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Comment Re:Tap Energy of Volcano? (Score 2) 469

It's not so much the distance of the lava over the ground. If you carefully pop the cork from a champagne bottle, it does not overflow. Be somewhat less gentle, and the stuff overflows from the top and drips down the side, maybe you get a bit of rise. There are volcanos that look like this when erupting. Shake vigorously, and the cork will launch itself on a fountain of bubbles. That's a volcano lik Mt. St. Helens. For a supervolcano, the champagne bottle is insufficient as a simile. Think broken fire hydrant. The problem is the enormous amount of lava going up in the air in droplets and turning into ash, which then gets spread around the atmosphere around the world.

I have no "farthest ever", but did find this artice on Wikipedia for you, including a reference to a book on the subject, that states that when Yellowstone last erupted, 6400.000 years ago, the magma and ashes got as far as norht Mexico and covered the USA west of Mississippi.

Hope that helps.

Comment some background info on the Dutch ruling (Score 4, Informative) 622

Here is an article from the FOSS Patents Blog with some details on the case ruled on in last August in the Netherlands, which is what I guess is being referred to as "earlier dismissed in Europe". It's certainly amazing how one judge can say "this clearly existed before" and another can say "no it didn't" based on the same info.
Businesses

Submission + - Revealed – the capitalist network that runs (newscientist.com)

webhat writes: "New Scientist is running an article that scientists have discovered the capitalist network that runs the world . The idea that a few bankers control a large chunk of the global economy might not seem like news to New York's Occupy Wall Street movement and protesters elsewhere (see photo). But the study, by a trio of complex systems theorists at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, is the first to go beyond ideology to empirically identify such a network of power. It combines the mathematics long used to model natural systems with comprehensive corporate data to map ownership among the world's transnational corporations — a core of 1318 companies with interlocking ownerships."
Australia

Submission + - Aussie's manufacturing UAV's via 3D printing (suasnews.com)

garymortimer writes: "The CyberQuad is an Australian designed unmanned, electric vertical take-off and landing system (Quadrotor) designed by Cyber technology in WA. It’s a great example of the power of 3D printing, for the production of end-use-parts and assemblies made directly from 3D CAD data – without tooling.

A true direct manufacturing application, the CyberQuad, is produced in a 3D Systems next generation SLS Production 3D Printers. Using a unique material called DuraForm, parts are capable of withstanding harsh conditions and used for direct low-volume manufacturing, providing the flexibility to modify, optimise and evolve designs on-the-fly."

IOS

Submission + - IOS jailbreak (livestreamblog.com)

webstar Technology writes: "iOS jailbreaking, or simply jailbreaking, is the process of removing the limitations imposed by Apple on devices running the iOS operating system through use of custom kernels. Such devices include the iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, and 2nd Gen Apple TV.

Jail breaking is basically modifying the iPhone’s firmware so that you can get access to the internals of its operating system and install a whole slew of third-party applications on your iPhone that are not otherwise available through official channels. Jailbreaking your iPhone in and of itself doesn’t normally make much difference in your operation of it, but it does allow you to install other third-party applications that are not blessed by Apple."

Facebook

Submission + - More Facebook friends linked to bigger brain areas (reuters.com)

armybits writes: (Reuters) — Scientists have found a direct link between the number of "friends" a person has on Facebook and the size of certain brain regions, raising the possibility that using online social networks might change our brains.
Piracy

Submission + - ACTA Signed by 8 of 11 Countries (eff.org)

An anonymous reader writes: On Saturday October 1st, eight countries (the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, Morocco, New Zealand, Singapore, and South Korea) signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) in Tokyo, Japan. Three of the participating countries (the European Union, Mexico, and Switzerland) have not yet signed the treaty, but have issued a joint statement affirming their intentions to sign it “as soon as practicable.” ACTA will remain open for signature until May 2013. While the treaty’s title might suggest that it deals only with counterfeit physical goods such as medicines, it is in fact far broader in scope. ACTA contains new potential obligations for Internet intermediaries, requiring them to police the Internet and their users, which in turn pose significant concerns for citizens’ privacy, freedom of expression, and fair use rights.
Science

Submission + - Robert Socolow's Wedges Theory, Reconfirmed (thebulletin.org)

