jebaneer34 - Slashdot User

Submission + - Stress-Testing Software for Deep Space (intelfreepress.com)

Submitted by

kenekaplan

on Wednesday October 10, 2012 @01:20PM

kenekaplan writes: "NASA has used VxWorks for several deep space missions, including Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. When the space agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) needs to run stress tests or simulations for upgrades and fixes to the OS, Wind River’s Mike Deliman gets the call. In a recent interview, Deliman, a senior member of the technical staff at Wind River, which is owned by Intel, gave a peek at the legacy technology under Curiosity’s hood and recalled the emergency call he got when an earlier Mars mission hit a software snag after liftoff."

Submission + - Investigation into solar storm sat-nav disruption (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by another random user on Wednesday October 10, 2012 @11:33AM

another random user writes: Scientists in the Arctic have launched an urgent investigation into how solar storms can disrupt sat-nav.

Studies have revealed how space weather can cut the accuracy of GPS by tens of metres. Flares from the Sun interact with the upper atmosphere and can distort the signals from global positioning satellites.

The project is under way at a remote observatory on a windswept mountainside in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard in the High Arctic. The site was chosen for its isolation from electronic pollution and for its position in relation to the Earth's magnetic field which flows from space down towards the far North.

Submission + - Confirmed: Germany Monitors Skype, Google Mail, Yahoo Mail and Facebook chat (paritynews.com)

Submitted by hypnosec on Wednesday October 10, 2012 @09:48AM

hypnosec writes: German Government has went a bit too far trying to be transparent and has inadvertently revealed that German police monitors Skype, Google Mail, MSN Hotmail, Yahoo Mail and Facebook chat as and when necessary. The revelations come as the German Government let out figures of expenses incurred by the Federal Ministry of the Interior following a parliamentary inquiry, which were spotted by the annalist blog. The pages contain a whole lot of tables and as many would find those boring, some pages reveal something very startling. On page 34 and page 37 of the report line item 486 and 265 respectively, represent decoding software for Google Mail, MSN Hotmail, Yahoo Mail for prevention and investigation.

Submission + - Dragon captured: SpaceX's first ISS supply mission is a success (slashgear.com)

Submitted by puddingebola on Wednesday October 10, 2012 @08:21AM

puddingebola writes: From the aricle, "The SpaceX Dragon capsule has been successfully grabbed by the International Space Station, marking the first time a private American space flight has run a supply mission to the orbiting platform. The crew of the ISS snatched Dragon out of orbit ahead of schedule, using the space station’s robotic arm to guide the capsule in after its careful approach."

NASA has also posted video of the docking.

Comment Heartbreaking (Score 0) 63

by jebaneer34 on Thursday December 01, 2011 @06:41PM (#38232302) Attached to: RIM PlayBook Tablet Jailbroken

I know this goes against the trend ... but I've been cheering RIM on, very much looking forward to the new OS arriving in smartphone format. All these years, the original OS was never rooted ... and IMHO this pulls out from under RIM its core benefit. Is there a way they can recover from this?

Journal Journal: Federal reserve printing more money 8

Journal by roman_mir on Wednesday September 21, 2011 @05:52PM

This article says it's "unusual", but there is nothing unusual about Fed printing more money.

This is the Fed's statement with my comments:

Release Date: September 21, 2011
For immediate release

Submission + - First billion dollar open source software vendor (yahoo.com) 1

Submitted by

head_dunce

on Wednesday September 21, 2011 @04:14PM

head_dunce writes: "Red Hat is coming out way on top in this economy. Total revenue and subscription revenue for this quarter is up 28% year-over-year. Jim Whitehurst, President and Chief Executive Officer of Red Hat said, "Based on the strong first half results, we believe Red Hat remains well positioned to finish fiscal 2012 as the first billion dollar open source software vendor.”"

Comment Re:It's not the first time this has happened. (Score 0) 182

by jebaneer34 on Friday September 16, 2011 @04:47AM (#37417856) Attached to: Famous Wildlife Photographer Busted For Using Stock Images

Big smile on that one!

