Comment Unsounded (Score 1) 321
http://www.casualvillain.com/Unsounded/comic+index
Fantasy comic. Brilliant.
Submission + - The algorithms of Elevators (wsj.com)
McGruber writes: The Wall Street Journal has an article about Theresa Christy (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324469304578143200385871618.html), a mathematician who develops algorithms for Otis Elevator Company (http://www.otisworldwide.com/), the world's largest manufacturer and maintainer of people-moving products including elevators, escalators and moving walkways.
As an Otis research fellow, Ms. Christy writes strings of code that allow elevators to do essentially the greatest good for the most people—including the building's owner, who has to allocate considerable space for the concrete shafts that house the cars. Her work often involves watching computer simulation programs that replay elevator decision-making. "I feel like I get paid to play videogames. I watch the simulation, and I see what happens, and I try to improve the score I am getting," she says.
As an Otis research fellow, Ms. Christy writes strings of code that allow elevators to do essentially the greatest good for the most people—including the building's owner, who has to allocate considerable space for the concrete shafts that house the cars. Her work often involves watching computer simulation programs that replay elevator decision-making. "I feel like I get paid to play videogames. I watch the simulation, and I see what happens, and I try to improve the score I am getting," she says.
Submission + - Dell Laptop $70 cheaper with Ubuntu (thevarguy.com)
dgharmon writes: More than five years after it began selling PCs with Ubuntu Linux preinstalled in the United States, Dell has compiled a lackluster record in the eyes of many Linux advocates when it comes to promoting open source alternatives to Windows.
Yet as a Canonical employee recently pointed out, Dell is now offering a $70 markdown on one laptop model when customers purchase it with Ubuntu instead of a Microsoft OS. Is this a mistake, or a sign of changes to come on Dell’s part?
Yet as a Canonical employee recently pointed out, Dell is now offering a $70 markdown on one laptop model when customers purchase it with Ubuntu instead of a Microsoft OS. Is this a mistake, or a sign of changes to come on Dell’s part?
Submission + - Redesigned Speedo racing swimsuit ready for 2012 London Olympics (gizmag.com)
cylonlover writes: Speedo's introduction of its drag reducing LZR Racer swimming outfit created a controversy during the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. The suit worked so well that it was subsequently outlawed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation (FINA) as the technological equivalent of doping – it provided too much of an advantage. Now, with the help of ANSYS simulation software, and just in time for the 2012 London Summer Olympics, Speedo has introduced the Fastskin3 racing system, which offers a new and apparently legal approach to drag reduction during competitive swimming.
Submission + - Calamari Lovers Beware: Korean Woman "Painfully" Inseminated By a Cooked Squid
An anonymous reader writes: A 63-year-old Korean woman was inseminated by a cooked squid while she was eating it.The woman had felt "experienced severe pain in her oral cavity immediately after eating a portion of parboiled squid along with its internal organs," according to a scientific paper published in the Journal of Parasitology.
Submission + - Ask Slashdot: How to Evacuate a Network (shambhalamountain.org)
gpowers writes: "I am the IT Manager for Shambhala Mountain Center, near Red Feather Lakes, Colorado. We are in the pre-evacuation area for the High Park Fire. What is the best way to load 50+ workstations, 6 servers, IP phones, networking gear, printers and wireless equipment into a 17-foot U-Haul? We have limited packing supplies. We also need to spend as much time as possible working with the fire crew on fire risk mitigation."
Submission + - Ask Slashdot: A good geek project for my arthritic grandfather?
An anonymous reader writes: My grandfather is a retired electrician whom I've been trying to keep mentally busy. Together we've gotten an Arduino kit and have been working on some simple projects. He does the wiring and I've been writing the code. Recently his arthritis has been getting worse and he's been unable to work with the tiny components that the Arduino projects require. Does anyone have a recommendation for something similar we could work on together that would be easier for someone with his compromised manual dexterity?
Submission + - NASA launches rocket to collect data on aurora (newsminer.com)
leighklotz writes: "NASA launched MICA, a rocket with an ion-field probe and a magnetic-field probe, from Fairbanks Alaska, straight up into a roaring aurora display, and then like Gravity's Rainbow, back down again. No word on whether they encountered Mrs. Coulter.
CNN Video shows more surprisingly cogent popular press coverage.
One of my sempai from college worked on this project, and shared pretty the pretty pix, some of which are in the University of New Hampshire news release, and in Astronomy Magazine.
They should be analyzing the data for a while."
Submission + - Book Trailers: Videos That Sell Books in the New Media Age (ibtimes.com)
casac8 writes: "Don't judge a book by its trailer.
The book trailer is a new media form that is being used to sell books. These online videos are selling books, and standing as their own free-standing artistic statements as well.
