Comment Re:Correction (Score 1) 226
Sounds like preview can be your friend too.
Comment Correction (Score 1) 226
It should be 2x10^16 joules, or 5 megatons (somehow 0.1C became C in the Google equation while copy-n-pasting). A little less impressive but still highly unlikely.
Note to self: preview is your friend.
Comment Re:Always the frontrunner? (Score 1) 226
> manhole cover moving about about 0.1c
A manhole cover has a mass over 50kg. Traveling at 0.1C, it's kinetic energy would be over 2x10^18 joules, which is about half a gigaton TNT equivalent.
By comparison, the most powerful nuclear weapon ever detonated had a yield of 50 megatons.
Moral of the story: never underestimate the venerable C (when compared to human scale objects and measurements).
Submission + - Ask Slashdot: A More Accessible Alternative to arXiv.org?
An anonymous reader writes: I have an account at arXiv.org from my postdoc years. The problem with arXiv.org is that it's closely tied to the establishment, with an endorsement system heavily favoring institutional career researchers. What I am looking for is an eprint repository that is accessible to the general public — for both authors and readers, has an authoritative timestamp, and is likely to stay around for the foreseeable future. Perhaps a cross between arXiv.org and Wikipedia, or maybe a GitHub clone but for research pagers. Any such beast in existence, or should somebody start one?
No LMGTFY please. I am aware of what's available out there, but want real-world experiences and opinions from the Slashdot community. Background: I am an independent researcher with a Ph.D in theoretical physics, although my research interests cover a variety of disciplines. I plan to publish my work in recent years as public-domain eprints, completely bypassing traditional academic channels, with one caveat: I want to receive full credit where it's due, otherwise a simple blog would have sufficed.
No LMGTFY please. I am aware of what's available out there, but want real-world experiences and opinions from the Slashdot community. Background: I am an independent researcher with a Ph.D in theoretical physics, although my research interests cover a variety of disciplines. I plan to publish my work in recent years as public-domain eprints, completely bypassing traditional academic channels, with one caveat: I want to receive full credit where it's due, otherwise a simple blog would have sufficed.
Comment Reverse VNC (Score 5, Informative) 247
Other posts have already mentioned VNC, naturally. But more specifically, what you want is reverse VNC. You set up a VNC listener, and firewall port forwarding etc. on you end. Then ask the user to download a simple server executable (e.g. tvnserver.exe in the case of Windows/TightVNC) and connect to your IP address.
Comment Re:Too similar (Score 3, Insightful) 158
Seconded.
Not only is the logo too similar, but frankly it sucks. To the uninitiated it looks like a broken gear. You can only imagine the jokes down the road whenever something doesn't work.
For all its merits, graphic design is one of those areas where the open source movement lacks serious talent.
Comment Re:Who can blame them? (Score 1) 35
I see your point. It's universal in the sense that two arms and two legs are universal to all humans, amputees and people born with deformity notwithstanding.
Comment Re:Who can blame them? (Score 1) 35
"Empathy", that is. Note to self: preview is your friend.
Comment Re:Who can blame them? (Score 1) 35
In There is no equivalent to Christianity's "do unto others as you would have them do unto yourself" in China. So, why the hell care what your employer is paying you to do?
Right, the West is so different. That explains our wonderful state of economy.
The word is "empthy", look it up. It's something universal to all humans.
Submission + - Essential Safety is Very Crucial, Both Equally in the Workplace (articlesolve.com)
Aaron28 writes: The choice of an Alarm erhverv for the best alarm systeme is the best option one can get to stay safe and to attain a better security for the future.
Submission + - An Asian Origin for Human Ancestors? (sciencemag.org) 2
InfiniteZero writes: Researchers agree that our immediate ancestors, the upright walking apes, arose in Africa. But the discovery of a new primate that lived about 37 million years ago in the ancient swamplands of Myanmar bolsters the idea that the deep primate family tree that gave rise to humans is rooted in Asia. If true, the discovery suggests that the ancestors of all monkeys, apes, and humans—known as the anthropoids—arose in Asia and made the arduous journey to the island continent of Africa almost 40 million years ago.
