aredubya74 - Slashdot User

Comment Re:Not really a "reunion" (Score 5, Informative) 60

by aredubya74 on Monday January 26, 2009 @12:13AM (#26604153) Attached to: The MST3K Crew Reunites For Live Webcast

Jim Mallon of Best Brains (the producer of the show from day 1) owns the trademark. Some schism between the camps of Rifftrax (Mike/Kevin/Bill) and Cinematic Titanic (Joel/Trace et al.) has yet to be explained, but it likely precludes any further collective work between the bunch of funny folks.

Rare Venomous Mammal Filmed 233

Posted by kdawson on Friday January 09, 2009 @01:49PM from the do-not-annoy-the-solenodon dept.

Smivs writes "The BBC are reporting that footage of one of the world's most strange and elusive mammals has been captured by scientists. Large, and with a long, thin snout, the Hispaniolan solenodon resembles an overgrown shrew. It can inject passing prey with a venom-loaded bite. Dr Sam Turvey, a ZSL (Zoological Society of London) researcher involved with the program, told BBC News: 'It is an amazing creature — it is one of the most evolutionary distinct mammals in the world.' Along with the other species of solenodon, which is found in Cuba (Solenodon cubanus), it is the only living mammal that can actually inject venom into their prey through specialized teeth. Little is known about the creature, which is found in the Caribbean, but it is under threat from deforestation, hunting and introduced species. Researchers say conservation efforts are now needed. The mammal was filmed in the summer of 2008 during a month-long expedition to the Dominican Republic — one of only two countries where this nocturnal, insect-eating animal (Solenodon paradoxus) can be found (the other is Haiti). The researchers from the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust and the Ornithological Society of Hispaniola were able to take measurements and DNA from the creature before it was released."

Tales From the Support Crypt 855

Posted by timothy on Tuesday December 30, 2008 @02:22PM from the plug-in-your-mouse-please dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Talking viruses, infected physical devices, and lights that go out are some of the 'problems' Panda Security's tech support service has had to face. Many of them were not a result of computer viruses, but of confused users. This proves once again, that antivirus manufacturers must make a special effort to increase user knowledge regarding computer security and malware effects." For anyone who's been on the receiving end of such questions, now's a good time to tell your cathartic tale.

Comment Common interests make for good teams (Score 4, Interesting) 51

by aredubya74 on Wednesday December 24, 2008 @02:22AM (#26220307) Attached to: Boss By Day, Gamer By Night

As a bit of background, I'm a 100% telecommuter from my home on the East coast, with the vast majority of my company based in Silicon Valley. I don't get as much in the way of facetime with the team - in ~6 years working this way, I've met my boss (and the rest of the company) less than 5 times. We're friendly for sure, but the distance does occasionally make for strained work relationships.

A year or so back, during a weekly internal conf call, I heard several of the higher-ups talking about their WoW PvP experiences. I had no idea they were gamers, and they apparently didn't know I was either. I decided to share that, and found they were entirely cool with my gameplay, even enthused. At the time, I was a regular in a casual raiding guild (semi-weekly raids, months behind uberguilds), so I was able to share some tips with the gang about stat builds, leveling strategies etc. I even went so far as to critique the gear of my boss's boss's level 70 pally, giving him tips on what to pick up to prep for tanking for their guild.

Since then, we've all stopped WoW'ing regularly, but the experience and sharing was really worthwhile. It certainly wouldn't be appreciated at every company, but use your judgment, and perhaps discussing, even playing, with your coworkers is worth the risk.

Drilling Hits an Active Magma Chamber In Hawaii 251

Posted by timothy on Wednesday December 17, 2008 @04:03PM from the time-for-a-lava-luau dept.

Smivs writes "The BBC are reporting that drillers looking for geothermal energy in Hawaii have inadvertently put a well right into a magma chamber. Molten rock pushed back up the borehole several meters before solidifying, making it perfectly safe to study. Magma specialist Bruce Marsh says it will allow scientists to observe directly how granites are made. 'This is unprecedented; this is the first time a magma has been found in its natural habitat,' the Johns Hopkins University professor told BBC News. 'Before, all we had to deal with were lava flows; but they are the end of a magma's life. They're lying there on the surface, they've de-gassed. It's not the natural habitat.' It is hoped the site can now become a laboratory, with a series of cores drilled around the chamber to better characterise the crystallisation changes occurring in the rock as it loses temperature."

