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Submission + - Healthcare.gov Official Resigns, Website Still a Disaster (slashdot.org)

Submitted by Nerval's Lobster
Nerval's Lobster writes: A government official who helped oversee the bug-riddled Healthcare.gov Website has resigned his post. Tony Trenkle, Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversees Healthcare.gov, will reportedly join the private sector after he departs on November 15. A spokesperson for the Medicare agency refused to say whether he had been forced out, telling reporters: “Tony made a decision that he was going to move to the private sector and that is what our COO announced yesterday.” Because of his supervisory role, Trenkle is considered a significant player in the Website’s development; The New York Times indicated that he was one of two federal officials who signed an internal memo suggesting that security protocols for the Website weren’t in place as recently as late September, a few days before Healthcare.gov’s launch.Following Trenkle’s resignation, Health and Human Services secretary Kathleen Sebelius admitted to the Senate Finance Committee that Healthcare.gov would require hundreds of fixes. “We’re not where we need to be,” she said. “It’s a pretty aggressive schedule to get to the entire punch list by the end of November.” Sebelius added that she was ultimately accountable for what she termed the “excruciatingly awful” rollout. Healthcare.gov has experienced massive problems since its Oct. 1 debut. In addition to repeated crashes and slow performance, the Website’s software often prevents people from setting up accounts. President Obama has expressed intense frustration with the situation, but insists the Affordable Care Act (ACA) backing the Website remains strong. “The essence of the law, the health insurance that’s available to people is working just fine,” he told reporters in October. “The problem has been that the website that’s supposed to make it easy to apply for insurance hasn’t been working.” While the federal government won’t release ‘official” enrollment numbers until the end of November, but it’s clear that the Website’s backers are losing the battle of public perception.

Submission + - Security breach forces Bitcoin bank to halt operations

Submitted by BitVulture
BitVulture writes: The hardcore Bitcoin community is abuzz with news of the closure of Inputs.io, a supposedly secure online Bitcoin wallet, after an attack resulted in the loss of 4100 Bitcoins. A PGP-signed message at the home page of the now mostly non-operational site briefly explains the situation: "Two hacks totalling about 4100 BTC have left Inputs.io unable to pay all user balances. The attacker compromised the hosting account through compromising email accounts (some very old, and without phone numbers attached, so it was easy to reset). The attacker was able to bypass 2FA due to a flaw on the server host side."

There's no word yet whether Inputs.io will eventually resume operations or whether the security breach will force the Bitcoin bank out of business.
Robotics

Cyborg Cockroach Sparks Ethics Debate 512

Posted by Unknown Lamer from the lightly-sand-the-carapace dept.
sciencehabit writes "A do-it-yourself neuroscience experiment that allows students to create their own 'cyborg' insects is sparking controversy amongst scienitsts and ethicists. RoboRoach #12 is a real cockroach that a company called BackyardBrains ships to school students. The students fit the insect with a tiny backpack, which contains electrodes that feed into its antennae and receive signals by remote control — via the Bluetooth signals emitted by smartphones. A simple swipe of an iPhone can turn the insect left or right. Though some scientists say the small cyborg is a good educational tool, others say it's turning kids into psychopaths." Fitting the backpack requires poking a hole in the roach's thorax and clipping its antennae to insert electrodes.

Comment Re:This is why (Score 2) 231

by TheJediGeek (#38346848) Attached to: Does Mega Media Control 90% of Content?
You were making sense until the BS about piracy "robbing the content creators blind." Unless you ONLY get TV content from the internet and/or an OTA antenna, they've got you paying (in a sense) both ways. Cable and satellite services pay the networks to carry their channels. We pay subscription fees AND have to see the advertising. The networks are getting revenue from ad space and from the cable and satellite providers carrying their channels. They are NOT some poor and destitute artists creating these shows on a shoestring budget out of the goodness of their hearts. They're making cash hand over fist. The programming is crap because there's no reason to make anything but crap. If the unwashed masses will put up with it, they'll continue making crap. Some of us may complain about the system, but for every one of us there's thousands that will happily watch Dancing With the Stars with all the commercials and pay Comcast for the privilege.

Don't try to say that the system is the way it is because they can't afford to change it. The system is the way it is because they're making TONS of money this way and have no financial reason to change it.

Comment Re:Easier Entry (Score 3, Informative) 358

by TheJediGeek (#38137120) Attached to: Ham Radio Licenses Top 700,000, An All-Time High
No-code tech has only been around for about 20 years or so. Before the elimination of the code requirement for all license classes, there were two tech classes. The "no code" tech and tech plus. There was also Novice class which has now gone away. Interestingly, Novice required 5 wpm CW yet would not grant voice privileges on 2M or 70cm.

I think the increase in amateur radio licenses probably has more to do with more people expecting the S to HTF. There seems to be a growing expectation that a global collapse, nuclear holocaust, government collapse, zombie apocalypse are just around the corner. It's probably a combination between that and people wanting to be prepared for more local or regional disasters like blizzards, hurricanes, tornadoes, etc.

Comment Re:Battary swaps... (Score 3, Interesting) 366

by TheJediGeek (#37745762) Attached to: All-Electric DeLorean Car To Hit the Streets In 2013
A standard battery pack would mean they become very common and very cheap. How will the auto makers make any money if they can't charge a ridiculous price for a SLIGHTLY different part that is only on 2 models?

But seriously folks, the auto manufacturers would fight tooth and nail to NOT use standardized parts so they can have a huge markup on THEIR brand of part.

Comment Re:I would ask them why only 3 days (Score 1) 211

by TheJediGeek (#37615134) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: What To Do In SW:TOR For Just 3 Days?
Except it won't be the same game as original SWG. I think GP meant that it will be subject to some of the same disastrous decisions that killed SWG and not the game play. It's already a class lock-in, level based game. That already puts it closer to the NGE version of SWG than it does to the original version. I don't have high hopes for this game. After what George Lucas did to the franchise, along with how SWG was killed, Star Wars is mostly dead to me now.

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