Comment: Re:No Amphibians Listed in Article (Score 0) 81
Newts are amphibians!!!!
Not all of them; this newt is a cretin: A cretin named newt
+ - Aaaar!!! Microsoft sues Ebix over software piracy->
Submitted
by
McGruber
McGruber writes "The Atlanta newspaper reports that in a lawsuit suit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Atlanta, Microsoft claims Ebix has been selling pirated Microsoft software.
In its lawsuit, Microsoft said Ebix enrolled in a licensing program that allowed it to license its software at a volume discount on a pay-as-you-go basis. The “Select Plus” program provides master copies of Microsoft products and clients can make as many copies of the software they wish provided they order and pay for it promptly, the suit says.
Microsoft said Ebix refused to submit license orders monthly, refused to keep records of products it used and would not agree to be audited, all terms of its agreement, the suit says. Ebix provides software products and e-commerce services to more than 100 companies in 50 countries. The companies include life, annuity, health and property & casualty insurance providers.
On May 1, Ebix agreed to be acquired by Goldman Sachs for $20 Per Share in Cash, a transaction valued at approximately $820 million, including the assumption of any outstanding debt. (http://www.ebix.com/pressrelease_text.aspx?artid=263)"
Link to Original Source
In its lawsuit, Microsoft said Ebix enrolled in a licensing program that allowed it to license its software at a volume discount on a pay-as-you-go basis. The “Select Plus” program provides master copies of Microsoft products and clients can make as many copies of the software they wish provided they order and pay for it promptly, the suit says.
Microsoft said Ebix refused to submit license orders monthly, refused to keep records of products it used and would not agree to be audited, all terms of its agreement, the suit says. Ebix provides software products and e-commerce services to more than 100 companies in 50 countries. The companies include life, annuity, health and property & casualty insurance providers.
On May 1, Ebix agreed to be acquired by Goldman Sachs for $20 Per Share in Cash, a transaction valued at approximately $820 million, including the assumption of any outstanding debt. (http://www.ebix.com/pressrelease_text.aspx?artid=263)"
Link to Original Source
Comment: Fool speaks the truth (Score 1) 342
From the lawyer's letter:
Since when did the USPTO become a post World War II jobs program? What's the point of hiring 2,000 additional examiners when 2,000 rubber stamps would suffice just fine?
He has a point - during 2012, 89% of all US patent applications were granted, according to a University of Richmond School of Law study.
“It is a fool's prerogative to utter truths that no one else will speak.” - Neil Gaiman
+ - Civil Engineer Murray Johnson's Extreme Bridge Engineering->
Submitted
by
McGruber
McGruber writes "The Wall Street Journal recently published an article (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323611604578398431649165410.html) about Civil Engineer Murray Johnson, who has designed, repaired, inspected or demolished more than 150 bridges... but is best known for sliding them. When a deteriorating truss bridge—made of linear elements connected in triangles—must be replaced, Mr. Johnson figures out how to move it out of the way or slide a new one into its footprint. He engineers the plan that will send thousands of tons of steel gliding sideways over a river with the poise of a tightrope walker.
This summer, Mr. Johnson will launch the new 2,427-foot-long steel (weighing 15,260-tons!) Milton-Madison Bridge over the Ohio River into a spot currently occupied by a 1929 bridge. Mr. Johnson's innovation will allow traffic to keep flowing for all but 10 days of the three-year project, thereby shaving $28 million from the estimated cost of the project."
Link to Original Source
This summer, Mr. Johnson will launch the new 2,427-foot-long steel (weighing 15,260-tons!) Milton-Madison Bridge over the Ohio River into a spot currently occupied by a 1929 bridge. Mr. Johnson's innovation will allow traffic to keep flowing for all but 10 days of the three-year project, thereby shaving $28 million from the estimated cost of the project."
Link to Original Source
+ - Maths prove that the STEM worker shortage is a myth->
Submitted
by
McGruber
McGruber writes "The Washington Post reports (http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/study-there-may-not-be-a-shortage-of-american-stem-graduates-after-all/2013/04/24/66099962-acea-11e2-a8b9-2a63d75b5459_story.html) that a new study (http://www.epi.org/publication/bp359-guestworkers-high-skill-labor-market-analysis/) from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute (EPI) reinforces what a number of researchers have come to believe: that the STEM worker shortage is a myth.
Basic dynamics of supply and demand would dictate that if there were a domestic labor shortage, wages should have risen. Instead, researchers found, they’ve been flat, with many Americans holding STEM degrees unable to enter the field and a sharply higher share of foreign workers taking jobs in the information technology industry. (IT jobs make up 59 percent of the STEM workforce, according to the study.)"
