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Yes, absolutely it does in my opinion. A combination of the two would have been the smarter move in my opinion.

It seems the Nigerian spammers have learned you can't always kill them with kindness. Now they just threaten to kill you. A woman in St. Louis received a mail that said, in part, "Am very sorry for you my friend, is a pity that this is how your life is going to end as soon as you don't comply. ... I don't have any business with you, my duty as I am mailing you now is just to KILL/ASSASINATE you and I have to do it as I have already been paid for that. Get back to me now if you are ready to pay some fees to spare your life, If you are not ready for my help, then I will carry on with my job straight-up."

arbitraryaardvark writes "Popular Mechanics writes that Lonnie Johnson, a former NASA scientist who got rich from inventing the supersoaker squirt gun, has invented a new kind of device for turning heat into electricity, at up to 60% efficiency.
The device involves passing hydrogen through membranes, taking advantage of pressure differentials between the hot and cold ends.
A solar collector could provide the heat source.
For some background here's a 2001 New York Times story on the guy."

Dell has taken the wraps off their new 30" LCD monitor today and launched the UltraSharp 3008WFP. You'll note that there are more than a few upgrades provided with this newer 3008 version. Specifically, the panel now has a 117% color gamut, in addition to having a 3000:1 contrast ratio, versus the 1000:1 performance of its predecessor, the 3007WFP. The panel also comes with the same pixel response time of 8ms but now has enhanced brightness capability at 370 nits. Also, Dell finally saw fit to adding significantly more connectivity options to the panel, with not only two DVI-D inputs, but also HDMI, Composite, Component, S-Video and the new DisplayPort interface. In short, anything you could want to hook up now or in the future, can be hooked up to this new Dell 30" panel.
http://www.hothardware.com/Articles/Dell_UltraSharp_3008WFP_30inch_LCD_With_DisplayPort/

mpsmps writes "The National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine today released SCIENCE, EVOLUTION, AND CREATIONISM, a book laying out the latest and overwhelming scientific evidence for evolution and why non-scientific approaches do not belong in the science classroom. It also discusses how our understanding of evolution has been essential in scientific advances, such as the analysis of the SARS virus. You can download the press release or read the entire book for free online."

gollum123 writes "California is suing the US federal government, in an attempt to force car makers to conform to tougher cuts in greenhouse gas emissions ( http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7169200.stm ). The lawsuit comes after the federal Environmental Protection Agency denied California a waiver from US law needed to enact its own efficiency targets. Fifteen other states or state agencies are set to join the action. It challenged the Epa's denial of California's request to implement its own emissions law — which would require a 30% reduction in motor vehicle greenhouse gas emissions by 2016 by improving fuel efficiency standards. For years, California has been allowed to set its own environmental targets in recognition of the "compelling and extraordinary conditions" the state faces — and the Epa has never before denied California a waiver request. The other states joining the fight are: Massachusetts, Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington."

C|net has an interesting piece running at the moment about why Apple developed their own lossless codec, and more importantly that iTunes will become a download store for lossless audio, potentially from all the major labels. This would be a massively positive move for people who spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on hi-fi gear, but refuse to give money to stores that only offer compressed music. It's a big FLAC, DRM, ALAC and GB discussion, but it's a very exciting perspective, and surely one that'll pan out meaning audiophiles will finally be able to take advantage of legal digital downloads.
http://reviews.cnet.co.uk/natelanxon/0,139102300,49294808,00.htm

MrShaggy writes "Our Good friend Michael Geist, has put up a website, seeking signatures. They are going to send the petition to the government, asking to be heard. I feel this is an important step.
"In order to protect the Internet from these increasingly invasive corporate interests, we are asking that the government define the rules for which ISPs may participate on the Internet and mandate the application and content neutrality of Internet access providers.
By protecting Net Neutrality, we guarantee that pro-union sites do not get blocked, that ISPs do not charge anti-competitive 'preference' fees and that independent media can compete based on content, not pocketbook, with the largest of publishers.""

