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Submission + - What Does Iowa Do With 33 Million Dead Chickens? 2

Submitted by HughPickens.com
HughPickens.com writes: Stephanie Strom writes in the NYT that deadly avian flu viruses have affected more than 33 million turkeys, chickens and ducks since December and while farmers in Asia and elsewhere have had to grapple with avian flu epidemics, farmers in the United States have never confronted a health crisis among livestock like this one. Almost every day brings confirmation by the Agriculture Department that at least another hundred thousand or so birds must be destroyed; some days, the number exceeds several million.

Mounds and mounds of carcasses have piled up in vast barns in the northwestern corner of Iowa, where farmers and officials have been appealing for help to deal with disposal of such a vast number of flocks. Workers wearing masks and protective gear have scrambled to clear the barns, but it is a painstaking process. In these close-knit towns that include many descendants of the area’s original Dutch settlers, some farmers have resorted to burying dead birds in hurriedly dug trenches on their own land, while officials weighed using landfills and mobile incinerators. Federal lawmakers from Iowa called on the Agriculture Department to do more to help farmers with the culling and disposal of birds. The federal agency has made tens of millions of dollars available for assistance, and noted that it is deploying hundreds of staff members, including 85 in Iowa. Iowa, where one in every five eggs consumed in the country is laid, has been the hardest hit: More than 40 percent of its egg-laying hens are dead or dying. Many are in this region, where barns house up to half a million birds in cages stacked to the rafters. The high density of these egg farms helps to explain why the flu, which can kill 90 percent or more of a flock within 48 hours, is decimating more birds in Iowa than in other states. “It’s important that we get that done fairly soon and we need landfills to be reasonable in terms of the charges they’re assessing and willing to take these birds,” says US Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack. “But at some point in time we’ve basically got to get rid of these birds because otherwise we’re going to begin to have some other issues in terms of odor and flies and things of that nature that people are obviously not going to want to deal with.”

Submission + - A Turtle Receives the First Ever 3D Printed Titanium Jaw Implant of its Kind

Submitted by ErnieKey
ErnieKey writes: A wounded loggerhead turtle showed up in Turkey, with significant damage to its upper and lower jaws. It was taken to the Sea Turtle Research, Rescue and Rehabilitation Center at Pamukkale University (PAU) for help. The PAU team, working with BTech Innovation, was able to make a 3D printed titanium jaw implant for the turtle. The operation was a success, and the patient--the world's first sea turtle to receive a 3D printed implant--is recovering.

Submission + - Why Consumers Hate Us (vortex.com)

Submitted by Lauren Weinstein
Lauren Weinstein writes: It's not usually an all-encompassing kind of hate. Nor is it typically some form of "I hate you so much I won't have anything to do with you!" category of hate. And rarely is it really a "fear of evil" model of hate.

No, it's much more of a simmering, situationally specific kind of anger. It's mostly (but by no means exclusively) directed at large Internet technology firms, and by proxy at the technologists (like many of you, and certainly me) who either directly or indirectly create, deploy, influence, or otherwise impact the Web and its services as experienced by ordinary, mostly non-techie consumers — who increasingly must use our products whether they really want to or not, at the risk of being left far behind ...

Submission + - What if Windows went open source tomorrow? (networkworld.com)

Submitted by JG0LD
JG0LD writes: Thinking out loud about Microsoft making Windows an open source project is a great way to get your friends and colleagues wondering seriously about your mental health. It’s an idea strange enough to sound practically paradoxical, like “hot ice” or “short Pink Floyd songs.”

Comment Re:Ummm..... (Score 1) 85

by AuMatar (#49668855) Attached to: The Best-Paying IT Security Jobs of 2015

My expectations aren't internet bluffing, its taking my RSUs by the current stock price, and adding in my expected bonus. Although if the stock market crashes in the next 6 months it could seriously decrease, its not a 0 risk supposition.

I think you have a lot of wrong information about real cost of living in the valley. My commute is 20-25 minutes each way, and could easily be much lower at the same housing price. This morning it was 35 due to an accident, first time its been over 30 in 6 months. That's lower than most people's commutes are in other places I've lived. Housing is truly disgusting, but even then its a difference of 24K/yr over what I was paying in other cities. Subtract that from the salary. As for hideously crowded- you'd have to pay me 10 times what I make now to live in a less crowded area, what the fuck do you even do all day on weekends in a rural area? No museums, no galleries, no street musicians, no festivals, no events. No thanks. Its not even all that crowded, its just a giant spread out suburb. Crowded would be like Manhattan, which would probably be more fun

Comment Re:Ummm..... (Score 1) 85

by AuMatar (#49667705) Attached to: The Best-Paying IT Security Jobs of 2015

I mentioned the city in several cases- assume that until I mention another city its the same as the previous one. But cost of living numbers tend to be really overstated- other than housing the remainder is basically flat anywhere in the US, the 2-3% difference doesn't matter if you aren't living paycheck to paycheck. Subtract out the difference in housing yourself, I have no idea what your base is.

We'll disagree on you having the best housing- for me the best housing means fun things in walking distance with minimal square feet, more room means more work and I hate housework and yardwork. I'd pay extra on a house not to have a yard. The thought of mowing 4 acres all summer makes me physically ill. You'd have to pay me retirement level money per year to live somewhere rural.

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