Submission + - How satellites are made (silicon.com)
An anonymous reader writes: This photo story shows how European satellite maker EADS Astrium builds its satellites at its plant in Toulouse, France. Fascinating stuff...
Comment Solved 26 years ago! (Score 1) 660
Jef Raskin, of Mac fame, developed the SwyftCard - a ROM on a slot that acted as an embedded OS + word processor. You just turned on the machine and in under a second, wallah. Word processor. (It also did neat things like not requiring you to format a floppy in advance, too.)
Submission + - How Criminal Identity Theft Ruined My Life
G27 Radio writes: "I think by now just about everyone and their grandmother have heard of identity theft. However, this blog is a story about Criminal Identity Theft, which makes your typical identity theft look like a walk in the park. Criminal Identity Theft has ruined my life. The worst part is, I didn't even know I was a victim until it had already been ruined. I've written quite a bit about my experiences here."
Submission + - Web searches at US border
An anonymous reader writes: From IHT: "Andrew Feldmar, a Vancouver psychotherapist, was on his way to pick up a friend at the Seattle airport last summer when he ran into a little trouble at the border.
"A guard typed Feldmar's name into an Internet search engine, which revealed that he had written about using LSD in the 1960s in an interdisciplinary journal. Feldmar was turned back and is no longer welcome in the United States, where he has been active professionally and where both of his children live."
"Mike Milne, a spokesman for the Customs and Border Protection agency in Seattle, said he could not discuss individual cases for reasons of privacy. But the law is clear, Milne said. People who have used drugs are not welcome here.
""If you are or have been a drug user," he said, "that's one of the many things that can make you inadmissible to the United States."
"He added that the government was constantly on the hunt for new sources of information. "Any new technology that we have available to us, we use to do searches on," Milne said."
"A guard typed Feldmar's name into an Internet search engine, which revealed that he had written about using LSD in the 1960s in an interdisciplinary journal. Feldmar was turned back and is no longer welcome in the United States, where he has been active professionally and where both of his children live."
"Mike Milne, a spokesman for the Customs and Border Protection agency in Seattle, said he could not discuss individual cases for reasons of privacy. But the law is clear, Milne said. People who have used drugs are not welcome here.
""If you are or have been a drug user," he said, "that's one of the many things that can make you inadmissible to the United States."
"He added that the government was constantly on the hunt for new sources of information. "Any new technology that we have available to us, we use to do searches on," Milne said."
Submission + - RIAA Defends "Expert", says "everyone
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "Arguing that "everyone in his field proceeds the same way that he did", and that "there is no other way to do what he did" (pdf), the RIAA opposes Ms. Lindor's motion to exclude the testimony of Dr. Doug Jacobson at trial based on Dr. Jacobson's deposition testimony in which he admitted that neither his work, nor that of MediaSentry, upon which he relied, had any of the ordinary indicia of "reliability" required of expert testimony in federal court."
Submission + - LG.Philips Develops World's First Color E-Paper
An anonymous reader writes: LG.Philips LCD developed the world's first 14.1-inch flexible color E-paper display, equivalent in size to an A4 sheet of paper.
The 14.1-inch flexible color E-paper uses electronic ink from E-Ink Corp. to produce a maximum of 4,096 colors. It can be viewed from a full 180 degrees, so that images always appear crisp, even when the display is bent.
The 14.1-inch flexible color E-paper uses electronic ink from E-Ink Corp. to produce a maximum of 4,096 colors. It can be viewed from a full 180 degrees, so that images always appear crisp, even when the display is bent.
Submission + - Scientologists In Row With BBC
CmdrGravy writes: "The Church Of Scientology is currently engaged in a row with BBC over a Panorama investigation by the BBC reporter John Sweeney. John is investigating the Church Of Scientology for the program to find out if they have changed in the last few years and moved away from the questionable practices and secrecy they have employed in the past.
The row centres around a YouTube video posted by the scientologists and a DVD they have released which show Mr Sweeney losing his temper with a scientology spokesman Tom Davis in which Mr Sweeney is driven to yelling at Tom Davis at the top of his voice. Mr Sweeney has since apologised for losing his temper which he says he now realises was both wrong and stupid. In the DVD the scientologists also accuse the BBC of organising an anti scientology demonstration and yelling terrorist death threats at John Travolta, allegations which the BBC denounce as being clearly laughable and utter nonsense. John Travolta has also accused of Mr Sweeney of harbouring "personal prejudices, bigotry and animosity" against Scientology in the documentary, and accused the reporter of displaying "hatred against my religion." This despite the fact that in the UK scientology is not classed as a religion due to the financial nature of their practices.
