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Comment Re:Aren't these people supposed to be scientists?? (Score 2, Insightful) 148

Apparently they can't be bothered to pick up a textbook and learn that Redi and Pasteur proved it doesn't work like that a couple hundred years ago.
It's call the law of biogenesis.
Stop spending tax dollars trying to prove your Theory when there is already a scientific law disproving it.


Because, you know, a scientific "law" is the absolute truth........
Wikipedia happens to say that the law of biogenesis is "that modern organisms do not spontaneously arise in nature from non-life." Really, what makes you think that we are talking about modern organisms? This "law" is just meant to codify that the common wisdom of the day, that flies will comes from rotten meat, was incorrect.

Aside from a creationist perspective, you need some kind of abiogenic beginning, and this research helps us understand how this might take place.

Comment Re:Features I'm Looking For in My Next Phone (Score 1) 152

You shouldn't use SIP over a data plan. The latency would kill the conversation.

You're right that 3G probably can't do it. The higher bandwidth comes with a tradeoff in latency, which is why the standard GSM (which has something like 14.4 kbps) is used for voice despite its weakness for any kind of data.

I don't know much about the data plan breakage, but T-mobile does allow unrestricted access on the dns port, so you may want to try setting up a vpn on your asterisk server on port 53.

Security

Huge iPhone Cut-and-Paste Tool Security Flaw 85

Harry writes "I'm using Pastebud, the new third-party copy-and-paste solution for the iPhone. It's extremely clever, using a Web-based clipboard to get around the fact that Apple doesn't provide one on the phone. Unfortunately, it seems to be giving users access to e-mails that other Pastebud users send to their clipboards. This has happened to me repeatedly and is being reported by other users in Pastebud's Get Satisfaction support forum. Pastebud is operational and still doing this as I write, even though a message at Get Satisfaction says they're working on the problem."
Software

AOL Opens Up the AIM Instant Messaging Network 209

AVIDJockey writes "In a pleasantly surprising move, AOL has changed its tune when it comes to third-party access to the company's chat network. America Online has recently launched a service called OpenAIM 2.0, which provides open, uninhibited access to services like Meebo, or all-in-one IM clients like Pidgin, allowing them to freely and easily use the AIM instant messaging network. 'At the moment, multi-platform IM desktop clients like Pidgin or Adium (the popular Mac client) generally rely on hacking and reverse engineering access to chat networks run by AOL, Yahoo, Microsoft and others. Not only is that bad for developers since it means more work, it also means that such clients often can't use all the features of a particular network.'"
Spam

Submission + - Gamefly sold my e-mail address!

An anonymous reader writes: I own a few domains for my own vanity and amusement. When signing up for any service online, I use the format [unique-servicename]@[mydomain]. Even slashdot doesn't get a hold of my 'home' address. This is great for filtering, redirection, etc. It's also a great tool to see who has been selling my e-mail address.

During a bored moment, I was perusing through my junk mail to see which addresses spammers were using. Lo and behold, a great number (about 33%, actually) of the spam I found was sent to gamefly@[mydomain]. According to their privacy policy, they may from time to time share my information with game related third-party vendors. However, at no point did they say, "you will receive ads for viagra and porn sites." Since most people utilizing the service are probably still in high school, is it appropriate for them to be receiving such material? Someone, please! Think of the children!

Has anyone had any experience similar to this? What are the legal (if not moral) implications of such a practice?
Handhelds

Submission + - No Bars For iPhone Brits

An anonymous reader writes: The newest iPhone users, who bought the Apple phones when they went on sale in England on Nov. 9, are reporting persistent signal-strength problems on O2, the UK's only iPhone service provider. InfoWeek blogger Alex Wolfe says there's a debate as to whether O2 or the iPhone is at fault; it appears to be the handset, which is unusual since U.S. users haven't reported similar problems. Some 02 customers report that getting a replacement phone fixes things; others have had to do a software restore back to version 1.1.2 of the iPhone software.
Security

Submission + - SPAM: French gov't plans to disconnect content pirates

alphadogg writes: The French government has a plan for cutting music and film piracy on the Internet: cut off the pirates' Internet access.The penalty is part of a range of measures to deal with the unauthorized copying of music and video online proposed by the French Ministry of Culture including watermarking content, tracking surfers' activities, and creating a registry of those accused by copyright holders of piracy."We can't accept for much longer that artists be deprived of the fruits of their work," one government official said.
Link to Original Source
Announcements

Submission + - CS Games: rank your coding skills

LinuxRulz writes: "For those of you who are still at university, rejoice, for the 2008 edition Computer Science games website is now open for registrations. For those who haven't heard of the event, the CS Games are a North American inter-university computer science related competition with challenges in debugging, ai development, scripting, team programming, algorithms and more. Last year's event attracted more than 300 participants from 30 universities. If you want to value your knowledge and make your university stand out, this is your chance!"
Patents

Submission + - Broadcom Seeks New Injunction Against Qualcomm (techluver.com)

Tech.Luver writes: "Chip maker Broadcom said Friday it will try to stop rival Qualcomm from making, using, selling or developing cellular chips based on contested patents. It's the latest legal cannonball hurled by Broadcom in its wide-ranging court battle with industry Goliath Qualcomm over the rights to technology for cell phones. The move comes two days after Broadcom chose to accept a reduced damage award of $19.6 million rather than retry its case against Qualcomm in a California federal court. U.S. District Court Judge James V. Selna initially indicated he would award Broadcom $39.3 million in damages, double what a jury awarded in May. The panel found that Qualcomm willfully violated three of Broadcom's patents on technologies that help cell phones process video and walkie-talkie conversations and hand off calls between different networks. Selna overturned his own ruling after a federal appellate court raised the bar for proving patent infringement. That ruling came in a dispute between an individual investor and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology against Seagate Technology, the world's largest maker of hard drives. ( http://techluver.com/2007/11/23/broadcom-seeks-new-injunction-against-qualcomm/ )"
Quickies

Submission + - 'Cooper pairs' can be found in insulators as well (eurekalert.org)

An anonymous reader writes: In new work appearing in Science, physisicsts at Brown University show that Cooper pairs not only form in superconductors, but can also form their opposite — electrical insulators. link

"Our finding is quite counterintuitive," said James Valles, a Brown professor of physics who led the research. "Cooper pairing is not only responsible for conducting electricity with zero resistance, but it can also be responsible for blocking the flow of electricity altogether."

Space

Submission + - Arecibo Observatory's Future in Doubt

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "The future is hazy for the legendary Arecibo radio observatory in Puerto Rico, a 'jewel of space instruments'. The New York Times reports that the National Science Foundation, which pays for the observatory's operation, has slashed Arecibo's annual budget from $10.5 million to $8 million, and may close it altogether in four years, imperiling its historic work, including its detection of the near-Earth asteroid KW4 eight years ago. "The planetary science community is in danger of losing one of its instrumental crown jewels," Donald K. Yeomans, a scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, told the House subcommittee on space and aeronautics."
It's funny.  Laugh.

Submission + - Staples to offer data recovery service?

An anonymous reader writes: Staples on Tuesday said it has signed an agreement with Seagate Recovery, a company owned by disc-drive maker Seagate Technology, to provide disaster-recovery services through Staples' in-store EasyTech department. It will let customers whose files are locked in a broken electronic device the chance to recover their data. Under the deal, Staples customers can seek data recovery from any type of digital media, from a notebook or a desktop to portable media player. Staples will offer through Seagate a free evaluation to determine the cost of recovery. Once approved by the customer, the recovered data will be returned on a USB hard drive under a two-year limited warranty. If no data is recovered, then the customer isn't charged.

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