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Submission + - SETI reasearch with Very Large Baseline Interferometry (bbc.co.uk)

An anonymous reader writes: Radio astronomers in Australia have tried a to detect a transmission from Gliese 581 using Very Large Baseline Interferometry with the Australian Large Baseline Array http://arxiv.org/abs/1205.6466. The star Gliese 581 (Gl581) is 20 light years away and is orbited by at least two planets in habitable zone. While the astronomers haven't detected any signal from Gl581, they have derived a limit on the strength of the signal that could be detected from Earth. In simple terms, if a transmitter like Arecibo would have been in operation in the Gl581 system and beaming in our direction, the signal would have been picked.
This is a breakthrough method to examine extraterrestrial transmissions and will be implemented with the Square Kilometre Array, the gigantic radio interferometer that will be built in South Africa and Australia. With this technique, the SKA will lift the SETI exploration to an amazing new regime.

Idle

Submission + - Toddler's iPad Tantrum Gets Him Kicked Off Plane 3

theodp writes: A three-year-old boy on an Alaska Airlines flight to St. Martin Island from Seattle threw such severe conniptions after his iPad was taken away before takeoff that he and his family were removed from the plane. Alaska Airlines said this was a judgment call on the captain's part — the boy reportedly wouldn't sit upright and wouldn't keep his seatbelt on. No word if the little tyke tweeted his disgust with how the airline deprived him of his iPad rights, a la Alec Baldwin.

Submission + - White House responds to ACTA petition (whitehouse.gov)

hguorbray writes: Predictably tepid response from the Whitehouse saying that they want to hear from all stakeholders -unfortunately 'he who has the gold makes the rules' will continue to prevail and it will probably take more than the 50k petition signers to make the people's voices be heard
AT&T

Submission + - AT&T Expects Data-Only Phone Plans Within 2 Years (google.com)

An anonymous reader writes: AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said today that he expects wireless carriers to start offering data-only cellphone plans within the next 24 months. "Analysts see such plans as a logical extension of trends in wireless technology. Smartphones with data service can already use it for Internet phone calls and texting through services such as Skype.
Phone calls are also taking a back seat to other things people do with their smartphones. AT&T has been recording a decline in the average number of minutes used per month.' He says there isn't a specific plan in the works; he just think it's inevitable.

Google

Submission + - Apple, Google: Battle of the Cloud Maps (slashdot.org)

Nerval's Lobster writes: "Google has sent invitations for a June 6 event in which it will apparently unveil "The Next Dimension of Google Maps." Meanwhile, rumor suggests Apple is preparing its own mapping service for iOS devices. The escalating battle over maps demonstrates the importance of cloud apps to tech companies' larger strategies."
Ubuntu

Submission + - Making ZFS and DTrace work on Ubuntu Linux (liberumvir.com)

Liberum Vir writes: Many of the people that I talk with, that use solaris-like systems, mention ZFS and DTrace as the reasons they simply cannot move to Linux. So, I set out to discover how to make these two technologies work on the latest LTS release of Ubuntu. It turned out to be much easier than I expected. The ports of these technologies have come a long way. If you or someone you know is addicted to a solaris-like system because of ZFS and DTrace, please, inquire within.
Medicine

Submission + - Redesigned cooler reinvents tuberculosis treatment (patexia.com)

sarfralogy writes: "It started with a basic soft drink cooler, a need for easier management of tuberculosis and $150,000 in innovation support.
A big challenge in managing tuberculosis is keeping the medicine cool, in addition to tracking and monitoring dose administration. These challenges can be life-threatening, especially in less-developed countries, where refrigerators and fancy cooling devices are rare; ice must be trucked in on a daily basis to keep medicines at controlled temperatures. A redesigned cooler with the ability to keep the medicine cool and record when medicine is dispensed is aiming to solve both these problems.
The design of the cooler is simple and practical — common characteristics of a scientifically sound experiment or innovation. It’s nothing more than a standard soft drink cooler but the team from MIT's Little Devices Lab equipped the cooler with the ability to sound an alert when the temperature inside the cooler becomes too high and transmit data wirelessly using a cellphone transmitter whenever the cooler is opened."

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Where's the Slashdot markup manual? 1

LeadSongDog writes: After all these years, the FAQ on /. still doesn't tell a submitter how to encode a link so that it appears the way one expects, as underlined or coloured text rather than as a naked URL. So where's the markup manual? Sooner or later, somenerd is going to want to read it...
Math

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: What to do with a Math Degree? 6

badmojo17 writes: After achieving her lifelong dream of becoming a public school math teacher, my wife has found the profession to be much more frustrating than she ever expected. She could deal with having a group of disrespectful criminals as students if she had competent administrators supporting her, but the sad truth is that her administration causes more problems on a daily basis than her students do. Our question is this: what other professions are open to a bright young woman with a bachelor's degree in math and a master's degree in education? Without further education, what types of positions or companies might be interested in her as an employee?
Businesses

Submission + - Google to Require Retailers to Pay to be in Google Shopping Results (wsj.com)

gambit3 writes: "In a move to squeeze more cash out of its lucrative Web-search engine, Google is converting its free product-search service into a paid one.
Online retailers will now have to bid to display their products on Google's Shopping site. Currently, retailers include their products for free by providing Google with certain data about the products. Google then ranks those products, such as cameras, by popularity and price.
"Google Shopping will empower businesses of all sizes to compete effectively—and it will help shoppers turn their intentions into actions lightning fast," wrote Sameer Samat, a Google vice president, in a statement."

Crime

Submission + - Venezuela bans the commercial sale of firearms and ammunition (bbc.co.uk) 2

Bob the Super Hamste writes: "The BBC is reporting on a new law in Venezuela that effectively bans the commercial sale of firearms and ammunition to private citizens. Previously anyone with a permit could purchase a firearm from any commercial vendor but now only the police, military, and security firms will be able to purchase firearms or ammunition from only state owned manufactures or importers. Hugo Chavez's government states that the goal is to eventually disarm the citizenry. The law which went into effect today was passed on February 29th and up to this point the government has been running an amnesty program allowing citizens to turn in their illegal firearms. Since the law was first passed 805,000 rounds of ammunition have been recovered from gun dealers. The measure is intended to curb violent crime in Venezuela where 78% of homicides are linked to firearms."
Piracy

Submission + - Rights Holders See Little Point Creating Legal Content Sources (itnews.com.au) 1

aesoteric writes: Six weeks after Hollywood lost a landmark internet piracy case in Australia, it appears the film studios have gone cold on the idea of helping develop legal avenues to access copyrighted content as a way to combat piracy. Instead, they've produced research to show people will continue pirating even if there are legitimate content sources available. The results appear to support the studio's policy position that legislation is a preferable way of dealing with the issue.

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