Comment Dating Sites (Score 1) 522
Those profile pictures may not be photoshopped.
Check out the new SourceForge HTML5 internet speed test! No Flash necessary and runs on all devices.
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Comment Evil Tone (Score 1) 614
I propose that all robocalls use an unused audio frequency to indicate whether the call had been placed with malicious intent, thus making call blocking an easy problem -- simply block any calls with the evil tone set.
Comment Three Words (Score 1) 628
DOES NOT COMPUTE
Comment This Poster Needs More Apostrophes (Score 1) 290
Wait! & vs. &?!
Submission + - Ship Anchor Damages African Undersea Cables (bbc.co.uk)
Bastian227 writes: A ship anchoring in a restricted area disrupts an East African high-speed Internet connection. The damaged fiber optic cable is one of three new undersea cables in the area off Kenyan coast. Repairs could take up to 14 days.
Submission + - MIT takes aim at secure, self-healing cloud (networkworld.com)
coondoggie writes: "Researchers at MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) have received funding from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to bring about a cloud infrastructure that could identify cyberattacks and heal itself from any damages."
Submission + - Genetically Engineered Bacteria Could Help Fight Climate Change (sciencemag.org)
sciencehabit writes: As humans warm the planet by releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, some researchers believe that capturing CO2 and trapping it in buried rocks could lower the risk of catastrophic climate change. Now a team of researchers has shown that bacteria can help the process along. They can even be genetically modified to trap CO2 faster, keeping it underground for millions of years.
Comment Been There, Done That (Score 1) 424
Word for word, I thought your submission was something I wrote. I've been there, done that, so it is possible. The mess I inherited took me 6 MONTHS to fully comprehend and formulate all plans of attack. Meanwhile, I was trying to fix and maintain what I could.
To tackle the whole problem, where did I start? Everywhere, frankly. There was no one starting point. Everything was affecting everything else. I did my best to get written down exactly what was running on each server, including running daemons, system crontab, and all user crontabs. Basically, build a list of what exactly you can determine. Then, try to get into the mindset of your predecessor and try to understand why (as best you can) to see if that sheds some light on what else may be lurking out there.
I didn't get bogged down in formal documentation because I knew I would have to rebuild everything. I took copious notes and drew pictures of what I thought were the processes of the system, but this documentation was just for my own benefit. Once I could identify unneeded processes, I shut them down or side-stepped them and hoped I didn't break anything; if I did, that was just more information at my disposal. Other processes I simplified and consolidated where I could. Eventually, the system got more and more comprehensible.
Once I "got" everything that was going on, I built a fresh new setup that focused on simplicity and efficiency. This is when I focused on documentation. I kept the legacy system dormant but available, just in case.
Now, we have a darn good system in place. I used virtualization to segregate different services and to enhance security. Maintenance is now preventative. Management is happy because they can now grow the business without everything imploding. The focus of my work today is building new products and services. I hope my successor doesn't complain.
Comment Tidally Locked Lunar Enlightenment (Score 2) 412
If our moon weren't tidally locked, would early cultures have entertained sooner the idea the Earth is round?
Comment Re:This is good... (Score 1) 374
What if the aliens are just waiting for us to go all digital before they deal with us?
Submission + - Astronomers Search for Earth-Like Planet Next Door (blogspot.com) 1
Adam Korbitz writes: "Back in March I posted about a team of researchers at the University of California-Santa Cruz who have proposed a computer model that predicts Alpha Centauri -- the star closest to our own Sun — may harbor at least one Earth-like terrestrial planet orbiting within the habitable zone of one of the system's component stars. Astronomers hope they may be able to detect such planets, if they exist, in the relatively near future using the well-established radial velocity method that measures the wobble caused by planets as they orbit their host stars. "
The hunt for that Earth-like planet around Alpha Centauri B is now underway in Chile.
According to the NASA/JPL website Planet Quest:
At a little over four light years from Earth, the sunlike star Alpha Centauri B — actually a member of a three-star system — is our sun's closest neighbor and practically a stone's throw away in celestial terms.
[The] planet-hunting team is using a telescope in Chile to keep an eye on the star for the next three years, in order to collect enough data to determine whether or not the next Earthlike planet lies next door.
Such a planet would be too small to see, but its gravity will pull on its host star, making it rock back and forth in a way that the telescope can detect. With NASA funding, they're also working on simulations that may be able to predict how a solar system could have formed around our cosmic neighbor.
I wish them success. Other searches for a planet around the nearest star, Proxima Centauri, have so far yielded nothing — but the quest continues.
You can read the full Planet Quest article here.
Submission + - Steve Jobs Takes Medical Leave
Bastian227 writes: "A quick word on NPR and a letter from Steve Jobs on Apple's website indicates that Jobs will 'take a medical leave of absence until the end of June'. He also states, 'During the past week I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought'. Tim Cook will be responsible for daily operations, though Jobs will remain involved with major strategic decisions."
