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Submission Summary: 0 pending, 55 declined, 4 accepted (59 total, 6.78% accepted)

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Space

Submission + - Comet Holmes bigger than the sun

mcgrew (sm62704) writes: "I have NASA's "Image of the DAY" loaded up in iGoogle, and was astounded that the caption to today's astronomy image of the comet says that

The spherical coma of Comet Holmes has swollen to a diameter of over 1.4 million kilometers, making the tenuous, dusty cloud even bigger than the Sun. Scattering sunlight, all that dust and gas came from the comet's remarkably active nucleus, whose diameter before the late October outburst was estimated to be a mere 3.4 kilometers. In this sharp image, recorded on November 14 with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope, stars are easily visible right through the outer coma, while the nucleus is buried inside the condensed, bright region. The bright region of the coma seems offset from the center, consistent with the idea that a large fragment drifted away from the nucleus and disintegrated, producing the comet's spectacular outburst.
The comet's nucleus, of course, isn't anywhere near the sun's size; Wikipedia has a very good image gallery of Holmes and animations of its motions.

NASA's Image of the Day can be found here."
The Courts

Submission + - Girl sues sports team over electronic scoreboard

mcgrew (sm62704) writes: "The St Louis Post Dispatch is reporting that a teenager is suing the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team over a message that appeared on the electronic scoreboard that read "[plantiff] has an STD! Eww"

The suit accuses the Cardinals of negligence in allowing a defamatory statement to be published. The girl is seeking damages "in excess of $25,000," plus legal fees.

The Cardinals introduced the scoreboard service when the new stadium opened last year. For $2.99, fans can send a text message from their phone to digital boards along the first- and third-base lines, as well as a display in right-center field.

Vulgar comments are supposed to be caught before they are displayed, but that has not always been the case.
No "safe harbor" for scoreboards!"
Space

Submission + - Giant black holes power highest-energy cosmic rays

mcgrew (sm62704) writes: "New Scientist says

The finding, from a telescope array 10 times the size of Paris, solves a long-standing mystery about the origins of the most energetic cosmic rays that strike the Earth's atmosphere....

[T]he origins of the highest-energy particles, which travel within a whisker of the speed of light, have been puzzling. A single proton can have as much energy as a tennis ball served at 100 kilometres per hour.

Astronomers found it difficult to explain how particles are accelerated to such enormous speeds.
The article says these new findings herald "the beginning of cosmic ray astronomy"."
Operating Systems

Submission + - Dual boot in Phoenix BIOSes 1

mcgrew (sm62704) writes: "The AP is reporting that Phoenix Technologies Ltd. BIOSes will have dual boot capabilities at the BIOS level, possibly starting next summer.

User will be able to boot in a few seconds straight into the DVD player, skipping the longer Windows startup, or switch to the DVD player from Windows. If Windows is running at the same time, it can be put in sleep mode, prolonging battery life.

Laptops with a media player separate from Windows already exist, but the players don't run parallel to Windows (you have to boot into the player, then shut it down and boot into Windows to switch tasks).

Laptops with HyperSpace would likely have a separate button that instantly switches away from Windows.
The technology, named HyperSpace, will be based on Linux."
Space

Submission + - Black holes may harbour their own universes

mcgrew writes: From the "head explodes" department:

When matter gets swallowed by a black hole, it could fall into another universe contained inside the black hole, or get trapped inside a wormhole-like connection to a second black hole, a new study suggests.
Christian Böhmer of University College London, in the UK and colleague Kevin Vandersloot of the University of Portsmouth in the UK used computers to approximate what would happen to matter falling into a black hole using the Loop Quantum Gravity theory.

"We were very surprised about the results," Böhmer says. Instead of a boundary around the singularity, they got two other kinds of solutions — both bizarre — that replaced the singularity
More at New Scientist.
Biotech

Submission + - Brains hard wired for math

mcgrew (sm62704) writes: "New Scientist is reporting that "non-human primates really can understand the meaning of numerals."

