Become a fan of Slashdot on Facebook

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×
Earth

Submission + - Are We Ready for a Solar Radiation Katrina? 1

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "Every few decades, the sun experiences a particularly large storm that can release as much energy as 1 billion hydrogen bombs. Now NPR reports that an exercise held in Boulder, Colorado, has investigated what might happen if the Earth were struck by a solar storm as intense as the huge storms that occurred in 1921 and 1859 — a sort of solar Katrina — and that researchers found that the impact is likely to be far worse than in previous solar storms because of our growing dependence on satellites and other electronic devices that are vulnerable to electromagnetic radiation. "In many ways, the impact of a major solar storm resembles that of a hurricane or an earthquake," says FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate except a solar Katrina would cause damage in a much larger area than any natural disaster e.g. power could be knocked out almost simultaneously in countries from Sweden to Canada and the US so a lot more people in a lot more places would need help. In the exercise, the first sign of trouble came when radiation began disrupting radio signals and GPS devices, says Tom Bogdan, who directs the Space Weather Prediction Center. Ten or 20 minutes later electrically charged particles "basically took out" most of the commercial satellites that transmit telephone conversations, TV shows and huge amounts of data we depend on in our daily lives. But the worst damage came nearly a day later, when the solar storm began to induce electrical currents in high voltage power lines strong enough to destroy transformers around the globe leaving millions of people in northern latitudes without power. "It's one of those events that is of low probability but high consequence," says Dr. Roberta Balstad, a research scientist with Columbia University's Center for Research on Environmental Decisions. "The consequences could be extreme.""

Submission + - Kickass Apt. vs. Persistent Microwave Exposure (slashdot.org) 3

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: I am considering buying a penthouse apartment in Manhattan that happens to be about twenty feet away from a pair of panel antennas belonging to a major cellular carrier. The antennas are on roughly the same plane as the apartment and point in its direction. I have sifted through a lot of information online about cell towers, most of which suggest that the radiation they emit is low-level and benign. Most of this information, however, seems to concern ground-level exposure at non-regular intervals. My question to Slashdot is: should the prospect of persistent exposure to microwave radiation from this pair of antennas sitting thirty feet from where I rest my head worry me? Am I just being a jackass? Can I, perhaps, line the walls of the place with a tight metal mesh and thereby deflect the radiation? My background is in computer engineering — I am not particularly knowledgeable about the physics of devices such as these. Help me make an enlightened decision.
Government

Secret Service Runs At "Six Sixes" Availability 248

Posted by timothy from the only-need-half-as-many dept.
PCM2 writes "ABC News is reporting that the US Secret Service is in dire need of server upgrades. 'Currently, 42 mission-oriented applications run on a 1980s IBM mainframe with a 68 percent performance reliability rating,' says one leaked memo. That finding was the result of an NSA study commissioned by the Secret Service to evaluate the severity of their computer problems. Curiously, upgrades to the Service's computers are being championed by Senator Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who says he's had 'concern for a while' about the issue."

Submission + - Freakonomics interview of programmer turned escort (nytimes.com)

Submitted by andy1307
andy1307 writes: Normally slashdot wouldn't be the place for "Allie the escort answers your questions" type blog posts. But this escort is different. She is the "Allie" featured in the great book Superfreakonomics. In this NYT freakonomics blog post, Allie answers questions from readers, including the question "What was your occupation before you became a call girl? What made you go into this line of work?". Turns out, Allie was a programmer before she became an escort. Why the switch? In her words, "At that time, the reason I gave up my programming job was the free time. I was caring for a family member with a serious illness — the free time and money was a huge benefit."
Wii

Submission + - Wii laptop (benheck.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: This wii laptop was 3 months in the making and cost around £300, check out the Ben heck forums for more information.

Submission + - Constitutionality of RIAA Damages Challenged (blogspot.com)

Submitted by NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: In SONY BMG Music Entertainment v. Tenenbaum, defendant has filed a motion for new trial, attacking, among other things, the constitutionality of the jury's $675,000 award as being violative of due process. In his 32-page brief (PDF), Tenenbaum argues that the award exceeded constitutional due process standards, both under the Court's 1919 decision in St. Louis Railway v. Williams, as well as under its more recent authorities State Farm v. Campbell and BMW v. Gore. Defendant also argues that the Court's application of fair use doctrine was incorrect, that statutory damages should not be imposed against music consumers, and that the Court erred in a key evidentiary ruling.

Comment Re:Halfway Competent (Score 1) 665

by dolo724 (#28790921) Attached to: Undercover Cameras Catch PC Repair Scams, Privacy Violations
And in other news, Click and Clack, also known as the Tappet Brothers, have started a PC repair service in addition to their regularly scheduled car show. Expect great things from the Car Guys as they venture into the world of IT.

Hey, it's got wires and fans right? Shouldn't be any trouble fixing them at all. Coupla whacks and you're good. But if it starts clicking when you take a turn you'd better back up and rebuild it.

Comment Re: Sucker Punch Me (Score 1) 544

by dolo724 (#27856195) Attached to: Options For a Laptop With a Broken Screen?
<quote>But your analogy isn't complete. It would be like me going up to you, you have a shirt on that says "Caution: You will be sucker-punched" and me saying, "OK, sucker punch me." </quote>

My shirt has a clause stating "you may opt-out of the sucker-punch by hitting me first".

Slashdot Top Deals

Old programmers never die, they just hit account block limit.

Close