Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×

Comment Re:Here's what I'm hearing... (Score 3, Insightful) 113

There's a world of difference between sheets of drywall attached to a frame with fasteners and a stack of drywall on pallets.

As far as composite woods, almost all new construction is done with at least some LVL or similar lumber products, it's stronger, cheaper, and more uniform than the fast growing pines that are otherwise used.

Manufactured homes have historically been real low end products, fortunately today there are companies out there making better products, I remember watching a this old house episode post-Sandy about a lady in NY or NJ who had her replacement home brought in as a manufactured home and it seemed to be at least as good as your average home builders workmanship and probably most importantly it didn't look like a double wide.

Comment Re:This is news? (Score 2) 79

Interesting, despite what TFA says this is what I get on your results:
Amazon Basics "Featured from our brands"
Energizer "Sponsored"
So, not only do they have the right to move products around just like every other retailer on the planet, but they're actually transparent when they do so unlike say Walmart where you get zero explanation for why something is on and endcap, at eye level for the intended buyer, etc.

Submission + - Slashdot Alum Samzenpus's Fractured Veil Hits Kickstarter

CmdrTaco writes: Long time Slashdot readers remember Samzenpus,who posted over 17,000 stories here, sadly crushing my record in the process! What you might NOT know is that he was frequently the Dungeon Master for D&D campaigns played by the original Slashdot crew, and for the last few years he has been applying these skills with fellow Slashdot editorial alum Chris DiBona to a Survival game called Fractured Veil. It's set in a post apocalyptic Hawaii with a huge world based on real map data to explore, as well as careful balance between PVP & PVE. I figured a lot of our old friends would love to help them meet their kickstarter goal and then help us build bases and murder monsters! The game is turning into something pretty great and I'm excited to see it in the wild!

Comment Re:WiFi hub? (Score 2) 84

You might not be aware of this but cars now implement Carplay and Android Auto over WiFi Direct to transport video, audio, touch information, etc.Because of this the implementation of WiFi protocol, WiFi Direct, and Android Auto/Carplay protocols matters to people who want to use those features.

Submission + - GM Recalls All Chevy Bolts Due to Fire Risk (cbsnews.com)

An anonymous reader writes: General Motors is recalling all Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicles sold worldwide to fix a battery problem that could cause fires, expanding a previous recall. The company last month told owners of 2017-2019 model year vehicles to park outdoors and not charge them overnight after two vehicles repaired in the earlier recall caught fire.

The recall and others raise questions about lithium ion batteries, which now are used in nearly all electric vehicles. Ford, BMW and Hyundai all have recalled batteries recently. President Joe Biden will need electric vehicles to reach a goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions in half 2030 as part of a broader effort to fight climate change.

The GM recall announced Friday adds about 73,000 Bolts from the 2019 through 2022 model years to a previous recall of 69,000 older Bolts. GM said that in rare cases the batteries have two manufacturing defects that can cause fires.

The Detroit-based automaker said it will replace battery modules in all the vehicles. In older versions, all five modules will be replaced.

Submission + - Nevada court ruling could reshape US immigration policy (aljazeera.com) 1

lsllll writes: A federal judge in Nevada ruled on Wednesday that a 1929 law that makes it illegal for deported migrants to re-enter the U.S. is unconstitutional. From the article:

US District Judge Miranda Du in Reno, in an order issued on Wednesday, found the law widely known as Section 1326 is based on “racist, nativist roots” and discriminates against Mexican and Latino people in violation of the equal protection clause of the Fifth Amendment.

Section 1326 of the Immigration and Nationality Act makes it a crime for a person to enter the US if they have been denied admission, deported or removed. It was enacted in 1952 using language from the Undesirable Aliens Act passed by Congress in 1929. Penalties were stiffened five times between 1988 and 1996 to increase its deterrent value.

Du said she considered written and oral arguments and expert testimony about the legislative history of the law from professors Benjamin Gonzalez O’Brien of San Diego State University and Kelly Lytle Hernandez of the University of California, Los Angeles.

“Importantly, the government does not dispute that Section 1326 bears more heavily on Mexican and Latinx individuals,” the judge said in her 43-page order dismissing the June 2020 criminal indictment of Gustavo Carrillo-Lopez.

