Comment Re:What I find fascinating about this post (Score 1) 703
Some of us have better things to do with our time than monitor modding trends
Comment What I find fascinating about this post (Score 2) 703
Is the fact that at the time of this comment, there were only three comments rated at a 5 and not even root comments but responses to other people's low-rated threads. That says a lot about people's feelings toward this particular topic. Given that people with mod points are downgrading everybody else's posts, perhaps Slashdot should consider not accepting such stories on the grounds that it's nothing more than a pissing contest.
IPCC's "Darkest Yet" Climate Report Warns of Food, Water Shortages 703
The Australian reports that "UN scientists are set to deliver their darkest report yet on the impacts of climate change, pointing to a future stalked by floods, drought, conflict and economic damage if carbon emissions go untamed.
A draft of their report, seen by the news organisation AFP, is part of a massive overview by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, likely to shape policies and climate talks for years to come.
Scientists and government representatives will meet in Yokohama, Japan, from tomorrow to hammer out a 29-page summary. It will be unveiled with the full report on March 31.
'We have a lot clearer picture of impacts and their consequences ... including the implications for security,' said Chris Field of the US’s Carnegie Institution, who headed the probe.
The work comes six months after the first volume in the long-awaited Fifth Assessment Report declared scientists were more certain than ever that humans caused global warming. It predicted global temperatures would rise 0.3C-4.8C this century, adding to roughly 0.7C since the Industrial Revolution. Seas will creep up by 26cm-82cm by 2100. The draft warns costs will spiral with each additional degree, although it is hard to forecast by how much."
The work comes six months after the first volume in the long-awaited Fifth Assessment Report declared scientists were more certain than ever that humans caused global warming. It predicted global temperatures would rise 0.3C-4.8C this century, adding to roughly 0.7C since the Industrial Revolution. Seas will creep up by 26cm-82cm by 2100. The draft warns costs will spiral with each additional degree, although it is hard to forecast by how much."
Comment There will be a shortage if this keeps up (Score 1) 392
Some of you may have seen the common core style math problems going around the net. If that's the kind of B.S. that's being taught to future STEM students, we're in deep doo doo. When a bridge you designed collapses killing people, you don't get to talk about how you felt while you were designing it. The court will want to know why you did your math wrong.
Don't misunderstand me here. Slamming endless, pointless math problems pushes the very definition of tedious. IMHO, STEM education is too focused on theory as opposed to practical applications. No non-academic employer is going to care if you can solve differential equations in your sleep if you don't know how to make practical use of them.
Comment Why this DOESN'T work (Score 3, Interesting) 149
Recently, FB decided that it needed to verify that I was really me when logging in. To do this, it presented me with a bunch of photos from my "friends" that had been tagged and insisted that I choose a name of someone in the photo. If I got enough of them wrong, it would "lock" my account. (Not quite "lock" but I had to try it again). Not only did it pull up obscure photos from "friends" I rarely interact with so I had little chance of knowing who was in the photo. But get this: It pulled up photos of people facing away from the camera and expected me to know who the person was from behind. Da fuq, FB? Seriously?!?
Comment Re:New Mac Pro sans Windows 7 (Score 2) 199
Greater acceptance in the business community? There are still plenty of corporate IT staffers who refuse to acknowledge anything made by Apple if for no other reason than the support requirements of a Microsoft environment is job security for them.
Comment Re:New Mac Pro sans Windows 7 (Score 1) 199
I'm a little mystified as to why some moderator decided that my post was off-topic. I consider "rollback" to include "let me install an older version if I have the discs for it."
Comment New Mac Pro sans Windows 7 (Score -1, Offtopic) 199
Apparently, Apple, in it's infinite wisdom, has decided to drop support for Windows 7 in Bootcamp for the shiny new Mac Pros. Given that a lot of Windows users are saying no to Windows 8 and 8.1, one has to wonder why. My guess is that it was a concession Apple had to make to Microsoft in order to get Office on iOS.
Comment Meanwhile in New Jersey and elsewhere (Score 1) 144
Forces who don't give a rat's ass about cool tech or changing how Americans drive are giving a collective middle finger to Tesla. This guy had better study how things with Tesla are unfolding very carefully because he's next.
Comment Meanwhile in the West (Score 4, Insightful) 623
PM Neville Chamberlain and the League of Nations said "Naughty naughty" to Putin.
Comment The alternative being govt funding? (Score 1) 279
When the alternative is government funding, you're at the mercy of political winds and the loss of a patron in the next election.
Friendly Fungus Protects Our Mouths From Invaders 63
sciencehabit writes "When we talk about the human microbiome, bacteria usually get all the press. But microscopic fungi live in and on us, too. New research shows that a little-known fungus called Pichia lives in healthy mouths and may play an important role in protecting us from an infection caused by the harmful fungus Candida. The friendly fungus makes a substance that may even lead to a new anti-fungal drug."
U.S. Aims To Give Up Control Over Internet Administration 279
schwit1 writes with this excerpt from the Washington Post: "U.S. officials announced plans Friday to relinquish federal government control over the administration of the Internet, a move likely to please international critics but alarm some business leaders and others who rely on smooth functioning of the Web.
Pressure to let go of the final vestiges of U.S. authority over the system of Web addresses and domain names that organize the Internet has been building for more than a decade and was supercharged by the backlash to revelations about National Security Agency surveillance last year." Reader Midnight_Falcon points out this press release on the move from Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
Pressure to let go of the final vestiges of U.S. authority over the system of Web addresses and domain names that organize the Internet has been building for more than a decade and was supercharged by the backlash to revelations about National Security Agency surveillance last year." Reader Midnight_Falcon points out this press release on the move from Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
Comment Non-sequitor (Score 1) 299
I'm less interested in whether or not SCOTUS judges know what net neutrality is than I am about whether or not they know the US Constitution and SCOTUS precedent.
Comment The über power source is missing (Score 1) 122
Until somebody comes up with the über power source, all of this stuff is academic. Sure, I can build the Aliens Power Loader but it has to be connected to a big ass generator to work.
