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Submission + - Dark Energy not necessary after all? (abc.net.au) 1

Submitted by ttnuagmada
ttnuagmada writes: 'Dark energy', which researchers have spent years trying to fathom, isn't necessary to explain our universe after all, according to a new solution to Einstein's theory of general relativity. This challenges the notion that dark energy makes up 76% of our universe, as many cosmologists believe.
United States

Submission + - 57 mpg? That's so 20 years ago 6

Submitted by
maclizard
maclizard writes: "I wish my car got 57 miles to the gallon.

From the article:
'The CRX HF got an Environmental Protection Agency-estimated 57 mpg gallon in highway driving. Today, the most fuel-efficient non-hybrid Civic you can buy gets an EPA-estimated 34 mpg on the highway. Even today's Honda Civic Hybrid can't match it, achieving EPA-estimated highway mileage of just 45 mpg. The Toyota Prius, today's fuel mileage champ, gets 46 mpg on the highway.'"
Software

Submission + - Software Firewall for Windows? 2

Submitted by
Futurepower(R)
Futurepower(R) writes: "We have found that providing security is our biggest expense in using Windows, much more than the cost of buying Windows.

Can you recommend a software firewall for Windows? We need outbound leak protection. (Windows firewall does not provide leak protection.) When one program tries to use another, we need notification of the names and locations of both programs. We would like email notification of intrusion attempts.

We know about the Matousec firewall tests, but those are only leak tests.

Recent versions of the software firewall we have been using have been slowing some computers to a crawl, interfering with our backup software, randomly blocking our remote access software, and stealing focus when it does automatic updates at times that cannot be controlled. (We use a hardware firewall, too, of course, and limit user rights.)"
Censorship

Submission + - Ebay Cancels NanoSolar's PV Panel Auction (nanosolar.com)

Submitted by Sledhead
Sledhead writes: "we had put up panel #2 for auction on eBay:". "The eBay auction started at 99 cents and quickly reached more than $13,000.00, and there was still more than 6 days left. At the point where it became clear that the auction would reach thousands of dollars, we decided it would be appropriate to use the proceeds after the auction for a charitable purpose. We regret that without warning eBay today decided to delete our auction due to the promised charitable use of the proceeds."
Censorship

Submission + - Malaysia Trying New Form of Censorship (upenn.edu)

Submitted by
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes: "Malaysia is now using a new form of press censorship: forbidding the use of certain words by non-Muslims. The Herald, a Catholic newspaper, has been told that their license to publish will be revoked if they don't stop printing the words Allah (God; YHWH to be specific), solat (prayer), Kaabah (that mosque in Mecca), and baitullah (a house of God). The authorities are concerned that if they use these words, it might confuse people into thinking these Ahl al-Kitâb worship the same God that Muslims do."
Announcements

Submission + - Ebay's New User Agreement Terminates User Rights

Submitted by THESuperShawn
THESuperShawn writes: (Paraphrased from http://www.firemeg.com/2007/05/july-9th-genocide-b egins-how-ebay-inc.html)"A recent Auctionbytes article (http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abn/y07/m05/i21/s 01) about a new update to the eBay User Agreement seems to make eBay look a lot more like Big Brother, if not a full blown communist regime where your thoughts belong to the "community" and where those with bad thoughts may be disappeared. The changes in question went into effect immediately for new members and will be enforced site-wide starting on July 9th, 2007. Most notable of these changes is that eBay seems to have given itself autonomy to strike down anyone they see fit, and use any and all copyrighted material that members post on the site, without permission or royalties.

In the user agreement additions there is a section entitled "Abusing eBay." The section begins like something out of Orwell's 1984, "eBay and the Community work together to keep the Sites working properly and the Community safe. Please report problems, offensive content, and policy violations to us." Seems to be a call to arms for the collective community gestapo to quash anything from listing violations to dissent among users, and of course for the betterment of the community with no financial incentives for users to do the work that many feel should be done by Trust & Safety. The second paragraph goes on to describe the VERO program designed to keep members from using intellectual property that has been copyrighted previously by third parties.

The "Abusing eBay" section then turns an even more diabolical shade of Big Brother in the last paragraph which reads: Without limiting other remedies, we may limit, suspend, or terminate our service and user accounts, prohibit access to our website, delay or remove hosted content, and take technical and legal steps to keep users off the Sites if we think that they are creating problems, possible legal liabilities, or acting inconsistently with the letter or spirit of our policies. We also reserve the right to cancel unconfirmed accounts or accounts that have been inactive for a long time."

