Comment The solution: Lie. (Score 1) 446
Falsify the information in every category that you would rather keep private. Nobody who actually knows you needs to ask what your gender is.
Comment Re:How about some nice menus instead? (Score 1) 617
Not to mention the fact that the ribbon takes up so much more screen real estate than menus.
Comment Re:More minerals? (Score 1) 453
No, what they really need is more pylons.
Building a 10 TB Array For Around $1,000 227
As storage hardware costs continue to plummet, the folks over at Tom's Hardware have decided to throw together their version of the "Über RAID Array." While the array still doesn't stack up against SSDs for access time, a large array is capable of higher throughput via striping. Unfortunately, the amount of work required to assemble a setup like this seems to make it too much trouble for anything but a fun experiment. "Most people probably don't want to install more than a few hard drives into their PC, as it requires a massive case with sufficient ventilation as well as a solid power supply. We don't consider this project to be something enthusiasts should necessarily reproduce. Instead, we set out to analyze what level of storage performance you'd get if you were to spend the same money as on an enthusiast processor, such as a $1,000 Core i7-975 Extreme. For the same cost, you could assemble 12 1 TB Samsung Spinpoint F1 hard drives. Of course, you still need a suitable multi-port controller, which is why we selected Areca's ARC-1680iX-20."
Comment Re:Actually, there is an iTunes for movies (Score 1) 474
Why does it have to be either/or?
I like my music to have useful filenames so that I can find what I'm looking for with standard tools. I also like to have metadata, so that I can find what I'm looking for from within any music player that understands tags.
My girlfriend has an iPod. Every music file she's copied to it through iTunes has had its filename corrupted, so that I'm left wondering, "what the hell is AYQZ.mp3?" Yes, these files still have their metadata, but ultimately, that's not very useful to me until I open some kind of music catalog program. What's the point of scrambling my filenames and throwing out some useful information? All it does is make using my files difficult.
Comment CMS != LHC (Score 2, Informative) 445
I don't know if anyone has pointed this out yet, but if so, it bears saying again: the control system in question belongs to the CMS detector, not to the LHC. These are two entirely different beasts.
Submission + - Foster Demands RIAA Post $210k Security for Fees
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "A few days ago it was reported that, in view of the RIAA's one-month delay in paying the $68,685.00 attorneys fee award in Capitol v. Foster, and its lawyers' failure to respond to Ms. Foster's lawyer's email, Ms. Foster filed a motion for entry of judgment so that she could go ahead with judgment enforcement proceedings. In response to that motion the RIAA submitted a statement that it had no objection to entry of judgment, and intimated that it thought there would be an automatic stay on enforcement of the judgment, and that it would ultimately file an appeal. After seeing that, Ms. Foster's lawyer has filed a motion for the Court to require the RIAA to post $210,000 in security to cover the past and future attorneys fees and costs which are expected to be incurred."
Submission + - Physicists Discover Interstellar Dust 'Alive' (sciencedaily.com)
reezle writes: An international team has discovered that under the right conditions, particles of inorganic dust can become organised into helical structures. These structures can then interact with each other in ways that are usually associated with organic compounds and life itself.
Quite bizarrely, not only do these helical strands interact in a counterintuitive way in which like can attract like, but they also undergo changes that are normally associated with biological molecules, such as DNA and proteins, say the researchers. They can, for instance, divide, or bifurcate, to form two copies of the original structure. These new structures can also interact to induce changes in their neighbours and they can even evolve into yet more structures as less stable ones break down, leaving behind only the fittest structures in the plasma.
"These complex, self-organized plasma structures exhibit all the necessary properties to qualify them as candidates for inorganic living matter," says Tsytovich, "they are autonomous, they reproduce and they evolve."
Quite bizarrely, not only do these helical strands interact in a counterintuitive way in which like can attract like, but they also undergo changes that are normally associated with biological molecules, such as DNA and proteins, say the researchers. They can, for instance, divide, or bifurcate, to form two copies of the original structure. These new structures can also interact to induce changes in their neighbours and they can even evolve into yet more structures as less stable ones break down, leaving behind only the fittest structures in the plasma.
"These complex, self-organized plasma structures exhibit all the necessary properties to qualify them as candidates for inorganic living matter," says Tsytovich, "they are autonomous, they reproduce and they evolve."
Feed Scientists Identify Genes Activated During Learning And Memory (sciencedaily.com)
Researchers have long recognized that for learning and memory to take place, certain genes must be activated to alter neuron activity inside the brain. But identifying and cataloging all the genes involved in learning is a daunting task. Scientists have now developed an innovative computational approach to provide a rapid way to identify the likely members of this long sought-after set of genes.
Feed Professor Isolates Roots Of Some Violence (sciencedaily.com)
A Purdue University communication expert says incivility is on the rise because people are lonely from lacking the basic relationships and friendships that are essential to human beings.
Submission + - Private file sharing to remain/become legal in EU
orzetto writes: Italian newspaper l'Unità reports that the European parliament's Commitee for Legal Affairs approved an amendment presented by EMP Nicola Zingaretti (PSE, IT), that makes piracy a felony—but only if a monetary profit is made (for the foreign-language impaired, see this article on Hollywood Reporter, which however does not mention that non-profit p2p will not be criminalised). As in the EU parliament's press release:
Caution: Most EU countries use civil law, not common law. Translation of legal terms may be misleading.
Italian consumers' association Altroconsumo was involved in drafting the text. The complete proposal was passed with 23 votes in favour, 3 against and 3 abstained, and is intended to be applied to copyright, trademark, design and other IP fields, but not patent right which is explicitly excluded. The proposal has still to pass the vote of the parliament before becoming law in all EU countries, some of which (like Italy) do have criminal laws in place for non-profit file sharing.Members of the Legal Affairs' committee [...] decided that criminal sanctions should only apply to those infringements deliberately carried out to obtain a commercial advantage. Piracy committed by private users for personal, non-profit purposes are therefore also excluded.
Caution: Most EU countries use civil law, not common law. Translation of legal terms may be misleading.
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