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Comment Atari 800XL (Score 2) 623

by robcfg (#43850525) Attached to: How Did You Learn How To Program?
I got my 1st computer, an Atari 800XL from my grandmother in Germany as a First Communion present. When I got bored of playing Donkey Kong, I took a look at the manual, wrote the first example, and ran it. I was so amazed, that I started tweaking the numbers in the code and saw which effect they had. That's when I discovered the power XD
Music

Submission + - Computer Program 'Evolves' Music From Noise (sciencemag.org)

Submitted by sciencehabit
sciencehabit writes: Researchers have developed a program, called DarwinTunes, that produces 8-second sequences of randomly generated sounds, or loops, from a database of digital "genes." Now, with input from 7000 internet users who act as "natural selectors", the program has "evolved" these bits of noise into real music. Although the resulting strains are hardly Don Giovanni, the finding shows how users' tastes exert their own kind of natural selection on popular music, nudging tunes to evolve out of cacophony.
Ubuntu

Submission + - MIT Builds 96-Core, Solar-Powered Ubuntu ARM Super Computer (phoronix.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Days after building a 12-core Ubuntu ARM cluster, Phoronix was at MIT participating in a build of a 96-core ARM cluster built out of 48 PandaBoards. Ubuntu 12.04 LTS was running on the nearly 100 cores and the entire computer — built inside of a trash can — was powered via a single solar panel.
Space

Submission + - Missing Matter, Parralel Universes ? (universetoday.com)

Submitted by
Phoghat
Phoghat writes: "Could mirror universes or parallel worlds account for dark matter — the ‘missing’ matter in the Universe? In what seems to be mixing of science and science fiction, a new paper by a team of theoretical physicists hypothesizes the existence of mirror particles as a possible candidate for dark matter. An anomaly observed in the behavior of ordinary particles that appear to oscillate in and out of existence could be from a “hypothetical parallel world consisting of mirror particles,” says a press release from Springer. “Each neutron would have the ability to transition into its invisible mirror twin, and back, oscillating from one world to the other.”"
Security

Submission + - Could Security Breaches Cost Lives? (net-security.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Over a quarter of companies believe that if their sites go down or they suffer a major security breach it could potentially cost customers' their lives, according to AlienVault. When asked who they most feared would violate their privacy, the answer was overwhelmingly the Chinese, with 40% of respondents admitting this was the country that worried them the most. The U.S. government and Russians tied at 13%; and the UK government trailed slightly at 12%. Aliens and Israeli’s came out at 4% each. Just 5% felt confident enough to claim they were not worried about anyone violating their privacy.
Security

Submission + - It's Not Paranoia if Your Phone is Really Watching You (cio.com)

Submitted by bdcny7927
bdcny7927 writes: Malware exists that lets Bad Guys hijack webcams and microphones. The U.S. government can't even do that yet, at least not legally, but it is working on it. Remember: It's not paranoia if they're actually after you.

Submission + - GoDaddy: DMCA Overreactor Extraordinaire (plagiarismtoday.com)

Submitted by
TheNextCorner
TheNextCorner writes: "A recent Slashdot story, about a photographer threatened with lawsuits because he was sending DMCA take down notices, got more attention to the policies of GoDaddy.
GoDaddy takes down the full account of the infringing website, which could have the effect that other websites are taken down. see story here.
The lesson should be: Don't take images of the Internet which you don't have the copyright for!"
Music

Submission + - Amanda Palmer raises $1M from fans for her album (blogspot.com) 1

Submitted by
NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "The music industry will never be the same. Singer Amanda Palmer (@amandapalmer on Twitter), has just raised over $1,000,000 directly from her fans, through Twitter and other social media, to mix, promote, and distribute her new album. Armed only with a Kickstarter page, social media accounts, and a lot of friends, she has just liberated a lot of musicians from the tyranny of having to 'sign' with a big studio. I predict music business historians will be writing about this day for years to come. The "big 4" record companies just got a lot smaller."
Software

Submission + - The Evolution of Data Management (datanami.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A condensed history of data management with some graphics, highlighting of important trends. As un-boring as something like this can be.

Submission + - The Idiot's Guide To Backing Up

Submitted by lunatic1969
lunatic1969 writes: I'm trying to get serious with my backups. Maybe I'm just used to the way of doing things in other operating systems. Maybe you can set me straight. I have several Windows 7 Home Premium edition machines and large USB network drive (Hooked to the router). I figured wow, I'll just use windows built-in backup utility. No. It won't grok saving to a network drive without using some VHD work around that I'm having mixed results with (The drive disconnects at some point for some unknown reason...). I suppose I could walk around with the USB drive to the various machines and back up every so often, but the point is I'm lazy. It has to be automatic or it won't happen. What utility or method would slashdotters use given a setup with several Windows 7 Home Premium machines and a network drive?
NASA

Submission + - Cool space shot: Venus set to cross Sun (networkworld.com)

Submitted by
coondoggie
coondoggie writes: "You likely have been told your entire life not to stare directly at the but for an event happening next month you may want to figure out how to get a peek. NASA said on June 5th, 2012, Venus will pass in front of the sun, "producing a silhouette that no one alive today will likely see again.""
Security

Submission + - Scammers Working Harder to Fool Consumers (net-security.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The number of unique phishing reports submitted to the APWG rose substantially from early fall through the end of the year, while cybercrime gangs were apparently forced to work harder and smarter to fool increasingly fraud-savvy consumers into falling for their confidence schemes. Over the last half of 2011 there was a visible trend of phishers and scammers seeking to hide their intentions. Even fewer phishing websites are using the oh-so-obvious IP host to host their fake login pages, instead preferring to host on a compromised domain.
Government

Submission + - Florida judge rules flashing headlights is legal (orlandosentinel.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: No good deed goes unpunished, as they say. A man who tried to warn others of a speed trap by flashing his vehicle's headlights at motorists was ticketed by police. But a Florida judge ruled this week that flashing headlights is free speech protected by the First Amendment, according to an article in the Orlando Sentinel.

Ryan Kintner was ticketed last year for warning motorists of a speed trap waiting for them down the road. The Lake Mary, Fla., resident was at home when he noticed a police officer with a radar gun near his house, and decided to help out unsuspecting motorists by parking farther up the street from the officer and flashing his lights at oncoming traffic to warn drivers. The police officer instead ticketed Kintner, citing a law that prohibits the flashing of aftermarket emergency lights.

However, Kintner fought the ticket, and brought a lawsuit against the Seminole County Sheriff's office to stop them from using this law to "silence" motorists. He argued that the officers are misapplying that law, which is intended to prevent motorists from installing aftermarket emergency lights and impersonating emergency vehicles.

A judge sort of agreed with him last year and granted a partial ruling in Kintner's favor stating that Florida law does not prohibit motorists from using their lights from communicating with other motorists, reported an earlier Orlando Sentinel article.

This latest decision that signaling with headlights is Constitutionally protected free speech should protect movie plots and road Samaritans going forward. It should also put an end to Florida police writing tickets based on the emergency-vehicle lights law. Police hiding in speed traps will either need to get stealthier or find another way to avoid being outed.
Businesses

Submission + - This Is the Way Facebook Ends (vice.com)

Submitted by
pigrabbitbear
pigrabbitbear writes: "For the past eight years, Facebook has been the central neural network of the Internet’s link-sharing brain. But as the site has grown, so have our needs. Now that the company’s public, it’s crunch time, and the skeptics and haters are lining up to talk about how it might all end. One thing’s for certain: whether it’s a bang or a whimper, Facebook is not forever. How could it collapse? Let me count the ways."

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