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Comment Re:Freedom of speech doesn't mean that (Score 3, Insightful) 1695

What about the Civil Rights Act? It explicitly makes this type of discrimination illegal. Basically, if a company is selling products or services to the public, it's can't discriminate against its customers. There's a reason why putting up a "whites only" or "no jews" sign outside your business is illegal. This isn't a freedom of speech issue, but a civil rights issue.

Comment Re:"Survey"? (Score 1) 248

From wiki: A blind or blinded experiment is a scientific experiment where some of the persons involved are prevented from knowing certain information that might lead to conscious or unconscious bias on their part, invalidating the results.
There's no real reason for this study to be blind or double blind; people either have brain tumors or they don't. I suspect that instead of asking, the scientists took a look at a persons medical history and looked for brain tumors.

Comment Re:Ok. Help me out here. (Score 1) 133

But it's not factual information, it's analysis and opinion. You wouldn't call an opinion piece on the economy as factual information, because everyone knows that an opinion piece is a subjective interpretation of the facts. Why would you do the same for a stock tip. This has nothing to do with Google News because Google News redistributes the news and not opinions.

Comment Re:"antivax" people (Score 1) 416

I take it you don't know how vaccines work. Why you would think that getting infect with a fully working microbe is safer than getting infected with a attenuated(weakened) microbe is beyond me.
The fact is that children are routinely vaccinated against chicken pox as part of the measles mumps rubella vaccine.
There is NO benefit in being sick over vaccinated, it's not logical.

Comment Re:Maybe I'm not getting it right... (Score 2, Informative) 107

From the patent, in the prior art section "However, a VCR cannot both capture and play back information at the same time."
While your button allowed you to watch and record, you couldn't rewind and record at the same time, which is what the patent claims. Things like instant replay are impossible with a VCR.

Security

Two Chinese Schools Reportedly Tied To Online Attacks 172

squidw* writes "Online attacks on Google and other American corporations have been traced to computers at two educational institutions in China, including one with close ties to the Chinese military, say people involved in the investigation. From the NY Times: '... the attacks, aimed at stealing trade secrets and computer codes and capturing e-mail of Chinese human rights activists, may have begun as early as April, months earlier than previously believed. ... The Chinese schools involved are Shanghai Jiaotong University and the Lanxiang Vocational School, according to several people with knowledge of the investigation who asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the inquiry. Jiaotong has one of China’s top computer science programs. Just a few weeks ago its students won an international computer programming competition organized by IBM — the “Battle of the Brains” — beating out Stanford and other top-flight universities. Lanxiang, in east China’s Shandong Province, is a huge vocational school that was established with military support and trains some computer scientists for the military.'"
Microsoft

Dark Cloud Over Good Works of Gates Foundation 325

theodp writes "Justice Eta, a Nigerian infant, has an ink spot on his tiny thumb to show he was immunized against polio and measles thanks to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. But Justice still faces respiratory trouble, which locals call 'the cough' and blame on fumes and soot spewing from 300-foot flames at a nearby oil plant owned by Itallian energy giant Eni, whose investors include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Part one of an L.A. Times investigation reports that the world's largest philanthropy pours money into investments that are hurting many of the people its grants aim to help. With the exception of tobacco companies, the foundation's asset managers do not avoid investments in firms whose activities conflict with the mission to do good."
Science

Space Plane to Offer 2 Hour Flight around the World 214

secretsather writes "Two hour flights to the other side of the world may seem like a scene from a science fiction movie; but the technology is in place, and a plane that can do just that is currently in development. While it looks like a scene from a flight simulator, the Astrox space plane is the real deal, and the Astrox Corporation says it could revolutionize the transportation industry. Traveling as fast as Mach 25 with at least 30 minutes of space shuttle-like views while in orbit is the highlight of this plane, and The Astrox Corporation, along with their partners, are claiming to have finally overcome their largest problem, mixing fuel."
The Internet

Top Q&A Sites Reviewed 79

prostoalex writes "MIT Technology Review runs a real-world test of top question and answer sites — AnswerBag, Amazon Askville, MSN Live Q&A, Wondir, Yahoo! Answers and Yedda. The sites are rated on the features and originality as well as availability of answers to the journalist's three questions: 'First, I searched each site's archive for existing answers to the question "Is there any truth to the five-second rule?" (I meant the rule about not eating food after it's been on the floor for more than five seconds, not the basketball rule about holding.) Second, I posted the same two original questions at each site: "Why did the Mormons settle in Utah?" and "What is the best way to make a grilled cheese sandwich?" The first question called for factual, historical answers, while the second simply invited people to share their favorite sandwich-making methods and recipes." The results might be surprising to some readers. While it's generally believed that small startups are better at building efficient solutions, the leaders of the MIT Technology Review are all sites built by Internet giants — Yahoo! Answers, MSN Live Q&A and Amazon Askville all ranked above the competing sites."

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