Link to Original Source
Basic dynamics of supply and demand would dictate that if there were a domestic labor shortage, wages should have risen. Instead, researchers found, they’ve been flat, with many Americans holding STEM degrees unable to enter the field and a sharply higher share of foreign workers taking jobs in the information technology industry. (IT jobs make up 59 percent of the STEM workforce, according to the study.)"
Link to Original Source
Comment: Re:Google Fiber (Score 1) 130
Funny you should point that out, UT has one of the higher consumption (viewed) of porn.
Searching for "mormon porn" led me to this page that says forward thinking Mormons are getting around divine providence by using a technique called "bubbling", in which any clothed female can be made to look naked: http://slightlywarped.com/crapfactory/curiosities/2010/mormon_porn.htm
+ - Microsoft CFO Quits->
Submitted
by
McGruber
McGruber writes "NBC News is reporting that Microsoft's Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein is leaving the company to spend time with his extended family, as Microsoft "struggles with sharply declining personal computer sales and a lukewarm reception for its new Windows 8 operating system."
Klein is the latest in a line of top-level executives to leave the company, following Windows head Steven Sinofsky last November."
Link to Original Source
Klein is the latest in a line of top-level executives to leave the company, following Windows head Steven Sinofsky last November."
Link to Original Source
Comment: '01 Anthrax attacks NOT shown to be an inside job (Score 1) 227
The second paragraph of the linked article makes this bogus assertion:
Since 2008, when investigators led by the FBI's Washington Field Office identified Bruce E. Ivins, an Army civilian research scientist, as the sole perpetrator, the collective response has been to minimize discussion of the problem, indulge in wishful thinking, and enact cosmetic changes.
Here is a Wednesday, Feb 16, 2011 article by Salon's Glenn Greenwald, titled "Serious doubt cast on FBI’s anthrax case against Bruce Ivins - A scientific panel concludes the Government overstated its genetic evidence against Bruce Ivins": http://www.salon.com/2011/02/16/ivans/
Comment: Re:ChromeOS is the problem not the hardware (Score 4, Informative) 216
But every chrombook I have seen was at least $100 too expensive for what you get. For the same money, or in some cases less, you can get a real full laptop.
I consider my $250 Samsung Chromebook was money very well spent. I fly a lot for work --two roundtrips per month-- and am usually stuck in tiny "economy class" seats. I can open up the chromebook and actually type on it while sitting on a plane, even tiny regional jets. I usually can't open my regular notebook computer up on a plane because it is too big to fit between me and the seat in front of me.
The Chromebook also came with a dozen free Gogo passes. Gogo passes currently cost $14 each, if I buy them prior to my flight.... so the dozen free passes are woth $168 to me.
+ - Goodyear replacing tired blimps with a fleet of new high-tech airships->
Submitted
by
McGruber
McGruber writes "The Akron-Beacon newspaper has an update from Goodyear’s Wingfoot Lake hangar, where the first of three new semi-rigid airships is being built by German and American workers. These new airships will be 246 feet long, 50 feet longer than today's Goodyear blimps.
Goodyear's new airships will be faster, quieter and carry more people than the current blimps. The first one, codenamed Goodyear NT (seriously!), will begin flying in 2014."
Link to Original Source
Goodyear's new airships will be faster, quieter and carry more people than the current blimps. The first one, codenamed Goodyear NT (seriously!), will begin flying in 2014."
Link to Original Source
Comment: Re:Sigh (Score 4, Funny) 278
Why do I even bother to come to Slashdot on April first?
Because it is the one day all year long on which there won't be any dupes!
+ - Crooks install keyloggers while working temp jobs, then steal from the IRS->
Submitted
by
McGruber
McGruber writes "The Atlanta Journal Constitution newspaper has the story (http://www.ajc.com/news/news/crime-law/police-id-thief-filed-hundreds-of-bogus-tax-return/nWsbm/) of accused identify thief Erkes Antwon Green, whom the Atlanta Police Department believes is part of an identity theft ring. Police arrested Green on Feb. 28 on bank fraud charges, saying Green allegedly opened a SunTrust bank account online using a stolen ID, deposited a stolen check for $46,000 and was able to get about $14,000 from the ATM before the bank realized that the check was no good.
