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Programming

Submission + - John Backus, Fortan Developer Dies

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The New York Times writes that man who led modern development of Fortran has died. From the article: John W. Backus, who assembled and led the I.B.M. team that created Fortran, the first widely used programming language, which helped open the door to modern computing, died on Saturday at his home in Ashland, Ore. He was 82.
Announcements

Submission + - John W. Backus, developer of Fortran, dies

Submitted by
PCOL
PCOL writes: "The New York Times reports that John W. Backus, who assembled and led the I.B.M. team that created Fortran, the first widely used programming language, died at his home at 82. Fortran, released in 1957, was "the turning point" in computer software, much as the microprocessor was a giant step forward in hardware, according to J. A. N. Lee, a leading computer historian. Ken Thompson observed that "95 percent of the people who programmed in the early years would never have done it without Fortran," adding that "It was a massive step." Though debatably not the first high-level programming language, it was the first to achieve wide use. Backus' other accomplishments included inventing the Backus-Naur form (BNF, the almost universally used notation to define formal language syntax), and also the concept of Function-level programming."
Quickies

Submission + - A Cockroach Can Live without Its Head

Submitted by
Ant
Ant writes: "This Scientific American article says cockroaches are claimed that they can live without their heads. It turns out that this is right. Headless roaches are capable of living for weeks. To understand why cockroaches — and many other insects — can survive decapitation, it helps to understand why humans cannot... Seen on Boing Boing."
Security

Submission + - Poker Champion's Account Cracked, Thousands Stolen

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Greg "Fossilman" Raymer, 2004 World Series of Poker Champion and spokesman for PokerStars, had his PokerStars account cracked by a would-be thief. The miscreant logged in both as FossilMan and under his own account and intentionally lost over $12,000 of Raymer's money to his account before he was caught by eagle-eyed onlookers. Read the full story.
User Journal

Journal Journal: REVEALED -- Bill Gates' ATM PIN Number! In this journal!

Journal by britneys 9th husband

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