Comment No. (Score 1) 220
See above.
Comment Re:Yet again, Slashdot is weeks behind (Score 1) 186
I go to 5 or so sites on a daily basis. Slashdot is in that list as a reflex. I'm not scrounging the entire net, yet
I like slashdot; I've been visiting for 13 years, but it's not often "news for nerds", and similarly rarely "stuff that matters." By definition, news is timely. And the editorial (community) selections lead to "stuff that matters" only the first time around - not on the 4th repost.
Comment Re:Yet again, Slashdot is weeks behind (Score 1) 186
Note that Ars isn't reposting this on a bi-weekly basis... Not that they are the be-all and end-all of internet news, but they're beating the pants off slashdot in the last few years.
Comment Re:Yet again, Slashdot is weeks behind (Score 1) 186
Point taken. Yet, if Slashdot is going to retain any relevance whatsoever, some mechanism to (mostly) eliminate weeks-late reposts needs to be developed.
Comment Yet again, Slashdot is weeks behind (Score 1) 186
The foundation of the story was posted on the linked blog on September 23rd, and most blogs and news outlets covered it then (e.g. ars technica).
Good job being timely, slashdot. At one point I could come here for breaking information. Those days are long gone.
Comment Study funded by equipment manufacturer (Score 3, Insightful) 80
It's hardly surprising that the study found such an amazing effect, since any study that did not would never have been released to the public.
"The study, conducted by researchers from the International Research Agency on behalf of Texas Instruments" was destined to find that Texas Instruments 3D tools are amazing. What's left unsaid is that the 30 other studies that TI funded didn't find any effect.
Submission + - Reddit Co-Founder accused of Hacking MIT Computers (webmarketingwar.com)
An anonymous reader writes: New York Times has reported that Reddit co founder Aaron Swartz has been indicted for stealing more than 4 million documents from the highly prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) .
Comment Re:Well, they WERE more accurate (Score 2) 135
The current budget debates like to talk about "the American family's" budget.
So, we have a family whose budget is horribly over income. They have:
- a huge house with an correspondingly large mortgage (military)
- 3 fancy cars with correspondingly high monthly payments (social security and medicare/caid)
- and they like to eat out once a week (other discretionary spending)
The Republican response is to cut the dinner down from a fine dining establishment to fast food.
Ok. So this is going to make a tiny difference, but is it really the place to focus one's efforts?
Comment Re:Why the latest edition? (Score 1) 398
It's the PUBLISHER! Neither the schools nor the professors have all that much control over the frequency of new editions.
Furthermore, the publisher stops publishing past editions, so the bookstore cannot guarantee that they will be able to obtain enough copies of any older edition.
Comment Re:Google mashup? (Score 1) 695
How about Rod Page's timemap mashup?
http://darwin.zoology.gla.ac.uk/~rpage/flu/
As described on his blog http://iphylo.blogspot.com/2009/04/h1n1-swine-flu-timemap.html
Data Preservation and How Ancient Egypt Got It Right 313
storagedude writes to tell us that a storage geek has an interesting article on why ancient Egyptians were better than us at data preservation — and what we need to do to get caught up. "After rocks, the human race moved on to writing on animal skins and papyrus, which were faster at recording but didn't last nearly as long. Paper and printing presses were even faster, but also deteriorated more quickly. Starting to see a pattern? And now we have digital records, which might last a decade before becoming obsolete. Recording and handing down history thus becomes an increasingly daunting task, as each generation of media must be migrated to the next at a faster and faster rate, or we risk losing vital records."
Sun Slips Firefox Extension Into Java Update 311
pcardno writes "It seems it's not just Microsoft that have spotted a good opportunity to distribute their software through Firefox Addons. On installing the latest annoying, sysbar bubble based Java update, my Firefox informed me that I had a wonderful new Java addon automatically. Here's the addon screenshot. Yes, I could opt out of it, but why are Sun installing Addons to my Firefox without me making specific choices in the application itself? To be clear — I have never chosen to install this Addon, yet it has been installed without my permission with the latest Java Update."
Netflix To Offer Streaming-Only Service Plans 151
MojoKid writes "Debates are raging as to what the future of movie distribution will look like.
There are those who claim that physical discs, like DVDs, Blu-ray, and whatever format will eventually supplant Blu-ray, will always deliver a superior viewing experience versus anything that will be available via streaming. Pundits on the other side of the debate say that as broadband's footprint continues to expand, quality is improving.
Interestingly, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings is siding firmly with the latter camp, and it would even appear that Netflix is gearing up to move all of its eggs
from the mail-distribution basket to the online streaming basket. Hastings indicated that perhaps as soon as later this year or sometime in 2010, Netflix might start offering online-streaming-only subscription plans beyond just its current Starz
plan."
A Surveillance Camera On Every Chicago Street Corner? 311
Mike writes "Chicago Mayor Daley has stated that if his Olympic dreams come true, by 2016 there will be a surveillance camera on 'every street corner in Chicago.' Just like in London, elected officials all over America appear to be happily advancing a 'surveillance society' without regard for civil rights or privacy concerns. Ray Orozco, executive director of Chicago's Office of Emergency Management and Communications is quoted as saying, 'We're going to grow the system until we eventually cover one end of the city to the other.'"
Chicago has been developing its surveillance network for some time, but it seems they plan to continue increasing the scale.
Pirate Bay Day 5 — Prosecution Tries To Sneak In Evidence 341
Hodejo1 writes "On the old Perry Mason TV shows, it was a common sight to see someone burst into the crowded courtroom at a dire moment and confess aloud that they, not the defendant, killed so-and-so. In reality, courts do not allow evidence to enter trial without a chance for the opposing council to view it and for a judge to rule on their admissibility. Yet, in the fifth day of the Pirate Bay trial, lawyers for the prosecution again tried to sneak in surprise evidence while questioning defendants. The judge put his foot down this time, telling lawyers for the state, 'If you have documents which you eventually plan to use, you need to hand them over now.' The prosecution continues to struggle in court. In one humorous moment, prosecutor Håkan Roswall tried to show how 'hip' he was with technology when he questioned defendant Peter Sunde. 'When did you meet [Gottfrid] for the first time IRL?' asked the Prosecutor. 'We do not use the expression IRL,' said Peter, 'We use AFK.' The defendants are not out of the woods yet. Lawyer and technology writer Richard Koman wonders aloud if the Pirate Bay's 'I-dunno' defense is all that much better."
