department
sent by timothy
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/10/10/146252
Mike Knell contributed this review of what is
perhaps the most definitive collection of Unix
practice and wisdom. It's even been newly updated
to reflect the widespread influence of the
other*NIXes. In fact, just look at the names of
those who contributed forwards to this edition,
and you'll see how it ties together the old and
new continents of the Unix world. [TABLE NOT
SHOWN]
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Compaq Holds Off On Crusoe
A articles article from the "bad-timing-for-transmeta" department
sent by Hemos
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/11/07/1644258
scott1853 writes "Accroding to this article on
ZDNet, based on this article at G2News, Compaq has
decided to put off use of Crusoe in favor of
Intel's P3. Unlike IBM, Compaq isn't claiming to
put the processor on hold, they appear to have
made their final decision not to use it. Could
this be Intel flexing it's influential muscles, or
is Transmeta not being competitive enough
price-wise?"
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On The Preservation Of Endangered Web Resources ...
A askslashdot article from the "for-information-that-should-not-become-extinct" department
sent by Cliff
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/11/03/0043208
An unnamed correspondent asks: "Recently
Mathworld, what many would consider one of the
more valuable Web resources, fell victim to a
copyright lawsuit. We've seen in the past that
through sufficient mirroring the community can
save such resources (DeCSS for example) from
similar legal onslaughts. What Web resources do
you consider most valuable and/or most vulnerable
to legal attack and is there any effort under way
to mirror and preserve these resources?"
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MozillaZine Editorial On Netscape Criticism
A articles article from the "stir-up-the-fire-pot" department
sent by Hemos
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/11/07/1649224
RAD Kade 1 writes "An editorial on
mozillazine.org is criticizing recent criticism
against Netscape. Netscape stories will also no
longer be posted on mozillazine.org, only
Mozilla-related items."
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Candidates' Websites Blocked by CyberPatrol, N2H2
A yro article from the "dog-bites-man" department
sent by jamie
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/11/07/1656246
Yet another topical censorware report by Bennett
Haselton and myself. Is this getting repetitive?
It turns out that politicians' websites are being
blocked in schools and libraries as inappropriate
for viewing by children (and, in many cases,
adults). The report, "Blind Ballots", takes a look
at two dozen candidates whose campaigns have been
censored in our public schools and libraries. One
of the products blocks pretty equally across the
political spectrum; the other takes a big chunk
out of Republicans, Libertarians and conservative
third parties. One Republican candidate (so far)
has changed his position on filters because of
this report.
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OpenProjects IRC network suffering DoS Attacks
A articles article from the "gotta-hate-that-stuff" department
sent by CmdrTaco
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/11/07/2017216
Alowishus writes: "Open Projects Net, the IRC
network which is home to Debian and other open
source projects, has been suffering DoS attacks
from a disgruntled customer of one of their server
sponsors. Lilo, their sysadmin describes the
attacks here, and asks for assistance." It's
pretty terrible when a kid goes bananas and can
damage the volunteer efforts of many people
working really hard to create and support
something so many of us use and enjoy. The sad
part is that whoever is doing this feels
self-righteous and justified in his actions, so
nothing any of us say will matter. I hope they
catch him. DoS attacks just aren't cool, ever.
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OpenProjects IRC Network Suffering DoS Attacks
A articles article from the "gotta-hate-that-stuff" department
sent by CmdrTaco
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/11/07/2017216
Alowishus writes: "Open Projects Net, the IRC
network which is home to Debian and other open
source projects, has been suffering DoS attacks
from a disgruntled customer of one of their server
sponsors. Lilo, their sysadmin describes the
attacks here, and asks for assistance." It's
pretty terrible when a kid goes bananas and can
damage the volunteer efforts of many people
working really hard to create and support
something so many of us use and enjoy. The sad
part is that whoever is doing this feels
self-righteous and justified in his actions, so
nothing any of us say will matter. I hope they
catch him. DoS attacks just aren't cool, ever.
--------------------
Lucasfilm Sanctions Star Wars Fan Films
A articles article from the "well-sorta-anyway" department
sent by CmdrTaco
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/11/07/1332253
BigBragger sent us a story that talks about a
deal between Lucas and Atom Films to allow Star
Wars parodies to be distributed legally. It's a
mixed bag: Lucasfilm gets a piece of the pie, and
gets to choose what goes online at the site. But
it does create an official place to get those vid
clips like Troops which are just awesome but
somewhat underground. I guess as long as they
don't go after other parodies I'm cool with it,
but there's something that I can't describe about
this leaving a funny taste in my mouth. It's
probably just paranoia.
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H1 B's Get To Change Jobs More Freely
A articles article from the "good-news-for-them" department
sent by Hemos
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/11/07/2230216
merigold77 writes "Business2.com reports in H1-Bs
on the Move that the bill allowing 80,000 new H1-B
workers includes "significant new freedoms for the
workers themselves. In the interests of reducing
the role of the INS in these workers' careers, the
bill includes a 'portability provision' that makes
it easier for H-1B workers to switch companies
without having to wait for INS approval.""
