Comment Re:Here's an idea (Score 1) 146
Hey, someone needs to protect American jobs with tariffs, because that worked so well in the 1930's.
Submission + - Teenage Sextet Charged With Cell Phone 'Sexting' (wpxi.com)
Corpuscavernosa writes: Three teenage girls who allegedly sent nude or semi-nude cell phone pictures of themselves, and three male classmates in a Greensburg high school who received them, are charged with child pornography.
Police said the girls are 14 or 15, and the boys charged with receiving the photos are 16 or 17.
These kids being charged (especially the girls) just feels wrong for some reason. What do you think?
Police said the girls are 14 or 15, and the boys charged with receiving the photos are 16 or 17.
These kids being charged (especially the girls) just feels wrong for some reason. What do you think?
Submission + - Congress bans video game consoles!?
Xerolooper writes: In the latest move by our representatives in congress. What some are calling a more 'ecologically friendly' Fahrenheit 451 or just Cultural Genocide.
Some companies marketing products for children say this will cripple them. 'The CPSIA(Consumer Produce Safety Improvement Act) was passed in August 2008 and goes into effect on February 10, 2009. It was passed in response to recent lead paint scares involving imported toys. While all good parents wants safe toys and other products for their children, the unfortunate truth is that this law was written FAR too broadly. Because this over-reaching law mandates expensive ($400 — $4,000 per test) testing on every part of every batch of everything made for children 12 and under, the ramifications are terrible.'
One result is the banning from libraries at schools and otherwise of children under 12 or removing the books.
From CPSC FAQ: 'To the extent that video game hardware is intended primarily for children 12 years and younger, it would be subject to the lead limits. The Commission is currently evaluating whether certain electronic devices, including devices that contain batteries, must comply with the lead limit.' I would like to know what impact will this have on the Video Game Industry?
Some companies marketing products for children say this will cripple them. 'The CPSIA(Consumer Produce Safety Improvement Act) was passed in August 2008 and goes into effect on February 10, 2009. It was passed in response to recent lead paint scares involving imported toys. While all good parents wants safe toys and other products for their children, the unfortunate truth is that this law was written FAR too broadly. Because this over-reaching law mandates expensive ($400 — $4,000 per test) testing on every part of every batch of everything made for children 12 and under, the ramifications are terrible.'
One result is the banning from libraries at schools and otherwise of children under 12 or removing the books.
From CPSC FAQ: 'To the extent that video game hardware is intended primarily for children 12 years and younger, it would be subject to the lead limits. The Commission is currently evaluating whether certain electronic devices, including devices that contain batteries, must comply with the lead limit.' I would like to know what impact will this have on the Video Game Industry?
Submission + - Gaming & Justice
oldwindways writes: "An Ohio teen was found guilty of murdering his Mother and shooting his Father in the head after they took away his copy of Halo 3. One has to wonder if this is going to have any effect on the games industry. Clearly the AP thought they could stir up something controversial by asking the IP owner for a statement:
Microsoft, which owns the intellectual property for the game, declined to comment beyond a statement saying: "We are aware of the situation and it is a tragic case."
I suppose the good news is they did not accept his insanity plea, so no one can claim that Halo 3 drove him insane. Even so, I don't think anything good can come out of this for gamers."
Microsoft, which owns the intellectual property for the game, declined to comment beyond a statement saying: "We are aware of the situation and it is a tragic case."
I suppose the good news is they did not accept his insanity plea, so no one can claim that Halo 3 drove him insane. Even so, I don't think anything good can come out of this for gamers."
Comment Re:remote learning (Score 4, Interesting) 317
Is this going towards a future where students do not need to be physical present on the campus?
Actually, the TEAL approach that replaced the large freshman physics lectures at MIT places a heavier emphasis on attendance. In a traditional lecture the professor doesn't know most of the students, and doesn't really care if 50% of them stop showing up after the first week. With TEAL there are interactive portions of the class (such as answering multiple choice questions with a personal remote) which are tracked and factored into the student's grade. In other words, if you don't show up, you can't get an A (no matter how well you have mastered the material).
Personally I don't think this is the best approach, but it certainly isn't forgiving of a student's absence from class.
As a side note, when I was a freshman, many of my classmates did not find the TEAL lectures to be terribly effective in teaching the material. Frequently they would go back into the video archive after class and watch recordings of the "traditional" lectures from years past to actually learn what was being taught. They just went to the TEAL lectures because they didn't want to loose their participation credit.
Submission + - Is a 9/80 work schedule a good thing? 4
cellocgw writes: "My company is in the process of implementing a version of "9/80," a work schedule which squeezes 80 hours' labor time into 9 business days and provides every other Friday off. I was wondering how this has been implemented in other companies, and how it's worked out for other Slashdot readers. Is your system flexible? Do you find time to get personal stuff done during the week? Is Friday good for anything other than catching up on lost sleep? And perhaps most important, do your managers respect the off-Fridays or pull people in on a regular basis to handle "crises"?"
