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Submission + - Concrete-Recycling Robot Can Erase Entire Buildings (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Building demolition is a messy business, which is why Omer Haciomeroglu designed ERO — a concrete-recycling robot that can erase entire buildings. The robot can efficiently disassemble concrete structures without any waste, dust or additional separation. After deconstructing a structure with high-pressure water and sucking and separating the aggregate, cement and water, the ERO robot recycles these materials. Clean aggregate is packed and labeled to be sent to concrete precast stations for reuse, while rebar is cleaned and cut, ready to be reused.

Submission + - 18 year old gamer jailed over comment on Facebook (cnn.com)

Submitted by stillpixel
stillpixel writes: Justin Carter, was arrested on February 14, 2013 (yes, Valentine’s Day) because of a sarcastic comment he posted on Facebook about a computer game which was then taken out of context by a complete stranger!

"Justin’s a good kid. He wouldn’t hurt anyone, let alone a child. What I understand happened is that he was in an argument on the League of Legends website, which continued on a Facebook page, and someone on Facebook called him crazy and messed up in the head. So he responded in a sarcastic tone by saying something along the lines of 'Oh yeah, I'm real messed up in the head, I'm going to go shoot up a school full of kids and eat their still, beating hearts' which was followed by saying JK (just kidding) and LOL (laughing out loud). His response may have been in bad taste, but it was written in a non-threatening way that didn’t translate well online. None of his friends or family would even question his intention as anything other than a poor choice of words. Things got out of control, but my son is not a felon and terrorist as he’s currently being charged!"

This kid would fit right in here on /. I'm betting his apartment was in a basement.. Please join this campaign: http://chn.ge/1587GkK We need to fight to stop the persecution of the socially awkward.

Submission + - How to survive the first year of legally living and working in USA? 3

Submitted by jadysc
jadysc writes: So you finally got your dream job at USA! You are very happy, you have been offered a good salary, 85k per year!, plus some benefits at a great company. The company would take care of the green card and so you feel like you are in paradise. And so you move to USA, and the same moment you put your feet there, since you don't have "credit history", the troubles begin:

** You try to rent an apartment, and owners want to charge you more because you seem to be of higher risk.

** You call to get internet and TV, and they say that since you have no credit history, instead of $250 (wtf?!?!) for the installation cost, it would be $450 (WTF?!?!?!).

** You try to buy a car, but no dealer would give you a loan for more than 10k, so you end up buying a lower than expected car, since there is no much you can buy for 10k.

** You call to get insurance for the car, and they give you an $900 (yes nine hundred) dollars per month quote, because apparently you are new and you not only you don't have a credit history, but the license to drive is new.

** You try to get a credit card, but again, the banks would give you very little credit line, if at all, since you are new and they don't know you.

To add to all this, you find out that they are going to take you about 2K in taxes that you didn't know about, because when you tried to find out about the taxes, nobody would give you a number, cause it seems it would be considered legal advise, which added to the more expensiveness of everything, makes your salary look not so great now.

So, how do you survive the first years as a foreigner legally working in USA, without "credit history", or even any history at all?

Is there anything that I can do to make this things a little bit easier at least?

Thanks a lot!

Submission + - AnTuTu benchmarks optimized to favour Intel

Submitted by edxwelch
edxwelch writes: A recent report by ABI research showed Intel's Clover Trail+ outperforming SoCs from Samsung, Qualcomm and Nvidia.
However, a EETimes article casts serious doubt about the validity of the report, in particular the AnTuTu benchmark used to test the chips.
"Going from the 2.9.3 version of the AnTuTu benchmark to the 3.3 version, the overall AnTuTu scores increased 122 percent, and the RAM score increased 292 percent for the Intel processor, while the scores for the Samsung processor increased only 59 percent and 53 "
To top things off, somebody analyzed the assembler code in the AnTuTu benchmark and found clear evidence that the benchmark had been tweaked to favour x86 processors.

Submission + - The Most Violent Video Games of All Time

Submitted by adeelarshad82
adeelarshad82 writes: Over the past 40 years video games have have earned a bad rap. They're often scapegoated whenever a maladjusted young person snaps and a tragic event occurs. And this despite the fact that studies have suggested that violent video games aren't harmful to most kids. That said, it's hard to deny that games like Mortal Kombat, Midway Games' blood-soaked 2D fighting game and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 haven't pushed the boundaries of decency. Where Mortal Kombat nudged video game gore into the public consciousness, other titles pushed the envelope with disturbing imagery. For example, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's "No Russian" scenario remains a prime example where the player has to slaughter innocent civilians in an airport in order to avoid exposing himself as an undercover agent. Shockingly though, that's hardly the most violent video game moment. A recently published article runs down the most violent video games of all time.

Submission + - Steve Ballmer: Microsoft Has 1 Million Datacenters, Only Second to Google 1

Submitted by SmartAboutThings
SmartAboutThings writes: Everybody knows by now that Ballmer has announced a major reorganization at Microsoft. And in the memo that he has written, Ballmer has obviously put a big focus on the cloud. During Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference, he also said that Microsoft now has more than 1 million datacenters which makes the company number 2, after Google. Puts things into a perspective, doesn't it?

Comment Not trying to pile on.. (Score 4, Interesting) 157

by stillpixel (#44243317) Attached to: India To Overtake US On Number of Developers By 2017
But, my current experience has been much the same as many here have stated.

Many Indian developers seem to me to lack some critical thinking skills when it comes to working on projects. Perhaps it's a cultural issue that needs to be worked out, but it's like they know how to code.. but there is no thinking going on besides blindly following a written requirement without asking questions or trying to get clarity on something that isn't clear. Instead they code code and code until they are 'done' only to have wasted time coding something that doesn't actually meet the requirement because they didn't ask questions.

But then again.. I am dealing with developers who aren't Indian.. and well they suck too.. but I can't tell if it's their incompetence, their project manager's or just their whole company.

Comment Re:how long will this behavior be tolerated... (Score 1) 180

by stillpixel (#43837715) Attached to: Australian Intelligence HQ Blueprints Hacked

*balls of disapproval*

There's a special place in hell for people with such ideas.

Fredrick, Maryland is a place in hell?

Seriously, we've been war-gaming this scenario since at least 1958, if not earlier. The Biological Weapons Convention was signed in 1972, as an addendum to the Geneva Convention. See:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biological_Weapons_Convention

You have no idea..

They burn the used primates on Thursdays.

Comment Re:rather have money (Score 1) 524

by stillpixel (#43785357) Attached to: Do Developers Need Free Perks To Thrive?
Sodas, pop, 'Coke' are dirt cheap when bought in bulk.. how else can fast food places give free refills and cheap buckets of the stuff.

I think perks like that really do help company morale. My current employer has a Keurig in the kitchen at every office and stocks up on a variety of k-cups. Those who like coffee (the majority) love it. I dig the hot chocolate myself.

It's one of the cheapest ways to boost morale and give employees something they can use while at work.

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