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Slashback: Setup, Heck, Servitude
A articles article from the "getcher-woody-workin'" department
sent by timothy
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/11/05/142211
Today, more on setting up XFree86 4.0 with
Debian; getting broadband in Whitefish, Montana
and other metropolae; coming changes for players
of EverQuest (but at least with a bit of
explanation), and more words from the hellhole --
err, Hellmouth. Just read on. Getcher Woody in
prime operation! You may have noticed the report
Saturday that Xfree86 debs are now available, and
many readers pointed out problems with setting the
newest XFree up. A mysteriously unnamed
correspondent writes: "i've written an article to
answer some of the questions raised and give an
intro into how to set [XFree86 in Debian's
unstable tree] up (3dx specifically)." "Sir, I
can't sell this to you without your GPS
coordinates. No -- really, store policy." einstein
writes "MSN and Radio Shack have gotten together
to provide high speed internet access that will
cover most of the continental US, looks to be
great for rural areas, but the downfalls include:
$59.95 a month upfront, for a year, $299 bucks in
equipment, only works with Windows 98, and you
have to buy a computer from Radio Shack. ugh."
D'ja ever stop to think of it this way ... Mr.
Buckaroo writes: "Verant Interactive is again
trying to change the license agreement of
Everquest to make it legal for them to gather
whatever information/files from your machine they
deem necessary. They are also changing the
agreement to prevent sale of characters, items,
etc. I remember when games were just games." Mr.
Buckaroo included the full text of a letter to
players from John Smedley Verant Interactive's
president and CEO. It's long, but worth
reading.Makes you think about the voluntary nature
of this and the other software you use, and what
you're willing to tolerate on your own
--------------------
Election Wrapping Up
A articles article from the "lets-get-it-on" department
sent by CmdrTaco
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/11/07/2358234
I'm posting this so people have a place to talk
about election results as they come in. The major
news sites are all covering the results, but they
are also really bogged down. Feel free to post
mirrors and links and updates in the comments so
we can all try to get the information around. And
meanwhile, I'm gonna watch The Daily Show's
Indecision 2000 coverage on Comedy Central. When
the election is final, we'll post one more story,
and kiss politics good bye for a few years. Nobody
will be happier then me! (One nice thing is that
many places are reporting extremely high voter
turn out. At least people care). Update by CT: as
of 9:30 eastern, CNN reports things very close:
185 electoral votes for Bush and 182 for Gore.
--------------------
Online Bank Security: Cover Your Assets!
A articles article from the "your-session-has-timed-out" department
sent by timothy
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/11/07/2011230
LogError writes: "Randy M. Nash writes in this
article: 'Why are there so many concerns about
online banking? Where is the breakdown in
security? Even brick and mortar banks have
internal networks that must be secured. It's my
understanding that these are very well secured
indeed. What happens when these security-conscious
organizations move their presence to the
Internet?'"
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Nautilus 0.5 PR2 Released
A articles article from the "still-waiting-for-me-debs" department
sent by CmdrTaco
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/11/08/0117258
bratislav writes: "Eazel just released the 2nd
Preview Release for the upcoming GNOME
filemanager, browser and general-nice-app
Nautilus. This new release comes with additional
features, improved usability and a first look at
Eazel Services. " The integrated network file
system stuff is interesting.
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Election Wrapping Up (Part 2)
A articles article from the "we're-not-done-yet" department
sent by CmdrTaco
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/11/08/0351238
Things shuffled a bit as CNN recalled Florida
from Gore, and left the electoral votes at 217 for
Bush and 172 for the VP. Things have kind of
lagged a bit as apparently the wires are being a
little more careful about calling states. And I
was hoping to get to bed on time *grin.* Update:
11pm EST by CT: polls on the west coast have
closed, Gore inched up 230/217. Update: 11/08 5:45
AM EST by C:By now you all know that Florida,
originally awarded to Gore, then later awarded to
Bush, is now recounting the votes in a race that
is way too close to call. Surprisingly enough, it
appears that Gore has now won the popular vote.
With the results split between the EC and the
people, will this affect how the next president
will be able to govern the U.S.?
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Black Holes May Promote Stellar Birth
A science article from the "breathe-honey-breathe" department
sent by timothy
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/11/07/1253225
Porfiry writes: "The unusually high rates of star
births seen in some galaxies may be linked to
voracious black holes at the center of those
galaxies, according to a new analysis of
astronomical data by researchers at Johns Hopkins
University. The new results suggest that galaxies
with rapid rates of star formation and galaxies
with active black holes, long considered separate
phenomena, are actually links in a single set of
evolutionary processes that shape the development
of galaxies."
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Hacking Oracle's $199 Net Appliance
A articles article from the "voiding-warranties" department
sent by CmdrTaco
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/11/08/0519206
RegardsSJ writes "I've documented my progress in
hacking around with Larry E's $199 ThinkNIC box.
It has great possibilities for use as various
network appliances. My site describes what it is,
what's inside, how to add a hard drive, and how to
customize and burn a new system CD. "
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And The Winner Is... Nobody!
A articles article from the "who-else-is-sick-of-this" department
sent by CmdrTaco
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=00/11/08/1411247
Allright, while Gore has 260 electoral votes, and
Bush has 246, it all comes down to florida. Its
amazingly close: Gore actually has won the popular
vote. He appears to actually have about a 200,000
vote lead over Bush across the US, but as anyone
who's taken any civics class knows, the people
don't elect the president in the US. One thing is
for sure: this election isn't over. Florida is
split even, with bush ahead by about 2,000 votes
(Out of nearly 6 million voters!), but Florida law
requires a recount when the election is this
close.
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The info is Rob Malda's
The code is mine
MOTD: -----------------------------------
I am no longer associated with Purdue, except for being a former
student, former employee, and active member of the Linux Users Group.
As such, I'll either be moving this service to another server or
killing it entirely. Your input is requested as to what you'd like.
Then again, when was the last time I changed the MOTD? And when was
last time it was read?