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Comment: Where's the "Funny/Insightful" mod love? (Score 1) 96

by 2starr (#39265575) Attached to: Intel Releases Sandy Bridge-based Xeon E5 Series

Oh, come on. Why mod this down? This is comically pointing out the biggest problem with Mac Pros: the absolutely ridiculous price tag. When you can build a Hackintosh with twice the power for less than half the starting price of the Mac Pro line, there's something very wrong.

My Mac Pro wish is for a line refresh with a major price cut.

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"
Link to Original Source
Media

Synchronized Streaming with VLC-> Screenshot-sm

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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Encryption

Two century old cipher solved

Submitted by linuxwrangler
linuxwrangler writes "In 1801, Robert Patterson, a mathematics professor at the University of Pennsylvania sent President Jefferson a letter containing a message coded in what he called a nearly flawless cipher. The puzzle intrigued mathematician and cryptanalyst Lawren Smithline who has now solved the cipher and published his results over 200 years after the letter was originally sent."
Announcements

Fermilab Detects "Doubly Strange" Particle->

Submitted by
DynaSoar
DynaSoar writes "While its cousin/competitor site, the Large Hadron Collider at CERN remains offline http://science.slashdot.org/science/08/09/24/1451233.shtml Fermilab's Digital Hadron Calorimeter continues to produce significant results. Recently Fermilab announced discovery of the Omega-sub-b baryon, a 'doubly-strange' particle http://www.fnal.gov/pub/presspass/press_releases/CDF-Omega-observation.html . This baryon, containing two strange quarks and one bottom quark, has six times the mass of a proton. "The Omega-sub-b is the latest entry in the "periodic table of baryons." Baryons are particles formed of three quarks, the most common examples being the proton and neutron. ... The observation of this "doubly strange" particle, predicted by the Standard Model, is significant because it strengthens physicists' confidence in their understanding of how quarks form matter. In addition, it conflicts with a 2008 result announced by CDF's sister experiment, DZero. In August 2008, the DZero experiment announced its own observation of the Omega-sub-b based on a smaller sample of Tevatron data. This result contradicted some predictions of the Standard Model, suggesting a 'new physics'. The new result leads to the possibility that the prior results are not accurate." To observe this particle, analysis of DHC data required pouring through a trillion (10^15) observations, finding only 16 instances of the predicted outcome."
Link to Original Source
Security

iPhone SMS Vulnerability Gives Hackers Root Access->

Submitted by
snydeq
snydeq writes "Pwn2Own winner Charlie Miller has revealed an SMS vulnerability that could provide hackers with root access to the iPhone. Malicious code sent by SMS to run on the phone could include commands to monitor location using GPS, turn on the phone's microphone to eavesdrop on conversations, or make the phone join a DDoS attack or botnet, Miller said. Miller did not provide detailed description of the SMS vulnerability, citing an agreement with Apple, which is working to fix the vulnerability in advance of Black Hat, where Miller plans to discuss the attack in greater detail. 'SMS is a great vector to attack the iPhone,' Miller said, as SMS can send binary code that the iPhone processes without user interaction. Sequences can be sent to the phone as multiple messages that are automatically reassembled, thereby surpassing individual SMS message limits of 140 bytes."
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Graphics

Apple may drop NVIDIA following contract fight->

Submitted by suraj.sun
suraj.sun writes "Although they've portrayed themselves almost as best friends for several months, Apple and NVIDIA are now rumored in a spat that could see some GeForce chipsets excluded from future Mac models.

Those claiming to be inside the discussions have told SemiAccurate, the new project of a previous Inquirer editor with sources inside NVIDIA, that Apple may not agree to another such deal for 3-4 years as a result of the heated words. It wouldn't result in an immediate exit, as the recentness of implementing NVIDIA chipsets into nearly all Macs means some models will keep their existing designs for a long time, but could already result in some comparatively near-term updates shedding the NVIDIA platform.

While the exact terms that would have set off such a hostile reaction haven't been publicized, it's believed that conflicting opinions over MacBook Pro graphics failures are what would have actually triggered the resistance. As all GeForce 8600M video chipsets are known to have a heat-related defect that gradually renders them inoperable over time, Apple has not only had to replace those June 2007 and newer portables that use the part but to extend its warranty for the issue to three years regardless of whether or not the owner has AppleCare.

Apple Insider : http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/09/07/01/apple_may_drop_nvidia_chips_in_macs_following_contract_fight.html"
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In 1869 the waffle iron was invented for people who had wrinkled waffles.