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Patents

Submission + - Save the Web from software patents (fsf.org)

Submitted by
TheNextCorner
TheNextCorner writes: "PersonalWeb's software patent suit against Github and others threatens the freedom of the Web. In order to make sure that the Web can remain a free and accessible space for everyone, we need to rid ourselves of all the patents that threaten its viability. We need to end software patents."

Submission + - Study: Fraud growing in scientific research papers (ap.org)

Submitted by dsinc
dsinc writes: In sharp contrast to previous studies suggesting that errors account for the majority of retracted scientific papers, a new analysis — the most comprehensive of its kind — has found that misconduct is responsible for two-thirds of all retractions. In the paper, misconduct included fraud or suspected fraud, duplicate publication and plagiarism. The paper's findings show as a percentage of all scientific articles published, retractions for fraud or suspected fraud have increased 10-fold since 1975. The study, from a collaboration between three scientists including one at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, published online October 1 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
The Internet

Submission + - The Fastest ISPs in the U.S.

Submitted by adeelarshad82
adeelarshad82 writes: For a second year in a row PCMag partnered with Speedtest to find out the fastest ISPs in the U.S. The results were a product of 110,000 tests ran between January 1, 2012 and September 19, 2012. Collecting data for both download and upload speeds for each test, Speednet was able to calculate an index score for a better one-to-one comparison, where downloads counted for 80 percent and uploads 20 percent. Moreover, rather than testing the upload and download speed of a single file, the tests used multiple broadband threads to measure the total capacity of the "pipe." While the results at the nationwide level were fairly obvious with Verizon FiOS crushing its opposition, the results at regional level were a lot more interesting and competitive.

Submission + - United lost a 10 year old child in minor service, outsourced the service (typepad.com) 1

Submitted by
TheNextCorner
TheNextCorner writes: "United was flying Phoebe as an unaccompanied minor on June 30th, from San Francisco to Chicago, with a transfer to Grand Rapids. No one showed-up in Chicago to help her transfer, so although her plane made it, she missed the connection. Most crucially, United employees consistently refused to take action to help assist or comfort Phoebe or to help her parents locate her despite their cries for help to numerous United employees.

"When he asked why she could not say but put him on hold. When she came back she told him that in fact the unaccompanied minor service in Chicago simply “forgot to show up” to transfer her to the next flight. He was dumbfounded as neither of us had been told in writing or in person that United outsourced the unaccompanied minor services to a third party vendor.""
Google

Submission + - Google Ventures: Not Just Another VC Firm (venturebeat.com)

Submitted by
AmyVernon
AmyVernon writes: "Jolie O'Dell takes a hard look at Google Ventures and what makes it a different kind of VC firm — one that doesn't believe it's how the companies are picked inasmuch as how the companies are nurtured:

"Google Ventures is a separate entity from Google, Inc. It operates on the same campus but in different buildings, and while it pulls its talent and knowledge resources from the Google pool, it’s very much its own beast. The fund kicked off in 2009 with a goal of investing $100 million each year. Its known portfolio companies currently number 115; if you look for themes among them, you’ll find they range so widely across any criteria you choose that finding such themes is nearly impossible.

Aside from the Google connection, the firm and its partners are obviously different from anything else in their league in a few major ways.

For one thing, Google Ventures partners don’t really put as much emphasis on the almighty picker: the magic 8-ball in every VC’s back pocket that tells him whether or not a company is a good bet. Primarily because such a device doesn’t exist.

“Picking plays a role, don’t get me wrong. But people walk around the venture world thinking they’re such good pickers,” Kraus says. “It’s like Lake Woebegone, where everyone thinks their children are above average.

“We believe helping companies plays more of a role than most people give it credit for.”"
Cloud

Submission + - Could a Hurricane 5 take down East Coast data centers (slashdot.org)

Submitted by
TheNextCorner
TheNextCorner writes: "With more data moving into the Cloud, there is an increasing danger of data loss when one of these cloud computing data centers fails. Hurricanes pose a real thread for data centers located in North Virginia and Carolina, where Google, Apple & Facebook have opened large data centers. Could a Hurricane 5 become a problem for these cloud data centers and take down the Internet?"
Moon

Submission + - Apollo Moon flags still standing, images show (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by
TheNextCorner
TheNextCorner writes: "Images taken by a Nasa spacecraft show that the American flags planted in the Moon's soil by Apollo astronauts are mostly still standing.

Each of the Apollo missions planted an American flag in the soil at their landing sites.

Scientists had previously examined photos of the Apollo landing sites for the flags, and had seen what looked like shadows cast by them on the lunar surface.

Now, researchers have studied photos of the landing sites taken at different points during the day (and under different illuminations) and have observed shadows circling the points where the flags are thought to be."
Google

Submission + - Why you shouldn't write off Google+ just yet (washingtonpost.com)

Submitted by
TheNextCorner
TheNextCorner writes: "Cmdr Taco write for The Washington Post on "Why you shouldn't write off Google+ just yet.

"Google+ is technically better than its rivals in a number of key ways. The user interface is comfortable and friendly. It’s easy to maintain circles of contacts, and to segregate what you share with each group. Discussions of small-to-medium sizes are manageable and readable — even in real time. Facebook wins when it comes to the open graph and app ecosystem, but a lot of people don’t care about that stuff.""
Slashdot.org

Submission + - Rob CmdrTaco Malda AMA on Reddit (reddit.com)

Submitted by TheNextCorner
TheNextCorner writes: In 1997 I started Slashdot.org. For several years, we pioneered news aggregation and on-line communities while exploring our niche of the 'net under the slogan, "News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters." Our work was later expanded upon at countless other more successful sites including Reddit and the Huffington Post.
I left Slashdot last year, took a long time off, and then started work at the Washington Post Co's WaPo Labs their digital media R&D skunkworks group. I work as their Chief Strategist and Editor-at-Large, contributing what I can to a variety of projects ranging from their Social Reader, to some projects under development. From here I am able to continue to explore my interests in news, journalism, technology, and communities.
Today you can find me on twitter as @cmdrtaco and on Google+ as +Rob Malda where I continue to curate the same sort 'Stuff that Matters' that I was sharing long before Slashdot existed, but without any pressure.
I'll hopefully be answering from 2pm-5pm ET.ho

Submission + - Penny Arcade Sells Out (kickstarter.com)

Submitted by
sanosuke001
sanosuke001 writes: "Penny Arcade has taken the crowdfunding idea from the other direction; try to fund an existing, and already successful, operation via their fans. With 29 days to go they have already passed their initial goal of $250,000 USD and are on their way to reaching some very interesting stretch goals including new Lookouts and Automata strips, an ad-free penny-arcade.com, revived podcast, and my personal favorite: Jerry Holkins cosplay which will be decided on by the fans.

They will be giving out some pledge goodies like t-shirts, autographed prints, digital versions of their first two books, Stream codes for Rainslick Precipice of Darkness Episode 3. For those with deep pockets: promises of twitter following, re-tweeting, an internship for a day, hang-outs with the PA crew, and even a shirt-of-the-month club, just to name a few."

Submission + - Criminalizing links: Why the Richard O'Dwyer case matters (gigaom.com)

Submitted by
TheNextCorner
TheNextCorner writes: "Will Hollywood succeed in ruining the Internet?

"The U.S. government is trying to extradite O’Dwyer to the United States to face charges of criminal copyright infringement.
While MegaUpload hosted terabytes worth of "infringing" files, O’Dwyer simply linked to them — but in the eyes of the U.S. Justice Department, these two things are virtually equivalent. If the case proceeds, it could force us to change the way we think about some of the fundamental underpinnings of the web."

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