Comment Re:Biden is not that kind of man (Score 1) 57
What makes you believe Snowden and Assange are whistleblowers?
Comment Re:Uh,, DUHH?? (Score 1) 57
Why did Snowden run to Russia of all places? Russia isn't known to be kind to whistleblowers.
Comment The school is anti-Jewish teaching (Score 4, Informative) 431
Jewish teaching is all about asking questions. The entire religion is asking questions and challenging the answers. What this school is doing is wrong.
Submission + - 11 New Multi-Planet Star Systems Discovered (discovery.com)
astroengine writes: "The number of known multi-planetary star systems has just tripled. What's more, the Kepler space telescope science team has just announced that they have doubled the number of confirmed exoplanetary sightings made by the observatory. Some of the newly discovered worlds are only 1.5 times the size of Earth, while others are bigger than Jupiter. Fifteen exoplanets are between Earth and Neptune in size, but further observations will be needed to determine if any have a rocky surface like Earth, or a gaseous consistency like Neptune."
Submission + - Scientists organize Elsevier boycott
An anonymous reader writes: The academic publisher Elsevier has attracted controversy for its high prices, the practice of bundling journals for sale to libraries and its support for legislation such as SOPA and the Research Works Act.
Fields medal winning mathematician Tim Gowers decided to go public with a blog post describing how he'll no longer have anything to do with Elsevier journals, and suggested that a public web site where mathematicians and scientists could register their support for an Elsevier boycott would further the cause. This website now exists, with 521 academics signing-up so far.
John Baez has a nice write-up of the problem and possible solutions.
Fields medal winning mathematician Tim Gowers decided to go public with a blog post describing how he'll no longer have anything to do with Elsevier journals, and suggested that a public web site where mathematicians and scientists could register their support for an Elsevier boycott would further the cause. This website now exists, with 521 academics signing-up so far.
John Baez has a nice write-up of the problem and possible solutions.
Submission + - Scientists Create World's First Atomic X-Ray Laser 2
newmission33 writes: Government researchers have created the fastest, purest X-ray laser pulses ever achieved, and have fulfilled a 1967 prediction that an atomic scale x-ray laser could be made in the same manner as visible-light lasers., according to a statement released Wednesday.
Researchers at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory used the Linac Coherent Light Source to aim a powerful x-ray source beam, a billion times brighter than any previous source, at a capsule of neon gas and triggered an “avalanche” of X-ray emissions to become the world’s first “atomic X-ray laser.”
Researchers at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory used the Linac Coherent Light Source to aim a powerful x-ray source beam, a billion times brighter than any previous source, at a capsule of neon gas and triggered an “avalanche” of X-ray emissions to become the world’s first “atomic X-ray laser.”
Submission + - Vast Web of Dark Matter Mapped (discovery.com)
astroengine writes: "Astronomers from the University of British Columbia and University of Edinburgh have created a vast cosmic map revealing an intricate web of dark matter and galaxies spanning a distance of one billion light-years. This is the largest map of its kind and demonstrates that this large-scale web stretches across the universe in all directions. The results of this groundbreaking discovery were presented at the American Astronomical Society conference in Austin, Texas on Monday."
Submission + - Ubuntu TV unveiled (pcpro.co.uk)
Barence writes: "Canonical has unveiled the first screenshots and details of Ubuntu TV. Plans for versions of the Linux distro for tablets, smartphones and TVs were unveiled last year, and now the television is — perhaps surprisingly — the first of those to arrive. "It's a simple viewing experience for online video, both your own and routed over the internet," Jane Silber, Canonical's CEO told PC Pro. Movie streaming services will be supported as well as live television broadcasts. Ubuntu TV will be integrated into television sets, but Canoncial was unable to confirm any manufacturers. It will be released later this year."
Comment What did you expect? (Score 1) 197
Seriously, if the NSA said that they were NOT working with Google, would you believe them? It is probably safe to assume that the NSA, CIA and a myriad of other agencies are working with other governments and companies. If they weren't, they wouldn't be doing their jobs.
