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Feed More Flight Than Fancy? (sciencedaily.com)

From feed by sdfeed
Scientists have turned a textbook example of sexual selection on its head and shown that females may be more astute at choosing a mate than previously thought. New research shows that differences in the lengths of the long tail feathers possessed by male barn swallows are an example of natural selection, not sexual selection.

Feed What's the cost of a data breach? (com.com)

From feed by cnetfeed
Blog: An insurance company has come up with a calculator that lets companies to estimate their financial risk from data theft.The calculator...
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - IRS to go after eBay sellers

Submitted by
prostoalex
prostoalex writes: "Fed up with numerous violations of tax law by individuals and businesses selling goods on eBay, Amazon Marketplace, uBid.com, etc., IRS is pushing Congress to make online marketplaces responsible for reporting the sales information to the tax man, in order to prevent under-reporting of the income. eBay's "own statistics suggest that there are 1.3 million people around the world who make their primary or secondary source of income through eBay, with just over 700,000 in the United States", News.com.com.com says."
Announcements

Submission + - Panel: US Faces Change As Climate Warms

Submitted by YonathanBegopa
YonathanBegopa writes: Chicago and Los Angeles will likely to face increasing heat waves. Severe storm surges could hit New York and Boston. And cities that rely on melting snow for water may run into serious shortages. These are some of the findings about North America in a report by hundreds of scientists that try to explain how global warming is changing life on Earth. The scientists with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released a summary of their findings on global warming last Friday and outlined details of the report focusing on various regions on Tuesday.
The Internet

Submission + - Presidential Candidate Uses YouTube

Submitted by
Aaron Wilson
Aaron Wilson writes: "U.S. Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney kicks off YouTube's "You Choose Spotlight" by posting an informal video of himself. In the clip he calls for feedback videos from the YouTube community. "What do you believe is America's single greatest challenge?" Mitt says, "And what would you do to address it?" While the YouTube community shoots back with mixed responses regarding political issues, there is general enthusiasm about a presidential candidate embracing the Internet community at large."

Feed Lorne Michaels Wishes NBC Would Put More Of SNL On YouTube (techdirt.com)

From feed by techdirtfeed
Just as Viacom employee Jon Stewart appears to believe his bosses are making a mistake in taking Viacom content off of YouTube, it looks like NBC employee and Saturday Night Live creator and producer, Lorne Michaels can't understand NBC's position on YouTube (found via GoogleWatch). The interview of Michaels is especially interesting, because it was a Saturday Night Live clip of the infamous "Lazy Sunday" music video that is often credited with putting YouTube on the map. At the same time, however, almost everyone admitted that it did wonders in revitalizing SNL's reputation (as well as boosting Andy Samberg's reputation to new heights). Yet, NBC's lawyers shot it down, limiting the benefit to SNL. It appears that Michaels understands that, and says he wishes they could put more of the show on YouTube: "YouTube has been great for us." He also understands the promotional aspect of YouTube: "I think it's simple for me. If the work is good, I want the most number of people to see it -- period. Anything that leads to that would be my objective." As for NBC's new deal with News Corp to distribute videos: "I think it should be clear, I don't quite understand what NBC is doing with Fox." Apparently, the lawyers and decision makers at these entertainment companies never bothered to talk to those who actually understand what the audience wants. When your decisions are driven less by pleasing your audience and more out of some kind of fear of changing business models, you know your strategy is doomed.
Politics

US Government IT Security 'Outstandingly Mediocre' 86

Posted by Zonk from the c-minus-for-the-lose dept.
mrneutron2004 writes wrote with a link to an article on The Register, discussing an annual IT security report card handed out to the federal government. The results this year were mixed. The good news is that they graded higher than last year. The bad news? They still just rate a C-". Individual departments did better than others, but overall the results were quite poor. "Although overall security procedures improved the Department of Defense (DoD) recorded a failing F grade. Meanwhile the Department of Veterans Affairs - whose loss of laptops containing veterans' confidential data triggered a huge security breach - failed to submit a report. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, another agency that has trouble keeping track of its PCs, flunked."
Education

