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Facebook

Submission + - The Big Lie of the Facebook IPO (thestreet.com) 1

Submitted by McGruber
McGruber writes: American financial news and services website thestreet has posted a piece titled The Big Lie of the Facebook IPO (http://www.thestreet.com/story/11543996/1/the-big-lie-of-the-facebook-ipo-opinion.html) by business journalist and futurist Dana Blankenhorn (http://www.thestreet.com/author/1258529/DanaBlankenhorn/all.html).

In the piece, Dana Blankehorn argues that that the only gains to be made on the Facebook stock offering were made by insiders and that the mainstream media helped pump up the insiders' gains.

A few of Mr. Blanenhorn's past articles have been featured on slashdot, including "Open Source Complaint Against IBM Gets Support" (http://yro.slashdot.org/story/10/06/25/149228/open-source-complaint-against-ibm-gets-support) in June 2010; The War Is Over, and Linux Has Won (http://slashdot.org/story/06/11/10/2336218/the-war-is-over-and-linux-has-won) in November 2006; and "Does It Matter Where Open Source is Based?" (http://slashdot.org/story/06/07/07/2112250/does-it-matter-where-open-source-is-based) in July 2006.
Twitter

Submission + - Pakistan blocks Twitter (indiatimes.com)

Submitted by
Diggester
Diggester writes: "Pakistani authorities on Friday further widened the crackdown on websites with blasphemous contents by restricting access to popular social networking website Twitter.

Pakistani users were unable to log into Twitter after internet service providers blocked access to the site."
Science

Submission + - Quantum Computer Inside a Diamond (sciencedaily.com)

Submitted by Taco Cowboy
Taco Cowboy writes: De Beers' ad slogan "A diamond is forever" may need some upgrading for someone has created a quantum computer inside a diamond

A team that includes scientists from USC has built a quantum computer in a diamond, in order to protect it against "decoherence" — noise that prevents the computer from functioning properly

The team's diamond quantum computer system featured two quantum bits (called "qubits"), made of subatomic particles

Like all diamonds, the diamond used by the researchers has impurities — things other than carbon. The more impurities in a diamond, the less attractive it is as a piece of jewelry, because it makes the crystal appear cloudy. The team, however, utilized the impurities themselves.

A rogue nitrogen nucleus became the first qubit. In a second flaw sat an electron, which became the second qubit. To put it more accurately, the "spin" of each of these subatomic particles was used as the qubit.
Idle

Submission + - Jaguar vs sea turtle (mongabay.com)

Submitted by Damien1972
Damien1972 writes: At first, an encounter between a jaguar and a green sea turtle seems improbable, even ridiculous, but the two species do come into fatal contact every few years. Despite the surprising nature of such encounters, this behavior has been little studied. Now, a new study in Costa Rica's Tortuguero National Park has documented five years of jaguar attacks on marine turtles—and finds these encounters are not only more common than expected, but on the rise.
Open Source

Submission + - Irate user forks GIMP project; claims GIMP no longer an IMP. (sooke.bc.ca) 3

Submitted by
owenferguson
owenferguson writes: "Academic Matt Skala, most widely known to Slashdot users for his prescient essay "What Colour are your bits?," is heading up a new fork of the popular GIMP open-source project. Like many other forks of popular open-source projects, Skala's NoXCF-GIMP is both awkwardly named and fueled by a righteous rage over radical UI alterations. GitHub for the project, which makes the software file format neutral, is here."
Science

Submission + - Texting Drivers Take Eyes Off Road 5s on Avg

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: More than 5000 people die each year as a result of being distracted while driving, and a new study indicates that teens and cell phones make for the most volatile combination.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that of all drivers under 20 involved in fatal crashes, 16 percent were distracted — the highest proportion of any age group.

"Shockingly, texting drivers took their eyes off the road for each text an average of 4.6 seconds — which at 55 mph, means they were driving the length of a football field without looking," said David Hosansky,
Piracy

Submission + - "First Base" in Greek Courts for ISP-level Blocking (news.in.gr)

Submitted by arisvega
arisvega writes: At a first level (the lowest court level in the Greek judiciary system) an order has been issued (article in Greek, Google translation is fair enough) for a "plan on behalf of Internet Service Providers regarding he implementation of technological measures to deny access to internet users for webpages through which illegal copies of copyrighted work are being distributed". The order seems to be general and descriptive, and is a manifestation of the implementation process for an even more general and vague larger-scale EU directive, which is the common source that caused the rulings recently posted on slashdot regarding the UK, the Netherlands and Finland. This appears to be one of the reasons that prompted Anonymous to launch defacing attacks on Greek government websites some three months back.
Intel

Submission + - ARM, Intel Battle Heats Up 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Low-power processor maker ARM Holdings is stepping up rhetoric against chip rival Intel, saying it expects to take more of Intel's market share than Intel can take from them. With Intel being the No. 1 supplier of notebook PC processors, and ARM technology almost ubiquitously powering smartphones, the two companies are facing off as they both push into the other's market space.

