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Earth

What's Stopping Us From Eating Insects? 655

Posted by timothy from the there-will-never-be-a-fast-food-place-called-thoraxes-etc. dept.
Lasrick writes "Scientific American has a really nice article explaining why insects should be considered a good food source, and how the encroachment of Western attitudes into societies that traditionally eat insects is affecting consumption of this important source of nutrients. Good stuff." Especially when they're so easy to grow.

Comment Re:How is computer-trading different from telegrap (Score 1) 222

by Rob Riggs (#44217133) Attached to: Computer Trading and Dark Pools

When telegraph was first used to pass data (both trading orders and share price-affecting information) around, I'm sure, it was also seen by some as "dishonest", "unscrupulous", and "disadvantaging small players"...

The difference you are looking for is between "telegraph" and "network", and "human" and "computer", not between "computer" and "telegraph".
The Courts

Boston Marathon Bomber Charged With Using 'Weapon of Mass Destruction' 533

Posted by Soulskill from the 30-counts-ought-to-do-it dept.
New submitter bunkymag writes "Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has now been indicted on over 30 charges relating to his part in the Boston Marathon bombing. Of particular note however is a charge of using a 'Weapon of Mass Destruction.' It's a bit out of line with the commonly-held perception of the term, most notably used in justifying the invasion of Iraq. However, U.S. criminal law defines a 'weapon of mass destruction' much more broadly, including virtually any explosive device: bombs, grenades, rockets, missiles, mines, etc. The question arises: is it wise for Tsarnaev to face such a politically-loaded charge? From an outsider perspective, it would seem easy enough to leverage any number of domestic anti-terror laws to achieve anything up to and including the death penalty if required. Why, then, muddy the waters with this new WMD claim, when the price could be giving further ammunition to groups outside of America that already clearly feel the rules are set up to indict them on false pretenses, and explicitly use this sense of outrage to attract new terrorist recruits?"
Programming

Dr. Dobb's Calls BS On Obsession With Simple Code 381

Posted by timothy from the my-dear-watson-this-isn't-perl dept.
theodp writes "Over at Dr. Dobb's, Editor-in-Chief Andrew Binstock has a nice rant on The Misplaced Obsession with Simplicity. 'Any idiot can write complex code,' goes the old maxim, 'the true art is writing simple code.' Right, Andrew? Wrong (mostly). Binstock explains, 'It's not true that any idiot can write complex code. Complex code is difficult, often very difficult, to write. It's entirely true that it's more difficult to maintain, too. But that's the nature of complexity. Some things are intensely difficult to express in code and they require complexity, simply because they're not inherently simple.' After citing the complex-but-necessarily-so code of Al Aho and sometimes-misguided reverence for cyclomatic complexity limits to help make his point, Binstock concludes, 'My view of simplicity is unemotional and free of idolatry because I define it with respect to complexity, rather than the other way around: Simplicity is the quality of code that is no more complex than required to express the underlying complexity. In this way, simple code can be intensely complex. There is no inherent good/bad dichotomy.'"

Comment Re:Tax dodge (Score 1) 356

by Rob Riggs (#44102299) Attached to: The IRS vs. Open Source

What I'd prefer seeing instead of a Sales Tax (consumption based) is a flat tax of ten percent with no deductions/allowances (everyone pays the same amount)

Ten percent on what? Income or profit?

If you say "profit", what do I get to deduct from my income to call "profit"? Wages? Rent? Equipment? Raw materials? Transportation costs? Marketing and advertising? Employee training? Sales retreats? Investment expenses?

If it is income, I buy 100 shares at $10, and sell that 100 shares for $11, when I sell the shares I have an income of $1100, but a profit of $100 (actually less once you figure in brokerage commission). Are you going to let me deduct the cost of the shares I bought and the brokerage commission? Or do I have to pay $110 in taxes on that trade?
Privacy

Introducing the NSA-Proof Crypto-Font 259

Posted by Soulskill from the for-days-when-reading-words-seems-too-easy dept.
Daniel_Stuckey writes "At a moment when governments and corporations alike are hellbent on snooping through your personal digital messages, it'd sure be nice if there was a font their dragnets couldn't decipher. So Sang Mun built one. Sang, a recent graduate from the Rhode Island Schoold of Design, has unleashed ZXX — a 'disruptive typeface' that he says is much more difficult to the NSA and friends to decrypt. He's made it free to download on his website, too. 'The project started with a genuine question: How can we conceal our fundamental thoughts from artificial intelligences and those who deploy them?' he writes. 'I decided to create a typeface that would be unreadable by text scanning software (whether used by a government agency or a lone hacker) — misdirecting information or sometimes not giving any at all. It can be applied to huge amounts of data, or to personal correspondence.' He named it after the Library of Congress's labeling code ZXX, which archivists employ when they find a book that contains 'no linguistic content.'"

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