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Comment Re:Java too complex (Score 1) 558

by Ana10g (#30491152) Attached to: Has a Decade of<nobr> <wbr></nobr>.NET Delivered On Microsoft's Promises?
As much as it troubles me, I must agree. I loved learning Java, and I still love writing and using it, but it hasn't had the force behind it that it once did. Initially, it had a similar dictatorship running the show (albeit not a single person, but Sun wouldn't let anyone else influence its path), until the JCP came around. Since then, I haven't seen many improvements. I so desperately want Java to succeed, so much of it just makes sense to me. When used correctly, it can be a beautiful language.
Medicine

Dye Used In Blue M&Ms Can Lessen Spinal Injury 324

Posted by kdawson from the lands-where-the-jumblies-live dept.
SydShamino writes "Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center have found that the dye used in blue M&Ms and other foods can, when given intravenously to a lab rat shortly after a spinal injury, minimize secondary damage caused by the body when it kills off nearby healthy cells. The dye is called BBG or Brilliant Blue G. Given that 85% of spinal injury patients are currently untreated (and some doctors don't trust the treatment given to the other 15%), a relatively safe treatment like this could help preserve some function for thousands of patients. The best part is that in lab rats the subjects given the treatment turn blue." The researchers are "pulling together an application to be lodged with the FDA to stage the first clinical trials of BBG on human patients."
The Courts

Libel Suits OK Even If Libel Is Truthful 301

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the tap-dancing-on-the-slippery-slope dept.
Defeat Globalism writes to tell us that many journalists, bloggers, and media law specialists are concerned about a new ruling by a US Court of Appeals in Boston. The new ruling is allowing a former Staples employee to sue the company for libel after an email was sent out informing other employees that he had been fired for violations of company procedures regarding expense reimbursements. "Staples has asked the full appeals court to reconsider the ruling, and 51 news organizations have filed a friend-of-the-court brief saying that the decision, if allowed to stand, 'will create a precedent that hinders the media's ability to rely on truthful publication to avoid defamation liability.' But Wendy Sibbison, the Greenfield appellate lawyer for the fired Staples employee, Alan S. Noonan, said the ruling applies only to lawsuits by private figures against private defendants, that is, defendants not involved in the news business, over purely private matters."

Comment Re:Makes you wonder...not so much (Score 1) 388

by Ana10g (#26710375) Attached to: US Becomes Top Wind Producer; Solar Next
I read an article a while back on Pebble Bed reactors (though, for the life of me I can't remember where, so I'll link the wiki article instead). They seem to be a lot more stable and less prone to the dangers cited by the anti-nuclear crowd (like meltdowns, etc), and the fuel is not as concentrated. I'm not a nuclear physicist, so I can't speak to their efficiency, but IMHO would be a viable avenue to pursue as well.

Comment Re:Dumping Firefox for Chrome Felt Like Dumping IE (Score 1) 326

by Ana10g (#26393969) Attached to: Google Releases Chrome 2.0 Pre-Beta

You're the guy that rides a motorcycle because it it's "an even better feeling" and "utterly annihilates in realworld performance". You don't mind the lack of windshield and protection from weather, heater, cooler, safety, ability to hit a pothole without dying.

Yep, I'm that guy. A bike does have an even better feeling. And, yes, utterly annihilates in real world performance. Insensitive clod. But because I love a bike doesn't mean I don't have use for a car. Most of your arguments against a bike are bad. Try cargo space (strapping 2x4s to my back doesn't work real well), passenger space, and long road trip comfort.

As for windshields? Put a helmet on. Weather? Put on a set of leathers. Heater? I have heated hand grips. Cooler? Ride faster :P Potholes? Just maneuver around them (and I have hit some pretty big ones, it's jarring, but I'm not dead). Sheesh.
Idle

Submission + - DIY Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster Design (myelectricengine.com) 1

Submitted by Ana10g
Ana10g writes: Are you looking for a thruster for that spacecraft you've been building on the side? Matthew Krolak's How-To Article details how to build a Magnetoplasmadynamic Thruster may have the answer. It actually seems to be fairly straightforward, and the parts are readily available.
The Courts

Microsoft Knew About Xbox 360 Damaging Discs 583

Posted by timothy from the dribbling-it-like-a-ball-may-also-cause-problems dept.
Kelly writes "An unsealed document in a Washington lawsuit filed last week at Seattle, Microsoft was well aware that the Xbox 360 was prone to damaging game discs even before the console was introduced in November 2005. Microsoft had three solutions for solving the issue, but all three solutions were rejected due to technical concerns or on the basis of cost. Microsoft settled on a cost-free fourth solution: a warning was added to Xbox 360 manual, which essentially placed the blame on users instead of the hardware." The scratching-disks problem was mentioned a few years back, too. I wonder whether more people would prefer a slight discount on the price of a console to the ability to reorient it while a disk was playing inside.
IBM

Submission + - IBM to Produce 22 nm Chips by 2011 (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by Ana10g
Ana10g writes: IBM is introducing a series of fabrication technologies with which they can produce processors etched at the 22 nanometer level, without using X-Ray lithography. Instead, researchers have figured out how to etch the chips using the more traditional laser etching process, albeit focusing the laser using a layer of water in which the silicon is immersed. FTA:

With immersion lithography, the laser light beams that are used to etch circuits into photosensitive material on silicon wafers are focused by a layer of water that surrounds the wafer. Because light slows down when it enters the water, you can crank the light up to a higher frequency, which yields a tighter laser beam — and the ability to etch smaller circuits.

The whole story can be read here

Is Computer Science Still Worth It? 434

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the was-it-ever dept.
prostoalex writes "Is it a good idea to go into Computer Science? Yes, there are certainly pending labor shortages as Indian companies outsource to the United States, but speakers of Stanford Computer Forum generally agree that it's a good career choice. From the article: 'To ensure job security, students must learn business, communication and interpersonal skills, Vardi recommended. The personal touch will become as important as technological expertise, he said. "There are jobs galore," agreed Suzanne Bigas, assistant director of the Stanford Computer Forum.'"

Aggressive Botnet Activities Behind Spam Increase 194

Posted by kdawson from the spam-i-am dept.
An anonymous reader writes, "A spam-sending Trojan dubbed 'SpamThru' is responsible for a vast amount of the recent botnet activity which has significantly increased spam levels to almost three out of every four emails. The developers of SpamThru employed numerous tactics to thwart detection and enhance outreach, such as releasing new strains of the Trojan at regular intervals in order to confuse traditional anti-virus signatures detection." According to MessageLabs (PDF), another contributor to the recent spam increase is a trojan dropper called "Warezov."
Media

Submission + - Profits stronger motive than Security

Submitted by Ana10g
Ana10g writes: A DRM arms race has been undertaken between makers of DRM related technologies, and the public at large (more specifically, the hacker public at large). To be fair, the producers of DRM have decided to incorporate the technology into their business, and defending it is in their best interests. Defending your profits is, well, good business. The producer of this technology is Microsoft, which, in attempting to defend its DRM, is also attempting to preserve a relationship with major record labels.

Now, this isn't a "vulnerability" in the normal sense of the word: digital rights management is not a feature that users want. Being able to remove copy protection is a good thing for some users, and completely irrelevant for everyone else. No user is ever going to say: "Oh no. I can now play the music I bought for my PC on my Mac. I must install a patch so I can't do that anymore."

The article details how, once the DRM strategy had been cracked, it took the vendor less than three days to issue a patch fixing the problem. Ironically, the an exploit for the patch was released very quickly.

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