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Medicine

Submission + - Florida accused of concealing worst tuberculosis outbreak in 20 years (rawstory.com)

Submitted by NotSanguine
NotSanguine writes: The state of Florida has been struggling for months with what the Centers for Disease Control describe as the worst tuberculosis outbreak in the United States in twenty years.

Although a CDC report went out to state health officials in April encouraging them to take concerted action, the warning went largely unnoticed and nothing has been done. The public did not even learn of the outbreak until June, after a man with an active case of TB was spotted in a Jacksonville soup kitchen.

The Palm Beach Post has managed to obtain records on the outbreak and the CDC report, though only after weeks of repeated requests. These documents should have been freely available under Florida’s Sunshine Law.
Games

Submission + - A fresh look at multi-screen PC gaming (techreport.com)

Submitted by
crookedvulture
crookedvulture writes: "More than two years have passed since Slashdot last covered multi-monitor gaming. A lot has changed in the interim. Monitors prices continue to fall, and improved AMD Eyefinity and Nvidia Surround implementations make creating multi-display arrays incredibly easy. Graphics cards have gotten faster, allowing high-end models to handle the latest games at the ultra-high resoultions that multi-screen setups enable. Developers are doing a better job of supporting those resolutions, too, although HUD placement and single-screen cinematics are still problematic in some titles. Even in the games that do have niggling flaws, the wider perspective of a triple-screen config can offer a more engaging and immersive experience. As stereoscopic 3D implementations fail to catch on, multi-screen setups look like the best upgrade for PC gamers."
Censorship

Submission + - Chinese Censors are Being Watched (economist.com) 1

Submitted by Rambo Tribble
Rambo Tribble writes: The Economist is reporting, (registration may be required), on two research teams, one at Harvard and another at the University of Hong Kong, who have developed software to detect what posts to Chinese social media get censored. One surprise, comments critical of the regime are much less likely to be suppressed than calls to action, like assemblies or protests. Chinese censors may soon have to deal with an unprecedented transparency of their actions.
Earth

Submission + - Is Our Infrastructure Ready for Global Warming? 1

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Megan Garber writes that last weekend, a US Airways flight taxiing for takeoff from Washington's Reagan National Airport got stuck on the tarmac for three hours because the tarmac had softened from the heat, and the plane had created — and then sunk into — a groove from which it couldn't, at first, be removed. So what makes an asphalt tarmac, the foundation of our mighty air network, turn to sponge? The answer is that our most common airport surface might not be fully suited to its new, excessively heated environment. One of asphalt's main selling points is precisely the fact that, because of its pitchy components, it's not quite solid: It's "viscoelastic," which makes it an ideal surface for the airport environment. As a solid, asphalt is sturdy; as a substance that can be made from — and transitioned back to — liquid, it's relatively easy to work with. And, crucially, it makes for runway repair work that is relatively efficient. But those selling points can also be asphalt's Achilles heel. Viscoelasticity means that the asphalt is always capable of liquifying. The problem, for National Airport's tarmac and the passengers who were stuck on it, was that this weekend's 100+-degree temperatures were a little less room temperature-like than they'd normally be, making the asphalt a little less solid that it would normally be. "As ironic and as funny as the imgur seen round the world is, it may also be a hint at what's in store for us in a future of weirding weather. An aircraft sinking augurs the new challenges we'll face as temperatures keep rising.""
Microsoft

Submission + - Steve Ballmer: We won't be out-innovated by Apple anymore (networkworld.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Let's be honest. If you were to compile a list of words that encapsulate the last 10 years for Microsoft, the word 'innovative' probably wouldn't make the cut. Sure, they've had great overall success with the Xbox and, more recently, with Xbox Kinect, but the bulk of their revenue is still derived from unexciting software like Microsoft Office and various iterations of Windows

But going forward, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer plans to change that. In a recent interview, Ballmer explained that the company had ceded innovations in hardware and software to Apple but that the times they are a 'changin.

"We are trying to make absolutely clear we are not going to leave any space uncovered to Apple," Ballmer explained... "Not the consumer cloud. Not hardware software innovation. We are not leaving any of that to Apple by itself. Not going to happen. Not on our watch."
Apple

Submission + - US Federal Agencies No Longer Allowed to Buy Apple Products (cellular-news.com)

Submitted by narcc
narcc writes: US federal government agencies are no longer able to purchase Apple products after the company withdrew from a mandatory certification scheme.

The Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) certification is required under a law passed in 2009 if a federal government agency is to buy goods or services from a company. It ensures that the products meet minimum environmental protection standards.

It is not clear why Apple withdrew from the ratings service, especially as it cuts off sales to a fairly substantial customer — the US Government. One report by the iFixit blog suggested that the problem relates to the difficulty of repairing Apple products and stripping them down for recycling.

Apple has struggled with its eco-friendly credentials, with repeated reports from agencies such as Greenpeace criticizing the company, not just for what they know the company is doing, but also for their apparent secrecy about the environmental impact of their various manufacturing processes.
Science

Submission + - 'DNA Tracking Chamber' Could Detect Dark Matter (technologyreview.com)

Submitted by Dupple
Dupple writes: An unlikely group of physicists and biologists plan to build a dark matter detector out of DNA that will outperform anything available today

Perhaps the greatest and most fiercely contested race in modern science is the search for dark matter.

