SilentSage - Slashdot User

Submission + - University to students: 'All whites are racist'

Submitted by

rockabilly

on Monday November 26, 2007 @01:54PM

rockabilly writes: "A mandatory University of Delaware program requires residence hall students to acknowledge that "all whites are racist" and offers them "treatment" for any incorrect attitudes regarding class, gender, religion, culture or sexuality they might hold upon entering the school, according to a civil rights group.

The "education" regarding racism is just one of the subjects that students are required to adopt as part of their University of Delaware experience... Full story here"

Submission + - A supercomputer to design better plants?

Submitted by

Roland Piquepaille

on Monday November 26, 2007 @01:47PM

Roland Piquepaille writes: "Is it possible to create more productive crops than nature does without growing hybrids or genetically modified plants? According to researchers at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), the answer is yes . They've simulated photosynthesis, the process by which plants convert light to energy, with the help of supercomputers at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). Their models suggest that soybean productivity could be increased by 40 to 60 percent. They're also working with wheat and rice and expect that biotechnology companies will use this research to design more productive plants without altering their genes. But read more for additional details and to see how the researchers calibrated their supercomputing model."

Submission + - Lead and China

Submitted by

Efialtis

on Monday November 26, 2007 @01:44PM

Efialtis writes: "There have been a lot of recent news stories about Lead Contamination (paint) in the toys we have been importing from China. It wasn't one toy recall, it wasn't two toy recalls, but a whole lot more (see Toy Hazard Recalls and Toy Recalls). Unfortunately, it doesn't stop there. Bill Gephardt, an Investigative Reporter for Channel 2 News in Utah (Channel 2) recently did a story about lead in dinner ware, plates from (you guessed it) China that contain lead (Lead Dishes In Your Cabinets?, Toddler Possibly Poisoned By Lead Paint From Plates, Lead Plates Followup: Utah Wants To Know!, Lead Plate Story Getting National Attention and Lead Plate Results).
When we heard these stories, we were greatly interested as all of our dinner ware came from China (I bought it at Shopko some 14 years ago), and my daughter has shown signs of lead poisoning. Needless to say, we are now having her tested.
The part that I am complaining about was best summed up by my wife, "We should simply stop buying items from China." What I am interested in: Is it corporate or government greed that prevents us from putting sanctions on China and boycotting the import of their lead contaminated products?"

Submission + - UK Could Ban Pirates from Using the Internet (gizmodo.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday November 26, 2007 @01:31PM

An anonymous reader writes: The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry wants the UK — and probably everyone else in the planet — to follow France's President Nicolas Sarkozy example and ban everyone who uses the Intertubes to share copyrighted files. The plan will force ISPs to cut service if they catch you downloading copyrighted material three times. A spokesman from the Phonographic Inquisition said that it's the only "real deterrent" to stop people from becoming criminals beyond their preferred option, which probably includes the word "Siberia" and "Gulag." But is it really a good strategy? Would the idea of being banned from the Internet stop you from sharing copyrighted movies and music?

Submission + - Whole body scan in under a minute

Submitted by Smivs on Monday November 26, 2007 @01:26PM

Smivs writes: A new scanner has been unveiled which can produce 3D body images of unprecedented clarity while reducing radiation by as much as 80%. The new 256-slice CT machine takes large numbers of X-ray pictures, and combines them using computer technology to produce the final detailed images. It also generates images in a fraction of the time of other scanners: a full body scan takes less than a minute. "This scanner allows radiologists to produce high quality images and is also designed to reduce patients' exposure to X-rays," Steve Rusckowski, chief executive of Philips Medical Systems, said. "It is so powerful it can capture an image of the entire heart in just two beats."

Submission + - Unix Backup and Recovery: Download FREE ebook...! (blogspot.com)

Submitted by

mgopi

on Monday November 26, 2007 @01:21PM

mgopi writes: "This book Unix Backup & Recovery provides a complete overview of all facets of Unix backup and recovery, and offers practical, affordable backup and recovery solutions for environments of all sizes and budgets. The book begins with detailed explanations of the native backup utilities available to the Unix administrator, and ends with practical advice on choosing a commercial backup utility."

Submission + - Technical Writing changes with the times (blogspot.com)

Submitted by

Technical Writing Geek

on Monday November 26, 2007 @01:15PM

Technical Writing Geek writes: "What characterized technical writing during the early digital years was what we might call a WTFM mentality, for "write the fantastic manual" (or words to that effect). When software or hardware development was done, the tech writer came in on contract and produced a manual, then vanished from the process except for occasional updates. The task was to produce the manual as the last task before shipping.

With the change in our society brought by digital technology has come a change in what the fantastic manual might be, both in form and content. In the 1930s, an egg-beater was a separate tool from a mixer; in the 1950s, they were interchangeable attachments to a motorized mixer base; in the 2000s, they are different rotation patterns programmed into a mixing unit which hooks up to the network, serves a web page of usage statistics, and probably stores recipes to boot.

http://user-advocacy.blogspot.com/2007/11/technical-writing-in-transition-part-ii.html"

How the BSA Squeezes the Little Guys 341

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday November 26, 2007 @01:04PM from the theres-yer-problem-right-here dept.

netbuzz writes "Actually, 90% of the Business Software Alliance's revenue is squeezed from small businesses accused of using unlicensed software. A lawyer who represents some of them says his clients often suspect that it was the IT guy who just left — and was responsible for maintaining the licenses — who ratted them out for a big BSA reward."

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