Follow Slashdot blog updates by subscribing to our blog RSS feed

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror

Comment Everything Old is New again (Score 5, Insightful) 213

by KarmaOverDogma (#32713420) Attached to: Khan Academy Delivers 100,000 Lectures Daily

I think this is a very interesting way of bringing and old, maybe ancient, method of teaching back to the fore again.

If I recall correctly, Socrates taught by answering questions and encouraging new ones, not just spouting knowledge according to a set curricula, like we do today.

If used well, this strikes me as having a real impact for learning, and teaching, in a more natural way. I for one would love to see more of this kind of thing going on and being acknowledged as a legitimate and effective way to teach and learn.

I wish him and the viewers all the best.
Cellphones

Porting Lemmings In 36 Hours 154

Posted by Soulskill from the first-in-line dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Aaron Ardiri challenged himself to port his classic PalmOS version of Lemmings to the iPhone, Palm Pre, Mac, and Windows. The porting was done using his own dev environment, which creates native C versions of the game. He liveblogged the whole thing, and finished after only 36 hours with an iPhone version and a Palm Pre version awaiting submission, and free versions for Windows and Mac available on his site."
PC Games (Games)

Civ 5 Will Let You Import and Convert Civ 4 Maps 142

Posted by Soulskill from the backward-compatibility dept.
bbretterson writes "From an interview Bitmob conducted with Civilization 5 Lead Designer Jon Shafer: 'You can import Civ 4 maps into the world builder and convert them into Civ 5 maps, including all the units and cities and stuff on it — the conversion process will just do that for you automatically. We're hoping that the first week Civ 5 is out, people will use that function and port all of the Civ 4 stuff over to Civ 5, so everything will be out there already.'"

Comment Re:Judges... (Score 5, Interesting) 636

by KarmaOverDogma (#32453500) Attached to: Guess My Speed and Give Me a Ticket, In Ohio

In my case (in Ohio) it was low flying aircraft measuring the distance and an officer at the side of the road waving me to pull over based on the results (along with several other drivers and a patrol car at the side for those who chose not to stop...).

I was pretty bothered by what I saw as a cheap stunt for money, so I went to court on the principal of it, after reading up on speeding ticket defense and the city's speed ordinance at the local University Library. Present at the hearing was the officer at the side of the road and the assistant city prosecutor. Here's a nut-shell of how it went:

Prosecutor to police officer: How fast was the defendant going?
Officer: The defendant was clocked at --
Me: Objection, your honor.
Judge: Yes, young man?
Me: The officer doesn't know how fast I was going. Based on the complaint issued to me in writing here, he was relying on an aircraft pilot's measurements. The pilot is not here; that makes the officer's testimony hearsay.
(Prosecutor approaches Judge after talking with officer)
Judge: Young man, would you agree to an extension 10 days from now until the pilot can be summoned?
Me: Respectfully, no, your honor. That date would put the hearing beyond the 30 day time-line for disposal of this case, which is the end of this week.
Judge: young man, would you like your case dismissed?
Me: yes, your honor.
Judge: case dismissed.

Know the basics of the law in your case. Sometimes it can end up being on your side, as long as your willing and able to take the time to research it and appear in court.
Image

Man Put On "No-Fly List" While In Air To NYC 300

Posted by samzenpus from the beware-the-list-refresh dept.
An unnamed man flying from Nigeria to New York City found out he was added to a no-fly list somewhere above the Atlantic Ocean, when the plane stopped to refuel in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Officials won't say what he did or why he was added to the list after he had already boarded a flight. He was not immediately charged with a crime and Customs and Border Protection will only say that he is a "potential person of interest." From the article: "The man, a citizen of Gambia, was not on the no-fly list when he boarded the aircraft in Dakar, Senegal, said a US official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly."
Image

Woman Claims Wii Fit Caused Persistent Sexual Arousal Syndrome 380

Posted by samzenpus from the can't-stop-playing dept.
Amanda Flowers always liked her Wii Fit but now she can't get enough of it. Amanda claims a fall from her balance board damaged a nerve and has left her suffering from persistent sexual arousal syndrome. From the article: "The catering worker said: 'It began as a twinge down below before surging through my body. Sometimes it built up into a trembling orgasm.' A doctor diagnosed her with persistent sexual arousal syndrome due to a damaged nerve."
Science

World's Smallest Superconductor Discovered 72

Posted by samzenpus from the none-more-small dept.
arcticstoat writes "One of the barriers to the development of nanoscale electronics has potentially been eliminated, as scientists have discovered the world's smallest superconductor. Made up of four pairs of molecules, and measuring just 0.87nm, the superconductor could potentially be used as a nanoscale interconnect in electronic devices, but without the heat and power dissipation problems associated with standard metal conductors."
Communications

Mississippi Makes Caller ID Spoofing Illegal 258

Posted by timothy from the so-be-sure-to-stop-in-late-june dept.
marklyon writes "HB 872, recently signed into law by Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, makes Caller ID spoofing illegal. The law covers alterations to the caller's name, telephone number, or name and telephone number that is shown to a recipient of a call or otherwise presented to the network. The law applies to PSTN, wireless and VoIP calls. Penalties for each violation can be up to $1,000 and one year in jail. Blocking of caller identification information is still permitted."

