Comment Disaster Area (Score 1) 75
At last Earth could host this plutonium rock band from the Gagrakacka Mind Zones - generally regarded as not only the loudest rock band in the Galaxy, but also as being the loudest noise of any kind at all.
Comment As Predicted by Douglas Adams (Score 2) 33
The Great Collapsing Hrung Disaster has occurred on Betelgeuse Seven.
Sweden Tries To Halt Its March To Total Cashlessness (bloomberg.com) 332
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: A key committee of Swedish lawmakers wants to force the country's biggest banks to handle cash in an effort to halt the nation's march toward complete cashlessness. Parliament's Riksbank committee, which is in the process of reviewing the central bank law, proposed making it mandatory for banks to offer cash withdrawals and handle daily receipts. The requirement would apply to banks that provide checking accounts and have more than 70 billion kronor ($8 billion) in deposits from the Swedish public, according to a report.
The lawmakers said there needs to be "reasonable access to those services in all of Sweden," and that 99 percent of Swedes should have a maximum distance of 25 kilometers (16 miles) to the nearest cash withdrawal. The requirement doesn't state how banks should offer those services, and lenders can choose whether to use a third party, machines or over-the-counter services. The move is a response to Sweden's rapid transformation as it becomes one of the most cashless societies in the world. That's led to concerns that some people are finding it increasingly difficult to cope without access to mobile phones or bank cards. There are also fears around what would happen if the digital payments systems suddenly crashed.
The lawmakers said there needs to be "reasonable access to those services in all of Sweden," and that 99 percent of Swedes should have a maximum distance of 25 kilometers (16 miles) to the nearest cash withdrawal. The requirement doesn't state how banks should offer those services, and lenders can choose whether to use a third party, machines or over-the-counter services. The move is a response to Sweden's rapid transformation as it becomes one of the most cashless societies in the world. That's led to concerns that some people are finding it increasingly difficult to cope without access to mobile phones or bank cards. There are also fears around what would happen if the digital payments systems suddenly crashed.
Comment Simpsons Did It (Score 4, Funny) 96
"You'll go where I go, defile what I defile, eat who I eat"
Submission + - Google unleashes terrible new update for Google News upon the net.
Rei writes: Today, Google unveiled a "new look" for Google News, describing it as a "clean and uncluttered look". New design features includes a mostly empty "In the News" box for trending-topics, most of which you probably don't care about; a double-height page header so that they can make the border around the search box inexplicably larger and add a four-option menu bar; large empty grey expanses that take up half the browser; and a new news section that presents half as many news articles per page. If you didn't think you were having to scroll enough when using Google News, don't worry — Google's got your back with this new update.
Comment Re:"Kill all white people" are ok! (Score 1) 373
Your link doesn't provide any information on whether or not "Kill all white people" would be OK on Twitter, as that is not the statement made by either of the Twitter accounts quoted.
We would have to look at the past post history of both accounts to determine what went on here on Twitter.
The thing is that historically black people have been oppressed over the past several hundred years by white people through the process of colonisation, slavery, lack of human rights, and sadly this archaic attitude still seems to be in place.
"Kill all black people" was to some extent state policy for many countries until frighteningly recently - talking mid 20th century. My own country, Australia, is a horrible example here - Aboriginal Australians weren't even recognised as citizens until 1967.
All black people in the US only got the right to vote in 1965 with the Voting Rights Act signed by Lyndon Johnson.
An Australian politician, David Oldfield, this year said on a national TV broadcast talking about Australian Aboriginal culture "You just naturally let it die out. I mean frankly, it should have died out, like the Stone Age died out." http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/first-contact-review-thank-god-for-david-oldfield-20161115-gspkr0.html
It's not at all about making it OK to say "Kill all white people".
It's about recognising that "Kill all black people" is a very real fear for many people, and working to make that no longer the case.
We would have to look at the past post history of both accounts to determine what went on here on Twitter.
The thing is that historically black people have been oppressed over the past several hundred years by white people through the process of colonisation, slavery, lack of human rights, and sadly this archaic attitude still seems to be in place.
"Kill all black people" was to some extent state policy for many countries until frighteningly recently - talking mid 20th century. My own country, Australia, is a horrible example here - Aboriginal Australians weren't even recognised as citizens until 1967.
All black people in the US only got the right to vote in 1965 with the Voting Rights Act signed by Lyndon Johnson.
An Australian politician, David Oldfield, this year said on a national TV broadcast talking about Australian Aboriginal culture "You just naturally let it die out. I mean frankly, it should have died out, like the Stone Age died out." http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/first-contact-review-thank-god-for-david-oldfield-20161115-gspkr0.html
It's not at all about making it OK to say "Kill all white people".
It's about recognising that "Kill all black people" is a very real fear for many people, and working to make that no longer the case.
