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Medicine

Muslim Medical Students Boycott Darwin Lectures 1319

Posted by samzenpus from the designer-animals dept.
First time submitter Readycharged writes "The Daily Mail reports on a piece from The Sunday Times revealing that University College London have seen an increasing number of Muslim students boycotting lectures on Evolution due to clashes with the Koran. Steve Jones, Emeritus Professor of Human Genetics, says, 'I've had one or two slightly frisky discussions with kids who belonged to fundamentalist Christian churches, now it's Islamic overwhelmingly.' He adds, 'What they object to — and I don't really understand it, I am not religious — they object to the idea that there is a random process out there which is not directed by God.' The article also reveals that Evolutionary Biologist and former Oxford Professor Richard Dawkins also experienced Muslims walking out of such lectures."
Science

Strange Video of Dancing Cloud Explained By Electric Discharge 91

Posted by timothy from the because-clouds-do-not-have-hormones dept.
The Bad Astronomer writes "A few months ago I was sent a really weird video showing a cloud snapping around suddenly, far faster than wind could explain. I asked a meteorologist about it, who told me it was due to ice crystals re-aligning when the cloud's electric field discharged. It's pretty amazing to watch, and a great example of how many cool things happen right in front of us that we never notice."
Space

First Exoplanet Discovered Orbiting Two Stars 88

Posted by timothy from the good-to-visit-not-to-live dept.
astroengine writes "For the first time, astronomers have discovered an exoplanet orbiting binary stars. Kepler-16b, a Saturn-sized world approximately 200 light-years away, orbits Kepler-16, two stars locked in a mutual dance. Although other exoplanets are known to exist in binary systems, they have only been known to be orbiting one star of the binary pair; Kepler-16b orbits both. No doubt Kepler-16b will excite memories of Tatooine, Luke Skywalker's homeworld, but the double sunset is where the similarities end. Kepler-16b would be anything but a desert world; it is the approximate size of Saturn, it is extremely cold, and its average density is that of water."
Government

New Legislation Would Punish Mishandling of Private Data 187

Posted by Soulskill from the forty-days-in-the-chamber-of-fire dept.
An anonymous reader writes "A bill introduced Thursday by Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) would regulate the handling of consumers' private data and punish companies who screw it up (e.g. Sony). 'These rules would require companies to follow specific storage guidelines and ensure that personal information is stored and protected correctly. Companies that do not adhere to these security guidelines could be subject to stiff fines.' Blumenthal told the NY Times, 'The goal of the proposed law is essentially to hold accountable the companies and entities that store personal information and personal data and to deter data breaches. While looking at past data breaches, I've been struck with how many are preventable.'"
Google

Google Running 900,000 Servers 127

Posted by CmdrTaco from the yeah-but-how-many-cores-chris dept.
1sockchuck writes "How many servers is Google using? The company won't say, but a new report places the number at about 900,000. The estimate is based on data Google shared with researcher Jonathan Koomey, for a new report on data center power use. The data updates a 2007 report to Congress, and includes a surprise: data centers are using less energy than projected, largely due to the impact of the recession (buying fewer servers) and virtualization."
Microsoft

Windows 8 Previewed At D9 330

Posted by Soulskill from the somebody-got-their-tablet-in-my-pc dept.
theodp writes "Mum's still the word on a shipping date for its new OS for laptops, desktops, and tablets ('touch slates' in MS-speak), but Microsoft on Wednesday gave the world a first look at the touch-friendly 'Windows 8' user interface, which sports a live tile-based Start screen reminiscent of the company's Windows Phone 7 interface. Also prominent in the demo was a large 'Store' tile, suggesting that Microsoft plans to offer Windows apps through a marketplace. A Microsoft video offers an overview of the interface, showcasing Win 8's multi-tasking capabilities and some other interesting features, including a virtual keyboard that can be switched from full-screen to a more ergonomic split-screen thumbs layout."

Comment Re:Here is the list of top 5 malicious Downloads. (Score 3, Interesting) 290

by DrScotsman (#36166294) Attached to: Microsoft: One In 14 Downloads Is Malicious

The grandparent was listing jokes, not actual malicious software.

