Barence writes For anyone who assumes weekday evenings are the worst time to enter the online scrum, it may be a surprise to learn that the peak internet rush hour, when average web speeds slow to a crawl, is in fact Sunday between 5pm and 6pm. This surprise fact came out of Ofcoms recent research that also told us the blindingly obvious news that actual broadband speeds are less than half of those advertised by the ISPs.pa href=http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/1848208amp;from=rssimg src=http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rssamp;op=imageamp;style=h0amp;sid=09/01/08/1848208 //a/ppa href=http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/1848208amp;from=rssRead more of this story/a at Slashdot./p pa href=http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/GVN1LxF4YgAfd8boK0UNA3ki-J4/aimg src=http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/GVN1LxF4YgAfd8boK0UNA3ki-J4/i border=0 ismap=true //a/pimg src=http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/yZryY3C_nN8 height=1 width=1 /

snydeq writes "Sustainable IT's Ted Samson raises questions regarding the purchasing of carbon offsets, a practice growing in popularity among tech companies such as Dell, Yahoo, and Google in an attempt to achieve 'carbon neutrality.' Essentially financial instruments, carbon offsets enable companies to invest money in sustainable endeavors in an attempt to counteract the carbon footprint they incur conducting their business. But as a recent article in the Wall Street Journal shows, measuring the value of these carbon offsets is tricky business, as some recipients of offsets say the results of their sustainable efforts would be achieved regardless of any one company's investment. 'The question of whether carbon offsets hold value just scratches the surface of the overall carbon-neutrality question,' Samson writes. 'For the time being, there isn't even a consistent approach to measuring an organization's carbon footprint in the first place. And if you don't know how much CO2 you're responsible for, how do you know how much offsetting is necessary to become neutral?'"pa href="http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/2229206amp;from=rss"img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rssamp;op=imageamp;style=h0amp;sid=09/01/08/2229206"/a/ppa href="http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/2229206amp;from=rss"Read more of this story/a at Slashdot./p pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/n97wscKThHmoJyKgajYwMtnMkN4/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/n97wscKThHmoJyKgajYwMtnMkN4/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pimg src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/7p_KKnccwgw" height="1" width="1"/

Microsoft is hoping two new distribution deals will give its Live Search a much-needed boost. The company announced Wednesday a global deal with Dell that will see Live Search be the default search engine and a Windows Live toolbar bundled on the bulk of consumer and small-business PCs sold by the computer maker over the next three years. pa href=http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/KExvKrsM0qbmVFdteEx7N0wGLiQ/aimg src=http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/KExvKrsM0qbmVFdteEx7N0wGLiQ/i border=0 ismap=true //a/pimg src=http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/digg/container/technology/popular/~4/FlVH1_IwZu0 height=1 width=1 /br[a href=/microsoft/8_Microsoft_Research_projects_that_could_make_you_say_wow?FC=PRCT0 title=linklink/a] [a href=http://feeds.digg.com/~r/digg/container/technology/popular/~3/FlVH1_IwZu0/Microsoft_Gets_Deals_with_Dell_and_Verizon_for_Live_Search title=moremore/a]

El Lobo writes Asus success with its Eee line of netbooks might have come as a surprise, but the company is now determined to expand the Eee brand into every possible niche and form factor. Case in point: the insanely cool Eee Keyboard, which will surely bring a smile on the faces of those who remember the glory days of the home computer. Described as a fully functional PC with inset Qwerty key arrangement, the keyboard has a 5in touch screen that displays a suite of bespoke media controls or a Windows desktop.pa href=http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/1926204amp;from=rssimg src=http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rssamp;op=imageamp;style=h0amp;sid=09/01/08/1926204 //a/ppa href=http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/1926204amp;from=rssRead more of this story/a at Slashdot./p pa href=http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/m5BaJmS29yuHfgId5GLtNEp-GHI/aimg src=http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/m5BaJmS29yuHfgId5GLtNEp-GHI/i border=0 ismap=true //a/pimg src=http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/DRDjPoyuMiY height=1 width=1 /

The new-ness is underway, and Palm just debuted its latest handset, the Palm pre. Its a touchscreen phone with a trackball and a slide-out keyboard. pa href=http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/MEOCXBsk7JnS2bPib5X6HNcxv5A/aimg src=http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/MEOCXBsk7JnS2bPib5X6HNcxv5A/i border=0 ismap=true //a/pimg src=http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/digg/container/technology/popular/~4/m2cddj4IHiQ height=1 width=1 /br[a href=/gadgets/TV_101_Why_Leo_Laporte_represents_the_future_of_TV?FC=PRCT0 title=linklink/a] [a href=http://feeds.digg.com/~r/digg/container/technology/popular/~3/m2cddj4IHiQ/The_Palm_pre title=moremore/a]

