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Social Networks

Submission + - Nancy Pelosi vs. the Internet (chicagoboyz.net)

Submitted by
selil
selil writes: "A story popped up on the ChicagoBoyz Blog. It says "Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who would like very much to reimpose the old, so-called, "Fairness Doctrine" that once censored conservative opinion on television and radio broadcasting, is scheming to impose rules barring any member of Congress from posting opinions on any internet site without first obtaining prior approval from the Democratic leadership of Congress. No blogs, twitter, online forums — nothing.""
Programming

Submission + - Best Way to Start Programming? 1

Submitted by Caboosian
Caboosian writes: Recently, I've become interested in programming. I have friends and family who are programmers, and when I ask what the best way to break into programming is, they all recommend various languages and tell me to Google for a tutorial. Despite many attempts at starting into Python, Java, or recently C#, I am yet to understand even the very basics of coding. Online tutorials are confusing, and my high school doesn't offer any sort of programming class. Am I just incompetent? Am I just finding bad tutorials? Or is there a different, better way to begin coding?
Slashback

Submission + - No Slashdot April Fools Jokes in 2008 8

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: Slashdot will not be participating in the April Fools jokes this year due to a lawsuit that was settled out of court with undisclosed terms stemming from the 2007 April 1st stunts. The false stories were determined to be too egregious by a yet to be named individual. Slashdot's parent company SourceForge, Inc. found it wiser to settle out of court then a lengthy battle that was obviously going to span several months.

The ponies will be missed.
Biotech

Submission + - Newly discovered fungus threatens world wheat crop 5

Submitted by
RickRussellTX
RickRussellTX writes: "The UN reports that a variety of the rust fungus originally detected in Uganda in 1999 has already spread as far north as Iran, threatening wheat production across its range. The fungus infects wheat stems and affects 80% of wheat varieties, putting crops at risk and threatening the food sources for billions of people across central Asia. Although scientists believe they can develop resistant hybrids, the fungus is moving much faster than anticipated and resistant hybrids may still be years away.

Meanwhile, national governments in the path of the fungus are telling folks that there is nothing to worry about."
The Courts

Submission + - Class action complaint against RIAA online (blogspot.com)

Submitted by
NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "Recommended reading for all interested in the RIAA's litigation war against p2p file sharing is the amended class action complaint just filed in Oregon in Andersen v. Atlantic. This landmark 109-page document (pdf) tells both the general story of the RIAA's campaign against ordinary folks, and the specific story of its harassment of Tanya Andersen, and even of her young daughter. The complaint includes federal and state RICO claims, as well as other legal theories, and alleges that "The world's four major recording studios had devised an illegal enterprise intent on maintaining their virtually complete monopoly over the distribution of recorded music." The point has been made by one commentator that the RIAA won't be able to weasel its out of this one by simply withdrawing it; this one, they will have to answer for. If the relief requested in the complaint is granted, the RIAA's entire campaign will be shut down for good."
Security

Submission + - Japanese ISPs to cut Net access for file sharers (yomiuri.co.jp)

Submitted by
modemac
modemac writes: "Four major Japanese telecom organizations, which represent 'about 1,000 major and smaller' domestic ISPs, have agreed to forcibly cut the Internet connection of users found to repeatedly use Winny and other file-sharing programs to illegally copy gaming software and music. The article states that a new set of ISP guidelines will be drawn up on how to cut off users who 'leak illegally copied material onto the Net.'"
Medicine

Submission + - Brain Ischemia - slow progress (sullydog.com)

Submitted by
Geoffrey.landis
Geoffrey.landis writes: "Researchers have been slowly building up a picture of exactly what occurs during a stroke (or, in medical jargon, "brain ischemia," defined as "a pathophysiological state in which cerebral blood flow to the brain is insufficient to meet the metabolic demands"), and the mechanisms by which it damages the brain. For the most part we're talking real science here, which is to say a slow and painstaking accumulation of understanding, and not the headline-making moments of "eureka," right or wrong, which are so beloved by journalists. Nevertheless, there is real progress going on here. Jonathon Sullivan of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Wayne State University has just put up a site summarizing the most recent understanding, including both the technical details that will interest biochemistry nerds, and also a good summary of recent science readable for the rest of us.

One of the hard-won new insights that Sullivan elucidates is the idea that the most devastating events of brain ischemia occur not during the actual oxygen deprivation, but happen when oxygen is reintroduced to the blood-starved brain. (in his words, "Ischemia Cocks the Hammer, Reperfusion Pulls the Trigger.")

