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Submission + - EU to criminalize nearly all seeds and plants (blakkened.com)

Submitted by NSN A392-99-964-5927
NSN A392-99-964-5927 writes: A new law proposed by the European Commission would make it illegal to “grow, reproduce or trade” any vegetable seeds that have not been “tested, approved and accepted” by a new EU bureaucracy named the “EU Plant Variety Agency.”

It’s called the Plant Reproductive Material Law, and it attempts to put the government in charge of virtually all plants and seeds. Home gardeners who grow their own plants from non-regulated seeds would be considered criminals under this law.

As you might suspect, this move is the “final solution” of Monsanto, DuPont and other seed-domination corporations who have long admitted their goal is the complete domination of all seeds and crops grown on the planet.

Submission + - Web of Tax Shelters Saved Apple Billions, Inquiry Finds (nytimes.com)

Submitted by mspohr
mspohr writes: Apple relied on a “complex web of offshore entities” and U.S. tax loopholes to avoid paying billions of dollars in U.S. taxes on $44 billion in offshore income over the past four years, according to excerpts from a Senate subcommittee report to be released tomorrow as Apple CEO Tim Cook testifies on the company’s overseas operations.

The maker of iPhones and iPads used at least three foreign subsidiaries that it claims are not “tax resident in any nation” to help it avoid paying billions in “otherwise taxable offshore income,” the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations said in a statement today. "
Coverage in Forbes:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/connieguglielmo/2013/05/20/apple-used-loopholes-to-skip-paying-44-billion-in-u-s-taxes-senate-committee-claims/
NYTimes also has coverage:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/21/business/apple-avoided-billions-in-taxes-congressional-panel-says.html

Submission + - A perspective: developers vs. Microsoft (reactos.org)

Submitted by jeditobe
jeditobe writes: Most people understand that Windows is used by a variety of people who have a variety of needs, ranging from corporate server to workstation to POS terminals to home PC and beyond. Most people accept that whenever Microsoft updates Windows, it has to balance the competing requirements to find some kind of workable compromise. There is however another set of competing requirements that many do not really register, even those that call themselves power users or are IT admins. It is a conflict between developers/programmers and Microsoft itself
Space

Submission + - Journey to the Limits of Spacetime (utexas.edu)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In a recent paper in Science, researchers predicted the formation of accretion disks and relativistic jets that warp and bend more than previously thought, shaped by the extreme gravity of the black hole and by powerful magnetic forces generated by its spin. Enabled by 3D simulations performed on the powerful supercomputers at the Texas Advanced Computing Center, the National Institute of Computational Science and NASA, these predictions overturn an overly simplified view of jets and disks.

Submission + - Google versus the Amicus Briefs (groklaw.net)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Yesterday there were numerous amicus briefs filed all on the same day and all in support of Oracle against Google in Oracle's appeal at the Federal Circuit. None of the briefs are posted publicly yet, but they should be available soon.

Microsoft has filed one, together with EMC Corporation, and NetApp, Inc. Scott McNealy has filed one with Brian Sutphin. Can McNealy be a witness for Oracle at trial, which he was [PDF], and also file an amicus brief? Well, he has. The Picture Archive Council of America, Inc. has filed one with the Graphic Artists Guild. Also there's one from the BSA. And finally Eugene Spafford, Zhi Ding, and Lee A. Hollaar have filed an amicus in support of Oracle. Hollaar seems to file a lot of amicus briefs.

So why do these entities and individuals care about this Java API case, do you suppose?
Microsoft

Submission + - Windows 7 still being sold on up to 93% of British PCs (pcpro.co.uk) 2

Submitted by
nk497
nk497 writes: "The vast majority of PCs sold by British PC makers are running Windows 7 — not Windows 8. PC Pro spoke to several PC builders, with some reporting as many as 93% of recently sold machines were on the older OS. One company initially sold its PCs with Windows 8, but feedback from users soon changed that. Customers quickly began to specify systems with Windows 7, those with Windows 8 "took delivery and wanted to change back to Windows 7" – a process the firm described as a "nightmare". Another firm found success by installing a "start menu" tool on Windows 8 machines, and others said the switch would have gone smoother if Microsoft has offered a Windows 8 tutorial or better explained the new OS."
Open Source

Submission + - Python Trademark Filer Ignorant Of Python? (computerworlduk.com)

Submitted by
WebMink
WebMink writes: "Is it possible that the CEO of the company that's trying to file a trademark on "Python" was unaware of Python's importance as a programming technology? That's what he claims — despite running a hosting company that's trying to break into cloud computing, where Python is used extensively. Still, he also regards the Python Software Foundation as a hostile American company and thinks that getting attention from half the world's geeks is a DDoS..."
Microsoft

Submission + - GameStop's Mayan Apocalypse (goozernation.com)

Submitted by kube00
kube00 writes: The rumor mill is saying the next generation of consoles might not play used games. What does this mean for retailers such as Amazon, GameStop, and Best Buy? Will gamers flock to the one console that can still play used games? GoozerNation speculates if the Mayan apocalyspse draws near for used game sales

Submission + - A Cogent Presentation on the Untapped Potential of MMO Games - Emergent Gameplay (youtube.com)

Submitted by stilz2
stilz2 writes: In this video titled "Un-ruining the MMOs" by MrBTongue, he argues why the over-presentation of 'theme park' style MMOs, the most iconic of which being World of Warcraft, has led to few number of 'sandbox' MMOs, resulting in 'emergent gameplay' being even more of a rarity. Emergent gameplay, meaning gameplay elements or experience that were not scripted by the developers and arise from player action and interaction, though deemed by some to be yet another publisher buzzword, is a real possibility as demonstrated by the complex organizations and high-stake battles in Eve Online.
Open Source

