bulliver - Slashdot User

Encouraging Students to Drop Mathematics 618

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wednesday April 25, 2007 @03:33PM from the math-be-tough-let's-go-shoppin dept.

Coryoth writes "The BBC is reporting that students in the UK are being encouraged to drop math at the senior levels. It seems that schools are seeking to boost their standing on league tables by encouraging students not to take 'hard' subjects like mathematics, in favor of easier subjects in which they are assured good grades. The result is Universities being forced to provide remedial math classes for science students who haven't done math for two years. The BBC provides a comparison between Chinese and UK university entrance tests — a comparison that makes the UK look woefully behind."

Wikipedia Releases Offline CD 221

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wednesday April 25, 2007 @02:08PM from the vandalize-to-your-hearts-content dept.

An anonymous reader writes "WikipediaOnDVD, with cooperation with the Wikipedia community, has released its first offline test version. The articles were selected by Wikipedians and reviewed for accuracy, vandalism, and importance. Nearly 2,000 core Wikipedia articles will be sold on compact disc to give people without a net connection access to highlights of the popular web resource. The CD can be purchased or downloaded online via their site or the torrent."

Submission + - Russian Police Break Bones of Protestors

Submitted by

reporter

on Sunday April 22, 2007 @03:28AM

reporter writes: "After the conclusion of last week's protests in Russia, "Newsweek" investigated the fate of some of the protestors. Apparently, the Russian police so brutalized them that 40 protestors needed hospitalization. The "Newsweek" reporter states, "In St. Petersburg, a police baton broke former city Duma deputy Sergei Gulayev's hand in five places. Police chased down and beat every pedestrian they could, including pensioners. ... Kazantsev suffered broken ribs and a punctured lung after a policeman kicked him repeatedly ." Did the Soviet Union really cease to exist in 1991 or was it merely renamed to "Russia"?"

Submission + - What time is it?

Submitted by

surinp3

on Sunday April 22, 2007 @02:47AM

surinp3 writes: "This happens so many times to me now...
I am wondering what time it is, checking on my phone and it says what ever it says.

BUT, soo many times it says 09.42 or 13.46, exactly.

I am really amazed of this fact. How can I look at the clock at these two exact minutes so many times.

Weird..."

Submission + - Linux box replaces your annoying TV weatherman

Submitted by

chicomarxbro

on Sunday April 22, 2007 @01:52AM

chicomarxbro writes: "Tired of dumb jokes or silliness by the local TV weatherperson? Then get your own channel. You can program your own local weather channel at home, office, marina, golf course, school, a truck stop, gas station, or wherever there may be an interest in weather to make a go/no go decision. You can view it on your own terms, and unlike the Weather Channel, you don't have to watch a half hour to get the info you need.

The graphics look at good as anything on TV. According to a review on www.Linuxdevices.com you can get this nifty Linux based appliance and hook it up to any TV or big screen display and have realtime weather 24/7."

Submission + - The Completely "UnFair" Scheduler

Submitted by hichetu on Sunday April 22, 2007 @01:30AM

hichetu writes: Kernel trap has a nice summary ( http://kerneltrap.org/node/8059) of what is going on behind the scenes to change the Linux Scheduler. The O(1) Linux scheduler is going to be changed so that it is fair to interactive tasks. You will be surprised to know that O(1) is really too good not to have any side-effects on fairness to all tasks. You will also know how a kernel coder tried to address it and how his efforts were suppressed by O(1) coder only to come up later with similar ideas to solve issues with his O(1) scheduler in not so fair way!

Submission + - Dell will be selling PCs with pre-installed Linux

Submitted by

Elbethil

on Sunday April 22, 2007 @01:23AM

Elbethil writes: "Dell has recently announced that they will start to sell PCs that are pre-installed with Linux, in response to consumer demand from a 2007 survey as well as feedback given on IdeaStorm. According to Dell, "our first step in this effort is offering Linux preinstalled on select desktop and notebook systems." They have not yet announced which distros they will be offering, nor which specific computer models they will come on, but did promise an update in "the coming weeks.""

Feed Intel pulls up SoCs for TV appearance (theregister.com)

From feed by registerfeed on Tuesday April 17, 2007 @02:52AM

Inside your (next) telly

IDF Chip giant Intel wants to get inside your TV. Today, it launched its first system-on-a-chip product - its first since the ill-fated 'Timna' - but this one aimed at tellies and set-top boxes.

