Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
Education

Submission + - How much does it matter where you go to college?

omission9 writes: "I am a software engineer with a decade of experience in the field. I went to a public
university. At various points in my career I have worked with people
that have gone to Ivy League schools as well as similar "good schools" such as Johns Hopkins and MIT. I know this because they enjoyed discussing this. Based on how few they are in
relation to the number of people with at least a Bachelor's degree I
would say the representation was proportional.
We had the same job, same skills and knowledge, made the same money.
So, I am wondering just what the advantage they had was? I suppose the
old saw about "ivy league connections" could be true but I have plenty of great connections just from being a nice smart guy that gets along
with people!
Seriously, are there some avenues in life that I simply don't know about
because I didn't go to the right school and are forever shut off to me?
If so, what are they?"
Operating Systems

Submission + - Giving surgar to kids can be good thing

An anonymous reader writes: The OLPC initiative is a spinoff of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Media Lab whose goal is to help educate underprivileged children around the world. The design of the laptop is developed with this purpose clearly in mind. In this article, learn about the Sugar human interface, see how to virtualize an OLPC laptop on a standard PC using QEMU, and take a tour of Sugar and the OLPC capabilities. OLPC initiative maintains an active wiki site with a considerable amount of documentation and technical detail. The OLPC_Human_Interface wiki pages are a great place to learn more about this interesting project, including how to get involved.
Digital

Submission + - TPB's secret is out: Playble.com

Anonymous Coward writes: "The Pirate Bay is set to launch new 'Playble' music subscription site, where users can decide how much they want to pay for thier subscription. First hinted at perhaps in a blog posting on The Pirate Bay's site, and then mentioned in somewhat more detail in an article in the LA Times, the famed Swedish pirates are working on a new music sharing site that "will allow users to download music by artists for free and still support them financially.""
Encryption

Submission + - Phone Taps in Italy Spur Use of Encryption

manekineko2 writes: This article on the New York Times discusses how a recent rash of high profile mobile phone taps in Italy is spurring a rush towards software encrypted phone conversations. Private conversations have been tapped and subsequently leaked to the media and have resulted in disclosures of sensitive takeover discussions, revelations regarding game-fixing in soccer, and the arrest of a prince on charges of providing prostitutes and illegal slot machines. An Italian investigative reporter stated that no on would ever discuss sensitive information on the phone now. As a result, encryption software for mobile phones has moved from the government and military world into the mainstream. Are GSM phones in the United States just waiting for a similar explosion in the use of commercially-availble wiretapping technology, and could this be the impetus to finally see widespread use of software encryption in communications?
Software

Submission + - Truths About Vista, Office '07 & SharePoint Se

4foot10 writes: "With the hoopla behind them, solution providers are getting down to business and figuring out what their customers are looking for and what opportunities the new products provide. Their thinking so far, according to an analysis on ChannelWeb.com: Office 2007 is in great demand, SharePoint Server is driving new development and integration projects, and Vista, well, that's another story."
Spam

Submission + - SPAM Defense - 15 minute temporary email account

rsantosis writes: "If you're looking for a weapon in the war on SPAM, add GuerrillaMail.com to your arsenal. It's a ridiculously easy to use, temporary email service that, with one click, generates a randomly named email account that allows you to receive and reply to email for 15 minutes. Then it's gone. Forever. Along with all the unwanted SPAM that comes with "marketers" discovering a valid email address."
Quickies

Submission + - Nostalgia 101

An anonymous reader writes: Here's a very brief remembrance of ASCII art's background, in a nice article looking back on the life of one of the last typewriter repairmen.

From http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0426/p20s01-ussc.htm l?s=u

"Sometimes a company representative would come and awe onlookers by "drawing" pictures with the No. 5. He taught young Whitlock how to draw a line of soldiers across the page using an 'O' for the head, a slash for the body, hyphens for arms, and a caret for legs. "It was pleasing for little minds," Whitlock reminisces. He was interested in mechanics, so when the time came to work in the shop, he gravitated toward typewriters."

