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http://p.sf.net/sfu/gazzang-sdnews
======================================================================
Slashdot Daily Newsletter
In this issue:
* California Going Ahead With Bullet Train
* Linux Mint 12 Released Today
* The Science of Humor
* Good Disk Library Solutions?
* China Probes US Renewable Energy Policy
* Hacker Tries To Land IT Job At Marriott Via Extortion
* The Problem With Carbon-Cutting Programs
* Huge Tesla Coils Will Recreate Natural Lightning
* Can Maintenance Make Data Centers Less Reliable?
* Restaurants Plan DNA-Certified Seafood Program
* London Wires Up For 2012 Olympic Games
* AT&T Customer Phone Hacking Tied To Terrorists
* Harvard Licenses Technology For Tiny Swarming Robot
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| California Going Ahead With Bullet Train
| from the not-an-actual-bullet dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 26, @23:13 (Government)
| with 610 comments
| https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/11/27/0245250/california-going-ahead-with-bullet-train?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An anonymous reader sends this excerpt from the NY Times: "[California
state leaders] have rallied around a plan to [0]build a 520-mile
high-speed rail line from Los Angeles to San Francisco, cutting the trip
from a six-hour drive to a train ride of two hours and 38 minutes. And
they are doing it in the face of what might seem like insurmountable
political and fiscal obstacles. The pro-train constituency has not been
derailed by a state report this month that found the cost of the bullet
train tripling to $98 billion for a project that would not be finished
until 2033, by news that Republicans in Congress are close to eliminating
federal high-speed rail financing this year, by opposition from
California farmers and landowners upset about tracks tearing through
their communities or by questions about how much the state or private
businesses will be able to contribute."
Discuss this story at:
https://tech.slashdot.org/story/11/11/27/0245250/california-going-ahead-with-bullet-train?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Linux Mint 12 Released Today
| from the fresh-tux dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Saturday November 26, @20:01 (GNOME)
| with 360 comments
| https://linux.slashdot.org/story/11/11/26/2259231/linux-mint-12-released-today?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An anonymous reader writes "[0]Linux Mint 12 was released today. It
includes the new 'MGSE' (Mint Gnome Shell Extensions), a desktop layer on
top of Gnome 3 that makes it possible for you to use Gnome 3 in a
traditional way. MGSE's Gnome-2-Like experience includes features such as
the bottom panel, the application menu, the window list, a task-centric
desktop and visible system tray icons. MGSE is a 180-degree turn from the
desktop experience the Gnome Team is developing with Gnome-Shell. At the
heart of the Gnome-Shell is a feature called '[1]the Overview': 'The
Shell is designed in order to minimize distraction and interruption and
to enable users to focus on the task at hand. A persistent window list or
dock would interfere with this goal, serving as a constant temptation to
switch focus. The separation of window switching functionality into the
overview means that an effective solution to switching is provided when
it is desired by the user, but that it is hidden from view when it is not
necessary.' The popularity of Mint 12 with MGSE may be an excellent
barometer as to whether users prefer a task-centric or
application-centric desktop."
Discuss this story at:
https://linux.slashdot.org/story/11/11/26/2259231/linux-mint-12-released-today?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1889
1. https://live.gnome.org/GnomeShell/Design/FAQ#Why_no_window_list_or_dock.3F
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| The Science of Humor
| from the i-put-a-dollar-in-a-change-machine-and-nothing-changed dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Sunday November 27, @08:20 (It's funny. Laugh.)
| with 265 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/27/037237/the-science-of-humor?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[0]Hugh Pickens writes "The sense of humor is a ubiquitous human trait,
yet rare or non-existent in the rest of the animal kingdom. But why do
humans have a sense of humor in the first place? Cognitive scientist (and
former programmer) Matthew Hurley says humor (or mirth, in
research-speak) is intimately linked to thinking and is a critical task
in human cognition because a sense of humor [1]keeps our brains alert for
the gaps between our quick-fire assumptions and reality. 'We think the
pleasure of humor, the emotion of mirth, is the brain's reward for
discovering its mistaken inferences,' says Hurley, co-author of Inside
Jokes: [2]Using Humor to Reverse-Engineer the Mind. With humor, the brain
doesn't just discover a false inference ��� it almost simultaneously
recovers and corrects itself. For example, read the gag that's been voted
[3]the funniest joke in the world by American men. So why is this joke
funny? [4]Because it is misleading, containing a small, faulty assumption
that opens the door to a costly mistake. Humor is 'when you catch
yourself in an error, like looking for the glasses that happen to be on
the top of your head. You've made an assumption about the state of the
world, and you're behaving based on that assumption, but that assumption
doesn't hold at all, and you get a little chuckle.'"
Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/27/037237/the-science-of-humor?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://hughpickens.com/
1. http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2011/11/20/why-our-brains-make-laugh/l0OWxVcnRpzfyIheFgab5N/story.html
2. http://www.matthewmhurley.com/publications.php
3. http://articles.cnn.com/2002-10-03/tech/joke.funniest_1_jokes-humour-sense?_s=PM:TECH
4. http://www.examiner.com/syracuse-political-buzz-in-new-york/on-humor
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Good Disk Library Solutions?
| from the keeping-order dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Sunday November 27, @14:33 (Media)
| with 261 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/11/27/1737237/good-disk-library-solutions?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
First time submitter fikx writes "How do slashdotters manage large
collections of disks? I'm hoping for a way to manage a large collection
of movies that would give me menu type access to the content and the only
consumer device left seems to be the Sony disk changer that is
discontinued. I would have thought that handling disks would have been a
solved problem and on sale in many forms, but I guess not....have
slashdotters found or built solutions? or has this problem gone the way
of the typewriter?"
Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/11/27/1737237/good-disk-library-solutions?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| China Probes US Renewable Energy Policy
| from the good-for-the-goose-good-for-the-gander dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Sunday November 27, @11:58 (China)
| with 209 comments
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/11/27/156231/china-probes-us-renewable-energy-policy?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PolygamousRanchKid writes "China's Commerce Ministry on Friday announced
[0]an investigation into U.S. government policy and subsidy support for
renewable energy, after a U.S. decision earlier this month to probe sales
of Chinese-made solar panels in the United States. 'The Ministry of
Commerce has decided to initiate a trade barrier investigation into
policy support and subsidies for the U.S. renewable energy sector,' a
statement on the ministry's website (www.mofcom.gov.cn) said. The
announcement said Chinese companies argued that the U.S. policies
'constitute a trade barrier against the export of Chinese renewable
energy products to the United States.'"
Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/11/27/156231/china-probes-us-renewable-energy-policy?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/25/us-china-usa-energy-idUSTRE7AO05I20111125
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Hacker Tries To Land IT Job At Marriott Via Extortion
| from the you-have-not-thought-this-through dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Sunday November 27, @02:11 (Security)
| with 190 comments
| https://it.slashdot.org/story/11/11/27/0240253/hacker-tries-to-land-it-job-at-marriott-via-extortion?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
wiredmikey writes "A tough global economy has certainly created
challenges for many people looking for jobs, but one Hungarian man took
things to another level in an effort to gain employment at hotel giant
Marriott International. On Wednesday, the 26-year-old man pleaded guilty
to charges that he hacked into Marriott computer systems and
[0]threatened to reveal confidential company information if Marriott
didn't offer him a job. Assuming his efforts were working, with the
possibility of a new job with Marriott in his sights, the hacker arrived
at Washington Dulles Airport on Jan. 17, 2011, using an airline ticket
purchased by Marriott for him. He thought he would be attending a job
interview with Marriott personnel. Unbeknown to him, he was actually
being 'interviewed' by a Secret Service agent posing as a Marriott
employee."
Discuss this story at:
https://it.slashdot.org/story/11/11/27/0240253/hacker-tries-to-land-it-job-at-marriott-via-extortion?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| The Problem With Carbon-Cutting Programs
| from the selling-warm dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Sunday November 27, @15:50 (Canada)
| with 146 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/27/1931215/the-problem-with-carbon-cutting-programs?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Med-trump writes "[0]Alberta's $60 million carbon-cutting program is
failing, according to the latest report from the Canadian province's
auditor-general, Merwan Saher. A news article in Nature adds: 'the
province, despite earlier warnings, has not improved its regulatory
structure ��� and calls the emissions estimates and the offsets themselves
into question.'"
Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/27/1931215/the-problem-with-carbon-cutting-programs?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.nature.com/news/the-problems-with-emissions-trading-1.9491
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Huge Tesla Coils Will Recreate Natural Lightning
| from the warm-up-the-lightning-cannon dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Sunday November 27, @17:10 (Science)
| with 136 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/27/2043245/huge-tesla-coils-will-recreate-natural-lightning?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
jjp9999 writes "In order to study the nature of lighting, the team at
Lightning on Demand (LOD) plans to build two, ten-story-tall Tesla
coils���the largest ever���that will [0]blast arcs of lightning hundreds of
feet in length. LOD founder Greg Leyh said the project aims to reveal
details on the initiation process of natural lightning, an area that
remains a mystery since smaller generated arcs have more trouble breaking
through the air. It is believed that 'laboratory-scale electric arcs
start to gain lightning-like abilities once they grow past about 200ft in
length,' according to the LOD website, and so the team hopes to build
Tesla coils large enough to do this. According to Leyh, 'Understanding
how lightning forms [and grows] is the first step towards being able to
control where lightning strikes or being able to suppress it completely
in certain areas,'"
Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/27/2043245/huge-tesla-coils-will-recreate-natural-lightning?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://techzwn.com/2011/11/largest-tesla-coils-ever-will-recreate-natural-lightning/
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Can Maintenance Make Data Centers Less Reliable?
| from the if-it-isn't-broken dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Sunday November 27, @13:16 (Hardware)
| with 135 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/11/27/1649234/can-maintenance-make-data-centers-less-reliable?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
miller60 writes "Is preventive maintenance on data center equipment not
really that preventive after all? With human error cited as a leading
cause of downtime, [0]a vigorous maintenance schedule can actually make a
data center less reliable, according to some industry experts.'The most
common threat to reliability is excessive maintenance,' said Steve
Fairfax of 'science risk' consultant MTechnology. 'We get the perception
that lots of testing improves component reliability. It does not.' In
some cases, poorly documented maintenance can lead to conflicts with
automated systems, he warned. Other speakers at the recent 7x24 Exchange
conference urged data center operators to focus on understanding their
own facilities, and then evaluating which maintenance programs are
essential, including offerings from equipment vendors."
Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/11/27/1649234/can-maintenance-make-data-centers-less-reliable?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Restaurants Plan DNA-Certified Seafood Program
| from the getting-what-you-pay-for dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Sunday November 27, @18:37 (The Almighty Buck)
| with 115 comments
| https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/27/2158202/restaurants-plan-dna-certified-seafood-program?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Restaurants across the globe will soon use DNA technology to reassure
customers that they are [0]getting what they pay for. In recent years
getting [1]"counterfeit" seafood has become a big problem. In 2007
several people became seriously ill from eating illegally imported
pufferfish that had been mislabeled as monkfish. From the article: "David
Schindel, a Smithsonian Institution paleontologist and executive
secretary of the Washington-based Consortium for the Barcode of Life,
said he has started discussions with the restaurant industry and seafood
suppliers about utilizing the technology as a means of certifying the
authenticity of delicacies. 'When they sell something that's really
expensive, they want the consumer to believe that they're getting what
they're paying for,' Schindel told The Associated Press."
Discuss this story at:
https://science.slashdot.org/story/11/11/27/2158202/restaurants-plan-dna-certified-seafood-program?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_AUSTRALIA_DNA_BARCODING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-11-27-07-12-16
1. http://science.slashdot.org/story/08/08/22/1750250/dna-bar-coding-finds-mislabeled-sushi
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| London Wires Up For 2012 Olympic Games
| from the yeah-but-do-you-have-thousands-of-drummers dept.
| posted by Soulskill on Sunday November 27, @05:22 (Networking)
| with 68 comments
| https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/11/27/0355216/london-wires-up-for-2012-olympic-games?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
alphadogg writes "While London's massive Olympic park is still very much
a frenetic construction site, [0]IT engineers are fine-tuning the
equipment that will be used to transmit scores, let athletes send e-mail,
and broadcast high-definition video of the Games. The Olympic Games are
set to kick off on July 27 next year and will be followed by the
Paralympic Games. Test athletic events are already under way, which are
being used to evaluate the resiliency of high-speed data networks costing
millions of pounds. Acer has a large role in the 2012 Olympics and will
provide much of the IT hardware, including 11,500 desktops running
Windows 7; 1,100 laptops; 900 servers, and other parts including SAN
storage systems, touchscreen monitors and standard monitors."
