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Comment Never Replacing CMOS (Score 2) 35

by darenw (#46489905) Attached to: Nanoscale Terahertz Optical Switch Breaks Miniaturization Barrier

Indeed. For Si-based electronic technology, CMOS or other, we routinely deal with two-digit nanometer scales. 22nm, for example.

For optical technology, structure on that scale has no effect on EM radiation with wavelengths on scales of mm (THz) or microns (IR). This is seriously into UV territory. Bits of matter holding bits of information as a phase changes need to be of a certain size, probably larger than we would like (but I'm not expert on it), for phases to be meaningful.

For a given energy of interaction, massless quanta tend to be more spread out than massive, as a rule of thumb for practical purposes. I think we'll be using electron-oriented information processing technologies for a long time, until someone figures out a way to stabilize muons. Then we can make some really tiny technology.

Submission + - The Earth is a gravitational wave detector (aps.org)

Submitted by b30w0lf
b30w0lf writes: Gravitational wave detection—i.e. the detection of propagating ripples in spacetime—is a hot subject these days with ground-based interferometer experiments like LIGO active, and hopes for a space interferometer like LISA. But, physicist Freeman Dyson proposed back in 1969 that the earth itself could be used as a gravitational wave detector. The idea is behind the approach is that gravitational waves impact the earth’s crust, causing potentially detectable seismic waves. Using Dyson’s approach, Physicists at Harvard and NINP, Florence were able to put an upper limit on the intensity of gravitational background radiation based on a year of observational seismic data. The upper limit they found improved currently laboratory upper limits by 9 orders of magnitude.

Submission + - The FBI Accidentally Told Us It Had Three Drones As of 2010 (vice.com)

Submitted by Daniel_Stuckey
Daniel_Stuckey writes: It’s been four and a half months since a federal judge ordered the FBI to release thousands of documents on the agency’s use of drones. At 800 pages released so far, the Bureau has done its damnedest to scrub out particulars about its unmanned inventory, past and present.

But even FBI redaction artists slip up and accidentally divulge some hard figures once in awhile.

After months of anticipation, we finally know approximately how many drones the FBI had. In 2010.

In a December 2010 submission to the Federal Aviation Administration, the FBI asserted that its three drones [“UAS,” or unmanned aerial system, in the above] were safe to fly in domestic skies. In an otherwise heavily redacted document, this one number escaped the censors’ gaze.

Submission + - Did NSA impersonated Facebook and others ?

Submitted by Taco Cowboy
Taco Cowboy writes: Following the revelation of NSA's fake Facebook server by Snowden, Mark Zuckerberg is very upset and said that he has called up Obama to complain.

Mr. Zuckerberg also calls the US government as a "Threat to Internet" and wrote "“When our engineers work tirelessly to improve security, we imagine we’re protecting you against criminals, not our own government.,"

NSA has responded to the allegation by insisting that what they did was legal.

By saying the “NSA does not use its technical capabilities to impersonate US company websites” — the NSA appears to overly simplify what had been reported by the The Intercept

In one man-on-the-side technique, codenamed QUANTUMHAND, the agency disguises itself as a fake Facebook server. When a target attempts to log in to the social media site, the NSA transmits malicious data packets that trick the target’s computer into thinking they are being sent from the real Facebook. By concealing its malware within what looks like an ordinary Facebook page, the NSA is able to hack into the targeted computer and covertly siphon out data from its hard drive. A top-secret animation demonstrates the tactic in action.

Now the question is, did NSA impersonated FB and others ?

The original report on NSA's QUANTUMHAND is available @ firstlook.org/theintercept/article/2014/03/12/nsa-plans-infect-millions-computers-malware/

Zuckerberg's reaction can be had @ www.itnews.com.au/News/375099,zuckerberg-decries-nsas-fake-facebook-server-malware.aspx

and/or

timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/social/Facebook-founder-Mark-Zuckerberg-says-US-government-threat-to-internet/articleshow/31968638.cms

and/or

abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2014/03/mark-zuckerberg-calls-us-government-threat-to-the-internet/

NSA's skirt-the-issue type of denial is reported @ arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/03/nsa-says-indiscriminate-facebook-hacking-allegations-are-simply-false/

Submission + - NYPD Denies Freedom of Information Request for Freedom of Information Handbook (freebeacon.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Journalist Shawn Musgrave filed a records request under New York’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) for the police department’s FOIL handbook, the guide officers use to apply public record law.

However, the NYPD told Musgrave its Freedom of Information handbook is not covered by FOIL, arguing it is protected under attorney-client privilege.

Comment Re:Too bad the scope seems to be somwehat limited (Score 1) 285

Boulder has plenty of high tech, especially space science and computing. And great craft beers, if we could rationalize counting that as high tech.

Just what is in Missoula? It is a nice place to visit, but I didn't see anything high-tech there beyond the expected ambient background level for any small city. Unless you are counting the excellent craft beers made in that area as high tech?

