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Education

Submission + - College Fires Teacher Who Says Bible Isn't Literal (desmoinesregister.com) 1

Submitted by Stanislav_J
Stanislav_J writes: A community college instructor in Iowa claims he was fired after he told his students that the biblical story of Adam and Eve should not be literally interpreted.

Steve Bitterman, 60, said officials at Southwestern Community College sided with a handful of students who threatened legal action over his remarks in a western civilization class Tuesday. He said he was fired Thursday.

"I'm just a little bit shocked myself that a college in good standing would back up students who insist that people who have been through college and have a master's degree, a couple actually, have to teach that there were such things as talking snakes or lose their job," Bitterman said.

One expects to read about this sort of thing at church-affiliated schools, but at a state-run community college? Are we really reaching a point in this country where everything said and taught in an academic setting must be weighed against the possibility of offending Christian fundamentalists? Are supposedly secular educational institutions more and more downplaying or even censoring truth and reality at the behest of a group of people who believe that ancient mythology negates and supercedes the disciplines of science, history, and reason?
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Infected by Zero Day Bug

Submitted by
wITzards_of_oz
wITzards_of_oz writes: "Found something unusual while doing a search for 'server 2003' on the Microsoft
web site www.microsoft.com ...

Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition: White Papers
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise Edition is designed to help your
midsize and large business ... Your organization's program membership ends
in 732906 days. Learn how to re-enroll to continue ...

Let's see, 732906 days divided by 365 days/year is 2007 years!
Searching for the term '732906' on all of microsoft.com results in 2,708 hits!!!
looks like the zero-day bug has thoroughly infected Microsoft-!!"
Mozilla

Submission + - Making the Case for Firefox 1

Submitted by
TwilightSentry
TwilightSentry writes: "I'm a student in a small private high-school (~500 students) with a network of mostly Windows computers (We've got some Macs and a Linux server). Our IT administrator favors IE over Firefox, primarily because it can be controlled through Active Directory. I've shown him Firefox ADM, which allows such control of Firefox, and espoused the benefits of AdBlock Plus and Firefox's greater security (Along with the thousand-eyes, fewer bugs idea). His response has been that ads are blocked by our web-filter, and as Firefox and IE7 now pretty much have UI parity, there wouldn't be enough improvement for users to justify taking the time to implement the change.

So, I ask the Slashdot crowd: How would you justify such a switch to your IT admin., if at all?"
Portables (Apple)

Submission + - Woz attacks Jobs about early iPhone price cut (blorge.com)

Submitted by
fdmendez
fdmendez writes: "Apple cofounder, Steve Wozniak, criticized Apple CEO and cofounder, Steve Jobs, today for his decision to cut the price of the iPhone so early.

'Nobody expects a product to drop that much in price in such a short time,' says Woz, 'Steve Jobs and everyone expects technology to drop in price. The first adopters always pay a premium. I am one of them. I am used to that. But that one was too soon, too harsh.' Wozniak further criticized Apple in its decision to issue $100 Apple Retail Store credit cards, which, he says, is very optimal to the company.

Although he is unhappy about the recent price cut, Wozniak is still a fan of the iPhone and Apple in general."
PC Games (Games)

Submission + - Good games for babies and toddlers?

Submitted by
CastrTroy
CastrTroy writes: "I have a 16 month old girl, and another baby one on the way soon. I've been looking for some good keyboard bashing games for her to play. She shows a lot of interest in the computer, since we spend lots of time on the computer. I've been able to find a lot of flash games, and I have some old windows 3.1/95 software which works quite well, but most of them have the problem that my daughter eventually finds a way to escape the game and start affecting the rest of the computer. Are there any games, that block out all keys so that she can just bash the keyboard, and we don't have to keep pulling her away from the keyboard every 30 seconds while we get her back into the game. The usual culprits are the windows key, alt+tab, Windows+L, alt+F4 and many of the other key combinations that will kick her out of the game. Something free would be nice, but we're planning on having 3 kids, so I'd be willing to pay for a game if there was any that actually provided what I was looking for. I'm not so worried about her messing up the computer, but the problem is more that once you leave the game, things get a lot less interesting, and hitting all the keys stops doing interesting stuff, and she tends to get frustrated when we keep pulling her away to get back in the game."
Security

Submission + - Is the Storm Botnet Much Smaller than Predicted? (beskerming.com)

Submitted by
SkiifGeek
SkiifGeek writes: "After finally adding detection for the Storm / Nuwar family of Trojans to the Malicious Software Removal Tool, Microsoft have published information about the number of affected systems identified, and the apparent botnet change that followed the update to the MSRT.

