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The Internet

U.S. Aims To Give Up Control Over Internet Administration 279

Posted by timothy from the at-long-last dept.
schwit1 writes with this excerpt from the Washington Post: "U.S. officials announced plans Friday to relinquish federal government control over the administration of the Internet, a move likely to please international critics but alarm some business leaders and others who rely on smooth functioning of the Web.

Pressure to let go of the final vestiges of U.S. authority over the system of Web addresses and domain names that organize the Internet has been building for more than a decade and was supercharged by the backlash to revelations about National Security Agency surveillance last year." Reader Midnight_Falcon points out this press release on the move from Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

Comment Re:Vaccination is not risk-free (Score 1) 747

by EmagGeek (#46486257) Attached to: Measles Outbreak In NYC

"Despite a generally high degree of safety, vaccination still has significant risks."

A one in one million chance of having a mild allergic reaction to a vaccination is not a "significant risk."

A one in one hundred million chance of dying from a vaccination is also not a "significant" risk.

Comment Re:Call the Army (Score 2) 89

by EmagGeek (#46460093) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: College Club Fundraising On the Fly?

I assure you we are fully aware of the complexity of erecting this tower. It is not a simple job, and requires a very large crane. Most of the $30-40K expense we're ballparking is in the erection of the new base and assembly of the tower. At the very least a new in-base tube must be fabricated as the original is hopelessly captured in the original base.

Here's a photo gallery of the construction of one of these monsters:

http://www.qth.com/gallery3/nt...
Communications

The $100,000 Device That Could Have Solved Missing Plane Mystery 461

Posted by timothy from the no-need-for-you-to-miss-a-minute-of-the-agonizing-holocaust dept.
First time accepted submitter evidencebase writes "How can an airliner simply disappear, leaving no clues? And why do we have to wait until the black boxes are found to learn what happened to Flight MH370? As this article explains, there's no good reason that flight data needs to go down with the plane, because the technology to stream it to ground, from the moment things start to go wrong, is already on the market. It can be fitted to a commercial airliner for less than $100,000. But the industry has decided that it's not worth the expense. Tell that the the families of passengers on Flight MH370."
Communications

Ask Slashdot: College Club Fundraising On the Fly? 89

Posted by timothy from the but-if-everyone-sold-their-plasma-for-a-year dept.
An anonymous reader writes "As luck would have it, I was video-attending the monthly meeting of my alma mater's amateur radio club last night and learned that a local Alumnus had passed, leaving a significant amount of equipment to the club, including a 'Big Bertha' tower that the club does not have a home for. This particular 'Big Bertha,' as it is called, is a 115 foot tall, self-supporting rotatable pole that can support an enormous number of antennae. There are thought to be only a small number of them in civilian use, and this was one of them. I also happen to be a member of the local University's amateur radio club, and our local meeting was right after the Georgia Tech meeting, so upon learning of the availability I immediately informed them that this tower could be had so long as they could support the logistics of moving the tower approximately 100 miles.

After discussing the logistics, and the fact that construction crews would be required on both sides, we came to the conclusion that a significant amount of money would be required, and that your typical intramural basketweaving team bake sale would not do the job. The use case for such a tower is not difficult to make with the University, or with local emergency services who would no doubt love to have space on such a tall tower in such a prime 'top of the hill' geographical location. Zoning will also not be an issue owing to the location having one other taller tower belonging to the college radio station, and a water tower on site. However, with most governments being cash-strapped and unlikely willing to contribute to the project, we need some more ideas on how to raise the needed funds.

So if you're a small University club, and need to raise $30-40K in a hurry, how do you do it? They are working on some small grants from local corporations, and also contacting the manufacturer to see if there is any goodwill there. But, many more ideas are needed. Thanks in advance."

Submission + - College Club Fundraising on the Fly 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: As luck would have it, I was video-attending the monthly meeting of my alma mater's amateur radio club last night and learned that a local Alumnus had passed, leaving a significant amount of equipment to the club, including a "Big Bertha" tower that the club does not have a home for. This particular "Big Bertha" as it is called is a 115 foot tall, self-supporting rotatable pole that can support an enormous number of antennae. There are thought to be only a small number of them in civilian use, and this was one of them.

I also happen to be a member of the local University's amateur radio club, and our local meeting was right after the GT meeting, so upon learning of the availability I immediately informed them that this tower could be had so long as they could support the logistics of moving the tower approximately 100 miles. After discussing the logistics, and the fact that construction crews would be required on both sides, we came to the conclusion that a significant amount of money would be required, and that your typical intramural basketweaving team bake sale would not do the job.

The use case for such a tower is not difficult to make with the University, or with local emergency services who would no doubt love to have space on such a tall tower in such a prime "top of the hill" geographical location. Zoning will also not be an issue owing to the location having one other taller tower belonging to the college radio station, and a water tower on site. However, with most governments being cash-strapped and unlikely willing to contribute to the project, we need some more ideas on how to raise the needed funds.

So if you're a small University club, and need to raise $30-40K in a hurry, how do you do it? They are working on some small grants from local corporations, and also contacting the manufacturer to see if there is any goodwill there. But, many more ideas are needed. Thanks in advance.
Earth

Ice Age Fossils Found During Los Angeles Subway Exploration 64

Posted by timothy from the global-warming-has-since-occurred dept.
An anonymous reader writes "During an exploratory dig to extend one of L.A.'s subway lines (yes! Los Angeles actually does have an underground), a host of fossils from the Ice Age were uncovered, including the skull of a sea lion. The dig site is close to the La Brea Tar Pits, where the preserved remains of various plants and animals were discovered in the early 1900s. The La Brea Tar Pit fossils are estimated to be between 11,000-55,000 years old, and the most common animals found were dire wolves."

Comment Re:Ivy League = theroy loaded classes with skill g (Score 1) 197

by EmagGeek (#46441299) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Online, Free Equivalent To a CompSci BS?

I went to Georgia Tech, and it certainly does NOT have the "ivy league" mentality. In fact the place prides itself on the practicality of its curriculum. The university actively engages industrial leaders to shape and form its curriculum to keep it current with demand.

I don't know what the deal is with the online Master's, though. I completed my attendance there when the Internet was just starting to take off, so I don't know if the same resources are available (like the Alumni mentoring program, etc...).
Google

Google Faces Up To $5 Billion Fine From Competition Commission of India 89

Posted by timothy from the so-I-was-just-counting-your-governments dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Google is facing investigation by the Competition Commission of India and potentially faces fines up to 10% of its three-year average turnover. While Google has settled anti-trust cases in the U.S. and the European Union, India's competition regime does not have provisions for settlement process." From the Times of India article linked: "The complaint against Google, also one of the world's most valued company, was first filed by advocacy group CUTS International way back in late 2011. Later, matrimonial website matrimony.com also filed a complaint. Referring to Google's settlement with the European Commission, matrimony.com counsel Ferida Satarawala said: 'Google's unfair use of trademarks as well as its retaliatory conduct are not specifically addressed in the European settlement and are distinct theories of harm being pursued by the CCI. Therefore, this settlement is unlikely to address CCI's concerns in our case.'"

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