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Comment Re: Feeding an island is DEADLY. (Score 1) 124

Do you really think linemen are morons? What, do you think they turn the power off to work on the lines? You think they bet their asses that the circuit is cold and going to stay that way? You don't touch bare wiring in anything without assuming it will kill you and taking the appropriate caution. And trust me. Linemen don't accidentally brush up against wires. Doling so in that line of work can be deadly and will get you fired to save your life and those you work with.

Comment Re:Great engineering! (Score 1) 151

by Hamoohead (#38928085) Attached to: Mars Rover Opportunity Turns 8
Wow, I wanna live in YOUR world. It sounds like a wonderful place. You see, I deal with asshats every day that are convinced that their products are perfect even though the life is manufactured out of the original specification in the name of maximizing profit and damage only occurs because of improper handling or use. You should come to work for my company. The CEO would love you.

The longevity of Opportunity renews my faith in our ability to create lasting technology.

**Disclaimer: I am a new products engineer in the pro audio industry

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: Best Certifications To Get?

Submitted by Hardhead_7
Hardhead_7 writes: Seeing the recent article on Slashdot about how much your degree is worth got me thinking. I've been working in the IT field for several years now, but I don't have anything to my name other than an A+ certificate and vendor specific training (ie, Dell certified). Now I'm looking to move up in the IT field, and I want some stuff on my resume to demonstrate to future employers that I know what I'm doing, enough that I can get in the door for an interview. So my question to Slashdot is this: What certifications are the most valuable and sought-after? What will impress potential employers and be most likely to help land a decent job for someone who doesn't have a degree, but knows how to troubleshoot and can do a bit of programming if needed?
Microsoft

Submission + - Is Bill Gates the Cure for What Ails Microsoft?

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: After reading the soon-to-be classic children's story Steve Ballmer and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week, gdgt's Ryan Block concludes that it's time for Bill Gates to come back to Microsoft. 'I've long seen it as a foregone conclusion that Ballmer isn't the guy to be running what was until quite recently the world's preeminent technology company,' writes Block. 'The more pressing question is: who should replace him? I think we all know damn well who — but I'm not so sure he's available. Yet.' Block adds: 'I'm not saying Bill's going to leave his new gig as the world's greatest living philanthropist with aplomb, but the multi-billion dollar wheels at The Gates Foundation have been set in motion — and lest we all forget, the Foundation's endowment is tied directly to Microsoft's long-term success. It may just happen that Bill can help the Foundation more by securing Microsoft's future.'

Submission + - Germany to End Nuclear Power by 2022 (yahoo.com)

Submitted by
dcollins
dcollins writes: ""Germany on Monday announced plans to become the first major industrialised power to shut down all its nuclear plants in the wake of the disaster in Japan, with a phase-out due to be wrapped up by 2022... Germany has 17 nuclear reactors on its territory, eight of which are currently off the electricity grid... Already Friday, the environment ministers from all 16 German regional states had called for the temporary order on the seven plants to be made permanent... Monday's decision is effectively a return to the timetable set by the previous Social Democrat-Green coalition government a decade ago. And it is a humbling U-turn for Merkel, who at the end of 2010 decided to extend the lifetime of Germany's 17 reactors by an average of 12 years, which would have kept them open until the mid-2030s.""
Censorship

Submission + - US Citizen Arrested while in Thailand for Blog (asiancorrespondent.com)

Submitted by societyofrobots
societyofrobots writes: A US citizen, upon visiting Thailand for medical treatment, was arrested for lese majeste (insulting the king) and computer crimes ("entering false information into a computer system"). He is charged for posting a link on his blog to a banned book, The King Never Smiles, and for translating excerpts of it. He made the posting four years ago in 2007, while in the US. Trials for lese majeste are traditionally held in secret, for reasons of 'national security'. AFP has more information.
Science

Submission + - Activists destroy scientific GMO experiment (deredactie.be)

Submitted by
Freggy
Freggy writes: "In Belgium, a group of activists calling themselves the Field Liberation Movement has destroyed a field which was being used for a scientific experiment with genetically modified potatoes. In spite of the presence of 60 police officers protecting the field, activists succeeded pulling out the plants and sprayed insecticides over them, ruining the experiment. The goal of the experiment was to test potato plants which are genetically modified to be resistant to potato blight. It's a sad day for the freedom of scientific research."

Submission + - GameStop to honor ancient Duke Nukem Pre-Orders (gamepro.com)

Submitted by doug141
doug141 writes: GameStop encourages customers who pre-ordered more than a year ago to verify their reservation with their local store. 'Provided the customer has a receipt, we will honor even those pre-orders taken long ago. At this time, we expect that all pre-order customers will receive Duke's Big Package at time of purchase, regardless of when the reservation was made.'
Space

Submission + - Time Lapse Video of the VLT in Chile (popsci.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: The video below was captured by Stephane Guisard and Jose Francisco Salgado at the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (VLT) in Chile’s Atacama Desert. And it might make you cry.

What makes this time lapse particularly amazing--because we’ve all seen plenty of time lapse videos of the night sky--is the four telescopes in the foreground. Watching these instruments work against a black background would be endlessly fascinating on its own. Unfortunately you won’t be able to pay them too much attention. Because damn, what a sky.
Wireless Networking

Submission + - What's killing your Wi-Fi? (pcpro.co.uk)

Submitted by
Barence
Barence writes: "PC Pro has taken an in-depth look at Wi-Fi and the factors that can cause connections to crumble. It dispels some common myths about Wi-Fi problems — such as that neighbouring Wi-Fi hotspots are the most common cause of problems, instead of other RF interference from devices such as analogue video senders, microwave ovens and even fish tanks. The feature also highlights free and paid-for tools that can diagnose Wi-Fi issues, such as inSSIDer and Heatmapper, the latter of which maps provides a heatmap of Wi-Fi hotspots in your home or office."

Submission + - Martin Jetpack Climbs 5000 Feet Above Sea Level (tvnz.co.nz)

Submitted by rh2600
rh2600 writes: For years the Martin Jetpack has stayed just a few feet off the ground, invoking frequent suspicion about its true abilities. Well, today that all changed with the first climb test in New Zealand (with weighted crash-test dummy) reaching over 5,000 feet above sea level. The emergency parachute test was also a success. Kiwis can indeed fly.
Iphone

Submission + - Samsung wants to see iPhone 5 and iPad 3 (tekgoblin.com) 1

Submitted by
tekgoblin
tekgoblin writes: "The suit against Samsung that Apple had filed back in April has been full of surprises recently and Apple even asked to see all of Samsung’s future devices. Now in a recent turn of events, Samsung is now requesting to view Apple’s upcoming devices such as the iPad 3 and iPhone 5."

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That's the thing about people who think they hate computers. What they really hate is lousy programmers. - Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle in "Oath of Fealty"

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