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Games

Submission + - World's Hardest Sudoku (www.hs.fi)

jones_supa writes: A Finnish PhD in mathematics, Arto Inkala, has allegedly created the world's toughest sudoku puzzle. 'There's no straightforward way to define the difficulty level of a sudoku. I myself doubt if this is the hardest in the world, but definitely harder than my previous ones.', Inkala sets off humbly. The news agencies around Europe, including The Telegraph, are nonetheless excited. The particular difficulty in this version lies in the number of deductions you have to make in order to fill in a single number on the grid. 'It is a common misception that the less initial numbers, the harder the puzzle. The most challenging ones have 21-25', the creator adds.
Education

Submission + - "Radical manifesto" for computer teaching in English schools (wordpress.com)

00_NOP writes: "Everybody (or almost everybody) in England agrees that computing teaching to kids in high school is broken. In response the government promised a radical overhaul and a new curriculum. But then last week it was discovered the government had scrapped the bit of the education department that would develop any such curriculum. Not to be deterred John Naughton, the Cambridge University academic who wrote the "Short History of the Future" has now published his own "radical" manifesto on how computing should be taught."
Earth

Submission + - The Great Global Warming Fizzle

Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Economics trumps the environment as negotiators leading the push to keep UN climate talks on track and come up with a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, set to expire next year, are fighting a sense of despondency as the struggle to save the euro has pushed the struggle to save the planet down the priority list. "A funny thing happened on the way to the climate apocalypse," writes Bret Stephens. "Namely, the financial apocalypse." The US, Russia, Japan, Canada and the EU have all but confirmed they won't be signing on to a new Kyoto while the Chinese and Indians won't make a move unless the West does. "The notion that rich (or formerly rich) countries are going to ship $100 billion every year to the Micronesias of the world is risible, especially after they've spent it all on Greece," adds Stephens. Meanwhile some leading voices on climate science have suggested that the Kyoto Protocol be put to pasture and that clinging to hopes of a renewal of that agreement does more harm than good in achieving meaningful dialogue on how to fight climate change. When the agreement was negotiated in the 1990s, the world was more clearly divided into 'rich and poor' countries. However China and India, have seen unexpectedly strong economic growth since then and now make up 58 per cent of global emissions. "Against this backdrop, it is no surprise that countries such as Japan, Canada and Russia adamantly refuse to assume new binding targets unless the other major economies at present outside Kyoto's reach — most notably, the United States and China — do so as well,'' writes Elliot Diringer, executive vice-president of the U.S.-based Center for Climate and Energy Solutions. "And for now, the odds of that happening are nil.""
Google

Submission + - Google Accuses China of Interfering with Gmail 2

Hugh Pickens writes writes: "The Guardian reports that Google has accused the Chinese government of interfering with Gmail. According to the search giant, Chinese customers and advertisers have increasingly been complaining about their Gmail service in the past month and attempts by users to send messages, mark messages as unread and use other services have generated problems for Gmail customers. The announcement follows a blog posting from Google on 11 March in which the firm said it had "noticed some highly targeted and apparently politically motivated attacks against our users. We believe activists may have been a specific target." The search firm is not commenting further on this latest attack, but technology experts said it seemed to show an increasingly high degree of sophistication. "In the wake of what is happening in the Middle East I don't think China wants to be seen making heavy-handed attacks on the internet, that would draw too much attention," says one internet executive who wished to remain anonymous adding making it look like a fault in Google's system was extremely difficult to do and the fact that these attacks appear to come and go makes the attack look "semi-industrial and very, very sophisticated.""

Submission + - George RR Martin Finishes A Dance With Dragons (georgerrmartin.com)

Lil'wombat writes: George RR Martin has completed his long awaited conclusion to his A Song of Fire and Ice series. A Dance with Dragons will be published on July 12, 2011. Let the celebrations begin! And everyone was worried that he was going to pull a Jordan.
Education

Submission + - Human Sexuality Class Includes Live Demo

Hugh Pickens writes writes: "The Charlotte Observer reports that students at Northwestern University observed a naked woman being penetrated by a sex toy performed in front of about 100 students in psychology professor John Michael Bailey's human sexuality class to demonstrate use of a sex toy and female orgasm. "Both Professor Bailey and myself gave them five or six warnings about what was about to happen and it would be graphic," says Ken Melvoin-Berg, co-owner of Weird Chicago Tours. The woman undressed and got on stage with her male partner, who used a device that looks like a machine-powered saw with a phallic object instead of a blade. An Evanston police spokesman said Northwestern police would be responsible for determining whether the demonstration violated any local ordinances as a University spokesman said the issue has not been raised. "It is probably something I will remember for the rest of my life," says senior Justin Smith. "I can't say that about my Econ 202 class." Bailey says it is too early to say whether he regretted the demonstration, for which attendance was optional but, "I certainly have no regrets concerning Northwestern students, who have demonstrated that they are open-minded grownups rather than fragile children.""
Python

Submission + - Python 3.2 released (python.org)

digitalderbs writes: Python 3.2 was released on Feb 20th 2011 with many new improvements. New features include many useful updates to the unittest module, a stable ABI for extensions, pyc repository directories, improvements to the email and ssl modules and many others. This also marks the first release in the 3000-series that is no longer backported to the 2.0-series.
Lord of the Rings

