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Submission + - FOIA: NSA contracts stored in paper files, unsearchable, unindexed. (muckrock.com)

Submitted by v3rgEz
v3rgEz writes: Wish you were a little more organized? Have trouble finding that archived contract when you actually need it? Don't feel too bad: The National Security Agency has the same problem, claiming that its contract database is stored manually and impossible to search by topic, category, or even by vendor in most cases.

Submission + - A Real-Time Map of Travelers Getting Screwed By the Thanksgiving Storm (vice.com)

Submitted by Daniel_Stuckey
Daniel_Stuckey writes: Travel officials expect about 3 million people to venture by plane to their turkey dinner, and already hundreds of flights have been canceled and thousands delayed—including more than a third of routes at the major airport hub in Dallas, which will have a ripple effect down through the airline system as thwarted passengers try to hop on other flights.

The annual clusterfuck apparently inspired flight-tracking site FlightAware to develop an interactive "Misery Map" visualizing flight statuses in real-time and the megastorm traversing the country simultaneously. Because who doesn't love a little data viz schadenfreude?

Submission + - The US has 43 nuclear power plants' worth of solar energy in the pipeline (qz.com) 2

Submitted by mdsolar
mdsolar writes: The boom in solar energy in the US in recent years? You haven’t seen anything yet. The pipeline of photovoltaic projects has grown 7% over the past 12 months and now stands at 2,400 solar installations that would generate 43,000 megawatts (MW), according to a report released today by market research firm NPD Solarbuzz. If all these projects are built, their peak electricity output would be equivalent to that of 43 big nuclear power plants, and enough to keep the lights on in six million American homes.

Comment Mind Readers? Thought Crime? (Score 5, Insightful) 670

by hurwak-feg (#45521463) Attached to: Driver Arrested In Ohio For Secret Car Compartment Full of Nothing
How do the LEOs know what someone's intention is? I could argue it is to store sensitive work material or items sought after by thieves. What is wrong with putting drugs in there? I have a prescription for Oxycodone before. There are plenty of junkies that would love to get their hands on that. So does this mean police can arrest someone because they think they might have intentions of doing something illegal? Are they going to compensate people for their time and legal fees for arrest based on nothing more than speculation? This is insane. I will admit I didn't RTFA.

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Why are tech job requirements so specific?

Submitted by hurwak-feg
hurwak-feg writes: I am in the market for a new IT (software development or systems administration) job for the first time and several years and noticed that many postings have very specific requirements (i.e. specific models of hardware, specific software versions). I don't understand this. I like working with people that have experience with technologies that I don't because what they are familiar with might be a better solution for a problem than what I am familiar with. Am I missing something or are employers making it more difficult for themselves and job seekers by rejecting otherwise qualified candidates that don't meet a very specific mold. Is there a good reason for being extremely specific in job requirements that I am just not seeing?

Submission + - 10 IT job titles you just don't hear much about anymore

Submitted by mwagner
mwagner writes: A 1995 InformationWeek article sings the praises of being able to check your business email from any computer using the Web. cc:Mail administrators were in hot demand then. Today: Not so much. There's also not much demand for Fortran programmers, dBase developers, and and Novell Certified Engineers. What was on your business card 20 years ago?

Submission + - Senator seeks to extend ban on 'undetectable' 3D-printed guns (theguardian.com)

Submitted by SonicSpike
SonicSpike writes: As the technology to print 3D firearms advances, a federal law that banned the undetectable guns is about to expire. The New York senator Chuck Schumer says he is seeking an extension of the law before it expires on 9 December.

Schumer said the technology of so-called 3D printing has advanced to the point where anyone with $1,000 and an internet connection can access the plastic parts that can be fitted into a gun. Those firearms cannot be detected by metal detectors or x-ray machines. Schumer says that means anyone can download a gun cheaply, then take the weapons anywhere, including high-security areas.

The Democrat is pushing the extension along with Senators Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Bill Nelson of Florida. The effort was announced on Sunday.

