Follow Slashdot stories on Twitter

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror

Comment Re:Don't believe everything you read (Score 1) 213

Ashby is not a champion of free speech in Australia. He publicly made false allegations with the intent of destroying Slipper's career. Seems like a straightforward case of defamation. I'm ok with having a law to protect against this sort of thing.

Back on topic - the internet trolling stuff is ridiculous! Farah needs to harden the fuck up. I can't believe a footballer would be such a princess. I doubt there will be any anti-troll laws either. It's just talk to try and get political advantage at this point (doubtful whether the NSW or federal governments are succeeding).

Comment Re:So safety is no longer a factor (Score 1) 372

On a flight I was on recently I heard the following announcement as we were approaching the runway to land: "There is interference in the cockpit. Could everyone switch off their electronic devices immediately". This was only a minute before we touched down and they had already made the standard announcement & checks several minutes earlier.

As the sibling poster mentions that article you link from Boeing contains several reliable reports of PEDs causing interference in actual flights. Boeing has not been able to reliably reproduce the issue in their labs.

Education

Is a Computer Science Degree Worth Getting Anymore? 630

snydeq writes "Self-taught technologists are almost always better hires than those with a bachelor's degree in computer science and a huge student loan, writes Andrew Oliver. 'A recruiter recently asked me why employers are so picky. I explained that of the people who earned a computer science degree, most don't know any theory and can't code. Instead, they succeed at putting things on their resume that match keywords. Plus, companies don't consider it their responsibility to provide training or mentoring. In fairness, that's because the scarcity of talent has created a mercenary culture: "Now that my employer paid me to learn a new skill, let me check to see if there's an ad for it on Dice or Craigslist with a higher rate of pay." When searching for talent, I've stopped relying on computer science degrees as an indicator of anything except a general interest in the field. Most schools suck at teaching theory and aren't great at Java instruction, either. Granted, they're not much better with any other language, but most of them teach Java.'"

Comment Re:Whats the problem (Score 1) 404

I think we do need gender specific recruitment. The argument goes a little something like this:
1. 50% of the population is female.
2. 50% of good scientists should also be female (assuming an even distribution).
3. Much less than 50% of current scientists are female.
Therefore there are women who would be good scientists that are not choosing to do science.

Comment Re:Circles (Score 1) 390

Oh great, I can decide what to hear and don't have to manage my own collection! (Some time in the future) Oh wait, there was this song I particularly liked. Where has it gone? Maybe I should have my own collection again. Damn, the RIAA no longer allows me to own!

That time is now. I recently switched my spotify account's location from the USA to Australia and some albums have disappeared.

I think streaming is great, but I don't see it as a replacement for a CD collection. It supplements it and lets you check out some new artists.

Businesses

Vermont Bans Fracking 278

eldavojohn writes "Vermont is the first state to ban fracking (hydraulic fracturing), a process that was to revolutionize the United States' position into a major producer of natural gas. New York currently has a moratorium on fracking but it is not yet a statewide ban. Video of the signing indicates the concern over drinking water as the motivation for Vermont's measures (PDF draft of legislation). Slashdot has frequently encountered news debating the safety of such practices."

Slashdot Top Deals

Someone is unenthusiastic about your work.

Working...