44321395
submission
witherstaff writes:
Twitter obtained a patent for twitter. "a message can be addressed simply to the username 'UserX' without specifying whether UserX is to receive the message through e-mail, SMS, IM, etc." Twitter has pledged to use patents for good. Is this good or bad for the internet community?
28826887
submission
witherstaff writes:
According to Stand Up 2 Cancer 1 in 3 Cancer deaths can be prevented by lifestyle changes.. Risk factors for cancer are tobacco and alcohol consumption, a diet low in fruit and vegetable intake and lack of physical activity. (Does mouse clicking and button mashing count as physical activity?) World Cancer Day is helping highlight what people can do to rid the world of cancer. If nothing else consider walking at a local Relay for Life event which occur all year.
22404766
submission
witherstaff writes:
A federal judge has ordered that whether Google is spying for National Security Agency or not, you have no right to know. EPIC, which brought the lawsuit, says The NSA can neither confirm not deny any relationship with Google. EPIC is worried the "NSA is developing technical standards that would enable greater surveillance of Internet users"
20189438
submission
witherstaff writes:
The FBI has been opening up old records and putting them online. One memo from the 50s has interesting info on crashed flying saucers and alien bodies. It's only 2 pages.
"An investigator for the Air Force stated that three so-called flying saucers had been recovered in New Mexico... They were described as being circular in shape with raised centers, approximately 50 feet in diameter. Each one was occupied by three bodies of human shape but only 3 feet tall"
Fact, Fiction, a really old april fool's joke?
10257482
submission
witherstaff writes:
As part of the PR for AMDs up and coming 8 and 12 core processors, AMD is giving away a 48 core machine to the winner of a contest. Contestants need to submit a 500 word essay, or a blog post, or 3 minute youtube video on how they'd use a 48 core machine (4 CPUs) to improve the world. You have until March 24th to get a machine finally able to play crysis. Nice way for AMD to show up Intel's 8 core launch.
6380685
submission
witherstaff writes:
Neil Gaiman is writing a new short story—well, the beginning of one anyway—and needs 1,000 collaborators to help him finish it via Twitter. Starting tomorrow 13-Oct-09 at noon ET, the well-known Twitterer (@neilhimself) will tweet the first line of a new story, and the rest of us will be able to continue it with our own 140-character contributions, as reported by Sci Fi Wire and Publishers weekly
4223219
submission
witherstaff writes:
Against the objections of four former CIA chiefs and some Republican lawmakers, the Obama administration released memos detailing interrogation methods approved under the Bush era. The memos showed that DOJ attorneys decided that waterboarding caused "no pain or actual harm whatsoever" and so did not meet the "severe pain and suffering" standard to be considered torture." White House Chief of Staff Emanuel said Sunday that the Obama Administration will not prosecute for torture. 'This is not a time for retribution. It's a time for reflection. It's not a time to use our energy and our time in looking back and in a sense of anger and retribution.'
I need to remember that line if I'm ever standing trail.
3180855
submission
witherstaff writes:
House Democrats have proposed $6 billion in Internet investments as part of a sweeping economic stimulus bill that the full House is expected to vote on next week. The $6 billion is considered a down payment on efforts Obama will make in this area over the next several years. Of course let's not forget the $200 billion broadband scandal that the large telcommunication companies have been paid but never delivered on.
659962
submission
witherstaff writes:
The FCC has ruled that TMZ and the 700 club count as bona-fide newscasts. "Real News" does not have to give equal time for opposing political viewpoints if it's a 'news' story. Are the days of trusting some sort of journalistic integrity to be part of 'news' over, or has mega media finally won?
599462
submission
witherstaff writes:
The Treasury department is seeking to expand the Federal Reserve's power to regulate virtually the entire financial industry. For those who don't know, the Federal Reserve AKA The Fed is part private, part public, and organized to be separate from the 3 branches of government. Even the House Banking Committee, part of the Fed oversight, doesn't know what goes on behind their closed door meetings, with minutes not published for 5 years after the fact. Planned changes include merging the SEC with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, consolidate bank oversight to one person, letting the markets be more self regulating, and give the Fed the authority to look at the financial status of any institution that could affect market stability. With the recent Bear Stearns collapse from $171 to $2 a share, and the economy as a whole either in, or on the brink of, a recession, is this move a good idea?
448424
submission
witherstaff writes:
a consortium of companies and universities has created a robot that scoops in snow and turns them into ice blocks. I'm looking forward to the day I can have the equivalent of a roomba for clearing my drive of snow. Fox news has the scoop
