Follow Slashdot stories on Twitter

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Comment Re:Fifty votes from "executives"? (Score 2, Insightful) 189

Well, realistically, how much code can someone actually write? I think the most influential people are going to be those those who can corral and co-ordinate the efforts of disparate people to work together one one big project that no single person can handle alone. They maybe never even write code themselves.
Privacy

Submission + - UK continues to emulate Big Brother

kenners writes: After apparently folding in the face of political and public opposition, the UK government has scrapped plans for a centralised database of internet communications. However, the Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, has announced plans for ISPs and other communication firms to pass details to the Security Service (MI5).

The BBC reports that the system intends to "track all e-mails, phone calls and internet use, including visits to social network sites" — how this differs in substance from the original proposal remains to be seen.

The Government has a released a public consultation document. If you're a UK citizen, make sure your voice is heard:
Protecting the Public in a Changing Communications Environment [PDF warning]

When will the Government learn?
The Courts

Submission + - Pirate Bay trial ends in jail sentences. 1

myvirtualid writes: "The Globe and Mail reports that the Pirate Bay defendants were each sentenced Friday to one year in jail. According to the article, "Judge Tomas Norstrom told reporters that the court took into account that the site was 'commercially driven' when it made the ruling. The defendants have denied any commercial motives behind the site." The defendants said before the verdict that they would appeal if they were found guilty. "Stay calm — Nothing will happen to TPB, us personally or file sharing whatsoever. This is just a theater for the media," Mr. Sunde said Friday in a posting on social networking site Twitter."

Comment Re:So they're doing another type of immunosupressi (Score 1) 201

Immunosuppression is obviously a complex beast, but two things that stand out:

1) Different organs have different immunogenecity which means one can 'get away' with different levels of immunosuppression.

For example, the mismatch (i.e. difference in HLA) between a donor and recipient for a liver can be much greater than for a pancreas (one of the most immunogenic organs). The liver is pretty good at mopping up circulating antibodies.

Consequently, the amount of immunosuppression needed varies. Whereas a recipient of a pancreas might be on an antimetabolite (azathioprine, mycophenalate), a glucorcitcoid (i.e. steroi, eg prednisolone), and a calcineurin-inhibitor (i.e. anti-T cell, e.g. tacrolimus, ciclosporin), recipients of a liver may end up getting by on just a glucocorticoid.

2) Side Effects of the Immunosuppression

In addition to the general effects (bone marrow suppression, increased infection risk, and malignancy), perhaps the most 'ironic' side effect is that of renal/graft-failure. The calcineurin inhibitors are notoriously nephrotoxic (bad for kidneys), and so it's not uncommon for a renal or liver transplant recipient to require renal transplantion as a result of renal failure due to immunosuppressants.

Google

Submission + - Behind the scenes with Google Street View (techradar.com)

TRNick writes: "TechRadar has an interview with Ed Parsons, Geospatial Technologist at Google UK, on how they go about getting the images. And it's less high tech that you'd think: 'As well as the cameras on the cars,' he says, 'there's very accurate GPS, so every picture is geocoded and because there's also an inertial measurement unit on the car, we know which direction it's pointing and which direction the cameras are pointing.' But there's no accounting for the unpredictable human factors: 'Sometimes there may be roads being dug up, or there's a dustbin truck in the middle of the street, or they may miss a road — and we may have to come back and do that at a later date.'"
Software

Internal Instant Messaging Client / Server Combo? 360

strongmantim writes "I manage an internal help desk (25-30 people) for a medium-large company in the healthcare industry. We're looking for an internal, secure, FOSS (if possible) instant messaging / presence awareness client and server combo. Transmission of Protected Health Information is a sensitive issue, so the server has to be able to log any conversations that occur. It is preferred that the client not support outside protocols such as AIM, MSN, Yahoo, etc.; if it does, I will have to promulgate and enforce yet one more policy that my techs not connect to them. All of the computers that will connect run Windows XP. The system should be scalable up to ~100 people (in case we decide to include our entire office in the roll-out). Hardware and OS for the server are not an issue. Oh, and one more thing: It has to be free. Suggestions?"
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - 'Unbreakable' encryption?

billsoxs writes: Wired is running a story about the Swiss using an "unbreakable" encryption for their electronic voting. The claim is:

"A computer in Geneva, provided by the company id Quantique, will fire photons, or particles of light, down a fiber-optic link to a receiver 62 miles away.

If anybody wanted to eavesdrop on the line, they would need to intercept the photons, which means they won't make it to the destination. The operators of the line will then know that someone is listening in."
Is it just me — or does everyone else see an obvious hack? That is capturing the photons at the hack point and broadcasting a new matching — or edited — set of photons. How many other easy hacks do people see?
Software

Submission + - Vista - Ubuntu Install Comparison

Cokeisbomb writes: "Andrew Thomas, at the Inqurier has recently installed both Vista and the latest version of Ubuntu on his desktop and has compared the install process and initial setup. Although he has been using computers for 30+ years, his findings were different than what many of us might expect. From the article: "Well, I've only been playing with computers since 1972 and I couldn't make it work. Linux can see the Windows boxes and vice versa, but any attempt to access files is met with a login dialogue box that refuses any username and password I enter. So I've done what any normal person would do in the circumstances — give up"."
Security

Submission + - Phishing Scan Uses Google Maps

morgan_greywolf writes: "According the the PC World, a new phishing scam uses Google Maps to pinpoint the physical location of the victim's computer:

Account holders with at least two Australian banks have become victims of a phishing scam in which malicious code reveals the physical location of affected IP addresses using Google Maps. Bank account holders in Germany and the U.S. have also been targeted.

Identity theft anyone?"
User Journal

Journal Journal: God as identified and/or defined by US (Good, Bad, or Evil)? 3

God as identified and/or defined by anyone, anything, any religion, any government ... has never existed. IOW: a god cannot be copyrighted, claimed, patented ... except by weak, fearful, slaves of "the unknown and may never be" destiny/option.

Too Know and Too Fear will always be mutually exclusive or inversely proportional!

Media

Submission + - The Oscars, Pirate Bay style

Little_Professor writes: "the Pirate Bay proudly present OscarTorrents. OscarTorrents is the Oscars as it should be — everyone can download the year's nominations using the popular BitTorrent service, watch the movies, then use our rating system to choose their favourites. Why restrict the voting to a few bought-off jurors when the whole world can have their say?

The site is not just aimed at torrent verterans — it features an easy to use guide to downloading bittorrent files for newbies. there's even a reassuring notice: "To those worried about downloading in case they get sued: by our calculations, your chances of getting nailed are way less than your chances of winning the lottery. Don't think twice about it.""

Slashdot Top Deals

Today is a good day for information-gathering. Read someone else's mail file.

Working...