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Comment It was fun(?) (Score 1) 230

by mstrohbehn (#46881371) Attached to: One-a-Day-Compiles: Good Enough For Government Work In 1983

I remember those days, although we punched our own programs on an IBM 029 cardpunch. Our data entry folks were befuddled by coding sheets, and you would have to take several shots at them punching a program. If you messed up a character while punching a card, you duped the card up to there and keyed the rest on a new card, discarding the old one.

You did learn to think out your program before coding this way. Especially since large programs could take hours to compile.

Ahh, the good old days! :)

Comment My alarm clock (Score 1) 702

by mstrohbehn (#46794067) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: What Tech Products Were Built To Last?

I have an LED digital alarm clock I bought in 1977 that still works, and even looks pretty much the same as then. I've used other clocks a total of maybe 1 year, scattered, but always come back to this one. Of course, that's tech that hasn't needed to change, as getting up for work is something that, unfortunately, is still necessary!

Comment It was just bad (Score 1) 726

I'll admit up front that I haven't read through all the comments, and this has probably already been said, but I had to vent. Those of us who had read Starship Troopers were bitterly disappointed with the film version. I don't particularly care that this movie was perhaps intended to be satire - fans of the book expected the movie to do more than vaguely resemble Heinlein's story. Maybe they should have had a warning on the posters: "WARNING: this movie is only loosely based on the book. It will appear UTTERLY STUPID to fans of the original story. STAY AWAY if you're one of those fans". Whenever I talk about bad movie adaptions with friends, this movie is first in the discussion. It's as though they got someone to skim through the book, who described the general outlines to the screenwriters, who just did whatever they felt like with it. I still resent this treatment after this long.

Couldn't they have ruined another story for the sake of 'satire', instead of one of my favorite books growing up?

Okay, I'm done ranting, return to your discussion.
Businesses

Submission + - Apple Deemed Top of Movie Product Placement Charts

Submitted by adeelarshad82
adeelarshad82 writes: Apple was deemed top of the product placement charts last week after getting its computers, iPads, iPods and other items featured in 30 percent of the top movies at the U.S. box office in 2010. Apple had roles in movies last year ranging from "Kick Ass" to "The Other Guys" and "Toy Story 3." The strategy is obviously not a new one for Apple, they've had successful product placements in a number of TV Shows and movies over the last three decades like Star Trek IV, Batman & Robin and Dexter.
Image

Jetman Attempts Intercontinental Flight 140

Posted by samzenpus from the a-jetwing-and-a-prayer dept.
Last year we ran the story of Yves Rossy and his DIY jetwings. Yves spent $190,000 and countless hours building a set of jet-powered wings which he used to cross the English Channel. Rossy's next goal is to cross the Strait of Gibraltar, from Tangier in Morocco and Tarifa on the southwestern tip of Spain. From the article: "Using a four-cylinder jet pack and carbon fibre wings spanning over 8ft, he will jump out of a plane at 6,500 ft and cruise at 130 mph until he reaches the Spanish coast, when he will parachute to earth." Update 18:57 GMT: mytrip writes: "Yves Rossy took off from Tangiers but five minutes into an expected 15-minute flight he was obliged to ditch into the wind-swept waters."
Image

Scientists Say a Dirty Child Is a Healthy Child 331

Posted by samzenpus from the snack-is-going-to-be-on-the-floor-today dept.
Researchers from the School of Medicine at the University of California have shown that the more germs a child is exposed to, the better their immune system in later life. Their study found that keeping a child's skin too clean impaired the skin's ability to heal itself. From the article: "'These germs are actually good for us,' said Professor Richard Gallo, who led the research. Common bacterial species, known as staphylococci, which can cause inflammation when under the skin, are 'good bacteria' when on the surface, where they can reduce inflammation."
The Internet

Developers Looking to Set Up Alternatives To Apple's App Store 192

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the start-digging-your-legal-foxholes-now dept.
TechDirt is reporting that in response to the frustrations with Apple's app store dictatorship, a few developers are looking to set up their own alternative app stores. Alternate app stores would only work on jailbroken phones, making their adoption scope limited, so the question is whether Apple will go after these start ups on the legal battlefield. "Apple, which collects a 30% commission from sellers on its store, doesn't break out the site's revenue. Brokerage firm Piper Jaffray estimates the site generated about $150 million in sales last year and projects total sales will grow to $800 million this year. Apple did not respond to requests for comment. But it has said in the past that with the iPhone it was trying to strike a balance between a closed device like the iPod and an open device like the PC."
Space