Submission + - End the Ethanol Insanity
theodp writes: It's now conceivable, says BusinessWeek's Ed Wallace, that the myth of ethanol as the salvation for America's energy problem is coming to an end. Curiously, the alternative fuel may be done in by an unlikely collection of foes. Fervidly pro-ethanol in the last decade of his political career, former VP Al Gore reversed course in late November and apologized for supporting ethanol, which apparently was more about ingratiating himself to farmers. A week later, Energy Secretary Steven Chu piled on, saying: 'The future of transportation fuels shouldn't involve ethanol.' And in December, a group of small-engine manufacturers, automakers, and boat manufacturers filed suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals to vacate the EPA's October ruling that using a 15% blend of ethanol in fuel supplies would not harm 2007 and newer vehicles. Despite all of this, the newly-elected Congress has extended the 45 cent-per-gallon ethanol blending tax credit that was due to expire, a move that is expected to reduce revenue by $6.25 billion in 2011. 'The ethanol insanity,' longtime-critic Wallace laments, 'will continue until so many cars and motors are damaged by this fuel additive that the public outcry can no longer be ignored. Adding an expensive, harmful, useless filler to gasoline just to win farmers' gratitude is not remotely the same as having a legitimate national energy policy.'
National Opt-Out Day Against Virtual Strip Searches 647
An anonymous reader writes in about a protest called for the busiest airline travel day of the year. "An activist opposed to the new invasive body scanners in use at airports around the country just designated Wednesday, Nov. 24 as a National Opt-Out Day. He's encouraging airline passengers to decline the TSA's technological strip searches en masse on that day as a protest against the scanners, as well as the new 'enhanced pat-downs' inflicted on refuseniks. 'The goal of National Opt-Out Day is to send a message to our lawmakers that we demand change,' reads the call to action at OptOutDay.com, set up by Brian Sodegren. 'No naked body scanners, no government-approved groping. We have a right to privacy, and buying a plane ticket should not mean that we're guilty until proven innocent.' The US Airline Pilots Association and other pilot groups have urged their members to avoid the scanners and have also condemned the new pat-down policy as humiliating to pilots. They've advised pilots who don't feel comfortable undergoing pat-downs in front of passengers to request they be conducted in a private room. Any pilots who don't feel comfortable after undergoing a pat-down have been encouraged to 'call in sick and remove themselves from the trip.'"
Submission + - Family to Receive $1.5M+ in Vaccine-Autism Award (cbsnews.com) 2
An anonymous reader writes: "The first court award in a vaccine-autism claim is a big one. CBS News has learned the family of Hannah Poling will receive more than $1.5 million dollars for her life care; lost earnings; and pain and suffering for the first year alone.
In addition to the first year, the family will receive more than $500,000 per year to pay for Hannah's care. Those familiar with the case believe the compensation could easily amount to $20 million over the child's lifetime." In acknowledging Hannah's injuries, the government said vaccines aggravated an unknown mitochondrial disorder Hannah had which didn't "cause" her autism, but "resulted" in it. It's unknown how many other children have similar undiagnosed mitochondrial disorder. All other autism "test cases" have been defeated at trial. Approximately 4,800 are awaiting disposition in federal vaccine court."
What the hell? How did this happen when all the scientific data points otherwise? Thoughts?
In addition to the first year, the family will receive more than $500,000 per year to pay for Hannah's care. Those familiar with the case believe the compensation could easily amount to $20 million over the child's lifetime." In acknowledging Hannah's injuries, the government said vaccines aggravated an unknown mitochondrial disorder Hannah had which didn't "cause" her autism, but "resulted" in it. It's unknown how many other children have similar undiagnosed mitochondrial disorder. All other autism "test cases" have been defeated at trial. Approximately 4,800 are awaiting disposition in federal vaccine court."
What the hell? How did this happen when all the scientific data points otherwise? Thoughts?
Submission + - Patent Office Admits Truth: Things Are a Disaster (bnet.com)
An anonymous reader writes: For years the US Patent and Trademark Office has published data to show how well it and the patent system were running. Under new leadership, the USPTO has begun to publish a dashboard of information, including a new look at questions like how long does it really take to get a final answer on whether you will receive a patent or not? The pat answer was, on the average, about 3 years. But with the new figures, it's obvious that the real number, when you don't play games with how you define a patent application, is six years. The backlog of patents is almost 730K. And the Commerce Department under the Obama Administration wants the average down at 20 months. How does this happen? Only if everyone closes their eyes and pretends. It's time to take drastic action, like ending software patents. As it is, by the time companies get a software patent, there's little value to them because, after six years, the industry has already moved on.
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Do not underestimate the value of print statements for debugging. Don't have aesthetic convulsions when using them, either.
