Comment Re:Suicide? (Score 2, Funny) 785
Score -1, dream crusher.
Comment Re:Constitutionality (Score 3, Insightful) 630
I'm Canadian, so I'm no expert on American law, but are you sure that's a valid interpretation of double jeopardy? The additional rapes, it seems, would indicate separate offenses, not protected by double jeopardy. On a similar note, just because you've been acquitted of one murder does not grant you the right to slaughter people left and right without recourse.
Comment Re:without any humans ever having been involved (Score 1) 898
That's because our whole Canadian car insurance system is FUBAR'd.
The fact that some provinces hold public insurance systems not only causes problems for those provinces, but others too. It makes it hard for any insurance company (a tricky and expensive business at the best of times) to penetrate the Canadian market (why bother incorporating in Canada if half the country is right out anyway?) and the result is corrupt insurance companies no better than the others.
What we need to do is legislate at the federal level and privatize insurance in all the provinces. I'm not saying we need to kick out the NDP's prized public insurance altogether (it would anger too many socialists and split the left and right further) but severely reduce it. Perhaps a dual-insurance system where crown insurance exists but capitalist insurance is also an option alongside it? In BC we've already taken a step in the right direction - collision insurance no longer needs to be purchased from ICBC and can be bought from a private insurer. Now if we make the whole thing optional, I think we can satisfy both groups (the socialists can still get their insurance with the associated tax benefits from public insurance while others can go and insure privately).
The fact that some provinces hold public insurance systems not only causes problems for those provinces, but others too. It makes it hard for any insurance company (a tricky and expensive business at the best of times) to penetrate the Canadian market (why bother incorporating in Canada if half the country is right out anyway?) and the result is corrupt insurance companies no better than the others.
What we need to do is legislate at the federal level and privatize insurance in all the provinces. I'm not saying we need to kick out the NDP's prized public insurance altogether (it would anger too many socialists and split the left and right further) but severely reduce it. Perhaps a dual-insurance system where crown insurance exists but capitalist insurance is also an option alongside it? In BC we've already taken a step in the right direction - collision insurance no longer needs to be purchased from ICBC and can be bought from a private insurer. Now if we make the whole thing optional, I think we can satisfy both groups (the socialists can still get their insurance with the associated tax benefits from public insurance while others can go and insure privately).
Comment Re:It's too much to discourage anyone. (Score 1) 128
So that's why they call it spam.
Submission + - RCMP investigating "Kick a Ginger" faceboo (canada.com)
freyyr890 writes: "After a Facebook joke to declare November 20th "Kick A Ginger Day" resulted in violence in some schools in Canada, the Canadian police are investigating teenagers believed to be involved in the organization of the event. Investigators are drawing links to a South Park episode believed to inspire the prank, and are currently questioning the youth who was administrator of the group."
Comment Re:Damn Shame (Score 1) 127
Canadian Court Rules "Hyperlink" Is Not Defamation 120
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "In a landmark ruling, a Canadian court has ruled that a web site's publication of hyperlinks to an allegedly defamatory web site is not in and of itself a 'publication,' and therefore cannot in and of itself constitute defamation. In a 10-page decision [PDF], Crookes v. Wikimedia, Sup. Ct., British Columbia, Judge Keller dismissed the libel case against Jon Newton, the publisher of p2pnet.net, which was based on the fact that his article contained links to the allegedly defamatory site, since hyperlinks, the Court reasoned, are analogous to footnotes, rather than constituting a 'republication.' Mr. Newton was represented in the case by famous libel, slander, and civil liberties lawyer Dan Burnett of Vancouver, British Columbia."
DIY Live Photos From ISS 42
leighklotz writes "The international amateur satellite organization AMSAT is reporting live reception of TV images directly from the orbiting ISS via the ARISS-SSTV project. The images are said to be preparations for the upcoming visit to the ISS by Richard Garriot (W5KWQ), which will provide images from space as part of the Windows on Earth project."
Repairing Genetic Mutations With Lasers? 65
Roland Piquepaille writes "German researchers at the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (CAU) think they've proved that genetic information can be controlled by light. The group studied the interaction between the four DNA bases — adenine (A), cytosine (C), guanine (G), and thymine (T) — by using femtosecond time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. The researchers think that they've demonstrated that DNA strands differ in their light sensitivity depending on their base sequences. The team thinks that it might be possible in the future to repair gene mutations using laser radiation. One of the project leaders said that 'it might even be possible under some circumstances to make transistors from DNA that would work through the hydrogen bonds.' It's not the first time I've heard about DNA computing, but this new approach looks promising."
