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Comment Re:Oblig. (Score 1) 141

I did the same thing, lurked for years before creating an account, but I think my high (IMO) but still respectably low UID says enough by itself...

As for these "interesting discussions" you mention, they are very rare and only found at night, in near darkness illuminated only by the glow of monitors, network switches, and that annoying security light that no one can quite figure out how to turn off, fueled by way too much caffeine, and best read while intoxicated or some set base of intoxication approaching superman status. This, plus ... profit!
Science

Bird's-Eye View May Include Magnetic Fields 86

BoredStiff writes "Heard on NPR and reported in ScienceDaily: a study finding that migratory birds may be able to 'see' magnetic fields. The report comes from a current study by a research group from Oldenburg, Germany. They found that migratory birds use their visual system to perceive the reference compass direction of the geomagnetic field: 'Sensory systems process their particular stimuli along specific brain circuits. Thus, the identification of what sensory system is active during magnetic compass orientation, provides a way to recognize the sensory quality utilized during that specific behavior.'"
Math

Submission + - Statistical Accuracy of Internet Weather Forecasts

markmcb writes: "Brandon Hansen considers the statistical accuracy of popular on-line weather forecast sources and shows who's on target, and on who you probably shouldn't rely. Motivated by a trip to a water park that was spoiled with hail despite a 'clear sky' forecast, he does a nice job of depicting deviations, averages, and overall accuracy in a manner that stats junkies are sure to love. From the article, 'Accuweather was the clear leader in anything greater than 10 days in advance ... many of the other less accurate weather forecasts seem[ed] to be practically worthless for all but the most optimistic.'"
Intel by OSTG

Vendor Proxim packs Wi-Fi and WiMAX in one mesh access point 11

Proxim Wireless has combined Wi-Fi and WiMAX radios in a low-cost, outdoor wirelss-mesh access point called MeshMAX . MeshMAX makes it possible for many of the nodes in a mesh network to have a backhaul connection to a base station and the Internet. The configuration boosts the capacity of these networks dramatically because the client devices connecting to each node share a much larger broadband pipe t
Operating Systems

Submission + - Converting Desktops to Thinclients

tfiedler writes: I manage about 3500 desktop computers and was recently asked by my CIO to begin looking into thin client computing, something like WYSE terminals.

I'd like to know, what are some good functional, and more importantly, manageable options to convert existing desktop computers into what would essentially be a Citrix terminal? I was thinking some brand of Linux that pops up on X, starts the Citrix client and connects to our server farm... The user would see a windows logon, our apps would function as normal and I'd get the benefit of performing a LOT LESS client-side maintenance.

Any suggestions?
Microsoft

Microsoft Not Dropping Hotmail Name 202

EveryNickIsTaken writes "CNET News.com is reporting that despite planning for months to ditch the name 'Hotmail' for 'Windows Live Mail,' Microsoft will keep the Hotmail name, renaming the service 'Windows Live Hotmail.' Along with the slight name change, MS will be modifying the interface to look more like Outlook's GUI."
Biotech

Submission + - Brain scanner can read people's intentions

Vainglorious Coward writes: Reality continues to catch up with Nineteen Eighty-Four with the announcement of the development of a brain scanner that can read a person's intentions. 'It's like shining a torch around, looking for writing on a wall,' said the leader of the project, Professor John-Dylan Haynes . Demonstrating his own mastery of doublethink, Haynes continued 'We see the danger that this might become compulsory one day, but we have to be aware that if we prohibit it, we are also denying people who aren't going to commit any crime the possibility of proving their innocence.'
Biotech

Mice Cured of Autism 233

noahisaac writes "My brother just sent me an article he posted for the Rett Syndrome Research Foundation about a cure for Rett Syndrome, a form of autism. According to the article, researchers successfully re-introduced a fully functional version of the MECP2 gene into mice that had been born with damaged MECP2 genes. Contrary to their expectations, the mice improved. In the article's words, 'restoration of fully functional MECP2 over a four week period eradicated tremors and normalized breathing, mobility and gait in mice that had previously been fully symptomatic and, in some cases, only days away from death.' The ramifications for people suffering from Rett Syndrome are obvious, but mutations of the MECP2 gene are also believed to be the cause of 'classic' autism, and a number of other neurological disorders."
XBox (Games)

Submission + - Xbox-360 1080p games coming

rwven writes: '1080p is the resolution of the gods. Promised by Sony, attainable by few displays, and argued about all over the Internet, 1080p is something that doesn't affect many television owners while remaining a major sticking point in the current console wars. Microsoft gave the 360 the ability to run games in 1080p in the October firmware update...' EA and Sega are both producing games which will render on the 360 in 1080p. Does this change the playing field for the next generation of console games?
Networking

Cisco to Open Source CTA 48

VE3OGG writes "Cisco, the networking Goliath, has decided to release the source code of its NAC (network admission control) client, Cisco Trust Agent (CTA) to the open source community within 'a few months.' This comes hot on the heels of Cisco announcing its plans to redevelop a new breed of network security infrastructure. 'CTA will be something that's open source. That's just logically where it should end up,' Gleichauf told InfoWorld. 'We don't want to be in the CTA business, so we're going to just open it up.'"

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