Should Schools Block Sites Like Wikipedia? 545

Posted by Cliff from the concerned-about-its-accuracy dept.
Londovir asks: "Recently, our school board made the decision to block Wikipedia from our school district's WAN system. This was a complete block — there aren't even provisions in place for teachers or administrators to input a password to bypass the restriction. The reason given was that Wikipedia (being user created and edited) did not represent a credible or reliable source of information for schools. Should we block sites such as Wikipedia because students may be exposed to misinformation, or should we encourage sites such as Wikipedia as an outlet for students to investigate and determine the validity of the information?"
The Internet

New Law Lets Data Centers Hide Power Usage 208

Posted by Zonk from the users-and-abusers dept.
1sockchuck writes "Just days after Google announced that it may build a huge data center in the state, Oklahoma's governor has signed a bill into law that will effectively exempt the largest customers of municipal power companies from public disclosure of how much power they are using. Officials of the state's power industry say the measure is not a 'Google Law' but was sought 'on behalf of large-volume electric users that might be considering a move to Oklahoma.' Others acknowledge that data center operators were among those seeking the law, apparently arguing that the details of their enormous power usage are a trade secret. Google recently acquired 800 acres in Pryor, Oklahoma for possible development as a data center, and is reportedly seeking up to 15 megawatts of power for the facility."
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft ordered to pay 1.5 Billion

Submitted by
Anonymous Coward
Anonymous Coward writes: "CNN has it all; Microsoft ordered to pay 1.5 Billion dollars in patent infringement case. (http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/22/technology/micros oft_alcatel/index.htm?eref=rss_topstories) From the article; "NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — A federal jury said Thursday that software maker Microsoft Corp. infringed audio patents held by Alcatel-Lucent and should pay $1.52 billion in damages. Tom Burt, Microsoft corporate vice president and deputy general counsel, said the verdict was unsupported by law or facts. TECHNOLOGY "Today's outcome is disappointing for us and for the hundreds of other companies who have licensed MP3 technology. "We will seek relief from the trial court, and if necessary appeal," Burt said. ""
IBM

Submission + - IBM 1401 Orchestral Composition

Submitted by
Anonymous Coward
Anonymous Coward writes: "From the IBM DEveloperWorks 22 February 2007 edition:
"IBM 1401, A User's Manual" is probably not on your must-read list (anymore) — but I'd certainly recommend giving it a listen. Icelandic avant-garde composer Johann Johannsson has released an orchestral composition of the same name, which includes recordings of the old mainframe made by Johannson's father in 1971 (when his 1401 was taken out of service). http://www.ausersmanual.com/"
United States

Submission + - Stanford gears up for robot race

Submitted by nght2000
nght2000 writes: The Stanford Racing Team displayed their entry for the DARPA Urban Challenge this past weekend. The story was reported in the Palo Alto Daily News. The DARPA Urban Challenge features autonomous ground vehicles conducting simulated military supply missions in a mock urban area. Safe operation in traffic is essential to U.S. military plans to use autonomous ground vehicles to conduct important missions. The vehicle, a 2006 diesel powered Passat named Junior, was donated by Volkswagen of America. Volkswagen's Electronics Research Laboratory in Palo Alto, California is once again joining the Stanford Team by providing vehicle support, modification and testing. This year the team is being sponsored by no less than Google, Intel, Red Bull and others. Stanford won the 2005 DARPA Grand Challenge with their Volkswagen Touareg robot named Stanley. The Urban Challenge is scheduled to be held at an undisclosed location on November 3, 2007.

Feed NSA Spy Documents Stay Sealed (wired.com)

From feed by wiredfeed
A federal judge rejects a bid by Wired News and other media outlets to unseal whistle-blower papers in a lawsuit over surveillance of Americans. In 27B Stroke 6.


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I tell them to turn to the study of mathematics, for it is only there that they might escape the lusts of the flesh. -- Thomas Mann, "The Magic Mountain"

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