viperstyx - Slashdot User

Getting in to a Top Tier College? 177

Posted by Cliff on Saturday February 24, 2007 @08:11AM from the secrets-of-admission dept.

IvyLeague Engineer asks: "I'm currently a senior at a top rated public school and I look forward to majoring in Electrical Engineering. I've already been accepted into Carnegie Mellon University, so I don't need to worry about any 'safety' schools. However, I still have my sights set on getting into a school such as MIT or Cal Tech. My grades are high (95.6 on a 100 scale), I have several leadership positions in clubs, however I'm pretty sure that's not enough. What else can I do to improve my chances of being accepted there? I've already been deferred from early action at both institutions and I'm afraid it's too late to do much at this point. I'm sure there are other people like me wondering just what it takes to get admitted to a prestigious college."

Chimps Found Making Own Weapons to Hunt for Food 410

Posted by CowboyNeal on Thursday February 22, 2007 @08:47PM from the boards-with-nails dept.

Pojut writes "The Washington Post has an article involving chimps and weapons. Apparently, there have been direct observations of chimps in the west African savannah modifying sticks to create spears. They then use these spears to kill small mammals and eat them. It is the first time that an animal other than a human has been directly observed in crafting a weapon for the purpose of hunting or killing."

Comment Cerebellum from Carnegie Mellon (Score 1) 175

by viperstyx on Thursday February 01, 2007 @02:20AM (#17839402) Attached to: What Micro-Controller Would You Use to Teach With?

check out the cerebellum from Carnegie Mellon. personally, though, i think lego mindstorms toolkits can take a high school student very far. in high school a friend of mine used one and did some pretty cool stuff with it in C. we learned a lot about stacks (we overflowed that a couple times...recursion can be a bad idea ;) and we even learned about multi threading (yes, it can do it!) but if you're looking for something more advanced, i definitely recommend the cerebellum. its what a lot of first year CMU kids start using for their robotics projects.

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~myrover/cerebellum/

disclaimer: i'm a CMU student.

Teen Accuses Record Companies of Collusion 393

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday January 31, 2007 @08:43PM from the sue-me-sue-you dept.

evilned1 writes "A 16-year-old boy being sued by five record companies accusing him of online music piracy, accused the recording industry on Tuesday of violating antitrust laws, conspiring to defraud the courts and making extortionate threats."

Google Blurring Sensitive Map Information 411

Posted by kdawson on Sunday January 28, 2007 @05:27PM from the blurring-the-nukes dept.

Cyphoid writes "While viewing my school (the University of Massachusetts Lowell) with Google Maps, I noticed that a select portion of the campus was pixelated: the operational nuclear research facility on campus. Curious, I attempted to view the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Plymouth, Massachusetts. It too was pixelated. What or who is compelling Google to smudge out these images selectively? Will all satellite images of facilities that the government deems 'sensitive' soon be subject to censoring?" Not surprisingly, the same areas are blurred in Google Earth. But how about images from satellites operated by other nations, such as SPOT or Sovinformsputnik?

Citigroup Plans Thumbprint ATMs For India's Poor 123

Posted by kdawson on Saturday December 02, 2006 @06:16PM from the beware-of-gummi-bears dept.

Brad Lucier points out a Financial Times report (carried by MSN Money) that Citigroup is rolling out a network of biometric ATMs aimed at illiterate Indian slum dwellers. From the article: "The machines will recognize account holders' thumbprints, eliminating the need for a personal identification number, and will have color-coded screen instructions and voiceovers to help guide them through transactions... Though India's population exceeds 1 billion, Citigroup estimates that there are only about 300 million bank accounts in the country... 'It's not a philanthropic exercise,' [PS Jayakumar, a Citigroup business manager in India] said. 'For it to be sustainable, we should break even and make a little bit of money.'"

Computer Date Glitch May Limit Next Shuttle Launch 354

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday November 06, 2006 @11:28PM from the 1999-called-they-want-their-date-bugs-back dept.

n3hat writes "Reuters reports that the next Space Shuttle mission may have to be deferred if it gets too close to the New Year because the onboard computers do not handle the changing of the date in the same way as the ground computers. From the article: '"The shuttle computers were never envisioned to fly through a year-end changeover," space shuttle program manager Wayne Hale told a briefing. The problem, according to Hale, is that the shuttle's computers do not reset to day one, as ground-based systems that support shuttle navigation do. Instead, after December 31, the 365th day of the year, shuttle computers figure January 1 is just day 366."

California Sues Automakers for Global Warming 725

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wednesday September 20, 2006 @05:02PM from the new-revenue-models dept.

ajs writes "Reuters is reporting that the state of California is suing automakers over global warming. California is claiming that automakers have 'harmed the resources, infrastructure and environmental health,' of the state. The targeted automakers are Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp., Toyota Motor Corp., Chrysler Motors Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co."

University of Virginia Student Graduates in One Year 796

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wednesday September 20, 2006 @02:06PM from the new-meaning-of-zoom-zoom dept.

