Catch up on stories from the past week (and beyond) at the Slashdot story archive

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Books

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: What book(s) you read that has significant impact on your life? 5

Submitted by gspec
gspec writes: A little background about me: 36-yr old computer engineer working in the Bay Area. While I bring in about 100k annually after tax (actually, in the Bay Area this is not as much as it sounds), I consider my self as an underachiever and my career is stagnant (I have only been promoted 4 times in 12-yr career). I have led a couple projects, but I am not in any leadership/management position.
I realize I need to do something to enhance my career, and unfortunately at this point going back to school is not an option. I believe I need to read more quality books.
My question: Which books, any type/genre, that you have read and has significant impact on your life? Thank you all.

Submission + - Antarctic Ice hits an all-time record high level

Submitted by dtjohnson
dtjohnson writes: "Two weeks after a new record was set in the Arctic Ocean for the least amount of sea ice coverage in the satellite record, the ice surrounding Antarctica reached its highest ever level. Sea ice extended over 19.44 million square kilometers (7.51 million square miles) in 2012, according to the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC). The previous record of 19.39 million kilometers (7.49 million square miles) was set in 2006." Ice extent is reaching an all-time record high on the bottom of the planet just after ice reached an all-time record low on the top of the planet. What can it mean? Either there will soon be more ice at the top or less ice at the bottom or the planet will become seriously 'bottom heavy.' Now there is something to worry about...
Patents

Pinch-to-Zoom and Rounded Rectangles: What the Jury Didn't Say 147

Posted by samzenpus from the and-the-story-continues dept.
CharlyFoxtrot writes "Steve Wildstrom at Tech.Pinions takes on some of the what he calls folklore surrounding Apple v Samsung, investigating what was and wasn't part of the case and how the media got it wrong: 'There's one serious problem with the first sentence, which was repeated dozens of times in stories in print and on the Web. Apple only has a limited patent on the pinch to shrink, stretch to zoom gesture that is a core element of touch interfaces. And the 826 patent wasn't in dispute in the Samsung case because Apple never asserted it. In fact, this particular patent does not seem to be in dispute in any litigation.'"

Comment Re:Probably wrong argument anyway (Score 2) 545

by thoper (#40159841) Attached to: Scientific Literacy vs. Concern Over Climate Change

And 100% oxygen will kill you pretty damned quick, too. So your argument is nonsense.

100% oxygen at a "normal"atmospheric pressure (0.3 to 3 atm) is perfectly fine and secure to breathe, if used for a very long time can lead to a retinopathy and other problems but is not very dangerous. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygen_therapy
Patents

Congress Asks Patent Office To Consider Secret Patents 285

Posted by samzenpus from the prior-secret-art dept.
Fluffeh writes "The USPTO is considering a rather interesting request straight from lobbyists via congress: that certain 'Economically Significant' patents should be kept secret during the process (PDF Warning) of being evaluated and granted. While this does occur at the moment on a very select few patents 'due to national security' for things like nuclear energy and the like — this would allow it to go much, much further. 'By statute, patent applications are published no earlier than 18 months after the filing date, but it takes an average of about three years for a patent application to be processed. This period of time between publication and patent award provides worldwide access to the information included in those applications. In some circumstances, this information allows competitors to design around U.S. technologies and seize markets before the U.S. inventor is able to raise financing and secure a market.'"

Comment may be dangerous (Score 1) 392

by thoper (#14184960) Attached to: Alaskan Cyclotron - Not in My Backyard!
near my house, in a principal hospital, they buy an linear accelerator for cancer treatment, they build a 2.5m concrete wall and a faraday cage made out of 30cm steel (not sure about the material) to shield the damm tning and protect the city.... if this guy is talking about one of those, i REALLY dont want one of those in my backyard... sorry bout the engrish

Slashdot Top Deals

Get hold of portable property. -- Charles Dickens, "Great Expectations"

Close