Submission + - Scientology to be prosecuted in Belgium (ap.org)
An anonymous reader writes: Scientology will be prosecuted as a criminal enterprise in Belgium as a result of a 10 year investigation into their behavior and finances.
Submission + - Baby Hacking 1
LanMan04 writes: My wife and I are expecting our first child to be born in about 3 months, and I wanted to ask the /. crowd for any "Baby Hacking" projects/recommendations. I'd define baby hacking as any early childhood education project that can give the baby a head start (i.e. early language acquisition, accelerated learning, etc), with an emphasis unconventional ideas. This is especially important, with recent research showing that those Baby Einstein videos are actually detrimental. Also, any really "cool" projects you wish your parents could have done from day 1 (e.g. take a picture of the baby's face every day, starting at birth, to see how it changes over the years, etc) would be appreciated as well. Thanks Slashdotters!
Submission + - Belgium prosecutes the church of Scientology
sheean.nl writes: "The Belgian Federal Judicial Authorities plans to prosecute the church of Scientology. The church is accused of being a criminal organisation which involves itself with extortion, fraud, unfair trading, violation of privacy laws and unlawfully practicing medicine.
Both the Belgian and the European departement should be brought to court, according to the authorities. An investigation has been started in 1999 after former Scientologists complained about extortion by the church, this investigation has now been completed and the authorities want the case to be put through.
The Belgians call this case a world's first. In some countries, including the US, the church of Scientology is officially recognised as a religion, with high-profile followers such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta."
Submission + - Americans removed from flight for speaking Arabic (teamtil.net)
Anonymous Coward writes: "An American Airlines flight was delayed for twelve hours because a certain American woman heard several passengers speaking Arabic and had to do whatever she could to forestall another 9-11 — it was all she could think of.
"Those men she heard talking? They were Iraqi-Americans, in town to train US Marines at Camp Pendleton," explained NBC's Brian Williams. The men were removed from the plane and questioned briefly before being released. The flight was canceled and all passengers caught other flights the next day."
Submission + - Will Google lose its trademark? 1
140Mandak262Jamuna writes: Once upon a time, Google was the new kid on the block in the search engine arena. Then it became the big kahuna of that area. There was a time when using google as a verb would have brought a smile. But now every body and his brother and even the prim and proper, stiff upper lip and what not types like the Deputy Attorney General Ronald Smetana are using it as a verb. The quotes have been dropped, the capitalization still persists as some vestigial token acknowledging it as a neologism.
Already a number of dictionaries define google as a plain English word. If OED or some such big name dictionary includes it, would Google lose its trademark? Does Google have lawyers who assiduously take steps to protect its trademark and not allow it to become a generic word to mean "search the internet"? Didn't Xerox lose its trademark or came close to losing it? Imagine a world where Microsoft Live could be branded as "Microsoft Live Google"!
Already a number of dictionaries define google as a plain English word. If OED or some such big name dictionary includes it, would Google lose its trademark? Does Google have lawyers who assiduously take steps to protect its trademark and not allow it to become a generic word to mean "search the internet"? Didn't Xerox lose its trademark or came close to losing it? Imagine a world where Microsoft Live could be branded as "Microsoft Live Google"!
Submission + - How to make submarines invisible to sonar
holy_calamity writes: Chinese researchers have figured out how to make objects invisible to sound. All you need is a "a periodic array of rubber-coated gold spheres along with spheres of water containing air bubbles, all embedded within an epoxy resin." Acoustic metamaterials are the sound-wave version of the much-hyped 'invisibility cloak' [slashdot.org], and are probably already on the US Navy's shopping list.
Submission + - China says one-child policy helps protect climate
mernil writes: "Reuters reports: China says its one-child policy has helped the fight against global warming by avoiding 300 million births, the equivalent of the population of the United States.
But delegates at U.N. climate change talks in Vienna said on Thursday birth control is unlikely to find favour as a major policy theme, partly because of opposition by the Catholic Church and some developing nations trying to increase their population."
Submission + - DIRECTV freaks out and blocks everything (typepad.com) 1
eagl writes: It seems as if DIRECTV has jumped on the DRM bandwagon in a big way. Wil Wheaton finds himself with 57 channels (plus or minus a few hundred) and nothing on, quite literally. Is the inevitable result of forcing restrictive standards that do not benefit consumers?
Submission + - Tool shows sophomoric edits to Wikipedia by CIA (bbc.co.uk)
Itninja writes: "The BBC recently published accounts of the CIA (among others) making juvenile edits to various Wikipedia entries. Among them, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, and Rush Limbaugh.
From the article: "On the profile of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the tool indicates that a worker on the CIA network reportedly added the exclamation "Wahhhhhh!" before a section on the leader's plans for his presidency.""
From the article: "On the profile of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the tool indicates that a worker on the CIA network reportedly added the exclamation "Wahhhhhh!" before a section on the leader's plans for his presidency.""