Submission + - Carbon researcher never mentioned Google (itpro.co.uk) 1
nk497 writes: "Does every two searches on Google release as much carbon emissions as boiling a kettle of water? No — according to the author of the report everyone is citing as evidence of Google's destruction of the world. Harvard University physicist Alex Wissner-Gross told TechNewsWorld that he never mentioned Google in the study, and that the media reports were misleading readers.
He said: "Our work has nothing to do with Google. Our focus was exclusively on the web overall, and we found that it takes on average about 20 milligrams of CO2 per second to visit a website."
Wissner-Gross added that there was no mention of a kettle in his research."
He said: "Our work has nothing to do with Google. Our focus was exclusively on the web overall, and we found that it takes on average about 20 milligrams of CO2 per second to visit a website."
Wissner-Gross added that there was no mention of a kettle in his research."
Submission + - Lord of the Rings: Conquest - First Review (gameplayer.com.au)
SlappingOysters writes: "The exciting new action game from Pandemic Studios based on the Lord of the Rings books and films is released today for the PC, X360 and PS3 and the first online review has just gone live at gameplayer. The gameplay acts to mimic what was seen in the Battlefield and Star Wars: Battlefront game series, with the guns and vehicles replaced with swords and oliphaunts. You can play as both the good, and evil, sides of Middle-Earth."
Submission + - Brits get tough on copper thieves disrupting comms
Celeriac writes: The British government is planning a crackdown on rogue scrap metal dealers because of the rise of copper phone cable theft — a frequent thorn-in-the-side for countries in the developing world. According to telco BT around a thousand of its customers in the south of England were recently left without a phone line after crooks made off with cables by ripping them out of man-holes in the street.
Spookfish Uses Mirrors For Eyes 81
Kligat writes "The brownsnout spookfish in the Pacific is the first known vertebrate to use mirrors to focus light into its eyes. Despite being a species known for 120 years, this was not known until a live specimen was caught between New Zealand and Samoa last year. The fish lives over 1,000 meters below the ocean's surface, so the light focused by the mirrors' perfectly curved surfaces provides a major advantage over other fish."
Comment Oh the memories (Score 5, Interesting) 199
This reminds me of one of my third grade teachers. His class motto was "people with beards are great".
I can't help but think that he was on to something.
Actually, it also brings to mind a theme from Cryptonomicon, where programmers are referred to as Dwarves, "stout, taciturn, vaguely magical characters who spent a lot of time in the dark hammering out beautiful things." I don't think its a coincidence that beards go along with the territory.
I can't help but think that he was on to something.
Actually, it also brings to mind a theme from Cryptonomicon, where programmers are referred to as Dwarves, "stout, taciturn, vaguely magical characters who spent a lot of time in the dark hammering out beautiful things." I don't think its a coincidence that beards go along with the territory.
Submission + - Red Hat's new desktop Linux for emerging markets
Marky Mark writes: At this week's Red Hat Summit, the company launched a desktop linux offering targeted at emerging markets. Called Global Desktop, it was developed in partnership with Intel with the goal of running smoothly on the company's Classmate PC. 'Designed to support a wide range of hardware, including minimalist budget computers, the Red Hat Global Desktop platform is highly scalable and will include open source productivity software and a modern user interface. Primarily intended for local government and small business adoption in developing countries, Global Desktop, which will offer a very competitive pricing model.' It will also compete with Mandriva Linux 2007, which will be preinstalled on the Classmate PC.
Submission + - Windows XP Is Running Slower Than Usual Checklist
nicenswift writes: "Had a client phone today saying his XP Pro machines seemed to be running slower than when they purchased them, This is a problem I hear all the time and sent him the following. After doing so I thought it may also be of help to other people with this issue.
Part 1.
http://swift-tips.blogspot.com/2007/04/windows-xp- is-running-slower-than-usual.html
Part 2.
http://swift-tips.blogspot.com/2007/04/windows-xp- is-running-slower-than-usual_16.html"
Submission + - The 10th Planet: Info-Landscapes for Geobrowsers
vglobe writes: "The preview release of the NASA World Wind SDK (May 10) at the JaveOne conference hints at a new generation of browser-integrated geospatial applications. Missing the 10th planet, for example? A group of European researchers from the IDIOM Project shows how to use geobrowsers as generic image rendering engines. They generate "Knowledge Planets" based on large document collections. The peaks of the virtual landscape indicate popular topics, while valleys represent parts of the information space that are usually neglected. The introductory chapter of a new book on Geospatial Web technology is available for download and includes a screenshot of their prototype."
Submission + - We're responsible for Mars, too!?
grikdog writes: Science News is reporting global warming on Mars, evidently caused by reduced albedos causing warming and greenhouse gas (CO2) emissions at Mars' southern ice cap. Gee, and I thought the Viking landers were electric.
