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Comment Smallest violin (Score 5, Interesting) 130

I'm sure someone could reimplement it using open street maps, but here's why it won't happen: From routebuilder's FAQ:

I'm building a website that would benefit from some of the features of RouteBuilder. Will you give me the source code for free? I'm sorry, I'm not interested in giving away the source code behind this website for free. However, I am open to selling a license to use it.

Comment What's with all this physics equipment? (Score 1) 810

You need bio equipment. Ok, a haunted house is a money making opportunity. So consider how one explanation for the Amityville Horror is ergot poisoning: people get exposed to natural hallucinogens and can't explain why they see ghosts. Hence, to them, there are ghosts. In many dark, creepy houses that have been considered haunted, you'll probably have owners who have not been taking good care of the property. Gutters clog, water overflows over and into the walls...BAM mold problem. Here's the steps you need to take to capitalize off this: 1. Take petri dishes with you and place them in the basement, bathroom, attic and anywhere else that would potentially be interesting, biologically. Grow the samples in a controlled environment and find out if you have anything interesting. Next step, expose the cultures that you can't identify to rats, guinea pigs or your relatives. If anything has an effect, you've found your golden ticket. 2. Next, sell people the idea that you can bring back the dead and expose people who pay you big bucks to your "substance G." 3. While you have this revenue stream, find some chemist (or starving grad student) who will help you identify the chemical that makes it possible in "substance G." 4. Sell "substance G" through a network of reputable distributors. Hopefully, you won't end up rediscovering acid. Happy hunting!

Comment Do online with a real university (Score 1) 428

Seriously, if the school is only online, you might as well print your diploma from the South Harmon Institute of Technology. I did an online certificate program from a university nearby and it was fairly challenging. The other people in the program weren't idiots and I learned from the assignments. The attrition was somewhat high, though. The program consisted of three classes. At the beginning, there were about 25-30 people in the class. At the end, there was around 10. I can't really say much about doing a BS or MS from an online program. I can see doing an MS online, but getting Bachelor's is mostly about the experience.
Google

Submission + - Google purges thousands of suspected malware sites (itnews.com.au) 1

Stony Stevenson writes: "In response to a concerted effort by cyber criminals to infect the computers of Google users with malware and make them unwitting partners in crime, Google has apparently purged tens of thousands of malicious Web pages from its index. Alex Eckelberry, CEO of Sunbelt Software, noted that many search results on Google led to malicious Web pages that expose visitors to exploits that can compromise vulnerable systems. Sunbelt published a list of search terms that returned malicious pages, the result of search engine optimization (SEO) campaigns by cyber criminals to get their pages prominently ranked in Google — Sunbelt refers to this as "SEO poisoning."

Let's hope Google has done its research and hasn't purged legitimate sites."

Music

Submission + - EMI may cut funding to IFPI, RIAA (arstechnica.com) 1

Teen Bainwolf writes: Big Four record label EMI is reportedly considering a big cut in its funding for the IFPI and RIAA. Each of the labels reportedly contributed over $130 million per year to fund industry trade groups, and EMI apparently believes that money could be better spent elsewhere. 'One of the chief activities of the RIAA is coordinating the Big Four labels' legal campaign, and those thousands of lawsuits have done nothing but generate ill will from record fans, while costing the labels millions of dollars and doing little (if anything) to actually reduce the amount of file-sharing going on. In fact, the RIAA freely admits that the legal campaign is a real money pit, and EMI's new ownership may be very leery of continuing to pour money down that particular rat hole.
NASA

Submission + - NASA to scientists: Reveal sex history or lose job 1

Markmarkmark writes: "Wired is reporting that all NASA JPL scientists must 'voluntarily' (or be fired) sign a document giving the government the right to investigate their personal lives and history 'without limit'. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists this includes snooping into sexual orientation, mental & physical health as well as credit history and 'personality conflict'. 28 senior NASA scientists and engineers, including Mars Rover team members, refused to sign by the deadline and are now subject to being fired despite a decade or more of exemplary service. None of them even work on anything classified or defense related. They are suing the government and documenting their fight for their jobs and right to personal privacy."

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