59784865
submission
McGruber writes:
The May 4, 2014 episode of the "Mad Men" introduced a new bad guy character: an IBM System/360 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_System/360).
The computer replaced the "creative lounge" where the show's fictional copywriters spit-balled ideas. Fictional character explained "This machine is intimidating because it contains infinite quantities of information and that's threatening because human existence is finite. But isn't it godlike that we've mastered the infinite? The IBM 360 can count more stars in a day than we can count in a lifetime. "
59760449
submission
McGruber writes:
Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper blogger Maureen Downey reports (http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/get-schooled/2014/may/06/teacher-appreciation-day-google-atlanta-chooses-fu/) that, to celebration Teacher Appreciation Day, Google Atlanta today flash-funded the classroom requests of every Greater Atlanta teacher on DonorsChoose.org, Google’s $340,000 donation will provide materials for 356 Atlanta teachers and their 38,775 students.
“With two kids in the Atlanta Public School system, I’m inspired daily by the hard work of our local teachers,” said Tom Lowry, head of Google’s Atlanta office. “Today, we’re excited to team up with DonorsChoose.org to say a big thanks to teachers and to support all their classroom projects in the Atlanta area.”
59657131
submission
McGruber writes:
Remember the slashdot story about the Nissan Leaf owner who was arrested for stealing 5 cents worth of electricity from his child's school? (http://yro.slashdot.org/story/13/12/04/1817227/ev-owner-arrested-over-5-cents-worth-of-electricity-from-schools-outlet) Well, the Dekalb County School District (http://www.dekalb.k12.ga.us/) that had him arrested is in the news again after a few DeKalb County High School Technology South (http://www.dhstsouth.dekalb.k12.ga.us/) students googled their teacher.
The students discovered that their CRIMINAL JUSTICE teacher had engaged in a sexual act with a student past. The State of Florida had banned the teacher from teaching in 2009 after he entered a nolo contendre plea to a single count of child abuse. (http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/dekalb-teacher-resigns-after-past-sexual-accusatio/nfnk8/)
While two wrongs don't make a right, I can't help but think the school district's time would have been better spent keeping child molesters out of the classroom instead of prosecuting a parent for 5 cents worth of electricity.
59250195
submission
McGruber writes:
In August 2013, Gurbaksh Singh Chaha (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gurbaksh_Chahal), CEO of online advertising network RadiumOne (http://www.radiumone.com/), was charged with 47 counts of domestic violence. The San Francisco District Attorney's Office alleges that Chahal "hit and kicked" his girlfriend 117 times over a half-hour period on August 5, 2013.
Chahal's apartment has a video security system. During their investigation, the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) obtained surveillance footage that showed Chahal kicking his then-girlfriend in the head multiple times and attempting to smother her. Two cameras in Chahal's bedroom --one in a tinted glass dome on the bedroom ceiling-- recorded the alleged attack.
SPFD Officer Anh Nguyen testified that the "girlfriend claimed Chahal held his hands over her mouth and nose while telling her he was going to kill her." (http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/2014/03/ad-mogul-chahal-court-domestic-violence-charges.html?page=all) Prosecuters also allege that Chahal attacked his girlfriend after learning that she had taken a trip to Las Vegas with another man.
However, on April 2, 2014, a judge ruled that the video obtained from Chahal's apartment could not be used as evidence in his trial. Charhal then accepted a plea bargain and pled guilty to one charge of domestic violence battery and one charge of battery. He was sentenced to three years probation, a 52-week domestic violence training course, and 25 hours of community service.
Chahal has made numerous TV appearances, including a lengthy interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2009, a philanthropic stint on Secret Millionaire and was named America's most eligible bachelor by Extra TV five years ago. (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2611943/Millionaire-Tech-CEO-filmed-hitting-kicking-girlfriend-117-times-brutal-30-minute-attack-sentenced-25-hours-community-service.html)
Bloomberg recently reported (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-10/radiumone-said-to-be-preparing-ipo-to-expand-overseas.html) that RadiumOne is in the final stages of preparations for an initial public offering.
58904417
submission
McGruber writes:
Return-free filing might allow tens of millions of Americans to file their taxes for free and in minutes. Or that, under proposals authored by several federal lawmakers, it would be voluntary, using information the government already receives from banks and employers and that taxpayers could adjust. Or that the concept has been endorsed by Presidents Obama and Reagan and is already a reality in some parts of Europe.
