Comment Re:Logical Fallacy Bingo (Score 1) 706
So I've been watching the debate here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23_Ioj-TKj4
And I am not exactly sure whom I should vote for? Any ideas?
Comment I seem to have lost "for" in the title. (Score 1) 1
Sorry
Submission + - No charges father after fatal beating of map raping his 4 year old daughter. (chicagotribune.com) 1
TheMeuge writes: A Texas grand jury has declined to issue an indictment in a case that proves that common sense can still prevail. The father heard his daughters screams during a family event, he told police, and followed them to a secluded area, where he witnessed an employee of the family attempting to rape his 4-year-old daughter. Several witnesses decribed seeing the father beating the assailant's head against the pavement repeatedly. During the subsequent 911 call, the father's frantic voice can be heard: "I need an ambulance! This guy was raping my daughter, and I beat him up, and I don't know what to do!"
Chuck Schumer Tells Apple and Google To "Curb Your Spy Planes" 302
mk1004 writes with news from The Register that U.S. Senator Charles Schumer of New York has written to Apple and Google regarding their use of 'military-grade spy planes.' The Senator claims concerns ranging from voyeurism to terrorism. Suggested protections: Warn when areas are going to be imaged, give property owners the right to opt out, and blurring of individuals. Schumer seems happy enough, though, with the more detailed versions of such surveillance being in the hands of law enforcement agencies, and phrases his complaint to emphasize what he perceives as risks to infrastructure brought about by detailed maps that anyone can browse: "[I]f highly detailed images become available, criminals could create more complete schematic maps of the power and water grids in the United States. With the vast amount of infrastructure across the country, it would be impossible to secure every location."
Connecticut Resident Stopped By State Police For Radioactivity 545
Okian Warrior writes "A Milford, CT man was pulled over when a state police car radioactivity scanner flagged his car as being radioactive. The man had been given a cardiac exam using radioactive dye, and had a note from his physician attesting to this, but it raises questions about the legality of the stop. Given that it is not illegal to own or purchase or transport radioactive materials (within limits for hobbyist use), should the police be allowed to stop and search vehicles which show a slight level of radioactivity?"
Comment Re:Car analogy (Score 0) 392
If I operate on a patient, and then give them instructions on how to properly care for their wound, which they fail to follow, I still have to treat their infection.
I think it's a well-accepted practice that commercial software that is within its useful life gets security patches. Given that CS6 is barely off the press, I would think it reasonable that CS5 still gets at least some support.
Comment Car analogy (Score 2, Funny) 392
This is akin to buying a 2010 Chevy (under warranty), then finding out that the brakes catch on fire under certain circumstances, and the company's suggestion: buy a 2012.
Comment Re:Sudden outbreak of common sense, I guess (Score 5, Insightful) 370
Despite what the "tough on crime" short-sighted idiots would say, this is not only a necessary decision, but a really long-time-coming one. Considering how many links people click on over the course of the day, with hardly any idea (implicitly or explicitly) of what's going to be found on the other side, there have been many unintentional violations of the current law. Furthermore, I wonder how many people who surfed the internet for legal (consentual, adult) pornography, have seen what looked like child porn at one time or another. But under current law, no matter how disgusted you may have been, or how quickly you closed the page, you were guilty by definition. Furthermore, if you reported what you saw, you not only were guilty, but you had confessed as well. This was akin to the UK case where a man found a shotgun that was thrown into his garden from a passing vehicle, and turned it into the police, only to be jailed for weapons possession, since he was "in possession" of it during the course of bringing it to the police station.
This is an important decision for internet safety, and should be applauded, and will hopefully serve as precedent for cases outside of New York as well, since the practice of trawling the browser cache for suspect images is fairly prevalent. And I have to say - I doubt that anyone who intentionally views child pornography would be that obvious, unless they were stupid. And if they were that stupid, there'd be plenty of other "downloaded" evidence all over the place. In short, the draconian law as it stands right now is simply not necessary for prosecution of real purveyors of child porn, and likely served only to trawl for victims.
NY Ruling Distinguishes Downloading, Viewing Child Pornography 370
bs0d3 writes "According to a recent ruling in New York state, from Senior Judge Carmen Beauchamp Ciparick, 'Merely viewing Web images of child pornography does not, absent other proof, constitute either possession or procurement within the meaning of our Penal Law. Rather, some affirmative act is required (printing, saving, downloading, etc.) to show that defendant in fact exercised dominion and control over the images that were on his screen.' Which means under New York state law, creating, and possessing child pornography is illegal; the lawmakers never specifically said that merely viewing it is a crime. The prosecution mentioned that the images were saved on his hard drive via the browser cache. However the court ruled that this was not the same as having a saved image. This means that people from New York state who click the wrong link by accident will no longer face serious jail time and a lifetime of registering as a sex offender. People will be able to report what they've found to the police who can then go after the source of the child porn, instead of someone who was merely browsing the internet."
Comment Re:Waiting for facts (Score 2) 181
Why wait for facts? Ban!
Comment Re:Frak (Score 1) 675
Is there an option to mod down for stream-of-stupidity?
Botched Repair Likely Cause of Combusting iPhone After Flight 181
aesoteric writes "The combustion of an Apple iPhone 4 after a regional flight in Australia was likely caused by a botched repair of the handset by an unauthorized repairer, according to air safety investigators in the U.S. and Australia. A small metal screw had been misplaced in the battery bay of the handset. The screw punctured the battery casing and caused an internal short circuit, making the iPhone emit dense smoke (PDF)."
Comment Re:Frak (Score 5, Funny) 675
I just have one thing to say:
We will all go together when we go.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frAEmhqdLFs
Comment Re:Why, just why... (Score 1) 332
The only way I can envision this actually happening the way the story is written, is if this particular method was well-known to the law enforcement and they had already worked out all the necessary tools for detecting AND breaking the hidden container.
Otherwise, it sounds like a false flag operation to me.
That's what I think, and I'm one of those people who wants to hit conspiracy nuts most of the time. That's how obvious this sounds.
Comment Re:what better... (Score 1) 302
I'm convinced there are people out there somewhere saying "We're not broke enough - how can we blow another $10 billion without starting a riot?"
"I know, lets try lasers on 747's again - spectacular success last time"
"Good - but when we're asked why we need them..."
"Those new fake missiles in NK could be a threat"
"Brilliant!"
At least it'd (probably) be made in the US. I figure if we're wasting money, let's at least pay some Americans to play with high technology.