Submission + - LOTR Rewritten from Perspective of Mordor

Hugh Pickens writes writes: "It's been said that history is written by the winners but Laura Miller writes in Salon about a counterexample as she reviews a new version of "Lord of the Rings" published to acclaim in Russia by Kirill Yeskov, a professional paleontologist whose job is reconstructing long-extinct organisms and their way of life from fossil remnants. Yeskov performs essentially the same feat in "The Last Ring-bearer," reconstructing the real world of Tolkien's Arda from "The Lord of the Rings" set during and after the end of the War of the Ring and told from the perspective of the losers. In Yeskov's retelling, available in translation as a free download, the wizard Gandalf is a war-monger intent on crushing the scientific and technological initiative of Mordor and its southern allies because science "destroys the harmony of the world and dries up the souls of men" and Aragorn is depicted by Yeskov as a ruthless Machiavellian schemer who is ultimately the puppet of his wife, the elf Arwen. Sauron's citadel Barad-dur is, by contrast, described as "that amazing city of alchemists and poets, mechanics and astronomers, philosophers and physicians, the heart of the only civilization in Middle-earth to bet on rational knowledge and bravely pitch its barely adolescent technology against ancient magic." According to Miller "in Yeskov's scenario, "The Lord of the Rings" is a highly romanticized and mythologized version of the fall of Mordor, perhaps even outright propaganda; "The Last Ringbearer" is supposed to be the more complicated and less sentimental true story.""
Slashdot.org

Slashdot Discussions Now Include Roulette Video Chat 192

It's been a long time coming, but we're pleased to announce the latest updates to our discussion software. We've been paying a lot of attention to what other websites have been doing in the space, and as we are only too happy to steal good ideas, from now on all Slashdot stories will now be accompanied by a Roulette-style webcam video chat. In testing, we've discovered that Slashdot users are amazingly likely to engage in informative, troll-free discussion when presented with the video image of one of their peers. This new addition to Slashdot nicely rounds out and improves the discussion experience for all users.
Wireless Networking

Best Pre-Paid Data Plan For a Visit To Germany? 153

code prole writes "With two upcoming trips to Germany, and no readily available Internet (Wi-Fi or otherwise) in the location where we'll be staying, I'm looking for a no-contract USB stick and pre-paid data plan. Vodafone has a huge selection of USB sticks but has proven to be unresponsive to questions about data plans. And the US-based T-Mobile Help Center was clueless about getting the device in Europe and using it there. Hopefully the Slashdot community has some suggestions. Any duds to avoid?"

Submission + - German Wikipedia reaches 1M article milestone

saibot834 writes: The German Wikipedia, the second largest language edition behind the English Wikipedia just reached it's 1,000,000 article milestone. Combined with 3.1M English articles and 240 other language editions, this adds up to a total of 14 million Wikipedia articles.

Interestingly, there is a request for deletion on the 1Mth article. German Wikipedia has been criticized for its rules on notability, which are stricter than on the English Wikipedia. Quality though, is often considered to be higher on the German Wikipedia.
Medicine

FDA Says Homeopathic Cure Can Cause Loss of Smell 452

Hugh Pickens writes "The FDA has advised consumers to stop using Matrixx Initiatives' Zicam Cold Remedy nasal gel marketed over-the-counter as a cold remedy because it is associated with the loss of sense of smell (anosmia) that may be long-lasting or permanent. The FDA says about 130 consumers have reported a loss of smell after using the homeopathic cure containing zinc, an ingredient scientists say may damage nerves in the nose needed for smell and health officials say they have asked Matrixx executives to turn over more than 800 consumer complaints concerning lost smell that the company has on file. 'Loss of the sense of smell is potentially life-threatening and may be permanent,' said Dr. Charles Lee. 'People without the sense of smell may not be able to detect life-dangerous situations, such as gas leaks or something burning in the house.' The FDA said the remedy was never formally approved because it is part of a small group of remedies known as homeopathic products that are not required to undergo federal review before launching. The global market for homeopathic drugs is about $200 million per year, according to the American Association of Homeopathic Pharmacists. Matrixx has settled hundreds of lawsuits connected with Zicam in recent years, but says it 'will seek a meeting with the FDA to vigorously defend its scientific data, developed during more than 10 years of experience with the products, demonstrating their safety.'"
PC Games (Games)

April 2009 Indie Game Round-up 31

Joseph Lieberman writes with Gametunnel's monthly round-up of quality independent games. Taking the top honors this month is Caster, a fast-paced shooter with weapon upgrades and a partially destructible environment. "The weapons are a nice variety: homing, stun, and charge lasers, along with two lasers that create chasms and mountains in the environment. The last two are personal favorites of mine (screwing with the terrain is great fun). Fighting is sweet, sweet pandemonium, but it can be slightly overwhelming at first. By the second or third level, though, you'll be blasting the baddies like a pro." Also scoring high were Zeno Clash, a fighting game with elements of a shooter, and Geneforge 5: Overthrow (the last in the series of Geneforge games), a point-and-click RPG with turn-based combat.
Education

Video Game Teaches Kenyan Youth HIV-Safety 75

QuackenDuck writes "The latest video-game headlines are all about virtual sex, violence, and taxes. Here's a story that turns the 'Think of the Children' battle-cry against games on its head. VOA News reports on how the video game medium is being used to educate Kenyan youths about risky behaviors that lead to HIV infection: 'Kenya has an HIV prevalence rate of about five percent, with young women among the most vulnerable to new infection. Now, the US government and a private entertainment company have teamed up to produce and distribute a video game that teaches Kenyan youth how to avoid contracting HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.' Many parts of the world are gritty, violent and dangerous, and this game designer is using gritty, violent and dangerous content to teach the children of Kenya."

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