Comment An anonymous reader writes .... (Score 1) 197
Seems like the writer may still have some repressed nerd/geek issues to ask such a question anonymously. Be proud of your RPG nerdness. Shout out loud, shout out strong..
Comment Poul Anderson, The High Crusade, maybe Eddings (Score 1) 726
The High Crusade is a pretty simple book that I loved and remembered reading as a kid. It is a good start into SciFi and easy to picture in ones mind while reading. I also suggest David Eddings, the Belgariad series as a good place to start. Good books with lots of imagery and not to difficult.
Comment May 5th is free comic book day. (Score 3, Informative) 372
The first Saturday in May is Free Comic Book Day. There are plenty of kid comic books out there and the Marvels and DC's even have young versions of the top titles/hero's. Here in Las Vegas, we have some great owners who are very helpful and any good store should be able to find out what the kid likes and suggest a few to start. Maximum Comics woo hoo. (selfless plug).
Comment Golden Rule of Testing. (Score 2) 228
Those who can, do. Those that can't, teach or QA.
While not always true, you have probably heard the above statement many times. Testers in many cases are responsible for bringing the whole project together. Other departments might make portions, a graphics/animation department, software programers, maybe math groups or database, however you are the one who has to test all the components together. For all this responsibility you get the least amount of pay, and are expected to know everything about all the parts and pieces. Blame QA is the common cry heard among companies, when something gets out buggy. The job itself could be ungodly script running repetition, or pretty cool new project stuff that has not been automated and the bleeding edge of the companies new products(with ungodly script repetition to follow later).
It tends to be a pretty thankless job, but in some cases it could be a good way to get into the company and use the job as a stepping stone for a better paid, less responsible, software developer (or otherwise) job at that company.
Submission + - iPhone 4S now No.1 smartphone at top-3 U.S. carrie (bgr.com)
hazytodd writes: Apple looks to be following up its surprising miss in the September quarter with a huge holiday quarter for its popular iPhone line. According to Canaccord Genuity’s checks, Apple’s iPhone 4S was the best-selling smartphone in October for Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint despite only being available for half of the month.
Submission + - More Evidence for Human Effects on Climate (nature.com)
Stirling Newberry writes: "While the development of a crack in the ice in Antartica that will be a large iceberg is providing some of the most interesting pictures of the day, and the story about record jumps in CO2 emissions are on many newspaper sites, two new articles are pointing to the subtle effects of human activity on climate. One, in Nature, is focused on how carbon is changing the dynamics of tropical cyclones, the other ,in Science, is focused on Nitrogen fertilizer and its effects on rainforests.
The Nature article focuses on cyclone genesis in the Arabian Sea, particularly whether human carbon emission reduces upper level winds. Of the three components of cyclone formation — warm sea water, unstable air masses, and low upper level winds — the last is what turns small storms into big storms, and allows storms in unusual places. This is because upper level winds shred the chimney effect that storms use to pull warm air from the sea and shoot it upwards. Low winds are like no predation in biology: without upper level winds to tear them apart, all sorts of strange storms can survive.
The Science magazine piece shows how human generated fertilizer shows up in leaves of trees in tropical rain forests. Since fertilizer is an essential part of increasing agricultural output, and rain forests are key parts of the atmospheric cycle, their study is important to climate stability as well."
The Nature article focuses on cyclone genesis in the Arabian Sea, particularly whether human carbon emission reduces upper level winds. Of the three components of cyclone formation — warm sea water, unstable air masses, and low upper level winds — the last is what turns small storms into big storms, and allows storms in unusual places. This is because upper level winds shred the chimney effect that storms use to pull warm air from the sea and shoot it upwards. Low winds are like no predation in biology: without upper level winds to tear them apart, all sorts of strange storms can survive.
The Science magazine piece shows how human generated fertilizer shows up in leaves of trees in tropical rain forests. Since fertilizer is an essential part of increasing agricultural output, and rain forests are key parts of the atmospheric cycle, their study is important to climate stability as well."
Comment Hmm. How would you google that.. (Score 1) 123
Lets see...
Jessica Lange like evening dresses.
Submission + - Bill would require a warrant for digital tracking (thehill.com)
GovTechGuy writes: Sens. Mark Kirk and Ron Wyden used the 25th anniversary of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act to stump for a bill that would require police to obtain a warrant before using an individual's cell phone, laptop or other digital device to track their location. Under current law the government can access that data without a judge's approval, or even access a user's email account without first getting a warrant.