CWmike writes The rumors turned out to be true. Microsoft will release a public beta this week of its next desktop operating system, Windows 7, hoping it will address the problems that have made Windows Vista perhaps the least popular OS in its history. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will launch the beta during his speech at the start of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Wednesday. Preston Gralla reviewed Windows 7 beta 1, noting Fast and stable, Beta 1 of Windows 7 unveils some intriguing user-interface improvements, including the much-anticipated new task bar. MSDN and Technet subscribers should be able to get the public data tonight. The general public will have to wait until Friday.pa href=http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/2011249amp;from=rssimg src=http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rssamp;op=imageamp;style=h0amp;sid=09/01/08/2011249 //a/ppa href=http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/2011249amp;from=rssRead more of this story/a at Slashdot./p pa href=http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/XCNXOgsQc_cIXMTowQIi-cP91mc/aimg src=http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/XCNXOgsQc_cIXMTowQIi-cP91mc/i border=0 ismap=true //a/pimg src=http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/JeGbIZCm4W4 height=1 width=1 /

techmuse writes Lexus has announced plans to send targeted messages to buyers of its cars based on the buyers zip code and vehicle type. Unlike regular spam, these messages will be delivered directly to the buyers vehicle, and will play to the vehicles occupants as audio. Lexus has promised to make the messages relevant to the car buyers. Imagine the fun that some targeted malware could do mdash; not that such a thing could happen to a Lexus.pa href=http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/2038216amp;from=rssimg src=http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rssamp;op=imageamp;style=h0amp;sid=09/01/08/2038216 //a/ppa href=http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/2038216amp;from=rssRead more of this story/a at Slashdot./p pa href=http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/z2sJiZ0-ftwop24YgFOqRZggme0/aimg src=http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/z2sJiZ0-ftwop24YgFOqRZggme0/i border=0 ismap=true //a/pimg src=http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/_FA0_ntpRMs height=1 width=1 /

gregg writes Six weeks before the nations television stations are scheduled to convert to digital transmission, the Obama administration is asking Congress to consider a delay. In the most significant sign to date of concern about the impending digital TV transition, the Obama transition team co-chair John Podesta said the government funds to support the change are woefully inadequate and said that the digital switch date, Feb. 17, should be reconsidered and extended.pa href=http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/2052212amp;from=rssimg src=http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rssamp;op=imageamp;style=h0amp;sid=09/01/08/2052212 //a/ppa href=http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/2052212amp;from=rssRead more of this story/a at Slashdot./p pa href=http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/5adyPSafsaKPEYM6RZRYWbaJg9Y/aimg src=http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/5adyPSafsaKPEYM6RZRYWbaJg9Y/i border=0 ismap=true //a/pimg src=http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/xcgHPAosRi0 height=1 width=1 /

An anonymous reader writes SD cards with a theoretical maximum capacity of 2TB are in development by Panasonic and the SD Association, it has been announced. The technology is called Secure Digital Extended Capacity, or SDXC, and Panasonic has announced it will soon show off a 64GB SDXC card. Using the new technology, read/write speeds are set to hit 300MBps. SanDisk and Sony are using the same standard to develop Extended Capacity cards in Sonys Memory Stick Pro and Memory Stick Micro range. SDXC utilises Microsofts new exFAT file system mdash; AKA FAT 64 mdash; which first appeared in Windows Vista SP1, and has a theoretical file size limit of 16 exbibytes. Reader xlotlu adds a note about the proprietary exFAT file system, which is available for licensing under NDA. There are currently no specific patents on exFAT, but its legal status is uncertain since its based on FAT. The FAT patents have been previously upheld in court.pa href=http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/2027252amp;from=rssimg src=http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rssamp;op=imageamp;style=h0amp;sid=09/01/08/2027252 //a/ppa href=http://hardware.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/2027252amp;from=rssRead more of this story/a at Slashdot./p pa href=http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/owpeC6S8C-iL31fdIFyv9dCadd8/aimg src=http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/owpeC6S8C-iL31fdIFyv9dCadd8/i border=0 ismap=true //a/pimg src=http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/_98vU-fdBzY height=1 width=1 /

