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Social Networks

Submission + - Businesses using social networking sites to 'spy' (dailymail.co.uk)

toomanyairmiles writes: The Uk's Daily Mail reports that some of Britain’s biggest firms have been accused of ‘spying’ on their customers after they admitted using specially developed software to scan social networking sites for negative comments mate about their businesses and then contacting the customers concerned offering to help.

The companies involved include British Telecom, Budget airline easyJet, mobile-phone retailer Carphone Warehouse and banks including Lloyds TSB

Hardware

Submission + - BP Spill Effort in Hands of Underwater Pilots

theodp writes: Ground control to Major Tito. The work Tito Collasius does sounds a little like science fiction: Men on ships flicking joysticks that control robots the size of trucks as they rove miles beneath the sea in near-freezing depths no man could hope to reach. But BP's spill efforts rest in the hands of underwater remote-operated vehicle (ROV) pilots, who 'fly' the ROVs from command centers aboard ships, joy sticks in hand and large banks of screens in front of them offering a view of the challenges they confront in the waters below. ROVs are typically used for commercial (as in the oil industry), oceanographic (science research and exploration), and military (mine reconnaissance and recovery) missions. If you're interested in joining Tito, training's available.
Censorship

Submission + - Porn sites pop up in China (skunkpost.com)

crimeandpunishment writes: It may only be a temporary glitch, but it's one that's providing some pleasure for internet users in China. Previously blocked websites, including ones with pornography, are suddenly accessible in China. The country has a long history of cracking down on online pornography. One analyst says it's far more likely that this is a glitch, not a change in internet censorship policy.

Submission + - Kevin Costner built it, BP might just come (go.com)

toomanyairmiles writes: ABC News reports that a company funded by Kevin Costner and headed by his brother has been working on a solution for cleaning up oil spills for some years now. They have produced a device which, according to the company, can clean up to 99% of the oil from the water. Their largest device can process up to 200 gallons of sea water per minute. "The machines are basically sophisticated centrifuge devices that can handle a huge volume of water and separate at unprecedented rates," said Ocean Therapy Solutions CEO John Houghtaling. Six of the devices are currently being tested by BP.

ABC also reports "Costner has been funding a team of scientists for 15 years in hopes of developing a technology to clean up massive oil spills".

The Internet

Submission + - Online gaming legislation faces long odds (skunkpost.com)

crimeandpunishment writes: The odds of Congress passing legislation to legalize and tax online gaming are probably no better than those of filling an inside straight, but some lawmakers are pushing for it anyway....hoping to lay the foundation for future passage. At a hearing today, one lawmaker cited numbers from industry analysts that Americans bet nearly $100 billion a year on the Internet, generating $5 billion for offshore operators. He said laws to prevent online gaming are no more effective than Prohibition was to alcohol.

Comment Re:Mixing up advice (Score 1) 651

If you had the experience I've had, watching my father die from cancer, you would understand that after a certain point the patient is no longer able to make rational decisions. The long term effects of the morphine, chemo drugs, and the metastases of the cancer often render the sufferer distressingly incompetent.

Comment All about the data (Score 1) 690

This is from a new york times story: "Of the 12,700 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration consumer complaints analyzed [about unintended acceleration] by The Times, the Ford Motor Company had the most, about 3,500. Toyota ranked second, with about 3,000 complaints, but those were linked to far more accidents — 1,000 — compared to 450 crashes for Ford. All told, from 2000 through 2009, Toyota had one speed-control crash complaint per 20,454 vehicles sold in the United States. Ford had one complaint per 64,679 vehicles. Honda had one per 70,112 and G.M. one per 179,821." Even if you're a sceptic this figures suggest there is a problem!
Microsoft

Submission + - Man petitions government to get rid of IE6 (number10.gov.uk)

toomanyairmiles writes: BBC News reports that Dan Frydman of Inigo Media in London has petitioned the UK's prime minister to encourage UK government departments to "upgrade away from IE6" the petition goes on to say that ""Most creative and software development companies are forced by government department clients to build websites for IE6 when most of the industry has moved on..." BBC News story here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8492862.stm and petition link here http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/ie6upgrade/

Comment Re:in-depth reporting on a topic (Score 1) 237

I don't subscribe to the dark side theory you espouse (though the likes of murdoch are pretty cynical), the truth seems to be the overwhelming majority of people don't seem to want in-depth reporting on the issues or investigative reporting, they want Britney tearing her hair out in public and the latest scandal from pop idol or big brother or whatever nonsense is on TV. Ultimately news organizations supply what the majority of consumers demand. The NY times has a bigger problem, in that a good deal of it's readers don't live in new york and can't buy the paper (like me). I love the reporting, it's a great read but I don't read it often enough to want a subscription and the only time I do read it is through Google or through the iPhone app - I cant be bothered to sort through the website to find the interesting content - the app is way better. They are a business, they need to get paid, the less people pay the less we get - it is that simple. I think the news media's attitude to Google News is pretty silly, maybe I would consider a subscription to Google news, I use that often enough to justify the money and then maybe we have a spotify for News. Maybe that's the answer. This isn't going to happen though because it would kill of the paper's brand identity and that's part of the news media's problem with Google. It's going to be an unpopular opinion on here though!

Comment Re:What if (Score 1) 171

I don't think it's a belief that MMR is bad that people are clinging to so much as taking a risk judgement. The world has been subjected to so many drugs which, while approved for use by scientists and government, turn out to be killers that many perfectly rational people refuse to believe the scientific evidence and don't want to take any risk with their children's long term heath. To name a few:- Thalidomide (birth abnomalaties), Redux (heart valve disease), Vioxx (increased the risks of heart attack and stroke), Seldane (fatal heart-rhythm irregularities), Posicor [Mibefradil] (caused toxic levels of 25 different drugs to build up in the body), Rezulin (sudden liver failure), Duract (liver toxicity), Baycol (rhabdomyolysis, which can lead to kidney failure), Zelnorm (increased risk of heart attacks and stroke), Just one of these, Vioxx is suspected of causing 27,000 deaths.

Comment Re:Vote For Something Serious! (Score 1) 362

Agreed it's horrifying! I think most organised efforts like this require a clear distinctions so people can make clear choices and that's not what happens in UK politics. We have a choice between two centre right parties who spend a lot of time and effort trying to criticise each other despite the fact that they largely agree on the important stuff and would mostly make the same decisions in the same way using the same advisor's all things being equal. It's very hard to get excited about that!

Comment I gave up after the N95 (Score 1) 114

A day late and a dollar short for my money. Their interface was creaking as much as their design language five years back. I looked at an X6 today and it's basically an I phone clone, just a cheaper plasticky one. Come on nokia you need to genuinely innovate not just throw out new keypad layouts on the same old candy bar phones.

Comment Re:I feel anger. (Score 1) 402

The times of London is reporting that Jobs had N-Stage liver disease and had the highest UNOS score for his blood type at the time of the transplant. (http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/technology/article6567133.ece). The interesting part is your assumption that he bought the organ.

This guy has had one of the rarest and most deadly forms of cancer around (I had to watch my father die from this, it's no fun at all) then ends up with N Stage liver disease, probably caused by the chemo. So could we show a little RESPECT for the fact that he fought it, survived, and kept working afterwards, when many others would have retired.

He will probably spend the rest of his, much shortened, life on immunosuppressant drugs, which are about as much fun as chemo.

Hope you feeling better Steve, hope the transplant holds, and thanks for Apple (even if we love to hate it).

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