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Comment: Re:Well... (Score 1) 387

by Zocalo (#49192399) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Should I Let My Kids Become American Citizens?
I'd go with this too; defer the decision until your kids are 16, going on 18 and hopefully have a better idea what they want to do and can understand the pros and cons themselves, but you probably want to raise the point before then so they can be considering it ahead of time. There's simply no point burdening them with US taxes that they might otherwise not have had to pay unless there is a good reason for doing so - especially since they'll probably be paying taxes in the EU as well if they choose to stay there. Even if they do want to go and study/work in the US, there's always the option of applying to go as EU citizens which should be good for most things, and if their longer plans might involve the prospect of longer term residency or positions that require US nationality then they could always apply for US citizenship then.

+ - Sun light for your lair->

Submitted by MakeItGlow
MakeItGlow (4030751) writes "A Pittsburgh based start-up has addressed a common problem of geeks everywhere. Natural light is biologically essential, but it's outside. A new light called Lumious changes like the sun. It hacks your photo-receptors to keep your circadian rhythms in check."
Link to Original Source

+ - World's first fully digital radio transmitter built purely from microprocessor t->

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "For the first time in history, a prototype radio has been created that is claimed to be completely digital, generating high-frequency radio waves purely through the use of integrated circuits and a set of patented algorithms without using conventional analog radio circuits in any way whatsoever. This breakthrough technology promises to vastly improve the wireless communications capabilities of everything from 5G mobile technology to the multitude devices"
Link to Original Source

+ - Anthem Refuses Full IT Security Audit->

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "A federal watchdog agency says Anthem Inc. has refused to allow it to conduct vulnerability scans of the health insurer's systems in the wake of its recent massive data breach affecting 78.8 million individuals. Anthem also refused to allow scans by the same agency in 2013."
Link to Original Source

+ - Man charged for not giving up phone password at border->

Submitted by wired_parrot
wired_parrot (768394) writes "Canadian customs official charged a 38-year old man with obstruction of justice after he refused to give up his Blackberry phone password while crossing the US-Canada border. As this a question that has not yet been litigated in Canadian courts, it may establish a legal precedent for future cases."
Link to Original Source

+ - Intel Reveals Unlocked, Socketed Broadwell CPU And Core i7 NUC w/ Iris Graphics-> 1

Submitted by MojoKid
MojoKid (1002251) writes "Intel held an event at a location adjacent to GDC last night, where the company discussed some updates to its 5th Gen Core processor line-up, Intel graphics developments, the Intel Hardware SDK, and its various game developer tools. Chris Silva, Director of Marketing for Premium Notebook and Client Graphics teams disclosed a few details that a socketed, unlocked, 65W desktop processor based on Intel's Broadwell architecture, featuring Iris graphics, is due to arrive sometime in mid-2015. It's noteworthy because this will be Intel's first desktop CPU with Iris Pro graphics and because it is multiplier unlocked. It will be interesting to see what Iris Pro can do with some overclocking. Intel then showed off a new NUC mini PC powered by a 28W, quad-core Core i7 Broadwell processor, which also featured Iris graphics. The device has a tiny .63 liter enclosure with support for high-performance M.2 solid state drives and features an array of built-in IO options, like USB3, BT4, and 802.11ac WiFi. Bryan Langley, Principal PM for Windows Graphics also talked a bit about DirectX 12, disclosing that the company would be ready with DX12 support when Windows 10 arrives and that there are optimizations in DX12 and their drivers that would deliver performance enhancements to current and future Intel graphics platforms."
Link to Original Source

+ - Major security flaw in Mac password system.->

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "CNET is putting a positive spin on a major security flaw in the Mac ecosystem. Apparently, Apple created a "feature" where if you forget the password to your Mac, simply pressing command R at boot up lets you into administrator settings allowing you to reset the computer's password. This is a great "feature" to forgetful owners, hackers, and thiefs alike."
Link to Original Source

+ - Ask Slashdot: Why there is not a campaign against "Cloud Exclusive Hardware" ?

Submitted by martiniturbide
martiniturbide (1203660) writes "Today we can see a lot of hardware that is being sold that only works only against a cloud. There are many examples, like the Belkin NetCam HD+ (wifi webcam) that only works if you run it against their service (by seedonk) and if you don’t want to use their cloud, this hardware is useless. This is happening with a lot of new hardware and it does mean that you get the device cheap for being locked to their cloud, you are paying full price for this devices. On the internet there are just little groups trying to hack some of this hardware, but the consumer does not seems to care that if the manufacturer discontinue the service the hardware will be useless. Why there are no complains against this kind of hardware on the internet? Is it useless to fight “cloud exclusive hardware”? Should we care about it? Or we are so used to disposable hardware that we don’t care anymore?"

+ - Culberson charges NASA with the 'development of the first interstellar rocket'->

Submitted by MarkWhittington
MarkWhittington (1084047) writes "Rep. John Culberson, R-Texas, the chair of the House Appropriations subcommittee that determines NASA funding, has been the driving force behind a mission to Jupiter’s moon Europa. However, according to a story in Space Policy Online, the congressman has an even greater challenge for the space agency. During a hearing on the FY 2016 NASA budget request, Culberson charged NASA Administrator Charles Bolden to further “the development of the first interstellar rocket propulsion system that would carry us to Alpha Centauri and beyond.” Culberson is very keen to start the exploration of exoplanets that have been discovered by the Kepler Space Telescope. Considering NASA's experiments in warp drive and the em drive, there may be some method to the congressman's madness."
Link to Original Source

+ - Runcible – the World's First 'Non-Intrusive' Smartphone->

Submitted by Techliveinfo1
Techliveinfo1 (4030247) writes "Though smartphones are the need of the time not everybody are eased by its intrusion in their personal space and to overcome it is a new device that can let people stay connected but with less hassle. Monohm Inc is the creator of Runcible, a personal device designed on the model of a pocket watch.

