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Submission + - NOAA has overestimated land surface temperature trends by up to two times. (wordpress.com)

Submitted by
BMOC
BMOC writes: "Anthony Watts of Surfacestations project (crowdsourced research) has finally yielded some discussion worthy results (pdf). He uses a siting classification system developed by Michel Leroy for Meteofrance in 1999 that was improved in 2010 to quantify the effect of heat sinks and sources within the thermometer viewshed by calculation of the area- weighted and distance-weighted impact of biasing elements to calculate both raw and gridded 30 year trends for each surveyed station, using temperature data from USHCNv2. His initial claims are that station siting is impacting the surface temperature record significantly, and NOAA adjustments are exacerbating that problem, not helping. Whether you agree with his results or not, recognize that this method of research is modern and worth your participation in the review. Poke holes in publicly sourced and presented research all you can, that's what makes this method useful."

Submission + - Megaupload Points Out That The Feds Want To Destroy Evidence In Its Case (techdirt.com)

Submitted by SolKeshNaranek
SolKeshNaranek writes: Summary: Megauplload says US Government wants to destroy critical evidence it needs to defend itself. This evidence is on the servers seized by the feds.

Excerpt from the long article:

There are all sorts of problems with the federal government's arguments against Megaupload. Even if the site and its founders are guilty of breaking the law, it's amazingly troubling to look at the details of how the government has gone about proving this. The most immediate situation, as we've been discussing, involves the handling of the data on Megaupload's servers.

Very soon after the raids, the feds told the hosting company that Megaupload used, Carpathia, that it no longer needed the data and that it could be destroyed. As we pointed out at the time, this made no sense at all. After all, the government is alleging that this content is at the center of a criminal conspiracy ring. So why would it want the evidence destroyed? Furthermore, it seems likely that there could be plenty of evidence on those servers that support Megaupload's case (ah, perhaps that's why the government wants it destoryed!).

Of course, since then, a bunch of parties, including Megaupload, EFF, Megaupload users and (oddly) the MPAA have gotten involved in trying to preserve the data, while the hosting firm, Carpathia has asked the court for permission to delete it, get paid for it, or have someone take it off their hands. Megaupload has specifically offered to pay Carpathia to get the servers, but since the government seized all its assets, it can't do that. Plus, the government has objected to this plan. Furthermore, the MPAA — which still wants the data preserved — has claimed that if the content goes to any third party it's infringement — and could lead to the revival of Megaupload.

Remainder of article in link.

Additional related information links:

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120403/03211918344/mpaa-says-letting-anyone-access-data-megaupload-servers-would-represent-infringement.shtml
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120326/11013718248/kim-dotcom-fires-back-raises-questions-about-uss-evidence-shows-studios-were-eager-to-work-with-megaupload.shtml

Comment Re:*yawn* (Score 1) 294

by emeraldd (#38474510) Attached to: Inside Obama's Twitter Blitz On the Payroll Tax
It might be worth noting that for some businesses, partnerships, sole proprietorships and, some LLCs, personal income taxes of the owners include the business profits. While I'm not sure on the millionaire surtax specifically, anything that could significantly impact a business owners personal tax rate could significantly impact the businesses cash flow. I can definitely see some one making decisions based on that.
Graphics

Submission + - Fascinating 1972 film uses 3D graphics (nerdplusart.com)

Submitted by
AlejoHausner
AlejoHausner writes: "In 1972, Ed Catmull, then at the University of Utah, put together a film showcasing many of the 3D computer graphics techniques he and others had developed while working as students in Ivan Sutherland's lab. That film has been digitized and is available on http://nerdplusart.com/first-3d-rendered-film-from-1972-and-my-visit-to-pixar . All kinds of modern techniques like gouraud shading, deformed meshes, and z-buffering are shown in the film. There is a segment showing Catmull digitizing a plaster model of his hand. Catmull later founded Pixar, but at the time the Utah lab pioneered many of the graphics techniques we take for granted today."

Submission + - The five levels of ISP evil (sonic.net)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: Recently a number of ISPs have been caught improperly redirecting end-user traffic in order to generate affiliate payments, using a system from Paxfire. A class action lawsuit has been filed against Paxfire and one of the ISPs.

This is a serious allegation, but it’s the tip of the iceberg. I’m not sure if everyone understands the levels of sneakiness that service providers can engage in.

Comment Re:You're too young... (Score 1) 18

by emeraldd (#37065098) Attached to: I'm Too Old To Learn New Programming Languages?
A technology is a technology. If you have trouble with a given technology, find an abstraction or set of boiler plate that works for you. You don't have to be a great designer to muddle your way through the back end of a web app and you don't have to be that good at back end work to do design. So long as you can find the right reference or person to ask for help/questions when you need it, just work through one part of the puzzle at a time. It all comes down to tell that pedantic box in a rack somewhere exactly what to do and how many times ;)
Programming

Submission + - Older programmers ARE better! (i-programmer.info)

Submitted by mikejuk
mikejuk writes: It's a prejudice that the young and old share, but with opposite polarities of course. Young is best or old is best — most have an opinion. Now we have some interesting statistics ingeniously gathered and processed in by Peter Knego "big data" style that "proves" older is better when it comes to programming at least!
Crime

Submission + - Spanish anti-piracy group raided by police (torrentfreak.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Spanish artists' and writers' association has been raided by police, and its chair men have been arrested:
"The complaint alleges that SGAE operatives set up companies and used revenue destined for artists to generate profit for themselves and their families, and that money bound for artists living abroad was diverted to personal Swiss bank accounts."
As the article states: "It is a huge irony that SGAE, who have longed called for a file-sharing crackdown under a tougher copyright regime, and their partners Microgenesis, a company that provided pro-copyright and DRM solutions for SGAE, now stand accused of fraudulent activities involving funds that should have been for the exclusive use of those they claim to protect – the artists."