"It's going to be quite hard for Intel to be much more than just one of several players," ARMs CEO said of Intel.
Biotech

Submission + - California considers DNA privacy law (nature.com)

Submitted by ananyo
ananyo writes: California lawmakers are weighing a bill aimed at protecting their state's citizens from surreptitious genetic testing but scientists are voicing their growing concerns that, if passed, such a law would have a costly and damaging effect on research.
The bill, dubbed the Genetic Information Privacy Act, would require an individual’s written consent for the collection, analysis, retention, and sharing of his or her genetic information—including DNA, genetic test results, and even family disease history.
The University of California has submitted a formal letter objecting to the bill, estimating that the measure could increase administrative costs by up to $594,000 annually—money which would come out of the cash-strapped state’s General Fund. The university has also expressed concern that its researchers would suffer competitive losses in obtaining research grants.

Submission + - NDAA's bid for detention without trail of Americans defeated - Barely. (readersupportednews.org)

Submitted by Fantastic Lad
Fantastic Lad writes: US district judge Katherine Forrest, in New York City's eastern district, found that section 1021 – the key section of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) – which had been rushed into law amid secrecy and in haste on New Year's Eve 2011, bestowing on any president the power to detain US citizens indefinitely, without charge or trial, "facially unconstitutional". Forrest concluded that the law does indeed have, as the journalists and peaceful activists who brought the lawsuit against the president and Leon Panetta have argued, a "chilling impact on first amendment rights". Her ruling enjoins that section of the NDAA from becoming law.
Businesses

Submission + - MS will remove OEM 'crapware' for $99 (zdnet.com)

Submitted by
walterbyrd
walterbyrd writes: "Microsoft even offers up numbers to show how detrimental this OEM-installed crapware is to your system. Microsoft claims that Signature systems start up 39 percent faster, go into sleep mode 23 percent faster, and resume from sleep a whopping 51 percent faster compared to their crapware-ladened counterparts. (A "Signature" system is one without crapware). But now, Microsoft will offer customers the opportunity to give their Windows 7 PC the Signature treatment by bringing it to a Microsoft Store and paying $99, according to the Wall Street Journal."
Open Source

Submission + - Hardcore DIY And Open Source Conference Announced

Submitted by lekernel
lekernel writes: LED blinkers, microcontroller breakout boards and mediocre 3D printers no longer excite you? Then, the Exceptionally Hard and Soft Meeting may be something for you. The conference aims at featuring the most hardcore DIY and open source projects, such as electron microscopes, rocket science and software-defined radios and radars. It will be held at the end of December in Berlin, and they have an open call for participation.
Government

Submission + - Protecting State Secrets through Copyright: A Strategy for Prosecuting WikiLeaks (ssrn.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The United States has pursued Bradley Manning with full force for his role in supplying classified documents to WikiLeaks, in part because of the substantial difficulty in going after the organization directly. Criminal statutes generally deployed against those who leak classified government documents--such as the Espionage Act of 1917--are ill-equipped to prosecute third-party international distribution organizations like WikiLeaks. One potential tool that could be used to prosecute WikiLeaks is copyright law. The use of copyright law in this context has rarely been mentioned, and when it has, the approach has been largely derided by experts, who decry it as contrary to the purposes of copyright. But a paper just published in the Stanford Journal of International Law describes one novel way the U.S. could use copyright to go after WikiLeaks and similar leaking organizations directly--by bringing suit in foreign jurisdictions.
Open Source

Submission + - Open source MORPG Stendhal 1.00 released (sourceforge.net)

Submitted by wassersturm
wassersturm writes: The opensource multiplayer online adventure game Stendhal 1.00 was released after 7 years of development

Stendhal features a huge diverse world ()with cities, forests, mines, mountains and even tropical islands and a lovely 2D graphic. While you explore this world and dungeons, you will gain experience. Several hundred NPCs will support you on your journey by offering quests or items.

You can play Stendhal 1.00 on Windows, Mac and Linux. With Java installed, playing is as simple as clicking "Play Now" on the website. Stendhal is completely open source (client, server, everything) and completely free.

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