Comment The Test (Score 5, Funny) 296
Tap that before you tap that.
Submission + - Police unsure which twin to charge in sexual assaults
An anonymous reader writes: In a real life Prisoner's Dilemma taking place in the French city of Marseille, twin brothers have been arrested for a string of sexual assaults. While say they are sure that one of them committed the crimes (corroborated by a standard DNA test), police were told that it would cost upwards of €1m euros (£850,000, $1.3m USD) to distinguish between them using DNA evidence.
Submission + - Han Solo to Return for Star Wars VII (latino-review.com) 2
eldavojohn writes: El Mayimbe (who has a history of scooping movie news) has been picked up by a Fox News Latino as claiming that Harrison Ford is confirmed to return for Star Wars VII (about 7 minutes in).
Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Keyboard Layout to Reduce Right Pinky/Ring Finger Usage?
Tooke writes: I've developed focal hand dystonia from playing clarinet. It affects my right pinky (and my ring finger, but to a lesser extent). My pinky isn't totally unusable when typing; however, it isn't nearly as agile as it used to be. When I must press a key with it, I tend to keep the whole finger rigid and move my entire hand instead. I also use my ring finger to press the P and semicolon keys (on QWERTY) which is a bit awkward but better than using the pinky. Thus my question: are there any keyboard layouts that are optimized to reduce right pinky/ring finger usage? I switched to Programmer Dvorak a few years ago, but Dvorak seems to make me use my right hand significantly more than my left. I'm considering mirroring the letter keys so my left hand would be used more. I also came across the Workman layout which looks interesting. I might try using that after switching the numbers and symbols around to be more like Programmer Dvorak. Has anyone been in a similar situation? What else could I do to make typing more comfortable? I've got a long career ahead of me as a programmer (I'm currently a high school senior) and I'd like to take care of my hands as much as possible.
Submission + - Microsoft Surface Pricing Goes Toe-to-Toe with Apple iPad (slashdot.org) 1
Nerval's Lobster writes: "Microsoft has finally revealed the pricing of its upcoming Surface tablet to a small group of journalists, including Time’s Harry McCracken, who wrote in an Oct. 16 posting that the device’s 32GB version will retail for $499 (or $599 with the flexible keyboard cover) and the 64GB one for $699 (cover included). Preorders will apparently begin by midday Oct. 16.
Microsoft unveiled Surface over the summer but kept the pricing a secret until now. That information vacuum led some to hope against hope that Microsoft would attempt something radical and price Surface extraordinarily low—$199, perhaps—in an attempt to undercut Apple’s iPad. While that didn’t happen, Surface at least matches its biggest rival’s low- and high-end price points. The WiFi-only, 16GB version of the iPad retails for $499, while the WiFi-only, 64GB version costs $699 (iPads with a cellular connection cost a bit more)."
Microsoft unveiled Surface over the summer but kept the pricing a secret until now. That information vacuum led some to hope against hope that Microsoft would attempt something radical and price Surface extraordinarily low—$199, perhaps—in an attempt to undercut Apple’s iPad. While that didn’t happen, Surface at least matches its biggest rival’s low- and high-end price points. The WiFi-only, 16GB version of the iPad retails for $499, while the WiFi-only, 64GB version costs $699 (iPads with a cellular connection cost a bit more)."
Comment Falling Behind (Score 1) 338
I'm afraid I'm letting my kid fall behind
There's no reason to believe he is falling behind. Kids that are introduced to computers in school catch up pretty quickly to kids that have been using them at home prior to attending school for the first time. By middle school, there's no difference in skill or familiarity with a computer between the kids who started early or 'late'. When it comes to computers, there really is no rush.
There's no reason to believe he is falling behind. Kids that are introduced to computers in school catch up pretty quickly to kids that have been using them at home prior to attending school for the first time. By middle school, there's no difference in skill or familiarity with a computer between the kids who started early or 'late'. When it comes to computers, there really is no rush.
