August 19th, 2011 08:35
admin
nk497 writes
“A single photograph, scraps of circuit diagrams drawn from memory and a pile of disused components – it isn’t much to go on, but from such meager beginnings, engineers rebuilt one of the precursors to the modern computer. The Tunny decryption machine – on display at The Museum of National Computing at Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire in the UK – was a feat of engineering both during World War II when it was created, and over the past five years when it was rebuilt by retired BT engineers.”
Source: How Volunteers Rebuilt WW2 Computers
Categories: slashdot Tags: Bletchley Park, Buckinghamshire, Circuit, meager beginnings, memory, modern computer, ndash, photograph, pile, precursors, Tunny, UK, world war ii
January 19th, 2011 01:40
admin
surveyork writes “Firefox 4.0 beta 9 (AKA “a huge pile of awesome“) was released on January 14, 2011. Firefox 4′s release schedule includes a beta 10 and a release candidate before the final launch in late February. However, one wonders if this schedule won’t slip again, since there are still more than 100 “hardblocker” bugs, more than 60 bugs affecting Panorama alone and 10 bugs affecting the just-introduced Tabs-on-Titlebar. Some long-standing bugs wont’ be fixed in time for Firefox 4 final either (example, example). Many startup bugs are currently pending, although Firefox 4 starts much faster than Firefox 3.6. As a side note, it’s unlikely that Firefox 4 final will pass the Acid3 test, despite this being a very popular demand amongst Firefox enthusiasts. Perhaps we’ll have to wait until Firefox 4.1 to have this “huge pile of bugs” (mostly) fixed.”
Source: Firefox 4, A Huge Pile of Bugs
Categories: slashdot Tags: aka, Beta, bug, bugs, enthusiasts, Firefox, launch, Mozilla, panorama, pile, programming, release, release candidate, schedule, software
June 4th, 2010 06:05
admin
reillymj writes “Despite hundreds of media reports to the contrary, Sam Bonis, a geologist whose life work has been studying Guatemalan geology has plainly said that the dramatic ‘sinkhole’ in Guatemala City that opened over the weekend isn’t a sinkhole at all. Instead, he called it a ‘piping feature’ and warned that because the country’s capital city sits on a pile of loose volcanic ash, the over one million people living on top of the pile are in danger. ‘I’d hate to have to be in the government right now,’ Bonis, who worked for the Guatemalan government’s Instituto Geografico Nacional for sixteen years, said. ‘There is an excellent potential for this to happen again. It could happen almost anywhere in the city.’”
Source: Giant Guatemalan ‘Sinkhole’ Is Worse Than We Thought
Categories: slashdot Tags: Bonis, disaster, Doom, Earth, geology, Government, Guatemala, guatemala city, Guatemalan, guatemalan government, guatemalan sinkhole, instituto geografico nacional, pile, Sam, Science, sinkhole, sinkhole in guatemala, sinkhole in guatemala city, Than
February 25th, 2010 02:30
admin
From a huge pile of data on trees, scientists have uncovered the secret to biodiversity.
Source: Biodiversity Explained by Ignoring the Forest for the Trees