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Comment Re:Different thing (Score 1) 776

by blau (#37902394) Attached to: Climate Change Skeptic Results Released Today

Come again?

Parent asked: BTW, what does tobacco have to do with this?

I pointed out that there is a connection (link to article showing that the same anti-science agenda think tanks which worked to discredit and obscure studies linking lung cancer to tobacco smoke exposure are now campaigning agains AGW).

How is this an ad hominem?

Comment Re:We're not there yet... (Score 1) 535

by blau (#37887328) Attached to: Droughts Linked To Global Warming

pro-AGW: $50 Billion, while the other side got skeptical of AGW: $19 Million.

There are links to references and such on that page. I think my work here is done.

Are you serious? Some industry-sponsored (Heartland Institute) aussie climate scientist pulled that number out of his ass (at least there is no telling where it came from).

Another funny from your link:
The U.S. alone has spent $30 billion on federal programs directly or indirectly related to global warming in just the last six years, according to one estimate.

...which in the original Fox News article turns out to be:
The Bush administration, after all, is by far the largest funder of global warming alarmism, pouring about $30 billion of federal dollars into climate- and alternative energy-related research over the last six years.

LOL?
Space

Submission + - ROSAT re-entry (www.dlr.de)

Submitted by blau
blau writes: From the DLR website: "Since its decommissioning, atmospheric drag has caused the satellite to lose altitude. In June 2011, it was at a distance of only about 327 kilometres above the ground. Due to the fact that ROSAT does not have a propulsion system on board, it was not possible to manoeuvre the satellite to perform a controlled re-entry at the end of its mission in 1999. When the spacecraft re-enters the atmosphere at a speed of approximately 28,000 kilometres per hour, the X-ray observatory will break up into fragments, some of which will burn up by the extreme heat. The latest studies reveal that it is possible that up to 30 individualpieces weighing a total of 1.7 tons mayreach the surface of the Earth. The largest singlefragment will probably be the telescope's mirror, which is very heat resistant and may weigh up to 1.7 tons. [] At present, scientists expect the X-ray satellite, which completes an orbit around Earth inabout 90 minutes, tore-enter around between 22 and23 October 2011. [] All areas under the orbit of ROSAT, which extends to 53 degreesnorthern and southern latitude could be affected byits re-entry. The bulk of the debris willimpact near the ground track of the satellite. However, isolated fragments could fall to Earth in a 80 kilometre wide path along the track."
From a Guardian article about the satellite (http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2011/oct/19/german-satellite-crash-earth): "The German space agency puts the odds of somebody somewhere on Earth being hurt by its satellite at one in 2,000 – a slightly higher level of risk than was calculated for the Nasa satellite. Any individual's odds of being struck are one in 14 trillion, given that there are 7 billion people on the planet."
Apple

Submission + - Financial Times Snubs Apple, Launches HTML 5 Pages (businessweek.com)

Submitted by MotorMachineMercenar
MotorMachineMercenar writes: Financial Times launched HTML 5 pages in an attempt to ween their subscribers away from FT.com iOS app and take back full control of their content.

According to the Business Week report, this is a "strategic move" for FT to get back unfettered access to their customers' app usage and demographic data, and saves them money on development by writing one set of pages instead of an app for each platform, and because they don't have to pay fees to Apple anymore. Going HTML 5 also means they don't need approval from Apple for each update of their software for faster update cycle.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Apple will not be able to censor the app. This is probably not an important feature for FT, but certainly one for publishers receiving rejections due to Apple's policies on content, such as scantily clad women in a newspaper, South Park app and more.

Perhaps this "shot across the bow" of Apple will mean other publishers and content creators will follow, and everyone will get the same content and experience regardless of platform, not encumbered by Apple tax or held hostage by Apple's content policies.
Japan

Submission + - Meltdowns also at No.2, No.3 reactors (nhk.or.jp)

Submitted by blau
blau writes: "The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says findings show that fuel meltdowns may have occurred at the No.2 and No.3 reactors within days of the March 11th earthquake. But it says both reactors are now stable at relatively low temperatures."
Yahoo!

Submission + - Yahoo rolls out new e-mail service (winbeta.org)

Submitted by
BogenDorpher
BogenDorpher writes: "Yahoo today unveiled its latest version of its Yahoo Mail service to its 284 million users worldwide. Yahoo promised and delivered several new features such as social networking additions and a performance boost."
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Head Announces Windows 8 Release (pcmag.com)

Submitted by chriscappuccio
chriscappuccio writes: Microsoft chief Steve Ballmer on Monday confirmed that Windows 8, the next iteration of the software giant's operating system, will be available in 2012.
Speaking at a Microsoft Developer Forum in Tokyo today, Ballmer said Microsoft is "obviously hard at work on the next version of Windows."

