Comment Re:citation needed (Score 1) 583
IIRC the 0.03% that were not approved were cancelled by the requesting agencies.
Comment Re:Where is the Source Code? (Score 1) 142
Is the LGPL really this weak...?
The LGPL license permits proprietary code to be linked with licensed libraries. The resulting program can be distrubuted under any terms unless it is derivative work. I cite Wikipedia so feel free to change it if you disagree with it.
Comment This is only proposed set of rules (Score 3, Informative) 243
The article could be misinterpreted to mean this is a done deal as is.
Comment Re:Kids shouldnt even have SSI numbers (Score 0) 391
Your assumption is incorrect. Go read a Form 1040 from any recent year. SSNs or ITINs are required for claimed dependents. Laws and regulations are subject to change. Reality shifts.
Comment Re:Whatever the next policy will be, it's always b (Score 1) 554
Back before there was a 1983 movie, there was a 1963 television episode.
Comment Re:Just one atom? (Score 1) 150
Oh, that's different. That only requires one rich fat man with a key.
Comment Re:Just one atom? (Score 1) 150
Naw, it takes about 16 engineers to -start- a typical F1 car, and about 40 in the pits just to keep it running.
Morphing Metals 121
aarondubrow writes "Imagine a metal that 'remembers' its original, cold-forged shape, and can return to that shape when exposed to heat or a magnetic pulse. Like magic out of a Harry Potter novel, such a metal could contract on command, or swing back and forth like a pendulum. Believe it or not, such metals already exist. First discovered in 1931, they belong to a class of materials called 'shape memory alloys (SMA),' whose unique atomic make-up allows them to return to their initial form, or alternate between forms through a phase change."
Root DNS Zone Now DNSSEC Signed 94
r00tyroot writes with news that slipped by yesterday, quoting from the Internet Systems Consortium's release: "ISC joined other key participants of the Internet technical community in celebrating the achievement of a significant milestone for the Domain Name System today as the root zone was digitally signed for the first time. This marked the deployment of the DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) at the top level of the DNS hierarchy and ushers the way forward for further roll-out of DNSSEC in the top level domains and DNS Service Providers."
First Self-Replicating Creature Spawned In Conway's Game of Life 241
Calopteryx writes "New Scientist has a story on a self-replicating entity which inhabits the mathematical universe known as the Game of Life. 'Dubbed Gemini, [Andrew Wade's] creature is made of two sets of identical structures, which sit at either end of the instruction tape. Each is a fraction of the size of the tape's length but, made up of two constructor arms and one "destructor," play a key role. Gemini's initial state contains three of these structures, plus a fourth that is incomplete. As the simulation progresses the incomplete structure begins to grow, while the structure at the start of the tape is demolished. The original Gemini continues to disassemble as the new one emerges, until after nearly 34 million generations, new life is born.'"
Woman Creates 3-D Erotic Book For the Blind 113
Lisa J. Murphy has written an erotic book with tactile images for that special visually impaired porn connoisseur in your life. Tactile Mind contains explicit softcore raised images, along with Braille text and photos. From the article: "A photographer with a certificate in Tactile Graphics from the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, Murphy learned to create touchable images of animals for books for visually impaired children. Then she realized that there was a lack of such books for adults only. 'There are no books of tactile pictures of nudes for adults, at least the last time I looked around,' says Murphy. 'We're breaking new ground. Playboy has [an edition with] Braille wording, but there are no pictures.' She says that while we live in a culture saturated with sexual images, the blind have been 'left out.'"
OpenBSD 4.7 Preorders Are Up 191
badger.foo writes "The OpenBSD 4.7 pre-orders are up. That means the release is done, sent off to CD production, and snapshots will turn -current again. Order now and you more likely than not will have your CD set, T-shirt or other cool stuff before the official release date. You get the chance to support the most important free software project on the planet, and get your hands on some cool playables and wearables early. The release page is still being filled in, but the changelog has detailed information about the goodies in this release."
Submission + - 15 Year Old Student Discovers New Pulsar (nrao.edu) 1
ScuttleMonkey writes: "For the second time in as many years a student has made a discovery while participating in the Pulsar Search Collaboratory (PSC), a joint program between the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and West Virginia University designed to get students and teachers involved in analyzing data from the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope (GBT). This time it was high school sophomore Shay Bloxton who discovered a brand new pulsar. "For Bloxton, the pulsar discovery may be only her first in a scientific career. "Participating in the PSC has definitely encouraged me to pursue my dream of being an astrophysicist," she said, adding that she hopes to attend West Virginia University to study astrophysics. Late last year, another West Virginia student, from South Harrison High School, Lucas Bolyard, discovered a pulsar-like object called a rotating radio transient. His discovery also came through participation in the PSC.""
Submission + - Why 'Running IT as a Business' Is a Bad Idea (infoworld.com) 2
snydeq writes: InfoWorld's Bob Lewis dispels the familiar litany that 'IT should be run as a business,' instead offering insights into what he is calling a 'guerilla movement' to reject conventional 'IT wisdom' and industry punditry in favor of what experience tells you will work in real organizations. 'When IT is a business, selling to its "internal customers," its principal product is software that "meets requirements." This all but ensures a less-than-optimal solution, lack of business ownership, and poor acceptance of the results,' Lewis writes. 'The alternatives begin with a radically different model of the relationship between IT and the rest of the business — that IT must be integrated into the heart of the enterprise, and everyone in IT must collaborate as a peer with those in the business who need what they do.' To do otherwise is a sure sign of numbered days for IT, according to Lewis. After all, the standard 'run IT as a business' model found its origins in the IT outsourcing industry, 'which has a vested interest in encouraging internal IT to eliminate everything that makes it more attractive than outside service providers.'
Submission + - Sherlock Holmes and the copyright tangle (nytimes.com) 2
spagiola writes: The New York Times has an interesting piece on the copyright travails of Sherlock Holmes: "At his age, Holmes would logically seem to have entered the public domain. But not only is the character still under copyright in the United States, for nearly 80 years he has also been caught in a web of ownership issues so tangled that Professor Moriarty wouldn't have wished them upon him."
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