Comment Hulu doesn't even understand what they do (Score 1) 648
I got Hulu so that I could cancel my cable subscription
Comment Birdbath (Score 0, Redundant) 386
A birdbath for ostriches and emus. Except, you need to leave it on the ground since they can't fly.
Comment Re:Possibly Fake? (Score 1) 112
It's not fake. I work with them. They're demoing it at National Instruments week-long conference (NI Week) in Austin.
Sloppy editting? Maybe. Fake? Nope.
Comment What did you say? (Score 1) 727
Did anyone else see the humor in this appearing twice in Google Reader?
Comment I'm not narcissitic at all (Score 1) 1316
I'm going to graduate in less than two months. I'm not narcissitic at all. I know I reflect on myself too much to be absorbed in myself. I'm completely perfect.
But in all honesty, I've seen a number of my colleagues who think they're hot shit, who really aren't. They talk about how they're going to be hot-shot devs for some up-and-coming game company, but I'm betting they're going to be working 65 hours a week and burnout in a few years.
Me? I've got a pretty good job lined up with good benefits. I'm not expecting to travel at all, or be given rewards for doing a good job. I do expect that if I consistently do a good job and do better than expected of me that I'll be rewarded in some way. I'd much rather have a less super-star job and a relatively stress-free 40-45 hour work week. What does everyone else here think of that?
P.S. I hope someone got the reflective joke...
Comment Older Palm Pilots (Score 1) 426
Some older Palms have Wifi with decent browsers. I'm fairly sure they support Javascript. They'd be nice and cheap, but their battery life is limited.
Comment Just do it. Go abroad, whatever you have to do. (Score 3, Insightful) 386
I'm a senior CS student at Rice University who studied abroad the first semester of my sophomore year. The hoops you have to jump through to study abroad are worth it.
You probably don't really need to take technical courses every semester: there may be a light one with courses you can put off. I had to take a 3 week summer course and adjust my schedule a bit, but I made it to Florence, Italy for a semester. If you absolutely cannot go abroad for a full semester, do a summer program or go after you graduate (I knew a kid who graduated, then still went abroad for the experience).
Decide what school you want to go to based on whether you want to experience the culture or drink. A lot of the schools built for studying abroad have people who just go abroad to drink. I was at one of those schools although I would've liked more cultural things and less drinking. It's up to you.
I took no technical courses while abroad. I actually fulfilled a number of university requirements (arts and social sciences).
Make sure you clear all the courses you're going to take with your advisor: they should know you might be taking a semester off of CS. Make sure that you also get any classes you want to transfer approved beforehand. Get signatures.
(It may actually be cheaper to go abroad if you're currently going to a private school. If you have scholarships, some of them may pay for you to go abroad)
If you can't find some time to go, you don't want it bad enough. Feel free to contact me if you have any more specific questions.
FCC Approves Unlicensed Use of White-Space Spectrum 138
sidesh0w was one of a number of readers to alert us to the FCC's unanimous decision approving unlicensed devices to use the white spaces of the spectrum unused by television broadcasters, provided they take certain precautions not to interfere with licensed users. "Denying a tremendous last-minute lobbying effort by broadcasters, the vote on white space devices went ahead as planned today after a several-hour delay at FCC headquarters. When the vote came, though, it was unanimous. For the Democrats on the Commission, the devices are appealing because they offer a potential new avenue for broadband services, while the Republicans are pleased for the same reasons, but love the fact that this is a deregulatory order that focuses on less regulation and more competition."
Wall Street's Collapse Is Computer Science's Gain 435
dcblogs writes "Thanks to Wall Street's implosion, the chairman of Stanford University's Computer Science Department says he is seeing more interest from students in computer science. Ditto at Boston College. Computer science enrollments crashed after the dot-com bust as students turned to hedge fund majors. And are computer science grads getting jobs? The professor at one university program that graduates about 45 students a year with CS degrees, wrote in a comment: 'Last year 87% of our seniors were employed before graduation. The median starting salary was $58,500. A majority of CIS students had multiple job offers. From where I sit, there is a huge demand for entry level IT professionals in IS and in CS.'"
LHC Flips On Tomorrow 526
BTJunkie writes "The Large Hadron Collider, the worlds most expensive science experiment, is set to be turned on tomorrow. We've discussed this multiple times already. A small group of people believe our world will be sucked into extinction (some have even sent death threats). The majority of us, however, won't be losing any sleep tonight."
Reader WillRobinson notes that CERN researchers declared the final synchronization test a success and says, "The first attempt to circulate a beam in the LHC will be made this Wednesday, Sept. 10 at the injection energy of 450 GeV (0.45 TeV). The start up time will be between (9:00 to 18:00 Zurich Time) (2:00 to 10:00 CDT) with live webcasts provided at webcast.cern.ch."
Comment Ackermann (Score 1) 608
Start cranking out Ackermann values.
Talking CCTV to Scold Offenders in UK 486
linumax writes "The most monitored nation of the world is getting an interesting new service. According to a BBC News story, "Talking" CCTV cameras that tell off people dropping litter or committing anti-social behaviour are to be extended to 20 areas across England.They are already used in Middlesbrough where people seen misbehaving can be told to stop via a loudspeaker, controlled by control centre staff."
Submission + - Wireless Carriers Block Access to FreeConference
Stitch_Surfs writes: "In a letter sent to customers today, FreeConference is reporting that AT$T/Cingular, Sprint and Qwest have begun blocking the telephone numbers that terminate into FreeConference's bridge, effectively making it impossible for millions of individuals to utilize their popular free conference calling service..."
Submission + - Someone In Congress Actually Understands Mixtapes!
An anonymous reader writes: Most of us (for pretty good reasons!) have come to assume that our Congressional representatives are pretty far out of touch when it comes to things like technology and culture, but it's nice to see that at least one Congressman seems to understand that mixtapes and mashups aren't such a bad thing. Techdirt has the transcript of Rep. Mike Doyle's speech, which talks about the benefits of mixtapes, while wondering about why DJ Drama was arrested: "I hope that everyone involved will take a step back and ask themselves if mash-ups and mix-tapes are really different or if it's the same as Paul McCartney admitting that he nicked the Chuck Berry bass-riff and used it on the Beatle's hit 'I Saw Her Standing There.' Maybe it is. And, maybe Drama violated some clear bright lines. Or, maybe mixtapes are a powerful tool. And, maybe mash-ups are transformative new art that expands the consumers experience and doesn't compete with what an artist has made available on iTunes or at the CD store. And, I don't think Sir Paul asked for permission to borrow that bass line, but every time I listen to that song, I'm a little better off for him having done so...."
Submission + - Cisco, Apple settle iPhone trademark battle
_nderscore writes: "The Houston Chronicle is reporting that Cisco Systems Inc. and Apple Inc. have settled the trademark-infringement lawsuit regarding use of the "iPhone" name.
From the article, 'The companies said they reached an agreement that will allow Apple to use the name for its sleek new multimedia device in exchange for exploring wide-ranging "interoperability" between the companies' products in the areas of security, consumer and business communications. No other details of the agreement were released. The companies both said they would dismiss any pending legal actions regarding the trademark.'"
