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Earth

Global Warming 'Confirmed' By Independent Study 967

Posted by Soulskill from the time-to-crank-the-AC dept.
chrb writes "The Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature Project — an independent study of Earth's historical temperature record partly funded by climate skeptics, including the Koch brothers — has released preliminary results that show the same warming trend as previous research. Project leader and physics professor Richard Muller, of the University of California, has stated that he was 'surprised' at the close agreement, and it 'confirms that these studies were done carefully.' The study also found that warming in the temperature record was not caused by poor quality weather monitoring stations — thus rejecting a frequent claim of skeptics. Climate skeptic Stephen McIntyre has previously said 'anything that [Muller] does will be well done.'"
Networking

Sony Sued For PlayStation Network Data Breach 404

Posted by samzenpus from the lick-em-while-their-down dept.
suraj.sun writes "Like clockwork, the first lawsuit resulting from the security breach of the personal data of more than 75 million Sony PlayStation Network customers has been filed. The suit was filed today on behalf of Kristopher Johns, 36, of Birmingham, Ala., in the US District Court for the Northern District of California. Johns accuses Sony of not taking 'reasonable care to protect, encrypt, and secure the private and sensitive data of its users.' He also believes Sony took too long to notify him and other customers that their personal information had been exposed. Because of that, the complaint alleges, Sony did not allow its customers 'to make an informed decision as to whether to change credit card numbers, close the exposed accounts, check their credit reports, or take other mitigating actions.'"
Politics

Submission + - Republicans Want To Keep Students Out Of Voting (washingtonpost.com) 2

Submitted by siliconbits
siliconbits writes: New Hampshire's new Republican state House speaker is pretty clear about what he thinks of college kids and how they vote. They're "foolish," Speaker William O'Brien said in a recent speech to a tea party group.
"Voting as a liberal. That's what kids do," he added, his comments taped by a state Democratic Party staffer and posted on YouTube. Students lack "life experience," and "they just vote their feelings."
Moon

Playmate Photo From Apollo 12 Up For Auction 211

Posted by CmdrTaco from the here-comes-the-hatemail dept.
Kilrah_il writes "When the Apollo 12 crew left Earth for a trip to the Moon, they did not know that the ground crew hid a surprise in one of the command module lockers: a calendar photo of Playboy Playmate DeDe Lind. Now this card is offered for auction, after being kept in the personal collection of command module pilot Richard Gordon, who added the following memo: 'This is to certify that the accompanying 4.5" x 6.25" cue card did, indeed, accompany me on my trip to the moon in the Command Module Yankee Clipper aboard the historic Apollo 12 lunar landing mission. This cue card, which flew with me to the moon, has been in my sole possession and part of my personal space collection since my return from the moon in 1969 aboard America's second lunar landing mission, and it remains one of the all-time greatest Apollo era astronaut "Gotcha's!"' For those interested, the minimum bid is $1000." Warning, contains pixelated nudity.
Businesses

Record Labels To Pay For Copyright Infringement 235

Posted by Soulskill from the of-pots-and-kettles dept.
innocent_white_lamb writes "Sony Music Entertainment Canada Inc., EMI Music Canada Inc., Universal Music Canada Inc. and Warner Music Canada Co. have agreed to pay songwriters and music publishers $47.5 million in damages for copyright infringement and overdue royalties to settle a class action lawsuit. 'The 2008 class action alleges that the record companies "exploited" music owners by reproducing and selling in excess of 300,000 song titles without securing licenses from the copyright owners and/or without paying the associated royalty payments. The record companies knowingly did so and kept a so-called "pending list" of unlicensed reproductions, setting aside $50 million for the issue, if it ever arose, court filings suggest.'"
Technology

Running Your Own Ghost Investigation? 810

Posted by timothy from the whooooo-whooooo-or-woo-woo dept.
Quirkz writes "I am a skeptic, but have friends and family who swear by their ghost stories. I have access to a supposedly haunted house and been tempted to run a proper scientific investigation. My first question is what sorts of tools or measurements would make for sensible metrics to test during a hunt? Temperature change seems to be a common one, but the other devices you'll see ghost hunters use seem pretty random. The second question is what kinds of results would it take to be 'interesting'? Baseline readings at several presumably non-haunted locations seem to be obvious requirements for comparison. Once you have those, what kinds of results would it take to convince a skeptic there's something unusual going on, or demonstrate that there's not? I don't have much hope of changing the minds of those who believe, but it would be satisfying to at least be scientific about it."
Censorship

Amazon Censorship Expands 764

Posted by samzenpus from the seven-words-you-can-never-read dept.
Nom du Keyboard writes "Recently word leaked out about Amazon removing titles containing fictional incest. Surprisingly that ban didn't extend to the 10 titles of Science Fiction Grand Master Robert A. Heinlein that incorporate various themes of incest and pedophilia. Now, it seems that the censorship is expanding to m/m gay fiction if it contains the magic word 'rape' in the title. Just how far is this going to be allowed to proceed in relative silence, and who is pushing these sudden decisions on Amazon's part?"

Comment Then you're not paying attention. (Score 1) 239

by EWAdams (#34687182) Attached to: Auditors Question TSA's Tech Spending, Security Solutions

Lowest bidder only maximizing profit for shareholder.

Incumbent official only maximizing donations to reelection campaigns.

I do not see much difference.

The head of the TSA is not elected and not of much use to anyone else who wants to get elected, since everybody hates him. He is also -- in principle, at least -- responsible to the public as a whole, not just his shareholders.
Security

4chan Has Been DDOSed 710

Posted by CmdrTaco from the happens-to-everyone dept.
An anonymous reader writes "According to the 4chan status page all of the 4chan boards have been DDOSed and are down."

Comment Re:Uh, no. (Score 1) 239

by EWAdams (#34684964) Attached to: Auditors Question TSA's Tech Spending, Security Solutions
Shopping mall security guards have ZERO training. TSA employees have a little bit of training. Not enough to teach them that 100 ml is OK even though it's 3.2 oz, but some. Rent-a-cops are really only watchers; they have another line of defense, real cops. TSA employees are the last line of defense.

Comment Uh, no. (Score 1) 239

by EWAdams (#34681254) Attached to: Auditors Question TSA's Tech Spending, Security Solutions
The last thing I want is airport security handed over to the lowest bidder whose only obligation is to maximize profits for his shareholders. Some things are WAY too important to be left to the free market, and looking out for public safety is at the top of the list. TSA employees may be one step above rent-a-cops, but at least they ARE one step above rent-a-cops.

Comment Two words: sniffer dogs. (Score 1) 239

by EWAdams (#34681216) Attached to: Auditors Question TSA's Tech Spending, Security Solutions
They work better than any other system, period. They don't have to irradiate you and they don't have to grope you. Admittedly Muslims and some other people consider them unclean, but they don't even have to touch what they're sniffing. The training takes time and money, it's true, but I have to wonder how many sniffer dogs could be trained for $14 billion...

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