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Comment Re:Not going to work (Score 1) 362

by TB (#58207472) Attached to: Amazon Removes Anti-Vaccine Movies After CNN Inquiry

This type of thing never works, it just makes the people who already believe in this hunker down because now they believe it's an even bigger conspiracy. If you want to get people to stop believing in this, just make a pro-vaccine movie. Only you don't fill in full of scientists, reason and logic. Go film some of the anti-vaxxers whose children got sick with perfectly preventable diseases. Make sure to really capture the suffering of those poor children and the misery of the dumb-fuck parents. Go to the corners of the earth where polio still exists to show them the horrors of that. I think that will get their attention.

Its not about stopping people who believe in this, its about stopping their beliefs spreading to others.... you know, like this.... thing.... on the tip of my tongue. Starts with v.

Comment Special Pleading. (Score 1) 453

by TB (#34737776) Attached to: Why Published Research Findings Are Often False

This isnt about issues with the scientific method. Intellectually honest scientists dont care about how studys/experiments turn out. They have no vested interest, or sought outcome. However this article is not about honest scientists at all, its about well known frauds who found that their results didnt match their beliefs, and so they made up an excuse for why.
Censorship

Submission + - Australia to censor the internet (acma.gov.au)

Submitted by SenatorLuddite
SenatorLuddite writes: From January 20, 2008 new content laws introduced by the Federal Government will force sites to verify the age of users before accessing content intended for mature audiences (MA15+ and R18+). The laws bring internet classification into line with Film and Book classification laws and completely prohibits X18+ and RC content from the internet.

ACMA (The Australian Communications and Media Authority) claims that adults will not be affected by the new laws, yet user-generated and even chatrooms are required to be assessed for classification and powers are granted to ACMA to send 'take down' notices to offending sites.
Music

Submission + - Next for Apple: Lossless iTunes Store (cnet.co.uk)

Submitted by DrJenny
DrJenny writes: C|net has an interesting piece running at the moment about why Apple developed their own lossless codec, and more importantly that iTunes will become a download store for lossless audio, potentially from all the major labels. This would be a massively positive move for people who spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on hi-fi gear, but refuse to give money to stores that only offer compressed music. It's a big FLAC, DRM, ALAC and GB discussion, but it's a very exciting perspective, and surely one that'll pan out meaning audiophiles will finally be able to take advantage of legal digital downloads.
Businesses

Submission + - Blizzard and Activision merge (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by
Vicksplace
Vicksplace writes: "The companies behind Call of Duty and World of Warcraft are merging in a deal which could shake up the global video games industry. Activision and Blizzard have said they will form "the world's most profitable games business" in a deal worth $18.8bn (£9.15bn)."
Displays

Submission + - Tangible display makes 3D touchable 2

Submitted by moon_monkey
moon_monkey writes: Researchers in Japan have developed a display that makes 3D objects solid enough to grasp. The system, created by engineers at Japan's NTT, combines a 3D display with a haptic glove, making 3D items that look real but also feel solid to touch. Two cameras are used to image an object, to make the 3D image. A computer also uses this to render a solid representation. It could be used to inspect products remotely, or even to shake hands with someone on the other side of the world, the researchers say
Microsoft

Submission + - Vista is watching you!

Submitted by greengrass
greengrass writes: Are you using Windows Vista? Then you might as well know that the licensed operating system installed on your machine is harvesting a healthy volume of information for Microsoft. In this context, a program such as the Windows Genuine Advantage is the last of your concerns. In fact, in excess of 20 Windows Vista features and services are hard at work collecting and transmitting your personal data to the Redmond company.

more a Softpedia
Communications

Submission + - FastTCP commercialized into an FTP appliance (eweek.com)

Submitted by
prostoalex
prostoalex writes: "FastTCP technology, developed by researchers at CalTech, is getting commercialized with FastSoft introducing a hardware appliance that delivers 15x-20x faster FTP transmissions than those delivered via regular TCP. Says eWeek: "The algorithm implemented in the Aria appliance senses congestion by continuously measuring the round-trip time for the TCP acknowledgement and then monitoring how that measurement changes from moment to moment.""
Security

Submission + - Fresh Security Breaches at Los Alamos (msn.com)

