Comment Re:OoTS - mostly like that. (Score 1) 192
CEO
Journal Journal: Teacher reinstated after Ender's Game Controversy
It's scary that any action was taken because of an ignorant parent whinging about these books or that the bureaucrats needed three weeks to clear this matter up.
A Schofield Middle School teacher was reinstated Monday after being placed on paid administrative leave for about three weeks. The leave was related to supplemental book excerpts he read to his students during a class session.
Submission + - Humble Botanicula Debug Goes Live, Has New Land Conservation Charity (humblebundle.com)
Mr. Jaggers writes: "A new game has launched on the Humble Bundle website! This time it is "Botanicula" by Amanita Design, the creators of Machinarium and the Samorost games (included in the bundle). The games are DRM-free and work on Windows, Mac, and Linux, and some soundtracks are included. Along with a new set of games, this bundle also brings a new charity, the "World Land Trust", which fits into Botanicula's conservation-oriented theme.
The eponymous game itself is gorgeous point-and-click puzzle adventure, much in the vein of other Amanita game projects. Production values on the soundtrack are up to the same standard as Machinarium, complete with similar eastern-european sounding musical quirks.
This bundle is reminiscent of the Humble Frozenbyte Bundle and Humble Introversion Bundle, including previous work by a single game studio. Not sure if it will overcome the oft-observed "bundle fatigue" phenomenon, but we'll all be able to decide for ourselves when it closes in a bit over a week."
The eponymous game itself is gorgeous point-and-click puzzle adventure, much in the vein of other Amanita game projects. Production values on the soundtrack are up to the same standard as Machinarium, complete with similar eastern-european sounding musical quirks.
This bundle is reminiscent of the Humble Frozenbyte Bundle and Humble Introversion Bundle, including previous work by a single game studio. Not sure if it will overcome the oft-observed "bundle fatigue" phenomenon, but we'll all be able to decide for ourselves when it closes in a bit over a week."
Submission + - Mexican "Geolocalization Law" draws ire of privacy activists (arstechnica.com) 1
An anonymous reader writes: Last week, revisions to Mexican federal law took effect that give public authorities and law enforcement unprecedented ability to compel mobile phone companies to disclose real-time geographic data from mobile phone companies in a wide variety of cases.
The group of legal revisions, popularly known collectively online as the #LeyGeolocalización (Geolocalization Law), appears to be squarely aimed at expanding police power to fight drug violence and gangs in a massive conflict primarily fought along the United States-Mexico border for decades. As new data found from the ACLU and EFF shows, local law enforcement across the United States are likely routinely using a similar practice. The Mexican law codifies what local and federal government in the US have been doing in practice for years.
The bill passed the lower house of the Mexican parliament on March 1 by an overwhelming margin, 315 votes in favor, seven against, and six abstentions. The Mexican government and law enforcement have argued that they need more extensive surveillance power as a way to fight cartel-related violence and kidnappings.
The group of legal revisions, popularly known collectively online as the #LeyGeolocalización (Geolocalization Law), appears to be squarely aimed at expanding police power to fight drug violence and gangs in a massive conflict primarily fought along the United States-Mexico border for decades. As new data found from the ACLU and EFF shows, local law enforcement across the United States are likely routinely using a similar practice. The Mexican law codifies what local and federal government in the US have been doing in practice for years.
The bill passed the lower house of the Mexican parliament on March 1 by an overwhelming margin, 315 votes in favor, seven against, and six abstentions. The Mexican government and law enforcement have argued that they need more extensive surveillance power as a way to fight cartel-related violence and kidnappings.
Submission + - Schmidt Testifies Android Did Not Use Sun's IP (computerworld.com) 1
CWmike writes: "Google built a 'clean room' version of Java and did not use Sun's intellectual property, Google's executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, testified in court Tuesday. Schmidt said its use of Java in Android was 'legally correct.' On this day seven of the trial, Schmidt gave the jury a brief history of Java, describing its release as 'an almost religious moment.' He told the jury that Google had once hoped to partner with Sun to develop Android using Java, but that negotiations broke off because Google wanted Android to be open source, and Sun was unwilling to give up that much control over Java. Instead, Schmidt said, Google created the 'clean room' version of Java that didn't use Sun's protected code. Its engineers invented 'a completely different approach' to the way Java worked internally, Schmidt testified."
Submission + - 2.5M Dead Americans' IDs Stolen Each Year (darkreading.com)
CowboyRobot writes: "A new report shows that the rate of abuse comes out to 2,000 times a day that cybercriminals use a dead person's identity. About a third of these were purposefully targetted, while the rest were inadvertent. The report also identified the U.S. metropolitan areas with the worst per capita identity manipulation. At the top of the list is Beaumont, Tex., followed by El Paso, Tex., Detroit; Flint, Mich.; and Jackson, Miss."
Submission + - Mad cow disease confirmed in California (cnn.com)
wave9x writes: The United States Department of Agriculture confirmed today that the nation's fourth case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), sometimes referred to as "mad cow disease" was found in a dairy cow in California. The animal has been euthanized and the carcass is being being held under State authority at a rendering facility in California and will be destroyed.
Submission + - Childhood Stress Leaves Genetic Scars (sciencemag.org)
sciencehabit writes: Traumatic experiences in early life can leave emotional scars. But a new study suggests that violence in childhood may leave a genetic mark as well. Researchers have found that children who are physically abused and bullied tend to have shorter telomeres—structures at the tips of chromosomes whose shrinkage has been linked to aging and disease.
Submission + - Drone drops GPS, navigation by vision alone. (suasnews.com)
garymortimer writes: "This technology, developed in the Autonomous Systems Laboratory at ETH Zurich, has two weighty advantages compared with GPS-based flying robots. First, it works both in the open air and in enclosed spaces. The second is that the flying robots can navigate where GPS fails; for example, due to the density of buildings. The camera-based technology allows for a more accurate positioning of the aircraft than is possible with GPS, explains the project coordinator, Davide Scaramuzza. Depending on the environment, GPS errors can be as great as 70 metres — much too imprecise when several flying robots are in close proximity to each other in the air."
Comment Re:As someone who has been in startups since the 8 (Score 1) 140
Perpenso Calc(tm)... either a speling fail on my part, or it must have been one of those dirty, rotten, thieving, knock-off apps flooding the app store.
Comment Re:As someone who has been in startups since the 8 (Score 1) 140
Didn't I see the main actor, Woody Harrelson, using Propenso Calc(tm) during the engaging feature-film, RAMPART ?? I believe I did...
Comment Re:How can anyone take them seriously anymore? (Score 1) 97
I think that would be "Troll troll Troll troll trolls trolls Troll troll"; The Troll trolls that troll other Troll trolls, are themselves trolled by Troll trolls", where a "Troll troll" is a troll that primarily trolls another troll.
Somewhat close to buffalo^8, though it may not actually be true, even if grammatically correct (which it may also not be).
Comment Re:Internet with middle boxes like sex with a cond (Score 1) 90
Whoosh...
Comment Re:What fun! (Score 1) 139
Build in a lysine-deficiency into all the breeding females?
Better hope your animals aren't as smart as velociraptors... and be damn careful with that frog DNA!!
Comment Re:Oh fuck Hellenistic period Egypt! (Score 1) 94
It's actually not too bad... give it a shot.
After the first 3-5 papyri with actual text on it, you sort of find a transcription rhythm...
It helps greatly to have familiarity with the Greek alphabet from both a mathematical perspective but also from modern hand-written Greek. It's surprising how many common cosmetic styling permutations are still present today...
