Comment Re:grad vs masters vs phd the myth. (Score 5, Funny) 844
I can believe 54,000 grand.
I cannot. 54 grand I just might.
The Psychology of Achievement In Playing Games 80
A post on Pixel Poppers looks at the psychological underpinnings of the types of challenges offered by different game genres, and the effect those challenges have on determining which players find the games entertaining. Quoting:
"To progress in an action game, the player has to improve, which is by no means guaranteed — but to progress in an RPG, the characters have to improve, which is inevitable. ... It turns out there are two different ways people respond to challenges. Some people see them as opportunities to perform — to demonstrate their talent or intellect. Others see them as opportunities to master — to improve their skill or knowledge. Say you take a person with a performance orientation ('Paul') and a person with a mastery orientation ('Matt'). Give them each an easy puzzle, and they will both do well. Paul will complete it quickly and smile proudly at how well he performed. Matt will complete it quickly and be satisfied that he has mastered the skill involved. Now give them each a difficult puzzle. Paul will jump in gamely, but it will soon become clear he cannot overcome it as impressively as he did the last one. The opportunity to show off has disappeared, and Paul will lose interest and give up. Matt, on the other hand, when stymied, will push harder. His early failure means there's still something to be learned here, and he will persevere until he does so and solves the puzzle."
Submission + - "2012" a Miscalculation; actual calendar ends 2220 (natutech.nl) 2
boombaard writes: "News is spreading quickly here that scientists writing in a (Dutch) popular science periodical (google translation linked) have debunked the 2012 date featuring so prominently in doomsday predictions/speculation across the web.
On 2012-12-21, the sun will appear where you would normally be able to see the 'galactic equator' of the Milky Way; an occurrence deemed special because it happens 'only' once every 25.800 years, on the winter solstice. However, even if you ignore the fact that there is no actual galactic equator, just an observed one, and that the visual effect is pretty much the same for an entire decade surrounding that date, there are major problems with the way the Maya Calendar is being read by doomsday prophets.
Because written records were almost all destroyed by 16th-century Spaniards, quite a lot of guesswork surrounds the translation of their calendar to ours, and it appears something went very wrong with the calculations. The Mayas used 4 different calendars, all of different lengths, with the longest of which counting out ages of roughly 5200 years. Figuring out how these relate to 'our' calendars is a big problem, which scientists had thought they had figured out about a century ago. (That's where the 2012 date, which now turns out to be almost 2 centuries out of date, comes from.) However, A German geologist showed in 2005 (in his dissertation) that the proposed correlation to GMT didn't fit with a lot of Mayan-observed events that we know about, and calculated that a roughly 208 year correction was needed, meaning the soonest the Mayan Calendar can end is in 2220.
Because written records were almost all destroyed by 16th-century Spaniards, quite a lot of guesswork surrounds the translation of their calendar to ours, and it appears something went very wrong with the calculations. The Mayas used 4 different calendars, all of different lengths, with the longest of which counting out ages of roughly 5200 years. Figuring out how these relate to 'our' calendars is a big problem, which scientists had thought they had figured out about a century ago. (That's where the 2012 date, which now turns out to be almost 2 centuries out of date, comes from.) However, A German geologist showed in 2005 (in his dissertation) that the proposed correlation to GMT didn't fit with a lot of Mayan-observed events that we know about, and calculated that a roughly 208 year correction was needed, meaning the soonest the Mayan Calendar can end is in 2220.
The final blow was arguably the thesis that nature scientist Andreas Fuls three years ago doctorate at the Technical University Berlin. Fuls pointed out that the GMT-correlation not consistent with a preserved Mayan table on which the positions of Venus are listed. And so there is more, such as inscriptions and objects in time of Goodman, Martinez and Thompson were not detected or outdated. By adding to it all, comes from a very different Fuls dating: one that 208 years has shifted. The end of the long count by the correlation is only about two centuries, at 21, 22 or December 23, 2220. "It is the only option," says Fuls if you ask him about it. (Google translation)
Until then, it would appear we are quite safe, except from Hollywood."