Submitted by WrongSizeGlass
WrongSizeGlass writes: MSNBC is reporting on two new security breaches at Los Alamos. Officials at the nuclear-weapons laboratory, already struggling to calm concerns over security lapses, now have two more breaches to explain. Both of these latest incidents where 'human error' on the part of employees including an e-mail containing classified material sent over the open Internet, rather than through the secure defense network and a vacationing employee's laptop containing government documents of a sensitive nature and an encryption card advanced enough that its export is government-controlled being stolen from a hotel room in Ireland. It seems we will always be our own worst enemies when it comes to IT related security.
Silicon Graphics

Submission + - Perfect silicon sphere to redefine the kilogram (theage.com.au)

Submitted by MrCreosote
MrCreosote writes: The Age reports optical specialists at CSIRO are helping create a new standard for the kilogram, based on a precise number of atoms in a perfect sphere of silicon. This will replace the International Prototype, a lump of metal alloy in a vault in Paris.
Space

Submission + - Jupiter moon pukes into space: probe movie

Submitted by Tablizer
Tablizer writes: The New Horizons probe caught the moon Io in the act of barfing into space. "This five-frame sequence of New Horizons images captures the giant plume from Io's Tvashtar volcano. Snapped by the probe's Long Range Reconnaissance Imager (LORRI) as the spacecraft flew past Jupiter earlier this year, this first-ever "movie" of an Io plume clearly shows motion in the cloud of volcanic debris, which extends 330 kilometers (200 miles) above the moon's surface...The appearance and motion of the plume is remarkably similar to an ornamental fountain on Earth, replicated on a gigantic scale."
The Courts

Submission + - RIAA Accused of Extortion & Conspiracy

Submitted by
NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "The defendant in a Tampa, Florida, case, UMG v. Del Cid, has filed counterclaims accusing the RIAA record labels of conspiracy and extortion. The counterclaims (pdf) are for Trespass, Computer Fraud and Abuse (18 USC 1030), Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices (Fla. Stat. 501.201), Civil Extortion (CA Penal Code 519 & 523), and Civil Conspiracy involving (a) use of private investigators without license in violation of Fla. Stat. Chapter 493; (b) unauthorized access to a protected computer system, in interstate commerce, for the purpose of obtaining information in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1030 (a)(2)(C); (c) extortion in violation of Ca. Penal Code 519 and 523; and (d) knowingly collecting an unlawful consumer debt, and using abus[ive] means to do so, in violation of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, 15 U.S.C. 1692a et seq. and Fla. Stat. 559.72 et seq."
Windows

Submission + - Valve Releases Recent Hardware Survey Results

Submitted by Freastro
Freastro writes: Last week, Valve reset their on-going Hardware Survey in order to "keep on top of what kind of hardware everyone out there is running." Little has changed statistically since their first 200,000 responses, and it gives some interesting insight into what hardware and versions of Windows people are actually running. Their news article gives the following statistics and the full results can be found on their Valve Survey Summary page:
  • Just over 1% of respondents can run a DX10 path for graphics.
  • About 78% of you have microphones plugged in for voice communication. This will help you out a lot in TF2.
  • A little under 5% of you have upgraded to Vista.
  • Around 20% of your PCs are running multiple CPU cores.
Biotech

Submission + - Genome of DNA Pioneer Is Deciphered

Submitted by unchiujar
unchiujar writes: The New York Times reports that the full genome of James D. Watson, one of the discoverers of the structure of DNA in 1953, has been deciphered, marking what some scientists believe is the gateway to an impending era of personalized genomic medicine. Skip to next paragraph A copy of his genome, recorded on a pair of DVDs, is to be presented to Dr. Watson today in a ceremony in Houston by Richard Gibbs, director of the Human Genome Sequencing Center at the Baylor College of Medicine, and by Jonathan Rothberg, founder of the company 454 Life Sciences.
Music

Submission + - iTunes tracks embed all your personal account info

Submitted by Jaknet
Jaknet writes: The BBC http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6711215.stm today reported that the new DRM free music available from iTunes contains embedded within them the full name and account information, including e-mail address, of who bought them.

The BBC goes on to speculate... It suggested that this information could be an anti-piracy measure as it could help work out who was putting downloads on file-sharing sites. But it also added that the user information was found on all the tracks that people buy on iTunes whether free of DRM or not.

The BBC has contacted Apple seeking comment but so far the company has not responded.

Other websites said it was only a matter of time before a utility program was produced that which stripped out the identifying information. At this point it is not yet clear how deeply the user data is buried in the track or how easy it is to remove. Lets hope it's soon

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