Jason Quinn - Slashdot User

Volume 4A of Knuth's TAOCP Finally In Print 173

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday January 24, 2011 @10:26AM from the lookit-all-them-words dept.

jantangring writes "It's been 28 years since Volume 3 of Donald Knuth's The Art of Computer Programming was published. The book series is a classic work of computer science in spite of the fact that still more than half of the seven volume series is still to be finalized. In 1992 Donald Knuth retired to medieval monkness in order to finish his work. After many long years in draft, volume 4A now in print and you can get it in a boxed set if you don't mind admitting that you don't already own the first three volumes. They won't be checking if you read it."

America Losing Its Edge In Innovation 757

Posted by Soulskill on Sunday January 23, 2011 @09:15AM from the chickens-coming-home-to-flip-burgers dept.

jaywhybee writes "Forbes has an interesting article about America losing its edge in innovation because engineers and scientists in the US are not as respected as they are in other countries, and thus fewer youths aspire to become one. Quoting: 'I’ve visited more than 100 countries in the past several years, meeting people from all walks of life, from impoverished children in India to heads of state. Almost every adult I’ve talked with in these countries shares a belief that the path to success is paved with science and engineering. In fact, scientists and engineers are celebrities in most countries. They’re not seen as geeks or misfits, as they too often are in the US, but rather as society’s leaders and innovators. In China, eight of the top nine political posts are held by engineers. In the US, almost no engineers or scientists are engaged in high-level politics, and there is a virtual absence of engineers in our public policy debates.'"

Greenland Ice Sheet Melts At Record Rate In 2010 654

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday January 22, 2011 @07:50PM from the this-calls-for-a-celebratory-bonfire dept.

RedEaredSlider writes "A study using satellite and ground-based data is showing the Greenland ice sheets are setting a record for the areas exposed to melting and the rate at which they are doing so. NASA says 2010 was a record warm year, and temperatures in the Arctic were a good 3 degrees C over normal."

Euler's Partition Function Theory Finished 117

Posted by Soulskill on Friday January 21, 2011 @05:29PM from the that-was-quick dept.

universegeek writes "Mathematician Ken Ono, from Emory, has solved a 250-year-old problem: how to exactly and explicitly generate partition numbers. Ono and colleagues were able to finally do this by realizing that the pattern of partition numbers is fractal (PDF). This pattern allowed them to find a finite, algebraic formula, which is like striking oil in mathematics."

Comcast-NBC Merger Approved By FCC 268

Posted by timothy on Tuesday January 18, 2011 @08:34PM from the gov't-power-concentration-is-fine-though dept.

AndyAndyAndyAndy writes "It seems that the FCC has approved the proposed merger between Comcast and NBC, effectively kicking apart hopes for protection against 'pipes and their water' frameworks. Pres. Obama's 2008 goal also goes ignored: 'I strongly favor diversity of ownership of outlets and protection against the excessive concentration of power in the hands of any one corporation, interest or small group.' The Dept. of Justice is also onboard, leaving little hope that this will be stopped."

Facebook Opens Up Home Addresses and Phone Numbers 459

Posted by timothy on Sunday January 16, 2011 @06:06PM from the 1600-pennsylvania-avenue-should-do dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Do you really want third-party app developers on Facebook to be able to access your mobile phone number and home address? Facebook has announced that developers of Facebook apps can now gather the personal contact information from their users. Security firm Sophos describes it as 'a move that could herald a new level of danger for Facebook users' and advises users to remove their home address and phone numbers from the network immediately."

'YouCut' Targets National Science Foundation Budget 760

Posted by timothy on Friday December 17, 2010 @11:42PM from the conjugate-special-interest dept.

jamie writes "As some of you may have heard, the incoming Republican majority in Congress has a new initiative called YouCut, which lets ordinary Americans like me propose government programs for termination. So imagine how excited I was to learn that YouCut's first target — yes, its first target — was that notoriously bloated white elephant, the National Science Foundation."

Graduate Students Being Warned Away From Leaked Cables 685

Posted by timothy on Friday December 03, 2010 @08:01PM from the we're-checking-your-history dept.

