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Comment Re:Not Surprised That This Is The Same Country... (Score 1) 389

by sten ben (#47033321) Attached to: Swedish Fare Dodgers Organize Against Transportation Authorities

Where the Pirate Bay was started. They seem to have quite a few freeloading idiots who feel they shouldn't have to pay for things, and don't understand how economics works.

Something you, of course, do understand. Which somehow I doubt given that most Nobel laureates in economics wouldn't make that claim. That both the movie and music industries seem to be doing better and better despite the freeloaders reinforces that impression.

Comment Re:Public transit (Score 1) 389

by sten ben (#47033267) Attached to: Swedish Fare Dodgers Organize Against Transportation Authorities

So if they can't enforce a fine, then what happens if you don't pay the straffavgift?

I doubt that it would end up in court. There is an agency called "Kronofogdemyndigheten" (Swedish Enforcement Authority) who's responsibility it is to collect debts no one has been able to collect. If you have an unpaid debt that end up with them you get something called "betalningsanmärkning" (erm... note of payment default perhaps). Something no-one in Sweden wants as it makes it pretty much impossible to get loans, telephone contracts, bank accounts, etc, etc for five years. It's a pretty strong incentive to pay your debts and bills.

It sounds like they don't have any authority to actually run things. While I appreciate the enforcement of privacy, does that also apply to businesses? Are they not allowed to keep track of who shop-lifted or passed bad forms of payment or otherwise...

Storing personal information in Sweden is thoroughly regulated with progressively tougher demands depending on the sensitivity of the information. It's doubtful you would be allowed to store any information about the behaviour of a person in a personally identifiable manner. Companies that give credits are allowed to store information about the payment history of individuals, but only for a limited time and with strict requirements on how that data can be used and shared.

...caused problems and they don't want to let into their business again?

You are not yourself allowed to hinder or detain someone unless they have commited a crime, only the Police or licenced security guards are allowed to do that. Which causes a bit of a headache for the company running the subway actually as their personell aren't allowed to hinder anyone from leaving the premises instead of showing their ticket without backup from the police or a guard (IIRC).

Comment Re:Sticking out ports (Score 3, Insightful) 82

by sten ben (#39437841) Attached to: ModMyPi Raspberry Pi Case Offers 5% Back To the Foundation

Actually the headline should be: "Random guy designs pi case that is annoying as hell, pledges money back to foundation to alleviate pain of using it".

The protrusion around the USB ports will create annoyances, ethernet cables won't "click" and lock into place due to the base being in the way and, as you said, the HDMI-port will probably create problems as well. Not really a shining example of good industrial design.

Comment Re:Ok. analyze THIS. (Score 1) 102

by sten ben (#38313918) Attached to: How Tech Vendors Help Governments Spy On Their Citizens

I sometimes wish that he makes it to be the Rep candidate and then gets elected. So we can finally see how that "self-healing properties" of economy really work out.

It's gonna be some horrible years, but maybe we can at least start building after that idea gets cleaned up.

Hasn't the Bush's already shown that? I mean, the richest 400 people in the USA has the net worth of the poorest 150 000 000. I have a hard time seeing it was like that before Reagan/Bush/Bush.

Re: sig; In Corporate America money owns you.
Cloud

Amazon's New Silk Redefines Browser Tech 249

Posted by samzenpus from the look-differently dept.
angry tapir writes "While the Kindle Fire tablet consumed much of the focus at Amazon's launch event Wednesday in New York, the company also showed off a bit of potentially radical software technology as well, the new browser for the Fire, called Silk. Silk is different from other browsers because it can be configured to let Amazon's cloud service do much of the work assembling complex Web pages. The result is that users may experience much faster load times for Web pages, compared to other mobile devices, according to the company."
Image

