Want to read Slashdot from your mobile device? Point it at m.slashdot.org and keep reading!

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror

Comment I don't know (Score 0) 250

Why did this trial take 2 years?? I have not seen any evidence clearly showing Tsarnaev planting a pressure cooker bomb. I have seen a half dozen or so videos of the brothers walking around with backpacks. If you pay attention to these videos you can see at least another half dozen people (men and women) with backpacks of similar size. The only video evidence that leads me to believe he may have done it is the one where the younger brother is close to the front fence and a bomb goes off to the left of him off camera... the rest of the crowd reacts and looks over to the area where the bomb went off... Tsarnaev starts getting out of the area immediately, whereas it takes other spectators a few seconds to start leaving and going to the right.... then 10 seconds later a bomb goes off in camera and the camera goes black. I just want to say I have doubts about all this. It should be well known that organizations and individuals can make a ton of money off events like this. I'm talking stock market action, I'm also talking about new surveillance deals and security apparatuses being sold to the government and private organizations. Just saying there are a lot of people that have motive to set something like this up because they and there friends will profit immensely. Tsarnaev had little motive to do something like this. The only news coverage I saw or heard all had the Tsarnaev's pegged as absolutely guilty from day one. Constant references to "this trial is already over its just a matter of the death penalty" for months. I just want to say I am very worried about how everyone in this country behaves whenever anything "terrorist" related happens. Tell me, have any of you heard Tsarnaev talk freely about what happened that day? In fact I cannot find a SINGLE VIDEO of Tsarnaev saying ANYTHING about all of this. Maybe someone can post some links. If not can any of you explain how what happened here is any different from some of the really awful oppressive countries and governments that you learned about in school during the world wars... russian gulags... siberia never to be heard from again? etc. Look, most likely the Tsarnaevs did do it... but it seems HIGHLY unlikely that there we have brought all parties that were involved in the bombing to justice.

Comment Re:bitcoin has to much fluctuation for them to hol (Score 0) 87

Assuming the merchant instantly converts Bitcoins into cash for say, a $100 equivalent transaction, what is the difference in transaction cost when compared with a credit card? I know credit card transactions cost roughly 2%, or $2 in this case.

It depends on the merchant's Bitcoin processor or whatever private contract they have with them. The main processors are Coinbase and BitPay. There is a transaction fee paid by the customer of .0001 BTC when they make the payment. That fee goes to the Bitcoin miners on the network. The payment processors have varying fees for the transaction that the merchant would pay when instantly converting to cash. I believe there is no fee on the portion of Bitcoin the merchant may or may not choose to hold. For the moment at least.

Republicans

Has Ron Paul Quit? 878

Lally Singh sends us to the inside-the-Beltway blog Wonkette for a quick take on a letter Ron Paul sent to his supporters. In this analysis, Dr. Paul has basically called it quits. "Late Friday night, Dr. Congressman Ron Paul posted a letter to his fans basically saying it's over, but he will continue talking about his message, and plus it would be completely embarrassing for him if he also lost his congressional seat."
Databases

PostgreSQL 8.3 Released 286

jadavis writes "The release of the long-awaited PostgreSQL version 8.3 has been announced. The new feature list includes HOT, which dramatically improves performance for databases with high update activity; asynchronous commit; built-in full text search; large database features such as synchronized scans and reduced storage overhead; built-in SQL/XML support; spread checkpoints; and many more (too many major new features to list here). See the release notes for full details."
Republicans

Best Presidential Candidate, Republicans 1481

A few days ago we posted a story for you to discuss the best presidential candidates for Super Tuesday, but I figured it would be an interesting idea to try that again, but split the discussion into 2 halves. This is the Republican half — please only discuss the Republican candidates in this story. Huckabee, McCain, and Romney only.
Security

DoS Attacks on Estonia Were Launched by Student 184

As_I_Please alerts us to the fact that a 20-year-old Estonian student has been fined for participating in DoS attacks against various Estonian political and governmental websites last May. The situation was notable because it escalated tensions between Estonia and Russia when the latter was accused of initiating the 'cyber-attack'. Quoting: "The fact that a single student was able to trigger such events is particularly ominous when you consider just how many potential flashpoints exist between various countries all over the world. The DoS attack against Estonia is an excellent example of how a cyberattack carried out by a 20-year-old student in response to real-life events further exacerbated an existing problem between two nations."
Biotech

Engineered Mosquitoes Could Wipe Out Dengue Fever 343

Christina Valencia points us to a Wired story about scientists who plan to use genetically modified mosquitoes to reduce the population of Dengue-carrying insects. The altered genes cause newly born mosquitoes to die before they are able to breed if they are not supplied with a crucial antibiotic. This is a more aggressive approach than the anti-Malaria work we discussed last year. From Wired: "Mosquitoes pass dengue fever to up to 100 million people each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Up to 5 million die. If the scientists can replicate their results in real field conditions, their technology could kill half of the next generation of dengue mosquitoes, which scientists say would significantly reduce the spread of the disease. If all goes well the company envisions releasing the insects in Malaysia on a large scale in three years."
Role Playing (Games)

Fox News / EA Spar Over Mass Effect 'Controversy' 192

The whacked out rantings of Kevin McCullogh have been a hot topic on games blogs in recent weeks, as his lurid description of Mass Effect prompted vitriol from actual gamers. That exchange would have been easily left behind if not for the fact that Fox News stepped into the fray, adding a measure of 'fair and balanced' to the discussion. Their 'Sexbox Sexpose' drew in veteran games journalist Geoff Keighley, who optimistically thought he'd be given the chance to set the record straight. Instead they filled the airwaves with plainly false generalizations about the game's sexual content. Kotaku is reporting that EA is fighting back, protecting BioWare's property and demanding a correction. From EA's letter to Fox: "The resulting coverage was insulting to the men and women who spent years creating a game which is acclaimed by critics for its high creative standards. As video games continue to take audiences away from television, we expect to see more TV news stories warning parents about the corrupting influence of interactive entertainment. But this represents a new level of recklessness." I hope the EA folks aren't holding their breath.
Government

ICANN Writes US Government Requesting Independence 131

Combat Wombat writes with word that IP address and domain name overseer ICANN has put in a request to the US government, asking to be freed from ties to the United States. A 'lengthy' report was sent to the US Dept. of Commerce, and covers the numerous steps the organization has already completed along the road to independence. The BBC reports that a meeting will be held soon in response to the report, a reaction to the expected end of US control. "The meeting marks the half-way point for the Joint Project Agreement (JPA) under which ICANN was tasked to comply with a series of 'responsibilities' deemed necessary for its release from official oversight. The JPA grew out of the original Memorandum of Understanding that established Icann and signalled the beginning of the end for US control."
Encryption

Submission + - First use of RIPA to demand encryption keys (theregister.co.uk)

kylehase writes: The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) is being used for the first time to force an animal activist to reveal encryption keys for encrypted files she claims to have no knowledge of. According to the article, she could face up to two years if she doesn't comply.

Slashdot Top Deals

In 1750 Issac Newton became discouraged when he fell up a flight of stairs.

Working...