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Comment Re:Hey Taylor, out of the gene pool! (Score 1) 517

by Max von H. (#23986701) Attached to: Text-Messaging Behind the Wheel

Maybe a $1000 ticket and a license suspension

So, what does that mean in the US? Like, you can't drive for 1 hour?

I'd say make it like in Europe: 3 months suspension for a first offence, 6 months for the second, 1 year for the third and then void the license altogether with a 3 years driving ban after that (after which you'd have to pass the exam and start as a new driver).
United States

Submission + - Helium crisis approaching (stltoday.com)

Submitted by
vrmlguy
vrmlguy writes: "In ten years, the National Helium Reserve will be depleted, according to an article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch. An article in Science Daily echoes the concern, quoting Dr. Lee Sobotka, of Washington University in St. Louis: "Helium is non-renewable and irreplaceable. Its properties are unique and unlike hydrocarbon fuels (natural gas or oil), there are no biosynthetic ways to make an alternative to helium. All should make better efforts to recycle it." On Earth, Helium is found mixed with natural gas, but few producers capture it. The US created a stockpile in 1925 for use by military dirigibles, but stopped stockpiling it in 1995 as a cost-saving measure."
United States

Submission + - The Utopia Project

Submitted by
shadowmage13
shadowmage13 writes: "So with the internet and all, we've been able to accomplish some amazing things by harnessing the powers of "crowd-sourcing" through things like free software and wikis. My question for you, Slashdot, is about how much this can be applied to, how much we can do with this. With everything we've learned from the worlds mistakes, could we draw up, from top to bottom, the closest thing to a Utopian society that we've ever come to? It could start as several very small projects that would grow and change with what makes the most sense. Some of them would fall apart and others would continue to grow. The final product would be the details of how we could have this perfect society for the people and by the people and evolving with their needs, a society founded on the principals of free software, transparency, and democracy. Can it be done? With enough interested, driven, and creative minds, can we really do anything?"
Censorship

Submission + - Italian parliament passes draconian law proposal

Submitted by
Hecatombles
Hecatombles writes: "The Italian parliamen passes a proposal that, if approved, will require a registration to the ROC (Register of Communication Operators) of all the sites which provide "editorial content" to the pubblic. The vague definition of "editorial content" means that all BLOGS, INFORMATION SITES, TECHNICAL SITES, will require: the registration, a "Responsible Journalist", the payment of a registration TAX and complicate bureaucratic procedure. This proposal will shift the crime of "defamation" to a new level "defamation by means of printed paper" with much higher consequences. If the proposal will became law, 99% of internet sites will require to be registered. This will mean the end of free speech and Internet in Italy. (Original news in italian language http://www.repubblica.it/2007/10/sezioni/scienza_e_tecnologia/testo-editoria/testo-editoria/testo-editoria.html)"
The Internet

Submission + - Prosecutor makes mockery of online privacy

Submitted by
netbuzz
netbuzz writes: "A special prosecutor in Arizona has issued a subpoena for all known data about every visitor to a newspaper's Web site going back three years. IP addresses, sites they came from, choice of browser, even the cookies. All because the paper published the home address of a sheriff, an address that's readily available on other government Web sites.

http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/20813"
Music

Submission + - Canada may tax legal music downloads 3

Submitted by FuriousBalancing
FuriousBalancing writes: MacNN reports:

Canadians may soon pay a small tax on every legal music store download, says a new measure (PDF) sanctioned by the Copyright Board of Canada. Requested by the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN), the tax would apply at least 2.1 cents to every individual song download and 1.5 cents per track for complete albums. Subscription download and streaming services would themselves be charged between 5.7 and 6.8 percent of a user's monthly fees. Minimum fees would also apply for every larger download or subscription. The new tax would be retroactive to January 1st, 1996.
Announcements

Submission + - Debatepedia.org Launched (debatepedia.org)

Submitted by OpenSourceNut
OpenSourceNut writes: The International Debate Education Association (IDEA) announced today its launch of Debatepedia.org, a wiki with the ambitious mission of becoming the world's "Wikipedia of debate and reason". On Debatepedia, at www.idebate.org, people can help edit and co-create an encyclopedia of debates by adding pro and con arguments and compiling bodies of supporting evidence within a unique pro/con "logic tree" structure. Debatepedia is also a place for documenting the positions of leaders and organizations.