Guide to DIY Wiretapping 183
Geeks are Sexy writes "ITSecurity.com has a nice piece this week on how wiretapping works and how you can protect yourself from people who wants to snoop into your life. From the article 'Even if you aren't involved in a criminal case or illegal operation, it's incredibly easy to set up a wiretap or surveillance system on any type of phone. Don't be surprised to learn that virtually anyone could be spying on you for any reason.'" Maybe I'm on the wrong track here, but I guess I assumed that wiretapping now happened in secret rooms at the telco, and not by affixing something physically to a wire in your home, but I'll definitely be aware next time I hear a stranger breathing next time I'm stuck on hold.
Consumer Ethanol Appliance Promised By Year's End 365
Newscloud brings us news of a startup called E-Fuel promising to ship a home-brew ethanol plant, the size of a washer-dryer, for under $10,000 by the end of this year. We've had plenty of discussions about $1/gal. fuel — these guys want to let you make it at home. The company says it plans to develop a NAFTA-enabled distribution network for inedible sugar from Mexico at 1/8th the cost of trade-protected sugar, to use as raw material for making ethanol. A renewable energy expert from UC Berkeley is quoted: "There's a lot of hurdles you have to overcome. It's entirely possible that they've done it, but skepticism is a virtue."
Submission + - Cellphone's missing dot causes two deaths (gizmodo.com)
Gunnery Sgt. Hartman writes: Two people were killed and three more were put in jail as the result of a cellphone not having a certain letter available for texting.
"The lack of a single dot over a letter — product of a faulty localization of the cellphone's typing system — caused a chain of events that ended in a violent blood bath. The surreal mistake happened because Ramazan's sent a message and Emine's cellphone didn't have an specific character from the Turkish alphabet: the letter "" or closed i. While "i" is available in all phones in Turkey — where this happened — the closed i apparently doesn't exist in most of the terminals in that country."
"The lack of a single dot over a letter — product of a faulty localization of the cellphone's typing system — caused a chain of events that ended in a violent blood bath. The surreal mistake happened because Ramazan's sent a message and Emine's cellphone didn't have an specific character from the Turkish alphabet: the letter "" or closed i. While "i" is available in all phones in Turkey — where this happened — the closed i apparently doesn't exist in most of the terminals in that country."
Anti-Missile Technology To Be Tested on Commercial Jets 490
Hugh Pickens writes "As many as three American Airlines passenger jets will be outfitted this spring with laser technology intended to protect planes from missile attacks. The tests, which could involve more than 1,000 flights, will determine how the technology holds up under the rigors of flight. The technology is intended to stop attacks by detecting heat from missiles, then responding in a fraction of a second by firing laser beams to jam the missiles' guidance systems. A Rand study in 2005 estimated it would cost about $11 billion to protect every US airliner from shoulder-fired missiles. Over 20 years, the cost to develop, procure and operate anti-missile systems could hit $40 billion."
Does Active SETI Put Earth in Danger? 647
Ponca City, We Love You writes "There is an interesting story in Seed Magazine on active SETI — sending out signals to try to contact other civilizations in nearby star systems. Alexander Zaitsev, Chief Scientist at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics, has access to one of the most powerful radio transmitters on Earth and has already sent several messages to nearby, sun-like stars. But some scientists think that Zaitsev is not only acting out of turn by independently speaking for everyone on the entire planet but believe there are possible dangers we may unleash by announcing ourselves to the unknown darkness. This ground has been explored before in countless works of science fiction most notably "The Killing Star," a 1995 novel that paints a frightening picture of interstellar civilizations exterminating their neighbors with relativistic bombardments, not from malice, but simply because it is the most logical action."
How Tech Almost Lost the War 679
An anonymous reader writes "Blame the geeks for the mess in Iraq? Wired says so. Networked troops were supposed to be so efficient, it'd take just a few of 'em to wipe out their enemies. But the Pentagon got their network theory all wrong, with too few nodes and a closed architecture. Besides, a more efficient killing machine is the last thing you want in an insurgency like Iraq."
