macklin01 - Slashdot User

Comment Re:You think this is a Game? (Score 5, Interesting) 483

by macklin01 on Monday September 10, 2012 @05:20PM (#41293225) Attached to: GoDaddy Goes Down, Anonymous Claims Responsibility

It's affecting a lot more than commerce.

My cancer research website is down, too. (Only works on computers that had cached the DNS entries.) So much for inviting seminar speakers today.

I'm an academic. I set my site up years ago (before all the SOPA business) and don't have time to muck with moving my site around, hosting DNS here and content there, and the like. I barely have time to maintain content in the middle of a busy research career. I suppose I'm now supposed to be an expert on mathematical modeling + cancer + hosting my own DNS?

It's always worth keeping in mind that these things affect far more than business sites.

Comment The joys of a one-car family (Score 1) 353

by macklin01 on Wednesday September 05, 2012 @08:14AM (#41233299) Attached to: How Long Is Your Morning Commute?

My commute itself is 20-30 minutes.

But as a one-car family, it's 20-30 minutes to get my wife to the bus stop, another 20-30 minutes to get my daughter to day care, and then my own commute.

I'm not honestly sure if this comes out net positive for the environment vs. two cars: two cars would probably cut 10-20 minutes of driving twice daily, but of course adds extra environmental impact of maintaining a second car. It certainly is a net positive on the budget for now, though.

Submission + - Private manned Mars mission gets corporate sponsors (msn.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 04, 2012 @08:34AM

An anonymous reader writes: quoteing the article: A Dutch company that aims to land humans on Mars in 2023 as the vanguard of a permanent Red Planet colony says it has received its first funding from sponsors.

Submission + - Intel Embraces Oil Immersion Cooling for Servers (datacenterknowledge.com)

Submitted by 1sockchuck on Tuesday September 04, 2012 @08:09AM

1sockchuck writes: Intel has just concluded a year-long test in which it immersed servers in an oil bath, and has affirmed that the technology is highly efficient and safe for servers. The chipmaker is now working on reference designs, heat sinks and boards that are optimized for immersion cooling. "We’re evaluating how (immersion cooling) can change the way data centers are designed and operated,” said Mike Patterson, senior power and thermal architect at Intel. “I think it will catch on. It’s going to be a slow progression, but it will start in high-performance computing." Intel's test used technology from Green Revolution Cooling, which says its design eliminates the need for raised flooring, CRAC units or chillers. Other players in immersion cooling include Iceotope and Hardcore (now LiquiCool).

Submission + - MI5 And MI6 Websites Downed By Assange Supporters (techweekeurope.co.uk)

Submitted by

judgecorp

on Tuesday September 04, 2012 @08:05AM

judgecorp writes: "Anonymous UK took down the public websites of the British security services MI5 and MI6 today, in protest at the decision to extradite Julian Asasnge to Sweden. The online nuisance campaign continues, and victims so far have included Peter Hain, an MP who opposed Assange's extradition. as well as Oxford University and Cambridge University."

Submission + - Democrats vague about NASA's 'new mission' in party platform (examiner.com)

Submitted by

MarkWhittington

on Tuesday September 04, 2012 @07:57AM

MarkWhittington writes: "While the 2012 Republican Party platform offers “thin gruel” about space policy and NASA and Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney continues to be vague on space issues, the 2012 Democratic Party platform has next to nothing to say about space. Indeed, it has just one sentence, tucked into a section called “Out-innovating the Rest of the World.”

“President Obama has charted a new mission for NASA to lead us to a future that builds on America’s legacy of innovation and exploration.”

The Republicans were equally vague about space policy, but spent two paragraphs rather than just one sentence doing so."