The small study of two rhesus monkeys reveals that cells in their brains respond selectively to specific number values — regardless of whether the amount is represented by dots on a screen or an Arabic numeral.

For example, a given brain cell in the monkey will respond to the number three, but not the number one. The results suggest that individual cells in human brains might also have a fine-tuned preference for specific numerical values.
The report itself is online at PLoS Biology, Semantic Associations between Signs and Numerical Categories in the Prefrontal Cortex."
Power

Submission + - "Tractor beam" invented by Cornell Univers

mcgrew (sm62704) writes: "New Scientest says that a "tractor beam" of sorts has been developed to guide microscopic particles.

"We are able to grab things out of the flow and propel them along a new path," says Erickson. He adds that microfluidic work is inherently fiddly, because drag, friction and viscosity are much stronger at such smaller scales. "Optics is the opposite — as you confine things to smaller spaces they get faster and more useful," Erickson adds.
"
Biotech

Submission + - Source of "optimism" found in the brain

mcgrew (sm62704) writes: "The optimist says "the glass is half full", the pessimist says "the glass is half empty," the scientist says there's .327084436 liters, and the realist says "we need to find another .0025 lters". New Scientist says "Two regions of the brain linked to optimism have been discovered by researchers. The identification of the sites that signal positive thinking could shed light on the causes of depression.""
Security

Submission + - cracking techniquee causes security concerns

mcgrew (sm62704) writes: "New Scientest is reporting that Elcomsoft (made famous by one of its researchers, Dmitry Skylarof, being jailed for legal cracking of an Adobe app) has patented a technique for cracking passwords using inexpensive graphics hardware. From the article:

The toughest passwords, including those used to log in to a Windows Vista computer, would normally take months of continuous computer processing time to crack using a computer's central processing unit (CPU). By harnessing a $150 GPU — less powerful than the nVidia 8800 card — Elcomsoft says they can cracked in just three to five days. Less complex passwords can be retrieved in minutes, rather than hours or days.
I'm reminded of the scene in T2 where the kid cracks an ATM with a 1980s era Atari..."
User Journal

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Women

sm62704 writes: I'm a fool when it comes to women.

I was in NitWhit's last Tuesday when a short, heavy but attractive blonde who put me in mind of Kirstee Allee (is that how it's spelled?) walked by and sat down next to some guy. I'm not normally attracted to heavy women, and don't know why I noticed her, except maybe for the bright red coat. Mrs. Clause? She looked good despite the weight, though.

There were only two or three women in the bar, not counting the bartender, and they were all with men. So I finished my beer and walked.

My car's driver window had been broken Sunday, and it threatened rain. I'd put a trash bag on it and walked the mile to NitWhit's, got a beer, then walked north and stopped at JW's for a second brew. Mike was in there with Danny, and Mike bought me a second and a third, and maybe a fourth beer. I think. I wound up at George Rank's, not a long walk. Danny walked up there with me, and we shot the shit for a while... and the woman in the red coat came in and sat next to us at the bar. Danny knew her; her name was Karen. Danny left, I chatted with Karen for a while, and when it got a little later started talking to friends and acquaintences trying to bum a ride home.

I took Wednesday afternoon off to get my window fixed. I'd made a lunch date for that day with my friend Julie. Julie's got a boyfriend, of course. She's in love with him, of course. She says he's about to dump her. Yeah, sure, riiiiight.....

Julie's my ideal - very thin, pretty face, nice smile, kind of crazy but a good kind of crazy, you know?

I'm a sucker for skinny women. Hell, I'm a sucker for any women. Uh, I said that already, didn't I?

She was the cheapest date I've ever taken out. We went to Top Cat's, and she wouldn't even eat, saying she had terrible stomach pains. We then went to get my window fixed, and I gave her a ride to work. Later I picked her up at work and took her back to Nit Whit's for a couple of drinks, and she let me buy her a hamburger.

Wednesday is great at Nit Whit's - dollar burgers, dollar fries, buck-fifty domestic bottles. Cheap date! ...with somebody else's girl friend.

