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Submission + - Climategate spreads to Wikipedia (nationalpost.com) 14

sparkydevil writes: Some catnip to those who have long argued about administrator bias and groupthink in Wikipedia.

Canada's National Post reports here and here that one of the objectives of those promoting Climate alarm was to control Wikipedia. Starting in February 2003 U.K. scientist and Green Party activist William Connolley, one of nine Realclimate.org team members, rewrote Wikipedia'½Â½Â(TM)s articles on global warming, on the greenhouse effect, on the instrumental temperature record, on the urban heat island, on climate models, on global cooling as well as working to erase the Little Ice Age, the Medieval Warm Period and infamous hockey stick graph. He rewrote articles on the politics of global warming and on the scientists who were skeptical of the team.

According to the article Connolly created or rewrote 5,428 unique Wikipedia articles, removed more than 500 articles as an administrator and barred over 2000 Wikipedia contributors while rewarding those who supported his views. "In these ways, Connolley turned Wikipedia into the missionary wing of the global warming movement."

Patents

Submission + - BetaNet Sues Everyone for Remote SW Activation (channelregister.co.uk)

eldavojohn writes: Not to be out patent trolled by Eolas, a mystery company named 'BetaNet, LLC' is suing: Adobe Systems, Inc, Apple, Inc., Arial Software, LLC, Autodesk, Inc.,, CARBONITE, INC., Corel Corp., Eastman Kodak Co., International Business Machines Corp., Intuit, Inc., Microsoft Corp., McAfee, Inc., Oracle Corp., Rockwell Automation, Inc., Rosetta Stone, Inc., SAP America, Inc., Siemens Corp. and Sony Creative Software, Inc. for infringement of their patent entitled Secure system for activating personal computer software at remote locations. And of course, this was filed in our favoritest of favorite places: Marshall, TX (Texas Eastern District Court).

Submission + - Norton 360 - The Truth!!!! (cyberjoes-pc-help.net)

JMourcella writes: Norton 360 — Buyers Beware!!!! It seems major PC outlets such as websites and magazines are raving about Norton 360 but user reviews tall a much different story.

Comment Karma Burning Friday (Score 5, Insightful) 944

Libertarianism is basically the Marxism of the Right. If Marxism is the delusion that one can run society purely on altruism and collectivism, then libertarianism is the mirror-image delusion that one can run it purely on selfishness and individualism. Society in fact requires both individualism and collectivism, both selfishness and altruism, to function. Like Marxism, libertarianism offers the fraudulent intellectual security of a complete a priori account of the political good without the effort of empirical investigation. Like Marxism, it aspires, overtly or covertly, to reduce social life to economics. And like Marxism, it has its historical myths and a genius for making its followers feel like an elect unbound by the moral rules of their society.

And to ensure the "-1 Flamebait"...

Government is the Great Satan. All Evil comes from Government, and all Good from the Market, according to the Ayatollah Rand.

Comment Re:Proof once again... (Score 2, Insightful) 222

Personally, I say, legalise it, tax it like booze and cigarettes. Turn it from a cash drain to a cash cow.

i agree. why would the government cut itself off from a huge revenue source. isnt pot in the top 5 of cash crops?

as to the first part about cops under pressure, i really dont agree. cops have a lot of leeway in enforcing law. the police were just at my apartment an hour ago for me to view a photo line up of some crack heads who robbed my buildings super. in plain view were two one hitters, a 2 foot glass bong and a pipe. we all just looked at them, then each other and smiled. i went on with the line up and they thanked me and left.

as long as you are not a pain in the ass and acting a fool, they will leave you alone. if your a dick or lying about shit, they will fuck you silly. this isnt an isolated incident, when i lived in chicago, the cops could care less about a couple of grams of weed or a pipe.

the best way to NOT get arrested is to remember cops are someones brother, sister, father or mother. dont act all indignant or self righteous and they will cut you some slack. if your an ax wielding psycho killer YMMV.