Comment Re:Strong effort (Score 1) 373
Curious what you're implying here. Are you saying that the companies mentioned are able to influence EU politics with political donations? Do you have any info on how?
Submission + - Linux and the Home Recording Studio
wjcofkc writes: There are a few areas where Linux specializes above and beyond as a mature platform over other areas. Very near the top of that list is audio recording and mixing software. Somewhere between IT jobs I found myself spending 2 1/2 years employed pretty deeply in the local music industry. It was a fantastic experience. Left and right I saw people using very expensive proprietary software. I never saw anything that a similar Linux counterpart, or a suite of Open Source counterparts could not do. Needless to say, I preached the good word. Unfortunately, I never exploited any opportunities to provide a demo. One thing concerned me. If you have a full DAW setup, it's not just software, there is always some sort of hardware interface of varying complexity involved and playing through an amp into a microphone connected to a computer is not an acceptable way to record. I recently purchased a Lexicon Alpha 2-Channel Desktop Recording Studio interface based on vague mentions that it might work with Linux. After plugging it in for the first time, I fired up Audacity and Ardour. The device was available to select as an interface with zero configuration and it works perfectly. My question to the music geeks among us: what is your take on the state of Open Source pro audio software and what successes and fails have you had with studio hardware?
Submission + - "Turing Test Passed" was just a load of hype?
beaker_72 writes: On Sunday we saw a story on /. alerting us to the news that the Turing Test had finally been passed: http://developers.slashdot.org.... The same story was picked up by most of the mainstream media and reported all over the place over the weekend and yesterday. However, today we see an article in TechDirt telling us that in fact the original press release was just a load of hype from someone who has previous in the area: https://www.techdirt.com/artic... So who's right? Have researchers at a well established university managed to beat this test for the first time, or should we believe TechDirt who have pointed out some aspects of the story which, if true, are pretty damning?
Comment Re:Not to bash because our enjoyment is so persona (Score 1) 376
Pretty much. http://asciimation.co.nz/
Comment Why Compare her to Scott? (Score 2) 144
Do they expect that she won't make it?
If it's a well planned, modern thinking, expedition, would seem to make more sense to compare her to Amundsen...
Scott appears to have been very brave, but he also seems to have been stuck in the century old Royal Navy mindset of the nobility of man hauling during polar exploration. Amundsen seems to have studied the problem of polar exploration from a very young age and put this knowledge gained into designing a successful solution. He got there first, got there faster, and didn't lose a single man.
--
Terra Nova - a play about the race to the South Pole
If it's a well planned, modern thinking, expedition, would seem to make more sense to compare her to Amundsen...
Scott appears to have been very brave, but he also seems to have been stuck in the century old Royal Navy mindset of the nobility of man hauling during polar exploration. Amundsen seems to have studied the problem of polar exploration from a very young age and put this knowledge gained into designing a successful solution. He got there first, got there faster, and didn't lose a single man.
--
Terra Nova - a play about the race to the South Pole
Comment 'Mousetrap' rights just released in AU (Score 1) 244
I think the solution has been on Wikipedia for some time - it's presumably why the article is semi-protected from edits, and there's a lot of fierce talk on both sides on the discussion page.
What is somewhat interesting is that after 60 years, the performance rights of 'Mousetrap' have only just been made available in Australia. Sydney's Genesian Theatre will produce the Australian premiere of the play in 2011. The rights holders really have been very strict about keeping the secret for many years, so it's hardly surprising they're upset at finding out it's on Wikipedia.
But I guess Australians will no longer have to travel to London or Wikipedia to find out the ending...
What is somewhat interesting is that after 60 years, the performance rights of 'Mousetrap' have only just been made available in Australia. Sydney's Genesian Theatre will produce the Australian premiere of the play in 2011. The rights holders really have been very strict about keeping the secret for many years, so it's hardly surprising they're upset at finding out it's on Wikipedia.
But I guess Australians will no longer have to travel to London or Wikipedia to find out the ending...
Comment Thank You for Debian (Score 5, Informative) 225
If you want to say thanks:
Submission + - Lost Star Wars Scene in the Wild (eonline.com)
CmdrTaco writes: "Someone managed to get a clip on-line of the
lost Star Wars scene from Jedi where Luke is shown crafting his Light Saber. The full clip will apparently be included on the Blu Ray box set expected to come out in 2011."
lost Star Wars scene from Jedi where Luke is shown crafting his Light Saber. The full clip will apparently be included on the Blu Ray box set expected to come out in 2011."
Submission + - Students don't understand meaning of "equal" sign (sciencedaily.com) 2
bickerdyke writes: Science Daily reports that about 70% of middle grade students in the US don't understand what the "equal" sign in an equation stands for.
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