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Comment Re:Re usability (Score 2) 151

I thought the only rocket-related thing reused from the shuttles was the fuel tank, and that only after reconditioning it post-ocean swim.

No, actually it was the Solid Rocket Boosters that were reused. After burnout, they were jettisoned at a (relatively) low altitude. The external tank, which stayed connected to the orbiter to a substantially higher altitude did not survive reentry.

Submission + - Dice Ruins Slashdot (slashdot.org) 12

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In an attempt to modernize Slashdot, Dice has removed everything that made Slashdot unique and worthwhile and has turned it into a generic blog site. User feedback has been unanimously negative, but this is to no avail, and users will have to head elsewhere for insightful and entertaining commentary on tech news.

Comment Just think how the ad market would change! (Score 3, Insightful) 43

by justaguylikeme (#42970355) Attached to: CES: Using Eye Movements to Control a Computer or TV (Video)
No more worrying about click throughs or whatever. Imagine your computer or TV just being able to report back to ad central which ads the users are looking at. THAT is the only impetus that would ever push this technology forward into common use in the future. It would, of course, be marketed as a convenience for the user or viewer, but it all comes back to the advertisers wanting to know exactly what the user is focusing on. Don't think for a minute that that information wouldn't be a gold mine to the right people, privacy be further damned!

Submission + - Digia to acquire Qt from Nokia (digia.com)

Submitted by
jppiiroinen
jppiiroinen writes: ""Digia, the software powerhouse listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki exchange (DIG1V), today announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Qt software technologies and Qt business from Nokia. Following the acquisition Digia becomes responsible for all the Qt activities formerly carried out by Nokia. These include product development, as well as the commercial and open source licensing and service business. Following the acquisition, Digia plans to quickly enable Qt on Android, iOS and Windows 8 platforms.""
The Courts

Submission + - Righthaven complains about defendants lawyers 'sco (vegasinc.com)

Submitted by Tootech
Tootech writes: A new round of name-calling erupted Monday between copyright lawsuit filer Righthaven LLC of Las Vegas and one of its creditors.

Righthaven, the copyright enforcement partner of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and formerly of the Denver Post, has for months been in survival mode as it tries to block creditors from seizing its assets.

Creditors — including people sued by Righthaven for copyright infringement but who then defeated Righthaven in court — have won $216,335 in judgments against Righthaven. That’s money they spent on legal fees successfully fighting Righthaven.

In the latest round of legal wrangling, Righthaven filed motions in federal court in Las Vegas on Monday complaining about what it called the “scorched earth judgment enforcement efforts” of Righthaven defendant Wayne Hoehn and his attorneys.

After on June 20 winning dismissal of the Righthaven lawsuit against him — alleging infringement of a copyright for a Review-Journal column — Hoehn was awarded $34,045 in legal fees against Righthaven on Aug. 15.

Righthaven has asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco to reverse both the dismissal of its suit against Hoehn and the award of his legal fees.

Righthaven, in the meantime, complained in Monday’s court filing that Hoehn’s attorneys at Randazza Legal Group in Las Vegas had inflated the $34,045 to $63,720 to cover Randazza’s judgment collection efforts through Nov. 1.
Programming

Submission + - Facebook Helps Give Hacking a Good Name Again

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Ira Winkler writes that whenever he sees another "cyberchallenge" getting play in the press, he think our priorities are screwed up. "People seem to think that organizing teams of people to hack into systems is a way to bring together the best computer talent to square off against each other," writes Winkler. "I look at it as a waste of that talent." That's why Winkler supports Facebook's latest Hacker Cup which has become one of the few tests of creative computer talent. Facebook is using the original definition of "hacker," referring not to someone who breaks into computer systems, but rather to an individual who "enjoys exploring the details of programmable systems and how to stretch their capabilities." Facebooks's contest consists of successive sets of increasingly difficult algorithmic problems. Scoring will be based on how accurately and quickly the programmers complete the puzzles. Last year's contest featured challenges such as determining the optimum number of shield generators and warriors one should acquire for the Facebook game Starcraft II and calculating the best race car driving strategy given a variable number of opponents, race track curves and likelihood of crashing. "Meanwhile, the media effectively lionize groups like Anonymous by breathlessly reporting on their latest hacks," writes Winkler. "What we really should be doing is not to reward a handful of students to find problems, but to train all students, and inevitably the profession, to integrate security into their efforts from the start.""
Portables

Submission + - Visa certifies phones for NFC payments (techworld.com.au)

Submitted by
angry tapir
angry tapir writes: "Visa has added smartphones from Samsung Electronics, RIM and LG Electronics to the list of devices it has certified to work with the 185,000 NFC-based payWave payment terminals in Europe. All the certified products run Visa's payWave application on a secure SIM card and use NFC to transmit payment information to contactless payWave payment terminals."
Education

Submission + - Raspberry Pi has gone to manufacturing (raspberrypi.org)

Submitted by
alecclews
alecclews writes: "After weeks of waiting the Raspberry Pi foundation, who are creating a US$25 computer to bootstrap Computing education, have flipped the switch on manufacturing.

They had wanted to build the board in the UK but it turns out to be uneconomic."

Submission + - CEA CEO Blasts SOPA Bill as 'Threat' to Innovation 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Consumer Electronics Association CEO Gary Shapiro Tuesday blasted the proposed Stop Online Privacy ACT (SOPA) pending in the U.S. Congress as "terrible," a "threat to innovation" and potentially destructive legislation.

"The drafters of this legislation are profoundly unaware of how the Internet works," Shapiro said. Shapiro, a former corporate lawyer, knocked SOPA's backers as "well-heeled copyright and patent lawyers" who seek to inhibit free thought and speech, blasting broadcasters and publishers like News Corp., Walt Disney Co. and Viacom that had originally propounded the law.

Comment What culture? (Score 1) 320

by justaguylikeme (#35062286) Attached to: Geek Culture Will Never Die...or Be Popular
I think the whole premise is wrong. True "geeks" aren't doing the things they do because they're trying to be in a specific culture or a niche. I think that generally the type of people who are generally considered to be geeky (myself included) happen to have similar interests and views on life. I haven't ever tried to seek out a culture, per se. Rather, the things that I happen to enjoy (computers, trivia, meticulous detail to esoteric things) tend to lead me to things that are considered geeky. As long as people continue to have a drive to do or participate in those kinds of things, there will always be a culture (whether it be mainstream or a subculture) of geekdom. This, though, like any other culture can still have poseurs. And, just like anyone trying to fit into a given role without feeling truly a part of the heart of it, those are the people who will try to overanalyze the ebb and flow of the culture's status vs. the mainstream.

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"Who alone has reason to *lie himself out* of actuality? He who *suffers* from it." -- Friedrich Nietzsche

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