This Runcible device is a showy high resolution and round screen device with a high-performance camera and phone within it enabling users to refocus their attention towards real world and real people. Monohm Inc’s CEO and co-founder, Aubrey Anderson said in a statement that people to control their digital lives in simple and clean ways need something. Hence this Runcible, an alternative to the present smartphone, those are more invasive and commoditized distracting our lives from what it actually need to be.

This Monohm’s Runcible is a wearable smartphone or the anti smartphone. This device is meant to do everything a smartphone does, be it with calls, messages, internet surfing, capturing photos and so on but all in a modest way. This circle shaped smartphone runs the Mozilla’s Open Source Firefox OS that is customized to fit the Runcible’s circular display. This smartphone instead of relying on apps relies on mobile enabled websites. The company’s first carrier partnership on this regard is the KDDI Corporation.
The Monohm’s Runcible is a wearable smartphone or the anti smartphone

The major difference one can consider between other smartphones and Runcible is its shape. Runcible with a circular shape can fit easily on the palm of its user’s hand. It with the model of a pocket watch can be worn like an old-fashioned timepiece that can be hold shut with a third-party accessory. The back of the device is curved and is made of wood that also carries a camera while the front end gets a high resolution touch screen.

The operating system of the device is supported by the Open Web standards. Runcible users can control and command the increasing number of IoT devices and connected things by simply accessing the power of the web unlike other systems.

Something good about Runcible is that even after some years of it being used, Runcible’s parts can be taken out, repaired and improved, making the device all fit to still go about using for decades which cannot be the case with smartphones that tend to become obsolete within few years.

Runcible performs everything that it needs to do with no alert, beep or otherwise interrupting its users but just helping them to keep their attention on what there are up to. The device is expected to reach the market mostly by the end of this year.

Post in your views and suggestions with regards to the article in the comments section below. Anything more to be added to the article can also be noted in the section below."
Link to Original Source

+ - French nuclear industry in turmoil as manufacturer buckles->

Submitted by mdsolar
mdsolar (1045926) writes "France's nuclear industry is in turmoil after the country's main reactor manufacturer, Areva, reported a loss for 2014 of 4.8 billion euros ($5.3 billion) — more than its entire market value.

The government of France, the world's most nuclear dependent country, has a 29% stake in Areva, which is among the biggest global nuclear technology companies. The loss puts its future — and that of France as a leader in nuclear technology — at risk.

Energy and Environment Minister Segolene Royal said Wednesday she asked Areva and utility giant Electricite de France to work together on finding solutions, amid reports of a possible merger or other link-up.

The government said in a statement that it's working closely with Areva to restructure and secure financing, and would "take its responsibility as a shareholder" in future decisions about its direction.

Areva reported Wednesday 1 billion euros in losses on three major nuclear projects in Finland and France, among other hits.

Areva has lost money for years, in part linked to delays on those projects and to a global pullback from nuclear energy since the 2011 Fukushima accident."
Link to Original Source

+ - FCC Chairman Defends Net Neutrality At The Biggest Carrier Event

Submitted by dkatana
dkatana (2761029) writes "At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler defended the recent FCC decision to support net neutrality by reclassifying Internet service providers under Title II of the Federal Communications Act.

According to Wheeler, the only “NO" for carriers under the new rules is no blocking, throttling or paid prioritization. The regulation has many more “NOs” for the agency, he said, listing bans on regulation of the internet, utility-style regulation, rate regulation, tariffing, network unbundling, regulation of technical operating requirements, new taxes or fees."

Comment: Re:Easier to Analyze or Change == More Maintainabl (Score 1) 244

by jdschulteis (#49182005) Attached to: Study: Refactoring Doesn't Improve Code Quality

But I've certainly had cases where I needed to copy and paste a few lines of code maybe even 100 times and then tweak each instance to put in the data values or validations I want.

This leads to bugs where a tweak gets missed in one of the copies (copy, paste, do tweak 1, interruption!, forget tweak 2). It also causes maintenance problems when the person coding a bug fix doesn't know there are a bunch of other places that need to be fixed.

+ - Apple, Microsoft and Google need just one mobile improvement -- battery life->

Submitted by Mark Wilson
Mark Wilson (3799011) writes "Let’s face it, you’ve picked the mobile operating system you like. Whether you’ve opted for an iPhone, a Lumia handset or a device running Android, the chances are you’re not going to switch allegiances no matter what others may do or say to try to convince you otherwise. At the same time, few people would argue that their handset of choice is perfect.

You’ve picked your side when it comes to OS, but what about the handset itself? Apple, Samsung, HTC et al keep releasing slightly tweaked versions of last year’s handset, perhaps adding a faster processor, a larger screen and more memory. One thing is constantly overlooked, however — battery life. And it’s time for things to change."
Link to Original Source

ASHes to ASHes, DOS to DOS.

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