news aggregator

Facebook Malware Goes Viral

Slashdot - 1 tim 51 min sedan


itwbennett writes "Just a few hours after a fake CNN news report appeared on Facebook Friday, more than 60,000 users had gone to the spoofed, malware bearing page according to Sophos Senior Security Advisor Chester Wisniewski. Facebook didn't respond to IDG News Service's request for information on 'how widespread the problem was or whether its own security had been breached, but Wisniewski said that there are a number of ways that status updates could appear without users' knowledge.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Did You Know That Earth Is Getting Lighter Every Day? [Wtf]

Gizmodo - 2 tim 28 min sedan

Earth is getting 50,000 tonnes lighter every year, even while 40,000 tonnes of space dust fall onto our planet's surface during the same period. So, why are we losing so much weight? You will be surprised.

At least, I never considered this and I was surprised to hear the reasoning in More or Less, a BBC Radio 4 program about statistics and numbers. According to Dr Chris Smith and Cambridge University physicist Dave Ansel's calculations, despite those 40,000 tonnes of space dust that become part of our planet every year, Earth loses 50,000 tonnes of mass. Is it because we keep launching rockets? No. These are their back-of-the-napkin calculations:

Adding weight

• Earth gains about 40,000 tonnes of dust every year, the remnants of the formation of the solar system, which are attracted by our gravity and become part of the matter in our planet. Our planet is actually made from all that starstuff.
• NASA says that Earth gains about 160 tonnes of matter a year because the global temperature is going up: "If we are adding energy to the system, the mass must go up." Oh, those crazy thermodynamics.

No effect

• Of course, having more people or building stuff doesn't add any mass to the planet. Humans and things are made with the matter that is already in the planet. It's just being transformed.
• Most of the rockets and satellites that we launch to Earth orbit eventually fall down back to Earth, so no real effect here.

Losing weight

• Earth's core loses energy over time. It's like a giant nuclear reactor that burns fuel. Less energy means less mass. 16 tonnes of that are gone every year. Not much.
• And here's the big mass loss: about 95,000 tonnes of hydrogen and 1,600 tones of helium escape Earth every year. They are too light for gravity to keep them around, so they get lost. Gone into space.

The result: the rough estimate is -50,000 tonnes every year. Which is about 0.000000000000001% less mass every year.

Should we be worried about Earth disappearing into thin air? No, you shouldn't. And you shouldn't worry about losing hydrogen. There's plenty and it will take trillions of years to deplete it.

Helium, on the other hand, is a different matter. It represents 0.00052% of the volume in our atmosphere, but it's mainly harvested from natural gas using a process called fractional distillation. Helium is becoming scarce in our planet. In fact, Cornell University physicist and Nobel Prize-winner Robert Richardson once said that each floating party balloon should have a $100 price tag, who campaigned against the US Government decision to sell the country's helium stockpile by 2015 to keep prices down.

He's probably right, considering that it is crucial for devices like MRI scanners, where it is used for cooling superconducting magnets and growing silicon and germanium crystals as well as the production of titanium and zirconium. But to keep its price down, the US [Download the program here (5MB)]

BTJunkie No More?

Slashdot - 2 tim 44 min sedan


First time accepted submitter AWESOM-O 4k writes "It seems like the popular file sharing site BTJunkie.org is gone. On btjunkie.org you are greeted with the following: '2005 — 2012 This is the end of the line my friends. The decision does not come easy, but we've decided to voluntarily shut down. We've been fighting for years for your right to communicate, but it's time to move on. It's been an experience of a lifetime, we wish you all the best! '"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Troubleshooting in a Nutshell

blogs.sun.com - 3 tim 53 min sedan

When a product goes into production sometimes it may run into performance issues due a number of issues such as traffic increases and uses of the product it was not designed for originally (as more user discover more and more about using the product in their daily work).

The Performance Troubleshooting Guideline Series (Doc Id: 560382.1) series of whitepapers, from My Oracle Support, covers the techniques (by tier) to help detect and address performance issues for products using the Oracle Utilities Application Framework. The whitepaper covers all the versions of the Oracle Utilities Application Framework so covers a lot of versions of various products.