Physicists cannot see this stuff, hence the name. However, they infer its existence because they can see its gravitational influence on the structure of galaxies and clusters of galaxies. It implies that the universe is filled with dark matter, much more of it than the visible matter we can see

If they're right, dark matter must fill our galaxy and our Solar System. At this very instant, we ought to be ploughing our way through a dense sea of dark matter as the Sun moves towards the constellation of Cygnus as it orbits the galactic centre.
Government

Submission + - New executive order potentially grants .gov control of all communication systems (epic.org) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: President Obama has issued a new executive order: "Assignment of National Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications Functions", http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/07/06/executive-order-assignment-national-security-and-emergency-preparedness-

EPIC reports: "The Executive Order grants new powers to the Department of Homeland Security, including the ability to collect certain public communications information. Under the Executive Order the White House has also granted the Department the authority to seize private facilities when necessary, effectively shutting down or limiting civilian communications."

A few key excerpts from the exec order:
"The views of all levels of government, the private and nonprofit sectors, and the public must inform the development of national security and emergency preparedness (NS/EP) [National Security/Emergency Preparedness] communications policies, programs, and capabilities."

"Sec. 5.2. The Secretary of Homeland Security shall:
(a) oversee the development, testing, implementation, and sustainment of NS/EP communications, including: communications that support Continuity of Government; Federal, State, local, territorial, and tribal emergency preparedness and response communications; non-military executive branch communications systems; critical infrastructure protection networks; and non-military communications networks, particularly with respect to prioritization and restoration; ......

(e) satisfy priority communications requirements through the use of commercial, Government, and privately owned communications resources, when appropriate;"
Linux

Submission + - Linux.org Quietly Comes Back To Life (itworld.com)

Submitted by
jfruh
jfruh writes: "The venerable Linux.org site quietly relaunched some weeks ago, offering much of the original useful content on Linux as well as some new articles. The site is still associated with Michael McLagen, a somewhat controversial figure due to the fights around the Linux Standards Assocation back in the late '90s. McLagen has not responded to requests for comments on the relaunched site."

Comment Some advice (Score 1) 274

by grumpy_technologist (#39569987) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Is a Home Drone Feasible?
Hey OP,

I've worked on autonomous robots for environmental monitoring for two years now. That doesn't make me an expert by any means, but it does provide me some insight which I'd like to pass along.
  • Don't assume radio connectivity. Ever. If a platform requires you to maintain connectivity or it will (bad) crash, (ok) return home, or (best) continue on, choose based on the worst case, and know that you are responsible for what it does while you can't control it.
  • Don't assume GPS will work everywhere all the time. Even a valley can have terrible GPS simply because of high mountain walls. Most autonomous systems are completely reliant on GPS and will slam into the nearest obstacle like magic if GPS error starts to increase. This is often well before GPS is completely "lost"
  • Don't even try real-time telepresence, video-streaming, or remote control unless you are at 1) at short range all the time and 2) have a reliable connection at all times. This means 3/4G or Wifi for video streaming or a high-powered hobby remote for line-of-sight control. Some radios can transmit text data (ZigBee being the first that comes to mind) but most require line-of-sight. This will probably limit your deployment range to 1km to 5km. Claims to the contrary are difficult for me to believe, but you may have better luck than I have.
  • Don't build your own control software. Controlling a platform like a UAV is difficult. Trust an expert. Pay $ for this, as much as possible. Look to academia or defense for this component. DIYDrones I believe, started this way.

Comment Re:Define (Score 3, Insightful) 274

by grumpy_technologist (#39569935) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Is a Home Drone Feasible?
This is correct, in that this is the best option. Unfortunately, none of these options will be perfect. OP should be prepared to lose drones because of momentary GPS loss, and should not assume that radio connectivity can be maintained . I can't stress that enough. Even these well-proven options typically required a human-failsafe. In an alpine setting it is easy to imagine that radio connectivity will be lost.

Disclaimer: Not an expert, but have 2 years experience with autonomous vehicles for similar tasks over short time scales (1 day max).

Comment Re:DIY VS. Time (Score 1) 274

by grumpy_technologist (#39569907) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Is a Home Drone Feasible?
I can't stress removing telepresence enough. That requires a reliable, constant-on connection. *IF* 4G is available reliably throughout the deployment area, this is a viable solution. If you are willing to settle for less-than-telepresence (text feed of proprioception (self-sensing), mission status, etc), then 3G or even standard cell coverage is enough. If there is even a possibility of losing connectivity, then skip telepresence all together and build a reliable autonomous system. Unfortunately, "reliable" and "autonomous" don't go together very well in the small-scale-commercial setting.

Disclaimer: I'm not quite an expert, but I have a couple years experience with autonomous robots for this type of application (environmental monitoring) over short-term deployment (1 day maximum).

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