Comment Nothing beats them (Score 2) 153
I don't care what others say - LCD's, LED's, and Plasma Panels just can't provide the softness and warmth of a CRT. They will never go out of style.
Submission + - Antivirus Solutions Inadequate in Detecting New Viruses (net-security.org)
Orome1 writes: "Imperva collected and analyzed more than 80 previously non-cataloged viruses against more than 40 antivirus solutions. They found that less than 5% of anti-virus solutions in the study were able to initially detect previously non-cataloged viruses and that many solutions took up to a month or longer following the initial scan to update their signatures. While the study did not find a single antivirus product that provided complete protection, the solutions that had the best detection rates included two freeware anti-virus products."
Comment Dreadful idea (Score 3, Insightful) 349
The kids who need help often have chaotic home environments. They need role models, not electronics. There is no technical fix.
Comment start by asking students (Score 1) 268
A good way to start is to ask current and former students, and teachers at other schools. Also think about the type of environment you would like to learn in.
When I was in high school ( class of 1972; IBM 1620; punched cards ) I loved my computer course so much that I came in before first class to read manuals and do stuff on my own. I was not aware of my physical environment.
Also, please make sure some attractive, physically mature, but reckless young women are in each class.
Comment Full report is available (Score 3, Informative) 575
For the full report, Google
filetype:pdf "The growing impact of full disk encryption on digital forensics"
Comment Brother, can you charge my battery? (Score 1) 391
I may look like a bum, but I'm really a wealthy man. It's just that my battery ran down, and I have no way to get my money. Please, please help me.
More seriously, I bicycle to places with no cell phone service all the time. I am not going to rely on online services for everything.
Comment I wouldn't hire you (Score 1) 913
I wouldn't hire you because you want to remain ignorant. I would think you were afraid to be challenged, and content to live with your prejudices.
Here's the view of the Harvard faculty ( http://harvardmagazine.com/breaking-news/general-education-gains )
"The essential purpose of a liberal education, as we understand it, is not to instill competency and confidence, or to flatter the presumption that the world students are familiar with is the only one that matters. It is, on the contrary, to unsettle presumptions, to defamiliarize the familiar, to reveal what is going on beneath and behind appearances, and to disorient young people and help them to find ways to re-orient themselves. Liberal educators aim to accomplish this by challenging assumptions, by inducing self-reflection, by teaching students how to think critically and analytically, by exposing them to the sense of alienation produced by encounters with radically different historical moments and cultural formations and with phenomena that exceed their, and even our own, capacity fully to understand. These are things that professional schools do not do, employers do not do, even academic graduate programs do not do. Those institutions deliberalize students, train them to think as professionals. The historical, theoretical, and relational perspectives that liberal education provides can be a source of enlightenment and empowerment that will serve our graduates well for the rest of their lives. We expect that every course offered in general education will be taught in this spirit.
Comment Innumeracy (Score 1) 170
Three significant digits?
Comment In medieval Rome, the pope proscribes you! (Score 1) 121
my apology for propagating a silly meme
Low Quality Alloy Cause of Shuttle Main Tank Issue 118
BJ_Covert_Action writes "NASA engineers have finally discovered the root cause of the cracks that have been found on space shuttle Discovery's main external tank. The main tank, one of the 'Super Lightweight Tank' models developed by Lockheed-Martin, employs an aluminum-lithium alloy developed by Lockheed-Martin specifically for this application. The new alloy is used in various structural stringers throughout the SLWT design. Unfortunately, the batch of this alloy used in the tank that is currently mated with the Discovery shuttle appears to be of low quality. The alloy used in the stringers has a 'mottled' appearance, compared to the nominal appearance typically used in the main tank stringers (see picture in article). This appearance is indicative of a fracture threshold that is significantly lower than typical. NASA has determined, through testing, that this low grade alloy has only 65% of the fracture strength of the nominal alloy typically used. NASA engineers have devised a potential fix to the problem that they are currently testing to ensure the repair will cause no unintended consequences. NASA plans to have the Discovery shuttle ready to launch again by February 24th, 2011."
One Night Stands May Be Genetic 240
An anonymous reader writes "So, he or she has cheated on you for the umpteenth time and their only excuse is: 'I just can't help it.' According to researchers at Binghamton University, they may be right. The propensity for infidelity could very well be in their DNA. In a first of its kind study, a team of investigators led by Justin Garcia, a SUNY Doctoral Diversity Fellow in the laboratory of evolutionary anthropology and health at Binghamton University, State University of New York, has taken a broad look at sexual behavior, matching choices with genes and has come up with a new theory on what makes humans 'tick' when it comes to sexual activity. The biggest culprit seems to be the dopamine receptor D4 polymorphism, or DRD4 gene. Already linked to sensation-seeking behavior such as alcohol use and gambling, DRD4 is known to influence the brain's chemistry and subsequently, an individual's behavior."
AVG 2011 Update Causes Widespread Problems For 64-Bit Windows 318
phx_zs writes "Last night's mandatory update of AVG 2011 Free edition has caused most 64-bit Windows 7 PCs to fail while loading Windows. On their website they have an FAQ with instructions on how to repair the problem using a boot CD or USB device."
WikiLeaks Under Denial of Service Attack 870
wiredmikey writes "WikiLeaks has reported that its Web site is currently under a mass distributed denial of service attack. The attack comes around the time of an expected release of classified State Department documents, which the Obama administration says will put 'countless' lives at risk, threaten global counterterrorism operations and jeopardize US relations with its allies."
Ray Kurzweil Responds To PZ Myers 238
On Tuesday we discussed a scathing critique of Ray Kurzweil's understanding of the brain written by PZ Myers. Reader Amara notes that Kurzweil has now responded on his blog. Quoting: "Myers, who apparently based his second-hand comments on erroneous press reports (he wasn't at my talk), [claims] that my thesis is that we will reverse-engineer the brain from the genome. This is not at all what I said in my presentation to the Singularity Summit. I explicitly said that our quest to understand the principles of operation of the brain is based on many types of studies — from detailed molecular studies of individual neurons, to scans of neural connection patterns, to studies of the function of neural clusters, and many other approaches. I did not present studying the genome as even part of the strategy for reverse-engineering the brain."
Comment use two reflections (Score 1) 427
They can avoid the patent. Rotating through 180 degrees is the same as two reflections, across (any) two perpendicular lines.