Survey Shows That Fox News Makes You Less Informed 1352

Posted by samzenpus from the fair-balanced-and-simple dept.
A survey of American voters by World Public Opinion shows that Fox News viewers are significantly more misinformed than consumers of news from other sources. One of the most interesting questions was about President Obama's birthplace. 63 percent of Fox viewers believe Obama was not born in the US (or that it is unclear). In 2003 a similar study about the Iraq war showed that Fox viewers were once again less knowledgeable on the subject than average. Let the flame war begin!
Earth

Sticky Rice Is the Key To Super Strong Mortar 194

Posted by timothy from the what-can't-sticky-rice-do? dept.
lilbridge writes "For over 1,500 years the Chinese have been using sticky rice as an ingredient in mortar, which has resulted in super strong buildings, many of which are still standing after hundreds of years. Scientists have been studying the sticky rice and lime mortar to unlock the secrets of its strength, and have just determined the secret ingredient that makes the mortar more stable and stronger. The scientists have also concluded that this mixture is the most appropriate for restoration of ancient and historic buildings, which means it is probably also appropriate for new construction as well."
Math

Bruce Bueno de Mesquita Uses Games To See the Future 134

Posted by timothy from the shall-we-play-a-game dept.
parallel_prankster writes "Bruce Bueno de Mesquita is a professor of politics at New York University and a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in California. In his new book, The Predictioneer (The Predictioneer's Game in the US), he describes a computer model based on game theory which he — and others — claim can predict the future with remarkable accuracy. The website also has a game page where he provides an online version of the game and information on how to play." The (semi-paywalled; may need to register) New Scientist has a story on de Mesquita, too; a snippet: "Over the past 30 years, Bueno de Mesquita has made thousands of predictions about hundreds of issues from geopolitics to personal problems. Overall, he claims, his hit rate is about 90 per cent."
Internet Explorer

Details Emerge On EU-Only "Browser Choice" Screen For Windows 220

Posted by timothy from the what-would-sun-tzu-do dept.
Simmeh writes "Microsoft have posted screenshots and details on their upcoming 'web browser choice screen.' Requirements include being in Europe, and having Internet Explorer set as your default browser. It comes with a few surprises, as the software automatically unpins Internet Explorer from your taskbar, and offers 11 alternative browsers."
Space

Meteorite Contains Complex Organic Molecules 106

Posted by Soulskill from the fun-with-space-rocks dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Previously unknown organic molecules have been discovered in a 100 kg meteorite that hit Australia in 1969, suggesting that our early Solar System contained a soup of highly complex organic chemistry long before life appeared. Quoting: 'According to [the study's lead author], the newly discovered compounds in the Murchison meteorite "may have contributed to the organic complexity of the early 'soup' that led to the development of life on Earth." The findings also suggest that extraterrestrial chemical diversity surpasses that found on Earth. The meteor probably passed through primordial clouds in the early solar system, accumulating organic molecules in a snowball effect along the way. By tracing the sequence of organic molecules in the meteorite, researchers believe they may also be able to create a timeline for their formation and alteration since the early days of our solar system.'"
Power

Submission + - China is Winning Global Race to Make Clean Energy

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "The NY Times reports that China vaulted past competitors in Denmark, Germany, Spain and the United States last year to become the world’s largest maker of wind turbines, has leapfrogged the West in the last two years to emerge as the world’s largest manufacturer of solar panels, and is pushing equally hard to build nuclear reactors and the most efficient types of coal power plants. These efforts to dominate renewable energy technologies raise the prospect that the West may someday trade its dependence on oil from the Mideast for a reliance on solar panels, wind turbines and other gear manufactured in China. “I do not accept a future where the jobs and industries of tomorrow take root beyond our borders — and I know you don’t either,” said President Obama in his State of the Union address to Congress, yet many Western and Chinese executives expect China to prevail in the energy-technology race. China’s biggest advantage may be its domestic demand for electricity, rising 15 percent a year. To meet demand in the coming decade, China will need to add nearly nine times as much electricity generation capacity as the United States which means Chinese producers will enjoy enormous efficiencies from large-scale production. “Most of the energy equipment will carry a brass plate, ‘Made in China,’ ” says K. K. Chan, the chief executive of Nature Elements Capital."

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