I actually did have a girl friend last spring. Fifty years old, toothless, looks sixty-five, alcoholic on medication for mental illness. Lives with some guy. You want to get laid? Find a drunken crazy bitch. The sober sane ones want nothing to do with nerds; at least, they want nothing to do with me.

It rained all day Thursday, and froze on the car. I scraped my windows a bunch of times that day. I didn't even go bar-hopping and woman-chasing (like I ever catch any) after work and logged on to slashdot instead.

Friday morning I woke up to what sounded like an alarm clock in somebody else's apartment. It was my clock, not very loud. "Hmm" I thought, "my clock's about dead, I guess I need a new one." I turned on the coffeemaker and it didn't work at all. Only when I tried to turn the light on did I realize the power was out. We'd had an ice storm. I got dressed to go to find some coffee, which I am completely worthless without, and it was bitterly cold outside, with six to eight inches of snow on top of an inch of ice. I couldn't get my car door open, so I left a message on my boss' voice mail saying I'd be late if I was in at all.

I finally got inside the car about 10:00. I got to work, and they said the office was closed because of the power outage (even though the power had come back on) and sent me home. Free vacation day!

That night I saw Karen in Rank's again. We struck up a conversation; she had thought I was carless and probably unlicensed as well and most likely unemployed. I told her the sad but hilarious (to everyone but me) story of the new stolen car used as a murder weapon and its subsequent broken window, which I got repaired Wednesday. Oh, wait, you haven't heard that story?

I'd let this woman named "Odie" (yes, the Garfield dog, and the name fit) who'd been evicted stay at my apartment for a few days, let her eat my food and drink my beer and Pepsi and let her use my computer. This was strictly out of the goodness of my heart; I wasn't even getting laid. Not even so much as a blow job.

Yes, I'm a fool; at least, when it comes to women. But I already said that, didn't I?

She stole my spare car keys and traded them for crack. I discovered the car missing the next morning. Odie had left with her friend (and, unknown to me, my keys) the night before. The next morning when I discovered my car missing I called the cops, who took a report about noon. Six o'clock that night after much beer and whiskey (what would you do if YOUR new car you'd only made one payment on got stolen?) the cops called and said they had my car back. I took a cab to the car, and the cop told me that the young woman they found with the car - not Odie but some other woman - had used it to try and kill her parents. This girl's mother was in the hospital with two broken legs. My driver window was smashed, there was glass all over the inside of the car, a mark on the front bumper (leg marks?) and a big scratch on the hood, along with some miscelaneous dings.

The cop didn't even notice I was shitfaced drunk. I brushed the glass shards out of the seat and drove away as he did some paperwork, picked Julie up and did some more drinking. She had some weed, bless her heart!

Any way, to get back to what I was talking about, it turned out that Karen was a realtor, and I'm still looking for a house. I stopped thinking of her as a potential date and started thinking of real estate. We exchanged phone numbers, she gave me her business card and I started to leave; it was about 9:00 and kareoke starts then. I can't handle kareoke unless I'm way too drunk to drive, and didn't want to hire a cab. Besides, there was a live band at NitWhit's.

As I was walking out, the old girl friend I hadn't seen in five months that I mentioned earlier walked in with her daughter. Chris didn't see me (she was drunk again, of course) but Angel did, and said "hi, Steve". Chris turned around, her eyes got big and she smiled ear to ear. "Steve!!!" She grabbed me and started kissing; the last thing she had said to me five months earlier was "I love you... oh no I shouldn't have said that."

If you use Viagra but don't need it, your girlfriend will fall in love with you. Especially if you're well endowed and know where the clitoris is. Trust me on that, it's worth every overpriced penny. That shit is magic!

They dragged me to their table, and I explained that I absolutely didn't do kareoke unless I was having trouble walking from too many shots. Chris grabbed me in a fond embrace again; Karen watched with... well, I couldn't read the look on her face. I walked over to say a second goodbye to my new friend Karen. "New girl friend?" she asked. "No, an old one" I answered. The bartender asked me why I'd kissed drunken Chris. Dave, the owner, answered first: "because he can, silly."