Submission + - Hardware Hacker Ladyada Proposes Patent and Education Reform to President of USA (eff.org)

Submitted by
ptorrone
ptorrone writes: "In a welcome turn of events, President Barack Obama spoke directly to the patent troll problem and the need for more comprehensive patent reform yesterday in a "Fireside Hangout" — a live question and answer session hosted in a Google+ hangout. The President was responding to a question by the prominent electrical engineer and entrepreneur Limor "Ladyada" Fried of Adafruit Industries, who in 2009 won an EFF Pioneer Award for her work with free software and open-source hardware."
Earth

Submission + - Billionaires Secretly Fund Vast Climate Denial Network 4

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Suzanne Goldenberg reports that conservative billionaires used a secretive funding route to channel nearly $120 million to more than 100 groups casting doubt about the science behind climate change, helping build a vast network of think tanks and activist groups working to redefine climate change from neutral scientific fact to a highly polarizing "wedge issue" for hardcore conservatives. "We exist to help donors promote liberty which we understand to be limited government, personal responsibility, and free enterprise," says Whitney Ball, chief executive of the Donors Trust. Ball's organization assured wealthy donors that their funds would never by diverted to liberal causes with a guarantee of complete anonymity for donors who wished to remain hidden. The money flowed to Washington think tanks embedded in Republican party politics, obscure policy forums in Alaska and Tennessee, contrarian scientists at Harvard and lesser institutions, even to buy up DVDs of a film attacking Al Gore. "The funding of the denial machine is becoming increasingly invisible to public scrutiny. It's also growing. Budgets for all these different groups are growing," says Kert Davies, research director of Greenpeace, which compiled the data on funding of the anti-climate groups using tax records. "These groups are increasingly getting money from sources that are anonymous or untraceable.""

Submission + - The Apple Shop forced to change its name (cnet.com)

Submitted by
tlhIngan
tlhIngan writes: "The Apple Shop, in Norfolk, UK is a little corner store that sells apple products. Not Apple products, but apple products, in this case, cider. However, it's been forced to change its name to the Norfolk Cider Shop. However, the name change did not come from any lawsuit from Apple (the Cupertino one, that is), nor has there been any evidence that Apple (Cupertino) knew about them. Instead, they're changing their name because their phones have been ringing constantly from people seeking help with their Apple (Cupertino) products. Apple (Cupertino) opened an Apple store in 2009 in the nearby (larger) town of Norwich."
Canada

Submission + - The IIPA Copyright Demands for Canada and Spain (freezenet.ca)

Submitted by Dangerous_Minds
Dangerous_Minds writes: The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA) is demanding a number of countries be placed back on the special 301 piracy watchlist. One country being recommended for inclusion is Canada (PDF). Apparently, even though Canada passed copyright reform laws, any compromise to protect consumers is reason for inclusion. Michael Geist offers some analysis on this move. Meanwhile, the IIPA is also recommending that Spain be included in the watchlist. In a separate filing, the IIPA makes a host of reasons why Spain should also be included. One of the main reasons seems to be that even though Spain passed the Sinde Law in spite of protests, the courts aren't simply rubberstamping any takedown requests and that cases that were dismissed due to lack of evidence is cause for concern. Freezenet offers some in-depth analysis on this development while noting towards the end that the Special 301 report suffers from credibility problems.
Facebook

Submission + - Facebook paid no taxes despite record profits (msn.com) 2

Submitted by Frosty Piss
Frosty Piss writes: Despite earning more than $1 billion in profits last year, social media juggernaut Facebook paid zilch when it came to federal and state taxes in 2012. In fact, the website will actually be getting a refund totaling $429 million thanks to a tax reduction for executive stock options. In the coming years, Facebook will continue to get monster tax breaks, totaling about $3 billion. 'The employees cash in stock options, and at that point there is tax deduction for the company,' Robert McIntyre, of watchdog group Citizens for Tax Justice, said. 'Because even though it doesn't cost Facebook a nickel, the government treats it as wages and they get a deduction for it. And usually it doesn't wipe out companies whole tax bill, although many companies get big breaks from it.'
Games

Submission + - Just who is to blame for Aliens: Colonial Marines? Controversy abounds.

Submitted by Channard
Channard writes: Despite — or perhaps because of — having been in development for at least five years, Aliens: Colonial Marines, the bug-hunting FPS from Gearbox has turned out to be a bit of a mess, receiving mostly negative reviews from pretty much every gaming site under the sun. However, it's not just the game's badness that is causing a stir, but the fact that the final product differs heavily from the demo footage that was used to promote the game.

It appears that some of the subsequently missing features were shown to journalists such as Destructoid's Jim Sterling who states: 'I feel lied to. I spoke to (Gearbox's Randy) Pitchford about Aliens: Colonial Marines, and he talked to me about the game's "next generation lighting" and other awesome features. He promised things I never saw, he showed a room full of writers things that would never make it to the final product.' Other sites have also picked up on the controversy, including VideoGamerTV who released a video highlights some of the major differences between the demo and final release.

However, the shenanigans don't end there. There are in fact four companies credited with having developed the game, and it's unclear just who, if anyone, came up with the lion's share of A:CM. There's been a lot of back and forth regards this issue, as noted by MCV. One post on Reddit, supposedly from an inside source, even goes so far as to suggest that the game was pushed through certification to avoid any potential legal backlash from Sega. Whether or not the truth will ever come out is anyone's guess.

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