bandersnatch - Slashdot User

Comment living under the gun (Score 1) 131

by bandersnatch on Friday December 14, 2018 @09:32AM (#57802836) Attached to: Japan Plans For 100ft Tsunami

I live in southern Japan under the threat of the Nanaki trough earthquake.

> Unfortunately, the report doesn't outline how the government plans to get people out of harm's way.

My local area is expected to be about 7m under water (roughly 22 feet for you Neanderthals) and there are yearly evacuation drills, tsunami siren tests, tall buildings have agreed to be shelters and a lot of money poured into awareness and prep. Everyone is encouraged to work our their evac plan and meeting points in advanced, and most have some form of a bug-out bag. Where I live in particular the elevation is low and there are few tall buildings. Many area senior citizens have a bit of a fatalistic attitude of if everyone prepares but if it happens, they will do what they can but beyond that, who knows.

Athletes' Brains Reveal Concussion Damage 328

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday January 27, 2009 @05:14PM from the chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy dept.

jamie found a story on research about what concussions do to athletes, with the insights coming mostly from the study of the donated brains of dead athletes. The NFL has the biggest profile in the piece, but other sports make an appearance too. Turns out that repeated concussions can result in depression, insomnia, and the beginnings of something that looks a lot like Alzheimer's. "The idea that you can whack your head hundreds of times in your life and knock yourself out and get up and be fine is gone," said [retired wrestler] Nowinski. "We know we can't do that anymore. This causes long-term damage."

Feds Plot Massive Internet Router Security Upgrade 101

Posted by timothy on Thursday January 15, 2009 @09:53PM from the let's-like-totally-upgrade dept.

BobB-nw writes "The U.S. federal government is accelerating its efforts to secure the Internet's routing system, with plans this year for the Department of Homeland Security to quadruple its investment in research aimed at adding digital signatures to router communications. DHS says its routing security effort will prevent routing hijack attacks as well as accidental misconfigurations of routing data. The effort is nicknamed BGPSEC because it will secure the Internet's core routing protocol known as the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP). (A separate federal effort is under way to bolster another Internet protocol, DNS, and it is called DNSSEC.) Douglas Maughan, program manager for cybersecurity R&D in the DHS Science and Technology Directorate, says his department's spending on router security will rise from around $600,000 per year during the last three years to approximately $2.5 million per year starting in 2009."

Injectable Artificial Bone Developed 105

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday December 16, 2008 @12:50AM from the no-op dept.

An anonymous reader writes in with the news that British scientists have invented artificial "injectable bone" that flows like toothpaste and hardens in the body. This new regenerative medicine technology provides a scaffold for the formation of blood vessels and bone tissue, then biodegrades. The injectable bone can also deliver stem cells directly to the site of bone repair, the researchers say. "Not only does the technique reduce the need for dangerous surgery, it also avoids damaging neighboring areas, said [the inventor]. The technology's superiority over existing alternatives is the novel hardening process and strength of the bond... Older products heat up as they harden, killing surrounding cells, whereas 'injectable bone' hardens at body temperature — without generating heat — making a very porous, biodegradable structure."

Alien Comet May Have Infiltrated the Solar System 208

Posted by kdawson on Wednesday December 03, 2008 @06:37AM from the starseed-lure dept.

New Scientist has a piece about Comet Machholz 1, whose uncommon molecular composition suggests, but does not prove, that it may be an interloper from another star system. "Comet Machholz 1 isn't like other comets. David Schleicher of the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, measured the chemical makeup of 150 comets, and found that they all had similar levels of the chemical cyanogen (CN) except for Machholz 1, which has less than 1.5% of the normal level. Along with some other comets, it is also low on the molecules carbon-2 and carbon-3."

ICANN Proposes New Way To Buy Top-Level Domains 198

Posted by timothy on Wednesday October 29, 2008 @02:20PM from the how-about-vending-machines dept.

narramissic writes "Late last week, ICANN put up for comment a new top-level domain (TLD) proposal that would open up the market for generic TLDs on the Internet, basically allowing anyone with $185,000 to buy a new TLD. ICANN has based the cost of a generic TLD on what it believes will be the cost to evaluate applications and protect the organization against risk, said Paul Levins, ICANN's executive officer and vice president for corporate affairs. Any excess money would be redistributed based on the wishes of the Internet community, he said. As of late Tuesday, there were only a couple of comments on the proposal."

Google Launches User-Driven Debate Site 68

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday October 25, 2008 @10:21AM from the arguing-on-the-internet dept.

Tyndmyr writes "In conjunction with the previously covered Knol system, Google has recently released Knol Debates, where users can vote for and discuss various topics. First up, presidential debates, representing topics from any party, and with some commentary being given by the libertarian Cato Institute. Unfortunately, patent law and technology questions are still rather poorly represented. Oddly enough, Knol Debates doesn't even appear to be in beta. The system makes use of Google Moderator to select questions."

