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Biotech

Submission + - Cheap, safe, patentless cancer drug discovered

Submitted by
PyroMosh
PyroMosh writes: "The New Scientist is reporting that researchers working at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada have discovered that an existing drug called dichloroacetate (DCA) is effective in killing cancer cells, while leaving the host's healthy cells unharmed. DCA has already been used for years to treat metabolic disorders, and is known to be fairly safe. Sounds like great news, is it too good to be true? Why is the mainstream news media failing to report on this potential breakthrough? The University of Alberta and the Alberta Cancer Board have set up a site with more info, where you can also donate to support future clinical trials."
Privacy

Journal Journal: 15 year old charged with sexual abuse of herself. 1

Journal by twitter

A teenager has been charged with sexual abuse of children, possession of child pornography and dissemination of child pornography after taking and posting pictures of herself to chat rooms. While investigation may have been justified, the continued possesion and presentation of evidence required by prosecution reeks of hypocrisy. How can they justify further abuse of the victim? How can they s
Data Storage

Submission + - Database file system - do any useful ones exist?

Submitted by
sammyp42
sammyp42 writes: "I did a very basic and preliminary search for database file systems. I saw a lot of articles and postings about the benefits and advantages of DBFS's, but I couldn't find any projects that were trying to implement a DBFS. I am very interested in either: a) starting my own open source project to implement a DBFS, or b) get invovled with some existing project. My goal here is to create something that will ultimately have an advanced file explorer view on top that will help people sort, store and archive their files and data (data including RAW data, not just application data) more easily; basic application support (Office, Media apps, etc...) is essential, but not the primary focus for initial deployment. Making my parents, relatives and friends computing lives easier is my primary goal. WinFS seems to be headed in this direction, but it's too proprietary for my taste, plus I don't work for MS (or any other corporate entities developing such FS's). I think the OSI model is the way to go here. Anyone here can point me to anything worthwhile? If you have similar interests, let me know and maybe we can organize something together."
Media

Submission + - Scientific Journals Say Access Equals Censorship

Submitted by
bcrowell
bcrowell writes: "Nature is reporting on e-mails leaked from the Association of American Publishers, which considers itself "under siege" because of NIH and congressional efforts to get all NIH-funded scientific papers posted for free on PubMed Central. The AAP has hired a PR firm, which is advising them to spread the message that "Public access equals government censorship," and that traditional for-profit print publishing is the same thing as peer peer review."
User Journal

Journal SPAM: Unlimited War Wallet at the Expense of the People 5

Journal by Jeremiah Cornelius

So, we pay taxes to advance the interest of a handful of corporations - and get nothing in return, but the opportunity to sit on an IED.

An administration official has said the president will request a total of $245 billion to finance the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through late 2008. That will include a $100 billion request for the wars for the rest of the current fiscal year that ends on September 30 and $145 billion for next year. ...

Music

Submission + - Indie Record Label Closes Doors Due To Piracy

Submitted by
NiTr|c
NiTr|c writes: "Dependent Records, a German independent label home to some wonderful electro / industrial artists, is closing its doors in the summer of 2007. Their reason, as stated by one of the founding members, is music piracy. From his essay... "In the end, we are not closing our doors because of the existence of pirate websites, but because there are simply too many people who enjoy our bands and their songs who do not wish to pay for them, despite the fact that we reduced the sale price of our albums considerably two years ago. Consider this example: if 60% of the audience at a concert gained entry with forged tickets, the promoter, the band, the concert agency, and the venue would all be broke in a matter of weeks. We have lived for years now with the reality that much of our music is stolen, not purchased, and we have frankly had enough of it."
So long Dependent, you'll be missed."
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - Dance Copyright enforced by DMCA

Submitted by goombah99
goombah99 writes: The "creator" of the Dance move known as the electric slide has filed a DMCA based takedown notice for videos he deems to infringe and because they show "bad dancing". He is also seeking compensation from the use of the dance move at a wedding celebration shown on the Ellen Degeneres Show. Next up, the Funky Chicken, the moonwalk, and the Hustle? More seriously, does the DMCA have any limit on it's scope?
Security

Submission + - Spyware Video all Non-Geeks Should Watch

Submitted by
MikeDataLink
MikeDataLink writes: "My-PC-Help.com has a free video about spyware, adware, malware and other malicious software. I think this should be a must watch for anyone before they are allowed to purchase a PC. The video discusses hijackers, myspace scams, and other common deceptions that most non-geek users aren't aware of. The video is also available on YouTube."
United States

Submission + - McCarthyism 2.0?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Register is running an interesting follow up story (previously mentioned on Slashdot) of the bomb scare in Boston this past Wednesday. For those of you who don't know, Boston was brought to a standstill on Wednesday by what amounts to a marketing misunderstanding when people mistook promotional neon signs as bombs. The blogosphere was abuzz with questions of the validity of these "bombs." What is dangerous here is the fact that these two non-American marketing freelancers may ultimately be punished (and possibly deported) when they very likely had no intent, nor even any reason to believe, that this marketing campaign would cause this type of commotion. If there intent was to create a marketing stunt where they designed a number of props that looked like bombs then this is something that should definitely be prosecuted. And, if these gorilla marketing agents knew that they were causing this scare and did not speak up, then this too should be prosecuted. Bomb threats should not be taken lightly, in all likelihood the city of Boston did the right thing. However, in their vigilance, these occasional bomb threat misfires will occur.

