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Earth

Submission + - Japan Scientists say global warming isn't man made (theregister.co.uk)

grassy_knoll writes: The Register reports that the Japan Society of Energy and Resources (JSER) has decided that Global Warming isn't man made:

Japanese scientists have made a dramatic break with the UN and Western-backed hypothesis of climate change in a new report from its Energy Commission.

Three of the five researchers disagree with the UN's IPCC view that recent warming is primarily the consequence of man-made industrial emissions of greenhouse gases. Remarkably, the subtle and nuanced language typical in such reports has been set aside.

One of the five contributors compares computer climate modelling to ancient astrology. Others castigate the paucity of the US ground temperature data set used to support the hypothesis, and declare that the unambiguous warming trend from the mid-part of the 20th Century has ceased.

The report by Japan Society of Energy and Resources (JSER) is astonishing rebuke to international pressure, and a vote of confidence in Japan's native marine and astronomical research. Publicly-funded science in the West uniformly backs the hypothesis that industrial influence is primarily responsible for climate change, although fissures have appeared recently. Only one of the five top Japanese scientists commissioned here concurs with the man-made global warming hypothesis.

JSER is the academic society representing scientists from the energy and resource fields, and acts as a government advisory panel.


Comment Re:suddenoutbreakofcommonsense (Score 1) 366

Not everyone can afford a $30k SUV. On the whole, we in the UK feel that if you can't afford to have a life-saving procedure at the age of 40, then the nation-wide community should pay for it for you. There's a lot of waste in the NHS (stop-smoking co-ordinators, diversity outreach co-ordinators, etc. - anything with 'co-ordinator' in it, basically), but I prefer to live in a community where someone who needs that broken leg fixed so that they don't walk with a limp for the rest of their lives gets treatment.

I do recall a rumour from a few years ago that the US health system is not cheaper than socialised health care though. If that's true, then I think that our system is superior. Even if all our system does is stop you from dying for a few years...

Comment Re:I already pay my tv licence (Score 1) 172

Why should I have to prove that I don't watch TV online? That's impossible.

They should prove that I do.

The TV licence is anyway ridiculous when you consider the populist direction that the BBC has taken in the last 10 years. It does very little under its public service remit and the licence is anachronistic and unfair now. I don't think, for example, that football would be unknown in the UK were it not for MOTD. There are other available outlets.

But the idea that I should fund the BBC unless I can prove that I take steps not to consume its output is scary, and a good measure of the political atmosphere of guilty until proven innocent that has invested the UK over the last 10 years or so.

Comment Re:Wow! Think about how many free man-hours Netfli (Score 2, Interesting) 77

That's remarkably reasonable. If I was LOVEFiLM or Amazon I'd be cackling with glee. I'm not though, so I'll just be depressed that one could hope to patent an algorithm. Not hardware that carries out an algorithm, but just an algorithm.

Although if I were a netflix shareholder I'd be pissed off that the company were giving away my funded research for free, when they could probably get it closed off and reap the rewards. Mind you, the amount of publicity that they have received - I know about Netflix now and I don't watch DVDs or live in the USA! - is probably more than worth it...

Comment Re:Wow! Think about how many free man-hours Netfli (Score 4, Insightful) 77

It's not selling yourself short to work on FOSS for a very simple reason. Work on FF, or Thunderbird, or open-sourcing a script that I wrote to convert music is free at the point of delivery. That is, anyone can use it without paying. Freely given, and freely distributed.

However, in this case the user of the algorithm is paying Netflix. Netflix takes the work that I have done, and closes it off from other people. My work goes not to benefit the community, but merely to benefit one company - a company that has paid me (cheaply) for my work. Since companies by definition only care about the bottom line, their intent is not to benefit the community, but to benefit themselves. You are effectively working for them for cheap, selling yourself short.

If netflix were to give away the algo for use by anyone else too, then it would be very generous and then you may be able to make a comparison with FOSS. I( have no idea if they will do that or not. However, if I were a shareholder, I would not want them to give away a potentially killer feature for which they paid $1m.

Saying that, if you enjoy playing with this, go ahead! Just be honest with yourself about. If you still want to do it, wallow in it. But it's an extremely pernicious thing to do to link this with working on something that is done to benefit everyone. It simply is not the same thing.

Cellphones

iPhone Web Claims Draw Governmental Rebuke in UK 517

Wills writes "Apple has been running an iPhone ad saying 'all parts of the internet are on the iPhone', but it had to be withdrawn after Britain's Advertising Standards Authority ruled that it gave 'a misleading impression of the internet capabilities of the iPhone' because the iPhone cannot access Flash or Java – features that are essential to some websites. This raises an interesting issue of where do you draw the line between essential and non-essential features of websites. What should the web look like? Should government authorities be the ones making that decision?"
Image

Wealthy Mexicans Getting Chipped in Case of Abduction Screenshot-sm 306

Because the number of abductions in Mexico has jumped almost 40% in the past 3 years, the wealthy are getting subcutaneous transmitters so they can be tracked when kidnapped. Xega, the Mexican security firm which makes the chips, has seen a sales jump of 13% this year. The company injects the crystal-encased chip, the size and shape of a grain of rice, into clients' bodies with a syringe. The chip then sends radio signals to a larger device carried by the client with a global positioning system in it. A satellite can then be used to find the location of the missing person. Things must be a lot worse in Mexico than I thought.
Image

Teens Arrested For Motorized Office Chair Screenshot-sm 338

German police have confiscated the world's fastest office chair and arrested its 17-year-old inventors. The duo added a lawnmower engine, brakes and a metal frame to the office chair and were reported to be driving it all over the streets of Gross-Zimmern. Police did not comment on the chair's handling or acceleration but I look forward to it being profiled on Top Gear.

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