Of course I jest, but which other Windows program anywhere near as popular brings up UAC prompts out of nowhere in the way Java updater does without even being "opened"? I bet Java is partially to blame for a huge number of users blindly clicking "Yes" to all UAC prompts - in the average user's eyes it just won't stop prompting until you accept its damn update.

Comment Re:Strange (Score 1) 395

by DrScotsman (#36166152) Attached to: When AIM Was Our Facebook

I was too young for the ICQ era but I can vouch that MSN Messenger was definitely the most popular one in Britain in the 2000s. Never once had to use AIM to talk to someone who wasn't America.

No one IM protocol compares with Facebook on a global scale.

Comment Might be irrelevent in the EU? (Score 1) 187

by DrScotsman (#36164262) Attached to: The FSF's Campaign Against the Nintendo 3DS

IANAL but a lot of that sounds like it'd might fall foul of the EU-wide Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations. The bricking definitely.

If I wanted a 3DS I'd still get one regardless. If they bricked my device I'd see them in small claims. Call me overconfident if you want, but living the lifestyle where you're worried about terms that don't look like they'll stand up is quite boring and sometimes expensive.

I recently bought my first Steam game and didn't care about the ToS for the same reason - nothing that looked threatening seemed valid. Yeah they're a US company, but I'm sure they'll have enough presence/assets in the UK to hold accountable (notably there are quite a few terms say things like "May not be valid if you're an EU customer", so it seems they do feel threatened to comply with EU laws at least somewhat).
Microsoft

Microsoft TouchStudio Uses Phone To Program Phone 162

Posted by Soulskill from the calling-functions dept.
theodp writes "Over the weekend, Microsoft released the beta of TouchStudio, a free Windows Phone app that allows one to write programs for a phone on the very same phone, no computer required. According to the Microsoft Research project page, the work-in-progress TouchStudio aims to bring 'the excitement of the first programmable personal computers to the phone.' Among the code examples provided is a four-liner that scans a phone's music collection for songs less than three minutes long and produces a fairly slick, clickable playlist complete with track info and artwork. Easier than iPhone SDK programming, no?"
Networking

Getting Past Censorship With Unorthodox Links To the Internet 82

Posted by timothy from the sneakier-net dept.
An anonymous reader points out a short article at The Economist, which says "Savvy techies are finding ways to circumvent politically motivated shutdowns of the internet. Various groups around the world are using creative means like multi-directional mobile phone antennae and even microwave ovens to transmit internet traffic accross international borders."
Android

Does Android Have a Linux Copyright Problem? 292

Posted by timothy from the ask-the-patented-magic-8-ball dept.
An anonymous reader writes "TheRegister says Google's attempt to purge copyright from header files has put mobile developers at risk of being forced to reveal their own source code, according to legal experts. This time it's not patents or Android's reinterpretation of Java that's causing problems, but the Linux code that compiles down into Android itself. The discussion started with a Huffington Post article by IP lawyer Edward Naughton, who has serious doubts about Google's approach to the Linux kernel header files. He in turn links to copyright law professor Ray Nimmer's blog post on disclosure risks on copyleft platforms. And IP blogger Florian Mueller believes Google faces a serious Linux copyright issue."
Games

Kinect Self-Awareness Hack 82

Posted by samzenpus from the how-about-a-nice-game-of-chess? dept.
One can only imagine how enraged the Kinect would have been if it found out he had broken the ToS.

Comment Re:More publishers need to follow this example (Score 3, Insightful) 129

by DrScotsman (#35355318) Attached to: WB To Appeal Australia's Effective Ban on <em>Mortal Kombat</em>

I think you completely missed the point of the grandparent. He's saying that thanks to there not being an 18+ rating ("bureaucratic red tape"), banning the game was not a "poor decision", as the only other decision that could be made at the time is to make it 15+, which shouldn't be acceptable (something you don't seem to contest)

He never said that the lack of 18+ rating wasn't a poor decision - it's simply not the decision he's referring to (Unless when reviewing a game the ratings board have the power to instantly introduce the 18+ rating so they can rate that game as such, but I think it's safe to say that's impossible). I imagine he probably agrees with most of what you just lectured him on. Not sure how you got +3 insightful for poor reading.

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