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Games

Text Editor Created In Minecraft 114

Posted by Soulskill from the already-has-dedicated-adherents dept.
jones_supa writes: The redstone mechanics in Minecraft can be pushed surprisingly far to create rather advanced digital circuits. Thanks to a user nicknamed Koala_Steamed, there now exists a text editor inside the game (YouTube demonstration). It comes with a 5 x 10 character matrix in which each character uses a starburst (16-segment) display. There are 7.357 x 10^92 different combinations the screen can show, all of which can be controlled from a single line. The scale of the workings used to make this piece of logic, using only redstone, is dauntingly huge.

Comment Re:Projector? Recommendations (Score 1) 720

by nullchar (#48489489) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Making a 'Wife Friendly' Gaming PC?

I thought the same thing years ago: I didn't want the screen staring at me all day when I'd only watch it for small periods of time.

Unfortunately, only "older" TV furniture had retractable doors to cover it, not much was available for large flat screens.

Some ideas:

  • Buy/make some nice (red) movie theater style curtains to cover the screen when not in use
  • Get a large canvas print of your favorite art and install that on the retractable pull-down screen
  • Go all out and build a motorized system to raise/lower the TV into/out of the attic/basement
China

How Alibaba Turned November 11 Into the World's Biggest Online Shopping Day 115

Posted by samzenpus from the buy-something dept.
hackingbear writes Bummed that you're home alone on date night, or stuck in your mom's basement, yet again? Don't worry. A new gadget or some scuba gear could help. Observed on November 11 — or "11.11," for the date with the most 1s — Singles Day, which started out as a joke among a group of male college students attending Nanjing University in the 1990s, has become the world's biggest online shopping day, thanks to the e-commerce prowess of China's Alibaba Group. On this day last year, they sold twice what all US companies sold on Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. This year, Alibaba has decided to take its 11.11 promotions worldwide, highlighting global brands including online jewelry store Blue Nile, clothing brand Juicy Couture, and even Costco. Amazon has tried to get a piece of the action. The Seattle-based company launched promotions for the holiday last year on its Chinese site, and it's done so again this year.

Comment Re:Google Analytics (Score 1) 167

by nullchar (#48215231) Attached to: Ello Formally Promises To Remain Ad-Free, Raises $5.5M

I don't see how anyone can believe this:

Ello uses an anonymized version of Google Analytics to gather and aggregate general information about user behavior. Google may use this information for the purpose of evaluating your use of the site, compiling reports on site activity for us and providing other services relating to site activity and internet usage. Google may also transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. To the best of our knowledge, the information gathered by Google on Ello’s behalf is collected in such a way that neither Ello, nor Google, can easily trace saved information back to any individual user.
Programming

Mixing Agile With Waterfall For Code Quality 133

Posted by Soulskill from the cats-and-dogs-living-together dept.
jones_supa writes: The 2014 CAST Research on Application Software Health (CRASH) report states that enterprise software built using a mixture of agile and waterfall methods will result in more robust and secure applications than those built using either agile or waterfall methods alone. Data from CAST's Appmarq benchmarking repository was analyzed to discover global trends in the structural quality of business application software. The report explores the impact of factors such as development method, CMMI maturity level, outsourcing, and other practices on software quality characteristics that are based upon good architectural and coding practices. InfoQ interviewed Bill Curtis, Senior Vice President and Chief Scientist at CAST, about the research done by CAST, structural quality factors, and mixing agile and waterfall methods.
Privacy

The Guardian Reveals That Whisper App Tracks "Anonymous" Users 180

Posted by samzenpus from the you-keep-using-that-word-I-do-not-think-it-means-what-you-think-it-means dept.
New submitter qqod writes this story at The Guardian that raises privacy concerns over the Whisper app. "The company behind Whisper, the social media app that promises users anonymity and claims to be the “the safest place on the internet”, is tracking the location of its users, including some who have specifically asked not to be followed. The practice of monitoring the whereabouts of Whisper users – including those who have expressly opted out of geolocation services – will alarm users, who are encouraged to disclose intimate details about their private and professional lives. Whisper is also sharing information with the US Department of Defense gleaned from smartphones it knows are used from military bases, and developing a version of its app to conform with Chinese censorship laws."
Biotech

Scanning Embryos For Super-Intelligent Kids Is On the Horizon 366

Posted by Soulskill from the might-be-easier-on-us-to-make-them-super-dumb dept.
An anonymous reader writes: Stephen Hsu, a professor in theoretical physics at Michigan State University, has an article discussing the genetic underpinnings of intelligence, and how our understanding of it will eventually lead to smarter children. Researchers have detected genes that influence cognitive ability, but the effect of any one gene is very small — less than 1 IQ point at best. Genetically modifying such genes is unlikely to happen any time soon, but our ability to analyze an embryo's genome is becoming quick and cheap. As we isolate more and more genes that affect intelligence, this means prospective parents will soon be able to analyze a batch of zygotes and figure out which ones are likely to be the smartest. Hsu says a batch of 10 zygotes will probably have an IQ range of 15 points or more. As our understanding of intelligence genetics grows, that range will only expand. He adds, "The corresponding ethical issues are complex and deserve serious attention in what may be a relatively short interval before these capabilities become a reality."

Comment Re:FreeBSD (Score 2) 303

by nullchar (#48105759) Attached to: What's Been the Best Linux Distro of 2014?

Gentoo seemed to figure out init script dependency.

I'm open to changing init scripts, but do we have to change everything else too? Like binary logging and needing an interface to access those logs instead of just tailing/grepping them. (Though I think systemd does support duplicate logging to certain syslogs.)

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