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Submission + - Europe agrees to send airline passenger data to US (computerworlduk.com) 1

Submitted by Qedward
Qedward writes: The European Parliament has approved the controversial data transfer agreement, the bilateral PNR (passenger name register), with the US which requires European airlines to pass on passenger information, including name, contact details, payment data, itinerary, email and phone numbers to the Department of Homeland Security.

Under the new agreement, PNR data will be "depersonalised" after six months and would be moved into a "dormant database" after five years. However the information would still be held for a further 15 years before being fully "anonymised".

The PNR data will be stored in the US's Automated Targeting System (ATS). ATS is used to improve the collection, use, analysis, and dissemination of information that is gathered for the primary purpose of targeting, identifying, and preventing potential terrorists and terrorist weapons from entering the US...

Comment Disgusting (Score 1) 1

by blusquid (#39662033) Attached to: Women in Uzbekistan Forcibly or Unknowingly Sterilized By the Gov't
This is horrible, and a major human rights' violation. "The government stressed that Uzbekistan's exceptional record in protecting mothers and babies should be considered a model of the world." A model? Protecting? To take out a woman's uterus and sterilize them without their consent or knowledge? More like cruel and inhumane. This needs to be investigated and stopped immediately. Population control to address certain societal problems is absolutely possible without cutting women open and taking out their organs and forcibly taking away their right to be mothers.
Google

Submission + - Google+ Gets a Simple and Beautiful Design Overhaul (gizmaestro.com)

Submitted by
gizmaestro
gizmaestro writes: "Google has announced that Google+ is getting a major design with a new user interface to make things easier to share. With a new focus on customisation, improved photo and video experiences, and a new hangouts interface — among many other changes. The new design has not rolled out to everyone yet, it should be rolling out over the next few days.

Read more: http://gizmaestro.com/11/04/2012/social-media/google-gets-a-simple-and-beautiful-design-overhaul/#ixzz1rqqFInET"

Submission + - Researchers Discover Fungi That Eat Plastics (yahoo.com) 1

Submitted by AstroPhilosopher
AstroPhilosopher writes: Recycling has long been used to attempt to limit plastic waste disposal. However, it does nothing to limit the amount of new plastic we produce along with the plastic that makes it to landfills.

Now researchers have discovered a fungus that can eat polyurethane even in anaeorbic environments; along with another that when combined with cornhusks, can be used to create biodegradable styrofoam.
News

Submission + - Women in Uzbekistan Forcibly or Unknowingly Sterilized By the Gov't (medicaldaily.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Authorities in Uzbekistan have reportedly been running a secret program in the last two years to sterilize women, often without their knowledge or consent, according to the BBC. Adolat, a victim of the secret sterilization program, told BBC that she had went to see a doctor and discovered that she had been sterilized after birth to her daughter by Caesarean section.
Space

Submission + - 'UFO Galaxy' Snapped By Hubble Telescope (gizmocrazed.com)

Submitted by Diggester
Diggester writes: Hubble has recently spotted a 'UFO' but that's no alien ship rather a whole galaxy filled with stars. The space telescope has yet again presented us with a mind blowing photo of a galaxy far off in the universe and this particular 'UFO' galaxy is 35 million light years away from Earth that has been officially named as NGC 2683.
Government

Submission + - Expect a flood of competitions as US tries to spur public inventions (networkworld.com)

Submitted by
coondoggie
coondoggie writes: "When it comes to stirring the brains of genius, a good competition can bring forward some really great ideas. That’s the driving notion behind myriad public competitions, or challenges as they are often labeled, that will take place in the near future sponsored by your US government. The competitions are increasing by design as part of the $45 billion America Competes Act renewed by Congress last year that gave every federal department and agency the authority to conduct prize competitions, according to the White House's Office of Science and Technology Policy."