Comment Small scientist-infested NM town = wealth (Score 1) 285

Spent one year in Socorro NM, where NRAO operates the VLA and VLBA. Renting a whole house was astonishingly cheap. Why, I'm not sure. Salary was a bit lackluster compared to industry, but not bad. I piled up so much $$$, bought a car, got some rolled-up prints framed, even bought the fancy coffee. Donated to projects on Kickstarter. Life was good.

As long as there's a good coffee shop in town, cutting-edge astrophysics lectures, and income much greater than outgo, I'm happy. I'd stay there forever if not for water scarcity throughout the southwest.

For anyone who likes explosions, the dynamite research done by NM Tech would be a bonus.

Submission + - Slashdot Beta Woes 16

Submitted by s.petry
s.petry writes: What is a Slashdot and why the Beta might destroy it?

Slashdot has been around, well, a very long time. Longer than any of it's competators, but not as long as IIRC. Slashdot was a very much one of the first true social media web sites.

On Slashdot, you could create a handle or ID. Something personal, but not too personal, unless you wanted it to be. But it was not required either. We know each other by our handles, we have watched each other grow as people. We may have even taken pot shots at each other in threads. Unless of course you are anonymous, but often we can guess who that really is.

One of Slashdot's first motto's was "News for Nerds" that Matters. I have no idea when that was removed. I have not always scoured the boards here daily, life can get too busy for that. That excuses my ignorance in a way. I guess someone thought it politically incorrect, but most of us "Nerds" enjoyed it. We are proud of who we are, and what we know. Often we use that pride and knowledge to make someone else look bad. That is how we get our digs in, and we enjoy that part of us too. We don't punch people, we belittle them. It's who we are!

What made Slashdot unique were a few things. What you will note here is "who" has been responsible for the success of Slashdot. Hint, it has never been a just the company taking care of the servers and software.

— First, the user base submitted stories that "they" thought mattered. It was not a corporate feed. Sure, stories were submitted about companies. The latest break through from AMD and Intel, various stories regarding the graphic card wars, my compiler is better than your compiler, and yes your scripting language stinks! Microsoft IIS has brought us all a few laughs and lots of flame wars to boot. Still, we not only read about the products but get to my second point.

— User comments. This is the primary why we have been coming here for as long as we have, many of us for decades. We provide alternative opinions or back what was given in the article. This aspect not only makes the "News" interesting, but often leads to other news and information sharing. It's not always positive, but this is the nature of allowing commentary. It also brings out the third point.

— Moderation. Moderation has been done by the community for a very long time. It took lots of trial and error to get a working system. As with any public system it's imperfect, but it's been successful. People can choose to view poorly modded comments, but don't have to. As with posting anonymous versus with our own handle it's an option that allows us to personalize the way we see and read what's on the site. And as a reward for submitting something worth reading, you might get a mod point of your own to use as a reward for someone else.

Why we dislike Beta and what is being pushed, and why this will result in the end of an era if it becomes forced on the community.

1. Bulky graphics. We get that Dice and Slashdot need revenue. I have Karma good enough to disable advertisements, but have never kept this setting on. I realize that Slashdot/Dice make money with this. That said, the ads sit away from my news and out of the way. I can get there if I want it (but nobody has ever gotten a penny from me clicking an ad... nobody!), but it's not forced into my face or news feed.

2. Low text area. I like having enough on my screen to keep me busy without constant scrolling. Slashdot currently has the correct ratio of text to screen. This ratio has never been complained about, yet Beta reduces the usable text area by at least 1/2 and no option for changing the behavior. I hate reading Slashdot on mobile devices because I can't stand scrolling constantly.

3. JavaScript. We all know the risks of JS, and many of us disable it. We also have an option of reading in Lync or non-standard browsers that many of us toy with for both personal and professional reasons. This flexibility is gone in Beta, and we are forced to allow JS to run. If you don't know the risks of allowing JS to run, you probably don't read much on Slashdot. Those that allow JS do so accepting the risk (which is admittedly low on a well known site).

4. Ordering/Sorting/Referencing. Each entry currently gets tagged with a unique thread ID. This allows linking to the exact post in a thread, not just the top of the thread. In Beta this is gone. It could be that the site decided to simply hide the post ID or it was removed. Either way, going to specific posts is something that is used very commonly by the community.

5. Eye candy. Most of us are not here for "eye candy" and many have allergic reactions to eye candy. Slashdot has a good mix currently. It's not as simple as the site starting with a r-e-d-i-t, which is good. That site has a reputation that keeps many of us away, and their format matches my attitude of them (s-i-m-p-l-e-t-o-n). At the same time, it's not like watching some other "news" sites with so much scrolling crap I can't read an article without getting a headache. The wasted space in beta for big bulky borders, sure smells like eye candy. Nothing buzzes or scrolls yet, but we can sense what's coming in a patch later.

The thing is, the community cares about Slashdot. We come here because we care. We submit stories because of that, we vote because of that, we moderate because of that, and we comment because of that. At the same time we realize that without the community Slashdot loses most of its value. We respect that we don't host the servers, backup the databases, or patch the servers. Slashdot/Dice provide the services needed for Slashdot.

