Slashdot Mirror
Creative Commons Audiobooks
xanderwilson writes "The New York Times (2nd half of the article; free reg. required as always) writes, 'Project Gutenberg is well known for offering free electronic versions of famous public-domain texts. Now Telltale Weekly wants to be its audio-book equivalent.' Of interest to others in the Slashdot community: Ogg Vorbis and MP3 downloads, payment via Bitpass micropayments, and a cheap-now, free later (with a Creative Commons License) business model." (And if you buy the Ogg Vorbis versions, part of the money goes to xiph.org.)
The Lord is risen indeed...
Luke 24:34
I send greetings to Christians around the world as they gather to celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Jesus' life and teachings continue to speak to every generation, and Christians believe his miraculous Resurrection provides hope for the future and offers us the promise of new life.
Through His ministry and sacrifice, Jesus demonstrated God's unconditional love for us. He taught us the importance of helping others and loving our neighbors. His selfless devotion and mercy provide a remarkable example for all of us.
As families and friends gather to enjoy this Easter season, we celebrate God's gift of freedom and His love that conquers death. For those who observe Easter, our faith brings confidence that good will overcome evil and that joy is everlasting. Today, we give thanks for God's many blessings and pray for His peace in the affairs of men.
Laura joins me in sending our best wishes for a happy Easter.
GEORGE W. BUSH
Can someone explain to me why the prelink rpm I installed uses a daily cron job? Can't I just tune things up when I install new software and/or libraries?
In any case, it is a bit ridiculous to have this thing spend several minutes churning through my hard drive every night. I don't install new software anywhere near that often.
you better be joking
Microsoft: You've got Questions, We've got Dancing PaperClips!
Is this true??? I can't find it on any of the mainstream news sites yet. A scoop for slashdot? This is sad news though.
That is your 2nd comment ever with that account, and both are pure as karma whoring.
So I'm guessing your a Karma Whore. You're first 2 posts ever certainly point towards that trend.
MOD PARENT DOWN
Lottery Numbers and Books With a Voice
By PAMELA LiCALZI O'CONNELL
April 8, 2004
ONLINE DIARY
Fill out this online survey and you may win a prize! The StudyResponse Project (studyresponse.com) helps conduct online surveys that offer incentives (mostly raffle-type prizes) to encourage participation in social-science research. It links researchers with registered volunteers through a system of anonymous messages and reminders, thus ensuring privacy.
The site owes a debt to consumer marketers in more ways than one. "E-commerce sites have trained a wide swath of people to fill out online surveys -- it's a kind of basic literacy now -- and that has helped us," said Jeffrey M. Stanton, an assistant professor in the School of Information Studies at Syracuse University, which administers the site. His job is to study the studies -- that is, to draw conclusions on the best way to collect research data on the Web.
The project has attracted more than 53,000 volunteers and has been used by 65 research studies on topics ranging from the death penalty to emotional intelligence. The average age of volunteers is 33.9; 68 percent are women. In most studies, participants have a 2 percent to 3 percent chance of winning a prize, typically an Amazon gift certificate. "Some of our volunteers are curious about the research topics, but most are more interested in the prizes," Dr. Stanton said.
With mail and phone surveys encountering high rates of refusal, online research has become mainstream. Recent studies that have used the site have achieved response rates between 20 percent and 30 percent using surveys that took about 10 to 15 minutes to fill out, he added. Shorter surveys have sometimes reached response rates of 50 percent.
But researchers must adhere to strict rules to tap the StudyResponse panel. For instance, participants must be allowed to skip questions.
"If you force a response, you'll get bogus data," Dr. Stanton said.
Pick a Number
Lotto players, note: it's awfully hard to come up with a truly random number or number sequence.
Most online random-number generators actually offer "pseudo-random" numbers because computers aren't good at doing anything by chance. To generate numbers that are truly random requires a source of entropy, or disorder, outside the computer itself.
A new site, randomnumbers.info, locates such a source in quantum physics, specifically, the reflection of a light particle on a semitransparent mirror. The site exploits this optical process to generate up to 1,000 random numbers on demand.
"You need a quantum process if you want real randomness," said Grégoire Ribordy, chief executive of Id Quantique, a commercial spinoff of the University of Geneva, the project's originator.
Other sites also offer true random numbers, said Mads Haahr, lecturer in computer science at Trinity College, Dublin. His site, random.org, uses atmospheric noise from a radio as a source of disorder; the random numbers at HotBits (www.fourmilab.ch/hotbits) are generated by radioactive decay; and LavaRnd (www.lavarnd.org) taps the unpredictability of lava lamps.
Aside from players looking for an edge in Pick Six, true random number are needed in applications like cryptography. But people also have used random.org's output in unexpected ways. One writer used random numbers to help decide on the next plot twist in his novel. Others have tapped the site to determine the order of words asked in a spelling bee and to help decide which chores on a list to do first.
For some, then, random numbers are the holy grail of decision-support tools: a truly unbiased source.
Books With a Voice
Project Gutenberg (gutenberg.net) is well known for offering free electronic versions of famous public-domain texts. Now Telltale Weekly (tel
Not joking, trolling. This troll has been around for a few years.
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It's just that yours is stupid.
Senator Pius Anyim.
E-Mail : p_anyim1@netpiper.com
Date : 28-03-2004
Kindest Attention:
I am Former Senator Anyim Pius Anyim,The Former Senate
President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Though
this proposal may be very surprise to you as we have
not met in any way before.
I got your contact address through your country
business Guide and feel you will serve as a reliable
source to be used to achieve this aim, by trusting
under your care the total sum of Thirty million US
dollars (US $30M).
This money I want to invest into any business of your
choice in your country was acquired through the
Construction Of the newly completed Abuja National
Stadium which was used for the just concluded All
African Games ( COJA )Abuja 2003. During the time the
contract was to be awarded to a foreign contractor, I
used my position and office then as the Senate
President to over invoice the sum of USD.30M from the
main contract sum.
The Construction of the Stadium have been completed
and commissioned the contractor have been paid, then
this over invoiced amount (USD.30M) is what I want to
trust under your care for lucrative investment of your
choice in your country.
As a former Senate President, l find it very difficult
to invest such amount of money in my country due to my
position in the Government such amount of money may
attracts some suspicion which may lead to my arrest,
that is why I need your urgent assistance, Please
indicate your interest in the area of a lucrative
business viability in your country.
For working with me to actualize this transaction, I
will give to you 30% of the total fund while 10% will
be used to settle every monetary expenses on the
course of this transaction and the remaining 60% will
be for me.
The proposal should be kept strictly confidential due
to my person in the Government as the Former senate
President of Nigeria.
Please indicate your interest by providing me with
your private direct phone line / fax number. And I
assure you that all we be well at the end of this
transaction.
Thanks and God bless you.
Senator Anyim Pius Anyim
Here's the way I do it.
AC