Chris called me half an hour later; "come get me." So I did.

I was horny. I hadn't had any since JoAnne, the crack whore (not Odie). You want to get laid? Find a crack whore. Twenty bucks, even less. Just be sure you have a condom.

Chris was even drunker than when I'd left Rank's. Before we left Nit Whit's she was falling down drunk. Obnoxiously drunk. So obnoxiously drunk I had a hard time keeping it up even with Viagra. That pissed me off; it was my second to last one, and they're not cheap.

It was better the next morning before she had a chance to start drinking again; no Viagra needed, and I wasn't going to waste my last one any way. I was a bit miffed; that had been my second to last magic pill.

As my coffee was brewing, she asked if she could have a beer. I said "no." She said "I'm drinking one anyway" and opened one.

Chris makes Danny look like a teetotaler, and AA has disowned him he drinks so much. I took her home.

Karen was supposed to call at 9:00 with houses to look at. By 10:30 I called her. She called back an hour later, and said she had to help her friend with a carpet that had gotten ruined from the storm. She'd get back to me later.

I went to NitWhit's for a beer, then JW's for another beer, and Julie called wanting a ride to work. I gave her the ride.

By the time Karen called it was evening. I met her at Rank's and she had some listings which we would look at Sunday morning.

My old drunken girl friend Chris tried to come in; the bartender sent her away saying she'd been barred. The bartender started to apologize to me for barring Chris, but I told her it was no problem and thanked her for it. It only took one night to remember why I hadn't minded Chris not calling me back. I mean, besides the fact that she's living with some guy who really, really, really hates my guts.

Julie called again, wanting a ride home from work. I'm wondering why she wasn't asking her boyfriend, the guy she says she's in love with, the guy she says is on the verge of dumping her, for a ride. But I didn't say anything; I just went and picked her up at work. I took her to Walgreens to pick up a prescription, and loaned her some (more) money for the cheapest one of the three drugs they had prescribed at the hospital, the one for pain. She'd gone to the emergency room, and they'd told her that her bladder was infected. The antibiotics were outrageously priced. God damned drug companies and their bought and paid for American government stooges!

We went back to my apartment for an egg salad sandwich, and I took her home. I saw Danny at Rank's, and he got me high, bless him! I went home and went to bed.

Sunday morning Karen called, and we went looking at overpriced dumps. One house had a $60,000 price tag, I wouldn't have given much more than twenty five for it. I mean, the last house I had cost 69, and it was two stories, full basement, fancy woodwork, bay windows, deacon's bench, fireplace, three bedrooms, two baths (with a spare toilet in the basement), garage... damn but I miss my house. Damn the bank that forclosed on it!

There was one house I liked, but it, too cost more than it was likely worth. Karen said the seller would go down to 49 if we could close quickly; I was thinking more like 45. But I agreed. We went to NitWhit's and she bought me a couple of beers, bless her!

She said it's a buyer's market. Looks to me like instead of beuing a buyer's market nobody can sell any houses because they're all way overpriced! The house I paid sixty nine for in 2000, the one the bank took, is probably going for half a million now.

She left, and I went to JW's and had a beer or two with Mike. I'd missed his radio show, so he gave me a tape of it which I promised I'd put on CD for him. I drove to Rank's, and they weren't even open yet. I went home for a sandwich.

The phone rang again; it was Meg.

Ah, Meg. I cannot describe this woman. Picture the most beautiful creature you've ever seen, double the beauty, and she's even better looking than that. And she has a wonderful personality to match.

I'd marry her in a heartbeat. Sooner, even. Of course, she only sees me as a friend; I'd asked her out for a dinner date and she made some lame excuse. So we're just friends.

Damn it!

Her car was immobilized from the ice and snow, but she wanted to get out of the house. I went and got her and we went to Rank's. She had a sob story about how lonely she'd been at Thanksgiving and wished a friend had invited her for dinner. But crap, she'd turned me down for dinner at a restaraunt, why would I possibly think she'd go to my family's for dinner?

