Feedly and Evernote are experiencing DDoS attacks and may be inaccessible to users.

Feedly and Evernote are experiencing DDoS attacks and may be inaccessible to users. The alleged perpetrator is asking for “ransom” to cease the attacks. Read more here . Read more…

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Feedly and Evernote are experiencing DDoS attacks and may be inaccessible to users.

Teacher Tenure Laws Ruled Unconstitutional In California

An anonymous reader writes “Tenure laws one of the most controversial aspects of education reform, and now the tide seems to be turning against them. A California judge has handed down a ruling that such laws are unconstitutional, depriving students of an education by sometimes securing positions held by bad teachers. The judge said, “Substantial evidence presented makes it clear to this court that the challenged statutes disproportionately affect poor and/or minority students. The evidence is compelling. Indeed, it shocks the conscience.” The plaintiff’s case was that “California’s current laws make it impossible to get rid of the system’s numerous low-performing and incompetent teachers; that seniority rules requiring the newest teachers to be laid off first were harmful; and that granting tenure to teachers after only two years on the job was farcical, offering far too little time for a fair assessment of their skills.” This is a precedent-setting case, and there will likely be many similar cases around the country as tenure is challenged with this new ammunition.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Teacher Tenure Laws Ruled Unconstitutional In California

Biodegradable Fibers As Strong As Steel Made From Wood Cellulose

Zothecula writes “A team of researchers working at Stockholm’s KTH Royal Institute of Technology claim to have developed a way to make cellulose fibers stronger than steel on a strength-to-weight basis. In what is touted as a world first, the team from the institute’s Wallenberg Wood Science Center claim that the new fiber could be used as a biodegradable replacement for many filament materials made today from imperishable substances such as fiberglass, plastic, and metal. And all this from a substance that requires only water, wood cellulose, and common table salt to create it. The full academic paper is available from Nature Communications.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Biodegradable Fibers As Strong As Steel Made From Wood Cellulose

NASA’s Orion crew module looks like a liquid metal alien spaceship

NASA’s real life interstellar Enterprise concept ship may look straight out of Star Trek, but their Orion crew module for Exploration Flight Test-1 looks chrometastically cool, like the alien spaceship in Flight of the Navigator. Read more…

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NASA’s Orion crew module looks like a liquid metal alien spaceship

I can’t believe this Hubble’s star explosion time-lapse video is real

I never imagined I was going to see something like this: A video of a star bursting in space, illuminating the interstellar dust around it at the speed of light. This is not a computer simulation. It’s an actual time-lapse video taken over four years by the Hubble—and scientists don’t know its origin yet. Read more…

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I can’t believe this Hubble’s star explosion time-lapse video is real

The NYPD’s Biggest Gang Raid Was Informed By 1 Million Facebook Posts

In the early hours of June 4th, the New York Police Department raided the General Ulysses S. Grant and Manhattanville housing projects in West Harlem. Its biggest gang raid ever, it saw 40 suspects arrested—and it was masterminded by mining over 1 million Facebook posts. Read more…

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The NYPD’s Biggest Gang Raid Was Informed By 1 Million Facebook Posts

GE’s metallic ink can put tiny sensors inside jet engines

Embedded tech can fit into some incredible spaces , but it can’t yet fit everywhere; there are places that are simply too harsh or small for modern technology. If GE gets its way, though, just about any surface will be fair game. Its Direct Write technology uses ink made from either metals or metal oxides to print tiny, flexible sensors that both fit into tight spots and survive conditions that typically fry electronics. You could see sensors inside the hot environment of a jet engine, or put both pressure and temperature sensors into areas that normally don’t have room for anything. GE is already testing Direct Write sensors with some of its partners, and it notes that the technique could apply sensors to devices well after they’ve left the factory. However, the technology isn’t flawless; while the ink may survive hostile environments, wireless signals typically don’t. It may be a long while before you can fit sensors in places where even wires are too risky. Filed under: Misc Comments Via: Wall Street Journal Source: GE Reports

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GE’s metallic ink can put tiny sensors inside jet engines

NASA’s real life Enterprise concept may take us to the stars one day

Dr. Harold “Sonny” White is still working on a warp drive at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Their work is still in the experimental stages but that doesn’t mean they can’t imagine already what the real life Enterprise ship can look like. You’re looking at it right now. Read more…

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NASA’s real life Enterprise concept may take us to the stars one day

Firefox 30 Available, Firebug 2.0 Released

Today Mozilla made Firefox 30 available, a relatively minor release after the massive redesign in version 29. According to the changelog, new features include VP9 video decoding, support for Opus in WebM, and horizontal volume control for HTML5 video and audio. Developers got support for multi-line flexboxes and hang reporting for background threads. There were also a number of security fixes. The Android version of Firefox received better support for native text selection, cutting, and copying, as well as predictive lookup for Awesomebar entries. The availability of Firefox 30 coincides with the launch of Firebug 2.0, which features an updated UI and a new debugging engine called JSD2. Significant new features include JavaScirpt syntax highlighting and de-minifying, improved code auto-complete, and the capability to hide or show individual Firebug panels. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Firefox 30 Available, Firebug 2.0 Released

Formlabs’ second-gen pro 3D printer is 50 percent faster

Formlabs’ Form1 was a top dog among 3D printers when it first shipped, but others have stepped up their game in the past year. It’s about time for an upgrade, don’t you think? Appropriately, the company has just unveiled the Form1+, a big improvement to its now-familiar design. The new edition of Formlabs’ pro-grade machine is all about raw performance — a more powerful laser lets it print up to 50 percent faster, and its control system produces finer, smoother sculptures. It should be more reliable, too, thanks to an improved resin tank that better preserves your material. The new printer costs the same $3, 299 as the original, which doesn’t exactly make it a casual purchase. However, you shouldn’t despair if you’re an existing Form1 owner. Formlabs is offering a factory upgrade program that brings your hardware up to spec for a more down-to-Earth (if not exactly trivial) $749. You can order the revamped device today in the US, and Europeans can pick one up in July for €2, 799. Filed under: Peripherals Comments Source: Formlabs

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Formlabs’ second-gen pro 3D printer is 50 percent faster