Submission + - Surprising Things Lurk In 'Terms of Service' Agreements

Submitted by

Hugh Pickens writes

on Tuesday September 04, 2012 @07:32AM

Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Time Magazine reports that every web company has a different definition of the words “fair” and “privacy,” so users should pay a little more attention to what they’re signing away when they click “Agree” on the registration page. For example, while most photo-sharing apps and websites, such as Instagram, reserve the right to use, delete, modify or publicly display your photos, the Twitter-based photo-sharing program Twitpic goes a step further by granting these rights to Twitpic’s affiliates. In 2011 the company inked a deal to sell photos to the World Entertainment Celebrity News Network. That means if you go into paparazzi mode, snap an exclusive photo of Justin Bieber, and put it on Twitpic, the company can sell it without crediting or compensating you. A 2008 study by Carnegie Mellon professors found that the average Internet user encounters almost 1,500 privacy policies a year, each about 2,500 words in length but now one website is offering to do the line-by-line reading for you, offer a quick and dirty version of the main points, and grade websites on the fairness of their user agreements. Sites are rated in categories such as content ownership, use of tracking cookies, and terms of service readability and so far the site, Terms of Service; Didn’t Read, has gathered information on more than thirty popular websites. Hugo Roy, the leader of the project, says terms of service agreements are the biggest lie on the web. “Their legal value is based on the fact that they get ‘accepted’ by users, while almost none of them even bother to read them.""

Submission + - Why sloppy code isn't the fault of developers (techrepublic.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 04, 2012 @06:36AM

An anonymous reader writes: The commercial realities of software development mean that programmers shouldn't be held responsible for the quality of their code. This piece argues that developer responsibility is diminished by the fact it's standard industry practice for project managers to force developers to ship code they aren't satisfied with in order to hit deadlines. And while analysts argue that agile development methodologies might give developers a chance to produce work they are happier with, developers say that agile teams are actually producing work of a lower standard than those using traditional waterfall methodologies — as developers get snowed under by change requests.

Submission + - Toyota will turn your car's driving data into a simulation

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 04, 2012 @05:22AM

An anonymous reader writes: Toyota and Denso today announced the joint development of an onboard communications network device, CAN-Gateway ECU that can take data gathered while driving and apply it to create a virtual simulation that enables a new way to enjoy driving. The CAN-Gateway ECU captures driving data—including GPS data, accelerator pedal strokes, steering angles, brake operation signals, gear shift signals, engine rpm count, water temperature, and vehicle speed—from a dedicated onboard GPS as well as CAN information exchanged among onboard ECUs. The device can wirelessly transmit (by Bluetooth) the data to software installed on smartphones or other devices for real-time monitoring. As this data is accumulated, it can serve as a driving coaching guide.

Submission + - Iran, North Korea Team Up To Fight Malware Like Stuxnet, Flame

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 03, 2012 @03:59PM

An anonymous reader writes: At the start of this month, news broke that Iran and North Korea have strengthened their ties, specifically by signing a number of cooperation agreements on science and technology. The two states signed the pact on Saturday, declaring that it represented a united front against Western powers. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, told Kim Yong Nam, North Korea’s ceremonial head of state, the two countries have common enemies and aligned goals. On Monday, security firm F-Secure weighed in on the discussion. The company believes Iran and North Korea may be interested in collaborating against government-sponsored malware attacks such as Duqu, Flame, and Stuxnet.

Submission + - DNA Code Illuminates Rise of Brains (businessweek.com) 1

Submitted by

DevotedSkeptic

on Monday September 03, 2012 @03:28PM

DevotedSkeptic writes: "DNA analysis of an extinct human ancestor that lived 80,000 years ago has pinpointed fundamental genes tied to the brain’s evolution, showing how genome testing is changing anthropology and archaeology along with medicine.

At least eight genes that rose to prominence in human DNA since the time of the ancient relatives, called Denisovans, affect nerve growth and language, an international team of researchers said today in the journal Science. The cognitive power conferred by these genes may have keyed the development of complex thinking skills, culture and civilization said Svante Paabo, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany.

“This is perhaps in the long term, to me, the most fascinating part about this; what it will tell us in the future about what makes us special in the world,” he said yesterday on a conference call.

New DNA techniques are reshaping knowledge of human evolution just as quickly as they’re sparking the development of medical tests and treatments. Using a tiny amount of material from an ancient finger bone, scientists were able to analyze the ancient ancestor’s genes as closely as those of anyone who walked into a lab today, said David Reich, a Harvard Medical School genetics professor who contributed to the study.

