MjDelves - Slashdot User

What To Do With a Free Xbox 360 Pro? 416

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday October 07, 2009 @10:32PM from the donate-it-to-me dept.

OzPeter writes "Last week I won an Xbox 360 Pro. However, I am not a gamer, and after looking at the current MS offerings, I am not tempted to become one. But I am in the market for a Media Center PC that I can use for streaming TV shows off the 'net as well as general web browsing and displaying video through the HDMI port. With that in mind, I again looked at MS and saw they seemed to have positioned the Xbox as an adjunct to a separate Windows Media Center PC and not as a stand alone unit (which is not what I want). So, once again, I did some more research into the Xbox homebrew scene and discovered things like Xbox Linux. But after reading that site, it is apparent that MS is trying to beat down the homebrewers, and I am left wondering how much hassle it would be to go down that path. So my question is: how should I re-purpose my Xbox? Is it worthwhile doing the Homebrew/Linux option (and can anyone share any experiences)? Are there other ways of re-purposing the device that I haven't considered? Or should I just keep it boxed up as a Christmas present for a favorite nephew?"

Comment Re:Killing is so 1940's (Score 2, Insightful) 360

by MjDelves on Wednesday September 23, 2009 @06:20AM (#29513381) Attached to: Alabama Wages War Against the Perfect Weed

Mutate it to bring forth a strain which is tasty, and make those genes dominant. In 50 years time the goats will come around. Alternatively mutate goats to have no sense of taste.

..... but then it won't spread so fast cos it's busy being eaten, and so unmutated strain will outcompete it leaving you back at square one.... Anything that is so undiscriminating about what it eats will probably eat everything else, posing another problem.

Comment Re:Will this help? (Score 5, Informative) 259

by MjDelves on Thursday May 14, 2009 @04:28AM (#27948611) Attached to: Gates Foundation Funds "Altruistic Vaccine"

Well actually yes this strategy is very sensible. I think you're not quite understanding the research. The vaccine doesn't stop you being bitten by mosquitoes, but would be designed to stop the virus infecting the mosquitoes. This breaks the cycle of infection and prevents many other people being infected. Yes that's little consolation for you, but in the long run, less people being infected does have a direct benefit for you.

Some Large Dinosaurs Survived the K-T Extinction 269

Posted by kdawson on Wednesday April 29, 2009 @05:01AM from the hid-under-a-rock dept.

mmmscience sends along coverage from the Examiner on evidence that some dinosaurs survived the extinction event(s) at the end of the Cretaceous period. Here is the original journal article. "A US paleontologist is challenging one of the field's greatest theories: the mass extinction of dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous period. Jim Fassett, a paleontologist who holds an emeritus position at the US Geological Survey, recently published a paper in Palaeontologia Electronica with evidence that points to a pocket of dinosaurs that somehow survived in remote parts New Mexico and Colorado for up to half a million years past the end of the Cretaceous period. If this theory holds up, these dinosaurs would be the only ones that made it to the Paleocene Age."

Submission + - Snakes on a Quantas Plane! (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by Timberwolf0122 on Thursday April 16, 2009 @10:53AM

Timberwolf0122 writes: An Australian airliner was grounded after four baby pythons escaped from their container in the aircraft's hold.
The snakes, just six inches long, were among 12 Stimson's pythons being flown from Alice Springs to Melbourne.
At first it was thought the reptiles may have been eaten by the other snakes, but this was discounted after they were weighed on landing.
Mace Windu was unavailable for comment on account of him having enough of snakes on a Mother f'ng planes.

Inside Factory China 135

Posted by kdawson on Friday February 13, 2009 @09:59AM from the making-it dept.

blackbearnh writes "While China is attempting to pull its industry up out of mere manufacturing mode, for now the country is the production workhorse of the consumer electronics industry. Almost anything you pick up at a Best Buy first breathed life across the Pacific Ocean. But what is it like to shepherd a product through the design and production process? Andrew 'bunnie' Huang has done just that with the Chumby, a new Internet appliance. In an interview with O'Reilly Radar, he talks about the logistical and moral issues involved with manufacturing in China, as well as his take on the consumer's right to hack the hardware they purchase."

