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Comment Re:Intelligence not a factor? (Score 4, Interesting) 207

My suspicion is that the white collar or "intelligent" robberies are not included in the statistical sampling the authors were allowed to draw upon. Things like electronic fraud, employee skimming, loan fraud, etc - which net the culprits millions and are not made public because they impune upon the bank's integrity far more then some guy with a gun in his pocket.

Slashdot.org

SlashTweaks Let YOU Micro-Edit Slashdot 257

Here at Slashdot, we watched as Twitter discourse to just the perfect 140 characters, while showed us that everyone's voice mattered equally when creating the experience. We've taken the next step with SlashTweaks. Within each Slashdot you will be presented with several opportunities to make micro-edits: ranging from factual errors or tonal shifts to simple typos. Since Tweaks are just a single word, there is very little barrier to entry... you have no excuse not to participate. Stories will incorporate the highest rated socially and mathematically guaranteeing the best story possible. Our highest users can start new tweaks on individual words, while everyone else will be rating existing tweaks. Thanks for your participation and patience while we iterate on this, making sure that we are able to stay ahead of the edge of webbovation!
Crime

Convicted Terrorist Relied On Single-Letter Cipher 254

Hugh Pickens writes "The Register reports that the majority of the communications between convicted terrorist Rajib Karim and Bangladeshi Islamic activists were encrypted with a system which used Excel transposition tables which they invented themselves. It used a single-letter substitution cipher invented by the ancient Greeks that had been used and described by Julius Caesar in 55BC. Despite urging by the Yemen-based al Qaida leader Anwar Al Anlaki, Karim rejected the use of a sophisticated code program called 'Mujhaddin Secrets' which implements all the AES candidate cyphers, 'because "kaffirs," or non-believers, know about it so it must be less secure.'"

Comment Re:The way we think (Score 1) 1153

While I can agree on the surface the expense and time spent teaching many people who may never use it seems wasteful, I propose that the value of the handful of real genius we see evolve from that exposure who otherwise wouldn't makes it worth it. And as from the rest of us, in the end we do not suffer from knowing too much, but too little.

As well, arguing to limit exposure seems contrary to the discipline being able to grow in the future. The more people you expose to a degree beyond the mundane, the more chances you have of inspiring someone to pursue the field. With more people in the field rather then just those who had set their hearts on math, the more breakthroughs are likely.

I find it disheartening that a math professor would express such ideas, and can't help but suspect that perhaps he might feel his own career has been a waste of time rather then his opinion on the field of math instruction as a whole.

Comment Re:Production cost (Score 1) 205

Last week I bought my parents a Toshiba pre-paid cell phone with 60 minutes that has all the standard cell phone features minus a camera and web browsing. The package included the phone, battery, programmable sim, wall charger, car charger, and a hands free mic/ear piece. They're going on a vacation and don't have a cell so it was an amazing deal for a little road-side security at only 10 dollars. I was pretty amazed, it made me wonder just how marked up all our higher end phones are when they can practically give this one away.

Or perhaps, like subscription plans, they hope that people will just buy more minutes on it and pay it off, but I suspect they're not losing any money if you choose not to.

Games

Submission + - Australia considering iPhone app censorship (theaustralian.com.au) 4

srjh writes: Having raised concerns about "the classification of games playable on mobile telephones", the Australian government has now "put the wheels in motion to address this". Under current Australian legislation, video games sold in the country must pay between $470 and $2040 to have the game classified, and due to the lack of an 18+ rating in Australia, if it is not found to be suitable for a 15-year-old, it is banned outright. This is the fate met by several recent titles, such as Left 4 Dead 2 and Fallout 3. Over 200,000 applications are available for the iPhone, many of them games, and developers have raised concerns about the prohibitive costs involved, with many announcing an intention to drop the Australian market altogether if the plan proceeds. However the current loophole constitutes a loss of millions of dollars in revenue for the government, which is currently attempting to have "refused classification" content such as banned video games blocked at an ISP level.
The Internet

How the Internet Is Changing Language 295

Ant writes "BBC News reports on how the internet is changing language. What was once understandable only to the tech savvy has become common. From the article: 'To Google' has become a universally understood verb and many countries are developing their own Internet slang. But is the Web changing language and is everyone up to speed?'"

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