Comment Really? (Score 1) 199
I had no idea the theory of an asteroid impact had been proven as fact. Glad I read slashdot so I can stay educated.
Comment How'd this make slashdot?? (Score 1) 506
C'mon, if the guy can't figure out how to hunt for a job, I wouldn't hire him...he doesn't deserve it.
Comment Apparently they didn't learn before... (Score 1) 232
Redbox tried the $2 rental a while ago, what 1 or 2 years back? They lost so much business they put it back to $1. Added Blu-ray for $1.50, I have no idea how that's going for them.
I like renting for a buck from them. I haven't used them much since signing up for Netflix streaming only, unless I really want to see an almost new release, since they have to wait a month to rent them (lame!).
Will I spend $1.20 to preview a movie before buying it? Probably. Will I spend it as often? No.
Comment Re:Helpful but not that helpful (Score 1) 98
It's known that gravity affects light. Perhaps gravity's impact on neutrinos is less than that on light, and thus the mass of the star going supernova kept the light back slightly from the neutrinos.
I wonder if the scientists in this test adjusted for the relative effect of the target moving. If two beams of light traveling in opposite directions could observe each other's speed, they'd think the opposing beam was going double the speed of light. Likewise, the rotation of the Earth during the measurement could conceivably impact the measurement if they judge the physical distance at an instant vs. distance actually covered during the transmission. It's all very minute calculations, but hey, that's what they are dealing with!
Comment Too late for me... (Score 1) 212
As a long time user of KDE (12 years or so) I finally got sick of the bugs - especially from 4.
I decided to try out Gnome a year and a half ago on one of my desktops. I've taken my time adjusting to it, and have come to appreciate it. It. Just. Works.
Myriad networking issues? No more. Enabling Compiz? No sweat. I just finished converting my last machine to Gnome two nights ago. My computer is like new, seems much less bloated.
I've always thought KDE was a good switch for Windows users, and Gnome for Mac. My kids, lol, get to start with Gnome.
Folks who say KDE is stable and proven? Crazy. True, it doesn't bail out like Windows, and it does work...mostly. Admittedly, perhaps it is my distro's implementation of it. Who knows. However, I'm much happier with stable, functional, usable, and friendly Gnome than 'pretty' with KDE.
Someday, in a few years, maybe I'll consider KDE again. If they've actually prioritized bug fixes over eye candy - especially networking. It'd be nice if they threw in audio preview too, like Nautilus - I find that handy.
Comment Now if only we could use it... (Score 1) 274
If only there were a unified, simple way to install it.
I spent hours yesterday trying to get flash on a 32 bit FF5 in a 64 bit system. Read every friggin' article and how-to I could find, just in case I was being retarded.
Finally gave up. Screw it. Can live without it.
Resort Attracts Men With Virtual Girlfriends
226
disco_tracy writes "Long a favorite of lovers and honeymooners, a Japanese beach town with fading sparkle has found a new tourism niche in the wired age. A resort based on a game called 'Love Plus,' encourages players to develop long-term relationships with virtual women. From the article: 'Local souvenir shops in the resort town have caught on and capitalized on the love-struck new clientele, selling Love Plus-themed souvenirs, from good-luck charms to steamed buns and fish sausages. The local Ohnoya hotel even offers traditional rooms to the unusual couples, which feature two sets of futon beds and another barcode panel that allows the men to visualize their girlfriends in a flattering summer kimono.'"
Homebrew Cray-1 140
egil writes "Chris Fenton built his own fully functional 1/10 scale Cray-1 supercomputer. True to the original, it includes the couch-seat, but is also binary compatible with the original. Instead of the power-hungry ECL technology, however, the scale model is built around a Xilinx Spartan-3E 1600 development board. All software is available if you want to build one for your own living room. The largest obstacle in the project is to find original software."
3 Drinks a Day Keeps the Doctor Away
470
Nzimmer911 writes "Heavy drinkers outlive non-drinkers according to a 20 years study following 1,824 people. From the article: 'But a new paper in the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research suggests that - for reasons that aren't entirely clear - abstaining from alcohol does actually tend to increase one's risk of dying even when you exclude former drinkers. The most shocking part? Abstainers' mortality rates are higher than those of heavy drinkers.'"
The Nuclear Bunker Where Wikileaks Will Be Located 187
An anonymous reader writes "Engadget has photos of 'Pionen White Mountains, the nuclear bunker in which Wikileaks will locate some of its servers. It was excavated 98 feet underground, in a rock hill in the center of Stockholm, Sweden, during the Cold War.' It looks like they hired the same interior designer who decorated Batman's lair."
GMail Introduces Priority Inbox 242
jason-za writes with this quote from a Google announcement:
"People tell us all that time that they're getting more and more mail and often feel overwhelmed by it all. We know what you mean — here at Google we run on email. Our inboxes are slammed with hundreds, sometimes thousands of messages a day — mail from colleagues, from lists, about appointments and automated mail that's often not important. It's time-consuming to figure out what needs to be read and what needs a reply. Today, we're happy to introduce Priority Inbox (in beta) — an experimental new way of taking on information overload in Gmail."
Flight Data Recorders, Decades Out of Date 266
Tisha_AH writes "For the past fifty years the technology behind aircraft flight data recorders has remained stagnant. Some of the advances of cloud computing, mesh radio networks, real-time position reporting and satellite communications are held back by a combination of aircraft manufacturers, pilots unions and the slow gears of government bureaucracy. Many recent aircraft loss incidents remain unexplained, with black boxes lost on the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, buried under the wreckage of the World Trade Centers or with critical information suppressed by government secrecy or aircraft manufacturers. Many devices still rely upon tape recorders for voice and data that only record a very small sampling of aircraft dynamics, flight and engine systems or crew behaviors. Technologically simple solutions like battery backup, continual telemetry feeds by satellite and hundreds of I/O points, monitoring many systems should be within easy reach. Pilot unions have objected to the collection and sharing of detailed accident data, citing privacy concerns of the flight crew. Accidents may be due to human error, process problems or design flaws. Unless we can fully evaluate all factors involved in transportation accidents, it will be difficult to improve the safety record. Recommendations by the NTSB to the FAA have gone unheeded for many years. With all of the technological advancements that we work with in the IT field, what sort of best practices could be brought forward in transit safety?"
Comment The posts say it! (Score 2, Interesting) 136
Obviously I'm not the only one utterly convinced that the optional part is a complete sham.
What a thin cover story for an attempt to embed bomb sniffing devices in something everyone carries, in the name of greater security.
Folks at a rocketry convention would see men in black in no time flat if they 'forgot' to register their event with the monitors.
1986.
Comment Why hide? (Score 1) 671
Only bad, evil deer hide from the hunters. The ones that aren't doing anything wrong have nothing to worry about!
Emulating New Super Mario Bros. Wii At 1080p 76
KingofGnG writes "An impressive confirmation of the Dolphin Wii emulator's capabilities comes from a YouTube video, which shows off recently-added video clips of New Super Mario Bros. Wii in full HD. It demonstrates the growing compatibility of Dolphin with the latest games published for the Nintendo console."