Discuss this story at:
https://news.slashdot.org/story/11/11/27/0355216/london-wires-up-for-2012-olympic-games?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/112511-london-wires-up-for-2012-253470.html
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| AT&T Customer Phone Hacking Tied To Terrorists
| from the phoning-the-bad-guys dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Sunday November 27, @09:34 (AT&T)
| with 34 comments
| https://it.slashdot.org/story/11/11/27/1236251/att-customer-phone-hacking-tied-to-terrorists?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
theodp writes "Have you ever hacked into AT&T customer accounts and
diverted money to terrorism-financing groups? [0]You will. In 2003, the
NY Times reported that AT&T contended [1]U.S. victims of a
Philippines-based telephone hacking swindle were responsible for
long-distance calls fraudulently made through their voice mail systems.
At the time, the city of East Palo Alto was slapped with a $30,000
long-distance phone bill that resulted from voice-mail hacking. Fast
forward to 2011, and the NY Times is reporting that [2]a
Philippines-based group hacked into the accounts of AT&T business
customers in the U.S. and diverted money to an organization that financed
terrorist attacks across Asia. But it's not quite deja-vu-all-over-again.
While it'd make a better story if AT&T contended customers were
responsible for the charges and any ensuing terrorism, AT&T reimbursed
the victims of the hacking this time around."
Discuss this story at:
https://it.slashdot.org/story/11/11/27/1236251/att-customer-phone-hacking-tied-to-terrorists?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://gizmodo.com/5362625/remember-the-att-ads-about-the-future-you-will
1. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/21/business/at-t-trying-to-collect-bills-from-the-victims-of-hackers.html
2. http://www.nytimes.com/glogin?URI=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/world/asia/4-in-philippines-accused-of-hacking-us-phones-to-aid-terrorists.html&OQ=_rQ3D4&OP=59d18edQ2FRQ7BYBRm!UN1!!rpRpVPPRPPRpJRQ7B!1imRsN_sRzx_lxnX_i_nn_lYNxsUUFNYmx!Q2FxXsUg_lSxFNxnX!lYNxr!xs_mxrY11!1_NrNwXrQ3Ai
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Harvard Licenses Technology For Tiny Swarming Robot
| from the own-the-swarm dept.
| posted by samzenpus on Sunday November 27, @10:46 (Robotics)
| with 32 comments
| https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/11/27/140210/harvard-licenses-technology-for-tiny-swarming-robot?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Zothecula writes "Do you think that you'll never be able to afford a
robot of your own that isn't a toy? Well, if you can get Swiss
robot-maker K-Team Corporation to sell you one, chances are [0]you can
easily afford a Kilobot ��� perhaps even a whole bunch of them. Designed
and first built by Harvard University's Self-Organizing Systems Research
Group, the three-legged robots aren't much larger than the 3.4-volt
button cell batteries that power them, and move by vibrating across
smooth, flat surfaces. They were created [1]to study robotic swarming
behavior, with the intention that tens, hundreds or even thousands of
them could be used simultaneously in one experiment. Harvard has just
announced that it has licensed the Kilobot technology to K-Team, which
will commercially manufacture the robots so that other groups and
institutions can purchase them for their own research."
Discuss this story at:
https://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/11/27/140210/harvard-licenses-technology-for-tiny-swarming-robot?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email#commentlisting
Links:
0. http://www.gizmag.com/harvard-licenses-kilobot-technology/20591/
1. http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/11/06/18/1847251/kilobots-cheap-swarm-robots-out-of-harvard
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