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Submission + - Slashdot forces a beta site by default

Submitted by kelk1
kelk1 writes: As a poor submitter found out (https://developers.slashdot.org/story/14/02/05/2328224/html5-app-for-panasonic-tvs-rejected---jquery-is-a-hack), Slashdot (https://slashdot.org) suddenly forced a preview of its beta site without any warning on all its viewers.

Judging by the comments, the feedback was immediate and clearly negative.

I cannot speak for the forum moderation side, but my reaction to the front page was an knee jerk: "Oh no!, not another portal full of noise I cannot speed-read through." Text and hyperlinks are what we need, please, and as little graphics as possible. Think lynx, thank you.
Data Storage

Submission + - The DVD that "lasts forever" (pcpro.co.uk)

Submitted by
Barence
Barence writes: "A company called Millenniata has developed a new type of optical disc, which it claims is “the first ever permanent file backup disc that lasts forever”. The M-Disc shares the same shape and capacity as a standard DVD, and can be read by any existing DVD drive, but "cannot be overwritten, erased, or corrupted by natural processes".

The M-Disc effectively does away with the degradable organic layer of existing optical discs, replacing it with a layer of “chemically stable and heat-resistant materials” that remains solid at temperatures up to 500C. Using a much higher-powered laser, the innermost layers are burned away to leave a physical pit, the surrounds of which then cool to form a rock-like polycrystalline structure. It’s “the modern, digital equivalent of engraving data, literally, in stone”."
Space

Submission + - VARIES project proposes antimatter starship mission (gizmag.com)

Submitted by cylonlover
cylonlover writes: As Douglas Adams said, “Space is Big. Really Big." And that’s the major obstacle for traveling between the stars. But a new proposal published in the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society promises to shrink that distance just a bit. Physics and technology consultant Richard Obousy claims that an antimatter starship that creates its own fuel from the vacuum of space itself would be capable of making a return journey to the nearest star and back within one lifetime.
Privacy

Submission + - Senator rasies facial recognition regulation (techworld.com.au)

Submitted by
angry tapir
angry tapir writes: "The U.S. Congress may need to pass legislation that limits the way government agencies and private companies use facial recognition technology to identify people, according to U.S. Senator Al Franken, who chairs the US Senate Judiciary Committee's privacy subcommittee. The growing use of facial recognition technology raises serious privacy and civil liberties concerns, according to the senator, who has called on the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and Facebook to change the way they use facial recognition technology."

Submission + - Australian consumer group wants geo-IP blocking banned (delimiter.com.au)

Submitted by daria42
daria42 writes: Live outside the US? Then you're probably used to being blocked from watching Hulu, frustrated by not being able to buy the eBooks you want from Amazon and most of all, annoyed about paying significantly higher prices than Americans for exactly the same software, games and content online, all based on your IP address. This week Australian consumer group Choice called for an Australian ban on geo-IP-blocking, saying it created significant barriers to the free flow of goods and services. Maybe other countries' consumer groups should follow suit, in the quest for a fair go?

Submission + - JavaScript for the Rest of Us (babylscript.com)

Submitted by
my2iu
my2iu writes: "The JavaScript programming language is both widely available and very powerful. Unfortunately, since only 6% of the world's population are native English speakers, the other 94% of the world are forced to learn English before they can start using JavaScript. Babylscript is an open source project that aims to translate JavaScript to all the world's languages, including French, Spanish, Chinese, and Arabic. The project has recently completed its 12th translation, enough so that the native languages of over 50% of the world's population are now supported!"

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I tell them to turn to the study of mathematics, for it is only there that they might escape the lusts of the flesh. -- Thomas Mann, "The Magic Mountain"

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