Slashdot Mirror

The richest man in the world is almost certainly not letting you know how much money he has. "The Lodges speak only to Cabots, and the Cabots speak only to God."

For just one example, Rafsanjani is said to have more wealth than anyone can count, hidden away in dozens of countries. Arabs believe him to be the richest man in the world, and they are probably right - once you figure in the Swiss bank accounts where he socked away eight years' worth of skimming the Iranian oil ministry and twenty years worth of foreign bribes.

Economists claim the "shadow economy" generates as much as $2 trillion dollars of off-the-books income a year. How many ultra-wealthy tax dodgers are living in the Greek and Italian countryside right now?

The head of Saudi Arabia's religious police has warned citizens against using Twitter, which is rising in popularity among Saudis.

Sheikh Abdul Latif Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh said anyone using social media sites - and especially Twitter - "has lost this world and his afterlife".

Twitter was the platform for those who did not have any platform, he said.

BBC News Middle East

I realize that was meant to be a frivolous statement, but there's an actual reason for that. The CIA has traditionally recruited from within the 'old boy network' of Ivy League fraternities and secret societies, people whose loyalty to the existing power structure they can pretty much guarantee because they were born into it.

You might want to ask someone how that can work out.

The Cambridge spy ring

To have all my activity, my searches for sideboob, my stops at the paraphernalia shop, all automatically reported to all the contacts on my phone. It will be better than Facebook!

Oil at $30/bbl will collapse the House of Saud and nobody will care.

http://www.icis.com/blogs/chemicals-and-the-economy/2013/05/oil-markets-risk-rapid-reprici-1.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22524597

Something like this was featured on "Dara O'Briain: Science Club" - I think it was episode 3 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01p39dw

Assuming fandom equals obsession is rather absurd, don't you think? No one is saying obsession is bad, but jumping from MLP fandom straight to obsession, as if trying to imply they are somehow more linked than other obsessions and baselines, is pretty silly. Sure, there are obsessive bronies. There are also sports nuts, crazed foodies, people who played video games to death, animal hoarders, and all sorts of other obsessions out there. The obsessive minority does not define the baseline.

You average brony is basically just another person, going about life just like everyone else. Everyone likes different things and has different hobbies, just like Trekkies, Whovians, ect. This just so happens to be something we like.

So what exactly are you calling bullshit on?

Cattle don't produce significant methane? Is the EPA not authoratative enough for you?
http://www.epa.gov/rlep/faq.html

Or that methane causes climate change? I can't really help you if you believe climate change is a hippie conspiracy, but maybe this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/climate/evidence/methane.shtml

Human beings causes a huge, measureable impact on the environment in may other ways, it is not a leap of logic to believe in anthropological climate change.

One wonders what could possibly go wrong regarding Syria.

Turkey claims evidence of Syrian chemical weapons use
UN accuses Syrian rebels of chemical weapons use
An Al-Qaeda Alliance in Syria Demands Response From U.S.
Al Qaeda's track record with chemical weapons

Even if there are chemical weapons laying around, they would still need to get them somewhere where they could be used. They would probably need help for that. Is any available?

US teen accused of seeking to join al Qaeda-linked Syrian group
Danish jihadist killed while fighting for Muhajireen Brigade in Syria

Iran recruiting volunteer troops for Syria
Hezbollah Steps Up in Syria as Israel Tries to Ease Tension

US Congressman: Hezbollah agents in US worse than al-Qaida
Peter King warns: Hezbollah agents in U.S.

Border porous for obvious reason
Official: Book of suicide bombers found in Arizona desert

. . .the book is published in Iran and contains biographies of Islamic suicide bombers and other Islamic militants who died while carrying out their attacks. . .

Yes indeed, what could possibly go wrong?

Great, but how many people died of gun crime while you were telling that story? 2? 5?

I'm not sure about guns, but it seems that at least 1 died from an ice pick rampage, and 40 died from car bombs...

People will kill each other, that is the nature of humanity. Violent crime was a huge problem before guns, it is a problem now and will be a problem in the future.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22478310

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00k96j4/features/mobile-short-dial-codes-faqs

He's got nothing on Prince Phillip.

But to answer your question, he hasn't done anything for most of them other than being present at some event or being where he's at in the royal family. Explanation of many of the medals.

