Exactly. You are not allowed to call it a 'credit card fee', but you may call it something else. My local movie theatre will add a "handling fee" if you pay by credit card, even though the ticket is electronic and no handling takes place. It's just a matter of PR, the credit card companies do not want to be labelled as fee-hungry even though they are...

You do not need a big enormous boat to do whaling, that is a common misconception. More often than not, you drag the whale back to shore while it
Also, responsible whaling is possible. Yes, in the early years there were over fishing on some species, but sustainable hunting was never an issue until modern times - for any kind of hunting and fishing.
I'm no expert on whaling, especially not when it comes to non-Norwegian whalers, but the Norwegian side I know quite well. And if anyone claims this is not sustainable, they need a dictionary. Of course, I cannot speak for the Japanese side of things, but I have an impression that they are not too far away from this reality either even though the industry is bigger.
Also, tuna fishing has only one thing in common with whaling: Sea Shepherd. It is not a part of the whaling discussion and there is nothing else linking these cases.

Eating that delicious piece of whale steak that has been grilled just a few seconds on each side, with a hint of salt and pepper, is something I do with a clean conscience.

And to me, Sea Shepherd has lost most of it's credibility equal to Greenpeace, but I assume they need to be picky about their cases in order to secure funding. Picking the great big battles that matter will annoy too many of the people they need in order to have funds for their work. I find them irrelevant when it comes to contributing to a sustainable use of our resources.

They have tried to sink boats with fishermen aboard, but I will not neglect the fact that on one occasion one can argue who ran into who.
For a boat captain to lose his boat which e has invested his life in, it is not a trivial matter. At least in Norway we are not talking big business, just plain fishermen.

The means are not justified in my view.

Their form of action is to sink ships, sometimes with people and sometimes without people. I find that hard to condone either way.

The whole whaling debate is fueled by black and white arguments.
Truth is, that the nations involved in whaling only allow hunting on selected species that have sustainable stock. Sea Shepherd has lost most of it's credibility ages ago, and their mode of operation is threatening and destroying lives.

I'll set fire to all my karma and throw in some kind words on the subject of seal hunting as well ;)
Fortunately there aren't many PETA-people around in Norway, they tend to freeze to death.

You are required to (a)deplete the fuel tanks and (b)disconnect the batteries.

I think
(a) is to reduce the potential damage in case of a collision
(b) is to stop the satellite from reactivating itself due to solar storms and the like

There is a reason that the international norm when decommissioning a satellite you put it in an orbit which makes it reenter and disintegrate within 25 years. It's hard to get it to reenter controlled and switch it off at the same time.

Same in Norway. Any private property is considered 'public' if you, the owner, treat it as such. Which means malls, parking lots etc.
You cannot demand or expect privacy by visiting such places (you might get filmed or photographed by someone without consent - and you can photograph someone without their consent).

I assume this particular case is a misguided case of protecting the children from pedos and women from upskirt shooters, coupled with a security guard with a God complex.

And I work for a company that deals a great deal with NASA, and they are happy to lose satellite data while waiting for a replacement demodulator to pass their security scans on an internal network.

They do make an effort, but personally I think they strive to achieve perfect security and in the process people has to poke holes in it in order to make it work :)

'Cheap' is a matter of definition, but putting a payload into orbit has, in many cases, become cheaper than employing someone to do the equivalent job on earth. One such example is Cryosat2 which is measuring ice thickness, which was deemed cheaper than having scientists traveling around the globe and constantly measuring it 'manually'.

I love this trend as it is providing my daily bread :)

Doesn't the US have laws also requiring the employee to be loyal?
There is a difference between whistleblowing and badmouthing.

In Norway the law requires the empoyee to be loyal. Where the line between letting out some steem on your facebook and not being loyal can be difficult to determine. Rule of thumb: do not talk about your work in public forums.

Reading all these posts I realize just how little employees are protected in the US.
In Norway the number of hours per week (for regular employees) can not be more than 40 hours. Anything more is overtime with a minimum of 40% extra pay.
There are further restrictions by law: overtime cannot, under any circumstance, surpass 48 hours for one week, and no more than 200 hours per year (unless there is a union and they have an agreement with the employer. In that case the maximum is 300 hours).

Any breach here will protect you from being laid off if you refuse to comply. Further the employer will also be fined if a breach is reported to the authorities.

Also, for someone to get laid off the employer must have a very good reason. Major restructuring or severe incompetence is mainly the only option, and in any case you have at least 3 months notice. Employees are also bound by a 3 month notice when resigning. Employer may let you go sooner, but have to give you 3 months pay regardless. Anti-competitive clauses are not allowed unless you also receive a full salary for the duration of the quarantine.

Oh, and you have at least 4 weeks paid vacation (most have 5).

I would not survive in the US :(

Also, it is the copyright holder who has to sue, not the end user.
Which makes all the discussions about retailers pretty moot, which sadly affects most comments on the issue so far :(

TFA reports the data has been collected over two months which should give several repeated measurements over the same area and thus compensate for most variable things.
That noted, the project has been receiving science data from the gradiometer (known as the EGG) for about a year now with inly minor interruptions.

The GOCE is a spectacular satellite, as it's low 250km orbit means it actually suffers from drag. Hence the Xenon Ion Thruster which keeps it from falling down. Normally a satellite does not have to worry about aerodynamics, but GOCE even has wings to keep it stable.

The Norwegian mobile operators have been forced to blacklist a certain US number as numerous iPhones has initiated call diversion to this number. As it lacks the international extension all the calls wound up at one unlucky guy in a small town.
They confirm the issue, while Apple has refused to comment on it.

One translated source http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=no&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http://www.tv2underholdning.no/hjelperdeg/iphonemysteriet-apple-ikke-vil-uttale-seg-om-3206505.html&sl=no&tl=en

Seems the walled garden has a few leaks of the unwanted kind.