Slashdot is powered by your submissions, so send in your scoop

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×

Submission + - Nuclear waste: Bury nuclear waste down a very deep hole, say scientists (sciencedaily.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Scientists at the University of Sheffield calculate that all of the UK's high level nuclear waste from spent fuel reprocessing could be disposed of in just six boreholes 5km deep, fitting within a site no larger than a football pitch.

The concept — called deep borehole disposal — has been developed primarily in the UK but is likely to see its first field trials in the USA next year. If the trials are successful, the USA hopes to dispose of its 'hottest' and most radioactive waste — left over from plutonium production and currently stored at Hanford in Washington State — in a deep borehole.

Submission + - Notorious "Patent Troll" to be the Commencement Speaker at UCLA

Submitted by onproton
onproton writes: This week Nathan Myhrvold, widely criticized for his industry role as a “patent troll,” was announced as the commencement speaker at UCLA’s graduation ceremony. The UCLA student newspaper quickly responded with a piece protesting the selection, describing Myhrvold’s company, Intellectual Ventures, as “the most hated company in tech.” Intellectual Ventures has purchased more than 70,000 patents, many of which are either sold to other identified patent trolls, or used by its shell corporations in litigation to extort companies actually involved in product development. These kinds of predatory organizations have resulted in a major decline in venture capital investment in startups, and as the “Daily Bruin” points out, make a mockery out of the legal processes involving intellectual property.

Submission + - Disney replaces longtime IT staff with H-1B workers (computerworld.com)

Submitted by Lucas123
Lucas123 writes: Disney CEO Bob Iger is one of eight co-chairs of the Partnership for a New American Economy, a leading group advocating for an increase in the H-1B visa cap. Last Friday, the partnership was a sponsor of an H-1B briefing at the U.S. Capitol for congressional staffers. The briefing was closed to the press. One of the briefing documents obtained after the meeting stated, "H-1B workers complement — instead of displace — U.S. Workers." Last October, however, Disney laid off at least 135 IT staff (though employees say it was hundreds more), many of them longtime workers. Disney then replaced them with H-1B contractors that company said could better "focus on future innovation and new capabilities." The fired workers believe the primary motivation behind Disney's action was cost-cutting. "Some of these folks were literally flown in the day before to take over the exact same job I was doing," one former employee said. Disney officials promised new job opportunities as a result of the restructuring, but the former staff interviewed by Computerworld said they knew of few co-workers who had landed one of the new jobs. Use of visa workers in a layoff is a public policy issue, particularly for Disney. Ten U.S. senators are currently seeking a federal investigation into displacement of IT workers by H-1B-using contractors. Kim Berry, president of the Programmer's Guild, said Congress should protect American workers by mandating that positions can only be filled by H-1B workers when no qualified American — at any wage — can be found to fill the position."

Submission + - ITC rules Microsoft handsets violate patents (betanews.com)

Submitted by Mark Wilson
Mark Wilson writes: Microsoft could face a ban on importing handsets into the US after a ruling by the International Trade Commission. The ITC found that Microsoft had used technology for which InterDigital owns the patents without obtaining the relevant permission.

Microsoft plans to challenge the ruling, saying "we have a successful track record challenging patent assertion entities that misuse industry standards". It is not the first handset manufacturer to have been hit with legal action from InterDigital, and it could severely hamper future handset sales.

Submission + - Verizon Tells Customer He Needs 75Mbps For Smoother Netflix Video (arstechnica.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Verizon recently told a customer that upgrading his 50Mbps service to 75 Mbps would result in smoother streaming of Netflix video. Of course, that's not true — Netflix streams at a rate of about 3.5 Mbps on average for Verizon's fiber service, so there's more than enough headroom either way. But this customer was an analyst for the online video industry, so he did some testing and snapped some screenshots for evidence. He fired up 10 concurrent streams of a Game of Thrones episode and found only 29Mbps of connection being used. This guy was savvy enough to see through Verizon's BS, but I'm sure there are millions of customers who wouldn't bat an eye at the statements they were making. The analyst "believes that the sales pitch he received is not just an isolated incident, since he got the same pitch from three sales reps over the phone and one online."

