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Comment Religion and Science (Score 1) 1014

Religion has always been at odds with Science, since Galileo started reasoning on astronomical observations, which blatantly contradicted the bible. The universe was not created 5000 years ago, we don't descend from a single couple, different species evolved and were not "created". So what? Being an European I find this is amusing but utterly irrelevant, I fail to notice why this is news at all. You are free to believe that earth is flat, if you really want to ignore evidence.

Comment Re:Yawn. (Score 3, Insightful) 295

Second rate is way too generous, for this overrated soulless Hollywood drivel. This is even worse than the Hulk movie. All the "right ingredients" are there, in a predetermined and marketing driven demographical exact formula. However, at the end of the day this film is just like a flashy bimbo: lots of promises, very shallow depth, all the right things at the right place, but no ideas, humor and no imagination worth speaking of save the usual tiresome plentitude of visual effects. And the basic message is what? That the biggest you are (or become) the best winner you get? That enemies are mono-dimensional villains, and just need to be exterminated. I don't know who needs or is buying this propaganda today, the message is outdated and worth a yawn. 73% on Rotten Tomatoes is even too much.
Power

Submission + - Swiss to end use of nuclear power (reuters.com)

mdsolar writes: "Energy minister Doris Leuthard is set to propose Switzerland gradually exits nuclear power, two Swiss newspapers reported on Sunday, citing sources close to the government.

The multi-party Swiss government was expected to make an announcement on nuclear policy on Wednesday and may recommend an exit.

Switzerland's five nuclear reactors generate about 40 percent of the country's electricity."

Education

Submission + - Prof Questions Sink-or-Swim Intro to CS Courses 2

theodp writes: 'After having taught introductory programming (CS 1) for the past six years,' writes GVSU's Zack Kurmas, 'and having watched many students struggle through this course and the subsequent course (CS 2), I have come to the conclusion that it is absurd to expect students who don't have any prior programming experience to be well prepared to study Computer Science after a single 15-week course (i.e., CS 1). I believe that expecting a student to learn to program well enough to study Computer Science in a single 15-week course is almost as absurd as expecting a student with no instrumental musical experience to be ready to join the university orchestra after 15 weeks.' Kurmas' frustrations are not unlike those voiced by Physics prof Dr. Yung Tae Kim, who argues the up-or-out, one-size-fits-all rigid pace approach to learning set by teachers and administrators is as absurd as telling a toddler, 'You have ten weeks to walk, and if you can't, you get an F and you're not allowed to try to walk anymore.'
Desktops (Apple)

Submission + - Don't Panic Over the Latest Mac Malware Stories (securityweek.com)

wiredmikey writes: Many recent stories are suggesting a large increase in customers who are complaining about malware in Apple support forums. All of these posts are meant to persuade readers that, indeed, the Mac is becoming just like Windows: malware-laden and dangerous.

As with most stories Mac-related, recent malware-is-finally-coming stories attracted a lot of press. It made the rounds across the tech world, started a huge flame war on Slashdot, and set Twitter afire.

It has taken the Windows malware supply chain twenty years to evolve to its current level of stratification and sophistication. It stands to reason that supply chain won’t be replicated overnight for the Mac.

Here is why Mac OS might not be as attractive to attackers as you might think and how the Mac is relatively low-risk computing platform this month, and will continue to be one next month, too.

Spam

Submission + - A New Approach To Reducing Spam? (nytimes.com)

WrongSizeGlass writes: A New Approach To Reducing Spam?

A team of computer scientists at two University of California campuses has been looking deeply into the nature of spam, and they think found a 'oechoke point' [PDF] that could greatly reduce the flow of spam. It turned out that 95 percent of the credit card transactions for the spam-advertised drugs and herbal remedies they bought were handled by just three financial companies — one based in Azerbaijan, one in Denmark and one in Nevis, in the West Indies. If a handful of companies like these refused to authorize online credit card payments to the merchants, “you’d cut off the money that supports the entire spam enterprise,” said one of the scientists.

Patents

Submission + - EEF pressed Apple to indemnify developers (networkworld.com)

Julie188 writes: "The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is calling on Apple to indemnify its developers from Lodsys — a patent troll that's alleging patent infringement on the in-app purchasing used by iOS apps. (That's the technology developed by Apple and forced on many of its developers.) The letters Lodsys has been sending out came to light on May 13th, and apparently developers have been asking Apple for help to no avail."

Comment Re:Berlusconi? (Score 1) 258

Italian politicians may be complaining about bad judges all the times, but they must be grateful to them. Hadn't they been so utterly servile towards the powerful, the current dictator would have been in jail. Italian law system ROUTINELY saved his bacon though DECADES.

Italian judges ruled that a bank transfer (proven) from Berlusconi's firm to a judge did not amount to corruption (and absolved the judge, currently in office, in the equivalent of the Supreme Court) because THAT did not prove that the judge had changed his sentence in order to favor Berlusconi's business over a competitor. It was deemed that Berlusconi "could not be deemed responsible for the actions of his employees" and that "he might not have known.".

Italian judicial system is plainly shameless, the worst sentences are normally rewarded by means of career as magistrates and up to political service (eg. the infamous absolution sentence for Pinelli murder in the 70's was actually the launch pad for the career of that judge, currently a senator of the republic.).

They purposely only condemned Berlusconi when they were absolutely sure that the sentence was moot because of expiry of terms. This is only typical in Italy. You only have to fear the law if you are poor (being innocent does not matter).

If you are a member of the corrupt leading elite you can safely consider legal proceedings annoying and maybe costly, but without real danger.

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