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

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Comment Re:irrelevant (Score 5, Informative) 291

Very true. I always wanted to be an inventor, and have now more than a few patents. My first few patents were taken by the company where I was working during that time - even though it had absolutely nothing in common with the work I was doing for them - even the domain was completely different.

Primarily due to this, and partly due to the fact that they did not even implement the patent and try to sell it - rather they wanted the patents to bolster their resume when they went to their clients -, I left them and decided to work for my own. Started 2 companies till now, nothing has gone anywhere - but at least my patents are mine now.

I consider these total takeover of any work done to be a big deterrent to innovation overall. If I am coming with an idea, it should be mine and mine only. I am being paid for the work they expect me to do in the company - not thinking of ideas of my own. The companies doesnt even pay well for those patents and then complain that they are not innovative etc. I do understand that a very small percentage of patents make money, but for an inventor, it is his baby - giving pennies for it is like insulting him.

Comment Re:And this is news? (Score 3, Insightful) 120

I would prefer this much more than the umpteen politics and yro posts here.
So, even though it might not pique your interest, there would be many others who might be interested.
Also, look at the comments on that site. It is quite illuminating and does give an idea of how computers really came through.
History does teaches lessons a lot.

Comment Re:*different* scores for *standardized* tests (Score 3, Insightful) 622

I feel this more Anti-Black and Anti-Hispanics than anything else.
My understanding is that the biggest factor to a persons growth is the expectation upon him/her.
If a person is expected to be incompetent, more often than not, they grow to that role.
This is very well elucidated in Tipping Point, wherein a research found that if there are more than 5% of high-income people in a locality, automatically, within 10 years, the high-income people percentage goes up (to around 40% - I dont remember now), because the overall expectation on others goes up - from their parents, spouses etc.

Here, when the expectation is that Blacks and Hispanics are of lesser competency than Asians and Whites, they will grow to fill that role.
Such a rule, from a group of scholars, is quite shocking indeed.

Comment Re:It's just not cricket. (Score 5, Informative) 560

Another factor here is that Imran Khan is one of the few politicians who stands up against extremism. He was previously the captain of their cricket team (and a very capable player and leader - I must say), and was even then known for his secular, non-conformist views and opinions. Of all the people from Pakistan to detain, he should be the last.

Comment Re:More hype and angst (Score 1) 499

You should really read about Ayurveda.
This was/is a very widely used/implemented/tested set of traditional medicine in India, and can be very effective in many cases.
The studies associated with it are not very scientific, and the efficacy of the medicine for many serious diseases are not very good compared to Allopathy, but it can be very effective for many types of diseases - especially minor but quite debilitating diseases.
Do read about it, because it is not correct to completely disregard some types of medical practices without intimate knowledge about them.

I had done a study myself - we come from a very large family of very accomplished doctors - all of them allopathic - and my current view is that the Homeopathy, Reiki etc are quite a sham, while Ayurveda is quite a serious area of science. YMMV though.

Comment Re:Be your own boss. (Score 1) 708

I disagree on this moderately.
Unless you take the risk, there is a low chance of escaping out of the drudgery. You play your cards well, and the maximum that can happen is that you will lose out on a job - and maybe 1 year savings (which you should keep before you start out on your own). Which can happen anyways in such a toxic atmosphere (as mentioned by the OP) anyways - the difference is that with entrepreneurship you have a chance of safety and even hitting it rich, while in the job, you have nothing.

I have tried to be an entrepreneur twice, both after I was middle aged, have a kid, with mortgage, both times failed, but still am in a better position (job wise, not financially) than what I would have been - had I been in a job. One thing I did was that I never took any loan to start the company - that would have messed me up though.

The biggest part of both the adventures was that it was fun - it was nerve wracking, extremely panicky at some times, had a bad temper - but in the end, it was fun. Daily job is no fun after some time - so I prefer this energy compared to the daily job. And now I have assets - the code and programs I wrote during this time is mine - and I always have a hope that I will be able to sell it some time - with a job - do we have any assets?

Anyways YMMV.

Comment Re:Well holy god (Score 4, Insightful) 127

My understanding is that they have not solved it, rather they have just suggested a mechanism. They found that even when there are no tsunamis the rocks are moving. They now think that storm waves could be a reason for it. If I understand correctly, they have not done the calculations for it.

So, now we have a hypothesis. Once the calculations and simulations are done, only then we will know for sure. Moving such big rocks means a lot of energy. Especially when it doesnt float. Can a positive feedback loop generate this much energy ? If so, who knows, positive feedback tidal waves could be the next big thing in renewable energy :)

NASA

Congress Dumps James Webb Space Telescope 409

Teancum writes "On the list of items on the upcoming federal budget for 2012, the U.S. House of Representatives has announced they are going to cancel the continued development of the James Webb Space Telescope. While this debate is certainly still very much a preliminary draft, the road ahead for this project is now very much uncertain. In this time of budget cuts, it seems unlikely that this project is going to survive at this time. It certainly will be an uphill battle for fans of this telescope if they want to keep it alive."
Ubuntu

Ask Slashdot: Easiest Linux Distro For a Newbie 622

anymooseposter writes "My mom is taking a computer class at the local Community College. she asks: 'I need to download a Linux OS and try it out for class. The assignment is to use an OS different from what you normally use. Well, since I use Windows and OS X, the assignment suggests Linux. But, my question is, what is the easiest version based on Linux for me to put on CD and try? I saw several on the web. Any thoughts off the top of your head?' What Linux Disto would be easiest to set up without having to resort to dual booting and/or driver issues?"

Comment Re:It's me, the creator. (Score 1) 161

This is amazing. This article doesn't give enough credit to what you have done. This is unbelievable - There is no question that you are a genius - but I also really admire your patience - I cannot believe the amount of frustrating debugging that you would have to go through for this.

I am a low level entrepreneur/inventor myself - and while I have nowhere near the intelligence and patience that you posses, I do have enough experience in this area to appreciate this. Study hard and become a great - you have the capability - just focus it enough.

Security

PBS Web Sites and Databases Hacked 387

wiredmikey writes "Late Sunday night, hackers gained access to several areas of PBS Web servers and were able publish a fake news story on a PBS news blog. The group also published PBS internal user login information that they were able to siphon out of PBS databases. The fake story was about rapper Tupac Shakur, who died in 1996 after being shot in Las Vegas, being been found alive and well in a small resort in New Zealand. A group going by the name of 'LulzSec' claimed responsibility for the hack, saying the attack was a protest against a PBS Frontline broadcast last week about WikiLeaks."
Science

Activists Destroy Scientific GMO Experiment 1229

Freggy writes "In Belgium, a group of activists calling themselves the Field Liberation Movement has destroyed a field which was being used for a scientific experiment with genetically modified potatoes. In spite of the presence of 60 police officers protecting the field, activists succeeded pulling out the plants and sprayed insecticides over them, ruining the experiment. The goal of the experiment was to test potato plants which are genetically modified to be resistant to potato blight. It's a sad day for the freedom of scientific research."

Slashdot Top Deals

The optimum committee has no members. -- Norman Augustine

Working...