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Submission + - Lawrence Krauss on the Pope's encyclical: Not even close? (thebulletin.org)

Submitted by Lasrick
Lasrick writes: Lawrence Krauss muses on the hoopla surrounding Pope Francis' encyclical on climate change, and finds the document lacking: 'It is ironic that while the scientific community has long tried to raise warning signals and induce action to address human-induced climate change, an encyclical from the pope on this subject is being taken by many as an ultimate call to action on this urgent issue.'

Submission + - Taylor Swift denigrates Apple Music as 'shocking, disappointing' (betanews.com)

Submitted by Mark Wilson
Mark Wilson writes: There are only a few days until Apple Music launches, but already there is quite a backlash against the music streaming service. It's not just smaller, independent labels that are complaining about Apple's refusal to pay artists any royalties during the initial three month free trial period. Taylor Swift has added her voice to the growing number of complainants, writing an open letter to Apple in which she says she will withhold her new album 1989 from the service.

In the letter, entitled "To Apple, Love Taylor", the singer says that the company's decision not to make royalty payments is "shocking, disappointing, and completely unlike this historically progressive and generous company". Swift is an artist who could afford to shoulder the cost of three months of not being paid by Apple, but she has chosen to make a stand and stick up for those who are less fortunate.

Comment What's the windows key good for? (Score 5, Informative) 127

by geekprime (#49907389) Attached to: Toshiba Introduces a Cortana Keyboard Button For Windows 10

Here's a list of what it's good for, from ms's webiste and reformatted somewhat...
YOU may not use these functions but they exist and I'll bet that a couple of them will be useful to you, but just a couple. ;)

Windows key+Tab
Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D

Ctrl+Windows+Tab
Use the arrow keys to cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D

Windows logo key
Open or close the Start menu.

Windows key +Pause
Display the System Properties dialog box.

Windows key +D
Display the desktop.

Windows key +M
Minimize all windows.

Windows key +Shift+M
Restore minimized windows to the desktop.

Windows key +E
Open Computer.

Windows key +F
Search for a file or folder.

Ctrl+Windows key +F
Search for computers (if you're on a network).

Windows key +L
Lock your computer or switch users.

Windows key +R
Open the Run dialog box.

Windows key +T
Cycle through programs on the taskbar.

Windows key+number
Start the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number. If the program is already running, switch to that program.

Shift+Windows key+number
Start a new instance of the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.

Ctrl+Windows key+number
Switch to the last active window of the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.

Alt+Windows key+number
Open the Jump List for the program pinned to the taskbar in the position indicated by the number.

Windows key +Tab
Cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D.

Ctrl+Windows key +Tab
Use the arrow keys to cycle through programs on the taskbar by using Aero Flip 3-D.

Ctrl+Windows key +B
Switch to the program that displayed a message in the notification area.

Windows key +Spacebar
Preview the desktop.

Windows key +Up Arrow
Maximize the window.

Windows key +Left Arrow
Maximize the window to the left side of the screen.

Windows key +Right Arrow
Maximize the window to the right side of the screen.

Windows key +Down Arrow
Minimize the window.

Windows key +Home
Minimize all but the active window.

Windows key +Shift+Up Arrow
Stretch the window to the top and bottom of the screen.

Windows key +Shift+Left Arrow or Right Arrow
Move a window from one monitor to another.

Windows key +P
Choose a presentation display mode.

Windows key +G
Cycle through gadgets.

Windows key +U
Open Ease of Access Center.

Windows key +X
Open Windows Mobility Center.

Submission + - The "Screw Dick Shelby And The Lobbyists He Rode In" On Project (kickstarter.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Rand Simberg talks about the current NASA crew transport to ISS mess. Congress just cut the private commercial space funding being provided to NASA in order to provide a native US astronaut transportation capability independent of the Russian Soyuz. The US commercial flights would cost less per seat than the current Russian Soyuz flights. All of this is happening at a time where the US is imposing sanctions on Russia because of the Ukrainian crisis. (Rand is doing a Kickstarter about alternative ways to fund space development).

Submission + - Trade Bill Fails in the House (washingtonpost.com)

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: President Obama suffered a major defeat to his Pacific Rim free trade initiative Friday as House Democrats helped derail a key presidential priority despite his last-minute, personal plea on Capitol Hill.

The House voted 302 to 126 to sink a measure to grant financial aid to displaced workers, fracturing hopes at the White House that Congress would grant Obama fast-track trade authority to complete an accord with 11 other Pacific Rim nations.

