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Earth

Submission + - Chinese Dragon Explores .67 Leagues Under the Sea

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "Earlier this summer when three Chinese scientists descended to a depth of more than 0.6 leagues under the sea in a craft the size of a small truck and planted their nation’s flag on the dark seabed at 3,759 meters, they signaled Beijing's intention to take the lead in exploring remote and inaccessible parts of the ocean floor which are rich in oil, minerals and other resources that the Chinese would like to mine. "They're in it for a penny and a pound," says Dr. Don Walsh, a pioneer of deep-ocean diving. "It's a very deliberate program." The global seabed is littered with what experts say is trillions of dollars' worth of mineral nodules as well as many objects of intelligence value: undersea cables carrying diplomatic communications, lost nuclear arms, sunken submarines and hundreds of warheads left over from missile tests. The small craft that made the trip — named Jiaolong, after a mythical sea dragon — is meant to go as deep as 7,000 meters, or 4.35 miles, edging out the current global leader but China is moving cautiously, its dives going deeper in increments. "They're being very cautious," Walsh adds. "They respect what they don't know and are working hard to learn."""

Comment This has massive implications (Score 1) 1

by Stanistani (#33566322) Attached to: Wal-Mart To Launch Unlimited Wireless Family Plan
The social commentary site 'People of Wal-Mart' will have a sudden increase in page hits. Smileys will become omnipresent on the Web - no, wait... Muscle shirts, ball caps, and spandex pants will become stylish again. Google Trends will report 'beef franks' as the hottest topic. Linux will be ported to CB radios.

Comment Support (Score 1) 1

by Stanistani (#30502590) Attached to: Where are the Cheap Thin Clients?
The entering wedge for these devices is in the enterprise, so the models being produced are priced for large businesses and government purchase. They include support contracts. These don't make any money if you have to keep fixing them, so the devices tend to be under-featured and over-engineered. If you can develop a consumer market for these, they would rapidly drop in price, but PCs are such a commodity that you'd be better off developing a thin client wrapped around a PC form factor. Google's new Chrome OS embedded in the upcoming netbooks is such a development.

Submission + - Where are the Cheap Thin Clients? 1

Submitted by Darren Ginter
Darren Ginter writes: I am compelled by many aspects of desktop virtualization with one exception: the cost of the thin clients, which typically exceed that of a traditional box. I understand all of the benefits of desktop virtualization (and the downsides, thanks) but I'm very hung up on spending more for less. While there are some sub-$200 products out there, they all seem to cut corners (give me non-vaporware that will drive a 22" LCD at full resolution). I can PXE boot a home brew Atom-based thin client for $130 but I'd prefer to be able to buy something assembled. Am I missing something here?
Space

Submission + - Do You Need a Permit to Land on the Moon? (slate.com) 4

Submitted by
Billosaur
Billosaur writes: "With the recent announcement of Google's X-prize for a successful private landing of a robot on the Moon, someone has asked the Explainer at Slate.com if permission is required to land something on the Moon? Turns out that while there is no authority that regulates landing objects on another world, getting there does require the permission of the national government from where the launch takes place. This is in accordance with the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, signed by 91 nations, which regulates the uses of outer space by the nations of Earth. Specifically, Article VI enjoins: "The activities of non-governmental entities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall require authorization and continuing supervision by the appropriate State Party to the Treaty." Start your paperwork!"
Security

Submission + - Orwellian 'Behavior Detection Officers' for TSA (msn.com) 1

Submitted by
Stanistani
Stanistani writes: "According to Newsweek, at US airports some security personnel will be observing passengers for facial expressions which indicate malicious intent. If they believe you look like you might be thinking of causing harm, you can be taken aside for further questioning. Welcome these new overseers: 'Behavior Detection Officers.' Their potentially life-changing decisions will be based on the pseudoscience of 'micro-expressions.'"
Caldera

