Comment Long time, nth time (Score 1) 726
I haven't logged in for years, but did today. Happy Birthday, Slashdot!
In MN, Massive Police Raids On Suspected Protestors 961
X0563511 alerts us to events in Minneapolis and St. Paul in advance of the Republican convention (which has been put on hold because of Hurricane Gustav). Local police backed by the FBI raided a number of homes and public buildings and confiscated computers and other material. From Salon.com: "Last night, members of the St. Paul police department and the Ramsey County sheriff's department handcuffed, photographed and detained dozens of people meeting at a public venue to plan a demonstration, charging them with no crime other than 'fire code violations,' and early this morning, the Sheriff's department sent teams of officers into at least four Minneapolis area homes where suspected protesters were staying. Jane Hamsher and I were at two of those homes this morning — one which had just been raided and one which was in the process of being raided." Here is local reporting from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: "Aided by informants planted in protest groups, authorities raided at least six buildings across St. Paul and Minneapolis to stop an 'anarchist' plan to disrupt this week's Republican National Convention. From Friday night through Saturday afternoon, officers surrounded houses, broke down doors, handcuffed scores of people and confiscated suspected tools of civil disobedience ... A St. Paul City Council member described it as excessive, while activists, many of whom were detained and then released without charges, called it intimidation designed to quash free speech."
Geoffrey Perkins Is Dead At 55 108
Dynamoo writes "Legendary comedy writer and producer Geoffrey Perkins has died in a road accident in London. Perkins was until recently the head of comedy for BBC TV. Earlier in his career he produced the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio series, and was a writer, director, and producer of many comedy shows including Spitting Image, The Fast Show, and several others. He also invented the game of Mornington Crescent. The world will be a less joyful place without him."
Feed Science Daily: New Climate Record Shows Century-long Droughts In Eastern North America (sciencedaily.com)
A stalagmite in a West Virginia cave has yielded the most detailed geological record to date on climate cycles in eastern North America over the past 7,000 years. The new study confirms that during periods when Earth received less solar radiation, the Atlantic Ocean cooled, icebergs increased and precipitation fell, creating a series of century-long droughts.
First Commodore 64 LAN Party 224
Leif_Bloomquist writes "The world's first Commodore 64 LAN party was held at the Cincinnati Commodore Computer Club 2008 Expo last weekend, where the new multiplayer C64 game NetRacer was unveiled. The setup consists of up to eight Commodore 64s with Ethernet cartridges and a central server written in Java running on a PC. The game is also playable over the Internet."
Comment Re:Chemical Replacement (Score 1) 343
We actually purchased these for my kids -- last weekend, no less. I heard about the recall on the radio during my commute home last night, and the first thing I did once I got inside the house was to take it away from them.
The toy itself *is* clever, it is just unfortunate that (what is apparently) typical lackluster Chinese quality control led to several children in the U.S. and Australia becoming violently sick and hospitalized. Fortunately none have died.
I read yesterday that the manufacturer's solution to this is to add a bitter-tasting chemical to the dots so kids are dissuaded from eating them. As if it were the dot's sublime taste that led to this problem, and not the bright candy colors.
I'm now waiting for the story about Chinese toys that explode; surely this can't be that far away.
The toy itself *is* clever, it is just unfortunate that (what is apparently) typical lackluster Chinese quality control led to several children in the U.S. and Australia becoming violently sick and hospitalized. Fortunately none have died.
I read yesterday that the manufacturer's solution to this is to add a bitter-tasting chemical to the dots so kids are dissuaded from eating them. As if it were the dot's sublime taste that led to this problem, and not the bright candy colors.
I'm now waiting for the story about Chinese toys that explode; surely this can't be that far away.
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