Comment My Shorter Review of the Book (Score 2) 44
A well written review from the poster. My shorter one: If you were to drop this book into a black hole, the information content of the universe would not change.
Submission + - Facebook Announces Two-Factor Authentication (net-security.org)
Orome1 writes: Facebook will be rolling out the two-factor authentication option which, once turned on, will ask users to insert a code when they try to log into the social network from a new device. The news was announced by Facebook's director of engineering Arturo Bejar, along with the change that will make Facebook automatically switch the user's session back to HTTPS after he or she is done using an application that doesn't support it.
Submission + - CIA declassifies pages from their cookbook (washingtonpost.com)
AngryNick writes: "The Washington Post reports today on the declassification of some of the CIA's oldest secrets:
So you want to open sealed envelopes without getting caught?
Here’s the secret, according to one of the six oldest classified documents in possession of the Central Intelligence Agency:
“Mix 5 drams copper acetol arsenate. 3 ounces acetone and add 1 pint amyl alcohol (fusil-oil). Heat in water bath — steam rising will dissolve the sealing material of its mucilage, wax or oil.”
But there’s a warning for the intrepid spy: “Do not inhale fumes.”
More recipes can be found on the CIA website."
So you want to open sealed envelopes without getting caught?
Here’s the secret, according to one of the six oldest classified documents in possession of the Central Intelligence Agency:
“Mix 5 drams copper acetol arsenate. 3 ounces acetone and add 1 pint amyl alcohol (fusil-oil). Heat in water bath — steam rising will dissolve the sealing material of its mucilage, wax or oil.”
But there’s a warning for the intrepid spy: “Do not inhale fumes.”
More recipes can be found on the CIA website."
Comment Re:everyone draw a religious dude (Score 1, Insightful) 949
How about a photo? Like maybe Andreas Serrano's "Piss Christ".......as far as I know, Serrano is still walking the streets (no bodyguards) without fear of being beheaded.
On the flipside, Michael Moore had to hire a handful of bodyguards after he released Fahrenheit 9/11.
Or how about Jesse Helms stating that Bill Clinton had "better bring a bodyguard" if he comes to North Carolina?
Comment Re:I rather doubt (Score 1) 160
Parent true. Also, Enron was not a broker. Enron was a principal on transactions. Which Google will no doubt be.
Comment Re:Lesson learned (Score 2, Insightful) 109
Lesson learned: there is no market for proprietary CPUs on MPP supercomputers. It's gone. If Cray and SGI couldn't do it, how are a couple guys from DEC and Novell going to pull it off?
It's always sad when someone's dream fails, but come'on guys. You're pursuing a 15-years-ago market, just like DEC and Novell did when they died (okay, Novell exists, but it is irrelevant).
Supercomputers are commodity processors increasingly in commodity boxes running commodity open-source software. A supercomputer running slower processors is not going to cut it.
Is IE Usage Share Collapsing? 575
je ne sais quoi writes "Net Applications normally releases its statistics for browser and operating system usage share on the first of every month. This month, however, the data has not shown up — only a cryptic message stating they are reviewing the data for inexplicable statistical variations and that it will be available soon. Larry Dignan at ZDNet has a blog post that might explain what is happening: Statcounter has released some data that shows a precipitous drop in IE browser use in North America, to the benefit of Firefox, Safari, and Chrome. At the end of May, StatCounter shows IE usage share (for versions 6, 7, and 8 combined) at around 64%; at the beginning of June it is now about 56% — an astounding 8% drop in one month. We should keep in mind the difficulties in estimating browser usage share: this could very well be a change in how browsers report themselves, or some other statistical anomaly. So it will probably be healthy to remain skeptical until trend this is confirmed by other organizations. Have any of you seen drops in IE usage share for Web-sites you administer?"
