18478678
submission
arisvega writes:
Some 400 high-tech South African traffic lights are out of action after thieves in Johannesburg stole the mobile phone SIM cards they contain. JRA (Johannesburg Road Agency) said it is investigating the possibility of an "inside job" after only the SIM card-fitted traffic lights were targeted.
The cards were fitted to notify JRA when the traffic lights were faulty.
JRA believes a syndicate "with links on the inside" is behind the thefts.
"We have 2,000 major intersections in Johannesburg and only 600 of those were fitted with the cards," the agency's spokesperson Thulani Makhubela told the BBC.
"No-one apart from JAR and our supplier knows which intersections have that system."
The thieves ran up bills amounting to thousands of dollars by using the stolen cards to make calls.
14279666
submission
arisvega writes:
The BBC reports http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10614542 , and I quote, that "after months of protracted negotiations, member states finally made their position clear at an Agriculture and Fish Council meeting on 12 July."- The report also reads that "Iter itself is holding a special Council meeting on 27-28 July. This will define the latest scope and schedule for the project". Interestingly enough, a primary scientific goal is popularized and mentioned; "The reactor is designed to produce 500MW of fusion power during pulses of at least 400 seconds. Critically, Iter is expected to demonstrate the principle that it possible to get far more energy out of the process than is used to initiate it".
Now there has not been a single fusion-tagged slashdot post that doesn't bear a comment mentioning that "fusion power has been just a few years away for the past decades"; but in this case, it looks very convincing; the main monetary obstacle is being effectively tackled with and the team is getting together and preparing to actually build the thing. What do you think, slashdot community? Do they really mean it this time? And even if they are, will we see more energy coming out than in? Can this be the kind of breakthrough we've been expecting for generations?
12165652
submission
arisvega writes:
I lost my backpack some time ago, but was lucky enough to had left my laptop at home that night, and my cell and keys in my pocket. The inevitable habit-change that followed was to start straping my keys on my pants, so at least I would still be able to get home (as long as I kept my pants on); but I realized that they are so many- one for the outer door, two for the inner, three more for my girlfriends place, one for the office, one for the postbox, one for my bicycle, the car, the motorbike and the roof. Plus, I keep a tiny swiss knife on my keychain, that I really wouldn't want to part with; needless to say that this makes a jingly bunch that eats through my pocket. Even though these might not be the kind of keys one would expect to find talking about in slashdot, I ask you, slashdot people, how do you carry/safeguard a hefty, pronouncingly jingly bunch of keys? What are the alternatives? Any suggestions on clothing or technology? Would having 'The One Key' make things better, or worse?