Submission + - Ref admits in court NBA is fixed (cnn.com) 1
LoveMe2Times writes: Former NBA referee Tim Donoughy pleaded guilty to charges related to his gambling on NBA games, including those he officiated. While many suspected him of fixing games or altering the outcome of games he officiated, the real story — that the mainstream media only mentions in passing — is that he didn't need to fix games. As a ref, he had access to "non-public" information about the games, including the real nature of injuries, who would ref the game, and the extent to which those refs favored the players. This inside information was enough for him — and presumably any NBA insider — to pick winners with enough accuracy to get paid $5000 for correct picks. In other words, referee bias is statistically significant enough for those in the know to make lots of money betting on it. In essence, the referees decide the game more than the players in a known, predictable way; hence, the game is fixed by choice of refs for a game.
Submission + - Turbo SIM Totally Unlocks iPhone (gizmodo.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Hackers are claiming that you now can 100%-unlock the iPhone using a Turbo SIM card, without depending on the version of your current carrier card. Testers say it will give you full calling, SMS and GPRS data capabilities with any network and no extra hardware needed, since it only requires you to modify the $80 blank SIM using your own iPhone.
CA Game Bill Struck Down, Governor Vows Appeal 106
GamePolitics has the full story today on the removal of California's violent games law. A judge has found it unconstitutional after a protracted legal battle. The law was originally passed back in 2005. "The bill, championed by then-Assembly Speaker Leland Yee (D) was signed into law by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (left) on October 7th, 2005. The video game industry filed suit to block the law 10 days later. Judge Ronald Whyte issued a preliminary injunction on December 22nd, blocking the California law from its planned effective date of January 1st, 2006. Since then, both sides have been waiting for Judge Whyte's final ruling. Today it has come." The law's sponsor Leland Yee is quite disappointed by the ruling, of course, and Governor Schwarzenegger plans to appeal the decision.
Feed Engadget: Nintendo patent application reveals plans for motion-sensing handheld (engadget.com)
Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds
Nintendo's already dipped its toes into motion-sensing handheld gaming with the gyro-equipped WarioWare: Twisted for the Game Boy Advance, but it looks like the company looks has even grander plans to let you make a fool of yourself in public, at least if a recent patent application is any indication. According to it, Nintendo has a new "game system" on the drawing board that incorporates acceleration sensors in a "housing" to detect movement and direction. Somewhat curiously, a significant chunk of the patent application has been marked as "cancelled," but the remaining bits do have some interesting details, including what seem to be multiplayer capabilities. In patent speak, that part is described as a " game system structured at least by two game apparatuses," each of which have a means for "transmitting mutually-related data to the game apparatus on the opposite side." Of course, this simply being a patent application it could well turn out to be something entirely less exciting than it seems, if it ever actually comes to fruition at all.
[Via Joystiq]
[Via Joystiq]
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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Submission + - Being Unhealthy Could Cost You -- Money (yahoo.com)
Joe The Dragon writes: "http://biz.yahoo.com/bizwk/070802/aug2007db2007081 804238.html?.v=1&.pf=insurance
By Jena McGregor
For employees at Clarian Health, feeling the burn of trying to lose weight will take on new meaning.
In late June, the Indianapolis-based hospital system announced that starting in 2009, it will fine employees $10 per paycheck if their body mass index (BMI, a ratio of height to weight that measures body fat) is over 30. If their cholesterol, blood pressure, and glucose levels are too high, they'll be charged $5 for each standard they don't meet. Ditto if they smoke: Starting next year, they'll be charged another $5 in each check.
Clarian has been making headlines for its aggressive and unusual approach to covering escalating health-care costs. Rather than taking the more common step of giving employees incentives for merely participating in its wellness programs, such as joining a smoking cessation group or using a health coach, Clarian is actually measuring outcomes. And unlike most employers, it is penalizing workers for poor health instead of rewarding them for taking healthy steps.
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This is yet another way that employers try to mistreat there works and some times the work environment can lead to people gaining weight like making them work 80/H + week with fast food working lunches + hours that don't give the works time to participate in wellness programs. In cases like that it is very unfair to change employees for poor health that sometimes comes from a poor working environment."
By Jena McGregor
For employees at Clarian Health, feeling the burn of trying to lose weight will take on new meaning.
In late June, the Indianapolis-based hospital system announced that starting in 2009, it will fine employees $10 per paycheck if their body mass index (BMI, a ratio of height to weight that measures body fat) is over 30. If their cholesterol, blood pressure, and glucose levels are too high, they'll be charged $5 for each standard they don't meet. Ditto if they smoke: Starting next year, they'll be charged another $5 in each check.
Clarian has been making headlines for its aggressive and unusual approach to covering escalating health-care costs. Rather than taking the more common step of giving employees incentives for merely participating in its wellness programs, such as joining a smoking cessation group or using a health coach, Clarian is actually measuring outcomes. And unlike most employers, it is penalizing workers for poor health instead of rewarding them for taking healthy steps.
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This is yet another way that employers try to mistreat there works and some times the work environment can lead to people gaining weight like making them work 80/H + week with fast food working lunches + hours that don't give the works time to participate in wellness programs. In cases like that it is very unfair to change employees for poor health that sometimes comes from a poor working environment."
Submission + - 10 Strangest ,and Real, things in Space 1
Dramacrat writes: http://orbitingfrog.com/blog/2007/07/25/the-10-str angest-real-things-in-space
Ten very strange and all-too real things happenin' up in the cosmos.
