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Earth

Bees Are Building Nests With Our Waste Plastic 92

Posted by samzenpus from the making-the-best-of-things dept.
Daniel_Stuckey writes "In a paper published in the Ecological Society of America's journal Ecosphere, researchers from York University and the University of Guelph in Canada explained that while plastic waste has previously been shown to have devastating impacts on the environment, less attention has been given to the resourcefulness of species in the face of their changing surroundings. "Plastic waste pervades the global landscape," they wrote. "Although adverse impacts on both species and ecosystems have been documented, there are few observations of behavioral flexibility and adaptation in species, especially insects, to increasingly plastic-rich environments.""
Crime

Stolen Laptop Owner Outwits Mugger, Police, and the Media 272

Posted by timothy from the dirty-deeds-dragged-into-view dept.
An anonymous reader writes "What do you get mugged in Central London and the local police are too incompetent to find a mugger even with his address and photograph? You may not be able to get to the laptop, but you still own the photos and data on it, so you set up the NSFW Plumpergeddon blog which gives details of the subsequent 'owner's' 'Brick House Butts' fetishes. Now of course later the IT media might get interested and offer an interview with a promise to let him review the article and keep his name secret. luckily our hero is not so innocent and demonstrates the value of using a false name on the internet as well as planting your own monitoring software on your laptop."
Operating Systems

Ask Slashdot: Buying a Laptop That Doesn't Have Windows 8 570

Posted by timothy from the craigslist-if-available dept.
First time accepted submitter Sagan's Pie writes "I'm starting to look for a laptop for college, and the only thing I seem to find are laptops or tablets that have Windows 8. I have used Windows 7 for a long time now, and would not have a problem giving it up, but not for Windows 8. After visiting many major online retail sites, I've found that finding either a Windows 7 laptop, or even a laptop without an operating system is nearly impossible. So where should I go if looking for laptops sans os, or at the very least sans Windows 8?"
Security

Kaspersky's Exploit-Proof OS Leaves Security Experts Skeptical 196

Posted by timothy from the trust-maybe-but-certainly-verify dept.
CWmike writes "Eugene Kaspersky, the $800-million Russian cybersecurity tycoon, is, by his own account, out to 'save the world' with an exploit-proof operating system. Given the recent declarations from U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and others that the nation is facing a 'digital Pearl Harbor' or 'digital 9/11' from hostile nation states like Iran, this sounds like the impossible dream come true — the cyber version of a Star Wars force field. But on this side of that world in need of saving, the enthusiasm is somewhat tempered. One big worry: source. 'The real question is, do you trust the people who built your system? The answer had better be yes,' said Gary McGraw, CTO of Cigital. Kaspersky's products are among the top ranked worldwide, are used by an estimated 300 million people and are embraced by U.S. companies like Microsoft, Cisco and Juniper Networks. But while he considers himself at some level a citizen of the world, he has close ties to Russian intelligence and Vladimir Putin. Part of his education and training was sponsored by the KGB, he is a past Soviet intelligence officer (some suspect he has not completely retired from that role) and he is said have a 'deep and ongoing relationship with Russia's Federal Security Service, or FSB,' the successor to the KGB and the agency that operates the Russian government's electronic surveillance network."
Math

Submission + - Fujitsu Building Robot To Pass Math Exams (itworld.com)

Submitted by
itwbennett
itwbennett writes: "Pity those poor Japanese students who attend cram schools, either full time or in addition to their regular schooling, to have a shot at passing the grueling math entrance exams for Tokyo University. If Fujitsu has its way, those students will be upstaged by a robot. The company has set a goal for the year 2021 of building an artificial intelligence robot that can pass the exams."
Security

Submission + - Harry Potter's Emma Watson most dangerous celebrity to search for on Web (networkworld.com)

Submitted by alphadogg
alphadogg writes: Emma Watson, best known for her portrayal of Hermione Granger in the Harry Potter movies, has been named most dangerous celebrity to search for on the Web in McAfee's annual report. "Searches for the latest Emma Watson pictures and free downloads have more than a 12% chance to land on a malicious site that has tested positive for spyware, adware, spam, phishing, viruses or other malicious stuff," according to McAfee, whose study is based on the company's site ratings technology. Such searches appear to be even more dangerous when Watson's name is linked with terms such as "nude pictures" and "fakes," as cybercrooks bait bad websites to nab unsuspecting Web surfers, often offering them free downloads.
China

Submission + - China's Yangtze River Turns Red (ibtimes.com)

Submitted by
redletterdave
redletterdave writes: "The Yangtze River, the third longest river in the world traditionally known as the "golden watercourse," mysteriously blushed for the first time on Sept. 6. Residents in the surrounding area near the city of Chongqing, where the Yangtze connects to the Jialin River, literally stopped in their tracks when they noticed their once golden river had turned a shocking shade of red. Residents have carefully crept down to the riverbanks for the past few days to save some of the red, tomato juice-like river water in bottles. Early predictions from scientists say the red water was likely a result of pollution, but investigators are still investigating the unknown cause."
Advertising

Submission + - No Opt-Out For Ads On New Kindle Fires (cnet.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Lost amid the announcements for Amazon's new tablets and e-readers was the news that their latest Kindle Fire tablets would include advertisements. So-called 'Special Offers' would place ads on the devices' lock screens in a similar fashion to the lowest price Kindle e-readers. However, on the e-readers, you had the option to 'buy out' the ads by simple paying the difference in price between the cheaper device and the regular version. But Amazon has no confirmed there is no way to opt out of the ads on the new Kindle Fire tablets.

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