54728905
submission
Frosty Piss writes:
Alan Turing may not have committed suicide, as is widely believed. Turing expert Prof Jack Copeland has questioned the evidence that was presented at the 1954 inquest, believing that the evidence would not today be accepted as sufficient to establish a suicide verdict. In 1952, after he had reported a petty burglary, Turing found himself being investigated for "acts of gross indecency" after he revealed he had had a male lover in his house. Prof Copeland argues that on the contrary, Turing's career was at an intellectual high, and that he had borne his treatment "with good humour". Prof Copeland suggests that Turing's death was an accident.
54120755
submission
Frosty Piss writes:
Milton Everett Olin Jr. of Woodland Hills, was struck and killed by a sheriff's patrol car just after 1 p.m. Sunday while riding a bike in the bike lane of Mulholland Highway in Calabasas, he was 65. In addition to serving as a top executive for the file-sharing website Napster Inc., Olin was a prominent entertainment attorney for Altschul & Olin LLP, which he co-founded, and had been practicing law since 1975, according to court documents and the State Bar of California.
54041683
submission
Frosty Piss writes:
Four of the best-known scientists espousing the belief that human generated carbon emissions are an immediate and deadly threat have issued a statement begging their fellow scientists to support nuclear power. James Hansen, Ken Caldeira, Kerry Emanuel and Tom Wigley co-signed an open letter over the weekend in which they address "those influencing environmental policy, but opposed to nuclear power". The four scientists write that "continued opposition to nuclear power threatens humanity's ability to avoid dangerous climate change ... there is no credible path to climate stabilization that does not include a substantial role for nuclear power". A frustrated Hansen described this standard hard-green ideology as "a religion of sorts" to CNN over the weekend, acknowledging that he and his fellow pro-nuclear environmentalists have a hard road ahead of them.
54037939
submission
Frosty Piss writes:
After numerous high-profile lawsuits against tech companies, a Washington State based patent troll Intellectual Ventures is now setting its sights on the financial industry. However, the company has run into some interesting legal arguments as of late. On top of more traditional arguments, two targets of the shakedown operation, Symantec and Trend Micro, are asking a federal judge to bar Intellectual Ventures from seeking massive licensing fees on the grounds that a patent acquired for a fraction of what the company is seeking couldn't possibly be worth so much. Intellectual Ventures bought the patents in question about 7 years ago for a mere $750,000. It is seeking a combined $310 million from the two targets.
54036427
submission
Frosty Piss writes:
A Florida man bought a Tesla Model S from a Lamborghini dealership with BitCoin. It was the first time the dealer had accepted Bitcoin. The buyer, who wishes to remain anonymous, bought the top-of-the-line Tesla (TSLA) for $103,000, which was equivalent to 91.4 Bitcoins on Tuesday, the day of the sale, said Cedric Davy, marketing director at the dealership. After checking into any legal issues and other research, the dealership worked with Bitcoin payment processor BitPay to handle the transaction. Timing was on the buyer's side. The digital currency, known for its wide price swings, dropped sharply in value on Friday, just days after the purchase. But the dealer didn't need to worry about the risks associated with the volatile currency. BitPay locked in Tuesday's Bitcoin price for both the buyer and the dealership, Davy said. "We're not in the business of speculating so at the end of the day we want to sell the car as priced," he said.
52667333
submission
Frosty Piss writes:
Four of the best-known scientists espousing the belief that human generated carbon emissions are an immediate and deadly threat have issued a statement begging their fellow scientists to support nuclear power. James Hansen, Ken Caldeira, Kerry Emanuel and Tom Wigley co-signed an open letter over the weekend in which they address "those influencing environmental policy, but opposed to nuclear power". The four scientists write that "continued opposition to nuclear power threatens humanity's ability to avoid dangerous climate change ... there is no credible path to climate stabilization that does not include a substantial role for nuclear power". A frustrated Hansen described this standard hard-green ideology as "a religion of sorts" to CNN over the weekend, acknowledging that he and his fellow pro-nuclear environmentalists have a hard road ahead of them.
52214881
submission
Frosty Piss writes:
Elon Musk is unafraid to speak his mind. Whether he's talking about other players in the electric vehicle space or sub-par reporting from The New York Times, this is a man with few filters. Musk ays that fuel cells are not part of the solution that electric vehicles offer for giving up the hydrocarbon addiction. After commenting that the only reason some automakers are pursuing hydrogen technology is for marketing purposes, that lithium batteries are superior mass and volume-wise for a given range, and that fuel cells are too expensive, Musk capped it all off with the safety issue. "Oh god, a fuel cell is so bullshit", Musk said. "Hydrogen is quite a dangerous gas. you know, it's suitable for the upper stage of rockets, but not for cars," he said.