__aaqpaq9254 writes: Robert Socolow explains his "Wedges Theory". Inaccurate reports that he had walked back this theory of containing climate change prompted him to not only reiterate the theory, but to add 2 wedges to the original 7. Here's a quote: "In a widely reproduced Figure (see below) we identified a Stabilization Triangle, bounded by two 50-year paths. Along the upper path, the world ignores climate change for 50 years and the global emissions rate for greenhouse gases doubles. Along the lower path, with extremely hard work, the rate remains constant. We reported that starting along the flat emissions path in 2004 was consistent with "beating doubling," i.e., capping the atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration at below twice its "pre-industrial" concentration (the concentration a few centuries ago)."
Iphone

Submission + - Why Siri's limited functionality works to its adva (edibleapple.com)

An anonymous reader writes: Siri, by all accounts, is the top feature Apple seems to be touting in the newly released iPhone 4S. Siri, some people claim, will bring AI to the masses and will, in fact, serve as a viable personal assistant for iPhone users.

But while some have complained that Siri's functionality is limited, this actually works to its advantage as people will learn to trust the feature first before Apple expands its feature set.

Crime

Submission + - British Police Force In Court Over Copyright 'Thef (eweekeurope.co.uk)

judgecorp writes: "The West Yorkshire police force is in the British High court today, accused of stealing intellectual property from a firn whose software decodes forensic data from mobile phones. Forensic Telecoms Services claims the force illegally used and sold copyright data from a commercial mobile phone forensics application it had been using in high profile cases."
Businesses

Submission + - CSC chief Laphen retires as company in crisis (computerworlduk.com)

DMandPenfold writes: CSC's chairman and CEO, Mike Laphen, has announced he will retire from his position within a year — at a time the company faces some of the toughest challenges in its history with a major US SEC regulatory investigation, an accounting scandal and legal challenges over a huge scrapped NHS project.

A Danish accounting scandal at CSC has led to US regulator the Securities & Exchange Commission carrying out a long-running investigation, which is ongoing, and yesterday Danish chief executive Carsten Lind resigned without explanation. Tough discussions also continue with the UK government over the company's £3 billion contract on the failed NHS National Programme for IT, currently the subject of a large investor lawsuit.

Anthony Miller, a veteran analyst and chairman at TechMarket View, said the company has undergone several "meaning of life reviews" as key contract margins have slid downwards. "What is the point of CSC?" he said.

"Nothing much seems to have changed from its old conglomerate-style ‘global’ services operations. Margins are now below five percent, well under half of those of its US-based peers".

Laphen said in a statement that the firm’s "dedicated employees and management team have put CSC on a solid footing, and I am confident that the company is well positioned for its next phase of growth and development".

Although Laphen announced his resignation, no successor has been named at the company. Laphen, a 35-year veteran of the company, will stay on until a replacement is found but no later than 31 October, 2012. CSC has formed a search committee to find a candidate.

The 96,000-employee IT services company has been under severe pressure this year, with the ongoing investigation by the SEC. CSC financial statements have indicated the fraud was allegedly carried out by employees.

Laphen's announcement came on the same day as the resignation of CSC Denmark's CEO, Carsten Lind. No reason was given for Lind's resignation either. He is expected to be replaced by John Walsh, a CSC vice president. CSC's Denmark subsidiaries have lost money for five years, and Lind recently said that "we, as a company, are facing big challenges that require the full attention of the management."

Canada

Submission + - Web links don't constitute defamation, Supreme Cou (theglobeandmail.com)

omega6 writes: Supreme Court of Canada ruled that posting links is not the same as posting the actual content, but more similar to a footnote.
"The top court ruled against former Green party campaign manager Wayne Crookes, who argued that posting links to sites with defamatory statements was the same as publishing the defamatory material."

Canada

Submission + - Canadian Supreme Ct Stands Up for the Net: No Liab (michaelgeist.ca)

An anonymous reader writes: The Supreme Court of Canada today delivered a major decision on the issue of liability for linking to allegedly defamatory content. The court provided a huge win for the Internet as it clearly understood the significance of linking to freedom of expression and the way the Internet functions by ruling that there is no liability for a mere hyperlink. As Michael Geist notes in his summary, the key quote is simply"a hyperlink, by itself, should never be seen as “publication” of the content to which it refers."

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