This article explains its much better than I can:"
The book trailer is a new media form that is being used to sell books. These online videos are selling books, and standing as their own free-standing artistic statements as well.
This article explains its much better than I can:"
Submission + - Web Browser Grand Prix 9: Chrome 17, Firefox 10, And Ubuntu (tomshardware.com)
An anonymous reader writes: The latest Web browser benchmarks from Tom's Hardware are out. Last month TH ran these tests in OS X on a MacBook, this time they ran the top five Windows 7 browsers against the top three for Linux (on Ubuntu 11.10). Testing includes page load time, start time, memory, reliability, JavaScript, CSS, DOM, Flash, HTML5, hardware acceleration, WebGL, Java, and standards conformance. The Windows 7 standings are pretty much the same as last month, but now have IE9 solidly in last place, and Chrome almost stealing first. Chrome did manage to steal the show on Ubuntu, while Firefox actually performs the worst of the three Linux browsers. In contrast to a recent cross-platform benchmarks of Ubuntu 11.10 and Windows 7 (where Ubuntu actually wins a majority of the tests), the Linux browsers just didn't stand up to their Windows versions. The author calls the combo "a meaningless victory and a defeat" for Linux.
Submission + - Judge orders man to apologize to wife on Facebook (cincinnati.com)
Marillion writes: "Photographer Mark Byron was so bothered by his pending divorce and child visitation issues that he blasted his soon-to-be ex-wife on his personal Facebook page. That touched off a battle that resulted in a Hamilton County judge ordering Byron jailed for his Facebook rant – and to post on his page an apology to his wife and all of his Facebook friends, something free speech experts found troubling."
Submission + - Why Android Isn't Gaining On Apple In The Enterpri (appleinsider.com)
bonch writes: While iOS and Android fight in a tug-of-war for consumer sales, Apple's lead among enterprise buyers continues to increase. A combination of factors--including a 'bring your own device' trend in IT, the failure of Windows Mobile to generate interest, and the success of Firefox--has led to an embrace of non-Microsoft infrastructure and a rise in corporate iPhone users. Microsoft contributed to its own demise by licensing Exchange ActiveSync protocols for iOS 2.0. This has caused the iPhone to make up 53% of enterprise phones and the iPad to make up 96% of tablets. In contrast, Android, Palm, and Microsoft have focused on catching up to iPhone in the consumer space; for example, Android currently lacks IPsec VPN support and complete Exchange Server integration. Device fragmentation is also cited for increasing IT support costs.
Submission + - Opting Out of Google Services
An anonymous reader writes: Over the years I have added on a number of Google services to my main account — sometimes accidentally (by hitting the "login" button on Youtube, etc.). Google Dashboard ( http://www.google.com/dashboard ) does not seem to have a way to close services selectively. I have found a few isolated links that allow me to close specific services (Orkut: https://accounts.google.com/DeleteService?service=orkut ); however, I can't simply swap in the name other services for them to be deleted. Others services, such as blogger.com don't seem to allow you to close your accounts at all. Is there a single page that allows me to choose which Google Account Services to shut down, and which ones to keep? I'd like to have my overall Google Service profile slimmed down by March First, leaving me with Gmail, Voice, and Groups.
Submission + - SEC Takes Action Against Latvian Hacker (securityweek.com)
wiredmikey writes: The SEC has filed charges against a trader in Latvia for conducting a widespread online account intrusion scheme in which he manipulated the prices of more than 100 NYSE and Nasdaq securities by making unauthorized purchases or sales from hijacked brokerage accounts.
The SEC also went after four online trading firms and eight executives who are said to have helped the hacker make more than $850,000 in ill-gotten funds.
The SEC’s actions occurred on the same day that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued an investor alert and a regulatory notice about an increase in financially motivated attacks targeting email.
The SEC also went after four online trading firms and eight executives who are said to have helped the hacker make more than $850,000 in ill-gotten funds.
The SEC’s actions occurred on the same day that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued an investor alert and a regulatory notice about an increase in financially motivated attacks targeting email.
Submission + - Hijacked web traffic for sale (scmagazine.com.au)
mask.of.sanity writes: If you can't create valuable content to attract users to your site, Russian cyber criminals will sell it to you.
A web store has been discovered that sells hacked traffic that has been redirected from legitimate sites.
Sellers inject hidden iframes into popular web sites and redirect the traffic to a nominated domain. Buyers purchase the traffic from the store to direct to their sites and the sellers get paid.
A web store has been discovered that sells hacked traffic that has been redirected from legitimate sites.
Sellers inject hidden iframes into popular web sites and redirect the traffic to a nominated domain. Buyers purchase the traffic from the store to direct to their sites and the sellers get paid.
