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Submission + - In Rural 'Dead Zones,' School Comes on a Flash Drive (nytimes.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Shekinah and Orlandria Lennon were sitting at their kitchen table this fall, taking online classes, when video of their teachers and fellow students suddenly froze on their laptop screens. The wireless antenna on the roof had stopped working, and it could not be fixed. Desperate for a solution, their mother called five broadband companies, trying to get connections for their home in Orrum, N.C., a rural community of fewer than 100 people with no grocery store or traffic lights. All the companies gave the same answer: Service is not available in your area. The response is the same across broad stretches of Robeson County, N.C., a swath of small towns and rural places like Orrum dotted among soybean fields and hog farms on the South Carolina border. About 20,000 of the county’s homes, or 43 percent of all households, have no internet connection.

The technology gap has prompted teachers to upload lessons on flash drives and send them home to dozens of students every other week. Some children spend school nights crashing at more-connected relatives’ homes so they can get online for classes the next day. [...] Millions of American students are grappling with the same challenges, learning remotely without adequate home internet service. Even as school districts like the one in Robeson County have scrambled to provide students with laptops, many who live in low-income and rural communities continue to have difficulty logging on.
Medicine

Submission + - The Science of Thanks Giving

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "This is Americans’ big week to give thanks. Now Russell McLendon writes that giving thanks can do wonders for the human brain according to researchers at UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center where scientists have developed an easy way for people to do just that and, at the same time, contribute to a national research project and maybe also improve their lives. The project is part of a $5.6 million, three-year national effort called “Expanding the Science and Practice of Gratitude,” funded by the John Templeton Foundation. The center has gone live with Thnx4.org, an interactive, shareable gratitude journal and has invited people in the campus community to take part in the Cal Gratitude Challenge by keeping a two-week online “gratitude journal” and, if they choose, sharing their posts with others. Early research into the power of gratitude journals ended up proving that students who wrote down everything they were grateful for strengthened their overall resilience and became less vulnerable to everyday stresses and complaints like rashes and headaches, says Emiliana Simon-Thomas. “Thnx4.org wanted to make this spiral notebook very accessible, and to make the research a little more specific than it has been historically,” says Simon-Thomas. Online, anyone can take part — and potentially reap the benefits. The Cal Gratitude Challenge opened November 1 and will remain open throughout November but the project has a three-year grant and participants will be able to maintain their journals for the duration and first results from the data are expected in January. "We affirm that there are good things in the world, gifts and benefits we’ve received," writes Robert Emmons as part of the project. "This doesn’t mean that life is perfect; it doesn’t ignore complaints, burdens, and hassles. But when we look at life as a whole, gratitude encourages us to identify some amount of goodness in our life.""

Submission + - Should hosting companies have change freezes?

Submitted by AngryDad
AngryDad writes: Today I received a baffling email from my hosting provider that said "We have a company-wide patching freeze and we will not be releasing patches to our customers who utilize the patching portal for the months of November and December". This means that myself and all other customers of theirs who run Windows servers will have to live with several critical holes for at least two months. Is this common practice with mid-tier hosting providers? If so, may I ask Eastern-EU folks to please refrain from hacking my servers during the holiday season?
Government

Submission + - Brazil And Peru Dispute .Amazon Domain (techweekeurope.co.uk)

Submitted by
judgecorp
judgecorp writes: "Amazon.com could lose the ",amazon" domain, as Brazil and Peru have disputed the retailer's application to ICANN, backed by other South American governments, who want to protect use of that domain for “purposes of public interest related to the protection,promotion and awareness raising on issues related to the Amazon biome”."

Submission + - The world's oldest original digital computer springs back into action at TNMOC (tnmoc.org) 1

Submitted by
prpplague
prpplague writes: "After a three-year restoration project at The National Museum of Computing, the Harwell Dekatron (aka WITCH) computer will rebooted on 20 November 2012 to become the world's oldest original working digital computer.
Now in its seventh decade and in its fifth home, the computer with its flashing lights and clattering printers and readers provides an awe-inspiring display for visiting school groups and the general public keen to learn about our rich computer heritage."
Music

Submission + - One Musician's Demand From Pandora: More Data (itworld.com)

Submitted by
jfruh
jfruh writes: "Most Slashdotters have been following the debate among the various players in the music industry about how much money artists (and their labels) get from traditional music outlets like radio and newer services like Pandora or Spotify. But Zoë Keating, a professional cellist who has a professional interest in the outcome of this argument, thinks there's one thing missing from all the proposals: more data on who her audience is. Even digital services can't tell her how many people heard her songs or where they're most popular. "How can I grow my business on this information?" she asks. "How do I reach them? Do they know I’m performing nearby next month? How can I tell them I have a new album coming out?""
Microsoft

Submission + - Windows CE 6 Arrives With 100% Kernel Source

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Microsoft officially launched the sixth generation of its flagship device software platform, today. Windows Embedded CE 6.0 boasts kernel architecture enhancements, new software stacks targeting three high-volume device categories, enhanced development tools, and, for the first time, 100 percent availability of Windows CE's kernel source code. Microsoft has added various enhancements that aim to make the OS more useful in next-generation devices that require features such as wired and wireless networking, advanced multimedia, access to vast memory resources, and greatly extended multitasking capabilities. Complete source code for the Windows CE kernel — some 3.9 million lines of code — is included in the downloadable Windows Embedded CE 6.0 OS package, whether the package is purchased or obtained via 180-day eval version. Clearly, Microsoft is positioning Windows CE to compete more aggressively with Linux in devices and embedded systems.

Comment more info (Score 4, Interesting) 449

by feamsr00 (#15627044) Attached to: Google Launches PayPal Rival
It would seem I wasnt fast enough to post this story, but I had a couple more links and useful info, so here it is:

Google Checkout has been released today. From their blog: We've heard time and again from users: "I find great stores through Google search, but every time I try to buy from an online store, I have to re-enter the same billing, shipping, and credit card information. There are too many steps. Why can't it be as fast as a Google search?" This motivated us to improve the online purchase process, and so today we're announcing Google Checkout, a checkout option that makes buying across the web fast and easy."
Google CheckOut includes single signon and badges on adwords of merchants that use Google CheckOut.
Features include using many addresses and many different cards for buyers and a "Payment Guarantee" against chargebacks for sellers.
AdWords users get $10 in sales processed for free for every $1 spent on AdWords.

For those of us text weary, there are videos for buyers and sellers

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