SolKeshNaranek - Slashdot User

Submission + - The tech behind Felix Baumgartner's stratospheric skydive (extremetech.com)

Submitted by

MrSeb

on Sunday October 14, 2012 @03:16PM

MrSeb writes: "Felix Baumgartner has successfully completed his stratospheric skydive from 128,000 feet (39km), breaking a record that was set 52 years ago by Air Force Captain Joe Kittinger — that much we know. From the balloon, to the capsule, to the gear that Baumgartner wore during his 730 mph (1174 kph) free fall, the technology behind the scenes is impressive, and in some cases bleeding edge. ExtremeTech takes a deep dive into the tech that kept Baumgartner alive during the three-hour ascent and (much shorter) descent — and the tech that allowed us to watch every moment of the Red Bull Stratos mission live, as captured by no less than 15 digital cameras and numerous other scientific instruments."

Submission + - Looks like the The Pirate Bay has been Sunk! (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by X!0mbarg on Monday October 01, 2012 @09:44PM

X!0mbarg writes: Not long ago, there was a story posted here, on SlashDot itself, that mentioned a batch of ISPs being raided, and an assortment of BitTorrent sites going down. Within minutes, an internet favourite, The Pirate Bay seems to have disappeared. Over at http://www.theregister.co.uk/ a Story pops up covering just such a noteworthy event.
-
[quote]
"Rumors are flying after the Pirate Bay's website took a dive on Monday just as news broke of a raid by Swedish police on its hosting company PRQ – but the group says the two facts are not related.

"Dear internet. We have not been raided. We are not shutting down. We like turtles, waffles and you," the group said on its Facebook page. "Sorry for not fulfilling your pirate needs tonight. It's ok if you cheat on us with another site, just once. We know that you still love us, deep down in your cursed pirate heart."
[/quote]

There is, however, something more suspicious here:

Where's the Original SlashDot story that covered the Raid and Fall of the Torrent Sites? It also seems to have disappeared from the Stories list in the last few moments.

Are these two events linked in some way? Has SlashDot been censored somehow? Was the story Too Hot for SlashDot?

Let's all watch and see what happens next!

Comment Pay Wall (Score 1) 1

by SolKeshNaranek on Friday September 14, 2012 @12:21PM (#41335889) Attached to: Making China's nuclear war plan

"link to original source" connects to a paywall site.

Submission + - Cybersecurity Bill Fails Today in US Senate (securityweek.com)

Submitted by wiredmikey on Thursday August 02, 2012 @01:27PM

wiredmikey writes: A development following the recently posted story Senate Cybersecurity Bill Stalled By Ridiculous Amendments — The Cybersecurity Act of 2012 failed to advance in the US Senate on Thursday. The measure was blocked amid opposition from an unusual coalition of civil libertarians — who feared it could allow too much government snooping — and conservatives who said it would create a new bureaucracy.

The bill needed 60 votes in the 100-member Senate to advance under rules in the chamber, but got only 52. The failure came despite pleas from Obama and top US defense officials. The US Chamber of Commerce argued that the bill "could actually impede US cybersecurity by shifting businesses' resources away from implementing robust and effective security measures and toward meeting government mandates."

Submission + - Congressman releases draft of legislation on domestic drones and privacy (huffingtonpost.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday August 02, 2012 @01:00PM

An anonymous reader writes: Police would be required to get a warrant to use drones for certain types of surveillance under legislation introduced on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. The proposed bill would also tighten regulations on what kind of data can be collected by the government and private companies and how it can be used.

To safeguard against abuses, Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), co-chair of the Bipartisan Congressional Privacy Caucus and a longtime member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, released a draft of the Drone Aircraft Privacy and Transparency Act of 2012 on Wednesday.

Submission + - Historian: Mass violence to erupt in 2020, mathematical pattern suggests (networkworld.com)

Submitted by colinneagle on Thursday August 02, 2012 @12:57PM

colinneagle writes: Historian Peter Turchin, who studies population dynamics at the University of Connecticut, has assumed the role of the world's biggest bummer with his recent prediction that widespread violence will erupt worldwide sometime around the year 2020, as profiled in this recent feature in Nature. What has many people worried is that he's backing up this premonition with a mathematical formula, known as cliodynamics.

Turchin is credited with coining the term cliodynamics, which is the study of historical mathematical data like population figures and global economic performance to identify patterns of similar behavior. Turchin's studies point to a cycle in which society at large becomes engulfed in widespread violence every 50 years.

The current pattern dates back at least to 1870, when economic disparity in the U.S. led to urban violence, and follows the 50-year cycle to the anti-Communist fervor and race riots around 1920, followed by the political assassinations, terrorist attacks and domestic violence in 1970, Turchin told Nature. By that logic, Turchin believes we should circle the year 2020 on our calendars as the year when we start locking our doors.

Submission + - A Gun That Shoots Salts and Kills Flies (empowernetwork.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 24, 2012 @05:46PM

An anonymous reader writes: A miniaturized shotgun effect is generated through this ingenious design. Ordinary table salt is utilized as a lethal projectile with accuracy range of 3 to 5 feet. Bugs will remain whole for easy clean up.

Submission + - Congress Doesn't Care About Your Privacy (vice.com)

Submitted by

pigrabbitbear

on Monday July 16, 2012 @03:41PM

pigrabbitbear writes: "Not a lot’s been done in response to last week’s revelation that police made more than 1.3 million requests — a dramatic increase of years past — for cell phone user information last year. Sure, a lot of newspapers and blogs have written about the announcement by Rep. Ed Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, who collected the data. The issue even stirred the New York Times editorial board to write an enlivened op-ed on the issue, unapologetically titled “The End of Privacy?,” begging for even more attention to be paid to the issue and legal action to be taken. Historically, however, Congress has been slow to tackle the topic."

