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Yes... it was simply inhuman, the way the B*sh administration ruthlessly and systematically forced so many innocent people to buy Hummers and drive them around all day long.

esocid writes "Wall warts, a slang term for external power adapters, are used to convert the electrical current and voltage of a wall socket into the actual operating current and voltage used by devices such as mobile phones and laptops. They are often so large that they block other outlets, and so heavy that they can fall out of the wall socket entirely. Critics have also assailed manufacturers of wall warts for causing dependence on their product-specific adapters. Worse still, wall warts suck up a staggering amount of electricity. Calit2 (UC San Diego division of the California Institute for Telecommunications and Information Technology) has been developing a universal power adapter, UPA or uPower. The adapter would serve as a single power supply for one or more mobile or fixed devices or power packs. Once hooked up an appliance would use low data-rate communications to "request" the voltage it needs, and the adapter would adjust volts to operate the appliance. According to Palmer, this means there is conceptually no limit to the variety of devices (even hybrid cars) that could be plugged into the UPA. Using the UPA also makes powering electronic devices more efficient. Currently, the U.S. electric power grid delivers electricity at 220 or 110 volts, but more and more devices require only 3 to 12 volts. The UPA would provide only the voltage needed — no more, no less. Regardless of how consumers use the device, the cost and energy savings are significant, Palmer says."
http://www.calit2.net/newsroom/article.php?id=1327

"Meesa propose to giva' Senator Palpatine immediately emergency powaz!"

Somehow, I did not fail to see the sarcasm in the new Star Wars movies. Of course, the "death" of the Old Republic, happened when the North conquered the South, in a war of aggression (not sure why they call it a civil war, since it was two federations fighting each other, one to conquer and subjugate, the other to maintain the right of its member states to be independent, and the "nation of freedom" was stillborn even in 1791, for the most part because those who created its "founding document" did it with intentional flaws built in. Why, one asks? Well obviously, men who want government, want it only because it benefits them, they love power... but the power is all the more addictive when given up willingly by the dupes who think they need someone else to do their thinking for them. These people were no different. And they WERE the government, and they were fairly certain their progeny would continue to run the show (as they have).

The average plebe, regardless of where, is still just a mindless drone who hates money, hates thinking and most above all, hates getting out of his mental box (or hers, ladies I haven't forgotten about your ability to be equal to men in the endeavor of willful ignorance.) Actually judging by my observations of the "average Joe", I would wager that perhaps people DO need someone else to do some of their thinking for them, since obviously the vast majorities are unwilling to think past the divisive slogans and political campaigns.

The majority of stupid people in this country see no problem with the "us vs them" mentality because they are thinking "americans vs arabs" or "democrats vs republicans"... they don't realize its "parasites versus producers". As it has always been. Too many producers are too busy blaming other producers for their problems, while calling for more parasites, to realize that the parasites aren't necessary. As to which is which I leave it as an exercise to each reader to decide who are the producers and who are the parasites.

Wikipedia claims that Iraq having yellowcake is a lie and any evidence that Iraq has yellowcake was a forgery and part of fraud. Oops, guess they missed 550 metric tons of that stuff. Saddam must have hidden in in 'dat CIA napkin, so the UN couldn't find it. :)

I don't see how this will improve the accuracy of the information. It will just help poor intel get passed more efficiently.

mytrip writes "The Pentagon's non-lethal weapons division is looking for technologies that could 'disable' aircraft, before they can take off from a runway — or block the planes from flying over a given city or stretch of land. The Directorate's program managers don't mention how engineers might pull off such a kill switch. But, however it's done, they'd like to have a similar system for boats, as well. They're looking for a device that can, from 100 meters away, 'safely stop or significantly impede the movement' of vessels up to 40 feet long, with 'minimal collateral damage.'"

The Boy Scouts of America are looking to the open-source community for help in building software for its more than 121,000 local scout troops to use for fundraisers, and special events and other functions. Some open-source advocates, who are former Boy Scouts, support the idea, despite a few reservations. According to the article, there are no plans for a scout merit badge in open source — but there has been a merit badge in computers since 1967, 'and it is possible that if the program is successful, it could eventually be used by IT-savvy scouts themselves.'
http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9095238

ergodik writes "According to an article in Computerworld News Letters "Boy Scouts of America look to open-source community for help". The article mentions: "Texas-based BSA last month launched a Web site to begin its BSA Open Source Initiative (http://opensource.scouting.org/). So far, the group has done little to publicize the site, which has nary a post on it. But that could change as the BSA gets the word out and as the open-source community finds out what's being done." Let's help to get the word out. Read the full article at (http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9095238&source=NLT_AM&nlid=1) Note to the editors.- You may edit this comment."

