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Greenland Is Melting Even Faster Than Experts Thought, Study Finds (cnn.com) 265

An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNN: Climate change is eliminating giant chunks of ice from Greenland at such a speed that the melt has already made a significant contribution to sea level rise, according to a new study. With global warming, the island will lose much more, threatening coastal cities around the world. Forty percent to 50% of the planet's population is in cities that are vulnerable to sea rise, and the study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences is bad news for places like New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Tokyo and Mumbai.

Researchers reconstructed the mass balance of the Greenland Ice Sheet by comparing estimates of the amount of ice that has been discharged into the ocean with the accumulation of snowfall in the drainage basins in the country's interior for the past 46 years. The researchers found that the rate of ice loss has increased sixfold since then -- even faster than scientists thought. Since 1972, ice loss from Greenland alone has added 13.7 millimeters (about half an inch) to the global sea level, the study estimates. The island's ice sheet is the leading source of water added to the ocean every year.

Comment Note: Funding goal is now $4.5m+ (Score 1) 1321

According to various reports, the Stein initiative is now asking for at least $4.5m for the recount to proceed in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The Verge is reporting that the total sum necessary for a recount including attorney fees will likely be greater than $6m. My personal opinion is that this is money well spent simply to ensure the integrity of the electoral system in the United States.

Comment Re:wut - bloody troll (Score 1) 228

There's more mention of the Holocaust now as the remaining survivors pass away. The people who were actually in the concentration camps will soon be no more, and the events that they suffered must be remembered.

I suppose that your reference to blacks being deported refers to the economic migrants who cross the Israeli-Egyptian border. They are provided housing, health care, food - but they are not wanted in this country. They bring no skills, have no affinity for the culture, and as a group are simply trying to find the first first world country that they can move to. You may also pay attention to the large immigration of Ethiopian Jews who are successfully integrating into Israeli society.

Your insinuation that Israel is equivalent to Nazi Germany is beyond the pale of rational thought. There are no death camps; there are no death marches; there is the reality that 20% of Israel's voters are Arab.

Israel was founded to be a Jewish state, after literally a thousand years of anti-Semitism in Europe and the Arab world. It's not a case of keeping the Jewish people "pure", it's a case of keeping the Jewish people alive. And after over six million Jews were murdered in a few short years, I think we have a compelling argument for having our own safe and secure state.

You should know that I'm very left wing - I want the Palestinians to have a state, and I live less than eight miles from the West Bank. Given how the Palestinians have handled Gaza and how Hezbollah has handled South Lebanon, you may understand if enthusiasm for that idea is not high amongst the Israeli populace.

The whole world hates Jews? Are you speaking for yourself anonymous coward or do you have any real evidence? And if you hate Israel and Jews so much, you should almost certainly throw out the computer your spreading your vile with, as it's CPU was designed here by evil Jews.

Comment Slashdot will hate me for saying this. (Score 2, Interesting) 202

The world is much more terrifying than you realize. The men and women at NSA, CIA, and DOD are protecting you against monsters. You sleep at night, content and happy, because good people are protecting you. This isn't a fascist plot - I've stood literally a meter a way from a man who would have no compunction murdering your entire family. And we actually did shoot him. This is life, this is the world. And please don't delude yourselves.

You Americans - you sit in safety without understanding what's happening around you. The world is full of horror, and there are people who are trying to protect you, and they do care about the Constitution. The darkness is around you, and you're oblivious to it. This is history. You have no fucking idea what the world is actually like. This is not a game. So please try to understand what the NSA is doing for you.

Comment Re:Difficult Subject, but here's some advice (Score 5, Interesting) 218

Dang, forgot to add something. As a more senior manager who has hired folks with various mental maladies, I can state unequivocally that the ADA provides far less protection than you'd first assume. Try very hard not to make your illness a discussion matter when you're in the hiring process, at least not until an offer is present. Companies will look for any reason not to higher someone, and unfortunately the stigma of mental illness can make the hiring process difficult.

Mental Health issues are just - unfair. It's ridiculous, it's unjust, it's reality that people with mental illness are often treated like crap. I wish I could change that, and when I hire folks I try to look past those issues. if someone is recovering from cancer, they're a hero. Someone with mental illness does not get that benefit. You must be smart, so try to play the game as it's presented to you, and understand that people are trying to improve the situation.

