ObsessiveMathsFreak - Slashdot User

Submission + - Irish SOPA used to block Pirate Bay Access. ISPs roll over.

Submitted by ObsessiveMathsFreak on Wednesday June 12, 2013 @09:58AM

ObsessiveMathsFreak writes: Ireland's own SOPA Act has finally struck home. Today, the Irish High Court ordered all ISPs to begin censoring the The Pirate Bay. After earlier attempts were struck down, this case was brought by EMI, Sony, Warner Music and Universal music under new copyright laws brought in last year. This follows the largest ISP Eircom already having voluntarily blocked the Pirate Bay after previous legal action. Despite some early indications that some ISPs would appeal the decision, it now appears that like Eircom, they have quietly given up. Pity; IT was one of the few industires Ireland was getting right.

Submission + - xkcd coins new word; Confuses Wikipedia and Web (bbcnewsamerica.com)

Submitted by

ObsessiveMathsFreak

on Thursday May 13, 2010 @01:22PM

ObsessiveMathsFreak writes: "Today's xkcd comic introduced an unusual word—malamanteau—by giving its supposed definintion on Wikipedia. The only trouble is that the word (as well as its supposed wiki page) did not in fact exist. Naturally, much ado ensued at the supposed wiki page, which was swiftly created in response to the comic. BBC America has more on how the comic and the confusion it caused have put the net in a tizzy. It turns out that a malamanteau is a portmanteau of portmanteau and Malapropism, but also a Malapropos of portmanteau. All this puts Wikipedia in the confusing position of not allowing a page for an undefined word whose meaning is defined via the wikipedia page for that word—and now I have to lie down for a moment."

Submission + - Google Launches Dictionary; Drops Answers.com

Submitted by

ObsessiveMathsFreak

on Friday December 04, 2009 @08:26AM

ObsessiveMathsFreak writes: "Google has expanded its remit once again with the quiet launch of Google Dictionary. Google word search definitions now redirect to Google Dictionary instead of to Google's long term thesaurus goto site, Answers.com, which is expected to take a serious hit in traffic as a result. Dictionary pages are noticeably more plain and faster loading than their Answers.com equivalents, and unusually feature web citations for the definitions of each word. This means that, unlike most dictionaries, Google considers ginormous a word. In related news just as Answers.com has been silently phased out, Google's web search page now silently phases in. Google works in mysterious ways."

Submission + - Opera Closes China Loophole; Reinstates Censorship

Submitted by

ObsessiveMathsFreak

on Monday November 23, 2009 @09:03AM

ObsessiveMathsFreak writes: "Coming hot on the heels of Microsoft's censoring of Chinese search results, web browser maker Opera has become the latest company to joyfully contribute to prosperous growth of the Great Firewall of China. For speed and convenience, the mobile phone based 'Opera Mini' browser receives formatted web page via Opera's own line of proxy servers. These unfiltered proxies gave Opera's Chinese users rare unfettered access to the wider web. However, this loophole has now been closed, with Chinese users now being directed to 'upgrade' to 'Opera Mini China', which closes this loophole, returning them to the buxom of party censorship, and Opera to the favour of the Chinese Government. Truly; 'To Get Rich Is Glorious'."

Submission + - Call To Halt Donations To Stop Wikipedia Deletions 4

Submitted by

ObsessiveMathsFreak

on Tuesday October 30, 2007 @09:04PM

ObsessiveMathsFreak writes: "Howard Tayler, the webcomic artist of Schlock Mercenary fame, is calling on people not to donate money during the latest Wikimedia Foundation fund-raiser, in protest at the "notability purges" taking place throughout Wikipedia, where articles are being removed en-masse by what many see as overzealous admins. The webcomic community in particular has long felt slighted by the application of Wikipedia's contentious Notability policy. Wikinews reporters have recently begun investigating this issue, but are the admins listening? Is Deletionism becoming a dominant ethos on Wikipedia? Are the right people holding the reigns?"

Submission + - Numerically Approximating The Wave Equation

Submitted by

ObsessiveMathsFreak

on Tuesday September 04, 2007 @12:32PM

ObsessiveMathsFreak writes: "I'm an applied mathematician who has recently needed to obtain good numerical approximations to the classic second order wave equation, preferably in three space dimensions. A lot of googling has not revealed much on what I had assumed would be a well studied problem. Most of the standard numerical methods, finite difference/finite element methods, don't seem to work very well in the case of variable wave speed at different points in the domain, which is exactly the case that I need. Are there any slashdotters working on numerically solving wave equation problems? What numerical methods do you use, and which programs do you find best suited to the task? How do you deal with stability issues, boundary/initial values and other pitfalls? Are there different methods for electromagnetic wave problems? Finally, when the numbers have all been crunched, how do you visualize your hard earned data?"

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