Submission + - New Attack Uses iPhone as PC Keylogger (threatpost.com)
Trailrunner7 writes: Researchers from MIT and Georgia Tech have developed a new technique that enables them to use the accelerometer in an iPhone or other smartphone to capture keystrokes from a nearby PC and decipher the typed words with about 80 percent accuracy. The tactic, while quite complicated, could be used to conduct password-recovery or other attacks on unsuspecting victims.
The research relies on the fact that the accelerometers in modern smartphones have become sensitive enough to detect the vibrations produced by someone typing on a keyboard a few inches away on a surface such as a desk or table. The accelerometer is designed to detect when the phone is tilted or moved and is used in a number of applications, including the feature that flips the image on the screen when the phone is turned. However, the research team of Patrick Traynor, Arunabh Verma and Henry Carter of Georgia Tech and Philip Marquardt of MIT's Lincoln Laboratory discovered that it can also function as a discreet keylogger.
The research relies on the fact that the accelerometers in modern smartphones have become sensitive enough to detect the vibrations produced by someone typing on a keyboard a few inches away on a surface such as a desk or table. The accelerometer is designed to detect when the phone is tilted or moved and is used in a number of applications, including the feature that flips the image on the screen when the phone is turned. However, the research team of Patrick Traynor, Arunabh Verma and Henry Carter of Georgia Tech and Philip Marquardt of MIT's Lincoln Laboratory discovered that it can also function as a discreet keylogger.
Submission + - Earth's Population to Hit 7 Billion This Year (inhabitat.com)
MikeChino writes: The UN Population Division just announced that the world’s human population will hit 7 billion by Halloween 2011. The increase of one billion people in the past 12 years is worrying, especially since the global population only reached one billion total in the early 19th century. In the next 20 years, our population growth is predicted to rise to 8 billion people as our demand for food increases by 50 percent, water by 30 percent and energy by 50 percent.
Submission + - NoScript awarded $10,000 (hackademix.net)
An anonymous reader writes: NoScript having been chosen as the recipient of the DRG Security Innovation Grant. This is a great honor and a spur to keep making the Web a safer place. I feel the urge to thank the committee for recognizing NoScript as a pioneering force in browser security, and the community of contributors, researchers, translators, beta testers, and loyal users who keep this project alive day after day. The grant will fund the effort to merge the current two development lines, i.e. “traditional” NoScript for desktop environment.
Submission + - Neanderthals mated with human (eurekalert.org)
Med-trump writes: Neanderthals, whose ancestors left Africa about 400,000 to 800,000 years ago, evolved in what is now mainly France, Spain, Germany and Russia, and are thought to have lived until about 30,000 years ago. Now scientists have identified a piece of Neanderthal DNA (called a haplotype) in the human X chromosome and conclude that this haplotype is present because of mating with our ancestors and Neanderthals. The study was published in the latest issue of the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution.
Comment Not only is it worse.. (Score 1) 342
But the used games give you cooties.
Submission + - Dead People Scientists Keep Messing With (discovermagazine.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Some historical figures are just too interesting to leave alone, even when they're supposed to be moldering in the grave. That's why medical researchers dug up Tycho Brahe, bombarded Napoleon's hair with neutrons in a nuclear reactor, and did everything they could think of to King Tut. Discover Magazine has 8 stories of delayed diagnoses and extreme postmortems.
Submission + - Wall Street Hedge Fund Smashes Hard Drive Evidence (wsj.com)
An anonymous reader writes: We all know Slashdotters love debating the best way to wipe a hard drive clean. Looks like tech-savvy Wall Street Hedge Fund managers also know the best way to do it. From the WSJ article:
"F—in' pulled the external drives apart," Mr. Longueuil told Mr. Freeman during their meeting, according to the criminal complaint. "Put 'em into four separate little baggies, and then at 2 a.m. 2 a.m. on a Friday night, I put this stuff inside my black North Face jacket, and leave the apartment and I go on like a twenty block walk around the city and try to find a, a garbage truck and threw the s—t in the back of like random garbage trucks, different garbage trucks four different garbage trucks."
"F—in' pulled the external drives apart," Mr. Longueuil told Mr. Freeman during their meeting, according to the criminal complaint. "Put 'em into four separate little baggies, and then at 2 a.m. 2 a.m. on a Friday night, I put this stuff inside my black North Face jacket, and leave the apartment and I go on like a twenty block walk around the city and try to find a, a garbage truck and threw the s—t in the back of like random garbage trucks, different garbage trucks four different garbage trucks."
