Skleed - Slashdot User

Comment: This is a trivial number (Score 5, Insightful) 193

by Skleed on Thursday May 17, 2012 @04:56PM (#40033411) Attached to: Paul Vixie: 100,000 DSL Modems May Lose Their DNS On July 9

In 2009, there were 32 million DSL modems in the United States. http://www.internetworldstats.com/am/us.htm

Even if there has been no growth in DSL usage, 100,000 modems represents 0.3% of all DSL users.

BUT, this 100,000 number is world wide modems that have been compromised. That makes the actual percentage of modems affected so small that it hardly seems worth the time to calculate it.

Turn the "bad" DNS off, and most tech support lines will not even notice the increase in support calls.

+ - The Brain Chemistry behind Mysticism 2

Submitted by

Skleed

on Monday May 18, 2009 @03:31PM

Skleed writes "National Public Radio is doing a five part series on the scientific study of mystical experiences. Researchers are trying to figure out what happens in the brains of people "getting in touch with the divine."

Because the timing of subject's episodes are difficult to control, it seems that researchers are relying on some good old fashioned psychedelic drugs for assistance. The explanations of the brain chemistry are simplistic, but researchers are after the "God question":

"Why does that [the mystical experience] occur? Why has the human organism been engineered, if you will, for this experience?"

What do slashdotters think, can science answer of why the human brain often seeks a "greater being"?"

+ - Coffee: not just for breakfast-> 0

Submitted by

Skleed

on Monday January 26, 2009 @10:51AM

Skleed writes "New research into the health effects of coffee indicate that regular drinkers experience lower rates of dementia and Alzheimer's. The upshot — you have to drink at least 3 to 5 cups a day (or one standard travel mug) to get the benefit."
Link to Original Source

+ - Catholics are cozy with science-> 0

Submitted by

Skleed

on Wednesday March 12, 2008 @02:32PM

Skleed writes "In light of the recent slashdot discussion of the Catholic Church erecting a statue to Galileo, I find it interesting to note that a Catholic priest has won the lucrative Templeton Prize for Science and Philosophy. According to the Amazon jacket blurb for his book, Heller "progressively outlines systematic steps that might lead to a peaceful coexistence of these traditionally separate fields of study [Science and Theology]. Some essays have their roots in the author's work in physics and cosmology, while others present his theories on the language of God, creation, and transcendence, inspired by his work in the applications of so-called noncommutative geometry, an emerging field of study." and "concentrates on the 'creation and science' quandary, including the Big Bang theory and the role of probability and chance in science" I am eagerly awaiting the book's delivery."
Link to Original Source

+ - US may be forced to drop Copy Righ Protections-> 0

Submitted by

Skleed

on Thursday August 23, 2007 @11:19AM

Skleed writes "As part of a dispute over offshore gambling sites, entities in Antigua may be allowed to copy any intellectual property they want. The US has lost an intitial hearing, and two appeals on its policies regarding off shore gambling sites, and now the lawyer pressing the case for those companies has asked for this unusual, but apparently codified, recourse under WTO rules. Details available from the NY Times."

From the article:
"But not complying with the decision presents big problems of its own for Washington. That's because Mr. Mendel, who is claiming $3.4 billion in damages on behalf of Antigua, has asked the trade organization to grant a rare form of compensation if the American government refuses to accept the ruling: permission for Antiguans to violate intellectual property laws by allowing them to distribute copies of American music, movie and software products, among others."
Link to Original Source

Comment: Re:Here we go again... (Score 1) 3451

by Skleed on Thursday August 04, 2005 @12:00PM (#13240537) Attached to: Equal Time For Creationism

Why not take up the debate head on? It seems many people want to dismiss it out of hand rather than answer the call to discuss it thoroughly.

For instance, what makes the design so intelligent anyway? What kind of God designs a system where Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin can massacre millions of people?

Free will has its price you say. Granted. But what kind of diety causes the human misery of last year's tsunami (pick your natural disaster)?

The Intelligent Design theory is not arguing for a proof of God based on creation per se, but if we grant the theory for the sake of argument, the God behind it is not nice.

Full Disclosure: Practicing Catholic.