Comment Start with policy (Score 1) 208
You handle these things by superintendent and board policies, and then use disciplinary actions against employees who violate the policy.
You do have a long battle to get around a poorly educated "educator" like your Vice Super. A high level director is the hardest person in the world to change.
Comment Ender's Game (Score 3, Informative) 647
Since Ender's Game didnt come up in a quick search.. well there ya go, Ender's game is perhaps the best fiction you can read.
Comment Kill them now or later? (Score 1) 441
Since its clear they want to create a state of War with just about everyone who disagrees with them, can we take a few measures to stop them before they Pearl-Harbor us?
Comment SkyNet (Score 1) 370
Yes, its the rise of the machines fellow resistance fighters!
Comment And they said religion has no part in science (Score 0, Troll) 114
Wow, thank you for that faith inspiring rhetoric; I can't think of how I could further prove that modern day theory is not much better then religion for the people who can't yet invent a new "God" or Genesis story.
I could come up with a much better theory, about how the sun's rotation speed caused all the slower particles to form planets much faster as a result of the suns unequal gravitational balance, however I fear that would be lost in the argument about why such circumstance would come to be when no evidence of such things suggest a theory even close to mine, much less this one...
The next time I pick a random thought out of my head, I'll be sure to post it on slashdot however... oh wait..
Revisiting the "Holy Trinity" of MMORPG Classes 362
A feature at Gamasutra examines one of the foundations of many MMORPGs — the idea that class roles within such a game fall into three basic categories: tank, healer, and damage dealer. The article evaluates the pros and cons of such an arrangement and takes a look at some alternatives.
"Eliminating specialized roles means that we do away with boxing a class into a single role. Without Tanks, each class would have features that would help them participate in and survive many different encounters like heavy armor, strong avoidance, or some class or magical abilities that allow them to disengage from direct combat. Without specialized DPS, all classes should be able to do damage in order to defeat enemies. Some classes might specialize in damage type, like area of effect (AoE) damage; others might be able to exploit enemy weaknesses, and some might just be good at swinging a sharpened bit of metal in the right direction at a rapid rate. This design isn't just about having each class able to fill any trinity role. MMO combat would feel more dynamic in this system. Every player would have to react to combat events and defend against attacks."
Submission + - For moray eels, two jaws better than one (mercurynews.com)
mikesd81 writes: "Mercury News reports that scientists at UC Davis have discovered that some eels have an extra set of jaws deep in their throats that launch forward into their mouths to help pull prey in. "It looks like a funny pair of forceps with curved sharp teeth," said evolutionary biologist Rita Mehta, lead author of the research, which appears Thursday in Nature. Before the discovery, scientists thought that all aquatic predators swallowed their prey using suction. By dropping the lower jaw and creating a flow of water into their mouths, they draw in the prey. The two species of moray eels studied by Mehta and Wainwright are the first examples of an alternative feeding method. Instead of sucking, one of these eels bites its prey with its primary set of teeth. It then draws the second set of teeth into its mouth by contracting long muscles. The secondary jaws clamp down on the prey, allowing the eel to move its primary jaws forward in a gulping motion to take in more of the prey. The two sets of jaws take turns until the whole animal has been swallowed. Mehta thinks the eels' extra jaws may have evolved to help the eels catch animals in small cracks and crevices in the coral they inhabit. While suction requires expansion of the mouth, the eel's double-jaw trick allows it to remain long and skinny, and may have helped them earn their place as top predator on the coral reef. Here is a video of an eel eating. If you look closely right around 34 seconds you can see what looks like the other set of jaws chewing."
Air Force Mistakenly Transports Live Nukes Across America 898
kernel panic attack writes "Surely the late Stanley Kubrick is somewhere smiling at this one. Forbes.com has a story about a B-52 Bomber that mistakenly flew 6-nuclear tipped cruise missles across several states last week.
The 3-hour flight took the plane from Minot Air Force Base, N.D, to Barksdale Air Force Base, La., on Aug. 30.
