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Comment Re:"What were you thinking?" (Score 5, Informative) 628

This might have been true in the past but it isn't true of the current CS department. Since UF was designated a "Research 1" university, the CISE department has made huge strides to increase its research competitiveness. They have won 12 NSF CAREER awards for young faculty, received 11 best paper awards at major conferences in the last 5 years, and have quintupled their external research grant funding.

Submission + - University of Florida Eliminates Computer Science Department (forbes.com) 2

DustyShadow writes: The University of Florida announced this past week that it was dropping its computer science department, which will allow it to save about $1.7 million. The school is eliminating all funding for teaching assistants in computer science, cutting the graduate and research programs entirely, and moving the tattered remnants into other departments. Students at UF have already organized protests, and have created a website dedicated to saving the CS department. Several distinguished computer scientists have written to the president of UF to express their concerns, in very blunt terms. Prof. Zvi Galil, Dean of Computing at Georgia Tech, is “amazed, shocked, and angered.” Prof. S.N. Maheshwari, former Dean of Engineering at IIT Delhi, calls this move “outrageously wrong.” Computer scientist Carl de Boor, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and winner of the 2003 National Medal of Science, asked the UF president “What were you thinking?”

Comment Thanks for Everything! (Score 1) 1521

I've been reading Slashdot prettymuch since day 1. I was one of the resistors of the (then new) login system, and when I finally capitulated, several thousand people were onboard. That's when I really understood how many (and diverse) people viewed this site daily. Recently, I've not been around as much. Mostly reading, almost no commenting, but /. has always had a place in my heart.

I remember going to one of the first Linuxconfs in NYC, where /. had their hangout area. Hemos had logged into the /. back-end on one of the floating laptops, then left the area. I happened to pick up the laptop, and saw /. from "the other side". It was like seeing the code stream in The Matrix (although many years prior to the film). (I logged him out immediately). When he eventually came back, I informed him what had happened, and we chatted for a brief time. Rob and Jeff fostered a community, and while the community has changed, it's still strong.

Rob, /. will miss you, but it'll keep going strong, thanks to your help. May your Karma always be Excellent!

Comment Re:I agree with that (Score 1) 441

Your premise is wrong. You assume that the entrance essay is "graded". It's not. It's meant to give the admissions board more information about your character as a student, and insight into how you express yourself in the day-to-day.

While the essay isn't graded, it is *judged*. It is judged based upon your ability to convey your thoughts and ideas (along with your test scores, 2ndary school grades, extra-curricular activities, etc), and whether that type of expression fits into MIT society.

Technology

The Beginnings of Apple Computer 181

John Burek points out an article written by Stan Veit, former editor-in-chief of Computer Shopper magazine, and one of the first retailers to deal with the fledgling Apple Computer in the late 1970s. Veit describes his introduction to the Apple I and his early interactions with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak as they developed their early models. Quoting: "After Woz hooked his haywire rig up to the living-room TV, he turned it on, and there on the screen I saw a crude Breakout game in full color! Now I was really amazed. This was much better than the crude color graphics from the Cromemco Dazzler. ... 'How do you like that?' said Jobs, smiling. 'We're going to dump the Apple I and only work on the Apple II.' 'Steve,' I said, 'if you do that you will never sell another computer. You promised BASIC for the Apple I, and most dealers haven't sold the boards they bought from you. If you come out with an improved Model II they will be stuck. Put it on the back burner until you deliver on your promises.'"
Books

Fraud Threat Halts Knuth's Hexadecimal-Dollar Checks 323

Barence writes "You may be aware of Donald Knuth, the creator of TeX and author of The Art of Computer Programming, who used to post checks to anyone who spotted an error in one of his books — one hexadecimal dollar, or $2.56. No one cashed them though. This blogger has two of them proudly on his wall, but the sad news is that modern day bank fraud has put a stop to Knuth's much-loved way of keeping his books free of errors." (Here's Knuth's own post about the sad change.)
Privacy

How To Tell If Your Cell Phone Is Bugged 338

Lauren Weinstein writes to point us to his essay on the realities of using an idle cell phone as a bug, as a recent story indicated the FBI may have done in a Mafia case. From the essay: "There is no magic in cell phones. From a transmitting standpoint, they are either on or off... It is also true that some phones can be remotely programmed by the carrier to mask or otherwise change their display and other behaviors in ways that could be used to fool the unwary user. However, this level of remote programmability is another feature that is not universal... But remember — no magic! When cell phones are transmitting — even as bugs — certain things are going to happen every time that the alert phone user can often notice."

Wii Internet Connection Reverse Engineered 166

AlexTheBeast writes "By packet sniffing his Wi-Fi connection, this hacker has already begun to dig into the internet interactions of the new Nintendo Wii. Basically, by using Firefox and after setting the user agent correctly, anybody can easily browse many WiiShop pages including the WiiShop main page and startup manual. More advanced connections including binary and virtual console downloads are currently in the works. Come join the project."

Some Back Compat Problems For PS3 138

Via Opposable Thumbs at Ars Technica, the news at IGN that there are some annoying backwards compatibility issues with the PS3 and the PS2. Specifically, there are about 196 games that are experiencing issues. From the article: "In response to these issues, Sony's PR department pointed out that it, from the start, expected backwards compatibility to be less than 100%. It was also good enough to point out that some people can put up with playing games that lack sound. Regardless of this somewhat arrogant response, an official statement issued at the PlayStation.com site states that Sony will fix the problems with a future system update, and may even resort to individual patches for certain titles. When this will happen has yet to be specified." Qj.net has a list of some of the problem games, with their specific issues. It sounds bad, but to put this in perspective I believe there are still far more PS2 games playable on the PS3 than there are Xbox games playable on the 360.

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