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Submission + - Long time Debian developer Tollef Fog Heen resigns from Systemd maintainer team (debian.org)

An anonymous reader writes: Debian developer Tollef Fog Heen submitted his resignation to the Debian Systemd package maintainters team mailing list today (Sun. Nov. 16th, 2014). In his brief post, he praises the team, but claims that he cannot continue to contribute due to the "load of continued attacks...becoming just too much." Presumably, he is referring to the heated and, at times, even vitriolic criticism of Debian's adoption of Systemd as the default init system for its upcoming Jessie release from commenters inside and outside of the Debian community. Currently, it is not known if Tollef will cease contributing to Debian altogether. A message from his twitter feed, https://twitter.com/tfheen/sta..., indicates that he may blog about his departure in the near future.

Submission + - Why Net Neutrality is a Big Deal for Small Business (pashalaw.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Why is everybody yelling about net neutrality, and why now Actually, it’s a very big deal for small businesses with an online presence, and the Federal Communications Commission may have added fuel to the fire by sending confusing messages about its regulatory intentions.

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Female STEM members, are you offended by the shirt?

An anonymous reader writes: I was talking to a female friend who is currently enrolled in Princeton for something regarding physics, light, and black holes. (Note: I am not trying to trivialize what she's doing. I just don't understand *anything* she's talking about. Think I, Robot, where the doctor is talking tech to Will Smith and he has a blank look. That's me.)
I asked her whether or not a single guy wearing a friend's shirt would deter her from her career, and she said no.
So I want to ask the female STEM people here whether you were offended by the shirt or not.

Comment Re:ShirtStorm (Score 1) 337

You're not wrong. But Please! Get over it people! Your teachers lied. Santa Claus isn't real. Your parents had sex. Your children will have sex. Let's just get our heads out of our asses and be grown ups about this. Space exploration and science literacy has nothing to do with dubious fashion sense. Why don't I see outrage over the fact that Kim Kardashian doesn't know her amino acids from her Armani hand bags or whatever.

Comment Question for sequencing expert. (Score 4, Interesting) 128

How accurate is it for the media to say a "complete" genome was sequenced? I know a little molecular biology and have been lead to believe that certain types of DNA, (centromeres, telomeres, other such regions with lots of repetitive sequences or "fragile sites") are very hard to sequence reliably. Are these "swept under the rug" in a "complete" sequence? Perhaps a related question, how are non-coding regulatory portions of chromosomes handled in whole genome analysis?

Comment Re:so...... (Score 4, Insightful) 352

I won't speculate on the intentions of OC. But bringing up oil does raise a very legitimate item of concern. For much of the 20th century, petroleum has been the critical resource that drove or enabled much of our civilization and technical infrastructure. If we are going to look skyward, we have *GOT* to start thinking differently about the resource(s) that we are going to use. Unless big oil is willing to shell out the cash for researching the exploration and mining of hydrocarbons in the Jovian system, our government has got to step up and look at what we need to power space travel on an industrial scale.

Comment Re:Tricky proposition (Score 1) 64

I don't think we're talking about the same things. Post-9/11, plenty of cool things have been done by talented IT professionals for the government in the name of national security. If it was desired badly enough, it was made to happen. I don't think cultural differences was much of an impediment that got us to the point we are today.

Comment Tricky proposition (Score 4, Insightful) 64

Having skimmed through the article, it seems to me the elephant in the room is being ignored. A much more compelling case can be made for the fact that too *much* information technology already at the disposal of the government is making it way too easy to abuse the American public. It isn't a question of funding, it is a question of priorities.

Comment misleading (Score 4, Informative) 70

The videos of Feynman speaking at Cornell that Gates acquired and released are NOT the more popularly known "Feynman Lectures on Physics". It was part of the Messanger Lectures series where Feynman was a guest at his alma mater. Entitled "The Character of Physical Law", they are lesser known, but more accessible to someone who isn't intent upon a complete college lecture course.

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