They're commemorative medals, basically. They serve a similar function to the various adornments that the Queen wears. BTW that's the first Google result for "prince charles medals".

The Queen's speech outlined the various bills that Parliment intends to bring in, and the "snooper's charter" wasn't one of them; the absence of any given bill from the speech is widely (and uncontroversially) taken to mean that the bill is dead. The government's comments that it intends to find other ways to address computer crime would seem to back this interpretation.

The Queen's speech outlined the various bills that Parliment intends to bring in, and the "snooper's charter" wasn't one of them; the absence of any given bill from the speech is widely (and uncontroversially) taken to mean that the bill is dead. The government's comments that it intends to find other ways to address computer crime would seem to back this interpretation.

Actually I read once that teenagers are better "profiled" to perform during the mid day and hence they should really be sleeping much later at night and into the early morning, class for teenagers should be starting at noon not 9am. Well I'm not going to argue a good night sleep is important, it is very important, we need to be setting class times that revolve more around the natural clock of the body and not what works best for the adults. If science can show that 12 - 7pm works better for teenagers then I think we should move class times to work in that area. It would also be worth figuring out when the best natural class time is children, I have a problem when we base sleep patterns for the teachers rather then the students.

This link from the BBC talks about it: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7932950.stm

So I think the solution, at least for teenagers is to move the class time back so they can best perform when biologically they're ready to.

Although I agree with your reasoning, there are other factors that play a role. At 7 pm it is dark in the winter - not exactly an environment I want my kids to bike home in. For parents with young kids, 12-19 makes combining work and having kids very hard (I know, you're talking about teenagers, but syncing with parents is also an important factor) and of course, teachers also have their limits. Lastly, the debate should also consider the distance to schools - if most kids have to bike for 20 minutes to get to the school, perhaps moving back the school times a little helps too.

Changing school and work (!) schedules to more closely match biological clocks of children/teenagers and their parents is tricky, but I think there's a better trade-off than starting everything between 7.45 and 8.30. Times in the 8.30-9.30 range would probably make more sense.

Others record that America declared war on Germany for the simple reason that Germany had already declared war on America after America had sat out a couple of years of war so they could make money.

That is simply false. The United States stayed out of the war because it was deeply isolationist and anti-war at the time (watch 23:08 to 25:13), and wasn't party to any of the treaties that resulted in the war. (Interesting, isn't it? Many in Europe complain that the US didn't enter WW2 soon enough, but now complain when the US gets involved in the conflicts of today. A simple question of whose ox is being gored? )

Look at the Destroyers for Bases Agreement. The US gave the UK 50 warships, destroyers, in return for basing rights. What do you think that was worth?

What's a little debt between friends?

"In a nutshell, everything we got from America in World War II was free," says economic historian Professor Mark Harrison, of Warwick University.

"The loan was really to help Britain through the consequences of post-war adjustment, rather than the war itself. This position was different from World War I, where money was lent for the war effort itself."

Britain had spent a great deal of money at the beginning of the war, under the US cash-and-carry scheme, which saw straight payments for materiel. There was also trading of territory for equipment on terms that have attracted much criticism in the years since. By 1941, Britain was in a parlous financial state and Lend-Lease was eventually introduced.

The post-war loan was part-driven by the Americans' termination of the scheme. Under the programme, the US had effectively donated equipment for the war effort, but anything left over in Britain at the end of hostilities and still needed would have to be paid for.

But the price would please a bargain hunter - the US only wanted one-tenth of the production cost of the equipment and would lend the money to pay for it. . .

Actually I read once that teenagers are better "profiled" to perform during the mid day and hence they should really be sleeping much later at night and into the early morning, class for teenagers should be starting at noon not 9am. Well I'm not going to argue a good night sleep is important, it is very important, we need to be setting class times that revolve more around the natural clock of the body and not what works best for the adults. If science can show that 12 - 7pm works better for teenagers then I think we should move class times to work in that area. It would also be worth figuring out when the best natural class time is children, I have a problem when we base sleep patterns for the teachers rather then the students.

This link from the BBC talks about it: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/7932950.stm

So I think the solution, at least for teenagers is to move the class time back so they can best perform when biologically they're ready to.

