cstacy - Slashdot User

Submission + - Blocking The Sun For Climate Change 4

Submitted by cstacy on Saturday November 19, 2022 @09:11PM

cstacy writes: "The White House Admits It: We Might Need to Block the Sun to Stop Climate Change" reports The Daily Beast. On Oct. 13, the White House announced that it was funding a five-year-research plan into one of the most controversial proposals for fighting climate change out there: geoengineering, or the technologies and innovations that can be used to artificially modify the Earth’s climate. The report will be dedicated specifically to a form of geoengineering known as solar radiation management. This is a technique that essentially involves spraying fine aerosols into the atmosphere to reflect sunlight away from the Earth. The idea is that, once it’s reflected, there’ll be less heat and temperatures will go down.

A nuclear energy operator in Springfield, USA, responded to this announcement with visible glee: "Since the beginning of time, man has yearned to destroy the sun. I shall do the next best thing: block it out."

Submission + - "Hey Siri" to become just "Siri"

Submitted by cstacy on Sunday November 06, 2022 @10:29PM

cstacy writes: 9to5mac reports:
Apple is working on a big change to how its Siri voice assistant works. While you currently have to say “Hey Siri” to activate the assistant hands-free, that may not be the case for much longer. Bloomberg reports today that Apple engineers are working to drop the “Hey” part of the phrase, so you’d only have to say “Siri” followed by a command to activate the assista

They also say Google is planning to change their wake word from "OK, Google" to just "Google". I think the problem here is that I can no longer discuss Amazon Alexa, because she hears just "Alexa" and waks up on what I'm saying. That's not a feature, that's a bug! Not sure why Apple and Google would want to replicate that. When I want to talk to the computer, I prefer to be explicit and say, "Hey Siri" or "OK Google". Or "Oh, Computer?" (a keyboard — how quaint!). Or "prekazywich" (for you Niven fans), since the device should know I don't speak Russian.

Submission + - Doordash Engineers Made To Do Deliveries

Submitted by cstacy on Friday December 24, 2021 @10:36AM

cstacy writes: Marketwatch reports:

All DoorDash Inc. employees, from software engineers up to the chief executive, will have to perform deliveries or maybe shadow a customer-service agent once a month starting next year — and some of them aren’t happy about it.
Some employees are complaining using the anonymous posting app Blind:
“DoorDash making engineers deliver food,” includes profanity and statements such as “I didn’t sign up for this, there was nothing in the offer letter/job description about this.”

The money that the workers earn on their gig is donated to a philanthropic effort to address hunger and food waste.

Submission + - Julian Assange Missing, Feared Dead (yournewswire.com)

Submitted by cstacy on Saturday November 26, 2016 @08:17PM

cstacy writes: Julian Assange has not made any appearance or communication in six weeks, and people are beginning to suspect he is dead.

Submission + - Genetically Targeting The Mosquito Vector

Submitted by cstacy on Monday May 25, 2015 @01:40PM

cstacy writes: Only the female mosquitos bite and transmit viral diseases such as Dengue Fever. Scientists have finally discovered the elusive genetic switch that determines the sex of these blood sucking flies, and hope to selectively eliminate females to control the spread of diseases.

Submission + - The NSA is viewed favorably by most young people

Submitted by cstacy on Saturday January 31, 2015 @01:25AM

cstacy writes: A poll by the Pew Research Center suggests that Snowden's revelations have not much changed the public's favorable view of the NSA. Younger people (under 30) view the NSA favorably, compared to those 65 and older. Is sanity statistical?

Submission + - Court Rules Against Online Anonymity 1

Submitted by cstacy on Thursday January 09, 2014 @09:16AM

cstacy writes: The Virginia Court of Appeals has ruled that people leaving negative feedback for a carpet cleaning service are not allowed to remain anonymous. Yelp must unmask seven critics to the carpet cleaner, who feels that they might not even be real customers.

Submission + - Lax SSH key management a big problem

Submitted by cstacy on Wednesday December 26, 2012 @09:45AM

cstacy writes: Tatu Yionen, inventor of SSH, says he feels "a moral responsibility" to come out of retirement and warn that a "little-noticed problem" could jeopardize the security of much of the world's confidential data. He is referring to the management (or lack thereof) of SSH keys (i.e. "authorized_keys") files. He suggests that most organizations simply allow the SSH key files to be created, copied, accumulated, and abandoned, all over their network, making easy pickings for intruders to gain access.

Do you think this is a widespread problem?
How does your company manage SSH keys?

Submission + - No more "Asperger's Syndrome" (guardian.co.uk)

Submitted by cstacy on Sunday December 02, 2012 @01:39AM

cstacy writes: The American Psychiatric Association is dropping Asperger's Syndrome from the upcoming edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-5).
It's symptoms will be included under the umbrella of Autism Spectrum Disorder, which includes everything from severe autism such as children who do not talk or interact, to milder forms of autism. Asperger's disorder is impairment in social interaction and repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior, activities and interests, without significant delay in language or cognitive development. Often the person has high intelligence and vast knowledge on narrow subjects but lacks social skills. DSM-5 comes out in May and will be the first major rewrite in 19 years.

Submission + - Confidential Police Confetti at Macy's Parade (upi.com)

Submitted by cstacy on Sunday November 25, 2012 @09:45PM

cstacy writes: The Nassau County (New York) Police Department is "very concerned" about reports that shreds of police documents (with social security numbers, phone numbers, addresses, license plate numbers, incident reports, and more) rained down as confetti in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The documents also unveiled the identities of undercover officers, including their SSNs and bank information, according to WPIX-TV. Macy's has no idea how this happened, as they use commercial, colored confetti, not shredded paper.

Submission + - Ivan Sutherland wins Kyoto Prize (kyotoprizeusa.com)

Submitted by cstacy on Sunday November 11, 2012 @08:29PM

cstacy writes: The Inamori Foundation has awarded the Kyoto Prize to graphics pioneer Ivan Sutherland, for developing Sketchpad in 1963. The award recognizes significant technical, scientific and artistic contributions to the “betterment of mankind, and honors Sutherland him for nearly 50 years of demonstrating that computer graphics could be used “for both technical and artistic purposes.”

Submission + - USPS ending overnight letters (yahoo.com) 1

Submitted by cstacy on Sunday December 04, 2011 @11:47PM

cstacy writes: The United States Postal Service will be closing half of its processing centers this spring. Currently, 42% of first-class mail is delivered the following day for nearby residential and business customers. But that overnight mail will be a thing of the past, with delivery guaranteed only for 2-3 days. About 51% will be delivered in 2 days. Periodicals may take up to nine days. (Additional delays beyond this may come into play when Congress also authorizes USPS to close operations for some days each week.) Stamp prices will be going up in a few weeks. How long before the post office is a footnote in the history books?

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