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Submission + - Flying Spaghetti Monster Gets Mainstream Press (cnn.com)

Submitted by LoveMe2Times on Friday November 16, 2007 @04:00PM

LoveMe2Times writes: While the CNN article discusses the fact that some students will be making presentations about The Flying Spaghetti Monster at the American Academy of Religion's annual meeting, I think the real story here is that there's an article linked off of CNN's home page discussing His Noodley Appendages at all (however, if you take an interest in the topic, the linked article is actually worth a read). Surely, this will be a huge boon in the quest to convert the heathens and educate the unwashed masses! Anybody here ready to give up their Jedi ways and welcome our new Noodley Overlord?

Submission + - Our universe might be somebody else's hobby

Submitted by Maximum Prophet on Tuesday August 14, 2007 @12:06PM

Maximum Prophet writes: In this article, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/14/science/14tier.h tml?8dpc, John Tierney, posits that we might just be a simulation in someone else's computer, based on the work of Nick Bostrom, a philosopher at Oxford University.
Not really a new idea, but it's the first time I've seen it in the mainstream press.

They don't mention it in the article, but the way to prove the hypothesis would be to look for bugs in the OS, and gain root privileges.

Submission + - FBI snaps up Napoleon III's gun from online sales (networkworld.com)

Submitted by

coondoggie

on Monday August 13, 2007 @12:14PM

coondoggie writes: "The FBI doesn't usually find itself in the business of retrieving guns but last week it made an exception: a rare Gastinne Renette carbine taken from a Paris military museum during World War II while the Germans occupied Paris that once belonged to Napoleon III. French authorities have searched for the 37-inch gun ever since and when it popped up on the Web site gunsamerica.com, French officials contacted Interpol, which in then enlisted help from the FBI.An undercover operation was initiated by local FBI agents, and agents from the FBI's Art Crime Team, which resulted in the safe recovery of the weapon last week. The Art Crime Team is the FBI's 12-member rapid-deployment unit responsible for investigating cases involving cultural property and artwork. To date, the Team is responsible for recovering more than 850 items worth more than $65million. http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/18373"

Submission + - America living shorter than the rest of the world

Submitted by jrv116psu on Sunday August 12, 2007 @11:42AM

jrv116psu writes: America has dropped from 11th to 42nd in the list of countries whose citizens live the longest.
According to an associated press article, even though Americans are living longer than they ever have before, other countries are passing us in leaps and bounds. Apparently one of the main factors holding us back is our obesity rate...

Think about that the next time you're scarfing down a double quarter pounder with cheese and large fries! ....

Submission + - Scientology harrassment attempt backfired badly

Submitted by BertDeJong on Wednesday May 16, 2007 @06:18AM

BertDeJong writes: Making a critical documentary about the cult of Scientology wasn't made easy for BBC Panorama's investigating journalist John Sweeney, as he was being follow-up, harrassed, and intimidated for days by one "Tommy" (wearing sunglasses and a black suit) of Scientology during his investigation. Sweeney lost it after a couple of days, and explained "Tommy" where they were at. Scientology taped the event, and decided it would be good message to enemies of Scientology so they put it on Youtube. But this badly backfired when Panorama viewing rates went through the roof in Britain. Scientology are now considering legal steps.

Submission + - OpenBSD truly secure by default

Submitted by Digana on Wednesday May 09, 2007 @07:09PM

Digana writes: OpenBSD is so secure, that you by default you're forbidden from seeing their own webpage!

E-Voting Reform Bill Gaining Adherants 161

Posted by kdawson on Monday April 02, 2007 @07:27PM from the paper-trail-and-source-inspection dept.

JeremyDuffy sends us to Ars Technica for a look at an e-voting bill making its way through Congress that is gaining the support of the likes of Ed Felten and the EFF. Quoting: "HR 811 features several requirements that will warm the hearts of geek activists. It bans the use of computerized voting machines that lack a voter-verified paper trail. It mandates that the paper records be the authoritative source in any recounts, and requires prominent notices reminding voters to double-check the paper record before leaving the polling place. It mandates automatic audits of at least three percent of all votes cast to detect discrepancies between the paper and electronic records. It bans voting machines that contain wireless networking hardware and prohibits connecting voting machines to the Internet. Finally, it requires that the source code for e-voting machines be made publicly available."

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