Video here:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22421185

From the video, looks like despite the modest cartridge used, there's quite a kick. Guess the plastic is rather light.
So, no need to get excited folks; a one-shot weapon with really poor accuracy, which needs a 3D printer.
Thus more difficult and costly to produce, yet no more effective, than a 'saturday night special', 'zip gun' or 'bang stick', plans for which have been freely available for a long time.
Probably equally as likely to blow up in your face, too...

I was thinking a good way to seed the sea of information with hidden bits would be to have a few hosted mp3 stations compromised covertly that could be used for stenography.

I think you mean steganography and not stenography.

That's already been started in 2003, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/2728595.stm

Don't feel too cocky yet, my American friend. The difference between America and China is that China doesn't make the headlines with such a military/scientific/technical achievement. When time will come, they'll show up..

Although it is possible they'll invent their own - assuming they feel a need to have it - the more likely outcome is they'll wait till it is perfected by the US and then use espionage to steal the design and make their own copy. In the unlikely event that the US is able to foil the Chinese attempt at stealing the design, the Russians will probably build their own at some point and the Chinese will steal it from them. It is an old pattern.

China also has more than 3,000 front companies in the U.S. “for the sole purpose of acquiring our technology,” . . .
Inside the Chinese Boom in Corporate Espionage
Chinese Army Directing Cyber Espionage Against Western Businesses
China military unit 'behind prolific hacking'
The China Problem

If the rural areas combine forces and lay some initial capital then it can be done. See what UK farmers are doing: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21442348

what it's like in other parts of the country or the world. But to many people, more expensive food is the same as no food at all.

Fortunately, EU countries where neocotinids have been temporarily banned, tend not to be among such countries.
No, not even Greece.

what it's like in other parts of the country or the world. But to many people, more expensive food is the same as no food at all.

Fortunately, EU countries where neocotinids have been temporarily banned, tend not to be among such countries.
No, not even Greece.

US: Look! Less power cuts!
Rest of the world: Whats a power cut?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_London_blackout
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Italy_blackout
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006_European_blackout
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7972904.stm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_South_Korea_blackout

Or this. "Power failed first in Cologne, Germany, before shutting down across parts of France, Italy, Spain and Austria. Belgium, the Netherlands and Croatia were also affected."

We used to call them script kiddies. Is that term no longer cool?

Not if it is the Chinese government, no.

China military unit 'behind prolific hacking'

In this case you would get more insight from a calculator or spreadsheet than from cynicism. The US Cyber Command budget isn't that large compared to either the Air Force budget or the DoD budget. Finding some justification to bump it up wouldn't make much difference - it isn't going to be the tail that wags the dog.

Misplaced cynicism can also mislead you by pointing you in the wrong direction, as above. If you started digging into the question of Chinese espionage against the United States, you would quickly and easily lean that it is a huge effort against wide ranging targets. Why you would think this relatively minor event is in some way inconsistent wtih the total Chinese effort, and therefore not real, is baffling. Interesting who you effectively trust.

China also has more than 3,000 front companies in the U.S. “for the sole purpose of acquiring our technology,” . . .
Inside the Chinese Boom in Corporate Espionage
Chinese Army Directing Cyber Espionage Against Western Businesses
China military unit 'behind prolific hacking'
The China Problem

So, your thinking is that no nation spies on another nation unless it gets spied on first? You're thinking that it doesn't go on all the time? No nation attacks another unless it is attacked first? Before any of that can happen, you have to air the "dirty laundry?" Your planet sounds like a great place, can I ask where it is? I'd like to visit.

China also has more than 3,000 front companies in the U.S. “for the sole purpose of acquiring our technology,” . . .
Inside the Chinese Boom in Corporate Espionage
Chinese Army Directing Cyber Espionage Against Western Businesses
China military unit 'behind prolific hacking'
The China Problem

In 1992, US intelligence agencies started to become concerned about China's designs for its next-generation nuclear weapons. A series of explosions monitored by the West suggested that the People's Republic of China was working on smaller, lighter thermonuclear warheads, with an increased yield-to-weight ratio. US officials did not think Chinese science was advanced enough to produce such sophisticated weapons on its own. They suspected something else-that the PRC had stolen US nuclear secrets.