The site uses a modification to the MediaWiki software.
Google

Submission + - Google vows to increase Gmail limit (computerworld.com) 1

Submitted by
Lucas123
Lucas123 writes: "Google said that people are devouring capacity with photos and other attachments on its Gmail e-mail service faster than the company can add to it at its current pace. So Google said on Friday that it would increase the rate at which it is adding capacity to its Web-based service. There's only one problem, Google's main competitors — Windows Live Hotmail and Yahoo Mail — far surpassed Gmail this year with their own capacity."
Portables

Submission + - ATA Detains Passenger Over "Flight Mode" i

Submitted by
URSpider
URSpider writes: "C|Net, among others, is reporting that an ATA passenger was detained by police after arriving in Hawaii after repeatedly refusing to stop using his iPhone during the flight. The passenger claims that his phone was in "airline mode", which disables WiFi and cellular transmissions and renders the iPhone no different than an iPod. This comes hot on the heels of the recent announcement that Japanese airlines are banning the use of PSP's and headphones on all flights. With the proliferation of wireless-enabled devices, can flight attendants be expected to know which ones can be disabled? Can passengers be trusted to turn off WiFi and Bluetooth on their smartphones and gaming consoles?"
Space

Submission + - Ancient oceans on Venus (newscientist.com)

Submitted by
Maggie McKee
Maggie McKee writes: "Venus, which is now hellishly hot, may have been cooler and wetter in the past, before a runaway greenhouse effect took over. Previous research suggests any oceans it had could have survived for 2 billion years, long enough for life to emerge. But scientists can't know for sure how long the water lasted until they have proof, and now David Grinspoon and Mark Bullock suggest the evidence may be locked in a hardy mineral called tremolite. Most of the planet appears to be covered with lava, but future robotic missions could target areas that may harbor the mineral. "We know at least locally and regionally where we have bits of older terrain that poke up through the volcanic plains," says Ellen Stofan of University College London. "All of a sudden, Venus may go from a place where we thought life never had a chance to take hold, to possibly a real player in the story of life in our solar system and the evolution of habitable planets.""
Privacy

Submission + - Google Street View May Be Illegal in Canada (www.cbc.ca)

Submitted by
Jay
Jay writes: "Jennifer Stoddart, Canada's privacy commissioner, has recently suggested that Google Street View may be illegal in Canada according to the country's privacy legislation. "In particular, it does not appear to meet the basic requirements of knowledge, consent, and limited collection and use as set out in the legislation." Stoddart has written to both Google and Immersive Media, Google's collaborator in the Street View technology, for a response to her concerns. Google Street View is not yet available in Canada, though continuting expansion in the United States suggests that it likely will be in the future."
Businesses

Submission + - Getting hired with a criminal record.

Submitted by 24601
24601 writes: Hello fellow Slashdot nerds. This is a very hard question to ask, but I figured you guys would probably have the best advice. I am finding myself in my young, soon to be post college career with a brand new criminal record. To make matter's worse, it's for a sex crime (was mislead by someone about their age. Nothing violent or involving children). Yes I will have to register, be on probation for quite a while, and currently reside in a certain very conservative state in the south famous for a certain cartoon mouse. I completely accept the stupidity of what I have done and very much want to grow and move on past it. I'm a graphical artist by trade, but with a lot of web design experience as well. Also have a good deal of IT experience, was thinking of getting a certification in something. What I want to know, however, is how hard is it to get a job in the tech industry with this kind of Scarlet Letter? I have every intention of being upfront and honest about my past with any potential employer, and making every effort to communicate my regret for my past, the fact that I'm not a threat to anyone, and my desire to prove myself. Are more technical employers willing to look past such things and give you a chance? Is there any advice people can give me on properly presenting this issue, and finding understanding employers? thanks!

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