Submission + - This Scientist Cooks Up New Molecules to Fight Superbugs and Cancer (youtube.com)

Submitted by cantunsee
cantunsee writes: For 20 years, NYU's Kent Kirshenbaum has been building chains of structured molecules, taking inspiration from how naturally occurring proteins fold. He's beginning to see signs that the new molecules are working as they had been designed to, showing signs that they are effective in fighting off antibiotic-resistant bacteria and treating mutations in tumor cells.

Feed Google News Sci Tech: Apple buys Israel's PrimeSense for $345 million: report - Reuters (google.com)

From feed by feedfeeder

Haaretz
Apple buys Israel's PrimeSense for $345 million: report
Reuters
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Apple has bought PrimeSense, an Israeli maker of chips that enable three-dimensional (3D) machine vision, for $345 million, the Calcalist financial newspaper reported on Sunday without citing sources. PrimeSense has raised $85...
Apple reported to buy Israeli 3D sensor firm PrimeSense for $345 millionApple Insider
Apple reportedly acquiring the company behind Microsoft's...The Verge
Apple acquires Kinect-tech maker PrimeSense for $345M: ReportVentureBeat
Mashable-CNET-Afterdawn.com
all 50 news articles

Submission + - GCC 4.9 Coming with Big New Features

Submitted by jones_supa
jones_supa writes: When GCC 4.9 is released in 2014 it will be coming in hot on new features with a large assortment of improvements and new functionality for the open-source compiler. Phoronix provides a recap of some of the really great features of this next major compiler release from the Free Software Foundation. For a quick list: OpenMP 4.0, Intel Cilk Plus multi-threading support, Intel Bay Trail and Silvermont support, NDS32 port, Undefined Behavior Sanitizer, Address Sanitizer, ADA and Fortran updates, improved C11 / C++11 / C++14, better x86 intrinsics, refined diagnostics output. Bubbling under are still: Bulldozer 4 / Excavator support, OpenACC, JIT compiler, disabling Java by default.

Submission + - Finally - Payback for Overpriced Science Equipment (mtu.edu)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A new book is out on making open-source science equipment with 3D printers and Arduinos. It shows how to cut costs on normally over-priced science tools by over 90% using free digital designs and making it yourself. About time! Best of all Elsevier is giving the Open-Source Lab away for free.

Submission + - Comet ISON Nears Date With Sun

Submitted by riverat1
riverat1 writes: Now visible in the morning sky comet ISON will swing around the Sun on November 28. ISON will pass 730,000 km above the surface of the Sun at closest approach (Mercury's perihelion distance is 46 million km). If it survives its near brush with the Sun it could provide a spectacular sky show from December into January. This NASA timeline shows that ISON will be the most observed comet ever as instruments ranging from a balloon carried telescope to the Hubble Space Telescope to the STEREO satellites will be brought into play. Lowell Observatory astronomer Matthew Knight lays out three possibilities for ISON, spontaneous disintegration before it gets to the Sun (less than 1% chance), disintegration as it rounds the Sun or survival. If it survives its closest approach to Earth will be on December 26 at about 1/3 of an AU.

Submission + - Startup preps lean OS for the Internet of Things (globalspec.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A one-year old startup whose founders are experienced in low-power computing has prepared an operating system that can fit in just a few hundred bytes of memory, yet still supply full internet connectivity. Previously Ian Cullimore, chief scientist of Paqet Systems Corp., worked on operating systems for Psion, Poqet Computers and Symbian according to this Electronics 360 report.

Submission + - NSA wants to reveal its secrets to prevent Snowden from revealing them first

Submitted by binarstu
binarstu writes: According to a recent report by Tom Gjelten of NPR, 'NSA officials are bracing for more surveillance disclosures from the documents taken by former contractor Edward Snowden — and they want to get out in front of the story. ... With respect to other information held by Snowden and his allies but not yet publicized, the NSA is now considering a proactive release of some of the less sensitive material, to better manage the debate over its surveillance program.'

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