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Submission + - Global Warming Since 1997 Underestimated by Half

Submitted by Layzej
Layzej writes: A new paper shows that global temperature rise of the past 15 years has been greatly underestimated. The reason is that the weather station network covers only about 85% of the planet. Satellite data shows that the parts of the Earth that are not covered by the surface station network, especially the arctic, have warmed exceptionally fast over the last 15 years. Most temperature reconstructions simply omit any region not covered. A temperature reconstruction developed by NASA somewhat addresses the gaps by filling in missing data using temperatures from the nearest available observations. Now Kevin Cowtan (University of York) and Robert Way (University of Ottawa) have developed a new method to fill the data gaps using satellite data.

The researchers describe their methods and findings in this youtube video. "The most important part of our work was testing the skill of each of these approaches in reconstructing unobserved temperatures. To do this we took the observed data and further reduced the coverage by setting aside some of the observations. We then reconstructed the global temperatures using each method in turn. Finally, we compared the reconstructed temperatures to the observed temperatures where they are available... While infilling works well over the oceans, the hybrid model works particularly well at restoring temperatures in the vicinity of the unobserved regions."

The authors note that "While short term trends are generally treated with a suitable level of caution by specialists in the field, they feature significantly in the public discourse on climate change."

Submission + - Microsoft To Name Alan Mulally Its New CEO By Dec: Nomura (valuewalk.com)

Submitted by Agares
Agares writes: We reported yesterday that Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has shortlisted five external and three internal candidates to potentially succeed Steve Ballmer. Nomura equity research analyst Rick Sherlund said in a research note to investors that he expects the software giant to name Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) CEO Alan Mulally as its new CEO by December. Mr. Mulally has made it to the five external candidates Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) has shortlisted. Sherlund said Alan Mulally is the top pick based on his merits and track record. The Seattle-based company needs a turnaround expert. And Alan Mulally is credited with reviving Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) when it was on the verge of bankruptcy.

Submission + - Emergency responders test digital tools at Disaster City (theeagle.com)

Submitted by BreezeDM
BreezeDM writes: National Guard members tested new digital tools in simulated disaster training ground named Disaster City. Among the things tested were a deployable LTE 700 MHz network and interactive situational awareness map GeoSuites by General Dynamics. Emergency personnel can upload information for decision-makers away from the scene. In addition, they tested cellphone application that measures gamma rays through the phone's built-in camera chip named GammaPix.

Submission + - Not net neutrality...again

Submitted by museumpeace
museumpeace writes: According to Marvin Ammori at Wired, the big carriers have played regulatory chess well and have FCC and EFF and most of us caught in an end-game where one last court case can free the backbone providers to extort higher or extra fees if a website or content provider wants content to load quickly. (a) I didn't know it was that close to done (b) where will carriers put the brakes on traffic and is there no way around them?

Feed Techdirt: Keith Alexander, On Stage While Story Of NSA Infiltrations Breaks, Tries To Misl (google.com)

From feed by feedfeeder
In an interesting bit of timing, just as the Washington Post was breaking the news that the NSA had infiltrated Google and Yahoo's cloud data by hacking into the (stupidly) unencrypted data links between data centers, it turned out that NSA boss Keith Alexander was on stage at a Bloomberg Government Cybersecurity conference. He was asked about the report, and he tried to tap dance around it by claiming the NSA doesn't have access to Yahoo and Google's servers . The Guardian has a brief summary:

Alexander, asked about the Post report, denied it. Not to my knowledge, thats never happened, the NSA director said, before reiterating an earlier denial Prism gave the NSA direct access to the servers of its internet service provider partners.

Everything we do with those companies that work with us, they are compelled to work with us, Alexander said. These are specific requirements that come from a court order. This is not the NSA breaking into any databases. It would be illegal for us to do that. So I dont know what the report is, but I can tell you factually: we do not have access to Google servers, Yahoo servers, dot-dot-dot. We go through a court order.
But, of course, in typical Alexander fashion, he's choosing his words carefully -- and thankfully people can more easily see through it at this point, since they're getting so used to it. The report didn't say they were accessing those companies' servers or databases, but rather hacking into the network connection between their data centers. That's like a report breaking of the NSA hijacking armored cars with cash, and Alexander claiming "we didn't break into the bank." Nice try.

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