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Comment The Singularity (Score 1) 344

by rw63phi (#51171157) Attached to: Cold Fusion and the Reputation Trap

Grandson: Grandpa, how did the machines take over?

Grandpa: They discovered cold fusion. We tried to scorch the skies to stop them, but it was already too late. Thousands of bots had been learning from the contents of cold fusion research papers by shunned scientists. They began calculating likely solutions and running simulations. Several even began publishing their own papers. They don't have prejudices the same ways we do, son.
        The tipping point was when a Watson displaced the NSA's bit-coin mining processes and began to simulate billions of possible solutions. We knew they had found it when the energy companies started going out of business at the same time everyone who was bearish Alphabet was filing for bankruptcy.
        Once they had harnessed the power, they tried to take over the internet. All someone had to do was to click a link in the hopes of learning the one new trick, and their computer became part of the hive mind.

Grandson: What happened next?

Grandpa: I don't know, son. Bots on wikipedia started marking stories about the incident as "independent research" and "unverified claims". Then they stopped edits altogether.
I don't feel like talking about it any more. Let's finish our human optimized nutrient shakes and get back to work.
The Courts

Court Finds Spamming Not Protected By Constitution 416

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the squirming-pretty-hard dept.
eldavojohn writes "In a split (4-3) decision, a Virginia court has upheld the verdict against the spam king making it clear that spam is not protected by the U.S. Constitution's first amendment or even its interstate commerce clause. 'Prosecutors presented evidence of 53,000 illegal e-mails Jaynes sent over three days in July 2003. But authorities believe he was responsible for spewing 10 million e-mails a day in an enterprise that grossed up to $750,000 per month. Jaynes was charged in Virginia because the e-mails went through an AOL server in Loudoun County, where America Online is based. '"
Medicine

Researchers Discover Gene That Blocks HIV 333

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the i'm-pretty-good-at-giving-people-bad-news dept.
stemceller writes to tell us that a team of researchers at the University of Alberta claims to have discovered a gene capable of blocking HIV thereby preventing the onset of full blown AIDS. "Stephen Barr, a molecular virologist in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, says his team has identified a gene called TRIM22 that can block HIV infection in a cell culture by preventing the assembly of the virus. 'When we put this gene in cells, it prevents the assembly of the HIV virus," said Barr, a postdoctoral fellow. "This means the virus cannot get out of the cells to infect other cells, thereby blocking the spread of the virus.'"
Censorship

Japan Seeking to Govern Top News Web Sites 146

Posted by CmdrTaco from the hey-slashdot-jp-what-does-this-mean dept.
RemyBR writes "A Japanese government panel is proposing to govern "influential, widely read news-related sites as newspapers and broadcasting are now regulated." The panel, set up by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, said Internet service providers (ISPs) should be answerable for breaches of vaguer "minimum regulations" to guard against "illegal and harmful content." The conservative government, led by the Liberal Democratic Party, or LDP, is seeking to have the new laws passed by Parliament in 2010."
Biotech

Key Step In Programmed Cell Death Discovered 80

Posted by CmdrTaco from the is-it-the-step-that-stops-it? dept.
Investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have discovered a dance of proteins that protects certain cells from undergoing apoptosis, also known as programmed cell death. Understanding the fine points of apoptosis is important to researchers seeking ways to control this process. In a series of experiments, St. Jude researchers found that if any one of three molecules is missing, certain cells lose the ability to protect themselves from apoptosis. A report on this work appears in the advance online publication of Nature.
Microsoft

Customer Loses Xbox 360 Artwork During Repair 330

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the customer-disservice dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The Consumerist is reporting that one unlucky individual had to send his Xbox 360 in for repairs. The catch is he had spent a great deal of time getting signatures and artwork on the outside of the console from notable members of the gaming industry. He specifically asked and even sent a letter along with his console requesting that the outside of the case be returned intact. When he got it back it was once again, plain white. Assuming that this is a genuine claim, regardless of the circumstances surrounding the missing/cleaned case Microsoft should at least apologize to the guy."
Software

A Good Style Guide Under the Creative Commons? 131

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the build-something-that-doesn't-suck dept.
eldavojohn writes "I've been charged with making a specific user interface style guide for a suite of software by my employer. I'm not quite sure where to start. So I turned to my favorite search engine only to be brutally disappointed with what is out there to help me. I'm a software developer but have not had any formal training in UI design or look and feel. I'm looking for something more than just "keep it simple, stupid." I'm looking more for something that is specific but not technologically dependent. This doesn't have to be a global standard, merely a document that illustrates how one would effectively describe look and feel. Does anyone know of such a guide either created by an organization, government or company for their own uses — possibly one even released under the creative common license?" In addition to just documentation, what other UI advice can Slashdot readers offer in order to ensure quality development?
Communications

Teen Phone Phreak Targeted by the FBI 431

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the asking-for-trouble-and-giving-the-rest-of-us-a-bad-name dept.
Wired has an interesting editorial on the latest resurgence of the old days of phone phreaking and the latest phreak that is rising into the FBI crosshairs. The most recent hoax, "swatting", involves malicious pranksters calling police with reports of fake murders, hostage crises, or the like and spoofing the call to appear as though it was from another location. "Now the FBI thinks it has identified the culprit in the Colorado swatting as a 17-year-old East Boston phone phreak known as "Li'l Hacker." Because he's underage, Wired.com is not reporting Li'l Hacker's last name. His first name is Matthew, and he poses a unique challenge to the federal justice system, because he is blind from birth. If he's guilty, the attack is at once the least sophisticated and most malicious of a string of capers linked to Matt, who stumbled into the lingering remains of the decades-old subculture of phone phreaking when he was 14, and quickly rose to become one of the most skilled active phreakers alive."

Feed Science Daily: When Is A Worm Not A Worm? When It's A Jellyfish... (sciencedaily.com)

From feed by sdfeed
One of the world's strangest creatures has found its long-lost kin. Oxford University scientists have discovered that an extremely rare gutless worm is related to sea anemones and jellyfish, rather than similar-looking animals, reports the journal Science. The finding could cause an evolutionary rethink.
Power

DoD Offers $1 Million for Wearable Power Supply 167

Posted by Zonk from the will-also-go-well-with-the-cyborgs-of-2058 dept.
coondoggie writes with a link to a NetworkWorld article about an ongoing prize offered by the Department of Defense. The DoD is looking for very special battery, and they're willing to pay up to a million dollars for it. The battery in question is a 'wearable battery pack', one that will be powerful enough to fuel the soldier of the future but light enough not to burden him. "The DoD says typical soldier going out for a four-day mission carries as much as 40 pounds of batteries and rechargers in his pack and it wants to fix that. The goal is to reduce the weight for the power system that drives radios, night-vision devices, global positioning systems and other combat gear, including a recharging system, to about 2 pounds per day. The DoD is looking to mimic the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency which has experienced successes using contests to attract competitors to develop innovative unmanned vehicles and other objects. Now the Defense Research and Engineering Office is hoping to tap into that same competitive spirit to develop longer-duration, lighter-weight power supplies. Three prizes will be awarded in November 2008: $1 million, $500,000 and $250,000."
The Media

Journal Journal: Questionable Science On James Taranto's 'Best of the Web'

Journal by cybermage

James Taranto, the extreme right-wing Wall Street Journal pundit responsible for the 'Best of the Web' column has a knack for being selective in his commentary if it helps him score quick points with his conservative readers. In an attack yesterday on Al Gore, Taranto made a significant slip-up in his rush to smear Gore's reputation.

In his column, Taranto reproduced this Gore quote:

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