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Space

Submission + - Hubble Finds Unidentified Object in Space (gizmodo.com)

Submitted by
Hmmzis
Hmmzis writes: "Apparently the Hubble Space Telescope has photographed something that no scientist is able to explain yet.
From the article:
The object also appeared out of nowhere. It just wasn't there before. In fact, they don't even know where it is exactly located because it didn't behave like anything they know. Apparently, it can't be closer than 130 light-years but it can be as far as 11 billion light-years away. It's not in any known galaxy either. And they have ruled out a supernova too. It's something that they have never encountered before. In other words: they don't have a single clue about where or what the heck this thing is."
Education

Submission + - School Board Adopts GPA-Redistribution Plan (mydesert.com)

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: Citing the dismal state of education in America, and the area's high poverty rate, the Coachella Valley Unified School District of Riverside County, California, is transitioning to a planned GPA-redistribution system. The program, which the board passed with a 5-2 majority at their September 11th meeting, would redistribute grade point averages (GPA) among students at their four high schools and three middle schools according to a "tiered system of excellence." Students with the lowest GPAs from poor families would receive incremental GPA "boosts", which in turn would be deducted from students with higher GPAs.
Education

Submission + - The Serious Side of Legal Cocaine (partypillz.info)

Submitted by vetzkov
vetzkov writes: http://www.partypillz.info/2008/09/serious-side-of-legal-cocaine-benefits.html The blunting cocaine's notorious craving is offset by the legal cocaine pills and evidence showed that this is best legal alternative of cocaine with no side effects. The legal cocaine is most dominant energy inoculation pills which toil as same mechanism exert by cocaine but it is declared as legal pills by law.
Republicans

Submission + - Pollsters Caught Adjusting Election Race Figures (huffingtonpost.com)

Submitted by loconet
loconet writes: Top pollsters CBS, Gallup, and USAToday were caught tinkering with the outcomes of their early September polls. They've been over sampling the number of Republican respondents at the expense of Democrats and Independents. The media is trying to make a "horse race" out of this election by rigging poll results to support the "fairy tale" narratives they create.
Wireless Networking

Submission + - Canadian Telus Mobility blocks YouTube (blackberryforums.com)

Submitted by
linuxbeta
linuxbeta writes: "You should publish a story about this... Telus Mobility is blocking access to YouTube, the 3rd busiest website in the world. (http://www.alexa.com/site/ds/top_sites?ts_mode=global&lang=none) On their mobile phones you can open the website but you cannot watch videos! Telus Mobility Service Terms & Conditions (which you are not asked to read and sign at phone stores), states: 5. Use of the service — "You will not use the service for: multi-media streaming;" (http://telusmobility.com/about/mike_pcs_pt_policy.shtml) So, you sign up with an unlimited Internet data plan — but of course, it's not really unlimited. You can only access a limited set of web pages. I thought this kind of censorship only happened in countries like China!"
Social Networks

Submission + - Facebook blocks users from mentioning BugMeNot.com (ttuttle.net)

Submitted by
ThinkingInBinary
ThinkingInBinary writes: "The other day, I was trying to mention bugmenot.com in my Facebook status, and I discovered to my horror that Facebook blocks the phrase "bugmenot.com" as "abusive" in status updates, messages, and presumably any other communications on the site. Facebook isn't even listed on BugMeNot, as they requested that logins for Facebook be blocked. This is pretty ridiculous, as I can't even send my friends a message mentioning bugmenot.com!"
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft decision sparks dissent amid ISO members (reuters.com)

Submitted by what about
what about writes: I was wondering how the OOXML mess was panning out, now it seems that there is one more option available

LONDON (Reuters) — A decision to dismiss appeals against the controversial fast-track approval of a Microsoft (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) document format has provoked six members of global standards-setting body ISO to question ISO's relevance. Brazil, India, South Africa and Venezuela — countries with fast-growing IT markets — had appealed against ISO's stamp of approval for Microsoft Office Open XML (OOXML), an endorsement likely to help the software giant win more public-sector contracts.
Education

