Voltaire759 - Slashdot User

Submission + - Comcast to buy NBC (cnn.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Friday December 04, 2009 @01:46PM

An anonymous reader writes: From the Star-Ledger Business section:
"... it was already raising concerns that Comcast would wield too much power over entertainment."
"In agreeing to buy 51 percent of NBC Universal from General Electric, which has controlled NBC since 1986, Comcast hopes to succeed in marrying distribution and content in a way Time Warner Inc. could not."

Submission + - Organovo Has Its First Commercial 3D Bioprinter (singularityhub.com)

Submitted by kkleiner on Friday December 04, 2009 @01:39PM

kkleiner writes: Organovo and strategic partner Invetech hope in 2010 to release a commercial version of their 3D organ printer capable of producing very basic tissues like blood vessels. While it is still limited to simple tissue structures (full organs are a long ways off), Organovo plans to deliver the printers to various research institutions interested in organ and tissue production. Working with these institutions, Organovo hopes to one day progress to creating a system that can print organs as easily as other 3D printers print plastic figurines.

Submission + - Hearst Launching Kindle Competitor (engadget.com)

Submitted by

ScuttleMonkey

on Friday December 04, 2009 @01:06PM

ScuttleMonkey writes: "The Hearst Corporation has announced their intention to launch an e-reader competitor to Amazon's Kindle and a supporting store and platform that is much more "publisher friendly." More details are also available form their official press release this morning. "Launching in 2010, Skiff provides a complete e-reading solution that includes the Skiff Service platform, Skiff Store and Skiff-enabled devices. Skiff will sell and distribute newspapers, magazines, books, blogs and other content. Skiff gives periodical publishers tools to maintain their distinct visual identities, build and extend relationships with subscribers, and deliver dynamic content and advertising to a range of dedicated e-readers and multipurpose devices. Skiff is headquartered in New York City and also has offices in Palo Alto, Calif. Visit Skiff at www.Skiff.com.""

Submission + - SPAM: Air Force extends plug-and-play spacecraft

Submitted by coondoggie on Friday December 04, 2009 @11:56AM

coondoggie writes: Looking to build strategic satellites in day if need be, rather than months, the Air Force is pushing forward with what it calls plug-and-play spacecraft. This week it awarded a $500,000 order to Northrop Grumman to begin designing the plug-and-play spacecraft "bus" which will offer standard interfaces for a variety of payload components, much like a laptop computer that immediately recognizes new hardware when it's plugged in, Northrop stated. The order was awarded under a contract that has a ceiling of $200 million.
[spam URL stripped]
Link to Original Source

Comment Re:Not exactly related to the patent (Score 1) 150

by Voltaire759 on Friday November 20, 2009 @05:47PM (#30177950) Attached to: Patent Issued For Podcasting

I had a cron job automatically downloading US satellite weather data. It checked every hour at 15 minutes past the hour. I was using someone's Unix shell script. Does that count?

Comment Re:Anecdote (Score 1) 223

by Voltaire759 on Sunday June 14, 2009 @10:32PM (#28331135) Attached to: DTV Transition Mostly Smooth, Windows Media Center Problems

Yes, I also had a channel switch from UHF to VHF. I'd build a nice UHF antenna that worked perfectly until they switched. Now I've got to build another VHF antenna for one station.

Comment Re:In My Opinion, a Truly Horrid List (Score 1) 508

by Voltaire759 on Monday April 20, 2009 @06:37PM (#27653697) Attached to: Where's Your Coding Happy Place?

I don't think that I have a preference for an environment -- as long as I get to chose it.

BTW, my students laugh, but I often describe what I call "programmer's high", the equivalent of runner's high. No mind altering substances involved, just getting in a groove where I write perfect code at high speed with an endorphin high. I can't say any particular environment does it, but I know when I'm there.

Comment Re:Wisdom of the Crowds" (Score 1) 158

by Voltaire759 on Friday June 27, 2008 @10:15PM (#23977147) Attached to: "Wisdom of Crowds" Works For Individuals Too

It does work. We do the jar-full-of-candy thing every Christmas. I've calculated the average of all guesses both times and came really close -- within 10 the last time. Things like this drove the eugenics people [like Galton] crazy.

Of course, my brother-in-law saw my guess and added one to it to win.

It's not how smart you are, it's knowing who's smart!

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