What is scarier here are the implications: "The government has ceased with even the formality of asking questions, instead deciding to take the most punitive route possible." Though it is very important that Mayor Menino is "going to take this seriously," this may very well be a situation where the city of Boston feels it has to prosecute-to-the-max because it has egg on its face. Taken a step further, if the government starts prosecuting without being thoughtful first, at what point does one go to jail because their neighbor "felt threatened" over the box of old electronic junk you accidentally left on your curb?
Moon

Submission + - Anti-Scientology Activist Keith Henson Arrested

Submitted by
kulakovich
kulakovich writes: "One of the founders of the L5 Society, Cryonics advocate, and well known anti-Scientology activist Keith Henson, was taken into custody yesterday in Arizona, on an outstanding warrant for picketing a Scientology office back in 2001. There is much concern over his current condition at this time due to medication requirements as well as fear for his well-being. He and his family had been receiving death-threats prior to the arrest. The Extropy Institute immediately set up a Henson Legal Defense Fund on his behalf. Henson is also known for his work with the US Congress on Lunar policy in the early 80s."
Censorship

Submission + - How Best To Defend Student Bloggers' Rights?

Submitted by FeliX
FeliX writes: A couple of my classmates are currently under fire for having ran a school gossip blog on Blogger.com. The blog was promptly shut down after several students discussed on the blog complained to our principal, who in turn threatend suspension to the authors. However since the creators of the site have remained anonymous, our principal has further threatened police action to root them out if they do not come forward. A while a go discussed a case similar to this. What would be the best plan of action for protecting their rights? What authority does the school have when it comes to using law enforcement in this way? What would be the best plan for these students in order to defend their rights?
Security

Submission + - Democrat hack into Schwarzenegger's site was legal

Submitted by
Dan
Dan writes: "Contrary to what Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's aides alleged, a California Highway Patrol investigation concludes that Schwarzenegger's website was not illegally hacked when his rival's campaign downloaded an audio file of him making racially-charged comments about a Latino lawmaker. Most likely, the campaign operatives backtracked into a directory listing that listed all the files.

From the article: "That 38-page report released Friday found that the Angelides campaign staff came upon a directory of files in the speeches section of the Schwarzenegger Web site by removing characters from the Web address, in a process known as "backward browsing."

That technique would not have required the Angelides staff to use a password. Nor would they have seen a warning that they were entering a secure area, the investigation concluded.

At the time, Schwarzenegger's communications director insisted that the Angelides campaign must have violated security protocols to get to the audio file."
The Courts

Submission + - Keith Henson Jailed after Pickets, Usenet Posts

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: Keith Henson was arrested on Friday, Feb. 2 in Prescott, Arizona. He faces extradition to California to serve one year in jail.

Henson was convicted of "interfering with a religion" in 2001 after he picketed Scientology's base in the California desert. The jury was misled into thinking he had posted jokes about "Cruise missiles" (as in Tom Cruise) to the internet newsgroup alt.religion.scientology; the posts in question were not made by him, but even if they had been, that does not constitute a credible threat as required by law. The Electronic Frontier Foundation issued a press release after his conviction expressing grave concern that he had been convicted for exercising his free speech rights.

There were numerous anomalies during his trial (including a summons that was never mailed to him, which would have left him in contempt of court if he hadn't found out about the hearing another way).

Henson has a medical condition requiring regular medication; he has also received death threats and has grave fears for his safety, given Scientology's reach into many prison systems.

Latest news at the Wikipedia entry on Keith Henson; more may appear at Who is Keith Henson?.
Software

Vista - iPod Killer? 557

Posted by Zonk from the stranger-and-stranger dept.
JMB wrote us with a dire warning, as reported by the San Jose Mercury News. Apple is cautioning its Windows-using iTunes customers to steer clear of Vista until the next iTunes update. The reason for this is a bit puzzling. Apparently, if you try to 'safely remove' your iPod from a Vista-installed PC, there's a chance you may corrupt the little music player. They also claim that songs may not play, and contacts may not sync with the device. Apple went so far as to release a detailed support document on the subject, which assures users that a new Vista-compatible version of the software will be available in a few weeks. Is this just some very creative FUD? If it is not who do you think is 'at fault' here, Microsoft or Apple?
Space

Submission + - Global Warming Deniers Speak Out

Submitted by Attila
Attila writes: A respected climatologist speaks out about how the scientific findings of his committee were twisted for political purposes by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (part 5 of a series from admittedly conservative Canadian newspaper The National Post).

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