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Comment No way to know... (Score 1) 356

by pjstevns (#42933811) Attached to: Ask Slashdot: What Does the FOSS Community Currently Need?

    "another useless system for an imaginary company that nobody would actually use"

is what everyone I know thought of twitter.com when it was first appearing on the radar.

Also, writing such a 'useless' system might actually be what your professors are looking for, since it's what you are likely going to work on much of your time as a corporate code monkey. 'Useless' here meaning: in your perception, not to the corporate bottom line.
Microsoft

Submission + - Battle for open standards in public education (janstedehouder.nl)

Submitted by pjstevns
pjstevns writes: The heat is on! With the rising use of online systems for school administration the battle for open and accessible solutions is here, now. Parents are forced to buy 'proper' operating systems from your favorite Redmond based supplier — just to be able to access their childrens' grades, or participate in classes. A petition addressed at parliament for proper implementation of the open-standards guidelines put forward by the Dutch government itself is buzzing around the Netherlands. Comply or Explain!
The Internet

Submission + - Free Press Sues FCC over Discrepancy in Net Neutra (itproportal.com)

Submitted by hypnosec
hypnosec writes: The Free Press has filed a lawsuit against the Federal Communication Commission, challenging the net neutrality rules laid out by the regulator. The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in Boston, claims that the net neutrality rules laid down by the regulator are different for fixed line and mobile wireless broadband. The net neutrality rules laid down by the FCC prevent fixed line broadband providers from discriminating between websites but the same rules don’t apply to mobile wireless carriers. According to the rules, mobile wireless carriers are not allowed to block voice and other applications that compete with their own services, but other than that, they are free do to what they want.

Comment Re:Pointless... (Score 1) 113

by pjstevns (#37362360) Attached to: The Linux Counter Relaunches

I care.

Also those manufacturers of complex hardware like Nvidia might care, so that they can justify putting the resources aside to develop Linux drivers.

If Nvidia gave a hoot about linux they would open-source the 3D driver or at least provide specs and docs to the nouveau project. I no, I seriously don't think they need to be told by LiCo how many people use linux. They Know!

FWIW: LiCo smells like amateur-hour. Too bad!
Space

ESA Releases Lutetia Flyby Images 48

Posted by Soulskill from the pretty-pictures dept.
The European Space Agency has released images from yesterday's close approach of asteroid 21 Lutetia by the Rosetta probe. At its closest, the probe was a mere 3,162 km from the asteroid, passing at 15 km/s and snapping photos sharp enough to make out features as small as 60 meters. "Rosetta operated a full suite of sensors at the encounter, including remote sensing and in-situ measurements. Some of the payload of its Philae lander were also switched on. Together they looked for evidence of a highly tenuous atmosphere, magnetic effects, and studied the surface composition as well as the asteroid’s density. ... The flyby marks the attainment of one of Rosetta's main scientific objectives. The spacecraft will now continue to a 2014 rendezvous with its primary target, comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko. It will then accompany the comet for months, from near the orbit of Jupiter down to its closest approach to the Sun. In November 2014, Rosetta will release Philae to land on the comet nucleus." There is also a replay of the media event webcast on the ESA's website.
Space

A Hyper-Velocity Impact In the Asteroid Belt? 114

Posted by Soulskill from the i-played-that-game dept.
astroengine writes "Astronomers have spotted something rather odd in the asteroid belt. It looks like a comet, but it's got a circular orbit, similar to an asteroid. Whether it's an asteroid or a comet, it has a long, comet-like tail, suggesting something is being vented into space. Some experts think it could be a very rare comet/asteroid hybrid being heated by the sun, but there's an even more exciting possibility: It could be the first ever observation of two asteroids colliding in the asteroid belt."
Space

Super-Earths Discovered Orbiting Nearby, Sun-Like Star 242

Posted by Soulskill from the i-for-one dept.
likuidkewl writes "Two super-earths, 5 and 7.5 times the size of our home, were found to be orbiting 61 Virginis a mere 28 light years away. 'These detections indicate that low-mass planets are quite common around nearby stars. The discovery of potentially habitable nearby worlds may be just a few years away,' said Steven Vogt, a professor of astronomy and astrophysics at UCSC. Among hundreds of our nearest stellar neighbors, 61 Vir stands out as being the most nearly similar to the Sun in terms of age, mass, and other essential properties."

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