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Canadian Blood Services Promotes Pseudoscience 219

trianglecat writes "The not-for-profit agency Canadian Blood Services has a section of their website based on the Japanese cultural belief of ketsueki-gata, which claims that a person's blood group determines or predicts their personality type. Disappointing for a self-proclaimed 'science-based' organization. The Ottawa Skeptics, based in the nation's capital, appear to be taking some action."

Comment Re:I want... (Score 1) 596

All these things you want to do are quite possible with digital cameras, though you'll have to get a digital SLR.

Some compacts do have exposure compensation settings, and high shutter speeds, for silhouettes and stopping waterfalls. For making them blurry, well, even digital photographers still use ND filters.

Film or digital, it's the person behind the camera that makes the difference, not the technology.

Comment Re:I've seen a little of that (Score 1) 1316

A short list is worth what you get out of it. If it is indistinguishable from empty promises that every other employer makes to the second place candidate for a position, why should *anyone* do as you request? Basically, you are under the impression that you're holding a large carrot while the rest of the world sees you holding absolutely nothing on the end of that string, and your requests are given weight accordingly.

Comment Re:Looking to dabble into a bit of photography mys (Score 1) 295

What can't you do with a P&S or "prosumer" camera?

That you should even ask such a question highlights the depths of your ignorance. Slashdot requiring analogies, you're asking why someone would want a desktop running linux instead of a simple calculator. I mean, what can't you do with a simple calculator? That sudden flood of answers that comes to your mind? Very akin to flood of answers that come to mind given your question about P&S cameras.

Comment Re:flicker crashes (Score 1) 303

LED tail lights definitely have a noticeable effect, and the first word I'd use to describe it is 'strobing'. While driving, looking straight on, I might not notice that a car has LED tail lights vs. regular bulbs, but when I turn my head, the LED tail lights stick out in the sea of red generated by other cars because they seem to flicker very rapidly. It's most definitely not psychosomatic, and certainly reproducible in blind tests. What *causes* the apparent strobing is up for grabs, sure, but the fact that it exists is not.

Comment It can't be Linux's fault, it must be the users! (Score 1) 663

Having used computers for a little more than two decades, it's given me a bit of perspective.

One. Users generally aren't stupid, but they're often ignorant. There's a big difference between the two, and it would be wise for the average geek to understand this.

Two. The 'usefulness:frustration' ratio for your average human being is very lopsided.

If the competing product is less frustrating than your favored product, no matter how much better your product is on paper, in reality, it's the functional equivalent of having the better gadget that happens to only work while inside steaming pile of excrement.

I see people rail on and on as to how linux is perfect, so the high return rate must just be due to users 'not getting it' or 'being stupid'.

It's a very 'not seeing the forest for the trees' problem.

How smart can you be if you fail to understand why people don't find linux to be a better choice than windows?

Ready for the desktop? HA! Ready for the hobbyist desktop, maybe. The desktop of a standard human being? Not even close.

And 'close' is the functional equivalent 'complete fail' in this situation.

Security

Submission + - Computer Security Cartoons (securitycartoon.com)

Detritus writes: The Indiana University School of Informatics is producing a series of cartoons designed to educate end-users about computer security. The cartoons are produced by associate professor Markus Jakobsson and Informatics research associate Sukamol Srikwan. The material covered by the cartoons is based upon research done at IU's Center for Applied Cybersecurity Research. While this material may be old news to many slashdot readers, it's an entertaining introduction to modern issues in computer security for a general audience.
Security

Submission + - Teacher Awarded New Trial in School Porn Case (washingtonpost.com)

An anonymous reader writes: A substitute teacher from Connecticut who faced up to 40 years in jail for exposing her 7th grade class to pornography has been granted a new trial. Windham, Conn. resident Julie Amero was to be sentenced today for her conviction on four counts of endangering a minor, but the judge in the case threw out her conviction and granted a new trial, because a witness the state presented as a computer expert provided 'erroneous' testimony about the classroom computer. Defense attorneys blamed the porn images that popped up on the classroom computer on spyware, and the state's expert, Detective Mark Lounsbury, cited computer logs of porn sites which he said proved Amero had clicked on links or typed in the address of various porn sites in the PC's Web browser. The Post story also includes an interesting exchange between Lounsbury and an activist educator following the case, in which the detective offers a glimpse into his views on the trial. From the story: "Early on in my career I was lost. I didn't know what to do about people's inhumanity to people. Then I came home from work one morning and turned on the TV. One of those bible thumping shows was on and I watched it. I took one thing away from the preachings, KEEP THE FAITH. YOU and the rest of the herd have NOT done so. YOU have LOST the FAITH. You choose to accept the lies, the evil: FEEL THE POWER OF EVIL! You have decided to violate the COMMANDMENTS. For what I ask. I don't have that answer because I have the Faith. I do not judge. I seek the TRUTH, be it in my personal life or for humankind.
Portables

Submission + - A closer look at Asus' $199 computer

Known Nutter writes: This year's Computex is proving to be very exciting with Asus' introduction of their $200 PC. Chairman Jonney Shih introduced the flash-powered portable computer and claimed that it can boot in about 15 seconds. The computer will be available in 7 and 10-inch screen versions and will run a customized Linux distro. Asus has not said when the computer will be available.

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