British Library Puts Oldest Surviving Bible Online 568
Peace Corps Library writes "BBC reports that about 800 pages of the earliest surviving Christian Bible, the 1,600-year-old Codex Sinaiticus manuscript, have been recovered and put on the Internet. 'The Codex Sinaiticus is one of the world's greatest written treasures,' says Dr. Scot McKendrick, head of Western manuscripts at the British Library. 'This 1,600-year-old manuscript offers a window into the development of early Christianity and first-hand evidence of how the text of the Bible was transmitted from generation to generation.' The New Testament of the Codex Sinaiticus appears in Koine Greek, the original vernacular language, and the Old Testament in the version, known as the Septuagint, that was adopted by early Greek-speaking Christians. For 1,500 years, the Codex Sinaiticus lay undisturbed in a Sinai monastery until it was found in 1844 and split between Egypt, Russia, Germany, and Britain. It is thought to have survived because the desert air was ideal for preservation and because the monastery, on a Christian island in a Muslim sea, remained untouched, its walls unconquered. The British Library is marking the online launch of the manuscript with an exhibition which includes a range of historic items and artifacts linked to the document. 'The availability of the virtual manuscript for study by scholars around the world creates opportunities for collaborative research that would not have been possible just a few years ago.'"
Volunteer Programming For Dummies? 195
Tios writes "I've been studying programming languages (C++, Java, C, Visual Basic) on my own with the self-guided, basic textbooks and tutorials, and I'm starting to get tired of working with examples that are not put into real use. I'm motivated to utilize my programming potential, but I've not had any experience programming in a team environment with lead developers, mentors, or collaborators. If finding a programming job isn't an option, I wonder if I could volunteer for programming in an open-source community. If this is a good idea, how do I start? What resources are out there that could get me oriented in volunteering? What kind of basic projects are out there, with a supportive team/mentor for me to develop, practice, learn, and contribute?"
US, Russia Reach Nuclear Arsenal Agreement 413
Peace Corps Library writes "The United States and Russia, seeking to move forward on one of the most significant arms control treaties since the end of the cold war, announced that they had reached a preliminary agreement on cutting each country's stockpiles of strategic nuclear weapons, effectively setting the stage for a successor to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start), a cold war-era pact that expires in December. Under the framework, negotiators are to be instructed to craft a treaty that would cut strategic warheads for each side to between 1,500 and 1,675, down from the limit of 2,200 slated to take effect in 2012 under the Treaty of Moscow (PDF) signed by President George W. Bush. The limit on delivery vehicles would be cut to between 500 and 1,100 from the 1,600 currently allowed under Start. Perhaps more important than the specific limits would be a revised and extended verification system that otherwise would expire with Start in December. The United States currently has 1,198 land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarine-based missiles and bombers, which together are capable of delivering 5,576 warheads, according to its most recent Start report in January, while Russia reported that it has 816 delivery vehicles capable of delivering 3,909 warheads. 'We have a mutual interest in protecting both of our populations from the kinds of danger that weapons proliferation is presenting today,' said President Obama."
Comment Re:Significant advantages to students: (Score 1) 312
I like to mark important stuff with a highlighter, and stick Post-it bookmarks on important pages and sections. Does the Kindle support that?
Yes, it does. Not actual highlighting and notes, of course, but you can highlight and add notes using the keyboard. And unlike your Post-It's, they are saved permanently.
Comment Computer Science has always been cool (Score 2, Insightful) 328
and will always be. It is not, however, always popular. To the extent CS attracts people who are not interested in Computers, or Science, but only better employment prospects, that is a shame. Why can't they study MIS or art history or something?
Comment Servers/Admin (Score 0) 556
The standard unit of measure is # servers supported per administrator. Now that doesn't help identify whether a specific admin is any good, but it does provide a comparison cost.
Submission + - Dell to let users opt out of bloatware (computerworlduk.com)
jimbojw writes: "Computerworld UK is reporting that Dell now allows buyers to opt out of bloatware, stating "Dell has agreed to give buyers of certain PC models the option to avoid pre-installed software. Buyers of Dimension desktops, Inspiron notebooks and XPS PCs can now click a field in Dell's online order form that will block the installation of productivity software, ISP software, and photo and music software." For Windows users, this could represent a significant time-savings as now the infamous post-boot uninstall marathon may be obsolete. The effect this will have on trendy Mac commercials has yet to be seen."
Submission + - Fortran creator John Backus dies
klubar writes: "John Backus, whose development of the Fortran programming language in the 1950s changed how people interacted with computers and paved the way for modern software, has died. He was 82.
The development of fortran launched many a computer science career. Although it has been superceeded by more modern languages, Fortan is still dear to many older CS majors. There is probably a surprising amount of Fortan 4 code still kicking around.
See more"
The development of fortran launched many a computer science career. Although it has been superceeded by more modern languages, Fortan is still dear to many older CS majors. There is probably a surprising amount of Fortan 4 code still kicking around.
See more"