Microsoft To Open Retail Stores 535

Posted by kdawson on Friday February 13, 2009 @09:16AM from the world-class-shopping-experience dept.

chaz373 writes "CNET reports that Microsoft is going retail. In the 'Beyond Binary' blog Ina Fried reports, 'After years of brushing off the notion, Microsoft said on Thursday that it will open up its own line of retail stores. Without detailing the plans, Microsoft said it has hired David Porter, a 25-year Wal-Mart veteran, to lead the effort. Sources say that Porter's mission will be to develop the company's retail plans and that the effort is likely to start small with just a few locations.'"

Comment Re:Well done Bill (Score 1) 841

by MjDelves on Thursday February 05, 2009 @01:05PM (#26739609) Attached to: Bill Gates Unleashes Swarm of Mosquitoes

But don't let my opinion change your mind, pls continue patting yourself on the back for making profit (selling medication) which treats one of the symptoms of poverty.

Well actually malaria is a cause of poverty as well as a symptom. In Africa, the average child will have 1-6 bouts of malaria a year, not only putting them at risk of dying, but also preventing them from going to school. Coupled to the loss of manpower in the workforce, malaria does impact community productivity significantly.

Comment Well done Bill (Score 4, Informative) 841

by MjDelves on Thursday February 05, 2009 @10:39AM (#26736879) Attached to: Bill Gates Unleashes Swarm of Mosquitoes

As someone who researches Malaria for a living I must wholeheartedly support the funding that the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation is bringing to the field of Malaria research. Malaria might only be a "poor" person disease but it affects tens of millions of people a year. Even on a selfish note, with global warming creeping up on us in the next few decades, perhaps this pre-emptive strike by the West will save us all getting sick in the long run.

Comment Re:Only a few questions (Score 2, Interesting) 191

by MjDelves on Thursday January 29, 2009 @11:38AM (#26653861) Attached to: Smart Robot Capable of Hunting For Its Own "Food"

I think the big limitation against a robot "eating" living things at this point is that the energy required in harvesting anything that moves is far in excess of the energy that the robot will be able to extract from it. Bound to be an inefficient process.

1. Attach an object-tracking device and a harpoon to it.

2. Reel in the prey.

3. Put prey in a big sealed container.

4. Time/Standby mode.

5. Lots of biogas.

6. Dung heap.

7. GOTO 1.

Nothing to it.

Comment If they taste like they smell...... (Score 5, Funny) 384

by MjDelves on Wednesday January 14, 2009 @12:22PM (#26449999) Attached to: Future Astronauts May Survive On Eating Silkworms

so what do they taste like?? can we make them taste like bacon?

Last year I was in Korea where the streets are lined with vendors frying up silkworm pupae on the street as an, *ahem*, delicacy. The smell wafting down the road can only be described as a cross between death and pus. I would eat my fellow astronauts over silkworms.

Burning Bus 2

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday December 10, 2008 @02:14PM from the you're-going-to-be-late-for-school dept.

Dick was known for two things around the station: his five-alarm chili, and his hatred of school buses.

Michael Crichton Dead At 66 388

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday November 05, 2008 @09:39PM from the velociraptors-confirm-it dept.

Many readers have submitted stories about the death of Michael Crichton. The 66-year-old author of Jurassic Park and The Andromeda Strain died unexpectedly Tuesday "after a courageous and private battle against cancer," a press release said. In addition to writing, he also directed such sci-fi classics as Westworld and Runaway. Crichton was married five times and had one child.

Comment Superhuman children? (Score 5, Funny) 122

by MjDelves on Tuesday July 01, 2008 @10:12AM (#24015361) Attached to: A Grand Day Out For British Rocketman

From the article: "Steve Bennett who heads up the University's Space Technology Laboratory, will be presenting his 58ft Nova 2 rocket at the University and will discuss how his company, Starchaser Industries plans to launch it in September 2009 with the help of school pupils from across the UK. "

.

How many kids does it take to reach escape velocity??

The Pirate Bay About To Relaunch Suprnova.org 285

Posted by CowboyNeal on Friday August 03, 2007 @12:58AM from the but-for-how-long dept.

kungfujesus writes "The Pirate Bay crew has been working on this secret project for quite some time now. Back in April they wrote a cryptic post on their blog announcing that something was coming. In a response to this announcement TPB admin Brokep told TorrentFreak: "The past, the present and the future. It's all the same, but one thing's for sure, we will radiate for weeks", today it became clear that he was referring to the resurrection of Suprnova."

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