Submission + - Transit Stream interrupted by roadworks (abc.net.au)
clockt writes: "NASA scientists have been broadcasting pictures of the transit of Venus from Alice Springs after cloudy skies and a mystery computer connection problem delayed the transmission.
The planned live broadcast of the rare astronomical event from an Alice Springs high school was delayed by an hour by what was later identified as an "IT problem".
Earlier, the ABC had been told that the problem was caused when a backhoe being used by a roadwork crew cut a fibre-optic cable, knocking out many internet connections in parts of the Northern Territory.
A school spokesperson says NASA computers have been connected to the school's internet system to allow the transmission to go ahead." ...
Hooray for education funding.
The planned live broadcast of the rare astronomical event from an Alice Springs high school was delayed by an hour by what was later identified as an "IT problem".
Earlier, the ABC had been told that the problem was caused when a backhoe being used by a roadwork crew cut a fibre-optic cable, knocking out many internet connections in parts of the Northern Territory.
A school spokesperson says NASA computers have been connected to the school's internet system to allow the transmission to go ahead."
Hooray for education funding.
Submission + - Africa Is The New China, Says Anders Borg 2
jones_supa writes: Sometimes perceived as the insightful finance minister of Sweden, Anders Borg predicts good times for Africa (English translation). We can already see how seven of the ten fastest growing economies are in Africa and, the IMF forecasts that sub-Saharan Africa will have a GDP growth of 5.5 percent this year. Zambia and Uganda had 6 per cent GDP growth last year. 'Africa is the new China. Within ten years, Africa will have more inhabitants than China about 1.5 billion people and many are young, under 25. These countries have an enormous potential,' says Borg. He suggests that Europe should work with Africa just as they have been working with China and other Asian countries.
Submission + - College Freshman at Age 9, M.D. at 21 - A Real-World Doogie Howser (chicagotribune.com) 2
An anonymous reader writes: Sho Yano this week will become the yougnest student to get an M.D. from University of Chicargo. He was reading at age 2, writing by 3, and composing music by his 5th birthday. He graduated from Loyola University in three years — summa cum laude, no less. When he entered U. of C.'s prestigious Pritzker School of Medicine at 12, it was into one of the school's most rigorous programs, where students get both their doctorate and medical degrees.
Intelligence is not Yano's only gift — though according to a test he took at age 4, his IQ is too high to accurately measure and is easily above genius level. He is an accomplished pianist who has performed at Ravinia, and he has a black belt in tae kwon do. Classmates and faculty described him as "sweet" and "humble," a hardworking, Bach-adoring, Greek literature-quoting student. And in his own words, "I may not be the most outgoing person, but I do like to be around people." — unlike many self-proclaimed genius-level slashdoters.
Intelligence is not Yano's only gift — though according to a test he took at age 4, his IQ is too high to accurately measure and is easily above genius level. He is an accomplished pianist who has performed at Ravinia, and he has a black belt in tae kwon do. Classmates and faculty described him as "sweet" and "humble," a hardworking, Bach-adoring, Greek literature-quoting student. And in his own words, "I may not be the most outgoing person, but I do like to be around people." — unlike many self-proclaimed genius-level slashdoters.
Submission + - First Steps with the Raspberry Pi (linuxlinks.com)
An anonymous reader writes: The Raspberry Pi received an extraordinary amount of pre-launch coverage. It truly went viral with major news corporations such as the BBC giving extensive coverage. Not without reason, it is groundbreaking to have a small capable computer retailing at less than the price of a new console game. There have been a number of ventures that have tried to produce a cheap computer such as a laptop and a tablet but which never materialised at these price points. Nothing comes close to the Raspberry Pi in terms of affordability, which is even more important in the current economic climate. Producing a PC capable of running Linux, Quake III-quality games, and 1080p video is worthy of praise.
