omega_cubed - Slashdot User

Submission + - Sculptor gives a 'hint' for Kryptos (nytimes.com)

Submitted by

omega_cubed

on Saturday November 20, 2010 @05:55PM

omega_cubed writes: "The New York Times reports that Jim Sanborn, the sculptor who created the wavy metal pane called Kryptos that sits in front of the CIA in Langley, VA, has gotten tired of waiting for code-breakers to decode the last of the four messages.
“I assumed the code would be cracked in a fairly short time,” [Sanborn] said, adding that the intrusions on his life from people who think they have solved his fourth puzzle are more than he expected. So now, after 20 years, Mr. Sanborn is nudging the process along. He has provided The New York Times with the answers to six letters in the sculpture’s final passage. The characters that are the 64th through 69th in the final series on the sculpture read NYPVTT. When deciphered, they read BERLIN.

"

Submission + - 12-year old nails Microsoft certification (networkworld.com)

Submitted by Roberto123 on Saturday November 20, 2010 @05:46PM

Roberto123 writes: A U.K. Microsoft training program says a 12-year-old just obtained PowerPoint certification. But the world's youngest certified title goes to a child from Macedonia who obtained his programmer certification at age nine.

Submission + - New Path Found for Colon Cancer Drug Discovery

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 20, 2010 @05:44PM

An anonymous reader writes: An old pinworm medicine is a new lead in the search for compounds that block a signaling pathway implicated in colon cancer. The findings, reported by Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers in the November issue of Nature Chemical Biology, suggest a fresh approach for developing therapeutics that target the pathway. More than 90 percent of sporadic (non-inherited) colon cancers — the second deadliest type of cancer in the developed world — are caused by mutations that result in inappropriate activation of the Wnt (pronounced “wint”) signaling pathway. Blocking this pathway has been a desirable therapeutic target, but its complexity has made it difficult to determine which molecular participants to inhibit.

Submission + - Does the TSA Ever Catch Terrorists? (slate.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 20, 2010 @05:42PM

An anonymous reader writes: Slate.com does an analysis on whether or not the TSA *ever* catches terrorists. Their conclusion: If they do, for some reason they won't admit it.

Submission + - Web Exploit Spams Your Google Email Address (techcrunch.com)

Submitted by bonch on Saturday November 20, 2010 @05:19PM

bonch writes: A person named Vahe has created a website that, once visited, automatically emails any Google account you're logged into, complete with headers signed by Google. The exploit even works in Chrome's incognito mode. The details of the implementation are unknown, and the site is currently down, but Google says they're investigating the issue. TechCrunch notes that the site was on Google's blogging platform and may be exploiting a Google API. Vahe, who is Armenian, claims Google hasn't returned his emails and writes, 'Big companies act like they all really protect our privacy and such, but they see that people don't care and don't do anything really.'

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Thinky gifts for young kids? 3

Submitted by on Saturday November 20, 2010 @02:55PM

An anonymous reader writes: Societal norms and my sibling's procreative endeavors have put me in the position of having to buy gifts twice a year for young children. What makes them happy are unremarkable bits of plastic. They already have innumerable unremarkable bits of plastic (from their parents and grandparents). My preference would be to get them gifts that challenge them to think creatively (or at least to think), which they'll be able to pick up and enjoy even after they outgrow their train/truck/homemaking fetishes. Beyond the Rubick's Cube, what thinky toys from your childhood are still in production? What new thinky toys have you discovered that work for the 5 — 10 age range?

Submission + - Guy Fined For Posting Links To Official Broadcast (techdirt.com) 1

Submitted by hcs_$reboot on Saturday November 20, 2010 @09:37AM

hcs_$reboot writes: Over in Sweden, it appears that a guy has been fined for linking to an online broadcast of a hockey game. We've heard stories of people getting in trouble merely for linking to unauthorized content, but this story is even more ridiculous. The guy wasn't linking to unauthorized content. He was linking to an online video feed from the official broadcaster, Canal Plus.
The issue was that Canal Plus was apparently technically incompetent in how they set up the feeds, and never intended to make the feeds public.

