60661631
submission
Rambo Tribble writes:
The ongoing efforts to assign responsibility for the disastrous attempts to create the Cover Oregon health exchange, the primary contractor for which was Oracle Corporation, have entered a new round, with Governor John Kitzhaber calling on State Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum to initiate legal action against the firm. Kitzhaber has also sought the help of Washington D.C. in sanctioning Oracle, though Oregon's own management of the project and the terms of their contract with Oracle muddy the waters, considerably. Although the AG's office hasn't committed to filing suit, yet, AG Rosenblum has said, 'I share your determination to recover every dollar to which Oregon is entitled.' Although the outcome of this is uncertain, it is likely heads, both corporate and political, will roll.
60660291
submission
Rambo Tribble writes:
Writing in the American Journal of Epidemiology, researchers have found that sleeping with high ambient light levels may contribute to obesity [Abstract; paywall]. In a large survey, of 113,000 women, a high correlation was found between higher bedroom light levels and increased propensity to overweight or obesity. Excess light in the sleeping environment has long been known to adversely affect melatonin production and circadian rhythms. It is posited that such an interference with the "body clock" may be behind these results. Although there is not yet enough evidence to call this a smoking gun, as one researcher put it, 'Overall this study points to the importance of darkness.' The BBC offers its take on the story, here.
60538819
submission
Rambo Tribble writes:
A group of researchers publishing in the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association found that 90% of the articles they sampled contained errors regarding common medical conditions. Unsurprisingly, they recommend your General Practitioner as a more reliable source, while noting, '... 47% to 70% of physicians and medical students admitting to using it [Wikipedia] as a reference.'
At issue in the study is the small sample size used in the study, 10 medical conditions, and ongoing efforts to improve the quality of Wikipedia's articles, according to a Wikipedia spokesman, '... especially in relation to health and medicine.'
The BBC has more approachable coverage, here.
60358013
submission
Rambo Tribble writes:
A teacher's union in Northern Ireland is asserting that children spending too much time on computers are impairing their ability to learn. The asserted excessive computer use is being blamed for an inability to concentrate or socialize. As one teacher puts it, '... these gadgets are really destroying their ability to learn.' One question no one seems to be asking is whether the kids showing these symptoms are getting enough sleep.
60277813
submission
Rambo Tribble writes:
Google is reported to be buying Divide, (formerly Enterproid), a firm focused on providing enterprise-grade security enhancements to the Android platform. This comes after Motorola acquired a similar company, 3LM, but it's unclear but what that entity might be going to Lenovo, with it's purchase of Motorola. Divide's technology is said to employ, '... a container approach, in which corporate information is separated from personal information on a device.'
60205247
submission
Rambo Tribble writes:
The cleanup of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington was supposed to be entering its final stages by now. The reality is far from that. The cleanup was to be managed under the 'Tri-Party Agreement', signed on May 15, 1989, which was supposed to facilitate cooperation between the agencies involved. Today, underfunded and overwhelmed by technical problems, the effort is decades behind schedule. Adding to the frustrations for stakeholders and watchdogs is a bureaucratic slipperiness on the part of the Federal Department of Energy. As one watchdog put it, 'We are constantly frustrated by how easily the Department of Energy slips out of agreements in the Tri-Party Agreement.'
59820973
submission
Rambo Tribble writes:
A 7-year German study has come to a troubling conclusion: the EM noise from human activities is interfering with birds' magnetic 'compass', and potentially disrupting migratory behavior. While science is unclear how the birds' compasses work, it is theorized it employs the quantum phenomenon of electron spin. As the lead researcher, Prof Henrik Mouritsen, is quoted as saying, 'A very small perturbation of these electron spins would actually prevent the birds from using their magnetic compass.' The BBC has a nice summary article, as well.
59579103
submission
Rambo Tribble writes:
Reuters is reporting that Space Exploration Technologies, aka SpaceX, has won a Federal Claims Court temporary injunction against the purchase by United Launch Alliance of Russian-made rocket boosters, intended for use by the United States Air Force. In her ruling Judge Susan Braden prohibited ULA and the USAF, 'from making any purchases from or payment of money to [Russian firm] NPO Energomash.' United Launch Alliance is a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
59541701
submission
Rambo Tribble writes:
Jeffrey Katzenberg, the head of Dreamworks Animation, speaking at the Milken Global Conference in California, opined that the future pricing model for movie downloads will revolve around screen size. In his view, larger screens will incur larger download prices. As he says, 'It will reinvent the enterprise of movies.' Unclear is how physical dimensions, rather than just resolution matrix, will be determined. Will we soon be saying 'hello' to screen spoofing?
59498845
submission
Rambo Tribble writes:
In a case of 'live by the sword, die by the sword', researchers have used the now-infamous Heartlbeed bug in OpenSSL to gain access to black-hat forums. French researcher, Steven K, is quoted as saying, 'The potential of this vulnerability affecting black-hat services is just enormous.' Reportedly, the criminal-minded sites Darkode and Damagelab have already been compromised.
59445107
submission
Rambo Tribble writes:
Two prominent nutrition experts have put forth the theory that the current obesity epidemic is, in large part, the result of processed foods tricking our appetite control mechanisms. They argue that evolution has given humans a delicately balanced system that balances appetite with metabolic needs, and that processed foods trick that system by making foods high in fats and carbohydrates have the gustatory qualities of proteins. As the researchers put it, 'Many people eat far too much fat and carbohydrate in their attempt to consume enough protein.'
59212049
submission
Rambo Tribble writes:
The B612 Foundation, a U.S.-based nuclear test monitoring group, has disclosed that their acoustic sensors show asteroid impacts to be much more common than previously thought. Between 2000 and 2013 their infrasound system detected 26 major explosions due to asteroid strikes. The impacts were gauged at energies of 1 to 600 kilotons, compared to 45 kilotons for 1945 Hiroshima bomb. The BBC covers the story, as does Reuters.
59141131
submission
Rambo Tribble writes:
Popular director Joss Whedon has taken the film world by surprise by releasing his latest offering, 'In Your Eyes', available for download on the same day it premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. The new release comes from Whedon's own "micro studio", Bellwether Pictures, and is featured on Vimeo as a $5 rental, (free trailer). Whedon mused, 'It's exciting for us because we get to explore yet another new form of distribution — and we get $5.' Mr. Whedon has a history of pushing the delivery envelope, as with Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, in 2008.
59079479
submission
Rambo Tribble writes:
The aficionados of beer and distilled spirits could be in for a major price-shock, if proposals by the Food and Drug Administration come to pass. Currently, breweries are allowed to sell unprocessed brewing by-products to feed farm animals. Farmers prize the nutritious, low-cost feed. But, new rules proposed by the FDA could force brewers to implement costly processing facilities or dump the by-products as waste. As one brewer put it, "Beer prices would go up for everybody to cover the cost of the equipment and installation.”
59014361
submission
Rambo Tribble writes:
Edward Snowden appeared on a Russian television call-in show to ask Russian President Vladimir Putin about policies of mass surveillance. The exchange has a canned quality which will likely lead to questions regarding the integrity of Snowden's actions, in the query of his host in asylum.