Mr Sweeneys outburst came at the end of a tour of a scientology exhibition which attempts to portray psychiatrists as evil nazi type torturers entitled "Psychiatry: Industry of Death" which is both gruesome and utterly unconvincing. In the days previous to this Mr Sweeney and his camera team became the latest in a long line of reporters to suffer harassment at the hands of scientologists whereby he has been shouted at, spied on, denounced as a bigot by John Travolta had his hotel invaded at midnight, and had mysterious strangers visit his neighbours and family and spy on his wedding. You can begin to see why someone might lose their temper having been victim to this sort of activity.
There is an excellent article in the Telegraph and you can read about the incident in Mr Sweeneys own words here at the BBC.
The video of Mr Sweeney losing his temper is available on YouTube, the argument is about Tom Davis claiming he has said things in a previous interview with someone else at which Tom Davis was not present and therefore cannot know what he has said. During this interview with, I think, an ex scientologist Tom Davis burst in half way through to make claims that the interviewee was some kind of paedophile.
Happily it looks like the BBC is going to stand behind their reporter, judging by this interview with the programs editor and the general tone of their reporting but, really why I'm posting this on /., what can be done against an organisation so determined to prevent fair and unbiased reporting on their activities and is clearly able to utilise the power of the internet and YouTube to further their aims. The BBC is a large organisation and can survive attacks like this which would easily cause a lot more problems to individuals or smaller organisations, is there a way of levelling the playing field in favour of the general population being able to access accurate information on organisations or corporations rather than propaganda put out by the said organisations or corporations ?"
The row centres around a YouTube video posted by the scientologists and a DVD they have released which show Mr Sweeney losing his temper with a scientology spokesman Tom Davis in which Mr Sweeney is driven to yelling at Tom Davis at the top of his voice. Mr Sweeney has since apologised for losing his temper which he says he now realises was both wrong and stupid. In the DVD the scientologists also accuse the BBC of organising an anti scientology demonstration and yelling terrorist death threats at John Travolta, allegations which the BBC denounce as being clearly laughable and utter nonsense. John Travolta has also accused of Mr Sweeney of harbouring "personal prejudices, bigotry and animosity" against Scientology in the documentary, and accused the reporter of displaying "hatred against my religion." This despite the fact that in the UK scientology is not classed as a religion due to the financial nature of their practices.
Mr Sweeneys outburst came at the end of a tour of a scientology exhibition which attempts to portray psychiatrists as evil nazi type torturers entitled "Psychiatry: Industry of Death" which is both gruesome and utterly unconvincing. In the days previous to this Mr Sweeney and his camera team became the latest in a long line of reporters to suffer harassment at the hands of scientologists whereby he has been shouted at, spied on, denounced as a bigot by John Travolta had his hotel invaded at midnight, and had mysterious strangers visit his neighbours and family and spy on his wedding. You can begin to see why someone might lose their temper having been victim to this sort of activity.
There is an excellent article in the Telegraph and you can read about the incident in Mr Sweeneys own words here at the BBC.
The video of Mr Sweeney losing his temper is available on YouTube, the argument is about Tom Davis claiming he has said things in a previous interview with someone else at which Tom Davis was not present and therefore cannot know what he has said. During this interview with, I think, an ex scientologist Tom Davis burst in half way through to make claims that the interviewee was some kind of paedophile.
Happily it looks like the BBC is going to stand behind their reporter, judging by this interview with the programs editor and the general tone of their reporting but, really why I'm posting this on
Submission + - Can regular people order takedowns?
slapdfsckr writes: Can a regular person order a takedown of site content? What is a takedown anyway? Is it just a threat? I ask because recently I found out that my company launched a pirate ship full of lawers at a popular social networking site to remove content from a disgruntled employee. I didn't notice anything outstandingly damaging about these comments, however they didn't exactly paint a pretty picture and I can understand why certian people would be rather upset. The point is that the content was removed, the account seems quite inactive and for all I know this guy is no longer employeed. Whatever. My concern is how fast and seemingly easy it was to have the content removed. So I query: If I read some defamatory comments about myself on someones blog, can I order them to take it off or do I need the backing of a well paid legal team?
Submission + - House of Cosbys redux
An anonymous reader writes: Justin Roiland of House of Cosbys internet fame is apperently at it again with Kosbees. House of Cosbys prompted a cease and desist order from Bill Cosby's lawyers. Will "Kosbees" do the same?
