Clifton Wood - Slashdot User

India Blocks Over 800 Adult Websites 205

Posted by samzenpus on Monday August 03, 2015 @10:00PM from the nothing-to-see-here dept.

William Robinson writes: The government of India has blocked over 800 adult websites through a secret order. “Free and open access to porn websites has been brought under check,” N.N. Kaul, a spokesman at the department of telecommunications said. “We don’t want them to become a social nuisance.” The ban has provoked debates in the country about extreme and unwarranted moral policing by the government. The action came after the Supreme Court of India had refused to ban porn sites in India.

Submission + - Behind the Microsoft write-off of Nokia (techcrunch.com)

Submitted by UnknowingFool on Monday August 03, 2015 @07:44PM

UnknowingFool writes: Previously Microsoft had announced that they write-off the Nokia purchase for $7.6B in the last quarter. In doing so Microsoft would create only the third unprofitable quarter in the company's history. Released on July 31, new financial documents detail some of the reasoning and financials behind this decision. At the core of the problem was that the Phone Hardware business was only worth $116M after adjusting for costs and market factors. One of those factors was poor sales of Nokia handhelds in 2015. Financially it made more sense to write it all off.

the carrying value of Phone Hardware goodwill exceeded its estimated fair value. Accordingly, we recorded a goodwill impairment charge of $5.1 billion, reducing Phone Hardware’s goodwill from $5.4 billion to $116 million

Apple Testing Service That Allows Siri to Answer Calls and Transcribe Voicemail 70

Posted by samzenpus on Monday August 03, 2015 @03:18PM from the you-mean-just-like-google? dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Apple is reportedly testing a new feature which would allow Siri to answer your calls and then transcribe the voicemails as text messages. The iCloud service would then send users the text of that transcribed voicemail. Apple employees are testing a voicemail service currently and a public release isn't expected until sometime in 2016 in iOS10.

Submission + - Chattanooga ISP To Move From 1 Gigabit to 10 Gigabit Internet Speeds

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 03, 2015 @03:03PM

An anonymous reader writes: Chattanooga’s own public utility, Electric Power Board has said it plans to upgrade some of their existing 1 Gigabit service lines with 10 Gigabit service over the next few years and will make it the standard go-forward method for new infrastructure. Back in 2007, the city council moved forward with their $200 million project to make gigabit service available to every home in Chattanooga. They began in 2010 making the service available to consumers and now 5 years later are looking to move into 10Gbp/sec space making it only the second city in the United States to offer such speeds (Minneapolis being the other).

Submission + - Torvalds 2.0: Patricia Torvalds on computing, college, feminism, and increasing (opensource.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday August 03, 2015 @10:27AM

An anonymous reader writes: Patricia Torvalds isn't the Torvalds name that pops up in Linux and open source circles. Yet.

At 18, Patricia is a feminist with a growing list of tech achievements, open source industry experience, and her sights set on diving into her freshman year of college at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering. She works for Puppet Labs in Portland, Oregon, as an intern, but soon she'll head to Durham, North Carolina, to start the fall semester of college.

In this exclusive interview, Patricia explains what got her interested in computer science and engineering (spoiler alert: it wasn't her father), what her high school did "right" with teaching tech, the important role feminism plays in her life, and her thoughts on the lack of diversity in technology.

Submission + - NTT, Japan's largest fixed telecom provider, begins phasing out ADSL

Submitted by AmiMoJo on Monday August 03, 2015 @07:56AM

AmiMoJo writes: Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT), the third largest telecoms provider in the world, is beginning to phase out ADSL for broadband internet access. NTT is no longer accepting new registrations, and no longer manufacturing the equipment required. Instead they recommend users opt for their FLET'S HIKARI fibre optic service. Their "Giga Mansion Smart Type" services offers 1Gb/sec for around $40/month.

Submission + - Nokia's HERE maps sold for $3 billion to Audi, BMW and Mercedes

Submitted by vivaoporto on Monday August 03, 2015 @05:44AM

vivaoporto writes: Nokia announced an agreement to sell its HERE digital mapping and location services business to a consortium of leading automotive companies, comprising AUDI AG, BMW Group and Daimler AG (Mercedes brand owner).

The transaction values HERE at an enterprise value of EUR 2.8 billion with a normalized level of working capital and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2016, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals. Upon closing, Nokia estimates that it will receive net proceeds of slightly above EUR 2.5 billion, as the purchaser would be compensated for certain defined liabilities of HERE currently expected to be slightly below EUR 300 million as part of the transaction. Nokia expects to book a gain on the sale and a related release of cumulative foreign exchange translation differences totaling approximately EUR 1 billion as a result of the transaction.

Once the mapping unit is sold, Nokia will consist of two businesses: Nokia Networks and Nokia Technologies. The first will continue to provide broadband services and infrastructure while the second will work on “advanced technology development and licensing.”

Submission + - Nokia HERE sold to the consortium of Daimler BMW and Volkswagen's Audi

Submitted by jppiiroinen on Monday August 03, 2015 @01:32AM

jppiiroinen writes: Reuters has reported that the automakers has agreed on $3 billion deal to purchase Nokia's map division, which was originally acquired by Nokia at 2007 with purchase of Navteq for $8.1 billion.

