ItMustBeEsoteric - Slashdot User

Comment Re:will be overtaken by rapid prototyping (Score 1) 149

by ItMustBeEsoteric on Wednesday December 05, 2007 @05:01AM (#21582791) Attached to: Microfluidic Chips Made With Shrinky Dinks

I'm student teaching at a school in Ohio called Toledo Technology Academy right now. It's a public high school.

One of the kids made me a shuriken and a 3D tiger head (their logo) on one of these machines. Normally, they use it along with their CAD classes, though, not just to make something cool for the geeky English teacher who thinks the printer is cool as hell.

So, in some schools, the kids are already complaining when they run out of resin :).

Submission + - Demonoid down again.

Submitted by

ItMustBeEsoteric

on Saturday November 10, 2007 @11:35PM

ItMustBeEsoteric writes: "The following message is up at Demonoid:

"The CRIA threatened the company renting the servers to us, and because of this it is not possible to keep the site online. Sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for your understanding."

Seems like every now and then, life imitates FUD."

Submission + - Gadget transforms regular LCD into touchscreen

Submitted by eZtaR on Saturday May 05, 2007 @05:22PM

eZtaR writes: NAVisis are introducing a new USB-gadget, LaptopTablet, which you mount onto the side of your regular LCD monitor transforming it into a fully functional touchscreen, controlled with an included pen. Pricing at around $100 it seems a good alternative for photoshoppers.

Submission + - Energy Dept. to Expand Random Polygraph Screening

Submitted by

George Maschke

on Saturday May 05, 2007 @04:55AM

George Maschke writes: "Despite a 2003 finding by the National Academy of Sciences that "[polygraph testing's] accuracy in distinguishing actual or potential security violators from innocent test takers is insufficient to justify reliance on its use in employee security screening in federal agencies," an internal memorandum to employees at Los Alamos National Laboratory announces the implementation of a program of random polygraph screening encompassing over 5,000 LANL employees and some 3,800 employees at Sandia National Laboratories. Those who fail the polygraph will no longer be able to continue their present work.

Last year, AntiPolygraph.org News anticipated the possibility that DOE's publicly announced reduction in the number of employees subject to routine polygraph screening might result in a significant ramp up of its program of random polygraph screening as the Office of Counterintelligence attempts to ensure full employment for its complement of polygraph operators. This seems to be precisely what has happened."

Harvard Law Professor Urges University to Fight RIAA 180

Posted by CowboyNeal on Saturday May 05, 2007 @02:56AM from the you-know-you-want-to dept.

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "Distinguished Harvard University Law School Professor Charles Nesson has called upon Harvard University to fight back against the RIAA and stand up for its students, writing 'Seeking to outsource its enforcement costs, the RIAA asks universities to point fingers at their students, to filter their Internet access, and to pass along notices of claimed copyright infringement. But these responses distort the University's educational mission. ...[W]e should be assisting our students both by explaining the law and by resisting the subpoenas that the RIAA serves upon us. We should be deploying our clinical legal student training programs to defend our targeted students.'"

Submission + - Whatever It Is...You Can Get It on eBay

Submitted by

theodp

on Saturday May 05, 2007 @01:53AM

theodp writes: "An eBay fraud investigator testifying at Peter Braunstein's trial said that purchases made by the journalist-AKA-Gulagmeister in the months before his 2005 Halloween attack on a co-worker included 750 ml. of chloroform, 4 kg. of potassium nitrate, firefighting gear, a gas mask, an obsolete Detroit police badge, a FDNY windshield sticker and a camcorder. Ever the online shopper, Braunstein picked up some remaining items on his shopping list — a pellet gun, handcuffs, leg irons and a knife — from Cheaper Than Dirt. Makes that account of a teacher using eBay to sell a third-grader's coat pale by comparison, eh?"

Submission + - Pidgin 2.0.0 Released

Submitted by wuzoe on Saturday May 05, 2007 @01:22AM

wuzoe writes: The Pidgin multi-protocol instant messanging client (formerly known as Gaim, and even more formerly the Gtk+ AOL Instant Messanger) has released version 2.0.0 after a long beta period and settling of legal issues with AOL. Visit the brand new website at http://www.pidgin.im/ for source code or Windows and Fedora Core binaries!

Submission + - Brazil to break AIDS drug patents

Submitted by

Lisandro

on Friday May 04, 2007 @11:06PM

Lisandro writes: "BBC News reports that Brazil will become the first country to to break patents on an AIDS treatment drug. The drug, called Nelfinavir, is patented by Roche, and the move aims to reduce its' cost as much as 40% by allowing generic versions of the drug to be produced by third parties."

Submission + - Matt Boyd Deemed a Terrorist Threat

Submitted by CaptainCarrot on Friday May 04, 2007 @09:43PM

CaptainCarrot writes: Writer/IT contractor Matt Boyd, formerly the man who made up the words for webcomic Mac Hall and who now does the same for his and Ian McConville's new comic Three Panel Soul, was recently fired from his government job. His conversation with a co-worker about a gun he intended to buy for target shooting was overheard by someone in a nearby cubicle. As it was unfortunately the day of the Virginia Tech shootings, the eavesdropper panicked and reported him to management.

That was bad enough. But when he used the comic to document the meeting where the reason for his firing was explained, he was visited by representatives of local law enforcement investigating him on suspicion of making a "terroristic threat" using the Internet. No charges have been filed. Yet.

Matt's interview at FLEEN about the incident is online.

Submission + - Equifax refuses to activate fraud alert

Submitted by

wonko

on Monday April 30, 2007 @05:34PM

wonko writes: "I recently lost my wallet. There's a good chance it was stolen. Inside the wallet were my driver license, several credit cards and my social security card, which was there because I was starting a new job the next morning. I filed a fraud alert, but Equifax refused to activate the alert, which comes very close to violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act and leaves me open to identity theft.

I'm in a unique situation. Equifax claims they won't activate the fraud alert until I send them proof of my identity and current address; however, since I just moved, the address they have on record is my old address, and I can't prove I live there because I don't live there anymore. I also can't send them a copy of my social security card or driver license because I haven't received the replacements yet.

Have other Slashdotters had similar experiences with any of the big credit reporting agencies? What advice do you have that might help me convince Equifax to activate the fraud alert so I'm not wide open to identity theft?"

Submission + - Ardour 2.0 Released!

Submitted by

mtaht

on Monday April 30, 2007 @05:33PM

mtaht writes: "After two years of heavy development, the Ardour digital audio workstation has just been released for Linux (x86,x86_64,PPC) and Mac (x86,ppc). Ardour 2 can record, mix, and playback hundreds of channels of audio, supports hundreds of plugins, and sports a far more flexible and intuitive user interface. Is open source audio software ready to compete with Protools?"

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