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Comment Re:Storm (Score 1) 8

Thunder, lightning, and intermittent power - not too bad.

Barns tumbling down - now we're talking a storm. Are tornadoes common or not down there?

I presume that the lay of the land is a bit different in Georgia than Iowa - a little more "closed" where you can't see very far anyway - that would bother me.

I've been out storm spotting a few times in the last few years (usually get called out 4-5 times per summer) and I've seen skies that were truly scary a handful of times (scary enough to warrant a call home to get everyone downstairs).
News

How Do You Stay Upbeat Amidst the Idiocy? 442

Techdirt has a wonderful summary of how hard it is sometimes to stay upbeat when faced with some of the complete idiocy that intelligent, tech-savvy readers often have to deal with in their day-to-day lives. While the frustration will probably never go away, nor will the news calling attention to it, it does seem that opening people's eyes to problems helps things move in the right direction, so keep it up. "Yes, we're in the midst of a brutal financial mess — but that won't stop innovation. Yes, incumbent forces, with short-sighted plans and a desire to hold back the tides are annoying and disruptive (not in a good way) in the short run. But even they are finding they can't hold back progress. Robert Friedel has a wonderful book called A Culture of Improvement that details how we, as a society, are constantly looking to improve on what we already have. We add ideas and ingenuity to old concepts and build something better — not because of the desire to grab some "intellectual property," but because of the desire to improve our own lot, to build a better tool that we want to use. Incumbent short-sighted players have been able to hinder and harm progress, but they can't keep it down completely. That culture of improvement can't be stopped entirely."

Feed U.S./Canadian Dispute over Border Crossing Procedures (schneier.com)

Interesting: The main sticking point was Homeland's unwillingness to accept Canada's legal problem with having U.S. authorities take fingerprints of people who approach the border but decide not to cross. Canadian law doesn't permit fingerprinting unless someone volunteers or has...
United States

Submission + - Water Vapor More Important Than Carbon Dioxide?

An anonymous reader writes: University of Wisconsin climatologist Reid Bryson has argued that the climate is changing but carbon dioxide is not the main cause. According to Bryson, water vapor absorbs 80% of the heat from the Earth's surface, and carbon dioxide absorbs only 0.08%. He believes that computer models that predict future climate put too much emphasis on carbon dioxide and not enough on water vapor and cloud coverage. Ice core studies show atmospheric carbon dioxide tracking closely with temperatures, but also show that carbon dioxide changes follow temperature changes, rather than lead. Bryson blames the long-term natural variation of the climate for our current warming: 'All this argument is the temperature going up or not, it's absurd. Of course it's going up. It has gone up since the early 1800s, before the Industrial Revolution, because we're coming out of the Little Ice Age, not because we're putting more carbon dioxide into the air.'
Announcements

Submission + - First ever national email archive to be created

os2man writes: "The Email Britain campaign, which will run throughout May, asks the British public to make email history by forwarding a memorable or significant email from their sent mail or inbox, for inclusion in a digital archive that will be stored at the British Library for future generations. To contribute to the Email Britain archive, sent your mails to email@emailbritain.co.uk or visit http://www.newhotmail.co.uk/emailbritain for more information. Emails should be submitted under one of the following categories which should be typed into the subject box of the email: Blunders, Life Changing Emails, Complaints, Spam, Love and Romance, Humour, Everyday Emails, News, World Around You, Tales from Abroad."
Spam

Journal SPAM: Possible Interpretation: Baysian Evasion - Lovely 4

Possible Interpretation: living life to its fullest One man's junk is another man's treasure Like father like son It ain't over till it's over

Possible Interpretation: Finishing a task quickly is not about rushing Truth will out A cobbler formed the shape of shoes on a wooden foot shaped last If it lasted long he was happy
Those who play bowls must look out for rubbers If something can go wrong, it will (Murphy's Law) The more you Know, the more you know you don't Know

Microsoft Invents Split Screen PC 348

An anonymous reader writes "New technology from Microsoft Research India in Bangalore could end the waiting game in offices with limited computers. Researchers are developing software that splits a computer screen in two halves, each side with its own operating system, desktop, applications, cursor and keyboard." Mom! Timmy is on my side of the screen again!

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