Comment Re:Let me get this straight (Score 1) 303
And Al Gore would like to hold a massive concert series to raise awareness. Lets call it, "Preparation: Hemorrhaging Seabed". Kanye will be there!
The Arctic Is Leaking Methane 303
registerShift and other readers sent in news that the Arctic Ocean seabed is leaking methane. "...climate experts familiar with the new research reported in Friday's issue of the journal Science that even though it does not suggest imminent climate catastrophe, it is important because of methane's role as a greenhouse gas. Although carbon dioxide is far more abundant and persistent in the atmosphere, ton for ton atmospheric methane traps at least 25 times as much heat. ... [One scientist] estimated that annual methane emissions from the East Siberian Arctic Shelf total about seven teragrams. (A teragram is 1.1 million tons.) By some estimates, global methane emissions total about 500 teragrams a year. ...about 40 percent is natural, including the decomposition of organic materials in wetlands and frozen wetlands like permafrost."
Submission + - Sony says don't use PlayStation 3 for 24 hours (theaustralian.com.au)
An anonymous reader writes: SONY has advised PlayStation 3 owners across the world not to use their consoles for 24 hours while they work on fixing a bug.
A post on the official PlayStation blog today read: "As you may be aware, some customers have been unable to connect to the PlayStation Network today.
"We believe we have identified that this problem is being caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system.”
The problem began last night and was continuing today and affects models other than the new slim PS3.
The blog listed five errors that users may experience as a result of the bug and then advised them not to use their system until the issue had been resolved.
"If you have a model other than the new slim PS3, we advise that you do not use your PS3 system, as doing so may result in errors in some functionality, such as recording obtained trophies, and not being able to restore certain data."
A post on the official PlayStation blog today read: "As you may be aware, some customers have been unable to connect to the PlayStation Network today.
"We believe we have identified that this problem is being caused by a bug in the clock functionality incorporated in the system.”
The problem began last night and was continuing today and affects models other than the new slim PS3.
The blog listed five errors that users may experience as a result of the bug and then advised them not to use their system until the issue had been resolved.
"If you have a model other than the new slim PS3, we advise that you do not use your PS3 system, as doing so may result in errors in some functionality, such as recording obtained trophies, and not being able to restore certain data."
Submission + - Mythbusters "Peeing on 3rd Rail" Busted! (msn.com) 3
n0tWorthy writes: Mythbusters stated that the myth that you could be electrocuted by peeing on the 3rd rail was "busted" as the stream would be broken up due to distance and there wouldn't be a continuous path for the electrical current to follow. This seems to be refuted by a Monsanto Washington man that was found electrocuted after urinating into a ditch that had a downed power line.
"...there will be an autopsy but burn marks indicated the way the electricity traveled through Messenger's body." Ouch!
"...there will be an autopsy but burn marks indicated the way the electricity traveled through Messenger's body." Ouch!
Submission + - Chilean earthquake shortens days (businessweek.com)
ailnlv writes: According to TFA, days just got shorter. In brief, the recent earthquake slightly shifted the Earth's axis by about 8 cm and shortened days by 1.26 microseconds
"The changes can be modeled, though they're difficult to physically detect given their small size, Gross said. Some changes may be more obvious, and islands may have shifted, according to Andreas Rietbrock, a professor of Earth Sciences at the U.K.'s Liverpool University who has studied the area impacted, though not since the latest temblor."
"The changes can be modeled, though they're difficult to physically detect given their small size, Gross said. Some changes may be more obvious, and islands may have shifted, according to Andreas Rietbrock, a professor of Earth Sciences at the U.K.'s Liverpool University who has studied the area impacted, though not since the latest temblor."
Submission + - New I/O standard to replace Mini PCI Express? (windowsfordevices.com)
jangel writes: Diamond Systems and seven other companies announced a new expansion standard that employs a single low-cost connector and expansion modules "three-fifths the size of a credit card." Supporting any host form factor and processor, FeaturePak is intended mainly for SBCs (single board computer), COMs (computer on modules), and other embedded products, but could come to future netbooks and notebooks, too.