Submission + - Smartphones Becoming Sole Computer of Choice (smartertechnology.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 15, 2011 @01:22PM

An anonymous reader writes: The build-out of 3G networks in developing coutries, plus ultra-low prices from the likes of Samsung, will make the smartphone the sole compuuter of millions of citizens worldwide. And by 2016, 97 percent of smartphones will use touchscreens. Now don't get me wrong--I carry an iPad and an iPod Touch in my backpack and love touchscreens--but I still like a phone that fits in my pocket. However I'm going to be in the minority because apparently in five years the majority of wireless communicators will be smartphones.

Submission + - Netflix To Lose 1 Million Subscribers (tekgoblin.com)

Submitted by

tekgoblin

on Thursday September 15, 2011 @01:10PM

tekgoblin writes: "In light of the recent price increase at Netflix, it made quite a few subscribers mad. Netflix expects to lose around 1 million total subscribers in the short term after the price changes. Price changes that split the streaming and DVD costs separately when they were combined previously which inevitably increase the subscription prices. On top of the price increase Netflix will lose their contract with Starz in February which will cost them around 1,000 total streaming titles from their collection."

Submission + - Synaptics working on more advanced touch for smart (techworld.com.au)

Submitted by

angry tapir

on Tuesday September 13, 2011 @02:26AM

angry tapir writes: "Touch specialist Synaptics is working on technologies that will allow touchscreens to mimic the feel of a physical keypad, in order to make smartphones easier to use, according to company technology strategist Andrew Hsu. The goal is to build a touchscreen with the tactile feedback of a keypad. Users should be able run their fingers over virtual keys and get the same sensation as a mechanical keypad gives, allowing them to feel where the buttons are, and then activate them by pushing down a little bit harder, according to Hsu."

Submission + - Libyan Rebels Are Flying Their Own Mini-Drone (wired.com)

Submitted by suasfan22 on Tuesday August 23, 2011 @01:18PM

suasfan22 writes: The Libyan revolutionaries are more of a band of enthusiastic amateurs than experienced soldiers. But it turns out the rebels have the kind of weaponry usually possessed by advanced militaries: their very own drone.

Aeryon Labs, a Canadian defense firm, revealed on Tuesday that it had quietly provided the rebel forces with a teeny, tiny surveillance drone, called the Aeryon Scout. Small enough to fit into a backpack, the three-pound, four-rotor robot gave Libyan forces eyes in the sky independent of the Predators, Fire Scout surveillance copters and manned spy planes that NATO flew overhead. Don't worry, it's not armed.

Submission + - NASA Tries To Save Hubble's Successor From Budget (talkingpointsmemo.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday August 23, 2011 @12:47PM

An anonymous reader writes: NASA is trying to save the Hubble's successor the James Webb Space Telescope from the budget ax.

Submission + - When algorithms control the world (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by MTCicero on Tuesday August 23, 2011 @10:03AM

MTCicero writes: The BBC has an interesting if not apocalyptic take on the spread of algorithms into everyday life. Perhaps the author should have spent a little more time discussing how algorithms in everyday life have improved things like communications, medical care, etc... I guess doom and gloom sells more ads

Submission + - Evangelical Scientists Debate Creation Story 3

Submitted by

Hugh Pickens writes

on Monday August 22, 2011 @01:02PM

Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Polls by Gallup and the Pew Research Center find that four out of 10 Americans believe humanity descend from Adam and Eve but NPR reports that evangelical scientists are now saying publicly that they can no longer believe the Genesis account and that it is unlikely that we all descended from a single pair of humans. "That would be against all the genomic evidence that we've assembled over the last 20 years so not likely at all" says biologist Dennis Venema, a senior fellow at BioLogos Foundation, a Christian group that tries to reconcile faith and science. "You would have to postulate that there's been this absolutely astronomical mutation rate that has produced all these new variants in an incredibly short period of time. Those types of mutation rates are just not possible. It would mutate us out of existence." Venema is part of a growing cadre of Christian scholars who say they want their faith to come into the 21st century and say it's time to face facts: There was no historical Adam and Eve, no serpent, no apple, no fall that toppled man from a state of innocence. "There's nothing to be scared of here," adds Venema. "There is nothing to be alarmed about. It's actually an opportunity to have an increasingly accurate understanding of the world — and from a Christian perspective, that's an increasingly accurate understanding of how God brought us into existence.""

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