JLavezzo - Slashdot User

Submission + - When do we start learning from negative feedback?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 07, 2007 @07:54PM

An anonymous reader writes: I work on a system which creates a model. In short it learns how to follow/create rules instead of following rules to learn. So far so good. Now I'm on a dead line and realized that it's behavior favors no feedback or positive feedback and that negative feedback is more complicated and therefore it learns it slower and requires a more mature/larger model. So my question is when do babies/kids start learning from negative feedback.

Submission + - Sparring Begins Over High-Def Movie Hacks

Submitted by

narramissic

on Monday April 09, 2007 @03:21PM

narramissic writes: "A string of attacks on the Advanced Access Content System (AACS), which is used on both HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc, is proof positive that hackers are hard at work trying to ensure that the copy-protection system on next-generation DVDs goes the way of the CSS (content scrambling system) — that is, the eventual widespread availability of software that can copy next-gen DVDs. While the 'architects of AACS learned from the mistakes of CSS and built into the system several different types of keys and the ability to change keys whenever attacks were successful,' the motivation of the hacking public is not to be underestimated. A community of people is already 'spending vast amounts of time pulling out various keys from high-definition movie discs and anticipating the next move of AACSLA and how they might get around it.'"

Feed Laptop thefts expose 40,000 Chicago teachers (theregister.com)

From feed by registerfeed on Monday April 09, 2007 @03:12PM

Identity crisis

A thief walked into the headquarters of Chicage Public Schools (CPS) on Friday, April 6 and grabbed two laptops containing the names and social security numbers of 40,000 teachers. The CPS has released an image of the suspect captured by CCTV and is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the thief or recovery of the data.

U.S. Billionaire Heads to Space Station 208

Posted by samzenpus on Monday April 09, 2007 @02:56PM from the now-that's-an-expensive-hotel dept.

TurnAround writes "According to an International Business Times article, a Russian rocket carrying the American billionaire who helped develop Microsoft Word roared into the night skies over Kazakhstan Saturday, sending Charles Simonyi and two cosmonauts soaring into orbit on a two-day journey to the international space station. Climbing on a column of smoke and fire into the clouds over the bleak steppes, the Soyuz TMA-10 capsule lifted off at 11:31 p.m. local time, casting an orange glow over the Baikonur cosmodrome and dozens of officials and well-wishers watching from about a mile away."

Submission + - Utah Bans Keyword Advertising

Submitted by

Eric Goldman

on Monday April 09, 2007 @02:44PM

Eric Goldman writes: "Last month, Utah passed a law banning keyword advertising. Rep. Dan Eastman, the Utah legislator who sponsored the law, believes competitive keyword advertising is the equivalent of corporate identity theft, causing searchers to be (in his words) "carjacked" and "shanghaied" by advertisers. He also takes a swipe at the EFF, dismissing its critique of the law as "criticism from the fringes." I have posted a response to Rep. Eastman."

Submission + - Is the Internet Ready to Break?

Submitted by DebNY on Monday April 09, 2007 @02:08PM

DebNY writes: The rapid rise of Web video and broadband net access "may overwhelm some of the Internet's backbones" in 2007, while "ISPs may struggle to keep pace with demand." So says a study from the Technology, Media & Telecommunications (TMT) group at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. But reports of the Internet's imminent demise are greatly exaggerated, says Ed Cone of CIO Insight. "An Internet that is broken or seriously impaired at its core would obviously be bad for business in all kinds of ways...but as in the case of the most notorious prognostication of impending disaster, made in 1995 by Ethernet co-inventor Robert Metcalfe, the doom seers seem likely to eat their words. In fact, the supply of available bandwidth, especially at the core of the net, looks healthier than the pessimists would have it — or even bother to support with hard numbers when pressed to defend their arguments."

Submission + - Why you can hear everything in an amphitheater

Submitted by

Lucas123

on Monday April 09, 2007 @02:07PM

Lucas123 writes: "A story on ScienceDailyexplains that you can hear a pin drop from the back seat of a Greek amphitheater not because of the slope or shape of the theater but because of the seats themselves."

