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Submission Summary: 0 pending, 17 declined, 5 accepted (22 total, 22.73% accepted)

Space

+ - United Nations to appoint space ambassador->

Submitted by sv_libertarian
sv_libertarian writes "If aliens ever land on Earth there will no longer be any confusion over who will greet them with the news the United Nations is set to appoint an astrophysicist to be their first human contact.

Mazlan Othman is expected to be tasked with coordinating humanity's response to an extraterrestrial visit, if ever required. The 58-year-old Malaysian will tell a conference next week that with the recent discovery of hundreds of planets orbiting around other stars, the detection of alien life is becoming more and more likely."

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Politics

+ - The Political Leanings of Black Hats?

Submitted by sv_libertarian
sv_libertarian writes "A friend and I were discussing the political bent of black hat hackers. Now, disregarding government sponsored hackers, I can find no study or information that suggests most black hats are driven by a particular political ideology. I would think that if anything, the dominant political belief among black hats would be a form of anarchism, and my friend believes a dominant political view would draw from the radical left. Or do the black hats really give a damn about politics?"

+ - Superheroes vs The Westboro Baptist Church->

Submitted by sv_libertarian
sv_libertarian writes "They've faced down humans time and time again, but Fred Phelps and his minions from the Westboro Baptist Church were not ready for the cosplay action that awaited them today at Comic-Con. After all, who can win against a counter protest that includes robots, magical anime girls, Trekkies, Jedi and...kittens?"
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+ - Construction bricks made from recycled plastic->

Submitted by sv_libertarian
sv_libertarian writes "They’re transparent and translucent. They interlock together to form a honeycomb structure that’s extremely durable. They can be used to build anything from buildings and fences to roofs and walls of light. So what are “they” referring to? They’re called POLLI-Bricks, and they’re a genius example of recycled bottle architecture."
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+ - A noobs guide to rooting and hacking Android?

Submitted by sv_libertarian
sv_libertarian writes "Friend of mine has an Android phone he managed to brick while rooting and mucking around with stuff he probably shouldn't have. By virtue of having managed a couple of Gentoo installs, and being more than just vaguely computer literate I get asked for help, which I'm happy to provide as best I can. I do find though, that most Android forums are not only full of annoying twits, but there is precious little "Idiot's Guide to rooting or unbricking your phone". On top if it, now I'm curious and planning to get an Android device in the near future. Are there some favorite starting points experienced Android hackers can steer people new to the game towards? My google fu has failed me there..."
Privacy

+ - Arizona Parents lose custody of kids over bathtime-> 1

Submitted by
sv_libertarian
sv_libertarian writes "An Arizona couple had their children taken from them by Child Protective Services when a Wal Mart employee developing pictures on a memory stick found pictures of the children in a bathtub, and reported the parents to local authorities. The parents were able to successfully challenge the matter, and are now suing Wal Mart, among others over the matter."
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Idle

+ - Police Swarm Bungie Office over HALO replica rifle-> 1

Submitted by sv_libertarian
sv_libertarian writes "A panicked person in Kirkland, WA called local police claiming they saw someone walking down the street with an AK-47, when it was actually an Bungie employee carrying an overgrown model of a HALO sniper rifle. Which resembles an AK-47 as much as a Volkswagen resembles a Formula 1 racer..."
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The Internet

+ - The Oldest Surviving Web Pages->

Submitted by sv_libertarian
sv_libertarian writes "Some of these ghosts of the internet date right back to the very early 1990s — alongside today's flash and multimedia-rich extravaganzas, they may look creakingly dated but, amazingly, they still work."
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Mozilla

+ - Firefox 4.0 goes Chrome, new UI in Q4 2010->

Submitted by sv_libertarian
sv_libertarian writes "Mozilla recently updated its product roadmap through 2010. According to the first draft, the current browser will see a minor update in Q4 2009 as well as Q2 2010. Version 4.0 is headed for an October or November 2010 release and will bring a new user interface and browser sync integration."
Link to Original Source
The Almighty Buck

+ - Cost of digital media versus print media

Submitted by
sv_libertarian
sv_libertarian writes "I was looking at the Anchorage Daily News website today http://www.adn.com/ and noticed they offer a nice e-edition of their newspaper for $9.95 per month, while delivery of the print edition within the Anchorage area is $16.35 per month. This got me thinking about the value of professionally created news. With a print newspaper much of the cost is in delivery, although there of course is profit built into it. With an e-edition, the distribution cost is much less, but less advertising is included with it (inserts in the paper)so it isn't as profitable as the print version. All of the costs for news generation must still be covered though, regardless of how the product is distributed. So the question is, what is the value of an electronic version of a product that is also being distributed in hard copy? The simple answer of course is "what the market will bear" but I suspect there is something greater than that working behind the scenes. Have people come to expect to pay less for a digital version of a product, or is it expected to offer an e product and a smaller discount than a hard copy, allowing for reduced production and distribution costs?"

YOW!! The land of the rising SONY!!

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