This was after silicon valley heavyweights made a last minute push to pass the bill and the white house got personal with many Democratic lawmakers.

Submission + - FCC Nixes PayPal's Forced Robocalls Plan

Submitted by jfruh
jfruh writes: As part of a new user agreement created in preparation for its spinoff from eBay as an independent company, PayPal told users that the only way to avoid advertising robocalls from PayPal and its 'partners' was to stop using the service. This caused something of a firestorm, and now the FCC is saying the policy may violate Federal law, which requires an explicit opt-in to receive such messages.

Submission + - Microsoft's Skype Drops Modern App In Favour Of Old Fashioned Win32 App (i-programmer.info)

Submitted by mikejuk
mikejuk writes: Microsoft, after putting a lot of effort into persuading us that Universal Apps are the way of the future pulls the plug on Skype modern app to leave just the desktop version. The split in Windows apps created by the launch of Windows 8 still persists today and Microsoft is currently trying to fix this huge blunder by creating a true Windows 10 Universal App that can run on desktop, phone and mobile.Microsoft's argument is that any WinRT apps that you have or old style Windows 8 Universal apps can easily be converted to a Windows 10 Universal app with a single code base for all platforms.
Skype is one of Microsoft's flagship products and it has been available as a desktop Win32 app and as a Modern/Metro/WinRT app for some time. You would think that Skype would support Universal Apps, there are few enough of them — but no. According to the Skype blog:
"Starting on July 7, we’re updating PC users of the Windows modern application to the Windows desktop application, and retiring the modern application."
Microsoft is pushing Windows 10 Universal Apps as the development platform for now and the future but its Skype team have just disagreed big time. What ever this is not a good example of dog fooding and puts in doubt any decision programmer might have made about being an early adopter of Windows 10 Universal Apps — if Microsoft can't get behind the plan why should developers?

Submission + - Rare 9-way kidney swap a success (ocregister.com)

Submitted by Okian Warrior
Okian Warrior writes: Doctors at UCSF and California Pacific Medical Center finished the final of 18 surgeries in a rare nine-way, two-day kidney transplant swap at the two San Francisco hospitals.

A computer software program made domino-like kidney transplants chains possible by connecting willing donors with compatible recipients, even if their kidney does not match their intended recipient. The donor’s kidney is paired with a matching recipient and, in exchange, the donor’s loved one will receive a kidney from a compatible donor in the same chain.

Submission + - American Pharoah Beats Science to Win Triple Crown 1

Submitted by HughPickens.com
HughPickens.com writes: There's some good reasons it's been 37 years since the last triple-crown winner as Lexi Pandell wrote on June 3 that post-race recovery is no joke for a thousand-pound animal that can run more than 40 miles per hour. There are two weeks between the Derby and the Preakness, and three weeks between the Preakness and the Belmont. That tight schedule—and the super-specific needs of racehorses—means horses competing in the grueling back-to-back-to-back Triple Crown races have a big disadvantage against fresh horses. First, as a horse races, its muscles produce lactic acid. In humans, glycogen recoup takes about 24 hours. But horses take several days to process lactic acid and restore glycogen reserves. Trainers make sure their charges drink plenty of water and sometimes even use intravenous fluids to aid that repair process. Secondly, in addition to being the last race of the Triple Crown, the Belmont Stakes is also the longest. That’s no easy feat, even for a racehorse. When a horse runs a tough race (or has a new workout at a longer distance), its muscles break down. Then, during rest, they reknit and adapt. A horse that has skipped the Preakness, however, has the luxury of time. Mubtaahij, who some picked to win the Belmont, had plenty of rest so he could be pushed for hard workouts two weeks prior to the Belmont.

Finally, at different points in its stride, a galloping horse puts all its weight on a single leg. That limb bears three times more weight than usual when galloping on a straightaway and, thanks to centrifugal force, a load five to 10 times greater on turns. This translates to skeletal microdamage. Race a horse during that critical period and you increase the risk of serious injuries mid-race. Two weeks ago, vets were forced to euthanize the promising gray thoroughbred filly, Eight Belles, when she collapsed on the track after completing the race at Churchill Downs, suffering from two shattered ankles in her front legs. A fresh horse won’t face any of those problems. Even a horse that ran in the Derby but skipped the Preakness will have five weeks to rest, and plenty of time for normal skeletal damage to repair, before the Belmont. "So, American Pharoah, it’d be awesome if you win the Triple Crown, but you probably won’t," concluded Pandell. "It’s not your fault. It’s science and those pesky fresh horses." Science was wrong.

