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+ - Ask Slashdot: eyestrain reducing glasses; Yea or Nay?-> 1

Submitted by rex_s
rex_s writes "I work in desktop support, and I have recently transitioned into a position where I am refreshing a ton of laptops for company interns. I'm going back and forth between 2-3 laptops on the desk and both of my widescreen monitors. I have good vision; I'm not a glasses wearer. I think the constant resolution and distance changes are what's causing my eyes to start hurting, since it's a new thing for me. What I'm wondering is if anyone has used eyestrain-reducing glasses such as the Gunnar glasses or VC Eyewear?
http://www.vceyewear.com/
http://www.gunnars.com/"
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+ - Mental health: NIMH distances itself from DSM-5->

Submitted by Big Nemo '60
Big Nemo '60 writes "The world's biggest mental health research institute is abandoning the new version of psychiatry's "bible" – the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, questioning its validity and stating that "patients with mental disorders deserve better". This bombshell comes just weeks before the publication of the fifth revision of the manual, called DSM-5.

On 29 April, Thomas Insel, director of the US National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), advocated a major shift away from categorising diseases such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia according to a person's symptoms. Instead, Insel wants mental disorders to be diagnosed more objectively using genetics, brain scans that show abnormal patterns of activity and cognitive testing."
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+ - Injectable nanoparticles maintain normal blood-sugar levels for up to 10 days->

Submitted by cylonlover
cylonlover writes "Aside from the inconvenience of injecting insulin multiple times a day, type 1 diabetics also face health risks if the dosage level isn’t accurate. A new approach developed by US researchers has the potential to overcome both of these problems. The method relies on a network of nanoscale particles that once injected into the body, can maintain normal blood sugar levels for more than a week by releasing insulin when blood-sugar levels rise."
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Programming

+ - Vanilla JS Used On More Sites Than jQuery ->

Submitted by mikejuk
mikejuk writes "If you are looking for a new framework to help you build a web site, then you need to know about Vanilla JS. This is the most powerful and lightweight of all the frameworks. It is already in use by a huge number of websites and autodownloaded by most browsers. Benchmarks show that the best alternative framework is less more than twice as slow and everyone's favourite jQuery is four times slower. Just think of all that speed you are giving up! Other benchmarks reveal an even bigger advantage for Vanilla JS ."
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Technology

+ - AirPod, a car that runs on air is coming to India->

Submitted by Diggester
Diggester writes "Tata Motors (an Indian car manufacturer) is changing things up with the first car to run on air, the Airpod.

The Airpod's technology was originally created in France at Motor Development International but has since been bought buy Tata in hopes to bring it to the Indian consumer car market. With virtually zero emissions and at the cost of about a penny per kilometer, it is definitely one of the most environmentally and economically friendly vehicles in the world. The tank holds about 175 liters of compressed air that can be filled at special stations or by activating the on-board electric motor to suck air in from the outside. Costing about $10,000, this car could beat out most smart cars from the market."
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+ - Humans were helped by sophisticated wiring not just bigger brains in evolution

Submitted by ACXNew
ACXNew writes "Weren't we always told that man is different from the ape because of bigger brains? Now researchers find it's not just that that made man different from chimps, it's also the sophisticated wring in the brain that helped evolve beyond chimpsA new UCLA study pinpoints uniquely human patterns of gene activity in the brain that could shed light on how we evolved differently than our closest relative.."

+ - Standard and Interesting Books for IT? 2

Submitted by Voulnet
Voulnet writes "Hello Slashdot, I am a Computer Engineer, fresh off graduation, and I would like to educate myself on a broad range of technological fields and aspects. I am the kind of person who is easily distracted while reading from a screen, and so I would like to ask fellow slashdotters about the best books for computer related topics. I consider my level to be intermediate in some fields, and beginner in others.
Some books are de facto standards in a certain technology field, others can be classified as Hidden Gems, while others are Interesting Reads (like GUI Bloopers). Therefore, I would love to hear what is everybody's book recommendation in the following fields:

- Programming (C++, C#, Java, Python, Ruby, Pike..etc)
- Secure coding
- Networking
- Electronics (design and simulation)
- Security (attacks and countermeasures)
- Web development (especially Ruby and Perl)
- Unix systems
- Win32 development
- Databases
- Computer Architecture
- Infrastructure (Think national level)
- Computer industry business management

These are my desired topics for the next 8 months or so, and I would like to immerse myself into said topics in different methods.
So what do you think is the best book for the aforementioned categories in terms of being a (de facto standard/ Hidden Gem/ Interesting Read)?