The proposed new icons for FireFox 3 have been released for a sneak peek over at Alex Faaborg's blog. A key new feature in FireFox 3 is how it will blend natively into each environment, thus there are four sets of icons effectively; one for Vista, XP, OSX, and Linux.

The RIAA is apparently having an allergic reaction to the request by the State Attorney General of Oregon for information about the RIAA's investigative tactics, in Arista v. Does 1-17, the Portland, Oregon, case targeting students at the University of Oregon. See The Oregonian, December 1, 2007 ("UO suspects music industry of spying") and p2pnet, November 29, 2007 ("RIAA may be spying on students: Oregon AG"). Not only are the record companies opposing the request (pdf), they're asking the Judge not to even read it. (pdf)
http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/2007/12/riaa-protests-oregon-ags-request-for.html

thinkerx writes "Senator Barack Obama has unveiled an education proposal that would reform no Child Left Behind, fund Universal pre-K and increase math and science education. As Election Geek points out his plan would be paid for by delaying the NASA Constellation program which is in support of bringing Americans back to the moon and is the stepping stone to human Mars exploration. With China, India, Russia and Japan all setting their sites on space and moon exploration a five year delay would eliminate any competitive advantage the U.S. has in space exploration. Are we looking at a return to troubled times for NASA?"
http://www.electiongeek.com/blog/2007/11/21/obama-would-stop-moon-exploration-for-education/

Wellington Grey writes "On Point recently did a show on the new Anti-Americanism. While Anti-Americanism has existed since the country emerged as the world's only superpower, the program stresses the differences and dangers of the current situation.

Anti-Americanism could be brushed off in the past because it was a small, if vocal, group espousing the idea. The problem is now that Anti-American sentiment abroad is no longer countered by a general population with positive feelings toward the US. Positive thoughts, even in America's allies, are now difficult to find.

Take, for example, Turkey. Ten years ago it was one of the most pro-American countries in the world, with Turkish support of the US at over 90%. Currently, support for the US is less than 9%.

From the show's summary: You want to know about anti-Americanism in the world? Here's the unhappy conclusion of a big-time panel of Republican and Democratic heavyweights, out yesterday: "America's reputation, standing, and influence are at all-time lows, and possibly sinking further."

Never in our history, says the report, have we, as a nation, been so poorly regarded in the world. And that has consequences. When America tries to lead, who follows? And if America stands too much alone, can it possibly prosper? Can it ever be safe?"
http://www.onpointradio.org/shows/2007/11/20071107_a_main.asp

jd writes "A cave known to the Romans as the Lupercal has been found. The Lupercal (a 26' high cave) was believed by the Romans to have been the place that Romulus and Remus (the founders of Rome) were rescued and suckled by a she-wolf. Now, whether these two people ever existed is another matter entirely, but even the place itself had descended into myths and legends, with no serious archaeologist believing it existed. Due to the extreme instability of Palatine Hill, where the cave exists, the archaeologists have not been inside. Instead, exploration has been by robots with cameras, endoscopes and laser scanners. These have mapped some amazing mosaics, marble artwork and an amazing white eagle."

eldavojohn writes "A British man was arrested who was allegedly the source of a distribution supply chain for leaking albums & movies to file sharers. He operated OiNK which was by invite only and would post files to be distributed which would then show up hours later further down the supply chain on other file sharing sites. This scheme stretched across many nations and is the result of a two year investigation by the IFPI. They hope that by infiltrating these layers of abstraction to the source, they can stop the early leaking of media."
http://torrentfreak.com/oinkcd-servers-raided-admin-arrested

jagermeister101 writes "Bad news for pirates. Torrent sharing network OiNK has been shutdown by British and Dutch police. A flat belonging to a 24 year old IT worker in England and servers based in Amsterdam were raided."
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/news/46566-illegal-torrent-site-oink-busted-by-police