Submission + - Robot Simulates Visual Experience of Blind Person (caltech.edu)
al0ha writes: Scientists at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have created a remote-controlled robot that is able to simulate the “visual” experience of a blind person who has been implanted with a visual prosthesis, such as an artificial retina. An artificial retina consists of a silicon chip studded with a varying number of electrodes that directly stimulate retinal nerve cells. It is hoped that this approach may one day give blind persons the freedom of independent mobility.
Submission + - Sun takeover delayed by EU
An anonymous reader writes: It's all on hold again.
Will Sun survive the delay?
Will Oracle get pissed?
What will the EU find that the DoJ didnt?
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=amHPuPBJ.PAc
Submission + - Introducing Young Children to Computers with FOSS 6
puroresu writes: For my 5th birthday, my parents bought me my first computer. Being introduced to computers at an early age meant that by the time I started any formal computing education in school, I was reasonably familiar with much of the material in the curriculum. It also allowed me to develop skills such as touch typing. And of course, having access to tons of educational software and games was a bonus!
Fast forward twenty years and I find myself looking to buy an inexpensive computer for my fiancée's five year old son. I'm keen to introduce him to Linux and FOSS in general and I'd like to know how other /.ers have gone about this with their own children. How have you encouraged development of keyboard skills? Have you discovered some great educational software? Games particularly suited to younger children? Colourful themes and icon sets which appeal to younger users? Are there any other factors I should take into consideration?
Fast forward twenty years and I find myself looking to buy an inexpensive computer for my fiancée's five year old son. I'm keen to introduce him to Linux and FOSS in general and I'd like to know how other
Submission + - Sanctions undermining Iran's Twitter Revolution?
niktemadur writes: In Foreign Policy Magazine, Evgeny Morozov writes (paraphrasing for brevity):
Popular Iranian social sites do not display Google Ads, as Google doesn't allow to target visitors from Iran (as well as Cuba, North Korea, Sudan and Syria) because of the economic sanctions imposed by the US government, cutting off a guaranteed source of funding for Iranian Web entrepreneurs to create sustainable online ventures.
Instead of stifling dissident voices with misguided sanctions, and considering that Iranian state media is funded by the state, the US government should be partnering with Google and doubling or tripling what Iranian websites could earn from displaying the ads, bringing about a real "Twitter Revolution".
The ultimate question is: Is Google interpreting the letter of the law with too much zeal? Given that Google has recently confirmed its' commitment to defend digital refugees and other cyber-dissidents, it would be useful if it could clarify its' current actions.
Submission + - What the Internet knows about you 1
leromarinvit writes: LWN just posted a story about an interesting new privacy threat: What the Internet knows about you is a site which uses CSS (and optionally JavaScript) to find out which sites you've recently visited.
A new site at whattheinternetknowsaboutyou.com is an interesting demonstration of CSS-related browser history disclosure vulnerabilities. This site is able to produce a surprisingly comprehensive list of sites that one has visited, down to the level of specific pages on social networking sites and such. No JavaScript required. There's also information on just how the site works and how the disclosure of information can be minimized. "It is a source of amazement to us that such an obvious and well-documented history sniffing channel has been allowed to exist for so many years. We cannot help but wonder why, despite all the malicious potential, such a hole has not yet been closed."
The site is already slow without even being slashdotted, so be gentle with it.
Submission + - Handling a Family Medical Issue
An anonymous reader writes: I have an issue with a family member (namely, my spouse) who has a medical condition I need to manage.
I am a tech worker in Atlanta, GA. I make a very good salary and work for a large company here deep in the bowels of the IT portions of the company, and since I am well known in the geek community and the company I work for is touchy about it's employees being public with internal matters, I've chosen to remain anonymous. Should I need to, I can contact answerers via their contact info here on Slashdot.