While the whitepaper is comprehensive and includes a process for diagnosing performance issues there are some general advice that can help you address performance issues and even prevent them. Here is a summary of advice that you should consider when configuring your product as well as diagnosing performance issues:

  • Enable automatic caching on browser - One of the common issues I see with new implementations is that they setup their browsers for development and testing with settings that are not appropriate for production. One of the most common ones is the cache setting for Internet Explorer. When the browser gets a page it looks in its cache for the page and its static elements to save on redownloading them for the current session. If the elements are in the cache and they are still active (we assign an "expiry" date and time to each element when they are downloaded) then the browser will use them to render the screen. If they are not there or expired new versions are downloaded prior to rendering a screen. This has a slight delay to the loading of the screen till the cache is populated. If the browser cache parameter is set ot an inefficient value such as "Every Visit to Every Page" then this slight delay can result in large delays to transactions as the screen is loaded each time it is called. This also means bandwidth is greatly increased. By setting the value to "Automatic", the recommended setting for production, optimizes the transmission and rendering of the screens. I have seen performance increase up to 10 fold and bandwidth drop a similar amounf by ensuring this setting is set to "Automatic". Now this setting must be global, across all your users, to have an positive result in terms of bandwidth reduction.
  • Ensure you machine meets the minimal requirements for the software - The rendering speed of pages depends on the power available to the browser to render them. Now the Oracle Utilities Application Framework simplifies the rendering somewhat, by offloading some of the complex rendering to the server, but I have seen customers use underpowered client machines that are not even designed to run the underlying operating system at its optimal level let alone a browser application. The Oracle Utilities Application Framework product does not require a powerful machine by no means but a reasonable one (as outlined in the Installation Guide for the product) would greatly benefit performance of rendering.
  • Do not underestimate firewalls and virus protection - I saw less and less of this issue over time but not all sites have implemented firewalls or even virus protection on their computers. This is bandwidth and machine killer for the client machines. If you are a site that uses firewalls and virus protection then also be aware that these exact a performance premuim on all processes on a machine so performance can be affected. I am not suggesting that you not install these protections, just be aware of their impact on performance when you test to factor them in.
  • Web/Business Application Server optimization settings - There are a number of settings in the J2EE Web Application Server that can determine the performance of your product. These typically are
    • Thread pool sizing - Most J2EE server have dynamic sizing but it there is no harm in checking that you can support the number of connections to an individual server. Too few and you have delays in processing transactions.
    • Internal limits  - Internal tolerances of the Web Application Server. For example, WebLogic uses Socket Readers to control internal management of work and if you do not have enough then there are delays in processing calls.
    • JVM memory parameters - These parameters control the amount of memory for the product and the frequency of garbage collection. If they are not set appropriately for your traffic volumes then garbage collection happens too often and that can cause delays in the processing of transactions.
  • Child JVM optimizations - If you are using Oracle Utilities Customer Care and Billing and Oracle Enterprise Taxation and Policy Management then you should consider looking at optimizing the number of child JVMs and the recycling time for effective memory management of these JVMs. If there are too few child JVM's or they are running low on memory they can cause delays in transactions.
  • Update statistics often - One of the most common remedies for performance for online as well as batch is to ensure the database statistics for your site are up to date. I cannot stress this more than any remedy. In fact any customer I talk to this is one of the things I point out and when they are updated, performance problems seem to disappear more often than not. To explain, Oracle (as well as other databases in the marketplace) use Cost based optimization to determine the optimal path. When executing a new SQL statement, as paths are cached for reuse, Oracle quickly assesses the available access paths based upon the statistics in the database and chooses the lowest cost one to execute. As with humans, if you have the wrong information in front of you, then you can make potentially the wrong decision. Updating the statistics, using dbms_stats, on a regular basis gives the latest information to the optimizer to help it make the best decision it can at execution time.