[apologies to the whoever's "Posting," but go ahead and fix this anyway you like,... I'm a devout coward.
Music

Submission + - The RIAA's worst nightmare: computers that underst

An anonymous reader writes: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070430-the- riaas-worst-nightmare-computers-that-understand-mu sic.html Computers and music have been linked since the earliest days of the mainframe, when giant machines controlled primitive synthesizers. Recently, however, a significant advancement has taken place in the field of computer music with the development of software that can not only transcribe polyphonic music in real time, but can also play back complex harmonies alongside human performers. For instance, at the annual Music Information Retrieval Exchange (MIREX) competition, Christopher Raphael of Indiana University demonstrated a system that can understand live music well enough to accompany a musician.
Media (Apple)

Submission + - Ballmer: iPhone isn't going to get marketshare

coondoggie writes: "This is one of those statements that just may come back to haunt — if he indeed can haunted — Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. In a wide-ranging interview with USA Today, the big man, when asked about Apple's passions and its iPhone said: "There's no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share. No chance. It's a $500 subsidized item. They may make a lot of money. But if you actually take a look at the 1.3 billion phones that get sold, I'd prefer to have our software in 60% or 70% or 80% of them, than I would to have 2% or 3%, which is what Apple might get. http://www.networkworld.com/community/?q=node/1467 0"
Patents

Submission + - Microsoft infringing on AT&T patent, only in U

An anonymous reader writes: The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) sided with Microsoft in a patent fight with AT&T. Acknowledging that Microsoft infringed on a patent, SCOTUS says AT&T is only entitled to damages based on Windows sold in the US. Story link:
Security

Submission + - Password Malpractice: Are You Guilty?

An anonymous reader writes: The explosion of passwords in today's enterprise has created a sea of holes in the security infrastructure. Some CIOs have responded to the challenge by bringing in the lifeboats, figuratively speaking, but in many cases the password-related security risk remains largely unchecked and even ignored.
Games

How He Found The Cube 45

Via GameSetWatch an in-depth article on the Alternate Reality Game Network site explaining how Andy Darley found the cube, and completed the first season of the Perplex City game. Written by Darley himself it's an engaging account of what it's like to actually play one of these games, and the process by which the cube's location was discovered. "It was then that I realised I was practically standing on a spot where the topsoil was the colour of the clay that ought to be hidden underneath it. It wasn't 10m from the post, it was slightly further - practically a continuation of the line I'd just investigated, exactly where you'd end up burying something if you walked 10m, stopped, and leaned forward to start digging. Seeing sub-surface clay with just a very thin covering of the material that was several inches thick elsewhere was deeply suspicious." GSW also links to an exhaustive look at an older ARG-in-a-children's-book, the game Masquerade, which is well worth reading up on.
Graphics

Submission + - Free 3D tool even I can use

CowardICE writes: There is a new release of Blender (free 3d animation and modeling tool) that has way a way cool sculpting tool that even the totally artistically retarded (ie me) can use to create realistic looking monster heads. The new blender also has a lot of other improvements and lots of nice videos showing the new features.
Security

Submission + - OLPC kill switch makes WGA look friendly

Ma'a Nonu writes: Some countries don't want the OLPC laptops to end up in the wrong hands, so the OLPC Project will be including an anti-theft daemon that will allow the laptops to be locked down remotely. 'The system allows countries to optionally establish a "license" period for the laptops, such as 21 days. When laptops are connected to the Internet, they will synchronize with an NTP server to obtain the correct time and date, and then obtain a license which must be renewed in the time specified. Laptops which are not renewed within the timeframe will lock. If the laptops are connected to the Internet after being reported stolen, the license-issuing server can deactivate the laptops immediately, as well. Locked laptops can be reauthorized and returned to normal use by the oversight entity.' The daemon cannot be disabled, according to the OLPC project, even with root access.
Science

Cold Fusion Scientist Exonerated 171

Icarus1919 writes "New Scientist reports that the scientist who discovered a possible cold fusion reaction by bombarding a solvent with neutrons and sonic waves has recently been exonerated of accusations of scientific misconduct following the verification of his results by another scientist."

Slashdot Top Deals

2.4 statute miles of surgical tubing at Yale U. = 1 I.V.League

Working...