When the Alarm Clock Runs and Hides 212

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday April 17, 2007 @02:34AM from the run-in-circles-scream-and-shout dept.

bbbbryan writes to tell us about the commercialization of the elusive alarm clock prototyped at the MIT Media Lab a couple of years back. This alarm clock actually runs, hides from you, and beeps to ensure that you'll be awake enough not to go back to sleep by the time you find it and get it shut up. Detroit News has a writeup on the device, which you can buy from the inventor's site for $50.

Submission + - Open Source Takes on the Giant in Testing Market

Submitted by xtricity on Friday April 06, 2007 @02:33PM

xtricity writes: Thought this story by Sean Michael Kerner was interesting, especially considering that $4.5 billion dollar acquisition of Mercury Interactive by HP back in July. Innovative business strategies are being used with open source as a core way to get market penetration. The co-founder of Mercury Interactive is trying to use open source to take on HP with his new company, RadView. Hey, more power to them. It just means that the rest of us get increasingly more sophisticated open source products. Hope this trend keeps up. I wanna get good stuff without all the hoops and horrible pricing of enterprise software. I mean, I'm willing to pay a normal fee, but $100K for HP Mercury. Come on, I'd rather use open source and hack my own.

Feed Craigslist part deux: police tackle Tacoma trashing (com.com)

From feed by cnetfeed on Friday April 06, 2007 @02:32PM

Blog: The craigslist ad said "Please help yourself to anything on the property." And some people did. You can go see for yourself if...

Submission + - Hatfield-McCoy Feud Cause Found

Submitted by

WED Fan

on Friday April 06, 2007 @02:29PM

WED Fan writes: "The cause of the infamous, century spanning Hatfield & McCoy Feud has been narrowed down to genetics. Relatives of the feuders have a rare genetic disposition to rage and hair trigger response.

Before someone could say, "Thems feudin' words," a person with the disorder could fly off the handle at the slightest provocation. People with the genetic disorder are even denied insurance.

Next time someone cuts you off in traffic, starts a /. flamewar, they may just be related to the Hatfields and McCoys."

Submission + - 10 Worst PCs of all time?

Submitted by crosseyedatnite on Friday April 06, 2007 @02:26PM

crosseyedatnite writes: PC World has a feature on the 10 Worst Personal Computers of all time. While many of the entries are straightforward, the inclusion of the Vic-20 seemed somewhat biased. What do you think?

Feed Legally blind Texans may use lasers to pick out prey (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed on Friday April 06, 2007 @02:13PM

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Completely bypassing the stunning fact that (legally) blind Texans are actually allowed to wield a weapon and fire at will during regular hunting seasons, a new piece of legislation could allow these folks to see what they're aiming at a wee bit better, which is thrilling news if you're being mistaken for game. Rep. Edmund Kuempel has initiated a bill that would enable legally blind hunters that have a valid Texas hunting license to strap a sweet laser scope on their weaponry in order to pinpoint exactly where the bullet is headed before pulling the trigger. The bill would require the hunter to be accompanied by a (not legally blind) licensed hunter of 13 years or older, and is being pushed as a "reasonable accommodation" for those with disabilities. Hey, we know Texas is good for helping out the less fortunate, but we'd seriously think twice before wandering out into the wilderness for a weekend retreat in the Lonestar state.

[Via Fark]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Submission + - Authority from nothingness at Wikipedia

Submitted by

CurtMonash

on Friday March 16, 2007 @01:58AM

CurtMonash writes: ""Everybody knows" that Wikipedia shouldn't be regarded as an authoritative source on anything. Well, Tom Relly of Register makes a compelling case, by way of anecdote, that mainstream journalists don't know actually this. And that makes for an interesting circularity:

Wikipedia is full of claims that are sourceable in principle, but aren't actually sourced.

Mainstream journalists use information from Wikipedia, even if it is not further sourced.

Those very articles can be viewed as authoritative for Wikipedia's own sourcing purposes.

Thus, unsourced information could, by virtue of having been placed in Wikipedia, grow to be regarded as authoritative by Wikipedia itself.

This phenomenon needs a name, and I am helpfully offering one: Circlesourcing. So how long will it now take for Wikipedia to have an entry of that name?"

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