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Earth

Submission + - Hemp Walls are 7x Stronger Than Concrete (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Buildings account for thirty-eight percent of the CO2 emissions in the U.S., according to the U.S. Green Building Council, and demand for carbon neutral and/or zero footprint buildings is at an all-time high. Now there is a new building material that is not just carbon neutral, but is actually carbon negative. Developed by U.K.-based Lhoist Group, Tradical Hemcrete is a concrete substitute made from hemp, lime and water. What makes it carbon negative? There is more CO2 locked-up in the process of growing and harvesting of the hemp than is released in the production of the lime binder.
Communications

Navigating a Geek Marriage? 1146

Posted by kdawson from the waiting-for-taco-to-weigh-in dept.
JoeLinux writes "I am soon to marry my true love (a girl! yes! they do exist!). She is a literary geek, whereas I am a gaming/Linux geek. Being the RTFM-style geeks that we are, we have been reading up on marriage, making things work, etc. Unfortunately, all of the references seem to be based around an alpha-male jock and a submissive cheerleader-style wife. A lot of the references to incompatibility in the books don't apply to us (neglect due to interest in sports, etc.). What are some of the pitfalls and successes learned in the course of a more geek-oriented marriage?"
Power

Submission + - Chicken Feathers May Fuel Future Hydrogen Cars (inhabitat.com) 2

Submitted by
Mike
Mike writes: "Researchers at the University of Delaware have hatched a plan to cheaply store hydrogen fuel in carbonized chicken feathers, circumventing much pricier hydrogen storage options. To do this they heated quill fibers to high temperatures, effectively creating a cheap source of carbon nanotubes with nanoporous walls. Chicken consumption in the US creates over six billion pounds of waste feathers each year, and if this technology was implemented in a fuel cell vehicle, it would cost about $200, as opposed to using carbon nanotube tanks (which cost about $5.5 million) or metal hydrides (which cost about $30,000)."
Censorship

Submission + - China: 2009 Declaration of the Anonymous Netizens

Submitted by higman.schmidt
higman.schmidt writes: Anonymous voices in China vow a worldwide attack on China's internet censorship policy, specifically Green Dam. From the English translation of the Declaration: "We are the Anonymous Netizens. We have seen your moves on the Internet. You have deprived your netizens of the freedom of speech. You have come to see technology as your mortal enemy. You have clouded and distorted the truth in collaboration with Party mouthpieces. You have hired commentators to create the "public opinion" you wanted to see. All these are etched into our collective memory. More recently, you forced the installation of Green Dam on the entire population and smothered Google with vicious slander. It is now clear as day: what you want is the complete control and censorship of the Internet. We hereby declare that we, the Anonymous Netizens, are going to launch our attack worldwide on your censorship system starting on July 1st, 2009." Via Global Voices
Censorship

Submission + - Australia To Ban Rest Of World, Probably. (rockpapershotgun.com)

Submitted by Arkan_Wolfshade
Arkan_Wolfshade writes: "The Federal Government has now set its sights on gamers, promising to use its internet censorship regime to block websites hosting and selling video games that are not suitable for 15 year olds." Found on http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/06/25/australia-to-ban-rest-of-world-probably/ with the main article on http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/games/web-filters-to-censor-video-games-20090625-cxrx.html
Software

Submission + - UK Government Response To Open Source Petition

Submitted by R0UTE
R0UTE writes: The UK government has responded to a petition requesting that all new software created under the Timely Information to Citizens (TIC) project be created under an Open source licence despite the measly 322 signatures.

"The Government supports the principle that, where new software is being developed by the Timely Information to Citizens pilots, this should wherever possible be released under open source licence and available for use by other local authorities.
For many of the Timely Information to Citizens pilots, the focus is not on new software, but on how existing tools and techniques can be used to bring information together and present it in more useful and accessible ways. Several of the projects will utilise existing open source software to create new information sources and channels, and will share their experiences of doing so with other authorities.
Where the pilots will result in new software tools, ownership and intellectual property rights will usually remain with the individual local authorities. However, most of the authorities concerned have already made a commitment to make these tools available as open source software, or for use by their partner organisations, and we are working to secure the commitment of the remaining."

I found it interesting that many Local Authorities have already agreed to use and create Open Source softwhere wherever possible. However it does sound like there are a lot of get out clauses in the response.
Programming

Submission + - College student harrassed for posting code online

Submitted by nettework
nettework writes: Inside Higher Ed posts a story about San Jose State student harassed by his CS professor for posting the code from his programming assignments online after they were due. The professor claimed the student was "cheating" and even suggested that he had a copyright claim in the student's answers to his assignments. The student, Kyle Brady, says he posted the code to promote himself for employment, and says of the incident: "If this was a forum it would have been a flame war."

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