Denial93 - Slashdot User

Doctor Slams Hospital's "Please" Policy 572

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday June 03 2010, @01:07AM
from the paging-doctor-manners dept.

Administrators at England's Worthing Hospital are insisting that doctors say the magic word when writing orders for blood tests on weekends. If a doctor refuses to write "please" on the order, the test will be refused. From the article: "However, a doctor at the hospital said on condition of anonymity that he sees the policy as a money-saving measure that could prove dangerous for patients. 'I was shocked to come in on Sunday and find none of my bloods had been done from the night before because I'd not written "please,"' the doctor said. 'I had no results to guide treatment of patients. Myself and a senior nurse had to take the bloods ourselves, which added hours to our 12-hour shifts. This system puts patients' lives at risk. Doctors are wasting time doing the job of the technicians.'"

Supermassive Black Hole Is Thrown Out of Galaxy 167

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday May 12 2010, @07:50PM
from the moving-to-better-quarters dept.

DarkKnightRadick writes "An undergrad student at the University of Utrecht, Marianne Heida, has found evidence of a supermassive black hole being tossed out of its galaxy. According to the article, the black hole — which has a mass equivalent to one billion suns — is possibly the culmination of two galaxies merging (or colliding, depending on how you like to look at it) and their black holes merging, creating one supermassive beast. The black hole was found using the Chandra Source Catalog (from the Chandra X-Ray Observatory). The direction of the expulsion is also possibly indicative of the direction of rotation of the two black holes as they circled each other before merging."

Comment: Re:Politial speech influenced 6 yrs old chid. (Score 5, Informative) 368

by Denial93 on Wednesday March 24 2010, @10:34AM (#31597430) Attached to: Sergey Brin On Google and China

I lived a few hundred meters from the Berlin wall and even before I entered school I had heard of people who had been shot there. My dad was imprisoned for political reasons when I was four. In first grade, I was threatened into entering the Pioniere ideological youth organization.

These events not only made an impression, they are among my most dramatic, and hence vivid, memories from that age. Whoever thinks little kids don't get oppression doesn't have a fucking clue.

Comment: Re:When will people learn... (Score 1) 372

by Denial93 on Tuesday March 02 2010, @10:29AM (#31329502) Attached to: UK Police Promise Not To Retain DNA Data, But Do Anyway

And if that sounds boring to you, various things may be okay to say after your lawyer agrees to them. You don't need to suck down your cheekiness completely, just wait for it a couple hours. And if that pisses you off, try and estimate how many million man-years in sentences have already resulted from unnecessary talking to the police.

Comment: All hail the Chaos Computer Club (Score 5, Informative) 129

by Denial93 on Tuesday March 02 2010, @10:11AM (#31329284) Attached to: German Data Retention Law Ruled Unconstitutional

Although this ruling is what us IT guys would expect from any reasonable court, the fact of the matter is that judges know shit. The Chaos Computer Club worked their asses off providing expertise to the court, while also mobilizing the German IT scene and putting out pressure on opposing (governmental) parties. This is their success and I salute them. Guess I should get around to finally apply for membership myself...

US Grants Home Schooling German Family Political Asylum 1324

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday January 28 2010, @01:33PM
from the come-get-you-some-learnin dept.

A US judge has granted political asylum to a family who said they fled Germany to avoid persecution for home schooling their children. Uwe Romeike and his wife, Hannelore, moved to Tennessee after German authorities fined them for keeping their children out of school and sent police to escort them to classes. Mike Connelly, attorney for the Home School Legal Defence Association, argued the case. He says, "Home schoolers in Germany are a particular social group, which is one of the protected grounds under the asylum law. This judge looked at the evidence, he heard their testimony, and he felt that the way Germany is treating home schoolers is wrong. The rights being violated here are basic human rights."

Comment: Re:Finally (Score 2, Insightful) 347

by Denial93 on Tuesday January 26 2010, @08:24AM (#30902560) Attached to: Uranus and Neptune May Have "Oceans of Diamonds"

If so, why isn't anyone at GE Superabrasives defecting and setting up a new corp to exploit this market anomaly, mass-produce all kinds of shiny super-tough stuff and gut the business of two market leaders in the process?

Comment: Re:I expect so... (Score 3, Insightful) 502

by Denial93 on Saturday January 02 2010, @10:18AM (#30622008) Attached to: Did the US Take the Back Seat In Science In 2009?

The US received a massive advantage in that all three other historical power centers (Europe, Russia, China) were crippled by massive dictatorships at roughly the same time. Half a century later, it is not surprising the relations should balance out somewhat.

Comment: Re:That's me! (Score 1) 453

by Denial93 on Tuesday December 22 2009, @04:01PM (#30527990) Attached to: The US Economy Needs More "Cool" Nerds

You're right, and not just in the business world but also in pure (university) research. My flatmate is doing biology/genetics research, I do social science, and our advanced IT degrees are hugely helpful in both of these fields as well.

In my experience and opinion, a B.A. or more in IT is now a good start for any knowledge worker career.

Comment: Re:It's not the same. (Score 2, Insightful) 686

by Denial93 on Thursday December 17 2009, @07:17PM (#30480948) Attached to: Not Enough Women In Computing, Or Too Many Men?

We're still in a market economy, except the market is now the planet. Consequently, the value of skills in transferable jobs has been falling for at least a decade. Don't blame the government for your failure to adapt.

Instead, recognize the trend and invest your self-improvement time in areas that are growing in value. I recommend customization, education and/or cost-benefit analysis in any complex field with long-term growth prospects.