Hopefully this submission passes through, being so useful to me, young engineers and developers. Thanks in advance!""

+ - Firefox 3.5 Most Popular Browser In The World-> 1

Submitted by gQuigs
gQuigs writes "According to StatCounter Global Statistics the most used browser version on the web is Firefox 3.5. Congrats to Mozilla (and the open web)!

But we can use this as a rallying call to do more. Let's Finish Off IE6 (remove the links to IE8 and Safari if you want, and maybe add one for Opera). And how many of you end up upgrading your family's browsers over the holidays? Good job keeping them safe, but bring everything you need this time on a USB stick, and then get back to enjoying the holidays."
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Privacy

+ - Teen with Home Chemistry Lab Arrested->

Submitted by
Cornwallis
Cornwallis writes "A Canadian college student majoring in chemistry built himself a home lab — and discovered that trying to do science in your own home quickly leads to accusations of drug-making and terrorism. Lewis Casey, an 18-year-old in Saskatchewan, had built a small chemistry lab in his family's garage near the university where he studies. Then two weeks ago, police arrived at his home with a search warrant and based on a quick survey of his lab determined that it was a meth lab. They pulled Casey out of the shower to interrogate him, and then arrested him. Since I have no wish to be arrested by our local SS I am spending the day removing all dangerous chemicals from under my sink!"
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Security

+ - Walmart distributing Viruses 1

Submitted by Blowit
Blowit writes "With the Christmas holidays just past and opening up your electronic presents may get you all excited but not for a selected lot of people who got the Mercury 1.5" Digital Photo Frame from Walmart (or other stores). My father in law attached the device to his computer and his Trend Micro Anti-virus screamed that a virus is on the device. I scanned the one I have and AVAST did not find any virus... SO I went to Virscan.org to see what vendors found what and the results are here and here. This product has been available since 2007 at Walmart yet they are still selling the product 1 year later. How can they continue to sell a product when there is a virus on the device? Can we sue the vendor for actively distributing a virus on a device when they should have had sufficient amount of time to remove the product from the market?"
Unix

+ - SDF Public Access Unix System Turns 20->

Submitted by Eileen
Eileen writes "Remember those days when you could get a free Unix shell account and learn all about the command line? You still can at the Super Dimension Fortress (SDF). SDF is celebrating its 20th birthday on June 16.

Full press release text:
The SDF Public Access UNIX System Celebrates 20 Years!
http://sdf.lonestar.org


It was on June 16th, 1987 that the SDF-1 received its first caller at 300bps. This little Apple ][e BBS of the late 80s turned into a Public Access UNIX System with the demise of "killer.dallas.tx.us" during the "Operation Sundevil" raids. Since then it has grown to become the oldest and largest continually operating PUBNIX on the planet.

Over the years SDF has been a home to 2+ million people from all over the world and has been supported by donations and membership dues. SDFers pride themselves on the fact that theirs is one of the last bastions of "the real INTERNET", out of the reach and scope of the commercialism and advertising of the DOT COM entities. It is a proponent of SMTP greylisting as opposed to content filtering and offers that as an option to its members.

While access to basic services are free to everyone, lifetime membership can be obtained for a mere onetime donation of $36. And it is the members who decide which programs and features are available. The members communicate via a web free, google inaccessible, text bulletin board ('bboard') as well as an interactive chat ('com') where users battle each other in the integrated netris matches. The interface of these programs harks back to the days when TOPS-20 CMD J-SYS ruled the ARPANET.

SDF has also become home to well known hackers such as Bill Gosper, Tom Ellard (Severed Heads), Geoff Goodfellow, Carolyn Meinel and Ezra Buchla, son of the father of the Synthesizer. From this pool of talent you might expect more than just computing, and you'd be correct. An annual music compilation is published featuring original music ranging from electronic noise to improvised piano sonatinas. Gosper's puzzles which he has cut at his favorite laser shop are frequently given away as membership perks or through fundraising raffles.