ISS To Become Second Brightest-Object In the Sky 243

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the bright-future-of-the-iss dept.
Matt_dk writes "Move over, Morning Star. Once Canadarm2 helps install the fourth and final set of solar array wings to the International Space Station later this month, the Station will surpass Venus as the brightest object in the night sky, second only to the Moon. The Space Shuttle Discovery is set to deliver the power-generating solar panels and Starboard 6 (S6) truss segment to the ISS on the 125th mission in the Shuttle program, known as STS-119/15A (slated for launch on March 11)."
Image

Robot Love Goes Bad 101

Posted by samzenpus from the become-my-robot-bride dept.
hundredrabh writes "Ever had a super needy girlfriend that demanded all your love and attention and would freak whenever you would leave her alone? Irritating, right? Now imagine the same situation, only with an asexual third-generation humanoid robot with 100kg arms. Such was the torture subjected upon Japanese researchers recently when their most advanced robot, capable of simulating human emotions, ditched its puppy love programming and switched over into stalker mode. Eventually the researchers had to decommission the robot, with a hope of bringing it back to life again."
Businesses

New Zealand's Recording Industry CEO Tries to Defend New Draconian Law 269

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the embrace-your-customers-instead dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Campbell Smith, CEO of the RIAA equivalent in New Zealand, has written an opinion piece for one of New Zealand's largest daily papers, in which he tries to justify the new 'presumed guilty' copyright law. This law allows recording industry members to watch file-sharing activity and notify ISPs of users who are downloading material. The copyright holder can then demand that an ISP disconnect that user — without the user ever having a chance to demonstrate their evidence."
Image

The Shadow Factory 157

Posted by samzenpus from the read-all-about-it dept.
brothke writes "The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America is the third of James Bamford's trilogy. Bamford started this with The Puzzle Palace in 1982 and Body of Secrets: Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency in 2001. The Shadow Factory is likely the last book Bamford will find the NSA cooperative to, given his often harsh treatment of the agency and its directors. It is also doubtful that former NSA Director Lt. Gen. Michael Hayden will grant Bamford additional dinner invitations, given his portrayal of Hayden as a weakling who could not stand up to Dick Cheney and other in the Bush administration." Read below for the rest of Ben's review.
Medicine

Obama To Reverse Bush Limits On Stem Cell Work 508

Posted by Soulskill from the stem-cell-stimulus-package dept.
An anonymous reader sends this quote from the Associated Press: "Reversing an eight-year-old limit on potentially life-saving science, President Barack Obama plans to lift restrictions Monday on taxpayer-funded research using embryonic stem cells. ... Under President George W. Bush, taxpayer money for that research was limited to a small number of stem cell lines that were created before Aug. 9, 2001, lines that in many cases had some drawbacks that limited their potential usability. But hundreds more of such lines — groups of cells that can continue to propagate in lab dishes — have been created since then, ones that scientists say are healthier, better suited to creating treatments for people rather than doing basic laboratory science. Work didn't stop. Indeed, it advanced enough that this summer, the private Geron Corp. will begin the world's first study of a treatment using human embryonic stem cells, in people who recently suffered a spinal cord injury. Nor does Obama's change fund creation of new lines. But it means that scientists who until now have had to rely on private donations to work with these newer stem cell lines can apply for government money for the research, just like they do for studies of gene therapy or other treatment approaches."
NASA

NASA's Kepler Telescope Launched Successfully 82

Posted by Soulskill from the take-that-gravity dept.
Iddo Genuth writes "At precisely 10:49 p.m. EST, NASA's 'Kepler' telescope was successfully kicked off into space, embarking on a mission that the agency says 'may fundamentally change humanity's view of itself.' The telescope will search the nearby region of our galaxy for the first time looking for Earth-size planets, which orbit stars at distances where temperatures permit liquid water to endure on their surface — a region often referred to as the 'habitable' zone."

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I have hardly ever known a mathematician who was capable of reasoning. -- Plato

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