Comment Re:Noo, really?!?!? (Score 1) 173

by bandersnatch on Monday October 06, 2008 @08:12PM (#25279269) Attached to: Enterprise Software Sales Dried Up In September

Informative?!? more like troll.

Many projects in the financial sector require 100s of developers and 1000s of man-months (yeah, yeah, mythical man-month and all that still apply). Are you willing to work for $1 a month?

Thought not.

Verizon Tech Accused Of Making $220K In Sex Calls On User Lines 218

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday September 11, 2008 @02:31AM from the lots-of-lotion dept.

Joseph Vaccarelli, a former Verizon Technician, has been charged with racking up $220,000 in phone-sex calls by tapping into the land lines of nearly 950 customers. Authorities say that he made approximately 5,000 calls, resulting in 45,000 minutes of call time. Verizon estimated that out of a 40-week period, Vaccarelli spent 15 weeks talking on sex lines. How in the world do you have this much phone sex, period, but especially at work, and not have anyone notice?

Google Chrome, the Google Browser 807

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday September 01, 2008 @01:09PM from the fun-unfounded-rumor dept.

Philipp Lenssen writes "Google announced their very own browser project called Google Chrome — an announcement in the form of a comic book drawn by Scott McCloud, no less. Google says Google Chrome will be open source, include a new JavaScript virtual machine, include the Google Gears add-on by default, and put the tabs above the address bar (not below), among other things. I've also uploaded Google's comic book with all the details (details given from Google's perspective, anyway... let's see how this holds up). While Google provided the URL www.google.com/chrome there's nothing up there yet."

Jerry Seinfeld Will Plug Vista 776

Posted by timothy on Thursday August 21, 2008 @05:21PM from the for-all-that-is-good-stop-sending-this-one dept.

Barence writes "Microsoft has signed up comedian Jerry Seinfeld to its $300 million Vista PR blitz, as it attempts to turn around the negative perception surrounding its operating system. Reports suggest Bill Gates will also appear in the ads, which, given the comedy timing he displayed in his 'Bill's Last Day' video, and the deadpan manner of Seinfeld, could result in a huge hit for the company." Reader Zarmanto notes in his journal that "Mac users might be quite amused, considering that (like many other TV shows) the set of Seinfeld always had a Macintosh prominently displayed in the background."

Iran Announces Manned Space Mission Plans 559

Posted by timothy on Thursday August 21, 2008 @02:57PM from the look-out-below dept.

Lucas123 writes "After Iran's first attempt to launch a satellite on Sunday fell noticeably short of the Earth's atmosphere (though Iran claimed it made it into orbit), government officials stated they intend to put a man into space within 10 years. The long-range ballistic technology used to put satellites into space can also be used for launching weapons. Iran says it has no intention to use the technology for launching nuclear warheads."

Interview Update With Bjarne Stroustrup On C++0x 589

Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday August 21, 2008 @11:59AM from the name-spelling-indicates-language-complexity dept.

An anonymous reader writes "DevX interviewed Bjarne Stroustrup about C++0x, the new C++ standard that is due in 2009. Bjarne Stroustrup has classified the new features into three categories: Concurrency, Libraries and Language. The changes introduced in Concurrency makes C++ more standardized and easy to use on multi-core processors. It is good to see that some of the commonly used libraries are becoming standard (eg: unordered_maps and regex)."

Game Developer's Response To Pirates 734

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday August 13, 2008 @10:08PM from the scuttle-the-console dept.

cliffski writes "A few days ago, indie PC games developer Positech publicly called for people pirating their games to explain why, in an open and honest attempt to see what the causes of gaming piracy were. Hundreds of blog posts, hundreds more emails and several server-reboots later, the developer's reply is up on their site. The pirates had a lot to say, on subjects such as price, DRM, demos and the overall quality of PC games, and Positech owner Cliffski explains how this developer at least will be changing their approach to selling PC games as a result. Is this the start of a change for the wider industry? Or is this the only developer actively listening to the pirates point of view?"

Let the Games Be Doped 773

Posted by timothy on Wednesday August 13, 2008 @04:32PM from the hobble-out-for-amputations dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "John Tierney poses the question in the New York Times 'what if we let athletes do whatever they wanted to excel?' Before you dismiss the notion, consider what we're stuck with today — a system designed to create a level playing field, protect athletes' health and set an example for children, that fails on all counts. The journal Nature, in an editorial in the current issue, complains that 'antidoping authorities have fostered a sporting culture of suspicion, secrecy and fear' by relying on unscientifically calibrated tests, like the unreliable test for synthetic testosterone that cost Floyd Landis his 2006 Tour de France victory and even if the authorities manage to correct their tests, they can't possibly keep up with the accelerating advances in biology." Read on for more.

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