Comment Re:Thanks (Score 1) 909
If you think people don't quit commercial jobs because of what they see as unreasonable demands then you haven't paid attention to the news.
Submission + - Net addicted couple neglect, starve own kids (yahoo.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Yahoo is reporting in this story that "A couple who authorities say were so obsessed with the Internet and video games that they left their babies starving and suffering other health problems have pleaded guilty to child neglect"
According to a prosecutor on the case: " ... the Reno couple were too distracted by online video games, mainly the fantasy role-playing Dungeons & Dragons series, to give their children proper care ... they had food; they just chose not to give it to their kids because they were too busy playing video games ..."
Police said hospital staff had to shave the head of the girl because her hair was matted with cat urine. The 10-pound girl also had a mouth infection, dry skin and severe dehydration. Her brother had to be treated for starvation and a genital infection. His lack of muscle development caused him difficulty in walking.
Last month, experts at an American Medical Association meeting backed away from a proposal to designate video game addiction as a mental disorder, saying it had to be studied further. Some said the issue is like alcoholism, while others said there was no concrete evidence it's a psychological disease.
According to a prosecutor on the case: "
Police said hospital staff had to shave the head of the girl because her hair was matted with cat urine. The 10-pound girl also had a mouth infection, dry skin and severe dehydration. Her brother had to be treated for starvation and a genital infection. His lack of muscle development caused him difficulty in walking.
Last month, experts at an American Medical Association meeting backed away from a proposal to designate video game addiction as a mental disorder, saying it had to be studied further. Some said the issue is like alcoholism, while others said there was no concrete evidence it's a psychological disease.
Submission + - Ruling the network with Python command line (linuxsecurity.com)
prostoalex writes: "Over at LinuxSecurity.com Rob klein Gunnewiek has posted a tutorial on generating and manipulating network packets from Python command line: "In this tutorial you will get a practical jumpstart into hacking in the network area. The lack of alot of practical information on hacking at the network level makes me guess many hackers have little knowledge about the subject.""
Submission + - New NeoPhonetics Tool Answers the Question: Is You
Kristen Keller writes: "Network Assessment Tool Provides VoIP Readiness Evaluation in Minutes
TINLEY PARK, IL — (July 16, 2007) — NeoPhonetics®, a telephony provider that designs, implements and supports custom VoIP systems for enterprises, today announced the launch of its Network Assessment Tool. Now, any company considering a data VoIP solution can determine whether their cabling, switching and routers, and network bandwidth are VoIP-compatible in a matter of minutes.
"The need for this tool became apparent through numerous conversations with our customers," said Chad Agate, CEO of NeoPhonetics. "Instead of verbally administrating the Network Assessment Tool, both current and potential customers can now simply go to our Web site and answer the questions in just three minutes. Through this streamlined process, not only do customers save time, but we can ensure a high-quality NeoPhonetics VoIP solution for every customer."
The Network Assessment Tool is an educational tool developed with non-technical users in mind. It is a first step in helping businesses determine whether their networks are ready for data VoIP. By answering a few simple questions online, the tool assesses compatibility requirements such as having:
80 kilobits of available bandwidth for every concurrent phone call
Category 5 cabling or better to every VoIP telephone
Network switches that are Power Over Ethernet (PoE), Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) and Quality of Service (QoS) capable and configured
Should a business use the tool and determine it would like to pursue an enterprise-grade VoIP system, NeoPhonetics can then provide a full, tailored Network Readiness Assessment.
"In many ways, the Network Assessment Tool is a network readiness screening tool. In the way that doctors screen to determine if more tests are necessary, this tool can be used to determine if a business' network is clearly ready for VoIP already or if further evaluation is needed," added Agate.
NeoPhonetics' Network Assessment Tool is available at http://neophonetics.com/pages/voipresources/networ kassessment.
About NeoPhonetics
NeoPhonetics designs, implements and supports custom VoIP telephony systems for enterprises with at least fifty employees. With a specialty in open source Asterisk® installations, NeoPhonetics creates solutions that offer more features, flexibility and cost effectiveness than traditional telephony systems. The company differentiates itself from other providers by offering on-site network design and integration as well as 24/7 support. In 2006, NeoPhonetics received the "Entrepreneurial Company of the Year Award" by Frost & Sullivan for its role as an emerging company with vast potential in the enterprise telephony equipment services market. Additional information can be found at www.neophonetics.com.
NeoPhonetics and the NeoPhonetics logo are registered trademarks of NeoPhonetics. Asterisk and the Asterisk Business Edition are registered trademarks of Digium Inc.
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Submission + - What You Know, Just Ain't So: Facts vs. Beliefs (functionalisminaction.com)
IConrad01 writes: "Functionalism In Action: What You Know — It Just Ain't So: Why Facts Can't Win Arguments is a commentary by a technophile libertarian (yours truly) attempting to further document the connection between deeply held beliefs and the inability of those with hard facts to contradict those beliefs."
Submission + - Reasons to close source code?
cowens writes: The last Ask Slashdot article got me to thinking about what reasons people have (or think they have) to close source code. Are any of these reasons valid? Can you think of any other reasons?
- You believe that your source code is so revolutionary that closing it will act as a significant barrier to your competitors.
- You are embarrassed by the code's lack of quality and are afraid of ridicule.
- You wish to license someone else's code and they are not FOSS friendly.
- You are afraid someone might discover a security flaw by examining the source code and exploit the flaw rather than reporting it to you.
- You are afraid of losing control of the project (similar to point 1).
- You have not actually considered why you want to close the source; AKA you are an idiot.
- It is what you have always done before; AKA you are a dinosaur and see point 6.