A variety of rumors regarding Windows 8 have popped up on the Internet in recent months, but Microsoft has yet to confirm any particular features it will add to the OS. While Ballmer didn't go into detail about what Windows 8 users will see, he did outline several areas into which Microsoft is committed to investing.

Ballmer also talked up Windows Phone and the expected 500 new features that the next upgrade will bring. If you're so inclined, Ballmer also encouraged users to email him with questions (SteveB@Microsoft.com)
Censorship

Submission + - Businesses Criticize Whistleblower Reward Plan

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "The Washington Post reports that the Securities and Exchange Commission is scheduled to vote this week on a far-reaching proposal to combat corporate wrongdoing by paying private employees for blowing the whistle on corporate fraud exposing the kind of abuses that have cost investors dearly, from the Enron and WorldCom accounting frauds of a decade ago to the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac scandals of later years and alleged misrepresentations involving toxic mortgages. But some business groups say they are worried that the SEC could be overwhelmed with tips and want to ease the burden on regulators by screening the complaints. “Companies are far better equipped to assess complaints in the context of their particular business and to ‘separate the wheat from the chaff,’ ” said the Financial Services Roundtable and the American Bankers Association, in a letter to the SEC. Lawyers who specialize in representing whistleblowers say companies cannot be trusted to police themselves and say the government should not discourage whistleblowers who want to come forward. “The SEC’s primary purpose is to protect investors — not internal compliance programs,” says Senator Charles E. Grassley. The SEC “should not throw whistleblowers to the wolves.""
Idle

Submission + - Mine BitCoin get busted for pot farming (computerworld.com)

Submitted by c0lo
c0lo writes: Among other risks caused by the low understanding of police and gub agencies on what BitCoin is, the high amount of electricity needed to create a single bitcoin bills can lead to marijuana busts.

The Canadian town of Mission, BC has a bylaw that allows the town's Public Safety Inspection Team to search people's homes for grow ops if they are using more than 93 kWh of electricity per day. There have allegedly been reports floating in IRC of two different cases of police showing up at a bitcoin miner's residence with a search warrant.

Ohio police and the DEA file at least 60 subpoenas each month for energy-use records of people suspected of running an indoor pot growing operation. DEA Agent Anthony Marotta said high electricity usage does not always mean the residence is an indoor pot farm and has surprised federal agents. "We thought it was a major grow operation ... but this guy had some kind of business involving computers. I don't know how many computer servers we found in his home."
Idle

Submission + - Best illusion of the year contest results (neuralcorrelate.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The 7th annual "Best illusion of the year contest" was held by the Neural Correlate Society last week in Florida, and it featured 10 fantastic visual illusions selected from a pool of over 150 submissions. The site has demos of the illusions that made the finals, with brief explanations about what each illusion tells us about the visual system. Some might be important for the design of video displays and animations.
The Military

Submission + - US Navy Seeks Gamers to Fight Pirates in War Games 1

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "The Washington Post reports that the US Navy is rolling out the military’s first-ever online war game open to the public, crowd-sourcing the challenges of maritime security to thousands of “players” sitting in front of their computers. The project, named MMOWGLI for the Massively Multiplayer Online Wargame Leveraging the Internet, is a video game for policy wonks that aims to replicate a traditional military strategy session on an exponentially larger scale, bringing together thousands of government and outside experts that would be impossible even in the largest Pentagon conference room. Video clips and storyboards will prompt players to envision scenarios. For example: "Three pirate ships are holding the world hostage. Chinese-U.S. relations are strained to the limit and both countries have naval ships in the area. Humanitarian aid for rig workers is blocked. The world is blaming the US for plundering African resources."Players are then confronted with two boxes — Innovate and Defend — asking what new resources could “turn the tide” and what risks might result.Developers hope that MMOWGLI can help break down rigid military hierarchies by allowing players to remain anonymous. "That’s old hat online, but it’s radically new to the military,” says Jason Tester, a game designer from the Institute for the Future. “Everyone is looking forward to seeing if the winning team could be a four-star admiral, a Naval Academy cadet and someone from a nonprofit collaborating with each other.”"

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