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Power

Submission + - Convert Trash Into Energy With No Pollution

Submitted by happylucky
happylucky writes: Remember when Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) dumped some garbage into his engine for fuel in Back to the Future II? Startech Environmental Corporation has come up with a similar process that can take both hazardous and non-hazardous waste and convert it into energy, glass and hydrogen.

They use a plasma process that doesnt burn the garbage but breaks the molecules down into their individual elements (atoms). It is a safe process that involves a closed-loop system so no pollutants are released into the environment. All of it is converted into a safe material.

The company says that it will convert all hazardous waste, except nuclear waste, into an obsidian-like glass and hydrogen. The technology could potentially solve two problems at one time. It could help us solve our energy problem and our landfill problem.
Privacy

Submission + - Congress wants to monitor emails, IMs, etc.

Submitted by
Josh Nelson
Josh Nelson writes: "A bill introduced last week by Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX) is beginning to raise eyebrows.

[It] would require ISPs to record all users' surfing activity, IM conversations and email traffic indefinitely. The bill, dubbed the Safety Act by sponsor Lamar Smith, a republican congressman from Texas, would impose fines and a prison term of one year on ISPs which failed to keep full records. (emphasis mine)
This is a terrifying development and it must be stopped before it gains any significant momentum. Background, Action items and contact information at this link."
Media

Submission + - Blu-ray Secretly Courting Porn Studios

Submitted by
ahoehn
ahoehn writes: "In contrast to previous coverage on Slashdot, the LA Times is reporting that both HD-DVD and Blu-ray have been actively courting the adult video industry. Even though Sony is still publicly refusing to manufacture adult Blu-ray discs, the article states that, "Last summer, a group pitching Blu-ray visited the Canoga Park offices of Wicked Pictures, whose films include 'As Sleazy as 1-2-3' and 'Womb Raiders.' Wicked executive Jackie Ramos said the Blu-ray proponents spent hours explaining how the movie studio could benefit from releasing Blu-ray DVDs, which deliver dramatically higher picture quality than conventional discs. But what amused Ramos was the warning that came after the presentation — 'They said, 'We can help you, but remember: We were never here.''"

The article implies, but doesn't implicitly state that the representatives came directly from Sony."
Mars

Submission + - New Hiking Maps of Mars

Submitted by
sighted
sighted writes: "The European Space Agency has released new topographic 'hiking maps' of Martian canyons. The maps provide detailed height contours and names of complex geological features in the Iani Chaos region, which in the past was the site of ice melted by volcanic heat. These days, if you want to hike the labyrinth of canyons and cliffs in Iani, you'll have to bring your own water."
The Internet

Submission + - Students suspended for remarks on Prinicpal

Submitted by Uthic
Uthic writes: The Toronto Star reports that 11 students at Robert F. Hall Catholic Secondary School were suspended for up to eight days for remarks they made about their principal, Edward McMahon, on a Facebook group. The remarks were apparently derogatory and insulting due to the students' discontent with their principal and fell under the category of cyber-bullying. Additional information can be found on The Caledon Enterprise Website. Bruce Campbell, spokesman for the local school board, added that it's one thing to complain about your teacher or principal, but "you're taking it to a whole new level when you're putting it out there on the Internet." The group appears to have disappeared from Facebook, but there are other groups up that have some discussion about it, so one can't really verify what was said.
Space

Submission + - New universes will be born from ours

Submitted by
David Shiga
David Shiga writes: "What gruesome fate awaits our universe? Some physicists have argued that it is doomed to be ripped apart by runaway dark energy, while others think it is bouncing through an endless series of big bangs and big crunches. Now, physicists have combined these two ideas to create another option, in which our universe ultimately shatters into billions of pieces, with each shard growing into a whole new universe. The model could solve the mystery of why our early universe was surprisingly well ordered."
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft PR Paying to "Correct" Wikipedia

Submitted by
Unpaid Schill
Unpaid Schill writes: "Over on the O'Reilly Network, there's an interesting piece about how Microsoft tried to hire people to contribute to Wikipedia. Not wanting to do the edits directly, they were looking for an intermediary to make edits and corrections favorable to them. Why? According to the article the article (and I am not making this up), it was apparently both to let people know that Microsoft will not "enable death squads with their UUIDs" and also to fight the growing consensus that OOXML contains a useless pile of legacy crap which is unfit for standardization. In an unrelated note, does anyone happen to know what the going rates are? I think I'm being underpaid."
Power

Submission + - Big Business Wants Bush to Go Green

Submitted by Nitack
Nitack writes: CEOs of ten major industrial corporations call for Bush to address global warming in the State of the Union. Climate change is finally an issue that has galvanized those would be opponents such as BP, DuPont, and others. Even utility giant PG&E is on board.
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - Caught in the Web: Top 10 Internet Scandals of All

Submitted by
Tiny Tuba
Tiny Tuba writes: "The Web is a great way to deliver information, but it is also a great way to expose, spread, or jump-start a scandal. In this article, Dan Tynan looks back at some infamous scandals many of us have probably forgotten. It includes greats like how The Drudge Report surfaced the Monica Lewinksy scandal, and how AOL out-ed Senior Chief Petty Officer Timothy R. McVeigh.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,128554/article.h tml"
Role Playing (Games)

Submission + - WoW initiates Realm Splits

Submitted by
gfxone
gfxone writes: "Blizzard announced that due to some realms having high populations, heavy latency and servers having to be restarted constantly since launching Burning Crusade that they will be initiating a voluntary realm split. They also state that if not enough players take advantage of these free character moves, it may become necessary to split the population of a realm between two new realms, by performing the process of a mandatory Realm Split. This action would be a non voluntary choice given to players via an in-game message at the character-selection screen which will prompt all affected players to choose between one of the two new realms being created. The player will be able to make this decision (or change his or her decision) up until the realm-split process has been completed. The realm that the player chooses will be the destination for all characters that the player plays on that realm. If a realm is not chosen by the player, each character will be individually relocated to one of the two new realms based on a priority system. The system will first determine whether the character is in a guild and move the character based on the destination of the guild's leader. If the character is not in a guild, the system will then check if the character is part of an arena team and move the character accordingly. If these conditions do not apply, Blizzard will make the decision for the character(s). Read the full story here: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topi cId=69006972&sid=1"
Wii

Submission + - Wii Laptop?

Submitted by
PHPNerd
PHPNerd writes: "Now you can take your Wii with you anywhere! Engadget is featuring an article about how someone has created a Wii Laptop. Detailed Instructions on how to build your own are soon to follow. The article lists the laptops specs, has details photos, and even a video of it in action. Car rides and plane trips just got a lot more interesting."

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