The new Phenom II X4 920 and 940 are easily the most powerful desktop processors released from AMD to date. They performed well throughout our entire battery of benchmark tests, besting AMDs previous flagship CPU, the Phenom X4 9950 virtually across the board. pa href=http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/61clxLGkBtb-VPrYEcEX6-srJhM/aimg src=http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/61clxLGkBtb-VPrYEcEX6-srJhM/i border=0 ismap=true //a/pimg src=http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/digg/container/technology/popular/~4/nwu3fjrh-3E height=1 width=1 /br[a href=/hardware/SDXC_memory_cards_promise_2TB_of_storage_300MBps_transfer?FC=PRCT0 title=linklink/a] [a href=http://feeds.digg.com/~r/digg/container/technology/popular/~3/nwu3fjrh-3E/Enter_The_Dragon_AMD_Phenom_II_X4_940_Full_Review title=moremore/a]

An Islamic charity has established its right to sue the government over warrantless surveillance, a federal court ruled Monday. pa href=http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/2eYKHM55l41OorRjba4h6unP7Lc/aimg src=http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/2eYKHM55l41OorRjba4h6unP7Lc/i border=0 ismap=true //a/pimg src=http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/digg/container/technology/popular/~4/xtHHjWvZPWQ height=1 width=1 /br[a href=/security/NYC_Skank_Sues_Google?FC=PRCT0 title=linklink/a] [a href=http://feeds.digg.com/~r/digg/container/technology/popular/~3/xtHHjWvZPWQ/Judge_doesn_t_buy_state_secrets_privilege_OKs_wiretap_suit title=moremore/a]

Jack Spine writes "Twitter co-founder Biz Stone has confirmed both to ZDNet UK and Wired Threat Level blog that a dictionary attack was used to hack Twitter. After the hacker distributed details on the Digital Gangster forum, celebrities such as Britney Spears and Barack Obama had their accounts defaced. Wired spoke to the alleged hacker, while ZDNet UK got in contact with someone who had been on the Digital Gangster forum at the time."pa href="http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/1531220amp;from=rss"img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rssamp;op=imageamp;style=h0amp;sid=09/01/08/1531220"/a/ppa href="http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/1531220amp;from=rss"Read more of this story/a at Slashdot./p pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/Aks9qDagfKkZzGv6NbtFjwfJeoM/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/Aks9qDagfKkZzGv6NbtFjwfJeoM/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pimg src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/1iBYhm_WOXE" height="1" width="1"/

diegocgteleline.es writes "Here is LWN's eleventh annual timeline of significant events in the Linux and free software world for the year. As always, 2008 proved to be an interesting year, with great progress in useful software that made our systems better. Of course, there were some of the usual conflicts mdash; patent woes, project politics, and arguments over freedom mdash; but overall, the pace of free software progress stayed on its upwardly increasing trend. 2008 was a year that saw the end of SCO mdash; or not mdash; the rise of Linux-based 'netbooks,' multiple excellent distribution releases, more phones and embedded devices based on Linux, as well as major releases of software we will be using for years (X.org, Python, KDE, ...)."pa href="http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/1529237amp;from=rss"img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rssamp;op=imageamp;style=h0amp;sid=09/01/08/1529237"/a/ppa href="http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/1529237amp;from=rss"Read more of this story/a at Slashdot./p pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/DFe4pYbSb8tV1sBJEpg3enp6bMc/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/DFe4pYbSb8tV1sBJEpg3enp6bMc/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pimg src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/AbDpJvtDuNk" height="1" width="1"/

Vigile writes "A new stereoscopic 3D gaming technology has hit the street today from NVIDIA, though demoed earlier in the year, that promises to bring high quality 3D gaming to the PC. The GeForce 3D Vision technology utilizes active shutter glasses and a 120 Hz display (either 120 Hz LCD or 3D-Ready DLP TVs) to bring an immersive 3D effect to PC games. Using the depth buffer information stored in DirectX, the NVIDIA software is able to construct a stereo 3D image out of existing game content while the 120 Hz requirement gives each eye 60 frames of motion per second negating the physical detriments that were known to occur with previous 3D offerings. The review at PC Perspective details how the technology works, the performance hit your games take while using it and the advantages and disadvantages to the user's gaming experience with 3D Vision."pa href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/1447241amp;from=rss"img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rssamp;op=imageamp;style=h0amp;sid=09/01/08/1447241"/a/ppa href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/1447241amp;from=rss"Read more of this story/a at Slashdot./p pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/lyxOTf_exxVfZjjBy4qOXLiFb1A/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/lyxOTf_exxVfZjjBy4qOXLiFb1A/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pimg src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/0gjFef2qyqc" height="1" width="1"/

