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Submission + - Happy Saint Patricks Day! Dyeing the Chicago River Green 2014 - Time-lapse (youtube.com)

Submitted by frootis
frootis writes: Every year, the Chicago River is dyed green for the St. Patricks Day parade. This time-lapse video taken yesterday may seem like it’s in black-and-white at first, but that’s just the colors of the city. It’s a slight shock when the green starts! The dumping was done by members of the Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Union Local 130. Here’s a view from a little closer to the action.

Submission + - Windows XP can put SOX, HIPAA, credit card security-compliance at risk (networkworld.com)

Submitted by coondoggie
coondoggie writes: When Microsoft stops supporting Windows XP next month businesses that have to comply with payment card industry (PCI) data security standards as well as health care and financial standards may find themselves out of compliance unless they call in some creative fixes, experts say. Strictly interpreted, the PCI Security Standards Council requires that all software have the latest vendor-supplied security patches installed, so when Microsoft stops issuing security patches April 8, businesses processing credit cards on machines using XP should fall out of PCI compliance,

Submission + - OpenGL ES 3.1 Specification Published (khronos.org)

Submitted by jones_supa
jones_supa writes: The Khronos Group today announced the immediate release of the OpenGL ES 3.1 specification, bringing significant functionality enhancements to the royalty-free 3D graphics API that is used on nearly all of the world’s mobile devices. Key features of ES 3.1 include: compute shaders, mixing and matching shaders without explicit linking step, indirect memory-fetched draw commands, enhanced texturing functionality, new shader language features and, optional extensions. The API will retain compatibility with previous versions of OpenGL ES. The OpenGL ES working group at Khronos expects also to update the OpenGL ES Adopter’s Program to provide extensive conformance tests for OpenGL ES 3.1 within three months. This ensures that conformant OpenGL ES implementations provide a reliable, cross-platform graphics programming platform.

Submission + - Gtalk message delivered, to the wrong person 1

Submitted by stormspirit
stormspirit writes: Remember the last embarrassing moment of sending your text messages to the wrong recipients? Clearly, Google wants to remind you the fact that even though the (Gtalk) messages now live in the cloud, they could also be embarrassingly delivered to unintended recipients. But this time, it's not your mistake. According to the news, "So far, there seems no pattern to whom the message is being delivered to by mistake. Also, it is not clear how many users have been affected affected by the bug." Maybe it's time we talk about the cliché of privacy breach again?

Comment Re:Yes. (Score 1) 631

by trickstyhobbit (#44946097) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Are We Witnessing the Decline of Ubuntu?
I learned to love that menu. At first I was really annoyed with how much work I had to do to set up the system the way I liked it but I had just come from Ubuntu where everything is done for you. It was a real eye opener to see how much customization is possible in Linux. I think that using CrunchBang really changed what I expected from a distro and more than anything, it helped me learn the system as a new user and gave me quite a bit more confidence.

Comment Not linear (Score 2) 631

by trickstyhobbit (#44946069) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Are We Witnessing the Decline of Ubuntu?
It's not like their trajectory is set in stone. Canonical may respond to the criticisms from users and begin to move in a new direction. Plus, Ubuntu is a fantastic base to build on cf Linux Mint, and I still think Ubuntu is the best way to introduce new users to Linux. I think it is nearsighted to proclaim the beginning of the end.

Submission + - Honda recalls Odyssey, Acura MDX for airbag defect (azcentral.com)

Submitted by Margjer
Margjer writes: TOKYO--Honda Motor Co. said Thursday it is recalling 318,000 Odyssey minivans in the U.S. and 63,400 Acura MDX sport-utility vehicles in several nations for an airbag defect.

The Japanese automaker said there have been no crashes related to the problem. Honda is also recalling 23,300 Odyssey minivans in Canada.

Tokyo-based Honda said it received complaints recently that the airbag opened unnecessarily in the 2003 and 2004 model year Odyssey and the 2003 Acura MDX because the computer chip for airbag deployment was responding to electrical interference.

Honda said a part called an electrical noise filter needs to be installed to prevent the problem.

Submission + - Ordnance Survey Creates Minecraft Model of Great Britain 1

Submitted by jeremyp
jeremyp writes: Ordnance Survey intern Joseph Braybrook has created a Minecraft World based upon accurate terrain mapping data of Great Britain. The world accurately represents the whole of Great Britain and surrounding islands (but excludes Northern Ireland and the Channel Islands). It maps 224,000 square kilometres of Greast Britain and contains 22 billion blocks. Graham Dunlop (Ordnance Survey Innovation Lab Manager) says:

We think we may have created the largest Minecraft world ever built based on real-world data

The map can be downloaded from the Ordnance Survey here.

Submission + - Psychohistory advances

Submitted by cedarhillbilly
cedarhillbilly writes: Conflict reduction turns out to be the driver for emergence of complex civilization
from the article: "The study focuses on the interaction of ecology and geography as well as the spread of military innovations and predicts that selection for ultra-social institutions that allow for cooperation in huge groups of genetically unrelated individuals and large-scale complex states, is greater where warfare is more intense."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130923155538.htm

Submission + - The Hunt For The Perfect API (mulesoft.org)

Submitted by MuleSoft
MuleSoft writes: Revisiting Joshua Bloch's 2006 talk on How to Design a Good API & Why it Matters, James Donelan (VP, Engineering at MuleSoft) has written an article about designing the perfect API. Fast-forward nine years later and everything Joshua said holds true, even if the technology and approach for creating APIs is vastly different today.

Submission + - Visionary Nintendo President Yamauchi Dies (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by trickstyhobbit
trickstyhobbit writes: Former Nintendeo president and majority stockholder Hiroshi Yamauchi has died. He was president of the comapany for over 50 years and saw the development of the NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, and GameCube among other devices

Submission + - Top 5 Glorified Widgets Which Were Never Dispatched! (gizmofeast.com)

Submitted by mukulchauhan3
mukulchauhan3 writes: Isn’t it just troublesome when curiosity gets the best of you? When a technology lover see’s new widgets’ being displayed all over but then never gets a chance to hold it in his/her hands, it’s upsetting. It’s like showing a baby a lollipop and then not giving it to him/her. Unfortunately a lot of gadgets made it till the big screen but were never used and felt. Being listed below are a few gadgets which were talked a lot about but then they were never released...

Submission + - Skype Bypasses Windows 8.1 Lock Screen 2

Submitted by ChristW
ChristW writes: From a blog entry on the Skype website, it is clear that "you can answer calls directly from your lock screen". So, if I lock my Windows PC and walk away, any passer by can answer my personal Skype calls.

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