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Comment Re:Science or Religion? (Score 1) 1136

Mmkay... If you still believe that "Scientists are VERY clear: AGW is happening," you are a true believer. Watch your prophet expound in a debate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDI2NVTYRXU

If you go back a little longer than 10 years, you can see that CO2 was rising even during a global cooling period: http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/webdata/ccgg/trends/co2_data_mlo.png So what's the direct relationship between CO2 and temperature again...?

Comment Re:Science or Religion? (Score 1) 1136

2/ CO2 levels has changed dramatically since the industrial revolution,

Citation...?

in fact we can calculate how much CO2 we dump into the atmosphere by looking at the amount of oil and gas sold.

What about how much CO2 we and all the other animals on the planet exhale?
What about other sources of CO2 aside from humans?

Comment Re:Statistics! (Score 1) 1142

And how will they understand logic (or skepticism which is just an extension of logic) without proper grammar and communication skills?

Logic and skepticism are fundamentally about asking questions. How can you ask a question without the knowledge or ability to communicate in a comprehensible way?

Comment Increased Exposure...? (Score 1) 356

I have to wonder if it would be a more accurate link between the amount of time a child spent in near proximity to vinyl flooring and not just whether or not the household had it.

In other words, if children who spend more time sitting in their homes, crawling the floor, etc, are more prone to Autism than children who spend a greater percentage of their time outdoors.

Additionally, I wonder if a similar correlation exists if there is extensive parental exposure to phthalates prior to conception.

Comment Re:FACTS, not "truth". (Score 1) 385

The problem with this is simple: the author of a Wikipedia article controls your opinions about a topic by selectively choosing his sources. He can make what he writes seem extraordinarily accurate based on the sources he chooses — or more significantly, the sources he ignores.

If Britannica wishes to secure their reputation, they do not have this luxury.

Education

For CS Majors, How Important Is the "Where?" 991

An anonymous reader writes "I'm a high school senior who is trying to pick a college to attend. I've been accepted by two comparably selective schools. One is a highly regarded tech school, and the other is a highly regarded liberal arts institution. I prefer the liberal arts college, but the computer science program is small, graduating about a dozen students a year. The course load is heavily theory based; programming languages are taught in later years. How much would the tech school vs. non tech school matter? Are CS majors from non-tech school considered inferior? What would an HR department think? What would you think if you were hiring?"
It's funny.  Laugh.

Submission + - Google exec bashes neckties

MsManhattan writes: The necktie 'constricts circulation to the brain' and 'acts as decorative camouflage for the business suit, designed to shield the middle-aged male physique, with its shrinking shoulders and protruding paunch, from feeling sufficiently self-conscious to hit the gym,' wrote Google's global privacy counsel in a letter to the Financial Times. The exec, Peter Fleischer, was responding to an article in the paper's fashion section that advocated the tie as appropriate business attire. Fleischer suggested that the T-shirt is actually a better option in business, explaining: 'Wouldn't you like to know whether your business partners are fit? Why should you trust a man in business if he abuses his own body?' Casual attire, he added, could also lead to increased creativity.
Announcements

Submission + - SDF Public Access UNIX System Celebrates 20 Years (lonestar.org)

Stephen Jones writes: "The SDF Public Access UNIX System Celebrates 20 Years!
http://sdf.lonestar.org/

It was on June 16th, 1987 that the SDF-1 received its first caller at
300bps. This little Apple ][e BBS of the late 80s turned into a Public
Access UNIX System with the demise of "killer.dallas.tx.us" during the
"Operation Sundevil" raids. Since then it has grown to become the oldest
and largest continually operating PUBNIX on the planet."

Unix

Submission + - SDF Public Access Unix System Turns 20 (lonestar.org)

Eileen writes: Remember those days when you could get a free Unix shell account and learn all about the command line? You still can at the Super Dimension Fortress (SDF). SDF is celebrating its 20th birthday on June 16.

Full press release text:
The SDF Public Access UNIX System Celebrates 20 Years!
http://sdf.lonestar.org


It was on June 16th, 1987 that the SDF-1 received its first caller at 300bps. This little Apple ][e BBS of the late 80s turned into a Public Access UNIX System with the demise of "killer.dallas.tx.us" during the "Operation Sundevil" raids. Since then it has grown to become the oldest and largest continually operating PUBNIX on the planet.

Over the years SDF has been a home to 2+ million people from all over the world and has been supported by donations and membership dues. SDFers pride themselves on the fact that theirs is one of the last bastions of "the real INTERNET", out of the reach and scope of the commercialism and advertising of the DOT COM entities. It is a proponent of SMTP greylisting as opposed to content filtering and offers that as an option to its members.

While access to basic services are free to everyone, lifetime membership can be obtained for a mere onetime donation of $36. And it is the members who decide which programs and features are available. The members communicate via a web free, google inaccessible, text bulletin board ('bboard') as well as an interactive chat ('com') where users battle each other in the integrated netris matches. The interface of these programs harks back to the days when TOPS-20 CMD J-SYS ruled the ARPANET.

