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The Almighty Buck

Should IT Unionize? 1141

Posted by CmdrTaco from the working-great-in-detroit dept.
snydeq writes "Sixty-hour work weeks with no overtime or comp time, a BlackBerry hitched to your belt 24/7, mandates from managers who have no clue what you actually do — all for a job that could be outsourced tomorrow. 'Is it finally time for technology workers to form a union and demand better working conditions?' InfoWorld's Dan Tynan asks. To some, the odds against IT unions are long, in large part because the 'lone gunman' culture is pervasive. Diversity of skills and job objectives is another hurdle for rallying around common goals. But that has not dissuaded several union-minded groups from cropping up across the industry as of late, Tynan reports. In the end, the best bet for IT may be a professional organization modeled after the American Bar Association or the American Medical Association, one that could give IT professionals a single voice for speaking out on issues that affect everyone — such as H-1B visa limits or tax incentives to keep IT jobs onshore."
Democrats

Obama's Evolving Stance On NASA 941

Posted by CmdrTaco
mknewman writes "The Houston Chronicle is reporting a change in Obama's stance on NASA, saying his position on space exploration continued to evolve Sunday as the Illinois Democrat endorsed a congressional plan to add $2 billion to NASA's budget and agreed to back at least one more space shuttle mission."

Comment It's summer, and Slashdot is trolling (Score 0, Flamebait) 244

by mumblestheclown (#24429817) Attached to: UK P2P Fight Brewing
Yet another slashdot troll headline. A not unreasonable cooperative attempt by private companies to cut piracy with no government intervention whatsoever is an "attack on civil liberties."

Let's see if I have the basic dance correct: if a GOVERNMENT program comes out that attempts to curb piracy, then you scream and yell that privacy is a private matter between individual and rightsholder. If a PRIVATE progam is developed to combat piracy, even one with quite mild constraints like this one, we get bitching and whining that corportations are acting in place of government.

Here are the golden oldies we expect to see in this thread:

  • I trade my linux binaries via P2P (fine - then you should have no problem of rightsholders doing file-hash-based enforcement)
  • I learned about band X from P2p (fine - in which case if it makese economic sense for a company or band to release thusly, they will.. it's their decision to make)
  • piracy involves guys with eye patches. this is copyright infringement. actually, it's both. get thee to a dictionary.
  • yes, but they can't tell with absolute certainty who is using a given PC. absolute certainty is not a condition of law - reasonableness is.
  • It's not illegal if it hasn't been released in my country (anime, etc). NONSENSE.
  • P2P is fair use. No, it isn't. Especially in Britain, where the concept of fair use is much more restricted than in the USA (which *IS* an actual problem with the british system). But, don't worry - your 1.5 tb of movies and music isn't fair use ANYWHERE.

have i gotten the more obvious ones sorted?
Technology

The First Paper-Based Transistors 177

Posted by kdawson from the bend-me-shape-me dept.
Roland Piquepaille found news of research out of Portugal that has resulted in the first paper-based transistors (the original article is less informative than Roland's blog). More precisely, they've made the first field effect transistors (FET) with a paper interstrate layer. According to the research team, such transistors offer the same level of performance as 'state-of-the-art, oxide-based thin film transistors produced on glass or crystalline silicon substrates.' Possible applications include disposable electronics devices, such as paper displays, smart labels, bio-applications or RFID tags. The research will be published in IEEE Electron Device Letters in September.
Earth

Global Warming Stopped By Adding Lime To Sea 899

Posted by CmdrTaco from the but-then-nobody-can-have-a-good-gin-and-tonic dept.
Antiglobalism writes "Scientists say they have found a workable way of reducing CO2 levels in the atmosphere by adding lime to seawater. And they think it has the potential to dramatically reverse CO2 accumulation in the atmosphere, reports Cath O'Driscoll in SCI's Chemistry & Industry magazine published today."
Democrats

Obama Losing Voters Over FISA Support 1489

Posted by CmdrTaco from the sure-doesn't-help-my-opinion-of-him dept.
Corrupt writes "I've admired Obama, but I never confused him with a genuine progressive leader. Today I don't admire him at all. His collapse on FISA is unforgivable. The only thing Obama has going for him this week is that McCain is matching him misstep for misstep."
Earth

North Pole Ice On Track To Melt By September? 978

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the new-swimming-holes dept.
phobos13013 writes "Recently released evidence is showing the North Pole ice is melting at the highest rate ever recorded. As a result, the Pole may be completely ice-free at the surface and composed of nothing but open water by September. As reported in September of last year, the Northwest Passage was ice-free for the first time known to man. The implications of this, as well as the causes, are still being debated. Are global warming experts just short-sighted alarmists? Are we heading for a global ice age? Or is the increase in global mean temperature having an effect on our planet?"
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - Man Hacks House AC Unit Onto Car (myfoxhouston.com) 2

Submitted by The Angel of Vengeance
The Angel of Vengeance writes: A recent civil engineering graduate from the University of Houston was faced with a dilemma: It was going to cost him $1200 to get the Air Conditioning fixed on his car.

Like a true Engineer, however, he came up with another solution: He hacked a home AC unit and attached it to his car via the sun roof.

There are some pictures of his hack as well.

When asked about how long he'd keep the home AC attached to his car, he responded "I'll probably stick with this until I get rid of it".

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