Submission + - Matt Groening Reveals Springfield is in his home state of Oregon (npr.org)

Submitted by TheSeventh
TheSeventh writes: Simpsons creator Matt Groening has revealed the location of the real Springfield: It's in Oregon. In an interview with Smithsonian magazine http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/Matt-Groening-Reveals-the-Location-of-the-Real-Springfield.html, posted online Tuesday, Groening credits the name to the hit TV show Father Knows Best. The show "took place in the town of Springfield, and I was thrilled because I imagined that it was the town next to Portland, my hometown," he says. "When I grew up, I realized it was just a fictitious name. I also figured out that Springfield was one of the most common names for a city in the U.S. In anticipation of the success of the show, I thought, 'This will be cool; everyone will think it's their Springfield.' And they do."

Submission + - DoJ sues Apple and five other publishers over eBook price-fixing/anticompetition (wsj.com)

Submitted by MrKevvy
MrKevvy writes: "The U.S. filed an antitrust lawsuit Wednesday against Apple Inc. AAPL +0.73% and five of the nation's largest publishers, alleging they conspired to limit competition for the pricing of e-books.

The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court by the U.S. Department of Justice's Antitrust Division, alleges Apple and the publishers reached an agreement where retail price competition would cease, retail e-books prices would increase significantly and Apple would be guarantee a 30% "commission" on each e-book sold."
United Kingdom

Submission + - Urgent: Defend a Balanced UK Approach to Copyright (computerworlduk.com) 2

Submitted by blusquid
blusquid writes: Glyn Moody asks the public to (urgently) submit our own short written submissions to the five questions set out by the APPIG by 30th March 2012. They are asking for "organisations" to submit answers to the questions, and Glyn rightfully points out that the public, as well as organisations, should be weighing in on this important matter.

He says: "What I think... is that APPIG isn't happy with the even-handed and fair approach that the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) has taken with recent consultations and proposals, and is looking for reasons to eviscerate it and to give responsibility for copyright et al. to some other state organs that might even believe that IP can somehow be stolen (and in fairies, too, presumably.)"
Science

Submission + - Scientists Solving the Mystery of Human Consciousness (scienceworldreport.com)

Submitted by
fishmike
fishmike writes: "Awakening from anesthesia is often associated with an initial phase of delirious struggle before the full restoration of awareness and orientation to one's surroundings. Scientists now know why this may occur: primitive consciousness emerges first. Using brain imaging techniques in healthy volunteers, a team of scientists led by Adjunct Professor Harry Scheinin, M.D. from the University of Turku, Turku, Finland in collaboration with investigators from the University of California, Irvine, USA, have now imaged the process of returning consciousness after general anesthesia. The emergence of consciousness was found to be associated with activations of deep, primitive brain structures rather than the evolutionary younger neocortex."
Privacy

Submission + - How to Avoid Government Snooping? Use Skype (techweekeurope.co.uk)

Submitted by
twoheadedboy
twoheadedboy writes: "With the UK Government set to allow even more intrusive surveillance over web use, many might want to know how to keep private things private. Just using Skype can help, given the company doesn't hold any data on its own servers. There's also a new tool that lets users running over Tor disguise their traffic as if they were using Skype. Indeed, there are so many ways to avoid government surveillance it makes the Coalition's moves appear very absurd indeed."
Software

Submission + - Will DevOps be as big as Cloud and Big Data? (techworld.com)

Submitted by sweetpea86
sweetpea86 writes: The notion of DevOps could become as prevalent as Cloud Computing or Big Data, according to IT process automation company UC4 Software, with IT departments striving to stay agile while still developing and releasing stable code.

Although developers are building applications at an ever-increasing rate, time and cost pressures mean they are no longer able to test each application in every conceivable environment. This means that when an application goes into production it often breaks, causing headaches for the help desk and operations teams.

UC4's Randy Clark describes DevOps as a “multi-function SWAT team”, with one foot in the development world and one in the operations world. By forcing the two departments to work together and implementing better planning, control and automation, the problems can be vastly reduced, said Clark.

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