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Comments: 3 +-   Inkscape 0.47 Released on Wednesday November 25, @02:10AM

Posted by kdawson on Wednesday November 25, @02:10AM
from the drawing-not-quartering dept.
software
derrida writes "After over a year of intensive development and refactoring, Inkscape 0.47 is out. This version of the SVG-based vector graphics editor brings improved performance and tons of new features, including: timed autosave, Spiro splines, auto-smooth nodes, Eraser tool, new modes in Tweak tool, snapping options toolbar & greater snapping abilities, new live path effects (including Envelope), over 200 preset SVG filters, new Cairo-based PS and EPS export, spell checker, many new extensions, optimized SVG code options, and much more. Additionally, it would be wrong to not mention the hundreds of bug fixes. Check out the full release notes for more information about what has changed, enjoy the screenshots, or just jump right to downloading your package for Windows, Linux, or Mac OS X." We've been following the progress of Inkscape for years (2006, 2005, 2004).
Read More... 3 comments story

Comments: 19 +-   Computer Games and Traditional CS Courses on Wednesday November 25, @01:12AM

Posted by Soulskill on Wednesday November 25, @01:12AM
from the terrible-terrible-games dept.
education
drroman22 writes "Schools are working to put real-world relevance into computer science education by integrating video game development into traditional CS courses. Quoting: 'Many CS educators recognized and took advantage of younger generations' familiarity and interests for computer video games and integrate related contents into their introductory programming courses. Because these are the first courses students encounter, they build excitement and enthusiasm for our discipline. ... Much of this work reported resounding successes with drastically increased enrollments and student successes. Based on these results, it is well recognized that integrating computer gaming into CS1 and CS2 (CS1/2) courses, the first programming courses students encounter, is a promising strategy for recruiting and retaining potential students." While a focus on games may help stir interest, it seems as though game development studios are as yet unimpressed by most game-related college courses. To those who have taken such courses or considered hiring those who have: what has your experience been?
Read More... 19 comments story

Comments: 52 +-   Shedding Your Identity In the Digital Age on Tuesday November 24, @11:11PM

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday November 24, @11:11PM
from the under-the-radar-sonar-and-lidar dept.
privacy
newscloud writes "Writer Evan Ratliff tells how he managed to hide from crowdsourced searchers for 27 days. The first person to find him and photograph him would claim a $5,000 prize. In addition to hiding out as a roadie with indy band 'The Hermit Thrushes' for a week, Ratliff donned a variety of increasingly impressive disguises. It's an interesting read on how to disappear in the digital age: 'August 13, 6:40 PM: I'm driving East out of San Francisco on I-80, fleeing my life under the cover of dusk. Having come to the interstate by a circuitous route, full of quick turns and double backs, I'm reasonably sure that no one is following me. I keep checking the rearview mirror anyway. From this point on, there's no such thing as sure. Being too sure will get me caught. About 25 minutes later, as the California Department of Transportation database will record, my green 1999 Honda Civic, California plates 4MUN509, passes through the tollbooth on the far side of the Carquinez Bridge, setting off the FasTrak toll device, and continues east toward Lake Tahoe. What the digital trail will not reflect is that a few miles past the bridge I pull off the road, detach the FasTrak, and stuff it into the duffle bag in my trunk, where its signal can't be detected. There will be no digital record that at 4 AM I hit Primm, Nevada, a sad little gambling town about 40 minutes from Vegas, where $15 cash gets me a room with a view of a gravel pile...' Spoiler alert: We previously discussed the denouement of the contest."
Read More... 52 comments story

Comments: 99 +-   Two Senators Call For ACTA Transparency on Tuesday November 24, @09:10PM

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday November 24, @09:10PM
from the we-got-more-senators-than-that dept.
government
angry tapir writes "Two US senators have asked President Barack Obama's administration to allow the public to review and comment on a controversial international copyright treaty being negotiated largely in secret. The public has a right to know what's being negotiated in the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), Senators Sherrod Brown, an Ohio Democrat, and Bernard Sanders, a Vermont Independent, argue in the letter."
Read More... 99 comments story