Almost every cell in an organism holds a complete copy its genome, the chemical code for making proteins and tissues. The Denisovan genome analyzed in the study gives a broad visual picture of the individual it came from, holding genes that predict brown hair, brown eyes and dark skin in humans."

Submission + - Nuclear Powered LEDs for Space Farming (forbes.com)

Submitted by

DevotedSkeptic

on Monday September 03, 2012 @03:16PM

DevotedSkeptic writes: "The nearside of the Moon will never resemble your Granddad’s back forty, but agriculture remains the key to living and working off-world. All the mineral ore in the solar system can’t replace the fact that for extended periods on the Moon or Mars, future off-worlders will need bio-regenerative systems in order to prosper.

Here on earth, researchers still debate how best to make those possible, but nuclear-powered state of the art LED (Light-emitting Diode) technology is arguably what will drive photosynthesis so necessary to provide both food and oxygen for future lunar colonists.

Future long-term lunar residents will need to grow their food either in sub-lunar lava tubes or in greenhouses shielded with several meters of lunar surface regolith. With no atmosphere, the moon is regularly exposed to lethal doses of cosmic rays, solar coronal mass ejections and x-flares, not to mention micro-meteorites that would be enough to wreck anyone’s corn.

Although during the two weeks that make up the long lunar day astronauts might be able to funnel refracted sunlight into covered greenhouses or subsurface lava tunnels, they will be left without a light source during the long lunar night.

Current solar-powered battery storage technology isn’t adequate to sustain artificial light sources for two weeks at the time. Thus, the most practical solution is simply to use some sort of Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG), not unlike the one powering the current Mars Science lab, to power the LEDs that will spur photosynthesis in lunar greenhouses.

Cary Mitchell, a plant biologist at Purdue University, says that as lunar light sources, LEDs would be cool, solid state and robust; lasting 50,000 hours at least, or some five times longer than conventional horticultural light sources. He also notes that that they could survive the journey to the lunar surface where they could then be strung inside inflatable lava tunnel greenhouses or in radiation-hardened, solid greenhouses on the surface.

On earth, Mitchell says it takes roughly 50 square meters of agriculture to provide both food and oxygen life to support one human. But, as he points out, who can say how productive plants are ultimately going to be on the moon, in gravity that is only one sixth that of earth?"

Submission + - Bruce Willis 'considering iTunes legal action' against Apple (telegraph.co.uk)

Submitted by oobayly on Monday September 03, 2012 @10:28AM

oobayly writes: It appears that Bruce "Die Hard" Willis isn't too impressed that he can't include his iTunes collection in his estate when he dies.

Bruce Willis, the Hollywood actor, is said to be considering legal action against Apple so he can leave his iTunes music collection to his three daughters.

Such a high profile individual complaining about the ability to own your digital music can only be a good thing, right? I suggest that also assaulting Cupertino in a dirty white vest would do the job.

Submission + - Home Automation Gets Easy (tuaw.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Monday September 03, 2012 @10:26AM

An anonymous reader writes: If This Then That (IFTTT.com) the easy to use web scripting tool, is now integrated with Belkin’s WeMo home automation switches.
Whoever the person was at Belkin who had the brilliant thought to integrate WeMo with IFTTT should get a big raise. Plug a fan into a WeMo switch, then set up an IFTTT recipe to turn the fan on if the local outside temperature goes above 85 F (I tried this — it works). Have IFTTT call you whenever someone enters the house (it works). And if you want to shut that fan off, you can either write another recipe or just use the WeMo app to shut it off remotely. There are even examples online when your Internet becomes unreliable.

Submission + - 3D printing on the micrometer scale (gizmag.com)

Submitted by cylonlover on Monday September 03, 2012 @04:51AM

cylonlover writes: Three-dimensional printers are popping up everywhere these days. Some are small enough to fit in a briefcase and others are large enough to build print houses, but scientists at the Vienna University of Technology are going for the microscopic. Earlier this year, the university built a 3D printer that uses lasers to operate on a tiny small scale. Now they're refining the technique to enable precise placement a selected molecule in a three-dimensional material. This process, called “3D-photografting,” can potentially be used to create a “lab on a chip” or artificially grow living tissue.

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