It's a give give relationship, and we each get something in return. Slashdot gets tons of Search hits and lots of web traffic. We get a place to learn, teach, and occasionally vent.

Look, if you want to change default color scheme or make pre-made palettes for us to choose from, we would probably be okay with that. If you want to take away our ability to block ads by Karma, or move the ads to the left side of my browser window, I would be okay with those things too.

If you want to make drastic changes to how the site works, this is a different story all together. The reason so many are against Beta is that it breaks some of the fundamental parts of what makes Slashdot work.

User input until recently has not been acknowledged. The acknowledgment we have received is not from the people that are making the decision to push Beta live. We told people Beta was broken, what it lacked, and we were rather surprised to get a warning that Beta would be live despite what we told people. People are already making plans to leave, which means that Slashdot could fade away very soon.

Whether this was the goal for Dice or not remains to be seen. If it is, it's been nice knowing you but I won't be back. A partnership only works when there is mutual respect between the parties. A word of caution, us Nerds have good memories and lots of knowledge. The loss of Slashdot impacts all of Dice holdings, not just Slashdot. I boycott everything a company holds, not just the product group that did me wrong.

If that was not the goal of Dice, you should quickly begin communicating with the user base. What are the plans are to fix what Beta has broken? Why is Beta being pushed live with things broken? A "Sorry we have not been communicating!", and perhaps even a "Thank you" to the user base for helping make Slashdot a success for so many years.

Submission + - Can I buy the Classic interface? 3

Submitted by Max Hyre
Max Hyre writes: LWN almost went under a number of years ago because its volunteer editors couldn't afford to keep it up. The readers rose up and insisted that they be allowed to pay for it.

Can we do the same for Classic?

I'm a nerd. I read. I'm the one in the museum ignoring the display and reading the description. I want text, easily accessible, clearly laid out, and plenty of it. I'll pay to keep the UI I know and love.

The Beta has none of those characteristics. The Beta site is repellent, unusable, and unneeded. I won't use it, and if ``Classic'' goes away, I won't visit /., and it'll be a pity.

How much do you actually receive in revenue for each user? I suspect I'll match it to keep the status quo. Ask us what it's worth to us. I'd certainly pay $1/month, and would think about $5/month. I bet that I'm not alone.

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Opinion of slashdot beta? 9

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: What are your thoughts about slashdot beta? Post your complaints here so that I don't have to see them elsewhere. Additionally, if the beta is so bad that you don't want to stay, what other news website do you recommend?

Submission + - Once Slashdot beta has been foisted upon me, what site should I use instead? 2

Submitted by somenickname
somenickname writes: As a long time Slashdot reader, I'm wondering what website to transition to once the beta goes live. The new beta interface seems very well suited to tablets/phones but, it ignores the fact that the user base is, as one would expect, nerds sitting in front of very large LCD monitors and wasting their employers time. It's entirely possible that the browser ID information gathered by the site has indicated that they get far more hits on mobile devices where the new interface is reasonable but, I feel that no one has analyzed the browser ID (and screen resolution) against comments modded +5. I think you will find that most +5 comments are coming from devices (real fucking computers) that the new interface does not support well. Without an interface that invites the kind of users that post +5 comments, Slashdot is just a ho-hum news aggregation site that allows comments. So, my question is, once the beta is the default, where should Slashdot users go to?

Submission + - New Type of Star Can Emerge From Inside Black Holes, Say Cosmologists (medium.com)

Submitted by KentuckyFC
KentuckyFC writes: Black holes form when a large star runs out of fuel and collapses under its own weight. Since there is no known force that can stop this collapse, astrophysicists have always assumed that it forms a singularity, a region of space that is infinitely dense. Now cosmologists think quantum gravity might prevent this complete collapse after all. They say that the same force that stops an electron spiralling into a nucleus might also cause the collapsing star to "bounce" at scales of around 10^-14cm. They're calling this new state a "Planck star" and say it's lifetime would match that of the black hole itself as it evaporates. That raises the possibility that the shrinking event horizon would eventually meet the expanding Planck star, which emerges with a sudden blast of gamma rays. That radiation would allow any information trapped in the black hole to escape, solving the infamous information paradox. If they're right, these gamma rays may already have been detected by space-based telescopes meaning that the evidence is already there for any enterprising astronomer to tease apart.

Submission + - Stem Cells used to Regrow Severed Adult Finger, Thigh Tissue, more.

Submitted by TempeNerd
TempeNerd writes: University of Pittsburgh has successfully created a "stem cell powder" that has been shown to regenerate human tissue — in real, living humans.
The first example was an older man that severed the tip of his finger off in an accident with a model airplane. The wound was sprinkled with the powder and over the course of four weeks, the finger re-grew.
In another example, a marine lost 70% of his thigh muscle in a mortar explosion in Afghanistan. The powder was able to restore much of the tissue when other methods had failed.
This miracle powder is made with stem cells from a pig, Pig extracellular matrix.
Oh what wonders the future does hold!

http://singularityhub.com/2011...
http://www.minds.com/blog/view...

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