There are always classes being taught on SDF as well, where instructors and students enjoy free access to the latest teaching and programming tools. Instructors manage their own classes in such a way as not to be encumbered by their own school's outdated utilities or computer security restrictions, which can hamper the learning process.

And where else would you expect to be able to locally dialup at 1200bps from just about anywhere in the USA and Canada with a Commodore 64 and get a login prompt? SDF! As well as direct login, SDF offers PPP and PPPoE via analogue dialup (1200bps — 56kbps), ISDN and DSL. Members also have access to the SDF VPN (Virtual Private Network) and Dynamic Domain Name Service.

One of the many interesting and esoteric aspects of life on the SDF-1 is GOPHER. All users have access to their own GOPHER space and a number of them continue to find it a useful way to share text and data. And if you don't want to relive that past, SDF's 'motd.org' project offers a collaboration amongst members to share source and security tweaks for the latest wikis, web forums, photo galleries and blogs.

SDF runs NetBSD on a cluster of 12 DEC alphas with 3 BGP'ed T1s linking it to the INTERNET. It is an annual supporter of the NetBSD foundation and the Computer History Museum (CA). One of its original incarnations, an AT&T 3B2/500, is displayed annually at the Vintage Computer Festival."
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Spam

+ - Anti-spammer sued for complaining of spam

Submitted by
www.sorehands.com
www.sorehands.com writes "E360Insight, LLC and David Linhardt sues more anti-spammers. E360Insight and Lindhardt is known for their $11.7M Default Judgement against Spamhaus.

This time, suit was filed against Mark Ferguson (of Ferguson v. Friendfinder fame), Susan Wilson, Kelly Chien, and Tim Skirvin along with a couple of undientified people for posting on usenet saying that E360Insight and Linhardt are spammers.

This is a disturbing trend. I have had spammer's attorney threaten libel actions, but never followed through. Prior to e360Insight, EmarketersAmerica.org filed a lawsuit lawsuit against Spamhaus. When Spamhaus appeared in the EmarketersAmerica.org case, EmarketersAmerica.org ran with its tail between its legs by filing request dismissal with prejudice. We need to stand up to these spammers and show them that filing suits against people complaining of spam is not in their best interest. These are SLAPP lawsuits brought solely to intimidate and silence — not because the suit has merit."
Handhelds

+ - iPhone unlikely to losen its OS

Submitted by Elton Gray
Elton Gray writes "Don't bet on Apple loosening the shackles off its much-lauded iPhone operating system (OS) — even if it means this could broaden the device's appeal to developers and mobile device users. "Apple has a history of seeking to control its development environment, thus limiting access to the iPhone OS would enable it to maintain this approach," Gavin Byrne, research analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media, told ZDNet Asia in an e-mail interview. While analysts have described the iPhone as a major achievement in industrial design, doubts still linger over how much flexibility Apple will give to programmers."
Graphics

+ - HDMI Enabled Graphics Cards Debut

Submitted by
TrackinYeti
TrackinYeti writes "HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface), is the first industry supported digital-only interface, that requires a single cable to connect an output source to an HD-ready device, such as a television or monitor and deliver HD video, plus multi-channel digital audio, like Dolby Digital and DTS. Recently, Asus Computer released versions of their GeForce 7600 and Radeon X1600 cards with HDMI outputs on them, driven by an on-board Sil1930 controller. These are some of the first graphics cards to hit the market that can output HDMI natively with an integrated HDCP cipher engine and support HD-audio as well. Just the thing for that HTPC?"
Privacy

+ - Police Issue Warrant For Bullet Inside Mans Head

Submitted by
s31523
s31523 writes "A warrant has been issued for a piece of evidence in an alleged robbery attempt. This is not unusual, except the piece of evidence sought is a bullet embedded inside the suspects head. The suspect allegedly attempted to kill a car lot owner after a robbery but was met with resistance in the form of a 9mm pistol that discharged causing a bullet to become lodged inside his head. As the article states, "... a legal and medical oddity that raises questions about patient privacy and how far the government can go to solve crimes without running afoul of the constitutional protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.""

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