Green profited by filing false tax returns, a type of scam that slashdot reported on back in August (http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/08/03/214231/identity-theft-may-cost-irs-21-billion-over-next-5-years). According to Detective Ken Stapler with the Atlanta Police Department’s major fraud unit, Green either filed or attempted to file bogus income tax returns in the name of some 150 or more victims, mostly from Georgia and Florida. When he was arrested, Green was driving a $60,000 Mercedes E-550 that he had purchased with a stolen identity. Police believe Green used keystroke grabbers to obtain personal identity information. According to Detective Stapler, “You plug this thing into the back of a computer where the USB cable would go. He can leave it there for as long as he wants, and nobody’s going know unless they look on the back of their computer.”
Detective Stapler also says “A lot of times, what these people do is get hired on with a temp agency. A temp agency may work in an office building cleaning up after hours. Once (one of the would-be ID thieves) gets in the door, he’s got access to those computers. Anytime nobody is looking, he could put the keystroke grabber on.”"
Link to Original Source
Green profited by filing false tax returns, a type of scam that slashdot reported on back in August (http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/08/03/214231/identity-theft-may-cost-irs-21-billion-over-next-5-years). According to Detective Ken Stapler with the Atlanta Police Department’s major fraud unit, Green either filed or attempted to file bogus income tax returns in the name of some 150 or more victims, mostly from Georgia and Florida. When he was arrested, Green was driving a $60,000 Mercedes E-550 that he had purchased with a stolen identity. Police believe Green used keystroke grabbers to obtain personal identity information. According to Detective Stapler, “You plug this thing into the back of a computer where the USB cable would go. He can leave it there for as long as he wants, and nobody’s going know unless they look on the back of their computer.”
Detective Stapler also says “A lot of times, what these people do is get hired on with a temp agency. A temp agency may work in an office building cleaning up after hours. Once (one of the would-be ID thieves) gets in the door, he’s got access to those computers. Anytime nobody is looking, he could put the keystroke grabber on.”"
Link to Original Source
+ - Man rapes 10-yr old, murders woman after US DOJ allows his release->
Submitted
by
McGruber
McGruber writes "The Syracuse, NY Post-Standard newspaper is reporting (www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2013/03/cicero_man_charged_with_rape_m.html) that David J. Renz, accused of raping a 10-year old girl and killing a woman in Clay, NY on Thursday, March 14, 2013, was already facing federal child pornography charges.
Renz was arrested Jan. 9 by the FBI on a warrant issued by the federal court. According to the criminal complaint (http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2013/03/read_the_child_pornography_cha.html), Renz "admitted to using the internet to obtain child pornography for approximately the last 6 years, the last 6 months by using the TOR network. RENZ also admitted to storing child pornography on PC1 within a partioned encrypted hard drive so that his roommate could not find it. RENZ estimated that he had approximately 100 gigabytes of child pornography on the partitioned encrypted hard drive." A subsequent search of the partitioned encrypted hard drive found over 500 video files and over 3000 image files.
In January, a Magistrate ordered Renz released from custody after the U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ) withdrew its objection to his release. As earlier reported on Slashdot (http://yro.slashdot.org/story/13/02/27/0313227/doj-admits-aaron-swartzs-prosecution-was-political), the USDOJ is the agency that prosecuted Aaron Swartz for political reasons.
Renz graduated from SUNY Oswego State in December 2011 with a bachelor's degree in computer science."
Link to Original Source
Renz was arrested Jan. 9 by the FBI on a warrant issued by the federal court. According to the criminal complaint (http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2013/03/read_the_child_pornography_cha.html), Renz "admitted to using the internet to obtain child pornography for approximately the last 6 years, the last 6 months by using the TOR network. RENZ also admitted to storing child pornography on PC1 within a partioned encrypted hard drive so that his roommate could not find it. RENZ estimated that he had approximately 100 gigabytes of child pornography on the partitioned encrypted hard drive." A subsequent search of the partitioned encrypted hard drive found over 500 video files and over 3000 image files.
In January, a Magistrate ordered Renz released from custody after the U.S. Department of Justice (USDOJ) withdrew its objection to his release. As earlier reported on Slashdot (http://yro.slashdot.org/story/13/02/27/0313227/doj-admits-aaron-swartzs-prosecution-was-political), the USDOJ is the agency that prosecuted Aaron Swartz for political reasons.
Renz graduated from SUNY Oswego State in December 2011 with a bachelor's degree in computer science."