Sounds great, except to Intuit, maker of Turbotax: last year, Intuit spent more than $2.6 million on lobbying, some of it to lobby on four bills related to the issue, federal lobbying records show.
58339049
submission
McGruber writes:
Irish police believe that a gangland bomber blew himself up after he forgot about the clocks changing for summer time while he was planting a bomb on Sunday.
58089627
submission
McGruber writes:
Former United States President Jimmy Carter defended the disclosures by fugitive NSA contractor Edward Snowden on Monday, saying revelations that U.S. intelligence agencies were collecting meta-data of Americans' phone calls and e-mails have been "probably constructive in the long run."
"I think it's wrong," President Carter said of the NSA program. "I think it's an intrusion on one of the basic human rights of Americans, is to have some degree of privacy if we don't want other people to read what we communicate."
57483655
submission
McGruber writes:
An Air Malaysia 777 bound to Beijing has apparently crashed into the South China Sea:
http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/07/...
That CNN article reports that there was one Italian passenger onboard... however the Italian who was supposedly onboard says his passport was stolen 6 months ago:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/new...
Luigi Maraldi, 37, reportedly called his parents to say he was in Thailand and not on board the flight. Mr Maraldi told the /Corriere della Sera/ newspaper that his passport had been stolen last August. "One of the hypotheses about how he came to be on the passenger list is that someone boarded using his stolen passport," the newspaper reported. A spokesman for Malaysia Airlines said they had received any information on Mr Maraldi.
57449129
submission
McGruber writes:
Austin ranks Number 1 in the nation when it comes to offering the largest tech salaries that have been adjusted for cost of living expenses, such as housing, groceries, utilities and other necessities. This is according to a study by TriNet, a company I had never heard off, that provides
(buzzword alert!) cloud-based human resources services.
The seven major tech hubs, ranked by cost of living adjusted average salaries:
1. Austin: $105,000
2. Atlanta: $103,000
3. Denver-Boulder: $98,000
4. Boston: $79,000
5. Silicon Valley: $78,000
6. Los Angeles: $70,000
7. New York: $56,000
57190393
submission
McGruber writes:
Following up on the Bil Nye and Ken Ham debate on Creationism ((http://science.slashdot.org/story/14/02/04/1731233/watch-bill-nye-and-ken-ham-clash-over-creationism-live): Creation Museum founder Ken Ham announced Thursday that a municipal bond offering has raised enough money to begin construction on the Ark Encounter project, estimated to cost about $73 million. Groundbreaking is planned for May and the ark is expected to be finished by the summer of 2016.
Ham said a high-profile evolution debate he had with "Science Guy" Bill Nye on Feb. 4 helped boost support for the project.
Nye said he was "heartbroken and sickened for the Commonwealth of Kentucky" after learning that the project would move forward. He said the ark would eventually draw more attention to the beliefs of Ham's ministry, which preaches that the Bible's creation story is a true account, and as a result, "voters and taxpayers in Kentucky will eventually see that this is not in their best interest."
57153859
submission
McGruber writes:
The Atlanta-Journal Constitution reports (http://www.ajc.com/news/news/12k-cameras-to-give-atlanta-police-broader-window-/nd2Sh/) that Atlanta Police plan to have as many as 12,000 cameras installed in the city.
“Atlanta is really on the leading edge of work in this area,” said William Flynn, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) deputy assistant secretary of infrastructure protection. “We spend a lot of our attention on preparedness, protection, prevention. This kind of technology is the best use of those efforts and the best use of our resources.
“We’ve even been able to capture a murder on film,” said Atlanta Police Lt. LeAnne Browning, a supervisor at the video integration center where footage from more than 2,700 cameras is monitored.
I'm sure that was of great comfort to the murder victim and his/her loved ones.
57115441
submission
McGruber writes:
Many educators and commentators believe that standardized testing is a soul-sapping exercise in rote learning that devalues critical thinking and favors students of higher-income parents who can afford test-prep classes or private tutors.
Not so, according to James Samuelson. In a Wall Street Journal opinion piece, Mr. Samuelson explains that testing is actually good for the intellectual health of students. (http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304104504579374651890320212) Testing is also an excellent way for teachers to better understand the particular academic challenges their students face.
