adagioforstrings - Slashdot User

Comment If you really want to reminisce, (Score 1) 252

by adagioforstrings on Monday November 09, 2009 @01:54PM (#30035472) Attached to: Happy 5th Birthday To Firefox

check out this Slashdot story about Phoenix 0.2: http://developers.slashdot.org/developers/02/10/07/1739241.shtml

I remember Mozilla and its slowness and seemingly hundreds of configuration options that I didn't care about. It was like they were trying to fit every possible feature into the software. Then I tried Phoenix and it was so much more pleasant to use, even at that young stage. I'm happy to see Firefox has survived this long and remains, for the most part, as great to use now as those early days.

Becoming a Famous Programmer 347

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday September 29, 2008 @08:40AM from the lemme-tell-you-about-1=1 dept.

An anonymous reader writes "GrokCode analyzes more than 200 famous programmers to determine what types of projects made them famous. Inventing a programming language, game, or OS ranked among the top projects likely to lead to fame. Most programmers became famous through their work on only one project. The article also shows that among famous programmers, the ratio of males to females is much larger than among normal programmers."

Huge Arctic Ice Shelf Breaks Off 736

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday September 03, 2008 @07:09PM from the getting-warmer dept.

knarfling writes "CNN is reporting that a chunk of ice shelf nearly the size of Manhattan has broken away from Ellesmere Island in Canada's northern Arctic. Just last month 21 square miles of ice broke free from the Markham Ice Shelf. Scientists are saying that Ellesmere Island has now lost more than 10 times the ice that was predicted earlier this summer. How long before the fabled Northwest Passage is a reality?"

Comment I just ask the Shivans for directions (Score 1) 470

by adagioforstrings on Wednesday May 21, 2008 @11:04PM (#23500406) Attached to: Favorite navigation method?

so I voted for Etak. At least I'll pretend that's what the option means.

http://hard-light.net/wiki/index.php/ETAK

Arecibo Observatory Loses Funding 185

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @01:50PM from the well-isn't-that-sad dept.

An anonymous reader noted that "The Arecibo Observatory funding was slashed. Cut to $8 million from $10.5 million, which will decrease the amount of time that the telescope is operational. "A quarter of its staff was laid off last year," and Arecibo, which is located in Puerto Rico, could possibly be completely closed in four years, according to the "National Science Foundation (NSF), which pays for the operation of the telescope." This comes after "a review panel for the foundation's astronomy division two years ago" suggested cutting Arecibo's financing by 25 percent as a way to pay for new facilities. There has been "[a]n outcry" in response to the "decision, particularly from planetary scientists" who argued that the panel "overlooked Arecibo's role in cataloging potential dangers from asteroids." The Times notes that in Arecibo's favor is the fact that it "may be much cheaper to keep...open" than dismantle, which "could cost hundreds of millions of dollars."" I've been considering a vacation to PR for a few years, and seeing this thing is on my list of awesome things to try to see. Guess I should hurry ;)

67-Kilowatt Laser Unveiled 395

Posted by kdawson on Saturday February 24, 2007 @06:11PM from the very-big-sharks dept.

s31523 writes "Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California has announced they have working in the lab a Solid State Heat Capacity Laser that averages 67 kW. It is being developed for the military. The chief scientist Dr. Yamamoto is quoted: 'I know of no other solid state laser that has achieved 67 kW of average output power.' Although many lasers have peaked at higher capacities, getting the average sustained power to remain high is the tricky part. The article says that hitting the 100-kW level, at which point it would become interesting as a battlefield weapon, could be less than a year away."

Slashdot Top Deals