The advice above is merely a summary of the advice in the whitepapers and the whitepaper document techniques used by customers to address performance issues in their implementations. Some customers incorporate this advice in their monitoring regimes to help identity issues before they become problems.

I strongly advise customers to take a look at the whitepapers to find advice that may assist. It saves time and helps keep your system healthy.

Study Finds Social Media Harder To Resist Than Cigarettes, Alcohol

Slashdot - 4 tim 29 min sedan


An anonymous reader writes "Checking a Twitter, Facebook or email account for updates may be more tempting than alcohol and cigarettes, according to researchers who tried to measure how well people regulate their daily desires. Researchers also found that while sleep and sex may be stronger urges than certain drug addictions, people are more likely to give in to their addiction to use social or other types of media."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Slick Augmented Reality Demo Works On Any Object Without Special Markers [Video]

Gizmodo - 6 tim 3 min sedan

One of the (many) reasons augmented reality apps haven't caught on is because they usually require markers or special objects for their tracking software to work. Unlike this Obvious Engine system which can easily track anything in a scene.

The results are, admittedly, pretty impressive. This quick demo shows a Dr. Pepper can being bulged and warped in real-time, without also distorting the area around the can. So the software is obviously very adept at isolating the object from the rest of the scene. It also shows the can being augmented with glowing rings, and creepy little creatures dancing around it, possibly worshipping its syrupy goodness.

Now obviously the bright table and well-lit room look like the optimal real-world conditions for the Obvious Engine to do its thing, but maybe the technology behind it is what augmented reality needs to finally become more than just a fad or mildly entertaining tech demo? [Obvious Engine via The Verge]

Heat Seeking Robot Absorbs and Shares The Warmth In Your Home [Video]

Gizmodo - 7 tim 3 min sedan

It's useless for keeping your floors clean, but those of us living in colder climates will certainly appreciate this concept Hagent robot that seeks out the warmest places in your home, absorbing the heat to share with you later.

Think of it as an autonomous roaming heater, but instead of generating its own heat, which would chew through a set of batteries in no time, it hunts down and steals the warmth from other items in your home. So for example, as the robot follows you into your living room, it would detect that the fireplace is producing considerably more heat than you are, so would park itself at a safe distance allowing its internal mechanisms to absorb as much warmth as possible.

Then, when you went to your bedroom at the end of the night, the robot would follow you there and using its sensors would determine that room was a lot colder than the last. So instead of trying to absorb more heat, it would emit what it had stored, warming its surroundings as much as possible. It's kind of like a high-tech approach to using warm rocks from a campfire to heat your sleeping bag, but with less risk of a deadly fire. [Daniel Abendroth via Ubergizmo]

New Workbench to Simplify Revenue Contract Management

blogs.sun.com - 7 tim 3 min sedan

Easy access to a wide variety of contract elements is essential when trying to handle the complexities inherent in managing revenue contracts. A contract administrator needs to keep a watchful eye on contract terms, billing plans, revenue recognition plans, project progress, team members, limits, withholdings, budgets, lots and lots of dates, and numerous other details in order to ensure good governance of an organization’s revenue. To ease the burden of the weary contract administrator, we recently added the Contracts Workbench to the PeopleSoft Contracts application in the PeopleSoft ESA 9.1 Bundle #16.

Designed based on requirements from several industries, the Contracts Workbench acts as a window into information from the PeopleSoft Contracts, Grants, and Project Costing applications. The data users see is dependent on which applications are installed, meaning that an organization can take advantage of the Contracts Workbench even if it is not using all three of the applications. Additionally, business analysts and users can configure sections of the Contracts Workbench to display only the award, contract, and project information relevant to the way their organization does business. Contract administrators and accountants can view and access information to identify instantly the need for adjustments, and they can quickly update contract lines, projects, bill plans, and so on.

Because it provides a great deal of contextual information, the Contracts Workbench can be a powerful tool for administrators and accountants in their quest to make more informed decisions when working a contract. With the context and the configurable aggregation of data offered by the Contracts Workbench, users can reduce the time they spend navigating software and comparing data and increase the time they dedicate to preventing revenue leakage, negotiating with customers, and performing other activities that protect and grow the all-important revenue stream.