Submission + - A virtually unknown but safe and effective treatment for depression

Submitted by NichardRixon
NichardRixon writes: The government of the United States has been enormously effective in warning citizens about the dangers of opiate abuse, while at the same time recognizing the fact that these drugs have their place in medicine in treating physical pain. This is common knowledge. However, what is virtually never discussed, and almost unknown even among therapists, is the fact that opiates are also the most effective known treatment for major depression. When use is properly managed opiates often allow people with physical or emotional pain to live reletively normal lives, and it is far more effective, even, than electroconvulsive therapy. (http://www.opioids.com/antidepressant/opiate.html) is one example of available information. Although written by physicians, it's barely more than anecdotal.

The reasons that opiate efficacy is not often discussed is unknown to this author. Logic would suggest that the FDA must have determined that emotional pain is less severe than physical pain, but the fact that 90% of suicides are caused by mental illness--most commonly depression--rather thoroughly refutes this particular misconception. (http://www.suicide.org/suicide-causes.html)

Furthermore, the drugs currently used to treat depression are addictive, the only difference being that the person coming off antidepressants generally is glad to be doing so because of the many side effects. There's also no "high" that they might miss. That difference is probably not as true as it might at first seem, however, because people dependant upon medically prescribed opiates have mostly left that part of the experience behind them as they became tolerant to the drug. In fact studies show that less than 5% of people prescribed opiates become dependent, and it's important to understand that dependency is NOT the same as addiction! (http://www.rsdhope.org/drug-therapies-for-crps.html)

When searching the internet for information on the subject, one gets the feeling that much of what is known on the subject has been supressed. With persistence the data can be found, though, and one of the best I've seen can be found in documentation on development of a new drug, ALKS-5461 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ALKS-5461). The FDA has reportedly placed this drug on the fast track for approval. It contains a strong narcotic in combination with another drug that supresses any euphoria the patient might otherwise experience from taking it. I don't personally like the idea of taking a drug with it's own set of side effects, that I don't need, for the purpose of making it difficult to abuse. If approved it will also undoubtably be very expensive, but it may be a step in the right direction.

Incidence of depression is increasing at an alarming rate in the U.S., so don't dismiss the possibility that you or a loved one may at some point become a victim. (http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/prevalence/major-depression-among-adults.shtml)

NR

Submission + - Dangers Of Dihydrogen Monoxide (dhmo.org)

Submitted by bswarm
bswarm writes: Each year, Dihydrogen Monoxide is a known causative component in many thousands of deaths and is a major contributor to millions upon millions of dollars in damage to property and the environment. Some of the known perils of Dihydrogen Monoxide are:

Death due to accidental inhalation of DHMO, even in small quantities.
Prolonged exposure to solid DHMO causes severe tissue damage.
Excessive ingestion produces a number of unpleasant though not typically life-threatening side-effects.
DHMO is a major component of acid rain.
Gaseous DHMO can cause severe burns.
Contributes to soil erosion.
Leads to corrosion and oxidation of many metals.
Contamination of electrical systems often causes short-circuits.
Exposure decreases effectiveness of automobile brakes.
Found in biopsies of pre-cancerous tumors and lesions.
Given to vicious dogs involved in recent deadly attacks.
Often associated with killer cyclones in the U.S. Midwest and elsewhere, and in hurricanes including deadly storms in Florida, New Orleans and other areas of the southeastern U.S.
Thermal variations in DHMO are a suspected contributor to the El Nino weather effect.

Submission + - Adware Privdog worse than Superfish

Submitted by Presto Vivace
Presto Vivace writes: Comodo ships Adware Privdog worse than Superfish

tl;dr There is an adware called Privdog that gets shipped with software from Comodo. It totally breaks HTTPS security.

From Naked Capitalism's summary:

So here we have the CEO of a Certificate Authority (CA), Comodo, who is also the CEO of Privdog, whose product subverts the certificate authority system. Oh, and Comodo ships that very product with its software. These bottom feeders make Bill Gates look like St. Francis of Assisi. How deep does the rot in the software industry go, anyhow?

I am beginning to believe that Richard Stallman is right, living in freedom means using free and open software.

Slashdot Top Deals

New York... when civilization falls apart, remember, we were way ahead of you. - David Letterman

Close