Submission + - Justice Dept., FBI to review use of forensic evidence in thousands of cases (washingtonpost.com)

Submitted by NotSanguine on Friday July 13, 2012 @05:27PM

NotSanguine writes: From The Washington Post Article:

The Justice Department and the FBI have launched a review of thousands of criminal cases to determine whether any defendants were wrongly convicted or deserve a new trial because of flawed forensic evidence, officials said Tuesday. The undertaking is the largest post-conviction review ever done by the FBI. It will include cases conducted by all FBI Laboratory hair and fiber examiners since at least 1985 and may reach earlier if records are available, people familiar with the process said. Such FBI examinations have taken place in federal and local cases across the country, often in violent crimes, such as rape, murder and robbery.

Submission + - Washington Needs to Rethink How it Pushes These Copyright Laws (vice.com)

Submitted by

pigrabbitbear

on Thursday July 12, 2012 @04:28PM

pigrabbitbear writes: "Lamar Smith just can’t do anything right. The Texas congressman and widely despised author of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) ruffled the Internet’s feathers once again this week with the quiet unveiling of a new piece of legislation that’s drawing criticism for being plucked out of SOPA’s language and rushed through Congress. The Intellectual Property Attaché Act (IPAA) would streamline the process by which the U.S. protects its intellectual property by enforcing U.S. copyright law abroad through specially assigned diplomats or attachés. These officers would report to a new agency-level position, the Assistant Secretary for Intellectual Property and push agendas that, according to the bill’s language, are “consistent with the economic interests of the United States, both domestically and abroad.”"

Submission + - Edweek critically examines Bill Gates' philanthropic record (edweek.org)

Submitted by

sam_handelman

on Wednesday July 04, 2012 @01:58PM

sam_handelman writes: "The common perception among Slashdotters is that while Bill Gates may cause us some professional difficulties, he makes up for it with an exemplary philanthropic record. His philanthropic efforts may turn out to be even worse than his operating system. Edweek, not ordinarily an unfriendly venue for Gates, is running a series of blog post/investigative journalism pieces into what the Gates' foundation is doing, and how it is not always well received by stakeholders."

Submission + - Take a tour inside the Large Hadron Collider (vice.com)

Submitted by derekmead on Tuesday July 03, 2012 @03:06PM

derekmead writes: Tomorrow, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) is set to announce some of the most highly-anticipated findings in recent memory: evidence of the existence of the Higgs boson. As we prepare to rightfully laud the researchers who pored over mountains of data to pull out the smallest meaningful blips imaginable, it’s also important that we acknowledge the stunning tech that helped make it all happen. And thus we have the Large Hadron Collider, the $9 billion, 17-mile-diameter particle accelerator that sprawls over the Swiss-French border. It’s the most powerful atom smasher on Earth, and was built largely with the intent of finding the Higgs, which would complete the Standard Model and help explain how matter itself exists in the first place.

Submission + - Reddit users uncover potential nuclear coverup (reddit.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 08, 2012 @12:11AM

An anonymous reader writes: Earlier today, a user on Reddit claimed to have found evidence of a nuclear incident in the vicinity of Indiana or Michigan, and suspects it is being covered up by the government.

Initially I was highly skeptical, but as the day progressed, more and more evidence has surfaced indicating that there may actually be something going on. Independent radiation monitoring stations have detected high counts-per-minute values (CPM), but those data sources were changed or pulled shortly thereafter. Throughout the day, more "evidence" has appeared: many people have reported increased numbers of military aircraft, fire stations and other sources have reported high levels of radiation, and some science labs have had radiation alerts as well.

So, what's going on? Is it merely a series of coincidences being blown up by the hyperbole machine of the internet? Or is there actually something sketchy going on — and if so, what?

Submission + - Days before Congressional recess, Senators need to be called before CISPA vote (privacyisawesome.com)

Submitted by

skaterperson

on Wednesday May 23, 2012 @02:21PM

skaterperson writes: "CISPA, the cybersecurity bill currently going through Congress, has gone through a tricky legislative maze that has a lot of people confused. Here's the deal: CISPA is now tucked inside of Senate bill S.2105, which has bipartisan congressional support, is being actively supported by the Obama Admin., and is scheduled for a vote in early June. It's alive and well, and on a clear path to becoming law.

The Senate goes on recess next week, and which means there are exactly 3 days to make calls to their offices before they leave for a week and then come back for the vote. The most important thing constituants can do with that time is to try to get meetings scheduled with their Senators while they are in their home states during the recess. This is a proven grassroots strategy that was key to killing SOPA. If enough people contact their Senators either in person or over the phone, CISPA can be defeated.

Privacyisawesome.com makes it easy to contact your Senator's office in just a few minutes. Just enter your number and zip, and your Senator's number will be provided along with a script (for those who are phone shy). Everyone should do this to put an end to this awful piece of legislation."

Journal Journal: Mini Ask /.: What should I do about a noisy heatsink fan? 4

Journal by Bill Dog on Saturday May 19, 2012 @09:30PM

It started all of a sudden last night, upon awakening the computer. My PC is right around 3 years old.

I'm pretty sure it's the fan on my video card. I don't play video games anymore [altho I couldn't resist checking out that online Wolfenstein thing and playing that for a while one night] so this one is just the mid to low end of nVidia's "business graphics" line of cards. (So maybe I don't even need the fan?)

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