Comment Re:Not Trolling ... (Score 1) 703

by KarmaOverDogma (#31489914) Attached to: Obama Backs MPAA, RIAA, and ACTA

I understand you have strong and sincere feelings about the parent posting, but I feel it's unfair to frame the poster's comments as construing his wanting to be judge and jury on what constitutes patriotic dissent.

People who deliberately spread unprove-able smear campaigns saying, like GWBush ditched his military service with the air national guard, or that Obama wasn't born a citizen on US soil are being irresponsible hate mongers, in my opinion. Is their speech protected? Absolutelty. Is is promoting responsible public discourse? No. Is it "patriotic?" *I* don't think so (although supporting their constitutional right to say it IS).

SCOTUS has a series of rulings on what is considered to be protected speech and I wont debate that here (I agree with most of what they say, not that my opinion makes a whole lot of difference there).

I'm fairly sure the GP has a problem with anything he considers to be "misinformed fear-mongering, blatantly FUD-spreading speculation, and purposeful yet meaningless obstruction..." and so do I. I'm also sure you can cite numerous examples of lies and misinformation about those on the right (like tea partiers, for example) and you would not consider this to be "patriotic."

I'm willing to be he considered the following to be "patriotic" dissent:

1) non-violent Vietnam protests
2) non-violent Civil rights protests (many were violent because police simply beat/water hosed, or - in the case of Kent State, SHOT the protesters)
3) loudly proclaiming, via social media, opposition to lies about public figures on the left or right and/or the causes they support.

The problem, as you allude to, lies in what would ultimately follow from trying to regulate speech on it's ethical merits (or lack thereof)

As I see it, your argument is a red herring, because the GP never suggested this. I believe he was talking about passing his own personal judgment on what *he* thinks is *patriotic* dissent and how people should engage in rational, civil discourse on matters they disagree with. You may not agree with his doing this, but he still has the right to do it. I support his right to do this.

And I support your right to strongly and loudly disagree with him.
Upgrades

8-Core Intel Nehalem-EX To Launch This Month 186

Posted by Soulskill from the double-the-cores-for-only-twice-the-price dept.
MojoKid writes "What could you do with 8 physical cores of CPU processing power? Intel's upcoming 8-core Nehalem-EX is launching later this month, according to Intel Xeon Platform Director Shannon Poulin. The announcement puts to rest rumors that the 8-core part might be delayed, and makes good on a promise Intel made last year when the chip maker said it would release the chip in the first half of 2010. To quickly recap, Nehalem-EX boasts an extensive feature-set, including up to 8 cores per processor, up to 16 threads per processor with Intel Hyper-threading, scalability up to eight sockets via Intel's serial Quick Path Interconnect and more with third-party node controllers, and 24MB of shared cache."
Image

California Legislature Declares "Cuss-Free" Week 262

Posted by samzenpus from the f#*k-those-f@^king-f%&kers dept.
shewfig writes "The California legislature, which previously tried to ban incandescent light bulbs, just added to the list of banned things ... swear words! Fortunately, the measure only applies for the first week of March, and compliance is voluntary — although, apparently, there will be a 'swear jar' in the Assembly and the Governor's mansion. No word yet on whether the Governator intends to comply."
Transportation

Porsche Unveils 911 Hybrid With Flywheel Booster 197

Posted by timothy from the yeah-well-I-get-better-mileage dept.
MikeChino writes "Porsche has just unveiled its 911 GT3 R Hybrid, a 480 horsepower track vehicle ready to rock the 24-hour Nurburgring race this May. Porsche's latest supercar will use the same 911 production platform available to consumers today, with a few race-ready features including front-wheel hybrid drive and an innovative flywheel system that stores kinetic energy from braking and then uses it to provide a 160 horsepower burst of speed. The setup is sure to offer an advantage when powering out of turns and passing by other racers."

Slashdot Top Deals

One way to make your old car run better is to look up the price of a new model.

Close