Three years later the US received apparent confirmation of such thefts from the Chinese themselves. An unsolicited Chinese individual--a "walk-in," in the argot of espionage--turned a pile of PRC documents over to the CIA. Among them was a paper stamped "secret" which contained design information on perhaps the most advanced warhead in the US arsenal, the Trident II's W88

You know, I don't recall any period of great public introspection and breast beating, or airing of "dirty laundry" before they started these actions. Do you think it is possible they play by different rules?

Someone comes along playing the sound of a drone on their smartphone and you realized what a waste of time and money it was.

Here you go! Down near "Sound can be a "two-sided coin" in war, he argues."

Every country has its fair share of fizzy piss lager, but credit where credit is due, I was just reading about how American craft beers have inspired British brewers in recent times, so I think the days of scoffing at US beer should be over.

Speaking as an American, I think the scoffing has partly driven people to brew better beers, so it's not a bad thing entirely.

I compare the appreciation of beer to that of cinema. There's Serious Cinema that you can only take so much of, but it broadens your perspective. There are regular movies that are nothing deep, but entertaining and well produced. And there are terrible films like Twilight that you can't even watch, but are incredibly popular. But there are also the really, astoundingly bad films that you should only watch if you're stoned.

And likewise, beer: you have your very hoppy obscure brews that you only occasionally drink, your good but generic beers like Guiness, the piss-water beers like Budweiser, and the truly, truly terrible ones like PBR and Beast that you only drink when stoned.

One thing I find interesting is that the folks who prefer the ubiquitous beers tend to be the ones who are big fans of ubiquitous sports teams, watch ubiquitous movies and listen to ubiquitous music. Not bad people, just boring.

Every country has its fair share of fizzy piss lager, but credit where credit is due, I was just reading about how American craft beers have inspired British brewers in recent times, so I think the days of scoffing at US beer should be over.

>> Does the BBC have a satellite?

Sort of: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/blogaboutthebbc/posts/Changes-to-BBC-Satellite-transponders-in-2013

If you handle a gun, your priority is safety. Your safety and that of others. That is your first priority and the [only] priority.

If that was really true, we wouldn't have cars or guns (or adventure playgrounds). Everything's a compromise, really. Not that taking your eyes off the road to check your phone isn't one of the stupidest things you can do while in charge of a car.

See US appeals court rules prosecutors can demand Twitter account information and people encounter many more problems using twitter.

Can't a corporation take a newly public domain work that only they have access to, make some minor edits and copyright that though. Are they under any obligation to make the original public domain work accessible. If you can't get the public domain work verbatim then it doesn't do you any good to have it declared public domain.

That's where lawyers come in ... with somewhat contradictory results

Correlations don't prove much, especially causality. There are other major variables here including the Varroa destructor, climate change, bee nutrition issues and the fact that there are places using neonicitinoids (say Australia) that aren't suffering from bee colony declines.

France (for 10 years), Italy and Germany have already tried various bans on neonicitinoids and didn't find bee population improvements.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22339191

It's an unsettled scientific problem.

âoeIf you want those perfect European apples, with no marks or bugs on them, Iâ(TM)m afraid farmers will have to spray something,â Mr. Neumann said, âoeand many of the older pesticides are even worse than the neonicotinoids.â

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/15/business/global/hoping-to-save-bees-europe-to-vote-on-pesticide-ban.html?pagewanted=all

i'm shocked (shocked!) that there's no long thread about how this technology will promote fingers being hacked off (and worn around the neck along with several others necklace style) by eeevil folk. for instance, here's your precedent: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4396831.stm now... let's get on with our panicking about this aspect, shall we?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8147104.stm

I am surprised you got the spreadsheet scandal via Colbert. It has been making news for quite some time. There was an NPR report, one BBC report etc. So please do not assume I am getting all my news from Colbert.

Further, very surprisingly, Stewart and Colbert seem to care for accuracy, despite being a comedy show. Being comedians they are able to laugh off their mistakes on air and apologize by making fun of themselves. But still, they do that when they make a mistake. The one I remember recently is Stewart making up a funny dickish name connected with civil rights, and it turned out to be a real name. The on air apology from him made me wonder, why isn't he called the newsman and the others jokers.

