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+ - Aussie uni edges closer to 'everlasting' battery->

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angry tapir
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The Almighty Buck

+ - Verizon Jumps On The Tiered Data Bandwagon->

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+ - Mouse brain simulated on computer

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+ - Google Shareholder Proposal to Resist Censorship

Submitted by buxton2k
buxton2k writes "Slashdot has had plenty of stories about technology companies like Google kowtowing to repressive political regimes such as China's. I'm an (extremely) small shareholder in Google, and I looked at their proxy statement today. Most of the time, shareholders' meetings don't deal with anything other than rubber-stamping the board of directors, but Google's upcoming meeting has a interesting shareholder proposal dealing with free speech and censorship to be voted on at the May 10 meeting.

The proposal cites the UN Declaration of Human Rights and declares that "technology companies in the United States have failed to develop adequate standards by which they can conduct business with authoritarian governments while protecting human rights to freedom of speech and freedom of expression". If adopted by shareholders, it would call for management to adopt 6 minimum standards including: not storing data that can identify an individual in repressive countries; using all legal means to resist censorship; and documenting and publicizing "all cases where legally-binding censorship requests have been complied with." The proposal was submitted by the Comptroller of New York City, which owns large amounts of Google stock in City pension plans.

Is a proposal like this (assuming it ever passed) feasible to implement? Would it actually do anything to open up repressive regimes? Is this a reasonable balance between upholding liberal democracy values and doing business in dictatorships? Would it have any effect on domestic issues such as DMCA takedown orders? Most of all, as a shareholder, what is Google's board of directors' justification for recommending that shareholders vote AGAINST this proposal? If you are a Google shareholder, were you aware of this proposal, and if so, are you going to vote for or against?"

+ - Technique to turn all blood into type 0

Submitted by davidwr

Related story."

+ - Australia to ban P2P

Submitted by Karl_R
Karl_R writes "The guys at whirlpool.net.au have posted a story about a U-tern by the Australian Federal government.

"The federal government has shocked industry by rushing a bill through parliament that will compel ISPs to block all P2P traffic. It is a back-flip on a promise made just weeks ago that the government would move ahead with its filtering plans using PC-based parental controls, which, at the time, it argued would provide flexibility for internet users. (source whirlpool.net.au)""

+ - RIAA offers "Toddler settlement rate"

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Dolda2000 writes "In their next righteous move against piracy, the RIAA now offers advance settlement to all parent of children under the age of three. FTA: "'Our goal is to make this easier for parents,' said RIAA President Cary Sherman. 'Everyone knows that in this era of increasing hard drive capacity and new digital media technologies, it is inevitable that every child in America will infringe copyright sooner or later.'""

+ - Small Businessman Feels Pinch of Software Patents

Submitted by Penguinisto
Penguinisto writes "A few days ago, Phil Cooke, a small-time hobbyist 3D/CG programmer, was sent a Cease and Desist notice from Reyes Infografica over a small 3D/CG clothes-generating program he had sold for years (it generated clothing mesh for a figures in a CG hobbyist program known as Poser). The program has since been pulled from the maker's site, as he cannot afford to retain counsel with which to fight back. Apparently, Phil's program had collided against a software patent that Reyes filed in 2001 (the patent was filed in the US and Spain). The C&D notice, and some of the discussion surrounding it can be found a PhilC's site discussion forums. While we usually see stories about small-time patent trolls raking in huge bucks from large companies, is this an indication of a disturbing trend by larger companies using software patents to intimidate and eliminate their smaller competition? And if so, then how on Earth is this supposed to foster innovation and creativity?"

+ - Deepwater sunk perhaps with youtube help

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Journal: SCO says GNU doesn't have a license

Journal by Ritchie70

I was browsing SCO's website trying to figure out development tool options for SCO OpenServer 5.0.6 (I know, I know) and stumbled across this.

It describes one of the three options for OpenServer 5.0.7 as:


+ - Open RT project Ray-tracing algorithms available

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "Ray-tracing is a technique that allowed Peter Jackson to make special effects look convincing in the Lord of the Rings. Now, Daniel Pohl, has used the new algorithms [develped by Professor Philipp Slusallek and co-workers from the University of Saarland] to produce ray-traced versions of the Quake 3 and 4 video games. "It gives much higher image quality in shadows and reflections," said Mr Pohl. "You can even do reflections on reflections on reflections." This is something that would be impossible with traditional rendering techniques. The algorithms are being made available to anyone to use via the Open RT project. Graphics in computer games are typically rendered via a technique known as rasterisation which involves drawing all the elements of a scene using polygons. The scientists have shown that their series of ray-tracing algorithms can run on a high-end PC graphics card."

Debug is human, de-fix divine.