Comment Firefox addon (Score 1) 92
What was the name of that firefox addon that disables facebook (and others) when it is embedded in somebody else's page ? While still allowing you to use facebook.com. I forgot.
Comment Re:How about protecting the public (Score 4, Insightful) 302
The only scenario I find credible and that is perhaps not so unlikely is that large parts of the army and national guard would split off and join the resistance [...]
Which is basically also the only way that any rebellion/revolution has managed to succeed in the past.
When Everything Works Like Your Cell Phone 175
The Atlantic is running an article about how "smart" devices are starting to see everyday use in many people's home. The authors say this will fundamentally change the concept of what it means to own and control your possessions. Using smartphones as an example, they extrapolate this out to a future where many household items are dependent on software. Quoting:
These phones come with all kinds of restrictions on their possible physical capabilities. You may not take them apart. Depending on the plan, not all software can be downloaded onto them, not every device can be tethered to them, and not every cell phone network can be tapped. "Owning" a phone is much more complex than owning a plunger. And if the big tech players building the wearable future, the Internet of things, self-driving cars, and anything else that links physical stuff to the network get their way, our relationship to ownership is about to undergo a wild transformation.
They also suggest that planned obsolescence will become much more common. For example, take watches: a quality dumbwatch can last decades, but a smartwatch will be obsolete in a few years.
Comment Re:No, It Won't (Score 1) 326
capitalism as severed the world well
There are so many different ways to interpret those two (?) typos...
Comment Re:I moved away from winter (Score 1) 148
I didn't know that... but weren't most towns established at the time of the wild west, long before there was any city 'planning' ? And what are those obstructions you speak of ? Isn't the midwest dead flat for the most part ?
New Global Plan Would Crack Down On Corporate Tax Avoidance 324
HughPickens.com writes:
Reuters reports that plans for a major rewriting of international tax rules have been unveiled by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that could eliminate structures that have allowed companies like Google and Amazon to shave billions of dollars off their tax bills. For more than 50 years, the OECD's work on international taxation has been focused on ensuring companies are not taxed twice on the same profits (and thereby hampering trade and limit global growth). But companies have been using such treaties to ensure profits are not taxed anywhere. A Reuters investigation last year found that three quarters of the 50 biggest U.S. technology companies channeled revenues from European sales into low tax jurisdictions like Ireland and Switzerland, rather than reporting them nationally.
For example, search giant Google takes advantage of tax treaties to channel more than $8 billion in untaxed profits out of Europe and Asia each year and into a subsidiary that is tax resident in Bermuda, which has no income tax. "We are putting an end to double non-taxation," says OECD head of tax Pascal Saint-Amans.For the recommendations to actually become binding, countries will have to encode them in their domestic laws or amend their bilateral tax treaties. Even if they do pass, these changes are likely 5-10 years away from going into effect. Speaking of international corporate business: U.K. mainframe company Micro Focus announced it will buy Attachmate, which includes Novell and SUSE.
For example, search giant Google takes advantage of tax treaties to channel more than $8 billion in untaxed profits out of Europe and Asia each year and into a subsidiary that is tax resident in Bermuda, which has no income tax. "We are putting an end to double non-taxation," says OECD head of tax Pascal Saint-Amans.For the recommendations to actually become binding, countries will have to encode them in their domestic laws or amend their bilateral tax treaties. Even if they do pass, these changes are likely 5-10 years away from going into effect. Speaking of international corporate business: U.K. mainframe company Micro Focus announced it will buy Attachmate, which includes Novell and SUSE.
Comment Re:I moved away from winter (Score 1) 148
...that's when the hurricanes and floods hit you.
I hear the Midwest is nice.
...that's when the tornadoes hit you.
Comment Re:You mean... (Score 1) 243
Yeah, I have those options on my ISP-provided ADSL router where I can select between 'best ping time', 'larger frames for P2P transfer' (their words) and 2 other options I don't remember.
Comment Re:Alexander (Score 3, Interesting) 92
A DNA test would only be relevant if the remains of another member of Alexander's familly was available for comparison. Ptolemy I may have been the half-brother of Alexander so the answer could be in some of the mummies of that dynasty.
There's actually a likely possibility that the cranium of Alexander's father, Phillip II of Macedonia, has been found some years ago in another tomb. Don't know about the state of DNA on it though.
Comment Re:Compromise: (Score 1) 491
Humans like cars, not buses.
Talk for yourself. I like the bus a lot more than a car. In the morning I'm sleepy and don't like to drive. In the evening I'm tired and don't like to drive. Plus in the bus I'm comfortable, can nap, talk with the cute chick or most likely watch videos on my phone. I can also bike to work (long ride) in the morning and put the bike in the bus on the way back (uphill). Plus it's cheap. The bus is great.
Exemptions would be made for large families and legitimate business use.
Why ? If you want 6 kids, you should be able to afford them. Otherwise <snip> Overpopulation is to root of all evil so I don't see reasons to encourage it except by economists who think 'growth' can be forever.
Comment Re:I don't drink coffee. (Score 1) 228
You truly disgust me !
Private Police Intelligence Network Shares Data and Targets Cash 142
Advocatus Diaboli writes Operating in collaboration with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal entities, Black Asphalt members exchanged tens of thousands of reports about American motorists, many of whom had not been charged with any crimes, according to a company official and hundreds of internal documents obtained by The Post. For years, it received no oversight by government, even though its reports contained law enforcement sensitive information about traffic stops and seizures, along with hunches and personal data about drivers, including Social Security numbers and identifying tattoos. Black Asphalt also has served as a social hub for a new brand of highway interdictors, a group that one Desert Snow official has called 'a brotherhood.' Among other things, the site hosts an annual competition to honor police who seize the most contraband and cash on the highways. As part of the contest, Desert Snow encouraged state and local patrol officers to post seizure data along with photos of themselves with stacks of currency and drugs. Some of the photos appear in a rousing hard-rock video that the Guthrie, Okla.-based Desert Snow uses to promote its training courses.
Comment Re:Reclining should be banned in coach. (Score 1) 819
This has been debated to death already, but I find all your arguments pretty weak, if not plain wrong. What else is there to do on a noisy flight besides taking a nap ? If you want to work, get an office ! As for hurting your back, those seats are way too straight and hurt my back quickly if not reclined. PS: the angle of the table doesn't change upon reclining.
Newly Discovered Asteroid To Pass Within Geostationary Orbit Sunday 101
theshowmecanuck writes: A newly found asteroid the size of a house will give earth a close flyby this weekend. It will pass just below satellites in geostationary orbit, and above New Zealand around 14:18 EDT / 18:18 GMT / 06:18 NZST this coming Sunday (Monday morning in NZ). "Asteroid 2014 RC was initially discovered on the night of August 31 by the Catalina Sky Survey near Tucson, Arizona, and independently detected the next night by the Pan-STARRS 1 telescope, located on the summit of Haleakal on Maui, Hawaii," NASA officials said in a statement.
Dirty Diapers Used To Grow Mushrooms
97
Zothecula writes While their contents might be considered an environmental hazard by many, disposable diapers themselves pose a more significant problem for the environment. According to the EPA, the average baby will work their way through 8,000 of them before they end up in landfill where they'll take centuries to break down. In an effort to reduce the problem, scientists at Mexico's Autonomous Metropolitan University, Azcapotzalco (UAM-A), have turned used diapers to the task of growing mushrooms.