Students acquire test-taking skills through discipline, through routine. They also learn how to reason by following a progression of ideas in connected, logical order. But the need for discipline, for routine, would require teachers to cut down on the practice of flitting about from one unconnected topic to another.
Mr. Samuelson teaches at Queens Vocational & Technical High School in Sunnyside, Queens, N.Y.
56986085
submission
McGruber writes:
In a post on the Flyertalk website (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/22387891-post72.html), WhatsApp Founder Jan Koum provides another interesting detail about how he steered Whatsapp into a $16 Billion Deal with Facebook (http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/14/02/20/1344218/how-jan-koum-steered-whatsapp-into-16b-facebook-deal):
we announced the deal with Facebook on wednesday after the market closed. during the process, we realized there was a chance we might not be able to get the deal wrapped up and signed on wednesday and it could delay.
when the risk of the delay became real, i said: "if we don't get it done on wednesday, it probably wont get done. i have tickets on thursday to fly out to Barcelona which i bought with miles and they are not easily refundable or even possible to change. this has to be done by wednesday or else!!!" ...and so one of the biggest deals in tech history had to be scheduled around my M&M award ticket
56445289
submission
McGruber writes:
Nearly 15 months after HP booked a massive accounting charge related to its $11.5 billion purchase of Autonomy, a new audit finally provides significant evidence (http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20140203-706362.html) to backup CEO Meg Whitman's claim that Autonomy's executives engaged in a "willful effort" to mislead HP's shareholders and management (http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/11/20/1651233/meg-whitman-says-hp-was-defrauded-by-autonomy-hp-stock-plunges).
The new audit by Ernst & Young LLP determined that Autonomy had significantly inflated revenue in 2010: Autonomy had booked deals that were unlikely to be paid for, booked deals prematurely before they were closed, and even claimed transactions where there were no end customers. HP also found errors in the accounting of certain expenses such as employee commissions and bonuses.
HP has refiled Autonomy's financial statements for 2010. HP's restatement lowers Autonomy's revenue for 2010 by 54% and also shows a decrease in operating profit by about 81%.
The Slashdot community has previously discussed the fallout from HP's October 2011 purchase of Automony in several stories, including:
HP Chairman Raymond Lane Steps Down
http://slashdot.org/story/13/0...
HP Not Giving Up On Autonomy
http://slashdot.org/story/13/0...
Why Bad Directors Aren't Thrown Out
http://slashdot.org/story/13/0...
UK Serious Fraud Office Probes Autonomy With ... Autonomy!
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/...
Is HP Right? Autonomy Salesperson Shares Internal Emails
http://tech.slashdot.org/story...
Autonomy Chief Says Whitman Is Watering Down HP Fraud Claims
http://news.slashdot.org/story...
Meg Whitman Says HP Was Defrauded By Autonomy; HP Stock Plunges
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/...
It's too bad that CEO Whitman squandered $11.5 billion on Autonomy instead of following Edward F. Molten's September 23, 2011 advice that she make a
deep and long commitment to open-source technology: "Could Open Source Investment Save HP?" http://news.slashdot.org/story...
56039877
submission
McGruber writes:
Like the Mac (http://apple.slashdot.org/story/14/01/26/1851236/watch-steve-jobs-demo-the-mac-in-1984), the IBM PC Junior (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_PCjr) first went on sale in late January 1984. That is where the similarities — the PC Junior became the biggest PC dud of all time (http://www.pcmag.com/slideshow/story/286031/the-12-biggest-pc-duds-ever/12).
Back on May 17, 1984, the NY Times reported (http://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/17/business/ibm-s-problems-with-junior.html?pagewanted=all) that the PC Junior "is too expensive for casual home users, but, at the same time, is not nearly powerful enough for serious computer users who can afford a more capable machine." The article also quoted Peter Norton, then still a human programmer that had not yet morphed into a Brand, who said that the PC Junior "'may well be targeted at a gray area in the market that just does not exist.'' IBM cancelled the machine in March 1985, after only selling 270,000 of them.
While it was a commercial plop, the machine is still liked by some. Michael Brutman's PCJr page (http://www.brutman.com/PCjr/) attempts to preserve the history and technical information of the IBM PCjr and Youtube has a video of a PC Junior running a demo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jky2gZLuGxY).
