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Power

Submission + - Al Gore Recants Support for Corn-Based Ethanol (politicsdaily.com)

Hugh Pickens writes: "Federal ethanol subsidies reached $7.7 billion last year and the bio-fuel industry faced criticism in 2008 as food prices rose with ethanol consuming ever more of the corn crop and drawing down feedstocks. Now Al Gore says his support for corn-based ethanol subsidies while serving as vice president was a mistake that had more to do with his desire to cultivate farm votes in the 2000 presidential election than with what was good for the environment. "It is not a good policy to have these massive subsidies for first-generation ethanol," Gore said at a green energy conference in Athens, Greece adding that the energy conversion ratios — how much energy is produced in the process — "are at best very small." Gore now favors second-generation ethanol, using farm waste and switchgrass. Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis, representing ethanol producers, responded that "the contributions of first generation ethanol to our nation's economy, environment and energy production are not a mistake, but a success story.""
Linux

Submission + - All you need is BASH? (linuxconfig.org)

lagi writes: i was looking for a quick way to manage a CentOS dedicated web server's services, configs and other common tasks, so that my co-workers will have easier life while managing things like Apache Virtual Hosts config files. and control services (via SSH, not using any server management tool) ... i'm a LAMP freelancer developer, so the logical thing was writing a PHP CLI script that does some cool stuff, but then i remembered the days all i knew about Linux is that it's called "hurricane" and then "apollo" and that was c00l! (not as much as Slackware) and i also had this BASH script to fire my ISDN connection, always worked like magic. so i looked in google for some Bash Scripting Tutorials and found this one, it covers all basic topics as well as some advance onces too, all topics with examples and are very straightforward. so i ended up with a 30 minutes script that restarts services, and manage some apache config files in a git like syntax. so now that i have this great ref by my side, i would like to know what other common development and deployment tasks i can do with bash? or maybe i should get a server management software like webmin? looks a bit too heavy for my needs...
Java

Submission + - Will Oracle control Java more tightly than Sun? (goodgearguide.com.au) 1

angry tapir writes: "Would the Java community thrive as well under Oracle's control as it did under Sun Microsystems'? Vendors of Java products seem split about the question. Because Oracle tends to be more focused on monetizing its technology than Sun has been, it could try to maintain tighter control over Java, according to Red Hat's Mark Little."
Privacy

EU ACTA Doc Shows Plans For Global DMCA, 3 Strikes 406

An anonymous reader writes "The European Commission analysis of ACTA's Internet chapter has leaked, indicating that the US is seeking to push laws that extend beyond the WIPO Internet treaties and beyond current European Union law. The document contains detailed comments on the US secret copyright treaty proposal, confirming the desire to promote a 'three-strikes and you're out' policy, a Global DMCA, harmonized contributory copyright infringement rules, and the establishment of an international notice-and-takedown policy."
Biotech

Submission + - Scientists Identify How Body Senses Cold

Vicissidude writes: As an ice cream melts in your mouth this summer, take a moment to contemplate the protein that may be bringing you that sense of cool relief — and numbing your tongue. Researchers have pinned down the particular protein in mice used by the body to sense cold temperatures, and think that a similar one in humans does the same job. Mice rely on a single protein, called TRPM8, to sense both cold temperatures and menthol, the compound that gives mints their cool sensation. The sensor also controls the pain-relieving effect of cool temperatures, but does not seem to play an important role in the response to painfully cold temperatures below 10 C. TRPM8 is in the same family as the protein that detects heat and capsaicin, the compound that makes peppers hot. These proteins lie in the cell membranes of select neurons, and form channels that open and close in response to external signals.
The Internet

Submission + - Dumbing down and smartening up via the Web

FangVT writes: "In his column on Infoworld Ephraim Schwartz describes a trend towards "dumbing down" information on the web to appeal to the short attention span of "digital natives" (DNs). He cites Gartner's Media Blog, which claims that Digital Natives "graze somewhat randomly for information, scanning Web pages for photos and video, and reading the text only if the images capture their attention."
The article is short and near the end he raises two main concerns:

One, unless we get DNs to behave more like [non-natives], future generations will have a harder time developing the study skills they need to master and understand their environment in order to become the kind of professionals — doctors, architects, engineers — that we need to keep a complex society running.
My second fear is political. Unless our future generations learn to analyze content and understand issues by reading deeply, they will be far more susceptible to being manipulated — and not likely for noble goals.
So is this just another example of the age old arguments that kids today just don't know how to pay attention, or is this something more substantial?"
Communications

Submission + - Compensation for cell phone signal traffic?

ehud42 writes: "The CBC is reporting that "Manitoba First Nations are seeking compensation from Manitoba Telecom Services for every cellphone signal that passes through First Nations land, saying the airspace should be considered a resource like land and water." Is the airspace around us a resource like land and water? Would I have to pay someone for my wireless signals travelling through their airspace? I doubt this will get much traction — at least I hope not..."
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Put a price on switching jobs.

Anonymous Coward writes: "I've been out of school for little more than a year and I have only good things to say about the job market! So far, there doesn't seem to be any lack of demand for a good .NET developer. I've got to admit, though, I feel a little disloyal at this point. Several great job offers have come my way and I've taken them. My resume is starting to make me look a bit restless and it worries me. Until now I've just chalked it up to "I'm just settling in," but now another opportunity has been dropped into my lap. Would I be digging my own grave by taking this job? It'd be my fourth job in 16 months but each offered a promotion and a 30% to 40% raise. I know better than to put a price on job satisfaction but I'm pretty certain I'd be happy there. Is being branded as a "hot potato" enough to keep you from switching? What's your price on this stigma?"
Businesses

Submission + - Help Desk: First Step in Successful IT Career

jcatcw writes: A help desk jobs can put you in a good position for future growth, according to Katherine Spencer Lee, executive director of Robert Half Technology. In a help desk role, you can gain in-depth, real-world knowledge of nearly every system a company uses or sells, including operating systems, applications, networks, the Internet, hardware and peripherals. In addition to those hard skills, you can develop the strong interpersonal skills — communication, problem-solving and leadership abilities — that are becoming more important to hiring managers.
Science

When Were the Americas Populated? 259

evil agent passes along an article in Scientific American reporting that new radiocarbon dating techniques have cast doubt on the accepted story of how the Americas were populated. In the traditional view, "[M]igrants out of northeast Asia slipped into the Americas bearing finely shaped stone projectiles, so-called 'Clovis points,' after the town in New Mexico where they were first uncovered. This Clovis culture rapidly spread throughout the empty continents and by 1,000 years after their arrival had reached the southernmost tip of what is now South America, making them the original ancestors of indigenous Americans." The new dating of Clovis sites suggests that "Clovis" was not a people, but rather a technology. That is, a new and more efficient method of making arrowheads for hunting spread rapidly through a pre-existing population in both North and South America, over at most 350 years.

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