51402935
submission
Frosty Piss writes:
Delta Air Lines plans to buy 11,000 Microsoft Surface 2 tablets for its pilots to replace the heavy bundles of books and maps they haul around now. Delta says the Surface tablets will save it $13 million per year in fuel and other costs. Right now, each pilot carries a 38-pound flight bag with manuals and maps. Other airlines, including American and United, have been buying Apple's iPad for that purpose. One reason Delta picked a Microsoft device was that it's easier to give pilots separate sections for company and personal use, said Steve Dickson, Delta's senior vice president for flight operations. Another reason for picking the Surface tablet is that Delta's training software also runs on the same Windows operating system as the tablets, reducing the need to redo that software for another device, Dickson said.
50705589
submission
Frosty Piss writes:
A synthetic cannabinoid — similar to the compounds found in marijuana, but substantially stronger — causes the growth of new neurons and reduces anxiety and depression, say investigators at the University of Saskatchewan. Other researchers have found evidence that the brain contains so-called CB2 cannabinoid receptors, previously seen in immune tissue but thought not to exist in brain tissue. The discovery, they added, could lead to new drugs to treat nausea associated with cancer or AIDS. Most 'recreational' drugs such as alcohol or cocaine inhibit the growth of new neurons, but "only marijuana promotes neurogenesis," according to Xia Zhang, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Saskatchewan. These findings are reported in the current issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation.
50354985
submission
Frosty Piss writes:
An Indiana Little League coach accused of threatening national security by teaching government job applicants how to beat lie-detector tests was sentenced Friday to eight months in prison. Prosecutors described Chad Dixon as a “master of deceit”. Prosecutors, who had asked for almost two years in prison, said Dixon crossed the line between free speech protected under the First Amendment and criminal conduct when he told some clients to conceal what he taught them while undergoing government polygraphs. Although Dixon appears to be the first charged publicly, others offering similar instruction say they fear they might be next. “I've been worried about that, and the more this comes about, the more worried I am,” said Doug Williams, a former police polygraphist in Oklahoma who claims to be able to teach people to beat what he now considers a “scam” test.
50330759
submission
Frosty Piss writes:
Congressman Rush D. Holt, a New Jersey Democrat, has proposed legislation that would prohibit the agency from installing “back doors” into encryption, the electronic scrambling that protects e-mail, online transactions and other communications. Representative Holt, a physicist, said Friday that he believed the NSA was overreaching and could hurt American interests, including the reputations of American companies whose products the agency may have altered or influenced. “We pay them to spy,” Mr. Holt said. “But if in the process they degrade the security of the encryption we all use, it’s a net national disservice.”
50180733
submission
Frosty Piss writes:
Microsoft is buying practically all of Nokia’s handset business as part of a $7.2 billion deal, the two companies announced today. Microsoft is paying for Nokia’s Devices and Services Business. In addition, it is paying to license Nokia’s patents and to license and use Nokia’s mapping services. Microsoft using its overseas cash reserves to fund the transaction, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2014, subject to approval by Nokia’s shareholders and regulatory approval, according to a news release.
49853079
submission
Frosty Piss writes:
The Guardian's editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger fears journalists – and, by extension, everyone – will be reduced to using pen and paper to avoid prying American and British spooks online. And his reporters must fly around the world to hold face-to-face meetings with sources ("Not good for the environment, but increasingly the only way to operate") because they believe all their internet and phone chatter will be eavesdropped on by the NSA and GCHQ. "It would be highly unadvisable for any journalist to regard any electronic means of communication as safe," he wrote. El Reg would like to save The Guardian a few bob, and reduce the jet-setting lefty paper's carbon footprint, by suggesting some handy tips – most of them based on the NSA's own guidance.
49400355
submission
Frosty Piss writes:
Lavabit, the security-conscious email provider that was the preferred email service of NSA leaker Edward Snowden, has closed its doors, citing US government interference. "I have been forced to make a difficult decision: to become complicit in crimes against the American people or walk away from nearly ten years of hard work by shutting down Lavabit," founder Ladar Levinson said in a statement posted to the company's homepage on Thursday. "After significant soul searching, I have decided to suspend operations."
48874533
submission
Frosty Piss writes:
Sure, it's morbid, but there’s a fascination associated with figuring out just how many of your neighbors — along with you — would perish if a nuclear bomb went off down the street. That’s the ghoulish tug of Nukemap, which comes complete with odometer-like spinning numbers charting those killed and wounded by any size atomic weapon you chose (from puny terrorist atomic bombs to superpower supremos) to detonate pretty much anywhere in the world. It features real-time animation of a nuclear blast's fireball and rising mushroom cloud (based on actual nuclear-test data), wind-dependent fallout mapping, and casualty estimates based on population density for nearly every corner of the world. All these data dovetail into Google Earth, giving those who want it an accurate footprint of the ensuing death and destruction (including fire stations, hospitals, religious structures and schools).