Submission + - DARPA contest sends new humanoids into 'nuclear reactor' (theguardian.com) 1

Submitted by schwit1
schwit1 writes: The DARPA Robotics Challenge — the "Robolympics", unofficially, according to a couple of engineers laughing next to the Trac Labs garage, where a Boston Dynamics Atlas humanoid dangled from a scaffold — completes its final competition, with 25 teams of engineers and scientists giving orders to huge machines trundling across a landscape designed to simulate the impassible environment that greeted aid workers after the Fukushima Daiichi reactor in Japan melted down multiple times in 2011.

Engineers tried to help, but no robots could navigate the hazardous terrain and disaster ensued, rendering a huge area around the plant uninhabitable after toxic steam exploded into the skies. The radioactive leftovers are still emitting a million watts of heat.

If a Darpa contestant is able to navigate the terrain successfully, and in a short amount of time (each team has an hour to run the course) it will become the richest robot in town: first prize is $2m, second prize is $1m, and third gets $500,000.

Submission + - Is Musk Really Suckling On The Government's Teat? 1

Submitted by Rei
Rei writes: Slashdot recently linked an article in the LA Times complaining about how Elon Musk has built his corporate empires — Solar City, Tesla Motors and SpaceX — on the back of government largess. However, how does it compare in context to its competitors? USC professor Greg Autry breaks it down, noting among other things that SpaceX's competitors have benefited from decades of tremendous government money and a launch monopoly, while the Volt receives — on a percentage basis — 2 1/2 times greater subsidy than a Model S, and was developed on the government's dime.

Submission + - Global warming pause no longer valid - US Scientiests (bbc.com) 1

Submitted by Taco Cowboy
Taco Cowboy writes:

The whole Global Warming debate is as confusing as ever

Researchers from the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) say that there was no 'pause' in Global Warming

Dr Thomas Karl of NOAA point out that the warming rate over the past 15 years is "virtually identical" to the last century and updated observations show temperatures did not plateau

The idea of a global warming "hiatus" arose from questions over why the trend of warming temperatures appeared to be stalling recently compared to the later part of the 20th Century

The new analysis corrects for ocean observations made using different methods as well as including new data on surface temperatures

However Dr Peter Stott of the Met Office Hadley Centre said the results "still show the warming trend over the past 15 years has been slower than previous 15 year periods" and "global temperatures have not increased smoothly"

"This means natural variability in the climate system or other external factors has still had an influence and it's important we continue research to fully understand all the processes at work," he said

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), global average temperatures have increased by around 0.05C per decade in the period between 1998 and 2012

http://www.climatechange2013.o...

This compares with an average of 0.12 per decade between 1951 and 2012

On the other hand, the new analysis suggests a figure of 0.116 per decade for 2000-2014, compared with 0.113 for 1950-1999

Submission + - Nichelle Nichols, Uhura from Star Trek, Hospitalized with Stroke (variety.com)

Submitted by fightinfilipino
fightinfilipino writes:

“Last night while at her home in L.A., Nichelle Nichols suffered from a mild stroke,” McGinnis wrote. “She is currently undergoing testing to determine how severe the stroke was. Please keep her in your thoughts.” Nichols, 82, appeared in the original “Star Trek” TV series, which ran from 1966-1969, as well as the “Star Trek” movies. She also played the role of Nana Dawson in the ABC show “Heroes,” and voiced characters in the TV series “Futurama,” “Gargoyles” and “Spider-Man.”

Submission + - Ransomware script kiddie scared out of business (networkworld.com)

Submitted by tdog17
tdog17 writes: A criminal coder wrote a kit for ransomware that made it easy for others to encrypt victims' hard drives and then extort money from them in order to get the decryption keys. But when Intel Security wrote about the kit — called Tox — the author got cold feet. Now he or she is trying to sell the whole business.

Submission + - New test could reveal every virus that's ever infected you (sciencemag.org)

Submitted by sciencehabit
sciencehabit writes: Can’t remember every viral infection you’ve ever had? Don’t worry, your blood can. A new test surveys the antibodies present in a person’s bloodstream to reveal a history of the viruses they’ve been infected with throughout their life. The method could be useful not only for diagnosing current and past illnesses, but for developing vaccines and studying links between viruses and chronic disease.

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