IamTheRealMike writes "The US State Department has started to warn potential recruits from universities not to read leaked cables, lest it jeopardize their chances of getting a job. They're also showing warnings to troops who access news websites and the Library of Congress and Department of Education have blocked WikiLeaks on their own networks. Quite what happens when these employees go home is an open question." Update: 12/04 17:48 GMT by T : The friendly warning to students specifically cautioned them not to comment online or otherwise indicate that they'd read any of the leaked information; reading them quietly wasn't specifically named as a deal-breaker.

Feds Warrantlessly Tracking Americans' Real Time Credit Card Activity 299

Posted by Soulskill on Friday December 03, 2010 @02:32PM from the enjoy-knowing-the-exact-minute-i-eat-lunch dept.

PatPending writes "A 10-page Powerpoint presentation (PDF) that security and privacy analyst Christopher Soghoian recently obtained through a Freedom of Information Act Request to the Department of Justice reveals that law enforcement agencies routinely seek and obtain real-time surveillance of credit card transactions. The government's guidelines reveal that this surveillance often occurs with a simple subpoena, thus sidestepping any Fourth Amendment protections."

Comment Ubuntu, where's my 10 second boot? (Score 3, Interesting) 382

by Jason Quinn on Thursday December 02, 2010 @02:07PM (#34420230) Attached to: Preview of Ubuntu's Unity Interface

Ubuntu was working towards a so-called "10 second" boot. What happened to that? They give up? *MAYBE*, if I'm in a generous mood, they quickened boot by 30'ish percent during their efforts. But it still takes like 40'ish second or more until a usable desktop. That's a long way off from their stated goal. People seem to have forgotten about this.

NASA Finds New Life (This Afternoon) 405

Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday December 02, 2010 @11:40AM from the truth-is-inside-that dept.

While the official 2pm conference should have more answers, most of the internet has decided that NASA has discovered a completely new life form based on arsenic instead of the more traditional organic materials. We'll know more in a few hours.

Comment Intergalactic, planetary. Planetary, intergalactic (Score 1) 111

by Jason Quinn on Friday November 19, 2010 @09:37AM (#34280734) Attached to: Extra-Galactic Planet Discovered In Milky Way

Another dimension do it

Apple the No. 1 Danger To Net Freedom 354

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday November 15, 2010 @01:39PM from the but-we-like-the-shiny dept.

CWmike writes "Columbia law professor Tim Wu, who coined the term 'net neutrality,' now says that Apple is the company that most endangers the freedom of the Internet. Wu recently published the book The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires, in which he details what he calls 'information empires' such as AT&T, NBC, Facebook, and Google. He told The New York Times, 'It's largely a story of the American affection for information monopolists and the consequences of that fondness.' When asked whether the Internet could similarly be controlled by large companies, he told the Times: 'I know the Internet was designed to resist integration, designed to resist centralized control, and that design defeated firms like AOL and Time Warner. But firms today, like Apple, make it unclear if the Internet is something lasting or just another cycle.' Asked which companies he feared most, Wu replied: 'Right now, I'd have to say Apple.'" Wu has been in the news a bit lately.

Wikipedia Could Block 67 Million Verizon Customers 481

Posted by timothy on Sunday November 14, 2010 @11:29PM from the but-that's-why-the-internet-exists dept.

An anonymous reader writes "A particularly nasty Wikipedia vandal has forced a discussion to take place over whether to block edits from an address range used by over 67 million Verizon customers. Verizon has not responded to abusive Wikipedia users on their network before, even though the abusive Verizon users have released private information (phone numbers, etc.) of numerous individuals, and made countless threats that have also been reported to law enforcement. Wikipedia has done something similar in the past with users on the AOL network, which used proxy servers and thus allowed vandals to continue disrupting the site. Discussion is also taking place on alternate solutions to deal with abuse from this Verizon user, named 'Zsfgseg' on Wikipedia. If a block of millions is enacted, Verizon could potentially change how they assign IP addresses, or be forced at least to address a PR nightmare."

Ubuntu Replaces F-Spot With Shotwell 361

Posted by timothy on Sunday June 13, 2010 @09:37PM from the such-pretty-pictures dept.

climenole writes "Finally! The much discussed F-Spot vs. Shotwell battle is over. The new default image organizer app for Ubuntu Maverick 10.10 is going to be Shotwell. This is a much-needed change; F-Spot was simply not enough. Most of the times when I tried F-Spot, it just keeps crashing on me. Shotwell on the other hand feels a lot more solid and is better integrated with the GNOME desktop. Shotwell is also completely devoid of Mono."

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