Has eBay finally jumped the shark? Is their a better auction service around the corner ready to embrace scorned eBay users? Or have the scammers won (http://www.ebaymotorssucks.com/ebayhacks/?N=A) and eBay will continue to remove negative posts/NARU users that complain (http://www.ebaymotorssucks.com/boardsnippets.htm) , and allow scammers to sell "their wife exposed" (http://www.ebaymotorssucks.com/)?
Democrats

Submission + - Revealed by Kucinich: Why Your Kids Died in Iraq

Submitted by
populist
populist writes: "Do you still think we went into Iraq for Humanitarian reasons or to protect the United States from an awful dictator? Well, if you read about the lastest "oil sharing" deal, you just might think differently. Seems that those International Oil Companies (can you say EXXON, MOBILE, and BP for starters), stand to pluck the Iraqi people for about $21 Trillion. Folks that's twenty one thousand BILLION. In perspective about double the United States current cash debt and a little over 40% of the accrued National Debt of $50 Trillion. Figured another way, about $70,000 for every American currently alive. And it will all go to about six Oil companies. Well not all, there's the Congress to be bought off, actually it seems they already have, but they still need to get a little more of the harvest."
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - UK government secret plans to make everyone vegan

Submitted by Anonymous coward
Anonymous coward writes: Secret plans to encourage the UK to give up eating meat are being examined by the Government.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/new s/news.html?in_article_id=458242&in_page_id=1770

A leaked e-mail expresses sympathy for the environmental benefits of a mass switch to a vegan diet — a strict form of vegetarianism which bans milk, dairy products and fish.

The change would need to be done "gently" because of a "risk of alienating the public", according to the document.

The extreme policy is being examined on the basis it could make a major contribution to slowing climate change.
Censorship

Submission + - Livejournal Bans 500+ Journals for "Pedophliia

Submitted by
illuminatedwax
illuminatedwax writes: "When online watchdog group Warriors For Innocence began reporting journals and communities whose content involved pedophilia or incest to LiveJournal, they responded that the communities were not breaking any actual Terms of Service and therefore couldn't be deleted. The watchdog group then sent LiveJournal an open letter. LiveJournal then deleted over 500 communities whose listed interests could be related to pedophilia (such as "incest"). Some of the deleted groups include accounts for role-playing characters that were entirely fictional, fandom communities for fictional pedophilia (e.g. Harry Potter slash), support groups for survivors of incest or child abuse, and even a Spanish journal devoted to the discussion of the Russian novel Lolita by Nabokov. There were also a handful of what legitimately appeared to be predatory journals shut down as well. LiveJournal users have responded by warning fellow users, writing the Warriors of Innocence (reply), and moving to other journal hosting sites such as GreatestJournal. The Warriors of Innocence are maintaining that they did not intend for most of these journals to be deleted, and LiveJournal is already replying to some users. What should LiveJournal's responsibility be in keeping their site free from predators?"
Editorial

Submission + - Beware of the "Work For Free" Trap

Submitted by
Photoshop Guy
Photoshop Guy writes: "Considering doing work for free to improve your design portfolio? Doing cheap or free work for a friend or relative? Trying to impress your boss as a team player by working extra non-paid hours each week as a salaried employee?

The "I'll do it free (or cheap)" mentality can, and often does, turn into a nightmare of seemingly infinite revisions. For freelancers, unless a contract was drawn up at the outset (a rarity if it's for a friend or relative), weeks can go by and you're still working on the project, not making money, regretting your decision to accept the project.

If it's long-term work at the workplace that was handed to you because "it's expected of you as a salaried employee", you can actually experience a reduction in your yearly salary.

MORE: http://www.lyzrdstomp.com/index.php?option=com_con tent&task=view&id=246"
Google

Journal Journal: Is Google Falsely Flagging Harmless Sites?

Journal by dare567k
Some Web site operators are complaining that Google is flagging their sites as containing malicious software when they believe their sites are harmless. At issue is an interstitial page that Google presents when a user clicks on a search result link to a site that Google believes contains malware. The page cautions users with the words "Warning - visiting this web site may harm your computer!" Google does not block access to the site, but a user must manually type in the Web site address to con
It's funny. Laugh.

Journal Journal: You have been... Goatsed?

Journal by Noryungi

About 2,500 people have had a (very) nasty surprise recently when they looked at their MySpace page. Let's just say a small image was replaced by... another small image. Only, the second one was from the infamous "Goatse.cx" (You remember THAT one, don't you?). But what exactly happened? Jason Scott, the owner of textfiles.com explains all -- or is it confesses all?. The email received are hilarious. Well worth a read and a chuckle

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