Comment Wonder if they killed the classified version too? (Score 1) 111
I remember helping put this on-line the first time in '97. At that time the unclassified version was a subset of the much larger classified version
Comment Remember PageRank? (Score 3, Informative) 109
Google became the Ruler of Search back in the day because it had two big things making it distinct from the many other search engines of the times:
1. Small clean text ads that were separate from the search results
2. PageRank -> how trusted and valid a page's data was in relation to a search term
PageRank was multiple algorithms rolled up together and it evolved over time to combat SEO and keep data results honest.
Google has of course ditched these two things completely
Comment Not trustworthy without restricted training (Score 1) 102
AI has a proven track record of making shit up. Medical AI could be possible IF and ONLY if they restrict the training data to trusted and verified medical sources. Otherwise you'll get medical "opinions" from some rando on reddit or tumblr mixed into the underlying model
Comment Re:It's magic once you try it (Score 1) 92
I'm fairly certain that at my reading speed I'd get RSI from clicking "next paragraph" so often. I dislike the kindle already for forcing me to "next page" so much because the displayed page size is so small and this looks to be a 1/4 of that at best.
Comment Pushing all the costs onto employees (Score 1) 66
The article mentions "business fund the acquisition of PCs that their staff use", nah that's not how this will work. Simply pass the cost onto the worker as a new "employee tax", with minimum specs and upgrades no longer coming out of the company's pockets. MBAs will love this idea, IT will cry in a dark corner
Comment Re:Consider the timing, seems reasonable (Score 1) 105
I don't know about that. I decided to be a computer programmer (AKA software developer) when I was in 8th grade in 1980. Enlisted in the Air Force as a computer programmer in 85 and I've been developing software ever since.
TBF I did start out on mainframes, but haven't touched one since 88-89 timeframe. Of course I started doing web based stuff around 1992
Comment "Not for ME, I'm a safe driver" .... say some (Score 1) 127
Various studies have shown that tailgaters and aggressive drivers CAUSE accidents and traffic jams, even (or possibly especially) if they don't get in accidents themselves. If the default device behavior here causes drivers to tailgate less to keep the device from showing them warning lights all of the time, that's an even better effect!
Comment There are already groups doing this (Score 1) 20
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Force_Technical_Applications_Center knows how to get a LOT of data out of seismometer
Comment Re:I worked IT on the verification system... (Score 1) 93
I worked at AFTAC in the 80's, and they've been able monitor this stuff since the 70's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Force_Technical_Applications_Center
Wiki Editor Helps Reveal Pre-9/11 CIA Mistakes 176
An anonymous reader writes "Kevin Fenton was reading the Department of Justice's 2004 Inspector General report on pre-9/11 intelligence failures. Parts of it didn't make sense to him, so he decided to add the information in the report to Paul Thompson's 9/11 timeline at the wiki-style website History Commons. Eventually, Fenton's work led him to uncover the identity of a CIA manager who ran the Bin Ladin unit before 9/11, when agents there deliberately withheld information about two 9/11 hijackers from the FBI. That manager was named Richard Earl Blee and he is now the subject of a documentary by Ray Nowosielski and John Duffy, of secrecykills.org, who confirmed his identity using techniques right out of the 70s film All the President's Men. Blee, along with Cofer Black and George Tenet, have found the work disturbing enough to release a joint statement denying some of the allegations."
Comment Re:Known this one for a long time... (Score 1) 352
*laugh* Austin is just as ageist. Couldn't get a job last go round till I dyed the gray, then I got two offers.
Comment Re:What crime? What misdeeds? (Score 1) 123
This! So very much this!
7 Hackers Who Got Legit Jobs From Their Misdeeds 123
adeelarshad82 writes "Just like in Stephen Glass' fabricated feature where a lonely teenage hacker gets hired by a major software company, the 21 year old PlayStation 3 hacker, George "Geohot" Hotz, was offered a job at Facebook. Ironically Hotz wasn't the first school-aged hacker to be rewarded for his cyber-crime rather than a prison sentence. Turns out there are others who have managed (with one exception) to avoid jail time, and instead found themselves gainfully employed by some of Silicon Valley's most exclusive circles."
MS Design Lets You Put Batteries In Any Way You Want 453
jangel writes "While its strategy for mobile devices might be a mess, Microsoft has announced something we'll all benefit from. The company's patented design for battery contacts will allow users of portable devices — digital cameras, flashlights, remote controls, toys, you name it — to insert their batteries in any direction. Compatible with AA and AAA cells, among others, the 'InstaLoad' technology does not require special electronics or circuitry, the company claims."
Son Sues Mother Over Facebook Posts 428
Most kids hate having their parents join in on a discussion on Facebook, but one 16-year-old in Arkansas hates it so much he has filed suit against his mother, charging her with harassment. From the article: "An Arkadelphia mother is charged with harassment for making entries on her son's Facebook page. Denise New's 16-year-old son filed charges against her last month and requested a no-contact order after he claims she posted slanderous entries about him on the social networking site. New says she was just trying to monitor what he was posting." Seems like he could just unfriend her.
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