Comment Re:Didn't they watch Dr. Strangelove? (Score 3, Informative) 638

President Merkin Muffley: But this is absolute madness, Ambassador! Why should you *build* such a thing?
Ambassador de Sadesky: There were those of us who fought against it, but in the end we could not keep up with the expense involved in the arms race, the space race, and the peace race. At the same time our people grumbled for more nylons and washing machines. Our doomsday scheme cost us just a small fraction of what we had been spending on defense in a single year. The deciding factor was when we learned that your country was working along similar lines, and we were afraid of a doomsday gap.
President Merkin Muffley: This is preposterous. I've never approved of anything like that.
Ambassador de Sadesky: Our source was the New York Times.

Comment Re:What a great fiction! (Score 4, Informative) 101

while i do not know if slashdot posts are monitored, NOVA (PBS) had an interesting documentary called -> 'The Spy Factory'.
for the truly lazy -> http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/spyfactory/program.html
here is a short synopsis -> http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/spyfactory/about.html
the most telling part is:
"NOVA follows the trail of just one typical e-mail sent from Asia to the U.S. Streaming as pulses of light into a fiber-optic cable, it travels across the Pacific Ocean, coming ashore in California, and finally reaching an AT&T facility in San Francisco, where the cable is split and the data sent to a secret NSA monitoring room on the floor below. This enables the NSA to intercept not only most Asian e-mail messages but also the entire U.S. internal Internet traffic."

Comment Re:How is this even a fucking question? (Score 1) 204

Apple has an *exclusive* agreement with AT&T. Google Voice competes with AT&T...exclusive agreements allow for the elimination of competition. Abuses are guaranteed by the very nature of the Apple/AT&T relationship....whether or not the abuse exists...are we going to disallow exclusive agreements between...manufacturers or not?

Are there really any...[people]...out there that honestly expect Apple to not act in their, and their business partners best interests?

i guess ATT and Apple now have an exclusive deal with slashdot for mod points.

Flamebait...really?

another interesting and insightful comment that brings real questions to the discussion modded down...for what?

Comment Re:keep your customers coming back (Score 2, Interesting) 749

i think they do care and that it is their business model. my records (LPs/vinyl) didnt last forever (scratched/ broken/warped in the back seat of my car), so i bought them on tape(8track/cassette). tape player(s) ate those. i bought cd's versions of all my albums when that format came out. again they got scratched, ex girlfriend stole them or whatever. then, through the magic of PCs i could back them up. i could burn that disc over and over and over again. i could even burn a copy for that evil bitch GF who stale my wilco albums. i just cut those fuckers (read as- music industry) out of the loop and out of a huge source of income.
Government

Submission + - Chicago City Council approves solar plant (chicagoist.com)

ssintercept writes: "The Chicago City Council approved a 25 year land lease to Exelon Corp. and SunPower Corp. yesterday, to build a 40 acre solar power plant on the polluted and vacant International Harvester plant, in Chicago's South side West Pullman neighborhood. Brian Granahan, a spokesman for Environment Illinois, told the Daily Herald. "This has gotten a lot of support to both get rid of an eyesore and expand renewable energy." The project is expected to create 200 jobs from the construction, although once the plant is operating, only one full-time worker will be employed there. Although Chicago is behind other major cities in terms of renewable energy, is it beneficial to the city, other than a in a 'I feel good that we are saving the planet' way? source http://chicagoist.com/2009/07/30/city_council_approves_land_lease_fo.php"

Comment Re:"Hey, I know!" (Score 1) 275

well, if they want it on the mainland, Wyoming has the smallest population. the Big Dick Cheney would be on hand to waterboard any suspected traitors to the fatherland or Al Qaidas types (sp?) roaming around (like the turbans wouldnt stand out or anything).

but seriously, these decisions are better left to those fat cats in Washington because they know how to govern for the people, by the people, irregardless of party affiliation.

plus, think of all those jobs- construction, security (think Blackwater or Xe or whatever they are calling themselves this week), scientists (mediocre ones not snapped up by private corporations), the boon for the local housing market, FEMA could get into the action with a staging area (just in case). tourism would probably spike with all the looky loos and what not. why are you guys so paranoid about a high risk enterprise like this? as if the Feds dont know what they are doing.

so really this is about stimulating the economy. who wouldnt want to be the lucky recipient of such a well thought out gift to the american people, with the economy sputtering because it cant handle a couple percentage points of flux.

it is GOOD for everyone involved.

sleep tight Kansas, and may Jesus hold you in the palm of his hand.

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