Submission + - 8 Brightest Hopes for Keeping Up With Moore's Law (discovermagazine.com)
audiovideodisco writes: For years, engineers have warned that our ever more powerful microchips are drawing closer to their physical limits; even Gordon Moore himself says the chips will soon fail to keep up with his eponymous law. But many researchers are hard at work on various technologies that could keep us on this pleasant exponential ascent awhile longer. This gallery presents some of the most promising, from improved photolithography to optical electronics to quantum computers.
Submission + - Facebook + fugitive + stupid = former fugitive (skunkpost.com)
crimeandpunishment writes: A Western New York man whose social networking skills were a little too social, and as a result is no longer a fugitive, is now on his way back to captivity. The man, who fled to Indiana before he could be sentenced for assault, was caught after he posted detailed information on his Facebook page, including where he worked and what hours he worked there.
Submission + - New 2010 college grads in IT saw 6.1% salary bump 1
jmcbain writes: According to a February 4, 2010, report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, salaries for new class-of-2010 college graduates dropped 2 percent from class-of-2009 graduates. However, that was not the case for engineering disciplines, which as a whole saw a 1.2% bump. Computer science and IT-related degrees did even better: "In fact, as a group, graduates with computer-related degrees (computer programming, computer science, computer systems analysis, and information sciences/systems) posted a 6.1 percent increase—the highest increase reported in the Winter 2010 Salary Survey, which pushed their average up from $56,128 to $59,570. Among those earning the specific computer science degree, the average rose 4.8 percent to $61,205." Note that the report is stated only for undergraduates (not grad students or professional school students) and does not consider geographic location.
Submission + - Digg Finds a Way to Make Money
Hugh Pickens writes: "Lizz Gannes reports in BusinessWeek that Digg, through its users' curating of news, facilitates lots of page views, comments, and clicks to publishers' sites, but such bursts of traffic did little for advertisers' click-through rates (CTR) until the company launched a program last year called Digg Ads in which advertisers submit or sponsor content with the look and feel of Digg. The placement of Digg Ads on the homepage is currently the third story down from the top and Digg Ads look and feel just like regular content, but they are marked as “Sponsored by [Advertiser Name]”. "Digg Ads as a whole see about a 1% click-through rate, but what's interesting is the spread between more successful ads and less successful ones," writes Gannes. "Campaigns that mimic the style of Digg—using a numbered list, for example, or pointing to articles rather than product information—were much more effective, with up to 4% CTRs compared with 0.3% or 0.4% for the worst-performing Digg Ads." Five months in, Digg Ads are contributing 25%-30% of the company's revenue, says Chas Edwards, the company's publisher and chief revenue officer. "The company doubled its revenue in 2009, becoming profitable on an EBITDA basis, and expects to do the same or better this year.""
Submission + - Indonesia Rejects E-waste Shipment from US (itworld.com)
An anonymous reader writes: CRT Recycling, a Massachusetts-based recycler of electronic waste, is disputing reports from environmental watchdog group Basel Action Network (BAN) that a recent shipment to Indonesia was illegal and contained computer monitors with hazardous materials. BAN issued a press release Monday saying Indonesia in November rejected nine containers filled with CRTs and other electronic waste shipped by Advanced Global Technologies for CRT Recycling. Peter Kopcych, general manager at CRT Recycling, confirmed that the shipment was returned but said that it did not contain illegal materials, saying that it contained some used television sets with tubes that can reused but that there was 'not one' computer monitor in the shipment. But the problem may lie less with CRT Recycling and more with the EPA. The problem is that the EPA rules aren't adequate, said Jim Puckett, BAN's executive director. The EPA does not ensure that e-waste shipments comply with the laws of the country they're exported to, and the U.S. has not signed onto the Basel Convention, he said. 'What I was told by Indonesian authorities was that it was old TVs and monitors. Whether it is CRTs in the form of TVs or CRTs in monitors is immaterial. CRTs are listed in the Basel Convention ... as a hazardous waste,' said Puckett
Comment Re:I was born in the 80s. (Score 1) 500
I like Turtles!
