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Submission Summary: 0 pending, 36 declined, 11 accepted (47 total, 23.40% accepted)

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Medicine

Submission + - Nanoparticles Stop Multiple Sclerosis In Mice (medicalnewstoday.com)

HangingChad writes: Scientists have used nanoparticles covered in proteins to trick the immune system to stop attacking myelin and halt the progression of multiple sclerosis in mice.

The nanoparticles, about 200 times thinner than a human hair, are made from the same material as dissolving stitches. Scientists compare the process an immune system "reboot". The process keeps the immune system from treating myelin as an alien invader and to stop attacking it.

Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Admits Surface Tablet Might Alienate Partners (pcmag.com)

HangingChad writes: "Microsoft this week admitted that its upcoming Surface tablet might hurt its relationships with PC maker partners. As first noted by the New York Times, Redmond said in a Thursday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that "our Surface devices will compete with products made by our OEM partners, which may affect their commitment to our platform.""
IT

Submission + - Who's Controlling Our Vital Information Systems? (huffingtonpost.com)

HangingChad writes: Gary Lyndaker talks about Janine Wedel's "Shadow Elite". About how our information infrastructure is increasingly being sold off to the low bidder. Contracting in state and federal government is rampant, leaving more and more of our nation's vital information in the hands of contractors, many of whom have their own agenda and set of rules. From the article: "Over 25 years, as an information systems developer, manager, and administrator in both state and private organizations, I have increasingly come to the conclusion that we are putting our state's operations at risk and compromising the trust of the people of our state by outsourcing core government functions." I've seen the same thing in my years in government IT, ironically much of it as a contractor. My opinion is this is a dangerous trend that needs to be reversed. We're being fleeced while being put at risk.

Submission + - What tech tools are in your black bag?

HangingChad writes: Now that my latest gig is winding down, I'm thinking about starting my own PC repair and network support business instead of another managerial position or going back to consulting. I've run my own business before so I'm already familiar with the realities of licensing, insurance and advertising, and I've got enough capital to get started. I'm planning on taking some classes to sharpen my hands-on skills even though I already build my own PC's. I wanted to ask some of the tech types here, what are the essential components of your black bag tool kit? What software tools would you consider essential? What's in your hardware tool bag? And what, if any, spare hardware supplies do you routinely stock (power supplies, spare hard drives and spare memory would seem to be no-brainers)? And what areas of that field are most requested (forensics, data recovery, PC repair, laptop repair)? I'm leaning toward a mobile service model instead of a bench top retail store, so I'll have to carry with me what I need.

It's almost inevitable I end up providing this service for family and friends anyway, I figured it's a good time to consider trying it for a living.

Submission + - Banks Harvesting Social Media Data? (avg.com) 1

HangingChad writes: Roger Thompson describes on his blog, also reported here, an experience that may point to banks and credit card companies aggregating data from social media sites. Before the corporate apologists step up with their usual "if you don't want to make it public don't post it" line, think about that for a second. And ask what's next? Are they going to start reading your email? Logging your cell phone calls? Is social media a public web site, or a convenient way to keep in touch with family and friends and where do we draw the line on corporate data aggregation? I'm thinking right here might be a good place.
Google

Submission + - Google Takes Aim At MS Office (theregister.co.uk)

HangingChad writes: Google enterprise division talks smack on Office. Plans 30-50 updates to Docs over the next year, including new features as well as performance enhancements. Says business users will be able to ditch Office. Oh, yeah, it's on.

Submission + - Slashdot Halloween Poll

HangingChad writes: If I had to choose, I'd rather be a...
- Vampire
- Werewolf
- Mummy
- Necromancer
- Ringwraith
- My family already thinks I'm a troll
Politics

Submission + - Secession Goes Mainstream (yahoo.com)

HangingChad writes: MarketWatch makes a logical case for secession. Just because we started out united doesn't mean we need to stay that way. There are a lot of advantages for letting red state America go their own way. Why not? The only thing "united" about the United States is the name.
The Internet

Submission + - Net Neutrality Gets Political (yahoo.com)

HangingChad writes: Republicans are mounting opposition to net neutrality as federal regulators prepare to vote this month on regulations that would prevent discrimination against certain types of internet traffic. Democrats say the rules will keep phone companies from discriminating against Internet calling services and stop cable TV providers from hindering online video applications. Meanwhile in the Senate, the top Republican on the Commerce Committee, Kay Bailey Hutchinson of Texas, is considering legislation that would prohibit the FCC from developing net neutrality rules.
Portables

Submission + - Is Intel Killing 12 in Displays On Netbooks?

HangingChad writes: "Dell has retired their 12-inch Intel Atom-powered netbooks, they said today. The official reason — "It really boils down to this: for a lot of customers, 10-inch displays are the sweet spot for netbooksLarger notebooks require a little more horsepower to be really useful." Or is the real reason that 12 in displays on netbooks cut into Intels more profitable dual core market and Dell's profit margins on higher end machines?"
Networking

Submission + - FBI and US Marshalls Hit By Virus (msn.com)

HangingChad writes: "Law enforcement computers were struck by a mystery computer virus Thursday, forcing the FBI and the U.S. Marshals to shut down part of their networks as a precaution.

Apparently the case files are kept on an isolated system and critical data was not impacted. Though it did force them to shut down their email and internet connections for a short time."

Businesses

Submission + - Recession Catches Up To Tech Jobs (cnn.com)

HangingChad writes: "Once thought to be somewhat recession-proof, tech jobs have been getting slashed as companies look to trim budgets. From the CNNMoney article: "After three years of at least 2.5% employment growth in the United States, tech jobs are forecast to decline by 1.2% this year, according to Forrester Research. They have already fallen by nearly 1% since their November peak, according to the Labor Department. Year to date, 8,000 tech jobs have been slashed, including 4,100 just last month."

We're not anticipating any layoffs and I'm not seeing a lot of top flight programming talent on the bench. Not even certain how noticeable a 1.2% decline would be in our industry. Anyone else feeling the pinch?"

IBM

Submission + - IBM Takeover of Sun In Final Stages (msn.com)

HangingChad writes: "It appears IBM and Sun are mere days away from announcing a deal. As the details emerge it would appear to be more of an outright take over than a merger. It would mean Websphere, JAVA, StarOffice, and MySQL under one big blue roof. Dell sees it as an opportunity in the server market and Sun servers running with the IBM label on Dell hardware certainly would be an attractive combination. But it's difficult not to notice that the product stack this would give IBM could be leveraged for corporate desktops running Linux. That's provided the deal gets past anti-trust review. Previous Slashdot coverage here."

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