wmoyes writes "Back in September I ran into a Best Buy store to buy a Samsung BD-P2550 Blu-ray player. I didn't give the clerk my name, telephone number, or address, just my debit card. The player has sat happily in my living room without ever being networked or registered. Today I was shocked to find a package waiting for me at home from Best Buy mdash; inside was a firmware update CD for the player. I used to think Windows Update was scary, but Samsung's update service tracked me to my house using the mag stripe from my bank card. Has this happened to any other Blu-ray owners?" Or is there a simpler explanation?pa href="http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/148231amp;from=rss"img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rssamp;op=imageamp;style=h0amp;sid=09/01/08/148231"/a/ppa href="http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/148231amp;from=rss"Read more of this story/a at Slashdot./p pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/4LU4VxvhO7FY7HIJxMUmsiIFCBo/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/4LU4VxvhO7FY7HIJxMUmsiIFCBo/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pimg src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/Yga3zh5U0L4" height="1" width="1"/

fuzzel writes "Today Google announced Google over IPv6 where ISPs can sign up their DNS nameservers so that their users will get access to an almost fully IPv6-enabled Google, including http://www.google.com, images and maps, etc., just like in IPv4. Without this only http://ipv6.google.com is available, but then you go to IPv4 for most services. So, start kicking your ISPs to support IPv6 too, and let them sign up. Check this list of ISPs that already do native IPv6 to your doorstep. The question that now remains is: when will Slashdot follow?"pa href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/1330216amp;from=rss"img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rssamp;op=imageamp;style=h0amp;sid=09/01/08/1330216"/a/ppa href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/1330216amp;from=rss"Read more of this story/a at Slashdot./p pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/GRQNJWHB-5la_FhQmJLypsF6Spo/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/GRQNJWHB-5la_FhQmJLypsF6Spo/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pimg src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/9U7QUL-pPF0" height="1" width="1"/

Will Do This For Free writes "BBC News has a story about the only fireproof way of safeguarding your personal information when dumping your old computer: 'It sounds extreme, but the only way to be 100% safe is to smash your hard drive into smithereens. [...] The more thoroughly the better.' This sounds like so much fun that I almost feel like doing it right now. Let me press SubmitStory first."pa href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/1328255amp;from=rss"img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rssamp;op=imageamp;style=h0amp;sid=09/01/08/1328255"/a/ppa href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/1328255amp;from=rss"Read more of this story/a at Slashdot./p pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/NtDnX-gzdYfxML8P2T7IgZny0N8/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/NtDnX-gzdYfxML8P2T7IgZny0N8/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pimg src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/qNwg8r7M2Q4" height="1" width="1"/

[a href=http://www.webair.it/blog/2009/01/07/stylish-websites-calendars/ title=linklink/a] [a href=http://del.icio.us/url?url=http://www.webair.it/blog/2009/01/07/stylish-websites-calendars/ title=moremore/a]

An anonymous reader writes "At the International Conference on Cyber Security 2009 in New York, Evan Kohlmann, a senior investigator and private consultant for Global Terror Alert, claimed that a new breed of terrorists are using online forums to recruit people who align themselves with the mission of Al Qaeda, creating global networks of would-be terrorists."pa href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/0359237amp;from=rss"img src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?from=rssamp;op=imageamp;style=h0amp;sid=09/01/08/0359237"/a/ppa href="http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/01/08/0359237amp;from=rss"Read more of this story/a at Slashdot./p pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/nY1PtBQpU28LPedOVB7N_5Ht8_0/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/nY1PtBQpU28LPedOVB7N_5Ht8_0/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pimg src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/ETtNfx-Q_e0" height="1" width="1"/

[a href=http://www.atoztoa.com/2008/07/effective-use-of-vim-part-1.html title=linklink/a] [a href=http://del.icio.us/url?url=http://www.atoztoa.com/2008/07/effective-use-of-vim-part-1.html title=moremore/a]

[a href=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7809160.stm title=linklink/a] [a href=http://del.icio.us/url?url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7809160.stm title=moremore/a]

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