Comments: 206 +-   Brain Scans Used In Murder Sentencing on Tuesday November 24, @07:09PM

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday November 24, @07:09PM
from the innocent-as-a-dead-salmon dept.
court
sciencehabit writes "For what may be the first time, fMRI scans of brain activity have been used as evidence in the sentencing phase of a murder trial. Defense lawyers for an Illinois man convicted of raping and killing a 10-year-old girl used the scans to argue that their client should be spared the death penalty because he has a brain disorder. Some experts say the scans are irrelevant because they were taken 20+ years after the crimes were committed. Others point out that the scans are only being considered because the sentencing phase of a trial has less stringent standards about evidence than those used to establish a defendant's innocence or guilt." In the Illinois case, the fMRI defense didn't help the defendant, whom a jury sentenced to death.
Read More... 206 comments story

Comments: 124 +-   Google Analytics May Be Illegal In Germany on Tuesday November 24, @06:19PM

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday November 24, @06:19PM
from the schmafe-harbor dept.
google
sopssa sends in a TechCrunch story that begins "Several federal and regional government officials in Germany are trying to put a ban on Google Analytics, the search giant's free software product that allows website owners and publishers to get detailed statistics about the number, whereabouts, and search behavior of their visitors (and much more)." Here's Google's translation of the article from Zeit Online (original in German). A German lawyer cited there says that penalties for websites that uses Google Analytics could amount to €50,000 (about $75,000). Reader sopssa adds, "The amount of data Google collects from everywhere on the Internet is indeed huge, and website owners should be using a local open source alternative to keep visitor data private."
Read More... 124 comments story

Comments: 173 +- Screenshot-sm   Scientists Say a Dirty Child Is a Healthy Child on Tuesday November 24, @06:07PM

Posted by samzenpus on Tuesday November 24, @06:07PM
from the snack-is-going-to-be-on-the-floor-today dept.
idle
Researchers from the School of Medicine at the University of California have shown that the more germs a child is exposed to, the better their immune system in later life. Their study found that keeping a child's skin too clean impaired the skin's ability to heal itself. From the article: "'These germs are actually good for us,' said Professor Richard Gallo, who led the research. Common bacterial species, known as staphylococci, which can cause inflammation when under the skin, are 'good bacteria' when on the surface, where they can reduce inflammation."
Read More... 173 comments story

Comments: 63 +-   Major IE8 Flaw Makes "Safe" Sites Unsafe on Tuesday November 24, @05:32PM

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday November 24, @05:32PM
from the keep-your-scripts-to-yourself dept.
msie
After this weekend's report of a dangerous flaw in IE (which Microsoft confirmed today), intrudere points out an exclusive report in The Register on a new hole in IE8 that could allow an attacker to pull off cross-site scripting attacks on Web sites that ought, by rights, to be safe from XSS. This is according to two anonymous sources, who told El Reg that Microsoft had been notified of the vulnerability a few months ago.
Read More... 63 comments story

Comments: 118 +-   Haskell 2010 Announced on Tuesday November 24, @05:05PM

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday November 24, @05:05PM
from the eddie-and-the-beav dept.
programming
paltemalte writes "Simon Marlow has posted an announcement of Haskell 2010, a new revision of the Haskell purely functional programming language. Good news for everyone interested in SMP and concurrency programming."
Read More... 118 comments story

Comments: 89 +-   UK File-Sharing Laws Unenforceable On Mobile Networks on Tuesday November 24, @04:42PM

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday November 24, @04:42PM
from the p2p-ringtones dept.
privacy
superglaze writes "UK mobile broadband providers currently have no way of telling which subscribers are file-sharing which copyrighted content, ZDNet UK reports. This represents something of a problem for new laws that have been proposed to crack down on unlawful file-sharing. According to the article, databases (tracking IP address mappings) could be built to make it possible to identify what specific users are downloading, but the industry is loathe to fund this sort of project itself. Also, as an analyst points out in the piece, users of prepaid phone cards are mostly anonymous in the UK, which creates another challenge for the government's plans. And if that isn't enough, connection-sharing apps like JoikuBoost would make identification pretty much impossible anyway."
Read More... 89 comments story
 
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