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Comment: Re:Excuse me? (Score 4, Insightful) 351

by Covalent (#43796209) Attached to: The Canadian Government's War On Science
You must be a conservative.

I hate to break it to you, but the Kyoto Accord is based on science, whether you like that science or not. This is exactly the point: you don't like the science, and neither do most conservatives, because it indicates that a BIG business (fossil fuel based energy) is bad. Since those businesses have a fair amount of money, the Kyoto Accord is pretty anti-fossil fuel business.

Despite that fact, it is still based on valid science.

+ - House Bill Would Mandate Smart Gun Tech By U.S. Manufacturers->

Submitted by Lucas123
Lucas123 writes "U.S. Rep. John Tierney (D-Mass) is pushing a bill that would require all U.S. handgun manufacturers to include "personalization technology" in their weapons. Tierney said he got the idea for The Personalized Handgun Safety Act of 2013 from the latest James Bond film, "Skyfall". In it Bond escapes death when his handgun, which is equipped with technology that recognizes his fingerprints, becomes inoperable when a bad guy picks it up. "This technology, however, isn't just for the movies — it's a reality," Tierney said. Tierney pointed to a myriad of cases where the smart gun tech could prevent children from being harmed or killed in firearms accidents. Jim Wallace, executive director of the Massachusetts Gun Owners Action League, the official state association of the NRA, said he knows of no gun owners who would want smart gun technology on their weapons. Wallace said any technology that may impede the proper function of a weapon is a problem. He pointed to the fact that any integrated processer technology would also require a battery of some kind, which could pose a system failure if it lost power."
Link to Original Source

+ - Linux-based rifle scope lets beginners hit targets a quarter mile away->

Submitted by alphadogg
alphadogg writes "A high-tech Texas gun designer has started shipping its first generation shooting system that combines a hunting rifle with a Linux-based scope that takes so much guesswork out of hitting targets a quarter mile away that even novices can do it. TrackingPoint Xact System consist of the rifle and electronic scope that accounts for distance, temperature and movement before freeing up the trigger to shoot, the company says. It was originally designed with the goal of hitting a volleyball at 450 yards but has surpassed that, and the company says that someone with no shooting experience can achieve long-range marksman performance with the weapon the same day."
Link to Original Source

+ - Goodbye, Lotus 1-2-3->

Submitted by walterbyrd
walterbyrd writes "In 2012, IBM started retiring the Lotus brand. Now 1-2-3, the core product that brought Lotus its fame, takes its turn on the chopping block. IBM stated, "Effective on the dates listed below, [June 11, 2013] IBM will withdraw from marketing part numbers from the following product release(s) licensed under the IBM International Program License Agreement:" IBM Lotus 123 Millennium Edition V9.x, IBM Lotus SmartSuite 9.x V9.8.0, and Organizer V6.1.0.
Further, IBM stated, "Customers will no longer be able to receive support for these offerings after September 30, 2014. No service extensions will be offered. There will be no replacement programs.""
Link to Original Source

+ - Google launches more photocentric app for Android->

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "Google+ is getting serious about photography. As announced last week at I/O, Google's social network is becoming much more image-centric with its latest update. To match the new web version of Google+, Google has released a completely revamped Android app.
Version 4.0 of the app automates many of its features. Google described the new tools in the official announcement:"
Link to Original Source

+ - Yahoo's Big Tumble Into Big Porn, Big Sleaze, and Perhaps, Big Trouble->

Submitted by Lauren Weinstein
Lauren Weinstein writes "The fact is that Tumblr brings to Yahoo a rather fascinating dilemma. It would be unfair to call Tumblr a sleaze site per se — because they do host a wide variety of utterly un-sleazy materials posted by their freewheeling users on a virtually endless series of "microblogs." But, truth be told, Tumblr is also an almost bottomless pit of seamy, gross, and in some cases borderline illicit postings of all sorts ..."
Link to Original Source

+ - Addicted to Learning? Hardcore MOOC Students Race to Pass Courses->

Submitted by jyosim
jyosim writes "Hundreds of people are spending 20 or 30 hours a week just taking free Massive Open Online Courses, or MOOCs. They're not looking for credit, just a challenge of learning. This Chronicle of Higher Ed story looks at whether these MOOC addicts think they're learning as much as they would in a traditional college course."
Link to Original Source

+ - Yahoo Pinkie-Swears It Won't Ruin Tumblr->

Submitted by Nerval's Lobster
Nerval's Lobster writes "Yahoo has agreed to acquire Tumblr for $1.1 billion. As you know, Yahoo is a major corporation with a need to monetize its assets in a way that makes its shareholders happy, leaving open the question of whether it’ll alter Tumblr’s DNA in order to make the latter more of a significant cash generator. But at least for the moment, Yahoo seems content to leave its new property alone. “Per the agreement and our promise not to screw it up, Tumblr will be independently operated as a separate business,” read the company’s press release. “The product, service and brand will continue to be defined and developed separately with the same Tumblr irreverence, wit, and commitment to empower creators.” Tumblr CEO David Karp, who has been known to make some very anti-advertising comments in the past, will remain in place. Even so, anyone who likes Tumblr may have some cause for concern, because Yahoo has a history of making high-profile acquisitions that subsequently implode. Back in 1999, for example, it paid over $3 billion for GeoCities, another blogging network that it eventually shut down after years of failing the update the property. In 2005, it acquired popular photo-sharing Website Flickr, which it likewise allowed to languish and die. That same year it bought Delicious, a popular Webpage-bookmarking site, and did exactly nothing with it. So when Yahoo starts off its Tumblr press release with a promise not to screw things up, it’s a self-deprecating nod toward all that history. New Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has been on a bit of a buying spree of late, snatching up startups such as Summly in an attempt to make her company “cool” and relevant."
Link to Original Source

+ - Open source browser based code editors->

Submitted by Jason Hibbets
Jason Hibbets writes "Development work has traditioanlly been done "offline" — but is that work shifting to the cloud? This article looks at ICEcoder, a fully featured, browser based code editor that allows you to code online or offline in the web browser."
Link to Original Source

+ - Stanford's nanoscavenger makes contaminated water safe for human use->

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "Stanford believes it has created a nanoscavenger (nanoparticles) capable of cleaning contaminated water and then being completely removed from that water afterwards.

The breakthrough has come in the form of a synthetic material whose two outer layers are magnetic. However, they have opposite magnetic forces. When a strong permanent magnet is used, the magnetic layers within each particle turn into alignment, creating a very strong attraction to the magnet. The end result is nanoscavengers that go around cleaning the water, but then evacuate as soon as a magnet is used to extract them.

It is hoped such nanoscavengers will aid in the production of clean water usable by humans."
Link to Original Source

+ - Earth and Moon Got Water from Common Source->

Submitted by puddingebola
puddingebola writes "I could not track down the original paper, but research now indicates the water on the Moon and Earth share a common origin. From the article, "In investigating primitive lunar samples carried to Earth by the Apollo 15 and 17 missions, the team found a deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio that matched the isotopic ratio in carbonaceous chondrites, which include some of the most primitive meteorites known. The ratio is also similar to that found in water on Earth. The findings “suggest a common source of water for both objects” and provide “a very important new constraint for models of Earth and Moon origin”, says planetary scientist Robin Canup of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado, who was not part of the study." The finding has ramifications for existing theories of formation of the Earth and Moon."
Link to Original Source

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