Link to Original Source
+ - Edwin Mellen Press sues University Librarian over his personal blog posts->
Submitted
by
McGruber
McGruber writes "The Chronicle of Higher Education has the news (http://chronicle.com/article/Librarians-Rally-Behind/137329/) that Herbert Richardson, founder of Edwin Mellen Press (http://mellenpress.com/) is suing McMaster University (http://www.mcmaster.ca/) and University Librarian Dale Askey (http://library.mcmaster.ca/contact/askey-dale) for $3 Million over Mr. Askey's posts on a personal blog.
In 2010 Mr. Askey wrote a blog post about Edwin Mellen Press on his personal Web site, Bibliobrary (http://bibliobrary.net/). Mr. Askey referred to the publisher as "dubious" and said its books were often works of "second-class scholarship." For a few months afterward, several people chimed in in the blog's comments section, some agreeing with Mr. Askey, others arguing in support of the publisher.
In a February 11 statement, the McMaster University Faculty Association (MUFA) (http://www.mcmaster.ca/mufa/AskeyStatementFeb11-13.pdf) stated that The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) "and the MUFA Executive agree that this case represents a serious threat to the freedom of academic librarians to voice their professional judgement and to academic freedom more generally."
Academics around the world are tweeting about the case using the hashtag #FreeDaleAskey. Martha J. Reineke, a professor of religion at the University of Northern Iowa, created an online petition (https://www.change.org/petitions/edwin-mellen-press-end-libel-suit-against-dale-askey-and-mcmaster-university) seeking an end to the lawsuit. It has drawn nearly 1,900 signatures since Friday from Britain, Canada, and the United States."
Link to Original Source
In 2010 Mr. Askey wrote a blog post about Edwin Mellen Press on his personal Web site, Bibliobrary (http://bibliobrary.net/). Mr. Askey referred to the publisher as "dubious" and said its books were often works of "second-class scholarship." For a few months afterward, several people chimed in in the blog's comments section, some agreeing with Mr. Askey, others arguing in support of the publisher.
In a February 11 statement, the McMaster University Faculty Association (MUFA) (http://www.mcmaster.ca/mufa/AskeyStatementFeb11-13.pdf) stated that The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) "and the MUFA Executive agree that this case represents a serious threat to the freedom of academic librarians to voice their professional judgement and to academic freedom more generally."
Academics around the world are tweeting about the case using the hashtag #FreeDaleAskey. Martha J. Reineke, a professor of religion at the University of Northern Iowa, created an online petition (https://www.change.org/petitions/edwin-mellen-press-end-libel-suit-against-dale-askey-and-mcmaster-university) seeking an end to the lawsuit. It has drawn nearly 1,900 signatures since Friday from Britain, Canada, and the United States."
Link to Original Source
+ - Rapiscan's "backscatter" nude-o-scopes coming to federal buildings->
Submitted
by
McGruber
McGruber writes "The Federal Times (http://www.federaltimes.com), a weekly print newspaper published by Ganette Government Media Corp, is reporting (http://www.federaltimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2013302080003) that the Rapiscan Systems “backscatter” passenger screening machines used by the US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will likely be redeployed to federal buildings.
Rapiscan System's backscatter machines have exposed passengers to radiation since they were first installed. As previously reported on slashdot (http://yro.slashdot.org/story/13/01/18/0338202/tsa-terminates-its-contract-with-maker-of-full-body-scanner), TSAdecided last month to stop using the machines because the manufacturer was unable to make changes to the machines that were mandated by Congress. Now TSA is attempting to sucker another federal agency into taking the nude-o-scopes. As TSA spokesman David Castelveter explained, "“Hopefully we will be able to deploy them within other government agencies."
Although the media has reported the machines have already been removed from airports, the majority are still in use at US airports — while 76 machines have been removed, another 174 still remain in use at airports. The machines cost about $40 million, based upon a $160,000 per-unit cost."
Link to Original Source
Rapiscan System's backscatter machines have exposed passengers to radiation since they were first installed. As previously reported on slashdot (http://yro.slashdot.org/story/13/01/18/0338202/tsa-terminates-its-contract-with-maker-of-full-body-scanner), TSAdecided last month to stop using the machines because the manufacturer was unable to make changes to the machines that were mandated by Congress. Now TSA is attempting to sucker another federal agency into taking the nude-o-scopes. As TSA spokesman David Castelveter explained, "“Hopefully we will be able to deploy them within other government agencies."
Although the media has reported the machines have already been removed from airports, the majority are still in use at US airports — while 76 machines have been removed, another 174 still remain in use at airports. The machines cost about $40 million, based upon a $160,000 per-unit cost."
Link to Original Source