The numbers aren't what most people would expect, with Microsoft estimating the Storm botnet at only half a million machines."
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Office 2007 VS OpenOffice v2.0 and Micro

Submitted by
chewjekhui
chewjekhui writes: "Hi, welcome to the full review of Microsoft Office 2007. I would discuses about all the features of Office 2007. I would divide the article into a few parts. Each part would compare features of PowerPoint 2007, PowerPoint 2003 and their rival's OpenOffice. Visit http://saferpc.blogspot.com/2007/05/microsoft-offi ce-2007-vs-openoffice-v20.html for the full review"

Feed Gene in the frame for autism (pheedo.com)

From feed by nsfeed
Another likely genetic candidate is pinpointed in the search for the cause of autism - it may prove a good target for drug therapies
Enlightenment

Submission + - 10 Ways To Get 70% Better Gas Mileage

Submitted by
ryanshamus
ryanshamus writes: "http://ryanshamus.com/automobiles/10-ways-to-get-7 0-better-gas-mileage/ So I've decided to post something today that will be of value to anyone and everyone that comes across my blog. They say to give readers something valuable and they'll come back. So amidst the rising (sometimes out of control) gas prices around the country and even around the world, below are 10 ways to get 70% better gas mileage! I drive roughly 60 miles each day on average, so for all of those out there that are in the same pool as me, then hopefully this will help you put a few bucks back in your pocket. After writing this, I added up a rough estimate (percentage wise) of how much gas you can save by following these easy tips. The answer? You'll see at the end of this article. 1. Tighten that gas cap! Did you know that all the people that forget to tighten their gas caps cause an annual loss of 147,000,000 gallons of gas due to evaporation? Insane. Remember, the gas will escape if you give it a chance, so tighten that cap down hard! 2. Pump up those tires! Driving on under-inflated tires can cause a staggering 15% loss in overall gas mileage. "Tires that have low pressure offer more resistance so the engine is going to work harder to keep the car at 60," says Brian Moody, road test editor at Edmunds.com. Check them once a week if possible..it only takes a few minutes of your time and proper inflation could save you a lot of money! 3. CHECK YOUR AIR FILTER. This may be one of the most important things to do in saving your gas mileage. Dirty air filters cause the engine to work a lot harder and will eat up a lot of your gas mileage. A $10 clean filter could give you upwards of 10% more miles per gallon. That's like getting 10% off every time you fill up! Get it changed every 3,000 miles (usually when you get your oil changed). Trust me on this one! 4. Use the right oil. An easy way to get a 1-2% boost in gas mileage is to use the right oil for your automobile. Read the manufacturer's guide and see what they recommend. Also when you know which grade/weight of oil to use — look for ones that also say "energy conserving" on the label. These oils have special friction reducing additives that will also help. 5. Slow down, speedy! Nearly everyone that drives is guilty of speeding at one point or another, but driving fast can be very costly! Check this out — by driving 70mph in a 55mph zone, you are burning a mind-blowing 17% extra gas. Whoa! Obey the speed limit, it's not only there to save your life, but to also save your checking account. 6. Time for a tune-up! Having an engine that feels like you do on Saturday morning can really make a difference in how much gas mileage you get. Keeping your engine happy by performing routine maintenance (including checking spark plugs, as misfiring plugs can waste up to 30% of your gas mileage) can boost your miles per gallon by about 4%. 7. Clean out your damned trunk already! By carrying excess weight in your automobile, you are wasting gas every second that you drive. Did you know that for every 100 pounds of excess weight, you are losing between 1-2% of your miles per gallon? That adds up pretty quick. While you're at it, go on a diet! 8. Turn off your meat locker. Look, I'm just as guilty as the next person, but running that A/C on full blast as soon as you hop in the car/truck can plummet your gas mileage by 10-20%! Try rolling down all the windows and opening the sunroof first. Utilize the summer breeze as your coolant. After all, it's free. 9. Kill the idle. Wanna know how to get ZERO miles per gallon? Leave your car running while parked. When you idle, you're car is burning gas and getting you no where! Make sure you turn it off for those quick runs into the grocery store or bank, it'll really add up in the end. 10. Clearing the roof. Do you still have that Christmas tree tied on the top? Or how about the luggage rack from vacation last year? Take it off now! By having stuff on top that you don't need, you are increasing air drag, which eats about 5% of your gas mileage. So find room inside the car for grandma, as she is wasting money being tied on top of the roof. After totaling all of these percentages and factors, (and keep in mind this is on the conservative side) — by following these tips you can get up to 70% better gas mileage than you get right now! That's assuming that you are breaking all of these rules, and it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of people were. I know I'm guilty of not following at least 7 of them. So remember me when gas hits $5.00 per gallon and you'll thank me. Money is fine :)"

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