Submission + - trend micro constantly 'sampling' your files (self_reporting_no_url.com) 1

Submitted by stenn
stenn writes: software: trend micro titanium internet security
os: windows 7 (yes yes, i know...)
situation:
the issue started while i was 'tail -f' the access_log on a server i'm working with. my system has a simple website and a standalone app that will hit the server via url with a handful of parameters for settings, one of those being a guid.

the problem:
i started noticing log entries for urls coming from the client app, with my guid, but not coming from my ip address. additionally, it was only the requests coming from the client app, not those starting in the browser. the duped requests would come from multiple ip addresses, all starting with 150.70.xx.xx. obviously, this is concerning. i am not going through any cloud services or using any proxies. i traced the ip addresses (ie: 150.70.172.106, 150.70.64.195, 150.70.75.33, etc) and they all pointed to Trend Micro Inc. i do have trend micro installed for anti-virus software, and as far as i could tell.. it was working fine and fairly lightweight. any reporting or proxy settings i have turned off. so i made a call.

after bouncing through a few people, i ended up with a guy trying to explain that they are trying to insure the 'web reputation' of the sites i was visiting. if that were the case, i pointed out, then you would echo the url calls originating from my browser. i can update my browser page and see it in the access_log immediately. no echoes. but when i issue urls from the stand alone client, i see an echo within 90 seconds.

it gets worse:
at this point he said he was going to need to see the screen to confirm what i'm seeing (?!). i asked how he'd do that, he said he'd take a screenshot and it would be sent to his machine (?!). i asked how and he said their software would do it if i allowed him to. obviously, i wasn't happy. that shouldn't even be an option. he backed away from this quickly.

the other shoe:
after another chorus of 'why the hell are you sending my internet traffic to your servers', he said trendmicro routinely samples files on the system and sends them to their malware experts for analysis (?!). he explained that they randomly sample from those files that have changed... bundling them up... and sending them to their servers every 3 hours. he tried to assure me that no 'sensitive' information was being sent from my machine (suuure...), just some random samples so the 'malware experts' can look for malware.

ip theft:
being a software developer, i write code that is copyrighted, at least by me, as i create it. for them to be 'sampling' the files that have changed essentially has them stealing my source code so their 'malware experts' can look through them. yes, i know... that's a lot of files and they aren't watching *my* files... but my name is on the trend micro license. if they wanted to, they could monitor one person's files without an issue.

i might be having a small cow over this issue, but i don't think it's unwarranted. it sure seems like spyware to me. if not, i'd love to know the difference, besides incorporation papers and a phone number.

thoughts?

Submission + - UN Says 3 Strikes Laws Violate International Law (michaelgeist.ca)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The United Nations has released an important new report that examines freedom of expression on the Internet. Michael Geist summarizes, noting that the report is very critical of rules such as graduated response/three strikes, which it believes may violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Moreover, the report expresses concerns with notice-and-takedown systems, concluding that it is subject to abuse by both governments and private actors.
Bug

Submission + - Software Bug will be considered a crime in Japan (shugiintv.go.jp)

Submitted by kazekiri
kazekiri writes: Very soon, leaving software bug without defect-fixing effort will be considered a crime in Japan.
On May 27 afternoon, Satsuki Eda, Minister of Justice, stated that it will be a crime to leave software bugs without treatment, at the Japanese House of Representatives Committee on Judicial Affairs, like the lower house in US. The video of his reply can be seen online, and the Japanese text version can be checked at Slashdot Japan story.

Now, the Committee is aiming to pass the new bill defining that committing to development or distribution of the computer virus is a crime. The bill specifies that software deliberately not functioning along user's will or deliberately functioning against user's will is a virus. When Mr Eda was addressed by the Committee Member that “for instance, a free software was released and then a user points out a bug. If the software was continue to be opened to the public disregarding the user's notice, will that be a crime according this bill?”, he answered just “Yes”.

If the bill's passage goes well, it will go into effect by this summer, and after that, leaving the bug as it is will lead to an imprisonment maximum of three years .
Android

Submission + - Oracle subpoenas Apache Foundation in Google suit (techworld.com.au)

Submitted by
angry tapir
angry tapir writes: "Oracle has subpoenaed the Apache Software Foundation in connection with its ongoing intellectual property suit against Google. Oracle filed suit against Google in August, alleging that its Android mobile operating system infringes on seven of Oracle's Java patents. Google has denied any wrongdoing. The subpoena, which was received by ASF on Monday, seeks "the production of documents related to the use of Apache Harmony code in the Android software platform, and the unsuccessful attempt by Apache to secure an acceptable license to the Java SE Technology Compatibility Kit.""
Science

Submission + - Temporal Power - New Flywheel Tech (thestar.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Temporal Power a new start up founded by engineer Jeff Veltri claims to have developed a super efficient flywheel. Best existing flywheels spin down to no power within 7 hours, his design maintains 95% of power at 10 hours. See Graph: http://www.cleanbreak.ca/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/temporalchart.jpg. This is sufficient performance to enable the shifting of cheap nighttime and intermittent renewable power to expensive daytime power usage. Is this the true breakthrough we have been waiting for or is it physically improbable?

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