The incident was so serious that President Bush and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were quickly informed and Gates has asked for daily briefings on the Air Force probe, said Defense Department press secretary Geoff Morrell."
Submission + - HP Releases the First new iPAQs in Years (pocketnow.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Untitled Document
It's been several years since HP has brought to the market a new iPAQ handheld, but today, they've released a total of five new iPAQs. Two are Windows Mobile "Classic" devices (that is, they don't have cell phone functionality), two are business messengers that run Windows Mobile 6 Professional, and the last device is a media companion that runs the old Windows Mobile 5.0.
Submission + - Software development escrowing service (micropledge.com)
whetu writes: micropledge is an online escrowing service that has recently opened its doors, initially targetting software. If you have a need for a specific piece of software that does not already exist, you can pledge some money towards the cause, and if you're a developer in need of some cash — you can earn that. Multiple people can pledge to the same case, with one so far reaching USD$5000, and only when a consensus vote is reached by all pledgers is the money released. Could this be another way for companies and Open Source developers to engage? Could this be another way for Open Source developers to earn their keep?
Micropledge seems to be looking at the bigger picture though, with the capability planned to pledge money for practically any cause. There is a news article about the creators and more about micropledge on stuff.co.nz
Disclosure: I don't know the creators, but I am from NZ and work for a company that would be interested in using such a service
Micropledge seems to be looking at the bigger picture though, with the capability planned to pledge money for practically any cause. There is a news article about the creators and more about micropledge on stuff.co.nz
Disclosure: I don't know the creators, but I am from NZ and work for a company that would be interested in using such a service
Submission + - Y2K says Bioshock is licensed per user not per PC (2kgames.com) 2
ScaredOfTheMan writes: According to the Y2K forums a Bioshock PC install is only valid per one user (the one you were logged in as when you installed it). Any attempt to play the game from a different user account will require further activation. All I can say is Weak! Check out the metaphor of why your brother should not play the game you purchased.
Submission + - Sites being blocked by Time warner (thepiratebay.org) 2
Highlander14781 writes: "Well it looks like The Pirate Bay at www.thepiratebay.org is being blocked by Time Warner Cable.
Pirates on cable modems are toast as far as this very popular site goes. Other sites located here
appears to be down as well. Very interesting as far rights online goes."
Submission + - DDoS Attack (somee.com)
Mae Minehan writes: "On September 2 2007, online scammers began an automated DDoS attack against aa419.org, with the goal of shutting down the anti-fraud site. For some time, aa419 was able to filter the worldwide botnet's attacks by monitoring connections and only allowing legitimate visitors to access the site. However, by September 5 the hoster was being overwhelmed with nearly 400 Gb of incoming requests every hour. Rather than let their infrastructure melt under the onslaught, the server is currently offline.
This massive distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack was inspired by aa419.org's mission to blacklist and shut down scam web sites. Since 2004, the all-volunteer organization has recorded more than 18,000 such sites. In addition to publicly warning potential victims of fraud, they work with hosters and registrars to take scam web sites offline quickly, with a success rate of over 97% shut down.
Susan Williams, press officer for aa419.org, said, "On the whole, we're positive about this. Not that we enjoy being offline; quite the opposite. But being attacked with a botnet of this magnitude tells us that we are doing serious damage to the organized crime networks that run these scams."
Internet crime is increasing at record rates, and aa419.org is at the forefront of the fight against it. "We will continue our work regardless of how many criminals are annoyed by it," Williams said.
For further inquiries and questions, please contact Susan Williams at +1-914-908-4906 or 419suziecue@gmail.com."
Hole in Asteroid Belt Reveals Extinction Asteroid 175
eldavojohn writes "Further evidence for the asteroid mass extinction theory has been discovered as a break in the main asteroid belt of our solar system. From the article, "A joint U.S.-Czech team from Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) and Charles University in Prague suggests that the parent object of asteroid (298) Baptistina disrupted when it was hit by another large asteroid, creating numerous large fragments that would later create the Chicxulub crater on the Yucatan Peninsula as well as the prominent Tycho crater found on the Moon.""