Combined Hovercraft and Helicopter 254

Posted by samzenpus on Monday April 09, 2007 @02:05PM from the m.a.s.k. dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Has British engineer Geoff Hatton brought us the best of two worlds with his UFO-looking machine? The US military thinks so and are investing in it. The design is sturdy (as opposed to a helicopter) and can fly high (as opposed to a hovercraft). It is based on the Coanda Effect."

Submission + - Google Website Optimizer

Submitted by

compuglot

on Monday April 09, 2007 @01:41PM

compuglot writes: "Google has released the third leg of the stool in its quest to dominate online marketing. Google Website Optimizer is a multivariate testing application that allows users to test elements and combinations of elements in a website or landing page. The goal is increased conversions, and of course AdWords market share."

Submission + - Intel and AMD spar over server-chip speeds.

Submitted by

Vivin

on Monday April 09, 2007 @01:31PM

Vivin writes: "AMD came out with a full page ad in the Wall Street Journal and other newspapers. The ad reads "Saying you're the 'world's best processor' is one thing, Actually being the 'world's best processor' is another." The ad pushes AMD's 3Ghz dual-core Opteron processor while calling into question Intel's leadership with the dual-core and quad-core Xeon processors. The claim is based on the SPECint*_rate2006 and SPECfp*_rate2006 benchmarks that AMD has used. AMD says that they have a 15.5 percent advantage in floating-point operations and a 2.5 percent lead in integer operations. Intel has countered by saying that the Opteron chips advertised aren't available to customers yet. AMD stated that they have already shipped the processors out to manufacturers and that they should be available this month. The ad neglects to mention the quad-core Xeons. Intel's quad-core processors are already in the market, whereas the AMD quad-core Opteron (code-named "Barcelona") is not expected until the middle of this year. BetaNews and Computerwire have more information on this story."

Submission + - Outsourcing and Big Macs

Submitted by on Monday April 09, 2007 @01:19PM

An anonymous reader writes: The IT outsourcing mantra is that everything can be done at a lesser cost overseas, but do you really get the same service and/or product quality across the globe ? And if so what are the true savings ratios ? The Big Mac is something that's been done on a global scale for a while now, and oddly enough the production costs across the globe aren't different orders of magnitude like those touted in IT outsourcing. A curious look into the Big Mac Index, outsourcing and overall process quality Big Mac Index for IT Outsourcing : You get what you pay for.

Feed Arsenic In Chicken Feed May Pose Health Risks To Humans (sciencedaily.com)

From feed by sdfeed on Monday April 09, 2007 @01:13PM

Pets may not be the only organisms endangered by some food additives. An arsenic-based additive used in chicken feed may pose health risks to humans who eat meat from chickens that are raised on the feed. Arsenic has been linked to cancer and other illnesses.

Feed Male Births: Decline In The US And Japan (sciencedaily.com)

From feed by sdfeed on Monday April 09, 2007 @01:13PM

During the past 30 years, the number of male births has decreased each year in the US and Japan. The decline in births is equivalent to 135,000 fewer white males in the US and 127,000 fewer males in Japan over the past three decades and suggest that environmental factors are one explanation for these trends.

Submission + - Small Server for Non-Profit FM Radio Station

Submitted by

Mark Rawlings

on Monday March 26, 2007 @03:37PM

Mark Rawlings writes: "I'm the engineer for a small college radio station and we are trying to figure out the best way to store thousounds (maybe tens of thousands) of CDs digitally. Manpower is not a problem as far as ripping goes, and we are using scott studios software (recently bought by google) to automate everything but we ran out of space fast on our 300gb of space that came with the scott studios machines. We are looking for something that is easy to run, easily upgradable, redundant, and has an ethernet interface. I'm guessing around 5 TB would be a good amount of space to max out with. Speed of drives isn't really an issue as we'll never be streaming more than one file to one source at a time."

Submission + - SorryAboutOurPresident.com - America Apologizes

Submitted by

Savannah

on Monday March 26, 2007 @03:28PM

Savannah writes: "Dear Rest of the World, We are American citizens. Our President does not represent our views. Please do not confuse his policies and actions with those of the good people of our country. This website is here to give you the opportunity to hear the voices of the American people, to hear our apologies and the shame we feel for the leader of our country, George W. Bush." There are hundreds of interesting posts already; it's a great cross-section of current American sentiment. http://www.sorryaboutourpresident.com/"

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