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China

Submission + - Chinese village in open revolt (the-diplomat.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: China’s Communist Party has for the first time on record lost all control as a fishing village goes into open revolt. As police hold the village to ransom, it has become clear the Party has become too reliant on enforcing rigid stability involving buying off anyone they can, and crushing those who can’t. But increasingly, the costs of buying people off are out of reach of local municipalities.
Space

Submission + - Astronomers Find Supermassive Black Hole Gobbling (motherboard.tv)

Submitted by
pigrabbitbear
pigrabbitbear writes: "It’s no surprise that black holes are basically celestial Cookie Monsters, gobbling anything and everything in sight. But because that appetite includes light itself, it’s incredibly rare for us to actually see a black hole suck back an interstellar treat. Astronomers using the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope have found just that: a mysterious, giant gas cloud that’s rapidly been pulled into the maw of a supermassive black hole.

The researchers, led by Reinhard Genzel of the Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany, discovered the cloud as part of a now 20-year ESO program tasked with tracking stars as they whirl around the supermassive black hole, known as Sgr A*, at the center of our galaxy."
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft can remotly kill purchased apps (pcmag.com)

Submitted by Meshach
Meshach writes: The terms of service for Microsoft's newly launched Windows Store allows the seller to remotely kill or remove access to a user's apps for security or legal reasons. The story also notes that MS states purchases are responsible for backing up the data that you store in apps that you acquire via the Windows Store, including content you upload using those apps. If the Windows Store, an app, or any content is changed or discontinued, your data could be deleted or you may not be able to retrieve data you have stored.
Science

Submission + - Rats Feel Each Other's Pain (sciencemag.org) 1

Submitted by sciencehabit
sciencehabit writes: Empathy lets us feel another person's pain and drives us to help ease it. But is empathy a uniquely human trait? For decades researchers have debated whether nonhuman animals possess this attribute. Now a new study shows that rats will free a trapped cagemate in distress. The results mean that these rodents can be used to help determine the genetic and physiological underpinnings of empathy in people.

Submission + - US dollar losing reserve currency status (forbes.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Do US citizens understand the consequences for them personally if the greenback loses its status as a reserve currency? Say goodbye to the "American dream"... no more home ownership (interest rates will rise), no more TVs and other electronics from places like China (they will have to be imported from overseas in whatever foreign currency replaces the USD (the USD will drop in values as the treasury prints more money merely to keep up with interest on the national debt). Other nations like Australia will be severely affected too, but they haven't enjoyed the perks of not being able to buy anything in their own currency, and so they have been forced to maintain a healthier economy and so will be able to recover much more easily than the US. If anything for the average US citizen it will be a massive culture shock to have the same financial pressures as their counterparts in other countries. The challenge will be in civility or risk becoming like the countries it calls "the third world". How far away is this... it may be closer than you think. My advice: go for canned goods because they last.
Linux

Submission + - Linux Mint 12 Review (desktoplinuxreviews.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The moment so many have waited for is finally here. Linux Mint 12 has been released! This update to Linux Mint has had many people on edge since it marks the move from the older version of GNOME to GNOME 3.2. GNOME 3.2, as you might already know, has had many detractors. Linux Mint users have wondered how on earth such a popular distribution would make a transition to such a reviled and hated desktop interface.

Well I’m happy to say that Linux Mint 12 has survived the move to GNOME 3.
Security

Submission + - Anonymous Threatens Robin Hood Attacks Against Ban (informationweek.com) 1

Submitted by
gManZboy
gManZboy writes: "Just in time for the holidays, hacktivist collective Anonymous has announced that it has teamed up with like-minded group TeaMp0isoN to donate to charity. The catch: they're using stolen credit data from big banks to make donations, in a campaign they're calling Operation Robin Hood.

Is the #OpRobinHood campaign for real, or like previous threats against Wall Street and Facebook, just another hoax? Aesthetically, at least, the OpRobinHood video ticks all of the traditional Anonymous aesthetic requirements: a mashed-up "p0isoaNoN" logo (green on black), a liberal dose of swelling choral music (via that movie trailer staple "Europa," by Globus), together with selected clips of Kevin Costner as Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves."
Piracy

Submission + - Switzerland: No action against file sharing (activepolitic.com)

Submitted by bs0d3
bs0d3 writes: The Federal Council of Switzerland today, released their recommendation on filesharing. Current Swiss privacy laws do not allow anti-p2p companies log the ip addresses of filesharers. The federal council has announced today in its statement, that currently no additional steps are being undertaken as there seems to be no need for it. Some of the key elements are that according to the findings of the Federal Council, filesharers will spend the money saved from filesharing on other entertainment products and events... instead of buying music, they go to concerts or cinema; but the amount of disposable income they spend remains constant.
Robotics

Submission + - Romotive Turns Your Smartphone Into A Robot (singularityhub.com)

Submitted by
kkleiner
kkleiner writes: "How awesome is Romo the Smartphone Robot? Without knowing anything about it, you simply have to look at the robot’s Kickstarter page. The pledge goal was $32,000. The robot has raised $114,796.
I’d say these guys are on to something. They’ve built a robotics platform that uses a smartphone for a brain to control a mobile, two-track base. Just attach your smartphone to the base, plug a cord into the earphone jack, download the apps, and using another smartphone, iPad, or computer to control it – you’ve got a robot!"

Submission + - Permafrost loss greater threat than deforestation? (bloomberg.com)

Submitted by Pierre Bezukhov
Pierre Bezukhov writes: Emissions from thawing permafrost may contribute more to global warming than deforestation this century, according to a commentary in the journal Nature.

Arctic warming of 7.5 degrees Celsius (13.5 degrees Fahrenheit) this century may unlock the equivalent of 380 billion tons of carbon dioxide as soils thaw, allowing carbon to escape as CO2 and methane, University of Florida and University of Alaska biologists wrote today in Nature. Two degrees of warming would release a third of that, they said.

The Arctic is an important harbinger of climate change because the United Nations calculates it’s warming at almost twice the average rate for the planet. The study adds to pressure on United Nations climate treaty negotiators from more than 190 countries attending two weeks of talks in Durban, South Africa that began Nov. 28.
Facebook

Submission + - Web App Scans Facebook for Ugly Mugs (itworld.com)

Submitted by
itwbennett
itwbennett writes: "Go ahead and get sloshed at the company holiday party. A German company is working on a web app that, among other privacy/security features, will help you track down any unflattering photos that get posted to Facebook. The software uses facial recognition technology to scan photos in a user's friend circle to see if the user is present."
AT&T

Submission + - AT&T Withdraws plans for T-Mobile (bloomberg.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Following the recent news that the FCC chairman opposed the merger, the full 109 page report from the FCC is now available. It concludes that there is no public benefit to the AT&T/T-Mobile merger. Subsequent to this, AT&T has now withdrawn their takeover.
PlayStation (Games)

Submission + - Video game consoles are 'fundamentally doomed' (bgr.com)

Submitted by zacharye
zacharye writes: Microsoft just sold nearly one million Xbox 360 consoles last week alone, but we’re nearing the end of the road for video game consoles according to one industry visionary. Richard Garriott, known for having created the fantasy role-playing franchise Ultima and the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Tabula Rasa, says converged devices such as computers, smartphones and tablets will soon render dedicated game consoles obsolete...

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