Philatelists Push Petition For Pluto Probe Postage

Slashdot - 7 tim 4 min sedan


Hugh Pickens writes "Space.com reports that an online petition directed at the USPS and its Citizen Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC) hopes to collect 100,000 signatures or more by March 13, the 82nd anniversary of the announcement of Pluto's discovery as the New Horizons robotic spacecraft gets closer to flyby Pluto and its moons in 2015. 'This is a chance for us all to celebrate what American space exploration can achieve though hard work, technical excellence, the spirit of scientific inquiry, and the uniquely human drive to explore,' reads the petition. Whether or not the New Horizons team is successful in getting the USPS to honor their spacecraft's mission, the probe will have delivered a stamp to Pluto. New Horizons includes nine stowaways including one of the 1991 'Not Yet Explored' Pluto stamps together with other mementos including a Florida quarter, a small container with an ounce of the ashes of Clyde Tombaugh, discoverer of Pluto, and a small segment of 2004 Ansari X Prize winner SpaceShipOne, the first privately-funded crewed spacecraft. 'Why nine mementos? I bet you can guess,' says Dr. Alan Stern, New Horizons' Principal Investigator adding why he wanted to send one of the Pluto stamps on the mission. 'Pluto may not have been explored when that stamp set came out, but we were going to conquer that,' says Stern. 'I wanted to fly it as a sort of 'in your face' thing.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Remembering Sealab

Slashdot - sön, 2012-02-05 22:35


An anonymous reader writes "'Some people remember Sealab as being a classified program, but it was trying not to be,' says Ben Hellwarth, author of the new book Sealab: America's Forgotten Quest to Live and Work on the Ocean Floor, which aims to 'bring some long overdue attention to the marine version of the space program.' In the 1960s, the media largely ignored the efforts of America's aquanauts, who revolutionized deep-sea diving and paved the way for the underwater construction work being done today on offshore oil platforms. It didn't help that the public didn't understand the challenges of saturation diving; in a comical exchange a telephone operator initially refuses to connect a call between President Johnson and Aquanaut Scott Carpenter, (who sounded like a cartoon character, thanks to the helium atmosphere in his pressurized living quarters). But in spite of being remembered as a failure, the final incarnation of Sealab did provide cover for a very successful Cold War spy program."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Stylish Pendant Tools Keep You Fashion Forward, And Alive [Tools]

Gizmodo - sön, 2012-02-05 22:00

That massive Gerber multi-tool on your belt probably comes in really handy during emergencies, but not on a catwalk. If you want to be prepared for whatever life throws out you and look fashionable, you'll want to consider Wenger's HypeX line.

Consisting of six stripped down lightweight tools that can be worn as pendants hanging from an included silicone necklace, the HypeX pieces include implements for starting fires, sharpening blades, tightening screws, stripping wires, and of course opening bottles and corks. They'll be available starting in June for around $60 to $100, with more sports-oriented models coming later in the year. [Wenger via Gizmag]

Google In Battle With Its Own Lawyers

Slashdot - sön, 2012-02-05 21:15


An anonymous reader writes "Google is at daggers end with a law firm it's been using since 2008, after discovering that lawyers in the law firm, named Pepper Hamilton LLP, were representing a patent licensing business that sued Google's Android partners last month. Google has claimed that Pepper Hamilton LLP never provided notice that it was hired by Digitude Innovations LLC, the firm that filed patent infringement complaints against Google's business allies."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Recycled Air Bag Backpacks Save the Environment, Not Lives [Bags]

Gizmodo - sön, 2012-02-05 20:00

After an airbag deploys it's not like you can just cram it back into your steering wheel and carry on. They have to be cut out and replaced, which gives MariClaRo the materials it uses to create this lovely backpack.

Because of the stresses it endures when it's literally exploded into a driver's face, the fabric material used in airbags can't be re-used again in case it fails. But it's still perfectly suited to the rigors of hauling laptops, textbooks, and sweaty gym clothes. So Toronto-based MariClaRo turns them into these one of a kind backpacks that are individually made to order.

