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Comment Re:AltSlashdot is coming (Score 3, Insightful) 23

Doing a new site like the Slashdot we remember would be great. However, I think if you have Slashdot in the name, you'll be asking for legal trouble. Slashdot is a trademark, and my guess is Dice has lawyers who would send cease-and-desist letters and/or file a trademark infringement suit.

It's a good idea, but you should call it something else. There are probably enough things that imply Slashdot to those in the know, but don't infringe the trademark (e.g. CowboyNeal Fan Club, OMGPonies, etc.)

I might be willing to help with editing submissions.

Submission + - James Dyson: We Should Pay Students to Study Engineering (ibtimes.co.uk)

DavidGilbert99 writes: The inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner believes there is an engineering crisis in the UK and that 61,000 vacancies in the area will go unfilled in 2014. TO address this Dyson believes says he wants the UK government to offer monetary incentives to students with an interest and aptitude in science — as well as changing the current visa system to make it easier for foreign students to remain in the country and get work once they have completed their education in the UK.

Submission + - HealthCare.gov Can't Handle Appeals of Errors

PapayaSF writes: The Washington Post reports that roughly 22,000 people have claimed they were charged too much, steered into the wrong insurance program, or denied coverage, but the website cannot handle appeals. They've filled out seven-page forms and mailed them to a federal contractor’s office in Kentucky, where they were scanned and entered, but workers at CMS cannot read them because that part of the system has not been built. Other missing aspects are said to have higher priorities: completing the electronic payment system for insurers, the connections with state Medicaid programs, and the ability to adjust coverage to accommodate major changes such as new babies. People with complaints about mistakes have been told to "return to the Web site and start over."

Earlier coverage of this saga includes Slashdot's discussion of the recent TheHill.com report that Accenture Faces Mid-March Healthcare.gov Deadline Or 'Disaster'.

Submission + - Events Calendar for Local Community

hughbar writes: I live in a London suburb that has many activities and classes, yoga, IT [of course], running, art, assorted volunteering and many others. With the help of the local council, we'd now like to make a centralised, searchable database of these, with a number of helpful features:
  • Easy to make submissions, otherwise the whole thing will always be out of date
  • Web accessible [obviously] but mobile phone friendly as well
  • Maybe, publish and subscribe, so people can 'subscribe' to yoga listings for example
  • Handles repeating events, like a classical web calendar
  • Maybe, can be consolidate with nearby events calendars

I'm aware of http://mrbs.sourceforge.net/ and webcalendar: http://www.k5n.us/webcalendar.... for example. But I'm wondering whether there are other suggestions, especially as this is a useful social application. And, yes, I'd like it done with open source, then we can tailor it.

Submission + - EU: Google should face $1bn privacy fine, not 'pocket money' amounts (v3.co.uk) 1

DW100 writes: Despite Google being fined €900,000 by Spanish authorities and €150,000 in France for its controversial privacy policies in recent months, the EU has admitted this is mere 'pocket money' to the company. Instead, a new legal regime that would have seen Google fined $1bn for breaching data protection laws is needed to make US companies fear and respect the law in Europe.

Submission + - Exclusive: U.S. geneticist discusses North Korea trip with Dennis Rodman (sciencemag.org)

sciencehabit writes: If you happened to catch any of the news coverage of Dennis Rodman’s trip to North Korea last week, you might have spotted in the big man’s entourage a white guy with an Amish-style beard, as in clean-shaven cheeks and no moustache. That’s Joseph Terwilliger, 48, a statistical geneticist who splits his time at Columbia University and the University of Helsinki. He's now visited North Korea three times with the basketball star. He sat down with Science Magazine for a Q and A about how he got involved with Rodman and whether the trips are helping--or hurting--U.S. relations with the country.

Submission + - Starbucks Phone App Stores Password Unencrypted (dailycaller.com)

JThaddeus writes: The Daily Caller reports a serious security flaw in the Starbucks phone app: "Starbucks confirmed late Tuesday that anyone could access the unencrypted data stored on the official Starbucks app simply by connecting the phone to a computer – bypassing lock screen or PIN security features with no hacking or jailbreaking necessary." The linked report is for iOS. No mention of Android, but do you think it is any different?

Submission + - SpaceShipTwo sets a new altitude record

An anonymous reader writes: Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo reached an altitude of 71,000 feet, beating out its previous record of 69,000 feet. From the article: 'This time around, Virgin Galactic and Mojave-based Scaled Composites, the plane's builder, tested a new reflective coating on the rocket plane's tail booms. The flight also marked the first tryout for a thruster system that's designed to keep the plane on course when it's above the atmosphere. Virgin Galactic said all of the test objectives were met.'

Submission + - Intel Challenges Manufacturers to Avoid "Conflict Metals" (nationalgeographic.com)

retroworks writes: Several news outlets, CBS, Verge, Engadget, National Geographic, MarketWatch, etc. report on Intel's announcement that the chips it produces will avoid purchases of rare earth minerals and metals, such as tantalum, sourced from high conflict areas such as Congo basin. Will recycled content follow? Will manufacturers begin stating the percentage of their boards which are made from recycled boards, like recycled paper greeting cards, closing the loop on the environmental conflict-mine-to-ewaste chain? Or is another De Caprio "Blood Diamonds" film in our future?

http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/06/all-intel-microprocessors-conflict-mineral-free/

Submission + - Einstein's Camera: How one renegade photographer is hacking the concept of time. (medium.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Hungarian photographer Adam Magyar doesn't work like most artists. He takes the world's most sophisticated photographic equipment, then hacks it with software he writes himself—all in order to twist our perception of time inside out. In this latest story from the digital publisher MATTER, Joshua Hammer discovers how Magyar's unique combination of technology and art challenges the way we understand the world.

The images are stunningly beautiful--and don't forget to watch the videos 2/3 of the way through!

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