A number of years ago (1993), my spouse became ill with viral encephalitis, but then recovered rather rapidly. We were thankful to have her back, and went on with life expecting no further issues since her recovery was so remarkable. She regained all facilities and returned to work with no issues. By the end of 1994 we had two children and I was starting to do a little better in IT, so she quit work to care for our children.
In 2001, she began to experience balance issues and within the couple of months it took to try and determine what was going on, she was on to a walker, soon to proceed to a wheelchair by year's end with an official pair of diagnoses of "olivopontocerebellar atrophy" and "ataxia". As a result, in a nearly overnight fashion, we were unable to purchase any sort of long-term nursing care insurance or any sort of assistance in a responsible way as one should do. We've never been without medical care or life insurance, only long-term nursing care insurance.
Beginning last October, she fell and needed staples in her head. As a normal course of the emergency room visit, they ran a CT scan to make sure she didn't have concussion or any unseen hemorrhages and discovered that she has remarkable loss of volume in all the superior lobes as well as the most remarkable atrophy in the cerebellum. Finally, last week she has begun to show loss of cognitive ability, inability to care for herself, and I am unable now to leave her alone.
Nursing care appears to be at an all-time high, requiring costs of anywhere from $70-80,000 US per year (not far from my actual salary level) and in-home care can be as much as $125-150 per day which would amount to $30,000 — $36,000 yearly. Suffice it to say, I cannot afford any of the above amounts, but I make too much for my wife to qualify for any sort of federal assistance, disability, medicaid, etc. However, we live quite frugally and even with that stewardship there's only about $800-1000 left at the end of the month.
My options appear to be either to quit my job and try and make it on no more that $2200/mo for her to qualify for help or to divorce her completely so she can be classified "indigent" and would immediately qualify for SSI, SSDI, RSDI, etc. and would be able to be placed in a nursing home and get the help she needs until she passes away (currently estimated to be within the next 12-24 months)
None of our apparent options are ideal, but it is what it is. Does anyone in Slashdot-land have experience with such a situation, or is aware of something we've missed in trying to help her out? I'd hate to have to do any of the above, but my vow to her is to care for her in sickness and health until death do us part. Even in divorcing her, I'd be following the spirit of my ow to her in getting her the care she needs.
Does anyone have any ideas for us?
I am a tech worker in Atlanta, GA. I make a very good salary and work for a large company here deep in the bowels of the IT portions of the company, and since I am well known in the geek community and the company I work for is touchy about it's employees being public with internal matters, I've chosen to remain anonymous. Should I need to, I can contact answerers via their contact info here on Slashdot.
A number of years ago (1993), my spouse became ill with viral encephalitis, but then recovered rather rapidly. We were thankful to have her back, and went on with life expecting no further issues since her recovery was so remarkable. She regained all facilities and returned to work with no issues. By the end of 1994 we had two children and I was starting to do a little better in IT, so she quit work to care for our children.
In 2001, she began to experience balance issues and within the couple of months it took to try and determine what was going on, she was on to a walker, soon to proceed to a wheelchair by year's end with an official pair of diagnoses of "olivopontocerebellar atrophy" and "ataxia". As a result, in a nearly overnight fashion, we were unable to purchase any sort of long-term nursing care insurance or any sort of assistance in a responsible way as one should do. We've never been without medical care or life insurance, only long-term nursing care insurance.
Beginning last October, she fell and needed staples in her head. As a normal course of the emergency room visit, they ran a CT scan to make sure she didn't have concussion or any unseen hemorrhages and discovered that she has remarkable loss of volume in all the superior lobes as well as the most remarkable atrophy in the cerebellum. Finally, last week she has begun to show loss of cognitive ability, inability to care for herself, and I am unable now to leave her alone.
Nursing care appears to be at an all-time high, requiring costs of anywhere from $70-80,000 US per year (not far from my actual salary level) and in-home care can be as much as $125-150 per day which would amount to $30,000 — $36,000 yearly. Suffice it to say, I cannot afford any of the above amounts, but I make too much for my wife to qualify for any sort of federal assistance, disability, medicaid, etc. However, we live quite frugally and even with that stewardship there's only about $800-1000 left at the end of the month.