Sullivan blames the problem on the peroxynitrite radical, O=NOO-. (Which can be pronounced "O Noo!" if you like). Quoting the text: "You are looking at a truly evil molecule. If we didn't have it caged in this little white box right now, it would jump right out of the screen and nitrosylate your face." (although that's not the only molecule Sullivan doesn't like. About the calpain molecule, he says, "calpain is like one of those white supremacy biker dudes on an overdose of meth. He goes insane and starts tweaking on all kinds of molecules.")

Bottom line is that while he says that there's no silver bullet, he notes that there are many promising strategies that work better than "take a lot of aspirin and hope for the best." Two approaches that look promising for the future include hypothermia and insulin injection, separately or in combination."
The Courts

Submission + - Trees Shading Solar Panels Ordered Cut Down 3

Submitted by Makarand
Makarand writes: A landmark case pitting trees against solar panels was fought in the courts of sunny California recently. A judge ordered some towering redwoods cut down so that sunlight could shine on solar panels installed by a neighbor even though the redwoods were planted before the solar panels were installed. A three decade old Solar Shade Control Act passed in California when solar systems were rare now requires homeowners to keep their trees from shading more than 10 percent of their neighbor's solar panels between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. The solar system owner is happy with the outcome of this judgment because he thinks that it would take around three acres of similar trees to reduce carbon dioxide emissions as much as the solar panels he has installed.
Space

Submission + - No Big Bang? Endless Universe Model (physorg.com) 3

Submitted by esocid
esocid writes: Following a theory put forward by Cambridge Univeristy's Neil Turok about the origins of the universe, a new cosmological model demonstrates that the universe can endlessly expand and contract, providing a rival to Big Bang theories and solving a thorny modern physics problem, according to University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill scientists Dr. Paul Frampton, Louis J. Rubin Jr. and physics grad student Lauris Baum, which can be summed up in four parts:expansion, turnaround, contraction and bounce.
At the turnaround, each fragmented patch collapses and contracts individually instead of pulling back together in a reversal of the Big Bang. The patches become an infinite number of independent universes that contract and then bounce outward again, reinflating in a manner similar to the Big Bang. One patch becomes our universe. "This cycle happens an infinite number of times, thus eliminating any start or end of time," Frampton said. "There is no Big Bang."
This follows the theory by physicists Neil Turok and Paul Steinhardt, published in a book titled Endless Universe: Beyond the Big Bang which theorizes that neither time nor the universe has a beginning or end.
Government

Submission + - USA: New Motto (nytimes.com) 1

Submitted by
Matthew
Matthew writes: "The Freakonomics Blog had its readers come up with 6-word mottos for the United States. This one won the popular vote: "Our Worst Critics Prefer to Stay""
The Matrix

Submission + - How to install and boot 145 operating systems 1 pc (justlinux.com)

Submitted by
ChillinInSD
ChillinInSD writes: "Saikee gives his recipe for installing 145 different operating systems on one computer using 2 hard drives and 154 partitions. 'This thread is to show how booting is laughingly simple in Linux. Since nearly all Linux, BSD and some Solaris are free there is a trend of increasing number of Linux users booting more than one system. I hope my thread can allay fear of handling multiple systems.' I am wondering, does this qualify as a world record?"
Patents

Submission + - Apple, Starbucks sued over custom music gift cards (appleinsider.com) 1

Submitted by Trintech
Trintech writes: A Utah couple acting as their own attorneys have filed a lawsuit against Apple and Starbucks over the retailers' recent "Song of the Day" promotion, which offers Starbucks customers a iTunes gift card for a complimentary, pre-selected song download.

In a seven-page formal complaint, James and Marguerite Driessen of Lindon, Utah say they developed in 2000 (and successfully patented in February 2006) a utility dubbed RPOS, or retail point of sale, for Internet merchandising. The concept, which forms the heart of the infringement lawsuit, would allow gift cards for pre-defined items that can be sold at a brick-and-mortar store but used online; customers could redeem a card for a dining room set or a DVD, for example.
Government

Submission + - Clinton Campaign Site TOS (xpda.com)

Submitted by
edibobb
edibobb writes: "The Obama and Hillary Clinton sites both have "Terms of Service," which seems pretty odd for political campaign sites. Obama's TOS seems pretty straightforward, but Clinton's looks like it was written by Washington bureaucrat from Homeland Security.

I don't even have to register in order to be bound by the 4-page agreement, according to Clinton's TOS, and in case that doesn't cover it, "In addition, you shall be subject to any posted guidelines or rules applicable to such Service, which may be posted from time to time."

To top it off, "You agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, exploit, or otherwise use any Content, in full or part, or any use or access to the Service, without the express written consent of the Committee."

So much for Fair Use. You would think they would encourage people to copy their material, not threaten them over it."

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