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Submission + - .NET JIT Getting SIMD Support (msdn.com)

Submitted by iONiUM
iONiUM writes: As per the MSDN article, the long proposed user request for SIMD support has finally been answered. A NuGet package preview is available here. From the article: "You may think that task-based programming or offloading work to threads is already the answer. While multi-threading is certainly a critical part, it’s important to realize that it’s still important to optimize the code that runs on each core. SIMD is a technology that employs data parallelization at the CPU level. Multi-threading and SIMD complement each other: multi-threading allows parallelizing work over multiple cores while SIMD allows parallelizing work within a single core."

Submission + - Open SSL Bug Has Gone Mainstream (techcrunch.com)

Submitted by iONiUM
iONiUM writes: Many sources are now reporting on the massive bug affecting almost the entire internet in Open SSL (including Yahoo!). There are guides offering information on the bug and how to patch it, as well as a dedicated website to test if a website is vulnerable. This bug allows users to get usernames and plain texts passwords, as well as active sessions even when the connection is using SSL. Here is a list of the top 1000 vulnerable sites.

Submission + - UN Report: Climate Changes Overwhelming (bbc.com)

Submitted by iONiUM
iONiUM writes: From the article, "The impacts of global warming are likely to be "severe, pervasive and irreversible", a major report by the UN has warned." A major document was released by the IPCC outlining the current affects on climate change, and they are not good. For specific effects on humans: "Food security is highlighted as an area of significant concern. Crop yields for maize, rice and wheat are all hit in the period up to 2050, with around a tenth of projections showing losses over 25%."

Submission + - Maybe it is not worms, but Mars has holes

Submitted by DusterBar
DusterBar writes: NASA photographs of Mars have relieved some rather interesting holes on Mars.

The most interesting one also has a strange and very visible circular creator around it that is unexplained.

The holes are interesting as speculation is that they connect to some underground caverns that could act as shelter from the harsh surface conditions. This could be a place where, if there is life on Mars, it could be more likely to have survived.

Submission + - Yellowstone National Park 2.5 Times Bigger Than Originally Thought (ecanadanow.com) 1

Submitted by iONiUM
iONiUM writes: From the article: "According to Jamie Farrell, the lead author in a University of Utah scientific study of Yellowstone National Park’s super volcano, the magma inside the volcanic caldera is 2.5 times larger than previously believed and spans a distance of 55 miles." As well, the article notes "The Mount St. Helens eruption created an eruption column (hot volcanic ash) which rose 80,000 feet. By contrast, should the Yellowstone caldera erupt, its smoke would circle the planet. Scientists believe the eruption would make a global event causing damage throughout the world. It is believed that the last eruption occurred 640,000 years ago. Some researchers believe the caldera is due to explode soon which notion is disputed by Farrell. He explained that he doesn’t know when it will explode, which begs the obvious question of how he is the able to refute those who say the caldera may explode sometime soon."

Comment Re:One thing I've learned.... (Score 2) 2219

by iONiUM (#46191933) Attached to: Slashdot Tries Something New; Audience Responds!

It's not like they can't monetize this site, they just don't know what they're doing.

The way to monetize Slashdot isn't to drive out the existing and very knowledgeable users/contributers by bringing in a site that caters to the masses.. no, it's to use this crowd's high level of technical expertise/knowledge to make profit. How? Charge for ask Slashdot! Have a technical problem and need assistance, and stackoverflow isn't cutting it? Well shit, pay Slashdot and get an article posted and bam, your problem will be answered by a slew of very intelligent people.

The other thing is jobs. I know Slashdot has a few job listings or whatever, but they aren't doing it right. They have a massive pool of people, some of whom are unemployed (if you read the comments). Why not hook up contractors/head hunters with these people through the site, for a price? Why not open up the subscriber base with an OPT-IN (by default opt-out) option where potential employers can contact us, and even post jobs (properly)?

These are two very simple ways they could monetize, and I don't have an MBA. I'm sure there's many more. Sometimes it's not about straight up ad-click and growing page views, it's about being intelligent, and working with the extremely valuable resource you have: very smart people who give articles and discussions for free!

Comment Re:Just be honest - it's not for *US* (Score 2) 2219

by iONiUM (#46183159) Attached to: Slashdot Tries Something New; Audience Responds!
As a UI/UX lead with education in human interaction, its really weird that you claim UX "tests" show people want what Beta offers. It is more than possible to get a clean "trendy" updated UI and UX without sacrificing readability, content spacing or threaded replies. I would love to know exactly who worked on the beta, and what tests they did, because after seeing it and the mess that is mobile and remarks like "we could only test it on a few devices", I'm fairly confident Slashdot does not have senior UI/UX or QA. It's sad, and unacceptable. Contract a real designer, who has UI/UX training.
United States

Fracking Is Draining Water From Areas In US Suffering Major Shortages 268

Posted by samzenpus from the looking-for-a-drink dept.
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "RT reports that some of the most drought-ravaged areas of the US are also heavily targeted for oil and gas development using hydraulic fracturing — a practice that exacerbates water shortages with half of the oil and gas wells fracked across America since 2011 located in places suffering through drought. Taken together, all the wells surveyed from January 2011 to May 2013 consumed 97 billion gallons of water, pumped under high pressure to crack rocks containing oil or natural gas. Up to 10 million gallons can go into a single well. 'Hydraulic fracturing is increasing competitive pressures for water in some of the country's most water-stressed and drought-ridden regions,' says Mindy Lubber. 'Barring stiffer water-use regulations and improved on-the-ground practices, the industry's water needs in many regions are on a collision course with other water users, especially agriculture and municipal water use.' Nearly half (47%) of oil and gas wells recently hydraulically fractured in the U.S. and Canada are in regions with high or extremely high water stress. Amanda Brock, head of a water-treatment firm in Houston, says oil companies in California are already exploring ways to frack using the briny, undrinkable water found in the state's oil fields. While fracking consumes far less water than agriculture or residential uses, the impact can be huge on particular communities and is 'exacerbating already existing water problems,' says Monika Freyman. Hydraulic fracking is the 'latest party to come to the table,' says Freyman. The demands for the water are 'taking regions by surprise,' she says. More work needs to be done to better manage water use, given competing demand."

Comment Re:Kinda Suprised...but I guess I shouldn't be... (Score 2) 505

by iONiUM (#46130705) Attached to: The JavaScript Juggernaut Rolls On

All the features in JS that the parent is talking about are very important. But they're important and good for web applications, not web sites. Everyone here seems to assume that all people do with HTML/CSS/JS is write web sites, but that's no longer the case. Application which were traditionally written in WinForms/WPF/C++/Mobile apps are starting to get offloaded to web, which means we need those features in JS. I mean, why do you think the canvas tag and others were introduced?

The problem is advertisers/annoying websites are also using them.

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