“The government argues that the stated impact is ‘a product of geography, not discrimination,’ and that the statistics are rather a feature of Mexico’s proximity to the United States, the history of Mexican employment patterns and the socio-political and economic factors that drive migration,” Du wrote.

“The court is not persuaded.”


Submission + - SPAM: India Approves World's First DNA Covid Vaccine

An anonymous reader writes: India's drug regulator has approved the world's first DNA vaccine against Covid-19 for emergency use. The three-dose ZyCoV-D vaccine prevented symptomatic disease in 66% of those vaccinated, according to an interim study quoted by the vaccine maker Cadila Healthcare. The firm plans to make up to 120 million doses of India's second home-grown vaccine every year. Previous DNA vaccines have worked well in animals but not humans. Cadila Healthcare said it had conducted the largest clinical trial for the vaccine in India so far, involving 28,000 volunteers in more than 50 centers. This is also the first time, the firm claimed, a Covid-19 vaccine had been tested in young people in India — 1,000 people belonging to the 12-18 age group. The jab was found to be "safe and very well tolerated" in this age group.

DNA and RNA are building blocks of life. They are molecules that carry that genetic information which are passed on from parents to children. Like other vaccines, a DNA vaccine, once administered, teaches the body's immune system to fight the real virus. ZyCoV-D uses plasmids or small rings of DNA, that contain genetic information, to deliver the jab between two layers of the skin. The plasmids carry information to the cells to make the "spike protein," which the virus uses to latch on and enter human cells.

ZyCov-D is also India's first needle-free Covid-19 jab. It is administered with a disposable needle-free injector, which uses a narrow stream of the fluid to penetrate the skin and deliver the jab to the proper tissue. Scientists say DNA vaccines are relatively cheap, safe and stable. They can also be stored at higher temperatures — 2 to 8C. Cadila Healthcare claims that their vaccine had shown "good stability" at 25C for at least three months — this would help the vaccine to be transported and stored easily.

Link to Original Source

Comment Re:Easy fix (Score 1) 86

Nope, there's no monthly fee for basic functionality, you can pay for full remote admin (vs dashboarding which is free) and for a protection service which does cloud backups and includes a device replacement service. Neither of those are required, the monthly fee goes to offset their costs for running servers in AWS or whatever cloud they are on and to provide a recurring revenue source plus it's a hardware replacement plan. Personally I've had zero reason to pay for either service, though with the zwave migration service of the protect offering I might do that in the future if my setup becomes complex enough (right now it's 3 zwave devices, so definitely NOT worth the fee).

Comment Re:Can this be applied to battery electric vehicle (Score 1) 124

Um, they did a paper after the Tesla semi was announced and redid their calculations based on the .35Cd that Musk mentioned, suddenly cost was the primary barrier, with a target of $150/kWh for the pack (something Tesla has already achieved based on estimates derived from model differences).

Comment Re:Can this be applied to battery electric vehicle (Score 1) 124

Musk has said recently that the 300 mile semi will have a 500kWh pack, based on the 167.7Wh/kg of the Model 3 that puts the pack weight at ~3.3 tons, the fuel tanks on a typical semi are about that when fueled. Even if you double that pack weight for the 500 mile semi you're still in the same range as the drivetrain with fuel for a long haul semi, I wouldn't expect significant cargo penalties vs traditional tractors.

Comment Re:Unlawful (Score 1) 119

I get protecting trade secrets and preventing working with existing or prospective clients

Except non-competes don't accomplish either of those. The first is covered by an NDA and the second is covered by a non-solicitation agreement. I will gladly sign either of those if they are correctly crafted, but I will never again sign a non-compete unless it covers 100% of my salary and benefits for the duration of the agreement. Having been screwed by an overly broad agreement and a petty former boss once I will never put myself or my family in that kind of risk.

Comment Cheap whores (Score 3, Funny) 81

It's not that I don't expect politicians to be swayed by big corporations, it's just the fact that they're so cheap to buy that bothers me. I mean you're representing several hundred thousand to 10's of millions of people, you should cost more than a couple thousand dollars of schmoozing to have your vote swayed.

Slashdot Top Deals

Truly simple systems... require infinite testing. -- Norman Augustine

Working...