I got home about 11:30. I wasn't worth a damn the next day at work. Julie called about the time my boss came to work. Julie wanted a ride to her new job, so I took my morning break and drove to her apartment.

Now, like I said, Julie is pretty much my ideal - very thin, pretty face, nice smile. I'd been pursuing her, waiting until the promised dumping from her lover.

With Meg still on my mind, Julie wasn't the least bit attractive. Damn. It's hard for a guy to be friends with a woman like Meg.

So the two questions I have are, first, how can a guy like me get a drop-dead gorgeous woman like Meg to see me as anything but "just a friend?"

The second question is, after three women in one weekend and actually getting laid by one of them, does this mean I have to turn in my nerd license?
GNU is Not Unix

Submission + - No mor Logitech for me!

sm62704 writes: "Welcome to Logitech technocal support. Please say the name of the item you want support for"

"Mouse and keyboard"

"I didn't get..".

"MOUSE AND KEYBOARD!!!"

"I'm sorry, I still didn't understand. Let me list items and you can interrupt me at any time. Keyboard..."

"KEYBOARD"

"What operating system are you using?"

"Mandrake Linux"

"I didn't get that, please rep...."

"LINUX, YOU STPID PIECE OF SHIT COMPUTER, LINUX. L-I-N-U-X LINUX!!!!!!!"

"Let me connect you to a representative....."

(gunk music, at least it only took a few seconds)

"Hello, my name is" [at this point I'm reminded of Slartibartfast, as I don't give two shits what his name is. I just want some drivers). "What peripheral do you need information on?"

"A wireless keyboard and a wireless mouse."

"Combination?"

"That's right."

"What's the model number?"

I turn the keyboard upside down and try to discern which of the two dozen unmarked and badly marked numbers are on it. I just read them all off; the voice mail computer already had me steaming. "Oh, here, P slash N, that must be the part number." I read it off.

"What can I do for you?"

"I need Linux drivers and software; the keyboard works but none of the media buttons work."

"You can find them at our web site..."

"I looked. I couldn't find them."

"Go to http://www.logitech.com..."

"I did, they weren't there. Just tell me the URL of the drivers."

"I'm not sure what it is..."

"If you can't find them, how in the hell do you expect me to?"

"One minute please..."

"OK, I found them under 'downloads, drivers'. What operating system?"

"Linux."

"We have Windows XP Professional, Windows XP home, and Windows 64."

"Look, I'm done with Windows. I moved on to Linux because I was sick of the God damned worms, viruses, spyware, and crashing. You don't even have Mac drivers?"

"We don't support the Mac."

"That really sucks. How much of a kickback is Microsoft giving you? I guess you don't want me buying any more Logitech products! Windows is crap, I'm done with it."

"What would you have me do?"

"Inform your upper management that they need to take the source code and recompile it under Linux!"

"I'll pass that on..."

"Good, you do that. I guess I'm done buying Logitech as well. Goodbye, good riddance."
Spam

Submission + - Where did all the predators come from?

sm62704 writes: This piece of spam just arrived in my inbox:

Subject: Mark wants to meet your children

Mark is a 32 year old man that pretends to be 13 years old in order to lure children on the Internet to talk to him.

Mark is what is known as an Internet predator, and he is very dangerous!

Fact: 1 out of 5 children who use the Internet has been contacted by an Internet predator at least once!

Fact: Parents can protect their children by using an Internet monitoring software tool!

Very nice timing coming on the heels of the Foley scandal, when congressional perverts like Foley and his fellow co-conspirators from Illinois are still on the front page.

Of course, like terrorism, the media has hyped the internet predator all out of proportion; my kids were 10 and 12 when we first got on the internet. They're grown now, neither one of them were the "one in five" numbers the the spammers pulled from a dark dirty orifice.

I'm wondering, which is the worse "internet predator" problem: perverts preying on children, or spammers preying on morons?

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