detonator - Slashdot User

First 'Malaria-Proof' Mosquito Created 261

Posted by timothy on Thursday July 15, 2010 @07:59PM from the what-about-a-really-good-egg-cream dept.

Gisg writes "The University of Arizona team reported that their genetically modified mosquitoes are immune to the malaria-causing parasite, a single-cell organism called Plasmodium. Riehle and his colleagues tested their genetically-altered mosquitoes by feeding them malaria-infested blood. Not even one mosquito became infected with the malaria parasite."

Man Builds His Own Subway 174

Posted by samzenpus on Tuesday June 01, 2010 @11:53AM from the everyone-needs-a-hobby dept.

jerryjamesstone writes "Everybody is into rail these days; it is the greenest way to get around next to a bike. Leonid Mulyanchik has been into it for years since before the Berlin Wall fell, since before the first Macintosh, building his own private underground Metro railway system. English-Russia says that he has been doing it with his pension, that it is all legal and approved and that he is still at it. Gizmodo calls it 'Partly the traditional, inspiring, one man against all odds type of persistence, but more the obsessive, borderline insane persistence.'" Update: 06/02 07:33 GMT by T : And if you're the type to visit Burning Man, you can actually ride a home-made monorail this summer, too.

Design Contest Highlights Video Games With a Purpose 43

Posted by Soulskill on Sunday May 30, 2010 @12:36PM from the other-than-saving-the-world-from-zombies dept.

drew30319 writes "Game developers' website Gamasutra discusses a video game design contest with socially redeeming qualities — is this a productive role video games can play? Quoting: 'A unique game design competition aimed at teen violence prevention has announced its winners, revealing that Grace's Diary is taking home the top prize. The annual contest is sponsored by Jennifer Ann's Group, a non-profit organization focused on teen violence education and prevention since its founding in 2006. The "Life. Love. Game Design Contest" challenges entrants to design a game about the issue — without using violence itself.' The winning games are available to play online now."

Physics Platformer Gish Goes Open Source 58

Posted by Soulskill on Sunday May 30, 2010 @11:15AM from the good-stuff dept.

An anonymous reader writes "After announcing plans to go open source due to the success of the Humble Indie Bundle, developer Cryptic Sea has released the source code of 2-D platformer Gish under the GPLv2. There's a mirror on github."

Comment Yay! Federally subsidized data centers! (Score 1) 179

by Insect Eater on Thursday April 24, 2008 @10:47AM (#23182836) Attached to: FBI Renews Push for ISP Data Retention Laws

Or at least they had better be, because that's going to cost my company a LOT of money.

Comment Re:This is old news. (Score 2, Interesting) 136

by detonator on Thursday August 17, 2006 @10:18PM (#15931962) Attached to: IT Workers Face Dangerous Stress

I worked for IBM Global Services many years ago. They were trying to pull this kind of mandatory overtime crap when I quit in 1997.

This seems like an attempt to circumvent labor laws. IANAL. In any event, it skirts the mutual understanding between you and your employer when the salary offer is made: the annualized figure is based on a standardized number of work hours per year, which is calculated from a 40-hour work week. Requiring 15% overtime (46 hours per week, or over an hour a day) amounts to a de facto pay cut. Put another way, if any hours worked beyond 8 in one day are worth time and a half, then your paycheck should be 22.5% bigger. IBM, if your pay and benefits aren't 22.5% higher than the competitive benchmark for this position, than you're SOL.

This is such a sneaky, underhanded tactic. Boo!

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