My options appear to be either to quit my job and try and make it on no more that $2200/mo for her to qualify for help or to divorce her completely so she can be classified "indigent" and would immediately qualify for SSI, SSDI, RSDI, etc. and would be able to be placed in a nursing home and get the help she needs until she passes away (currently estimated to be within the next 12-24 months)
None of our apparent options are ideal, but it is what it is. Does anyone in Slashdot-land have experience with such a situation, or is aware of something we've missed in trying to help her out? I'd hate to have to do any of the above, but my vow to her is to care for her in sickness and health until death do us part. Even in divorcing her, I'd be following the spirit of my ow to her in getting her the care she needs.
Does anyone have any ideas for us?
Comment Sysadmining with Infocom (Score 2, Insightful) 130
As a newbie sysadmin, I feel I'm living in an Infocom adventure for some reason. Here's a write-up of my work day about a week ago.
Microsoft Asks Fed For Bailout 346
snydeq writes "Microsoft requested on Tuesday some $20 billion in bailout funds from the federal government, claiming that as the company controls an overwhelming share of the OS market, it is too big to fail. Low adoption rates for Vista, the ensuing ad campaign trying to convince people that they really do like Vista, and the increased need for development resources to rush Windows 7 to market to make people forget about Vista have necessitated the bailout, the company said. 'We want to make it absolutely clear that this is not a crisis of mismanagement,' said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in a prepared statement. 'This is simply a crisis of dollars — a crisis of not having enough dollars coming our way.'"
The Lower Atmosphere of Pluto Revealed 109
Matt_dk writes "Using ESO's Very Large Telescope, astronomers have gained valuable new insights about the atmosphere of the dwarf planet Pluto. The scientists found unexpectedly large amounts of methane in the atmosphere, and also discovered that the atmosphere is hotter than the surface by about 40 degrees, although it still only reaches a frigid minus 180 degrees Celsius. These properties of Pluto's atmosphere may be due to the presence of pure methane patches or of a methane-rich layer covering the dwarf planet's surface."
iTunes DRM-Free Files Contain Personal Info 693
r2k writes "Apple's iTunes Plus files are DRM-free, but sharing the files on P2P networks may be an extremely bad idea. A report published by CNet highlights the fact that the account information and email address of the iTunes account holder is hidden inside each and every DRM-free download. I checked, and I found I couldn't access the information using an ID3 tag editor, but using Notepad I found my email address stored inside the audio file itself."
Every Satellite Tracked In Realtime Via Google Earth 196
Matt Amato writes "With the recent discussion of the ISS having to dodge some space junk, many people's attention has once again focused on the amount of stuff in orbit around our planet. What many people don't know is that USSTRATCOM tracks and publishes a list of over 13,000 objects that they currently monitor, including active/retired satellites and debris. This data is meaningless to most people, but thanks to Analytical Graphics, it has now been made accessible free of charge to anyone with a copy of Google Earth. By grabbing the KMZ, you can not only view all objects tracked in real-time, but you can also click on them to get more information on the specific satellite, including viewing its orbit trajectory. It's an excellent educational tool for the space-curious. Disclaimer: I not only work for Analytical Graphics, but I'm the one that wrote this tool as a demo."
Algorithm Names Powell 'Ideal' Vice President Candidate 543
CWmike writes "Turns out the ideal vice presidential candidate for Sen. John McCain is the same person as the ideal vice presidential candidate for Sen. Barack Obama, according to a sophisticated online survey based on technology developed at MIT. Mr. Ideal? Colin Powell, a former U.S. Army general and former secretary of state. Affinnova's survey methods doesn't use the typical polling method of asking respondents to pick a name from a list. Instead, it gives respondents larger concepts, including photos, biographical information and possible first-term priorities. Affinnova calls this algorithm 'evolutionary optimization.' Steve Lamoureaux, the company's chief innovation officer, said of the VP finding: 'We never imagined that the same candidate would show up for both parties.'"