Submission + - Sarah Palin Wants Creationism Taught in School

Submitted by
ryho
ryho writes: "It's rare I ever think something I read online is worth sharing with others, but this just kills me. According to Wired News, Sarah Palin wants creationism taught in science classes. "It's unfortunate McCain would pick someone who shares those particular anti-science views, but it's not a surprise," said Barbara Forrest, a Southeastern Lousiana University philosophy professor and prominent critic of creationist science. "She's a choice that pleases the religious right. And the religious right has been the chief force against teaching evolution." Maybe after the Slashdotters launch some honest to goodness logic on the boards, they can aim their anger here. I weep for the future."
Music

Submission + - EU Copyright Extension Act Ignores Research (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by
eldavojohn
eldavojohn writes: "An EU Commissioner made the claim that musicians can't be cut off from royalties when they need them the most and convinced the commission to push for an additional 45 years to be added to the duration of EU copyrights. Well, a few years ago, Professor P. Bernt Hugenholtz — head the Institute for Information Law at the University of Amsterdam — was paid to do two studies on this very subject by the EU. These studies [PDF warning] which were released found "that a copyright term extension would be a bad idea with costs for consumers, competitors, and society as a whole." And they were summarily ignored by the EU who paid for them. The doctor alleges this copyright term extension act is "an intention to mislead the council and the Parliament, as well as the citizens of the European Union. In doing so the Commission reinforces the suspicion, already widely held by the public at large, that its policies are less the product of a rational decision-making process than of lobbying by stakeholders.""
The Internet

Submission + - FCC chief proposes free internet

Submitted by
marley
marley writes: "WASHINGTON, Aug. 20 (UPI) — A U.S. government official says high-speed Internet access should be available to all residents even if that means providing it free of charge. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin says the government has a social obligation to make sure everybody can participate in the next generation of broadband services, USA Today reported Wednesday.

Full (short) story here.

I wonder if Canada would follow suit."
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Google, MS Not Keen on Irish Subsidiary Tax Search

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: Commenting on a GAO study which revealed that 2 out of 3 U.S. corporations paid no federal income taxes from 1998-2005, Sen. Cal Levin charged that 'too many corporations are using tax trickery to send their profits overseas.' The Irish Times follows up with a report that Irish subsidiaries owned by U.S. multinationals are taking the further step of converting to unlimited liability status, protecting the financial performance of their Irish operations from public view. They include Microsoft's incredibly-profitable Irish subsidiaries Round Island One and Flat Island Company, Google Ireland Holdings, and a subsidiary of Apple Computer. The conversions to unlimited status have occurred over the last three years as U.S. tax authorities have increased their scrutiny of international mechanisms used by American multinationals to reduce their taxes at home.
Security

Submission + - JetBlue Effects Detention For Passenger's Video

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: After there was an altercation on a JetBlue flight, the crew later asked passengers about it when Parver volunteered that she had a video of it. That's when her trouble began.

"After viewing the video, they demanded that I delete it," Parver said. At that time, another flight attendant accused Parver of wanting to put it up on YouTube, a video-sharing Web site. "I do not even know how to download a video on the Internet," Parver said. A few minutes later she was given a yellow slip of paper notifying Parver to cease her illegal behavior or risk very serious repercussions with the phrase "Interference with an airline crew member" circled. The offense has a maximum punishment of $10,000 in fines and 25 years in jail. Parver said she was escorted off the flight by two police officers, a TSA agent and a JetBlue Airways representative in handcuffs.

The incident occurred in late July, but it's yet to receive much coverage in the way of media coverage.

Security

Submission + - FBI to Allow Warrantless Investigations in October (swamppolitics.com)

Submitted by
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes: "Attorney General Michael Mukasey has agreed to allow Congressional hearings, but not to delay, the implementation of new FBI regulations that would allow them to spy on American citizens who are not suspected of any crime. As an editorial in the New York Times points out, this is a power that has a history of abuse. In times past, it was used to wiretap Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and to spy on other civil rights and anti-war protesters."
Wii

Submission + - Patent Troll attacks Nintendo over Wii (wired.com)

Submitted by
dmgxmichael
dmgxmichael writes: "According to Wired.com, "Hillcrest Laboratories, based in Rockville, Md., has filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission in Washington D.C., and a patent infringement lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Maryland against Nintendo Corp., the company said in a statement Wednesday."

When will the patent troll madness end?"

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