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Comment Re:Stop (Score 0) 694

Green technology can be profitable, but it needs to be made practical. If I have a budget and see if I buy this expensive solar setup I'll get a return about five years or more from now then that just isn't an attractive option to most people. They want savings now, not later. I see news all the time about breakthroughs in making solar energy cheaper and more efficient but I've yet to actually see prices on solar drop when I'm looking to buy equipment for a remote setup. I don't agree with the government taking more money from people to prop up a business who's business plan obviously didn't measure up or they wouldn't need the help to begin with. If you want people to be green then make it economically practical for them to be so. If people don't have the extra income to go green is it fair to beat them with a stick saying they have too and taking more of their income so the government can give it to whoever is the most politically correct at the time?

Comment "Open Source" Intelligence can be an issue as well (Score 0) 140

We all know not everything you read on the internet is true, shocking I know. Things like this cause issues when some individual reads something on a blog and then cuts and pastes the contents of said blog into a classified report without confirming the information within or finding multiple independent sources. That said report then causes a snowball effect that has people crying wolf and running around and gives the actual skilled analysts problems as they're now fighting an uphill battle with their well researched multisource information supported by classified sources because the first report said differently. Just because it's a classified report doesn't mean the information inside isn't bullshit if the single source is bullshit.
Security

Submission + - Hacker Defeats Hardware-based Rootkit Detection

Manequintet writes: "Joanna Rutkowska's latest bit of rootkit-related research shatters the myth that hardware-based (PCI cards or FireWire bus) RAM acquisition is the most reliable and secure way to do forensics. At this year's Black Hat Federal conference, she demonstrated three different attacks against AMD64 based systems, showing how the image of volatile memory (RAM) can be made different from the real contents of the physical memory as seen by the CPU. The overall problem, Rutkowska explained, is the design of the system that makes it impossible to reliably read memory from computers. "Maybe we should rethink the design of our computer systems so they they are somehow verifiable," she said."
Space

Hawking to Take Zero Gravity Ride 127

An anonymous reader writes "Well-known cosmologist Stephen Hawking is preparing for a once-in a lifetime trip. His goals are for even higher ground, but right now he's readying for an April zero gravity ride aboard NASA's 'vomit comet'. His ultimate goal is to take a ride on one of Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic flights, and this is a 'test run' for that more rigorous experience. Though complex math ain't no thing for Dr. Hawking, his interests here are purely inspirational. 'Hawking says he wants to encourage public interest in spaceflight, which he believes is critical to the future of humanity. "I also want to show," he said in an e-mail interview, "that people need not be limited by physical handicaps as long as they are not disabled in spirit."'"
Microsoft

Microsoft Charging Businesses $4K for DST Fix 395

eldavojohn writes "Microsoft has slashed the price it's going to charge users on the daylight saving time fixes. As you know, the federal law that moves the date for DST goes into effect this month. Although the price of $4000 is 1/10 of the original estimate Microsoft made, it seems a bit pricey for a patch to a product you've already paid for. From the article: 'Among the titles in that extended support category are Windows 2000, Exchange Server 2000 and Outlook 2000, the e-mail and calendar client included with Office 2000. For users running that software, Microsoft charges $4,000 per product for DST fixes. For that amount, customers can apply the patches to all systems in their organizations, including branch offices and affiliate.' The only thing they can't do, said a Microsoft rep, is redistribute them."

Feed Accessorize With Serotonin (wired.com)

Nothing says I love you -- and your crippling mood disorder -- better than a bio-geeky necklace made of the molecules of key neurotransmitters and hormones. In Bodyhack.


Security

Homeland Security Offers Details on Real ID 227

pr0nqu33n writes "C|Net is running an article on the DHS's requirements for the Real ID system. Thursday members of the Bush administration finally unveiled details of the anticipated national identification program. Millions of Americans will have until 2013 to register for the system, which will (some would argue) constitute a national ID. RFID trackers for the cards are under consideration, as is a cohesive nation-wide design for the card. States must submit a proposal for how they'll adopt the system by early October of this year. If they don't, come May of next year their residents will see their licenses unable to gain them access to federal buildings and airplanes. The full regulations for the system are available online in PDF format. Likewise, the DHS has a Questions and Answers style FAQ available to explain the program to the curious."
Space

Submission + - Total Lunar Eclipse to Be 1st in 3 Years

Uryugen writes: The first total lunar eclipse in three years will give nearly every continent at least a partial view when the moon turns a shade of crimson as light reaching it from the sun is blotted out by the Earth. People in the eastern parts of North and South America will find the moon already partially or totally eclipsed by the time it rises over the horizon, while east Asia will see the eclipse cut short by moonset.
OS X

Submission + - PC World Picks OSX Over XP, Vista (and, uh, Linux)

DenmaFat writes: "The article is buried in PC World's web site, but the ordinarily Redmond-centric magazine comes right out and says that OS X is the best operating system for its readers, over Linux and Windows XP, with Windows Vista ranked dead last. The review is the subjective assessment of just one author, but he provides a lengthy qualitative comparison chart to back up his recommendations. On a related note, chilled beverages now available in Hades."
Education

Submission + - Questioning the Value of an IT Degree

jerbenn writes: "The following article appeared in The Chronicle of Higher Education: "With interdisciplinary training all the rage in the IT industry, computer-science degrees just don't seem to carry the weight they once did. According to a new survey, three out of five British employers don't care whether applicants for high-tech jobs have IT-specific degrees. The survey — completed by E-Skills UK, a government agency — also found that only two of every five IT workers in Britain possess tech-related degrees. Karen Price, chief executive of E-Skills UK, told CNET News that applicants without IT degrees are often perceived as better entrepreneurs and communicators than their tech-trained counterparts."

What's this world coming to??? It's starting to sound like companies would rather hire someone who can't differentiate between a semaphore and a hole-in-their-ass as long as they have so called 'soft-skills'. Yes, those soft skills are important, but they can be developed much easier than learning the theory and skills needed for innovation and development, not to mention maintaining existing technology!"
United States

Submission + - Super-green minivans are possible today

Roland Piquepaille writes: "According to the Mercury News, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) has designed a super-green minivan. The Vanguard is a vehicle concept that could cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent and exceed California's 2016 global warming standards. This minivan, which only exists as a computer simulation, would use existing technologies and could run on a gasoline-ethanol blend. Such a vehicle would only "cost $300 more than one of today's minivans, but it would save an owner $1,300 over the lifetime of the vehicle." Of course, as UCS is not a car maker, it's hard to know if such a concept will really be used by the automotive industry. Here is a link to more references and pictures about this concept vehicle which may reach the U.S. roads one day."

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