thomkt - Slashdot User

Comment Re:Ron Wyden is always involved in these things (Score 1) 133

by thomkt on Friday October 21, 2011 @06:20PM (#37799516) Attached to: Senator Introduces Bill To Stop Warrantless GPS Tracking

Or worse, it could open the door to collecting the information using some exotic class of secret warrant that can be issued in bulk and retroactively by a special judicial representative chosen to rubber stamp such documents.

I haven't read the bill, but given Wyden's stance on warnentless searches and the way the Justice Department is interrupting the PATRIOT Act, it wouldn't surprise me if this bill addressed this issue as well

Thousands of Blackbirds Fall From Sky Dead 577

Posted by samzenpus on Monday January 03, 2011 @02:04AM from the silent-spring dept.

Dan East writes "In a fashion worthy of a King or Hitchcock novel, blackbirds began to fall from the sky dead in Arkansas yesterday. Somewhere between 4,000 and 5,000 birds rained down on the small town of Beeb, Arkansas, with no visible trauma. Officials are making wild guesses as to what happened — lightning strike, high-altitude hail, or perhaps trauma from the sound of New Year's fireworks killed them."

DC Universe Online To Launch January 11th 49

Posted by Soulskill on Wednesday December 22, 2010 @07:48AM from the dust-off-your-cape dept.

Sony Online Entertainment has announced that their long-awaited superhero MMO DC Universe Online will be launching on January 11th in the US and January 14th in the UK. The game will be available for Windows and the PlayStation 3. Massively recently wrote up their impressions from the beta test, and a preview at The Escapist said this of the combat: "Based on my early experiences, the action of DCUO is a lot of fun. You can lock onto targets, but there is no auto attack button. To take down enemies, you must click a button to punch or fire a ranged attack. The brawler-style action feels like a wham-bang comic book. Scenery is not just difficult terrain; picking up barrels and tossing them at your foes is sometimes necessary for tough encounters. Leveling up your skills unlocks combos, with varying effects that can interrupt enemies from pulling off that devastating fire breath or stunning punch. ... The only downside with such frenetic combat is that the keyboard and mouse interface isn't really conducive to all this action. It's hard to follow up nine short left clicks with a long right button click. While I was visiting SOE's offices, I was able to play with a PS3 controller, and this control scheme was preferable."

Comment What about Zero Tolerance in schools? (Score 1) 398

by thomkt on Tuesday August 17, 2010 @09:08PM (#33283484) Attached to: Feds Won't File Charges In School Laptop-Spy Case

I'm sure many of the kids caught up in Zero Tolerance suspensions/expulsions didn't have any criminal intent either, but were still prosecuted.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_tolerance_(schools)

, obviously not all result in criminal charges, but many do.

http://rutherford.org/articles_db/press_release.asp?article_id=561

Comment Re:I see it coming... (Score 1) 419

by thomkt on Wednesday December 09, 2009 @11:20PM (#30384586) Attached to: Company Trains the Autistic To Test Software

Seumas you have no idea how much I agree with you on this one.

Last time a similar story was posted (couldn't find the link), somebody brought up that autism/aspergers as being the new "chic" diagnosis....it has everything a parents wants, an excuse to justify their child's behavioral issues as a manifestation of a disability which allows them to absolve themselves of any parenting failures with a label that's associated with high intelligence.

To the GP, as the parent of a severely autistic child this isn't at all reprehensible, providing autistic individuals with any kind of vocational/technical training is doing them, and their family/caregiver, a huge service. We just hope that Rachel will have an opportunity like this some day.

Maori Legend of Man-Eating Birds is True 338

Posted by samzenpus on Monday September 14, 2009 @11:58PM from the beautiful-plumage dept.

jerryatrix writes "Legends of the New Zealand Maori tell of giant man-eating birds. New scientific evidence proves that these birds did exist and were around the same time as humans in New Zealand. From the article, 'Scientists now think the stories handed down by word of mouth and depicted in rock drawings refer to Haast's eagle, a raptor that became extinct just 500 years ago.'"

Slashdot Top Deals