As a result delivery takes up to three weeks after ordering, but considering they're made from 99% recycled materials and probably have an interesting back story you'll always wonder about, I think it's totally worth the wait. As for the $300 price tag, I'll leave that up to you. [MariClaRo via Ecouterre]

Using Crowdsourcing To Design More Accessible Elections

Slashdot - sön, 2012-02-05 19:58


An anonymous reader writes "The U.S. Election Assistance Commission is sponsoring an online, open innovation challenge to search for creative answers to the question: 'How might we design an accessible election experience for everyone?' The goal is to develop ideas for how to make elections more accessible to everyone, especially people with disabilities."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Watch OK Go's New Desert Orchestra Stunt Driving Music Video [Video]

Gizmodo - sön, 2012-02-05 19:44

Last week we showed you a quick preview of OK Go's new video for "Needing/Getting", and now here's the full monty, compiled from a literal drive-by of 1157 homemade instruments of melodic Rube Goldberg(ish) goodness.

You can check out the full rundown of how everything was put together—including the band taking stunt driving courses—in the details section of the video on YouTube. [YouTube]

The Best Big Screen 3D HDTV [Battlemodo]

Gizmodo - sön, 2012-02-05 19:00

No, the Super Bowl is not going to be in 3D this year. Again. But that doesn't mean you don't want a 3D set. Here's the thing: The best 2D TV is a 3D TV. The burlier image processors required to render the third dimension make everything look better.

So how are you going to watch the game this year? Huddled in front of your buddy's RCA, squinting at plays? No thanks, not when you can watch it on a screen big enough to make you feel like you're on the sidelines.

We tested four 3D-capable HDTV's, each with at least 60 inches of viewing area, to find the one that provides the best picture, clarity, color and most panel-defying 3D. We looked for one that was easy to setup, install, and use without calling in tech support. Because our ideal HDTV doesn't require a visit from from a specialist to get up and running, we set them all up using the THX calibration method, which you can find on any THX-certified Blu-ray. It's game time, after all, and you want your set ready to watch in minutes, not hours.

Fourth Place: Mitsubishi 75-inch LaserVue DLP LT 75-A94

The Mitsubishi 75-inch LaserVue DLP is, first and foremost, gigantic—like having a drive-in theater installed in your living room. And for watching movies it was stupendous. Its six-color processor provides a huge range of color shades, but they were never quite as bright or as intense as the other TVs we tested. The set's minimal edging was a plus, helping add to the sense of being in a theater. It worked wonderfully under dimmed lights but trying to watch early Sunday sports was a problem—some of us have east-facing living room windows, and this baby is afraid of the light. It's also afraid of subpar content: Any sort of digital artifact or SD quality video (like a Netflix show streamed over a slow Wi-Fi connection) was glaringly obvious on its massive screen, even from far away. The 3D picture was solid with a good depth to the image, but fast-moving action—whether a thrown pass, car chase, or slap shot—did tend to get blobby and blurred.

On the hardware side, the LaserVue is a bit limited. It can't be wall-mounted, the set itself is horrendously heavy—tipping the scales at 140 pounds—and takes about 15 seconds to warm up when you turn it on. It does have four HDMI ports, which should be enough for most people, but its lack of USB jacks prevents you throwing in a few pirated movies family photos on a whim. Initial setup was straightforward, but the remote, which is about the size of my forearm with more buttons than my keyboard, took a while to learn.

gawkerGallery(5878265,5,'');

LaserVue DLP LT 75-A94 Specs

• Screen Size: 75-Inch
• Display Type: DLP
• Refresh Rate: 120Hz
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi, 4x HDMI, 2x component/composite
• 3D Type: Active Shutter
• Weight: 140 lbs
• Price: $6,000 MSRP

Third Place: LG 65" Class Cinema

The LG Class Cinema has a matte screen and its frame has a transparent bezel. The matte finish helps cut down on glare from ambient light while the bezel features an attractive touch interface for power, volume, and channel control. Like on the TNG-era Enterprise.

