dcowart - Slashdot User

Submission + - John W. Backus, FORTRAN creator/developer dies.

Submitted by

dcowart

on Wednesday March 21, 2007 @09:37AM

dcowart writes: ""John W. Backus, who assembled and led the I.B.M. team that created Fortran, the first widely used programming language, which helped open the door to modern computing, died on Saturday at his home in Ashland, Ore. He was 82." Source: NY Times. I first read this on the Beowulf mailing list, where a lively discussion of programming in Fortran vs. C vs. C++ was in process..."

Submission + - Robots could demand legal rights

Submitted by

ThatGuyPat

on Thursday December 21, 2006 @11:07AM

ThatGuyPat writes: "The BBC posted: "Robots could one day demand the same citizen's rights as humans, according to a study by the British government. If granted, countries would be obligated to provide social benefits including housing and even "robo-healthcare", the report says." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6200005.stm"

Submission + - Drowning in Tech Junk?

Submitted by

JackStrife17

on Thursday December 21, 2006 @08:27AM

JackStrife17 writes: "In an attempt to reduce the clutter in my home office, I've been gathering up all of my spare disk drives, cables, screws, mice and other miscellaneous bits that I have lying around. While a tall cardboard box filled with categorized plastic and anti-static bags was once a satisfactory system of organization, it is no longer working for me. I currently access my "box of holding" about once a day where locating and retrieving things I need has become a tedious affair. With dozens of different types of tools, components, and cables that every nerd needs regular access to, how does Slashdot organize and store its own collections of tech junk?"