Submission + - IBM Asks Court to Declare Linux Non-Infringing

Submitted by
A Cyclic Graph
A Cyclic Graph writes: "We finally have a redacted version of IBM's Reply Memorandum in Support of Summary Judgment on Counterclaim 10 in SCO v. IBM. In short, IBM is asking the Court to declare that Linux doesn't infringe upon any of SCO's purported intellectual property. This document is the last word on that matter until the Court either declares there to be no doubt that Linux is free of infringement, or decides that that issue has to be decided by the jury. In their brief, IBM points out that SCO puts forth a convoluted set of non-answers referencing each other to disguise it's inability to answer IBM. Their set of cross-references is so complex that Groklaw readers graphed the claims to make what little sense of them they could."
United States

Submission + - Promising Fusion Research Snuffed Out

Submitted by
Stanistani
Stanistani writes: "For 11 years physicist Robert Bussard quietly worked on Boron Fusion research for the U.S. Navy. Just as his experiments promised to bear fruit, the funding ran out, and an explosion in his laboratory put an emphatic end to his efforts. Now, in a Defense News article, the details of this fusion technology emerge, along with Bussard's claims that a remarkably small amount of funding could finish the job and deliver a working fusion reactor decades ahead of competing efforts — a reactor that runs on Boron and produces electricity directly — without radiation."
Software

Submission + - RIAA's "Expert" Witness Testimony Now Onl

Submitted by
NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "The online community now has an opportunity to see the fruits of its labor. Back in December, the Slashdot ("What Questions Would You Ask an RIAA "Expert"?") and Groklaw ("Another Lawyer Would Like to Pick Your Brain, Please") communities were asked for their input on possible questions to pose to the RIAA's "expert", Dr. Doug Jacobson of Iowa State University, who was scheduled to be deposed in February in UMG v. Lindor, for the first time in any RIAA case. Ms. Lindor's lawyers were flooded with about 1400 responses. The deposition of Dr. Jacobson went forward on February 23, 2007, and the transcript is now available online (pdf). For those who would like an ASCII text version they can cut and paste, go here. Ray Beckerman, one of Ms. Lindor's attorneys, had this comment: "We are deeply grateful to the community for reviewing our request, for giving us thoughts and ideas, and for reviewing other readers' responses. Now I ask the tech community to review this all-important transcript, and bear witness to the shoddy "investigation" and 'junk science' upon which the RIAA has based its litigation war against the people. The computer scientists among you will be astounded that the RIAA has been permitted to burden our court system with cases based upon such arrant and careless nonsense.""
Worms

Submission + - Substitute convicted of exposing kids to porn

Submitted by flaming error
flaming error writes: According to the AP, a substitute teacher with apparently little knowledge of computers claims she used a classroom PC to send an email to her husband, went to the restroom, and returned to find a couple girls browsing a hairstyle site on the web. She sent them away, and later, during class, pornographic images started popping up on the PC. The school administration admits the PC was completely open, unpatched, and unprotected. But the prosecution didn't buy the idea of porn popping up all by itself, nor apparently, did the jury. She is now a convict, and facing jail time.
Announcements

Submission + - New report to "end the debate" on climate

Submitted by duh P3rf3ss3r
duh P3rf3ss3r writes: The Toronto Star has obtained a section of the fourth report of the UN's International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), due to be released February 2. The article refers to the section as a "final draft" of the "Summary for Policy Makers" and says that the report will indicate that "It is very likely that (man-made) greenhouse gas increases caused most of the globally average temperature increases since the mid-20th century." The report also says that "Research since the third report was released in 2001 increases the certainty about climate change and the likely scale of most of its effects, including warmer temperatures and severe weather."

According to the Star article, "One crucial prediction has been made a bit less worrying: Although sea level is rising — for now, mainly because the oceans are warming to a depth of at least 3,000 metres, and expanding — the estimates for how much it will go up have been lowered."

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