Cheirdal - Slashdot User

Justice Department Seeks Ebonics Experts 487

Posted by samzenpus on Monday August 23, 2010 @01:37PM from the my-mama-no-raise-no-dummies-I-dug-her-rap dept.

In addition to helping decipher their Lil Wayne albums, the Justice Department is seeking Ebonics experts to help monitor, translate and transcribe wire tapped conversations. The DEA wants to fill nine full time positions. From the article: "A maximum of nine Ebonics experts will work with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Atlanta field division, where the linguists, after obtaining a 'DEA Sensitive' security clearance, will help investigators decipher the results of 'telephonic monitoring of court ordered nonconsensual intercepts, consensual listening devices, and other media.'”

Man Repairs Crumbling Walls With Legos 106

Posted by samzenpus on Tuesday July 13, 2010 @11:57AM from the one-block-at-a-time dept.

Lanxon writes "German-born artist Jan Vormann, 27, has spent the past three years traveling the world repairing crumbling walls and monuments with Lego, reports Wired. His "Dispatchwork" began in 2007 in the small village of Bocchignano, Italy, as part of the contemporary art festival 20 Eventi. Developing the work in situ, he became intrigued by the makeshift repairs that had been made to the crumbling walls. The approach favored function over appearance, reminding Vormann of the haphazard Lego designs created by children."

Comment He Doesn't Sound Like Much Of An Expert (Score 1) 849

by Cheirdal on Thursday June 25, 2009 @05:21PM (#28472619) Attached to: Nielsen Recommends Not Masking Passwords

I've been in hundreds of meetings (literally) where someone has logged into an account in front of us using the projector. Whether this was a windows account or a website (as the author is talking about) password masking was in play. Password masking is a good thing. Someone shouldn't have to reset their password every time they demonstrate something at a meeting because everyone watches them type in their clear text password. If someone is incapable of typing in their password without seeing it on the screen in front of them then perhaps they shouldn't be using computers.

Comment This Sounds Familiar (Score 2, Insightful) 390

by Cheirdal on Friday May 29, 2009 @02:34PM (#28141669) Attached to: Newspaper Execs Hold Secret Meeting To Discuss Paywalls

I'm sure the buggy makers fought to keep their market share once the automobile industry started to dominate the market and we all know how well that worked out. CNN makes a metric buttload of money from ads online as probably do a lot of other news and pseudo news organizations. Newspapers can wall up their content instead of going to an online ad based revenue stream and kill themselves off altogether. The bottom line is news happens and there will be free sources to view it such as CNN. I'm not ever going to pay for online content.

Space Is Just a Little Bit Closer Than Expected 130

Posted by timothy on Tuesday December 23, 2008 @10:53AM from the winter-shrinkage dept.

SpuriousLogic points out a BBC story which begins "The upper reaches of Earth's atmosphere are much lower than expected, a US Air Force satellite has found. Currently, the ionosphere — a layer of charged particles that envelopes the planet — is at an altitude of about 420km, some 200km lower than expected. The behaviour of the ionosphere is important because disturbances in its structure can upset satellite communications and radar."

Submission + - Study reports hard-core MMORPG players are female

Submitted by spaced-cadet on Tuesday December 23, 2008 @08:25AM

spaced-cadet writes: The BBC are reporting on a study of EverQuest II players that indicates that while most gamers are male, the most hard-core players are female, spending more time each day playing the game than their male counterparts. The article proposes that the stereotype of a gamer being an overweight solitary male is outdated. It also suggests that female gamers are more likely to be women who reject traditional gender roles and stereotypes.

Submission + - Best Gaming PC Money can Buy Q4 (gameplayer.com.au)

Submitted by

SlappingOysters

on Tuesday December 23, 2008 @08:23AM

SlappingOysters writes: "Gameplayer has gone live with its Best Gaming PC Money can Buy selections for Q4 2008. It offers three separate configurations in Budget, Performance and Extreme categories. Prices are given (which will obviously differ per region) and detailed explanations are provided to explain why each hardware selection was the best possible option given the budget constraints of each category."

Slashdot Top Deals