The color accuracy and 2D picture clarity are both fairly good but not outstanding—on par with other mid-priced sets. It employs 8-channel processing for each color and is capable of displaying 16.7 million possible shades. Black levels and shadow details, unfortunately, were only average. There was a notable loss of detail in dark movies, like Aliens.

The LG's passive 3D is a bit of a mixed bag. On one hand, the glasses are lightweight, flicker-free, and inexpensive, which means everybody in the room actually gets a pair and nobody will be getting nauseus extended sessions. The 178-degree viewing angle is also quite generous. On the other hand, the passive technology comes at the price of half the vertical screen resolution—1920 x 1080 images actually come across as 1920 x 540. It's not a deal breaker, but certainty noticeable. And, despite the 240Hz refresh rate, we also noticed some blurring during fast action scenes.

The LG offers four HDMI ports and double USBs, as well as component and antenna hookups and built-in Wi-Fi connectivity. None of its ports face the rear of the set, so it can be wall mounted nice and flush. The remote feels a bit cheap, though. Good thing the set also includes a slick five-button, motion-controlled SmartTV remote that can perform all of the same functions.

gawkerGallery(5878264,5,'');

LG 65" 65LW6500 Specs

• Screen Size: 65-inch
• Display Type: LED/LCD
• Refresh Rate: 240Hz
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Ethernet, 4x HDMI, 2x USB 2.0, 1x RF, 2x component
• 3D Type: Passive
• Weight: 104 lbs
• Price: $4,500 MSRP

Second Place: Samsung 64" PN64D8000FF

The Samsung 64-inch 1080p plasma is as gorgeous as it is slender. At a mere inch thick and 51 pounds, it's the thinnest and lightest set of the group. And, with slim, brushed-metal frame and inch-wide transparent bezel, there's very little to distract from the on-screen action.

The color accuracy was spot-on and the picture clarity was excellent—we barely had to make any adjustments during calibration. Colors were extremely vivid, much brighter and far more intense than any of the other sets. Combined with an anti-glare screen coating and Samsung's Real Black Filter, you can watch in a bright room without the picture getting washed out. 2D clarity was also fantastic, even with SD signals, though it did suffer from some digital artifacts when watching streaming content. The 3D image was very good with excellent—and adjustable—field depth. The active shutter glasses were a bit bulky though—you definitely notice them after a long 3D sesh.

It features four HDMI ports, two USB ports, and is Wi-Fi enabled. We were especially impressed with the remote, which has a Bluetooth QWERTY keyboard on the back side, making for easy-peasy username entering. Navigating the Samsung's menus was very intuitive, despite the amount of features it packs. Streaming content like Netflix and Hulu Plus are all there. Skype too, if you want to plug in a camera.

gawkerGallery(5878588,4,'');

Samsung 64" PN64D8000FF Specs

• Screen Size: 64-inch
• Display Type: Plasma
• Refresh Rate: 240Hz
• Connectivity: Wi-Fi, Ethernet, DNLA, 4x HDMI, 2x USB 2.0, 1x composite/component
• 3D Type: Passive
• Weight: 51 lbs
• Price: $3,800 MSRP

Bestmodo! Sharp Aquos Quattron 70" LC-70LE735U

The Sharp Aquos Quattron's screen is taller than the average American man. Its called Quattron because there's a fourth color—yellow—in its sub-pixel arrays (these colors are mixed to create the shade for each individual pixel), allowing it to generate nearly a trillion potential color shades. The black levels and shadow detail were equally impressive, thanks to the set's local dimming edge-lit LED back-lighting, with very little loss of clarity during dark scenes. The picture clarity was top-notch as well; there were significantly fewer jagged edges even on SD content. 2D HD content was clear enough that you could count the laces on a thrown football in flight.
The 3D was fairly good, though we did notice some halo effects with it turned on and some blurring during fast action (though that's pretty much universal in 3D sets). Screen flicker was, however, nearly nonexistent, and the 176-degree viewing angle was impressive.

