Slashdot Mirror
Dried Meat "Resurrects" Lost Species of Whale
sciencehabit writes "A gift of dried whale meat—and some clever genetic sleuthing across almost 16,000 kilometers of equatorial waters—has helped scientists identify a long-forgotten animal as a new species of beaked whale. The 'resurrection' raises new questions about beaked whales, the most elusive and mysterious of cetaceans. Overall, the saga shows 'that there are probably even more species of beaked whales that we don't know about,' says Phil Clapham, a marine mammalogist at the National Marine Mammal Laboratory in Seattle, Washington. 'We don't see them because they're very deep-diving and live far from land.' They also live in a poorly surveyed part of the ocean, Baker says, where very few people dwell on remote atolls."
be heard.
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[Fuck Beta]
Jesus, I've been coming here since '99. I won't come back if beta is pushed on me.
I don't think they know what the word, "resurrect", means.
Nah, just kidding. Fuck the beta.
Fuck Beta.
First comment ever on /.
Been reading it for over 15 years.
Classic or nothing.
There is either Slashdot or slashbeta, no classic.
FUCK SLASHBETA
The Beta sucks! It's not just bad from a "I don't like change" perspective; it's bad from an aesthetic and usability standpoint! We've told you what is bad about it. Now please incorporate our suggestions.
Well, I'm normally against childish flaming, but this beta thing has me upset.
Especially since I have been giving regular feedback ever since they started rolling out this crap.
Why are they continuing? Death march...
The value of Slashdot is the comment section to the articles. Why would you ever approve a redesign that has ruined the one reason people visit the site!?!?!?!? How hard is it to prevent comments from being squished into oblivion???
the suck-y beta /. site.
Here is Dice's "Contact Us" page. Everybody be sure to call them tomorrow using whatever numbers from that page you can get to ring. Tell every darn receptionist in every darn one of Dice's holdings, along with anyone you can get them to connect you to, that the Slashdot beta is terrible and you won't shut up until it goes away. Fax them a well-illustrated complaint or two or three. Send them a choice letter via snail mail, along with whatever memorabilia you wish.
They keep soliciting our feedback, they can get our feedback, right where it counts.
The most obvious contact points are:
Dice Holdings Inc.
1040 Avenue of the Americas, 8th Floor
New York, NY 10018
T: 212-725-6550
F: 212-725-6559
Slashdot
594 Howard St Suite 300
San Francisco, CA 94105
Tel: +1-877-433-5638
www.slashdot.com
Don't be like every other lame site out there. Dare to be different. You know, maybe even nerdy ...
Vote this up... http://slashdot.org/submission...
Silence is a state of mime.
TFA talks about these whales never having been seen because they live so deep in the sea. Either they have developed rebreathers or everlasting scuba gear OR they have to come to the surface every once in a while to breathe and thus be liable to be seen. The same goes for calves, they'd have to stay relatively close to the surface for the first few days. Good to know that there is still something left to be discovered.
</content-disposition>
Now that this is out of the way I'd like to add my voice to those who state that the beta is, shall we say, sub-optimal? I don't tend to use expletives so I'll refrain from them in this context but I do want to let it be known that I'll probably be a goner if I have to access the site through the JS-riddled monstrosity called beta. I already spend more time elsewhere (HN et al) even though 'elsewhere' also has its faults.
To those in command, accept that the beta is generally disliked. Either keep the site as it is until it bleeds dry or, if you insist in changing for changes' sake offer the content through an API so users can decide on their own frontend - think HN. Yes, you'll want to have some way of foisting ads and infomercial content and such pablum on your very suspecting users. They'll find ways to block it as they always did. Just accept that and keep the brand alive, or fight it and perish.
--frank[at]unternet.org
Have you seen the notices showing up on pages which says they're discontinuing the classic and we'll all be forced to use beta soon?
So, you can see it for a while, but they're going to eventually make the new version mandatory.
And I predict traffic will drop measurably the day they do that.
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Finally tried it and goddamn.
I am remined of "sucks donkey balls", but the experience is not that good..
"I believe in Karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it." : Dogbert
Day 1: It wouldn't stop, the redirecting. At first I thought it was malware. Had my first drink in a long time.
Day 2: Barely had the strength to carry on as the BETA REDIRECTIONS continue.. trying not to talk to hallucinations at the bar and in the bathroom which laugh at me about these redirections.
Day 3: Discovered the BETA redirections were random, and while at first they looked somewhat usable, when I looked at me and my monitor screen in the mirror, a horrible woman with flesh hanging off of her body looked back, trying to lead me into a dance as the word BETA appeared across her rancid breasts.
Day 4: These BETA corridors go on FOREVER! On the plus side, I've taken up disassembling vehicles to corner this BETA beast and sacrifice myself rather than lead others to discovering it. I ate some red snow.
Day 5: Finding it harder to concentrate. I've ate some more of the red snow. The taste is starting to grow on me.
Day 6: This typewriter is the only entertainment I have, apart from throwing things at the walls, trying to get some response from the BETA which is now taking over my mind.
Day 7: Hahahahahha! Would you believe it? I'M STILL BEING REDIRECTED TO SLASHDOT BETA PAGES! AHAHhahahaah! Type, type, ding, ding! Wooo!
Day 8: The hallucinations are actually real! Would you believe it? They have offered to help me if I agree to work for them. I'm thinking about patenting this delicious red snow, the taste is unreal!
Day 9: Having black out sessions where I cannot remember large passings of time. Found some makeup, thought I'd paint a joker smile on my face to amuse the people only I can see!
Day 10: Productive today, part of what I wrote for my new screenplay:
I cannot opt out of Slashdot BETA!
I cannot opt out of Slashdot BETA!
I cannot opt out of Slashdot BETA!
I cannot opt out of Slashdot BETA!
I cannot opt out of Slashdot BETA!
I cannot opt out of Slashdot BETA!
I cannot opt out of Slashdot BETA!
I cannot opt out of Slashdot BETA!
I cannot opt out of Slas
(drops of blood on paper)
"I believe in Karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it." : Dogbert
I have been a regular visitor to Slashdot for around 15 years. For that, I get the checkbox to disable ads, though I browse with Javascript disabled so my browser does not slow down.
I come here for the discussions, and often read comments at +5, changing that only if I find a discussion interesting and warrants reading at a lower level.
The new beta uses JQuery for the comment threshold selector, and changes that on the fly. This means all the comments are loaded, but not visible, and processing any page with considerable number of comments will slow down MY computer! If I have a few tabs open to read later, my computer will be unusable.
What is worse it that they require you to click on the slider on every article to change the threshold! This is just insane!
If they insist that I enable Javascript to browse the site at the threshold I want, then they will lose me as a long time. I imagine that others long timers will hate the site too.
Dice have to remember that this site has two unmatched features, interlocked: a moderation system that is good at cutting down the trolling, spamming, and noise, and a comment section that is frequented by many people who are passionate about technology and other nerdy stuff.
If they wanted to intentionally ruin the site and drive people away, they would not have done any worse than what they are doing now.
If they manage to aggravate a lot of their users, the comment section will no longer be attractive to the audience. Perhaps we should revive kuro5hin?
I wrote the above in a feedback form that I filled a while ago, and I am emailing this comment to their feedback@slashdot.org. Please send them feedback too.
And mod this up so Dice can see what they are getting themselves into.
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