[1] http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/04/microsoft-excel-the-ruiner-of-global-economies/

[2] http://news.silobreaker.com/does-this-spreadsheet-error-invalidate-the-case-for-austerity-5_2266755871209947215

[3] http://news.silobreaker.com/three-umass-profs-expose-flaw-in-harvard-research-that-underpinned-austerity-5_2266756154677788864

[4] http://news.yahoo.com/student-took-eminent-economists-debt-issue-won-095347790--business.html

[5] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22223190

[6] http://chronicle.com/article/UMass-Graduate-Student-Talks/138763/

Further more here's what the socialist's are up to.

Interesting. It turns out that European police* have access to both pepper spray and tear gas, and use them on students and other youth as well. Who would have thought it?

Tear gas fired at Athens protest
French police fire tear gas at stone-throwing high school students
Pepper Spraying Seventh Graders?

Now I'm curious - are you Euroskeptic? I sometimes get the impression that you have no idea what happens in Europe.

* Honary mention of Canada: Montreal’s notorious “officer 728 suspended

Const. Stefanie Trudeau first rose to local prominence earlier this year when video surfaced of her generously pepper-spraying a crowd of student protesters who appeared to pose no threat last May.

This has been a fascinating phenomenon, and it's only going to evolve more as time goes on.

Crowdsourcing or witch hunt? Reddit, 4chan users try to ID Boston bomb suspects

Boston bombing: How internet detectives got it very wrong

'I didn't do anything!' High school track runner forced to deny involvement in Boston Marathon bombings after a picture of him and his coach is widely circulated

Social media as breaking-news feed: Worse information, faster

Worse information, faster -- this neatly sums it up, and I'm a huge proponent of social media and its benefits, including to government.

And for the record, no, the FBI wasn't seeking to "censor" anyone, and the "next logical step" (as I have seen asserted elsewhere) won't be to "shut down" internet or social media resources during major public emergencies; however, law enforcement agencies absolutely can request, once they have identified suspects via investigative and legal processes, that people focus on those instead of playing CSI: Internet.

Sadly, the echo chamber of the internet enables some people, in seemingly increasing numbers, to go a step further and choose to believe everything is automatically a "false flag" conspiracy with the stated perpetrators "framed"â¦..

The "wisdom of crowds" can be a misnomer.

Depends on what you believe the purpose of the law is. If it's to provide restitution to the victims then a low value fine for a low amount harm is appropriate. If it's to discourage people from breaking the law, then it's perfectly reasonable to have the fine adapt to the wealth of the perpetrator. (See this for a real life example.)

9/11 gave you a bloody-nose, and the TSA is what you take away as your 'problem' You (we) went into Iraq - http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/18/panorama-iraq-fresh-wmd-claims I'm not even aware of any allegations on Afghan involvement - but hey, see what we did there - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-21547542 And even before all of that kicked off, the US had managed to bugger up most of South/Central America - and defended funding of organizations like NORAID. Still, having to show papers to get on a plane, and not being allowed to fap with your gun must have been really hard for you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYqCqZN5Dew

Teams consist of nine players and take turns fielding and at batting, with the home team batting second.

An inning consists of batters from each team taking their turn at bat until three batters are out. A game lasts nine innings, but is extended into extra innings if the scores are level.

The fielding side consists of a pitcher, catcher, four infielders, and three outfielders.

The pitcher throws overhand, using a variety of deliveries from a raised mound to the home plate - a distance of 60.5ft (18.4 m).

An opposing batter attempts to hit the pitches and then get on base, while the fielders attempt to get the batter out through various plays.

A batter who misses three legitimate pitches, or fails to swing at three judged hittable by the umpire, is out on strikes.

But if the pitcher throws four pitches outside the strike zone, the batter obtains a base on balls, and gets a walk to first base.

A strike is also called when the batter swings at a pitch whether it is deemed to be in the strike zone or not.

A run is scored every time a batter becomes a runner and crosses home plate after touching each base in the prescribed order.

When the fielding team gets their opponents' three batters (or runners) out, the teams swap roles.

If the score is level after nine innings, play continues into extra innings until one team has scored more than the other in an equal number of turns at bat.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics/baseball/3562135.stm

It wouldn't take much imagination to see even small two man teams in different population centers to disrupt the entire eastern seaboard by bombing Christmas shopping or major sports events or campaign rallies or whatever.

They've already done that.

It might not work out so well if they tried that in the US.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22212946

Not sure why slashdotters aren't talking about this?