The Sharp is Wi-Fi enabled, and includes four HDMI ports. No USBs, though, but you can push local content over your home network to play it . The streaming service selection was more sparse than the Samsung's offerings, but the amount and degree of picture controls were made calibrating the set dead simple.

gawkerGallery(5878260,6,'');

Sharp Aquos Quattron 70" LC-70LE735U Specs

• Screen Size: 70-inch
• Display Type: LED/LCD
• Refresh Rate: 240Hz
• Connectivity: Ethernet, DNLA, 4x HDMI, 2x USB 2.0, 1x component
• 3D Type: Active
• Weight: 99 lbs
• Price: $4,300 MSRP

Ask Slashdot: How Is Online Engineering Coursework Viewed By Employers?

Slashdot - sön, 2012-02-05 18:45


New submitter KA.7210 writes "I am an employed mechanical engineer, having worked with the same company since graduation from college 5 years ago. I am looking to increase my credentials by taking more engineering courses, potentially towards a certificate or a full master's degree. Going to school full time is not an option, and there is only one engineering school near me that offers a program that resembles what I wish to study, and also has the courses at night. Therefore, I have begun to look at online options, and it appears there are many legitimate, recognizable schools offering advanced courses in my area of interest. My question to Slashdot readers out there is: how do employers view degrees/advanced credentials obtained online, when compared to the more typical in-person education? Does anyone have specific experience with this situation? The eventual degree itself will have no indication that it was obtained online, but simple inference will show that it was not likely I maintained my employment on the east coast while attending school in-person on the west coast. I wish to invest my time wisely, and hope that some readers out there have experience with this issue!"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Lego Lord of the Rings Sets First Look: They Are Awesome! [Lego]

Gizmodo - sön, 2012-02-05 17:45

Rejoice fellows of the Lego ring, because we got the first close-up look of the Lego Lord of the Rings sets coming out this year. And they are amazing, from the Mines of Moria—cave troll included!—to Helm's Deep to Shelob!

Yes, that was a Lego LOTR nerd squeaky scream. Look at the Hobbit mini-minifigs fighting Shelob! (that's another one). You can see the Mines of Moria on the back, with the cave troll battling the Fellowship! (yes, yes). That seems to be the second biggest set, the biggest one being Helm's Deep.

The image was secretly taken by a fan from Slovenia in private area of the Lego booth at Nuremberg's Toy Fair. This stolen image comes after Lego gave us the official look of all the Lego Lord of the Rings characters. I can't wait to see them at the New York Toy Fair next week (and show them to you). [Kocke Klub (Slovenian)——Thanks Scott!]

Job Seeking Hacker Gets 30 Months In Prison

Slashdot - sön, 2012-02-05 17:41


wiredmikey writes "A hacker who tried to land an IT job at Marriott by hacking into the company's computer systems, and then unwisely extorting the company into hiring him, has been sentenced to 30 months in prison. The hacker started his malicious quest to land a job at Marriott by sending an email to Marriott containing documents taken after hacking into Marriott servers to prove his claim. He then threatened to reveal confidential information he obtained if Marriott did not give him a job in the company's IT department. He was granted a job interview, but little did he know, Marriott worked with the U.S. Secret Service to create a fictitious Marriott employee for use by the Secret Service in an undercover operation to communicate with the hacker. He then was flown in for a face-to-face 'interview' where he admitted more and shared details of how he hacked in. He was then arrested and he pleaded guilty back in November 2011. Marriott claims the incident cost the company between $400,000 and $1 million in salaries, consultant expenses and other costs."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Air Guns Shake Up Earthquake Monitoring

Slashdot - sön, 2012-02-05 16:50


sciencehabit writes "Petroleum geologists have long used air guns in their search for oil and gas deposits. Sudden blasts from the devices generate seismic waves that they use to map underground rock formations. Could the same technique be used to study earthquakes? A team of Chinese scientists thinks so. The researchers have designed an air gun that could be useful in monitoring changes in stress buildup along fault zones."

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Prenumerera på innehåll