Machine Condenses Drinking Water Out of Thin Air 438

Posted by timothy on Sunday November 23, 2008 @03:18PM from the LED-bulbs-or-klieg-light-specials? dept.

longacre writes "A new $1,200 machine that uses the same amount of power as three light bulbs promises to condense drinkable water out of the air. On display at Wired Magazine's annual tech showcase, the WaterMill 'looks like a giant golf ball that has been chopped in half: it is about 3ft in diameter, made of white plastic, and is attached to the wall. It works by drawing air through filters to remove dust and particles, then cooling it to just below the temperature at which dew forms. The condensed water is passed through a self-sterilising chamber that uses microbe-busting UV light to eradicate any possibility of Legionnaires' disease or other infections. Finally, it is filtered and passed through a pipe to the owner's fridge or kitchen tap.'"

Hubble's Exoplanet Pics Outshined by Keck's 140

Posted by timothy on Thursday November 13, 2008 @04:33PM from the keckkeckkeck-is-the-new-bwahaha dept.

dtolman writes "Scientists at the Keck and Gemini telescopes stole the thunder of Hubble scientists announcing the first picture of an extrasolar world orbiting a star. Hubble scientists announced today that they were able to discover an extrasolar world for the first time by taking an actual image of the newly discovered exoplanet orbiting Fomalhaut — previous discoveries have always been made by detecting changes in the parent star's movement, or by watching the planet momentarily eclipse the star — not by detecting them in images. Hubble's time to shine was overshadowed though by the Keck and Gemini observatories announcing that they had taken pictures of not just one planet, but an entire alien solar system. The images show multiple planets orbiting the star HR 8799 — 3 have been imaged so far."

Comment Prince of Space all (Score 3, Insightful) 165

by aredubya74 on Tuesday November 11, 2008 @02:16PM (#25723531) Attached to: Mystery Science Theater Turns 20

Yes, even better than Manos. Manos is more horrible to behold, but Prince of Space is funny from start to finish, and hits every key sci-fi demo - B&W, bad SFX, awkward costuming, dubbed from Japanese to some weird form of Brooklyn tough guy accent ("I like it VERY MUCH!"), great callbacks (Krankor's laugh, "your weapons are useless against me", bumbling scientists). It was a cinematic goldmine, ably plundered by Mike and the Bots.

New President for OLPC Organization 251

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday May 02, 2008 @03:11PM from the roll-the-dice dept.

haroldag writes "After Walter Bender's resignation as president of OLPC, Charles Kane enters to take his place as the new boss. Kane says 'The OLPC mission is a great endeavor, but the mission is to get the technology in the hands of as many children as possible. Whether that technology is from one operating system or another, one piece of hardware or another, or supplied or supported by one consulting company or another doesn't matter. It's about getting it into kids' hands. Anything that is contrary to that objective, and limits that objective, is against what the program stands for.'"

Celebrity AD&D Character Sheets 194

Posted by CmdrTaco on Saturday April 05, 2008 @12:00PM from the kinda-funny dept.

GnomeIllusionist writes "In their continuing tribute to Gary Gygax, Wired has created character sheets for nine celebrities. Apparently, Stephen Hawking can do 10D6 radiation damage to his enemies and Rick Astley is a 20th-Level bard. Steve Jobs' black turtleneck is actually magical armor with +6 against edged attacks." Most of them are kinda cheesy and obvious- I wonder if you can do better.

Where's Our Terabit Ethernet? 218

Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday February 28, 2008 @12:52PM from the i-already-made-a-bandwidth-pr0n-joke-today dept.

carusoj writes "Five years ago, we were talking about using Terabit Ethernet in 2008. Those plans have been pushed back a bit, but Ethernet inventor Bob Metcalfe this week is starting to throw around a new date for Terabit Ethernet: 2015. He's also suggesting that this be done in a non-standard way, at least at first, saying it's an opportunity to "break loose from the stranglehold of standards and move into some fun new technologies.""

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