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Comment Alternative summary (Score 1, Insightful) 120

by edsousa (#40984203) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: Open Source Software To Manage Student Grades?
Lately on /.

Hi,
I have a job to do, but I am too lazy/ignorant/both to do my job or even to use Google. Dear slashdot, will you do my work for me?

or

We are some BI company and we are doing market research on this area. What is your favourite software for/which one would you recommend for this task?

Rinse and repeat...
(to the hell with mod points)
Math

The Math Formula That Lead To the Financial Crash 371

Posted by Soulskill from the can-we-blame-fermat-for-this dept.
New submitter jools33 writes "The BBC has a fascinating story about how a mathematical formula revolutionized the world of finance — and ultimately could have been responsible for its downfall. The Black-Scholes mathematical model, introduced in the '70s, opened up the world of options, futures, and derivatives trading in a way that nothing before or since has accomplished. Its phenomenal success and widespread adoption lead to Myron Scholes winning a Nobel prize in economics. Yet the widespread adoption of the model may have been responsible for the financial crisis of the past few years. It's interesting to ponder how algorithms and formulas that we work on today could fundamentally influence humanity's future."

Comment Re:How is it different from a play? (Score 2) 411

by edsousa (#38731482) Attached to: A Copyright Nightmare
They have right to their "image", not *copy* rights to the image (picture). They can prevent you (the photographer) of using/selling/distributing/whatever the picture if certain cases, like if they were in a place where they expected privacy or the image is being used to suggest they were endorsing some company/product, etc...
Science

What Scientists Really Think About Religion 1123

Posted by kdawson from the two-towers dept.
Hugh Pickens writes "The Washington Post has a book review of Science and Religion: What Scientists Really Think by Rice University sociologist Elaine Ecklund, who spent four years doing a detailed survey of 1,646 scientists at elite American research universities. The study reveals that scientists often practice a closeted faith, worrying about how their peers would react to learning about their religious views. 'After four years of research, at least one thing became clear: Much of what we believe about the faith lives of elite scientists is wrong. The '"insurmountable hostility" between science and religion is a caricature, a thought-cliche, perhaps useful as a satire on groupthink, but hardly representative of reality,' writes Ecklund. Unsurprisingly, Ecklund found that 64% of scientists are either atheists (34%) or agnostic (30%). But only five of the 275 in-depth interviewees actively oppose religion; and even among the third who are atheists, many consider themselves 'spiritual.' 'According to the scientists I interviewed, the academy seems to have a "strong culture" that suppresses discussion about religion in many areas,' says Ecklund. 'To remove the perceived stigma, we would need to have more scientists talking openly about issues of religion, where such issues are particularly relevant to their discipline.'"

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