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Education

Shoud I go back and finish my CS degree?

Submitted by ShiftingBits
ShiftingBits writes "I dropped out of school 12 years ago because work was more interesting (and paid too darned well). I eventually rode that wave to a director level position at a mid-sized company, managing over 20 people, and making over $150,000 per year. Nine months ago I was down-sized. I've been doing well working as a contract programmer, but the last month has been almost completely dry. I apply for contracts that I'm completely qualified for, but rarely get any type of response. I don't really want an actual employee-type job, but I've been applying to things just to keep my options open — again, only things that I've got the resume and portfolio to back up. And still I can't even get an interview. Now maybe it is the economy or maybe I'm suddenly a lousy resume writer but I'm thinking about going back to finish my degree — maybe get an MS or MBA while I'm at it. The question I pose to you, oh great slashdot community, is: Do you think it is likely to pay off in the long run, or am I just delaying the inevitable? Meaning if I can't get a job with all of the experience I already have, will a degree actually make any difference?"
NASA

How They Built it: The Software of Apollo 11->

Submitted by
PirateTux
PirateTux writes ""When Apollo 11's Lunar Module landed on the Moon 40 years ago today, the software that helped take humans to another celestial body was essentially built using paper-tape rolls and thick cardstock that was punched with special holes. It wasn't open source in the sense we know today, but it was built for NASA under contract, then was tested, modified and fine-tuned by NASA engineers in ways that are similar to open source projects nowadays..." From Linux.com http://www.linux.com/news/software/developer/29068-apollo-11-story"
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Media

Synchronized Streaming with VLC->

Submitted by
The Hacked Existence Crew
The Hacked Existence Crew writes "Demonstration of the streaming capabilities of the open source VLC media player. A great demonstration of VLC's ability to compensate for network latency between different end points. This video showcases VLC running on Linux, OSX and Windows machines over both wired and wireless LAN. It also shows the web remote control interface and iPhone connectivity."
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Earth

MIT Trash Track: Like Google Latitude for Garbage

Submitted by
GeekyKhan
GeekyKhan writes "Researchers at MIT have developed an innovative system called Trash Track, which uses electronic tags to follow pieces of garbage through their journey to the dump. Although the team invested time and effort into the technological side of the project, they are most interested in quantifying how the knowledge that trash is being tracked could modify people's behavior. If a correlation is found, this could be a phenomenal breakthrough in recycling and waste reduction systems."
Security

Nmap 5.00 Released!->

Submitted by
iago-vL
iago-vL writes "The long-awaited Nmap Security Scanner version 5.00 was just released (download)! This marks the most important release since 1997, and is a huge step in Nmap's evolution from a simple port scanner to an all-around security and networking tool suite. Significant performance improvements were made, and dozens of scripts were added. For example, Nmap can now log into Windows and perform local checks (PDF), including Conficker detection. New tools included in 5.00 are Ncat, a modern reimplementation of Netcat (with IPv6, SSL, NAT traversal, port redirection, and more!), and Ndiff, for quickly comparing scan results. Other tools are in the works for future releases, but we're still waiting for them to add email and ftp clients so we can finally get off Emacs!"
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