An anonymous reader writes "18-year-old David Banh of Annandale, VA recently graduated from the University of Virginia with a double major in Physics and Mathematics, and an education paid for almost entirely by scholarships. What's truly amazing is that he did it in one year, bringing in 72 Advanced Placement credits, then taking 23 credits his fall semester, 37 credits his spring semester and 3 credits in the summer. His brief undergraduate career didn't leave him much time to explore college, so he's now working on his master's degree. He says he may eventually pursue law school as a part-time student in hopes of becoming a patent lawyer."

Setting up Linux in an Inner City Public School? 116

Posted by Cliff on Tuesday September 19, 2006 @05:05PM from the not-a-bad-idea dept.

Richard Finney asks: "I have a friend who is retired. He was the chief scientist on the Landsat program. Instead of just belting down scotch and cashing social security checks, he is volunteering at Samuel Coleridge Taylor Elementary School #122, in Baltimore. He's trying to set up some old donated computers from the Windows 95 era. Rather than fight with Windows, he's decided to install Linux. How would you set up these systems for these little kids to use and learn about computers using Linux?"

Hotel Minibar Key Opens Diebold Voting Machines 341

Posted by kdawson on Monday September 18, 2006 @01:47PM from the expensive-miniatures-and-macademia-nuts dept.

Billosaur writes, "As if Diebold doesn't have enough to worry about! On the Freedom To Tinker blog, Ed Felten, one of the co-authors of the recent report 'Security Analysis of the Diebold AccuVote-TS Voting Machine', reveals an even more bizarre finding related to the initial report. It turns out that you can gain access to an AccuVote-TS machine using a hotel minibar key. In fact, the key in question is a utilitarian type used to open office furniture, electronic equipment, jukeboxes, and the like. They might as well hand them out like candy."

Toshiba Develops 3-Layer DVD and HD-DVD 228

Posted by kdawson on Monday September 11, 2006 @04:45PM from the play-it-anywere dept.

morpheus83 writes, "Toshiba, in collaboration with disk manufacturer Memory Tech Japan, has successfully combined a HD-DVD and DVD to a single 3-layer, twin-format disk. The resulting disk conforms to DVD standards so it can be played on DVD players, and also on HD-DVD players after upgrading the firmware. The disk can have either Single Layer DVD (4.7GB) + Dual Layer HD DVD (30GB); or Dual Layer DVD (8.5GB) + Single Layer HD DVD (15GB). There will not be a long wait as the new disk can be produced on the existing HD-DVD mass production line with minor process additions."

The Beautiful Chaos of 1,000 Trackmania Racers 74

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday September 05, 2006 @08:48AM from the so-shiny dept.

Mark Wallace writes "This 3-minute video of 1,000 runs of the same Trackmania Sunrise road course, overlaid on each other, turns the game into a gorgeous picture of an ordered system tending toward chaos. The pack starts out in perfect shape and becomes a glorious mess by the end of the course. Plus, it's just beautiful stuff." I'm normally not one for linking videos, but this is a great way to spend a few minutes on a Tuesday morning.

Stephen Colbert vs The Hungarian Government 554

Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday August 10, 2006 @01:04PM from the under-our-skin-we're-all-colberican dept.

jefu writes "The Hungarian government is sponsoring an internet vote to name a new bridge. So far naming the bridge after acter Chuck Norris has been the most popular. However, last night Stephen Colbert (of Comedy Central's "Colbert Report") suggested that viewers vote to name the bridge after him. Remembering the effect that a Colbert segment had had on Wikipedia, I visited the voting page (in Hungarian when it works) soon after that and it was completely non-responsive. This morning (8:00 Thursday Pacific time) it is showing a "Horrible exception" and a Jetspeed/tomcat stack trace. " I believe Colbert's straight-talking sensibilities have earned him far more than just a bridge in whatever continent Hungaria is in. Instead I think we should consider renaming one of our lesser used states as an honor more appropriate to his grippy contributions to America. We're not doing anything with Colorado these days anyway, but imagine the appeal of a new and improved state with a virile name like Colberado. Book your tickets today!

Combating Harassing Use of Mosquito Noise Device? 1059

Posted by Cliff on Friday August 04, 2006 @11:55PM from the high-tech-hijinx-and-migraines dept.

amicold asks: "For a while now my neighborhood has had to deal with an elderly neighbor who has displayed a slightly paranoid attitude towards myself and the fellow younger-adults of the neighborhood, believing us to be attempting to harass him in our day-to-day activities. Recently, he installed a Mosquito ultrasonic noise device as an apparent attempt to 'get back at us' for our harassment. As the Mosquito emits a sound that's well out of his hearing range, he can't hear it, while most of the rest of the neighborhood is under 40 and can; at which point it's causing everyone a great deal of discomfort. Unfortunately, because the police also can't hear it, we can't get the authorities to do anything about it, leaving us empty-handed in our attempts at getting some peace and quiet back. What can we do to either help the police realize how disturbing this device is, or counteract it so that it's no longer disturbing us? And is this the first of what may be a growing trend of civilians using high-tech discomfort weapons as a method of neighborhood warfare?"

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