Final thing - some firms will be much more understanding of mental illness issues than others. Stay way from anything related to defense, national security, and finance. Look to firms like Apple, Redhat, and other companies that will value you as an individual, not just a cog in a vast machine.

Comment Difficult Subject, but here's some advice (Score 4, Insightful) 218

First, I really understand what you're saying. This is a tough situation, but I'm certain you can make it through.

You're being really wise not to isolate yourself. Spending time with people will make a very substantial difference in both how you feel and your general recovery. Isolation, even with caring family will hurt you. Please keep on trying to interact with people.

In terms of mental health... what you're describing sounds more like bipolar and less like schizophrenia. Schizophrenia can be medicated, if you're serious about it, carefully monitored, and have a good support system. Bipolar is a bit rougher, and you'll have to recognize what's happening to you yourself, and with the help of family and friends. Be very careful when you're manic - I know it can feel awesome, but the code you produce can be pretty damn awful. Depressed code is less of an issue as you'll likely not write that much.

You'll find that folks in CS tend to be very understanding of mental health issues. Very, very understanding. We're in an industry filled with intelligent and generally caring people, and you'll find support. Just be honest with your colleagues about how you're doing, and most importantly, make sure your first priority is taking care of yourself.

Comment They're taking it at the exchange rate. (Score 2) 65

I.E. They're accepting BitCoins as a commodity, not a currency via real time exchange rate, and I wonder who pays the transaction costs for the currency exchange.

BitCoin's wild fluctuations - a result of little to no liquidity, and half of all BitCoins in circulation being owned by less than a 1,000 people - make it impractical or downright foolish to post fixed prices.

Comment Nokia's getting what it deserved. (Score 4, Insightful) 226

You want cheap labor?

You want little environmental regulation?

You want to hide from taxes in your home country?

Then build in the developing world. But don't cry when the developing world's lack of rules and regulations bite you in the ass with sudden "fees", "taxes", and other sundry costs. You chose to leave your home country to enhance shareholder profits. Surprise, the rest of the world doesn't have to operate according to your shareholder's profit motive.

Comment This is irrelevant. The are no Bitcoin patents. (Score 1) 292

There are no BitCoin patents. BitCoin's authors have explicitly chosen to be anonymous. Satoshi isn't going to come out of hiding to claim a patent, and no one else would have the standing to do so.

You want to hide in the shadows (perhaps for good reasons, perhaps for bad), then accept that you're in the shadows and you cannot protect some of your legal rights. Suppose someone did want to patent BitCoin's modus operandi - slightly modified of course - what could Nakamoto do? He (she, they) could get the patent, but then would be called in front of governments across the globe. BitCoin would then cease to be the mysterious, mighty crypto currency and would become just another payment system with a few really cool embellishments.

Of course, I've always had the nagging suspicion that BitCoin's authors recognized that this would be a brilliant pyramid scheme. They had access to mining far earlier than most anyone else, so the "effort" in their mining work was much easier, requiring less costly capital investments. They're now able to take advantage of the BitCoin hype and cash out with tremendous benefits. Tremendous benefits that would be taxed if their home government knew who they were. Don't expect a BitCoin patent anytime soon.

Comment Then I went to office and redefined productivity.. (Score 1) 293

Julie Larson-Green enhanced productivity? Through the bloody, accursed, and pretty much universally despised Ribbon. Yes, she certainly defined productivity. Millions of office workers totally lost with one of the most convoluted UIs imagined. We're supposed to consider her opinion sacrosanct?

Comment And the torment of her family and loved ones? (Score 5, Insightful) 289

There are some things simply beyond the pale in any decent society. Entertaining people through showing a grisly, cruel murder can do nothing but harm the family, friends, and love ones of the victim. It has absolutely no political, educational, moral effect, nor any deterrent to any crime. It has no value whatsoever to shock and delight those deranged enough to view a heinous act.

The Framers had clear reasons for promoting freedom of speech, primarily to serve the political health of the nation by fostering free debate. And yes, they came from a society that still had public executions, some of which were (in England at least) just as brutal as this crime as more. But they did not create freedom of speech to promote sheer depravity. Laws exist in the context of their society, even what we consider natural law, and there are some things that a society has every damn right to ban - child pornography, and yes, showing a murder for fun.

What must be going through the minds of this poor woman's parents? Is that pain worth a shock to an increasingly cynical population? This was beyond the pale, and does corrupt public morals by desensitizing people to murder. The owner of the site deserves these charges.

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