Submission + - Earthquake hazard in Midwest equal to California? (failuremag.com)

Submitted by swellconvivialguy on Saturday November 20, 2010 @07:28AM

swellconvivialguy writes: Next year marks the bicentennial of the 1811-12 New Madrid earthquakes, with earthquake drills and disaster tourism events planned across the Midwest, including the Great Central U.S. ShakeOut. But despite the fact that Earthquake Hazard Maps equate the New Madrid seismic zone with California, geologist Seth Stein says new science (especially GPS data) tells us the hazard has been significantly overestimated and that we should not spend billions on earthquake preparations in the Midwest.

Submission + - UK law body targets RIAA style settlement letters (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by PerformanceDude on Saturday November 20, 2010 @05:52AM

PerformanceDude writes: The Register reports that a major UK law firm knew it sometimes had no reliable evidence of unlawful filesharing when it demanded hundreds of pounds damages from internet users, according to the solicitors' watchdog.

London-based Davenport Lyons threatened thousands of people with legal action for alleged copyright infringement between 2006 and 2009. They were told that by quickly paying around £500 damages, plus costs, they could avoid court.

Following complaints to the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), Davenport Lyons now stands accused of deliberately ignoring concerns over the standard of its evidence.

Submission + - Nissan to Surround its Cars With Safety Bubbles (mobilesynergetics.com)

Submitted by __aajbyc7391 on Sunday November 07, 2010 @03:56PM

__aajbyc7391 writes: In addition to pioneering the world's first mass-marketed all-electric vehicle, Nissan has been busy developing advanced safety systems that reduce the risk of accidents by wrapping a virtual safety bubble around the car (check out the videos especially the first one). Nissan's collision-avoidance technologies encompass both active and passive safety features. The vehicle's on-board intelligent safety system categorizes potential risks into different phases of driving, and activates various barriers to provide multiple layers of protection depending on the type of approaching risk. Based on risk data collected, the car provides suitable safe-driving prompts to the driver to help avoid the risk, and also offers a succession of other safety features as the risk approaches or in case a crash occurs. Gives new meaning to 'leave the driving to us,' eh?

Submission + - TV Tropes Self-Censoring under Google Pressure (tvtropes.org) 1

Submitted by

mvdwege

on Sunday November 07, 2010 @11:18AM

mvdwege writes: "The popular wiki TV Tropes, a site dedicated to the discussion of various tropes, clichés and other common devices in fiction has suddenly decided to put various of its pages behind a 'possibly family-unsafe' content warning, apparently due to pressure by Google withdrawing its ads.

What puzzles me most is the content that is put behind this warning. TV Tropes features no explicit sexual content, and no explicit violence. It does of course discuss these things, as is its remit, but without actual explicit depictions. In fact, something as relatively innocuous as children being raised by two females, whatever the reason are put behind the content warning, even if the page itself doesn't take a stand on the issue, merely satisfying itself by describing the occurence of this in fiction."

Submission + - The Queen Joins Facebook (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by H3xx on Sunday November 07, 2010 @05:06AM

H3xx writes: The Queen is set to have an official presence on Facebook when a British Monarchy page launches on the internet-based social networking site. Buckingham Palace says it is not a personal profile page, but users can "like" the service and receive updates on their news feed.

The Queen has reportedly embraced the web and sends e-mails. A British Monarchy Twitter feed is also available.

The Facebook page is due to go live from Monday morning. The page will also feature the Court Circular, recording the previous day's official engagements.

Comment Re: move along now (Score 1) 264

by omega_cubed on Wednesday July 28, 2010 @04:20PM (#33061210) Attached to: Possible Room Temperature Superconductor Achieved

This is informative? No serious mathematician takes the Erdös number as more than pure entertainment (for what it's worth, I am a professional mathematician). You are essentially advocating authority by association, which can rapidly degenerate into nepotism. I don't know about other fields, but mathematics is actually one field where truth can be judged (though sometimes it take ridiculously long) and reputation earned.

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