Death Toll at 4 In NYC Legionnaire's Outbreak 13

Posted by timothy on Sunday August 02, 2015 @08:33AM from the in-the-pipeline dept.

Reuters reports that four people have died of Legionnaire's Disease in an outbreak in the Bronx, and 65 more have exhibited symptoms of the disease. The Bronx was also home to the most recent flare-up of the disease, in December of last year. Says the article, In response to the outbreak, the city's health department has inspected 22 buildings in the Bronx, 17 of which have cooling towers. Five buildings, including the historic Opera House Hotel, Lincoln Medical Center and the Concourse Plaza mall and movie complex, tested positive for Legionella. Disinfection efforts are ongoing or have already been completed at all five sites. ... The people who died from the disease were older adults with underlying medical problems, according to a city press release. The department said the city's drinking water supply, fountains and pools have not been affected.

Feed Google News Sci Tech: Hitchhiking robot's cross-country trip in US ends in Philly - Grand Island Independent (google.com)

From feed by feedfeeder on Sunday August 02, 2015 @06:32AM

Grand Island Independent

Hitchhiking robot's cross-country trip in US ends in Philly
Grand Island Independent
FILE- In this July 17, 2015, file photo, a car drives by HitchBOT, a hitchhiking robot in Marblehead, Mass. The Canadian researchers who created hitchBOT as a social experiment say someone in Philadelphia damaged the robot beyond repair on Saturday,...
Vandals end hitchhiking robot hitchBOT's US cross-country trekDispatch Times
The Last Journey of hitchBOT: The Photos You Need to SeeHeavy.com
Hitchhiking Robot Destroyed After Just 2 Weeks Travelling in USYibada (English Edition)

all 94 news articles

Want To Fight Climate Change? Stop Cows From Burping 299

Posted by timothy on Sunday August 02, 2015 @05:30AM from the and-some-others-while-you're-at-it dept.

sciencehabit writes: A simple supplement to a cow's feed could substantially decrease a major source of methane, a planet-warming greenhouse gas, a new study suggests. Each year worldwide, the methane produced by cud-chewing livestock warms Earth's climate by the same amount as 2.1 billion tons of carbon dioxide, a little more than 4% of the greenhouse gas emissions related to human activity. That makes cows tempting targets for methane reduction efforts. In a new study, researchers added the chemical 3-nitrooxypropanol, also known as 3NOP, to the corn-and-alfalfa-based feed of 84 milk-producing Holsteins and monitored their methane production for 12 weeks—the largest and longest such trial of its type in lactating cows, the scientists say. For cows whose feed included 3NOP, methane emissions dropped, on average, by 30%.

Submission + - Unicode consortium looks at symbols for allergies

Submitted by AmiMoJo on Sunday August 02, 2015 @04:48AM

AmiMoJo writes: A new preliminary proposal submitted to the Unicode Consortium suggests that specific emoji for food allergies should be added to the standard. The proposal (PDF), submitted by a Google engineer, is under discussion and may not be added to the standard at all but offers a peek into some useful new emoji. It suggests the addition of peanuts, soybeans, buckwheat, sesame seeds, kiwi fruit, celery, lupin beans, mustard, tree nuts, eggs, milk products and gluten to help those with allergies express them in shorthand.

Submission + - New telemetry suggests shot-down drone was higher than alleged

Submitted by AmiMoJo on Sunday August 02, 2015 @04:45AM

AmiMoJo writes: The pilot of the drone shot down Sunday evening over a Kentucky property has now come forward with video seemingly showing that the drone wasn't nearly as close as the property owner made it out to be. The data also shows that it was well over 200 feet above the ground before the fatal shots fired. The shooter, meanwhile, continues to maintain that the drone flew 20 feet over a neighbour's house before ascending to "60 to 80 [feet] above me."

Submission + - can a blind programmer use modelling projects visual studio (freedomscientific.com)

Submitted by StarTrekCafe on Sunday August 02, 2015 @04:09AM

StarTrekCafe writes: hi. can blind people use accessible modelling tools for visual studio? probably not! as screen readers cannot read text inside images or graphics or diagrams. so i need to do a modelling project for my programming course via http://www.upskilled.edu.au./ I use a screen reader Jaws For Windows from http://www.freedomscientific.c... Now, what are my options. Did try plant uml, but that is java based. So any ideas, need to do state, use, case, class and sequence diagrams from a couple of projects i have done already. A C# and a SQL Database project. Will ryno 3d do the job with accessibility? So what accessible tools, can i use? need to convey this information to my lectuer. Will it read the content in visual studio 2013 or 2015?

Solar-Powered Flight For 81 Hours: a New Endurance World Record 34

Posted by timothy on Sunday August 02, 2015 @02:26AM from the so-use-amazon-prime dept.

Hallie Siegel writes: A team of researchers from ETH Zurich have just set a new endurance record for solar powered flight of an unmanned autonomous aircraft, achieving over four days of solar-powered flight in a range of weather conditions. Being able to demonstrate more than 24 hours of endurance is important because overcast skies can inhibit recharging and poor weather or high winds can effect power consumption. Nice achievement for this class of aircraft.

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