The sun has been laying low for the past couple of years, producing no sunspots and giving a break to satellites. Periods of inactivity are normal for the sun, but this period has gone on longer than usual. The sun usually operates on an 11-year cycle with maximum activity occurring in the middle of the cycle. The last cycle reached its peak in 2001 and is believed to be just ending now, with the next cycle just beginning and is expected to reach its peak sometime around 2012. Today's sun, however, is as inactive as it was two years ago, and scientists aren't sure why. In the past, solar physicists observed that the sun once went 50 years without producing sunspots, coinciding with a little ice age on Earth that lasted from 1650 to 1700. The Hinode, a Japanese satellite mission with the US and UK as partners has three telescopes that together show how changes on the sun's surface spread through the solar atmosphere. It orbits 431 miles (694 km) above the Earth, crossing both poles and making one lap every 95 minutes, giving Hinode an uninterrupted view of the sun for several months out of the year. Scientists are not extremely worried, but have added extra ground stations in case of interference from extra solar activity, and are ready for the Sun to resume it's activity.
http://www.montana.edu/cpa/news/nwview.php?article=5982

Sony and the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, two industries which have been feuding for a decade about how best to deliver cable while allowing customers to buy equipment of their own choosing, have signed an agreement that will allow viewers to rid themselves of set-top boxes, yet still receive advanced "two-way" cable services, such as pay-per-view movies. A decade ago, when Congress ordered the cable industry to allow outside electronics makers to compete for the boxes, the cable industry developed the "cable card," inserted into competing boxes to unscramble the cable signal, but was the source of frequent customer complaints and never proved popular. Under the new system, customers will still need to get a cable card from their provider, but according to the agreement, technical glitches will be eliminated, "two-way" services will be available and there will be no need for the clunky boxes. The agreement is between Sony and the nation's six largest cable companies: Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Charter Communications, Cablevision Systems and Bright House Networks, which serve more than 82 percent of cable subscribers, and is in hopes of heading off action by the Federal Communications Commission to impose a two-way standard on the industry.
http://www.physorg.com/news131127948.html

Researchers at TU Delft (Netherlands) and the FOM (Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter) have found irrefutable proof that the so-called avalanche effect by electrons occurs in specific, very small semiconducting crystals. This physical effect could pave the way for cheap, high-output solar cells. Solar cells currently have a relatively low output, typically 15%, and high manufacturing costs. One possible improvement could derive from a new type of solar cell made of semiconducting nanocrystals (crystals with dimensions in the nanometre size range) and could theoretically lead to a maximum output of 44%, with the added benefit of reducing manufacturing costs.
In conventional solar cells, one photon can release precisely one electron, however, in some semiconducting nanocrystals, one photon can release two or three electrons, hence the term avalanche effect. This effect was first measured by researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratories in 2004, and since then the scientific world had raised doubts about the value of these measurements. This current research does in fact demonstrate that the avalanche effect can occur.
http://www.physorg.com/news131027836.html

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "DRM-purveyor Sandvine has threatened to sue p2pnet.net, ostensibly for "trademark and copyright" infringement, over its parody of Sandvine's trademark. The site had written an article critical of Sandvine's bandwidth-throttling, using a parody of Sandvine's logo in which it substituted for the phrase "Intelligent Broadband Networks" the phrase "Broadband Digital Restrictions Management consumer control". In response to the threatening letter it received, p2pnet wrote back "Sandvine's claim has no merit.... Like other news services, I engage in critical journalism and your demand seems directed more towards intimidation rather than any bona fide defense of Sandvine's intellectual property rights.....If you plan to take this further, please contact: David Fewer, Legal Counsel Canadian Internet Policy & Public Interest Clinic"."
http://www.p2pnet.net/story/16019

An anonymous reader writes "Finnish IT news source DigiToday reports (in Finnish only, sorry) that United States ambassador David A. Gross met with Finnish minister of communications Suvi Lindén to discuss "cyber security". Lindén is known for forcing through a law that "allows ISPs to voluntarily use" a state-maintained secret Internet blocklist, supposedly to weed out child pornography, but onto which dissenting discussion has also found its way... This might be a good time to start keeping your eyes and ears open concerning any governmental bills wishing to "make the Internet safer" or to "strike back against the pedophiles". It's a trap."
http://www.digitoday.fi/bisnes/2008/05/23/Jenkkisuurl%E4hettil%E4s+haki+digioppia+Lind%E9nilt%E4/200814094/66

Conventional electrically-powered laser diodes used in everyday consumer goods like DVD players are currently based on inorganic semiconductor materials such as gallium arsenide, gallium nitride and related alloys. Despite over a decade of worldwide research, plastic laser diodes remain the only major device type not yet demonstrated because there aren't any plastics that could sustain a large enough current whilst also supporting the efficient light emission needed to produce a laser beam. The plastic studied by researchers at the Imperial College London is related to PFO (polydioctylfluorene), a blue-light emitting material, and by making subtle changes in the plastic's chemical structure they produced a material that transports charges 200 times better than before, without compromising its ability to efficiently emit light.
The most beneficial aspect of plastic laser diodes is their potential ability to cover more of the light spectrum than their counterparts, from near ultraviolet to the near infrared.
http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_23-5-2008-15-17-44?newsid=36914

Never put it past the government to use any crisis to try and get more power. Just like the previously conjured crises of the Red Scare, Civil Rights Protests, the War on Drugs, the Environment, the War on Terror, the first signs are coming that the US Mortgage crisis is being used as another way to smash the rights of the people of the people be secure in their freedom. The US Senate has just passed through committee a provision which would require everyone connected with the housing industry to be fingerprinted.

Read the article here

Spare your political thunder — this is a bipartisan move. The introduced law passed nearly unanimously. America has to be safe from evil people in the housing market, at any price, and your friends in the government are going to protect you from everyone, just as much as it will protect everyone from you!
http://www.openmarket.org/2008/05/23/fingerprint-registry-in-housing-bill/