SDF has also become home to well known hackers such as Bill Gosper, Tom Ellard (Severed Heads), Geoff Goodfellow, Carolyn Meinel and Ezra Buchla, son of the father of the Synthesizer. From this pool of talent you might expect more than just computing, and you'd be correct. An annual music compilation is published featuring original music ranging from electronic noise to improvised piano sonatinas. Gosper's puzzles which he has cut at his favorite laser shop are frequently given away as membership perks or through fundraising raffles.

There are always classes being taught on SDF as well, where instructors and students enjoy free access to the latest teaching and programming tools. Instructors manage their own classes in such a way as not to be encumbered by their own school's outdated utilities or computer security restrictions, which can hamper the learning process.

And where else would you expect to be able to locally dialup at 1200bps from just about anywhere in the USA and Canada with a Commodore 64 and get a login prompt? SDF! As well as direct login, SDF offers PPP and PPPoE via analogue dialup (1200bps — 56kbps), ISDN and DSL. Members also have access to the SDF VPN (Virtual Private Network) and Dynamic Domain Name Service.

One of the many interesting and esoteric aspects of life on the SDF-1 is GOPHER. All users have access to their own GOPHER space and a number of them continue to find it a useful way to share text and data. And if you don't want to relive that past, SDF's 'motd.org' project offers a collaboration amongst members to share source and security tweaks for the latest wikis, web forums, photo galleries and blogs.

SDF runs NetBSD on a cluster of 12 DEC alphas with 3 BGP'ed T1s linking it to the INTERNET. It is an annual supporter of the NetBSD foundation and the Computer History Museum (CA). One of its original incarnations, an AT&T 3B2/500, is displayed annually at the Vintage Computer Festival.

Unix

Submission + - SDF Public Access UNIX turns 20!

An anonymous reader writes: It was on June 16th, 1987 that the SDF-1 received its first caller at 300bps. This little Apple ][e BBS of the late 80s turned into a Public Access UNIX System with the demise of "killer.dallas.tx.us" during the "Operation Sundevil" raids. Since then it has grown to become the oldest and largest continually operating PUBNIX on the planet.

Over the years SDF has been a home to 2+ million people from all over the world and has been supported by donations and membership dues. SDFers pride themselves on the fact that theirs is one of the last bastions of "the real INTERNET", out of the reach and scope of the commercialism and advertising of the DOT COM entities.

for more....http://sdf.lonestar.org/news/
Networking

Submission + - Happy 20th SDF (freeshell.org)

m0smithslash writes: "Where were you in 1987? 1987 was the year that Oscar Arias Sanchez won the Nobel peace prize, Supernova 1987A is observed (the first "naked-eye" supernova since 1604), the Unabomber, N.Y. Giants defeat the Denver Broncos, 39- 20, in Super Bowl XXI, and the The Legend of Zelda released for the NES in North America. June 16th, 1987 marked the day that the SDF-1 received its first caller at 300bps. From the press release:

This little Apple ][e BBS of the late 80s turned into a Public Access UNIX System with the demise of "killer.dallas.tx.us" during the "Operation Sundevil" raids. Since then it has grown to become the oldest and largest continually operating PUBNIX on the planet.
For crying out loud, all users have access to their own GOPHER space as well as more modern technologies like blogs, wikis and so forth. What more could you want?"

Unix

Submission + - SDF Public Access Unix System turns 20 ... (lonestar.org)

edrdo writes: "SDF (aka Super Dimensional Fortress), the largest and oldest public access UNIX system (also a non-profit organization) has just turned 20. See the press release to get an idea of how rich the SDF story is and how hard these pioneering guys have stuck to their ideals and payed a great service to the Internet.

The SDF Public Access UNIX System Celebrates 20 Years! http://sdf.lonestar.org/ It was on June 16th, 1987 that the SDF-1 received its first caller at 300bps. This little Apple ][e BBS of the late 80s turned into a Public Access UNIX System with the demise of "killer.dallas.tx.us" during the "Operation Sundevil" raids. Since then it has grown to become the oldest and largest continually operating PUBNIX on the planet ...
"

Wireless Networking

Submission + - "Free Public WiFi" Explained

Kichigai Mentat writes: "Michael Rose over at The Unofficial Apple Weblog (or TUAW) recently discovered the cause of the proliferation of Ad Hoc networks marked "Free Public WiFi.". From the article:

I had seen these "Free Public WiFi" peer-to-peer networks around before, usually in airports, and had ignored them as malware honeypots; the truth is apparently a little less malicious but still pretty scary. It seems that our friends in Redmond have (since Jan 06) some strangeness in the wireless network management routines under XP;
Apparently Windows XP echos the SSID of Ad Hoc networks that it once was connected to, but no longer can find."

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