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Comments · 17,660

  1. Hugo Chavez might win for Governor... by dtjohnson · · Score: 1 · on More Voting Shenanigans in Florida



    Maybe the Diebold's keep bringing up Republicans but I'll bet that the Sequoia
    electronic voting machines keep showing 'H. Chavez' for every
    choice.

  2. Re:Mod parent up! by ArtStone · · Score: 1 · on Bush Signs Bill Enabling Martial Law

    Not to worry - last year Venezuela (aka Hugo Chavez) acquired Smartmatic, a company that makes voting machine software and its subsidiary Sequoia Voting Systems, used in 17 states and the District of Columbia

    http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/29/washington/29bal lot.html?_r=1&bl&ex=1162270800&en=ce373aa6462524ce &ei=5087%0A&oref=slogin

    This will likely be the last thread on Slashdot regarding electronic voting, since Hugo Chavez set the standard for honest elections - just ask Jimmy Carter!

  3. Re:Bird flu is a bird disease by DigitalRaptor · · Score: 1 · on Timely Book On Bird Flu

    "Bird flu" is not synonymous H5N1.

    H5N1 is a strain of bird flu, not the bird flu itself.

    All H5N1 is the bird flu, but not all bird flu is not H5N1, like all Ford Focus's are cars, but not all cars are Ford Focus's.

    There are many strains of the bird flu (Hello, the article we are responding to is about another strain of the bird flu!).

    The 1918 pandemic WAS caused by a strain of the bird flu. See also NYTimes.

  4. Re:So, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on Speculation on Google / YouTube "Hardball"

    This is probably the most documented part of the whole blog post. You obviously have not been following this too well, or you would have definitely seen the NY Times article that mentioned the $50M figure about a week after the merger.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/19/technology/19net .html?ex=1318910400&en=ec61050b7a1e91df&ei=5090&pa rtner=rssuserland&emc=rss

  5. Re: Study hot life instead by ruckerz2k · · Score: 1 · on Antarctic Microbes Could Live on Mars

    Organisms that are able to survive at cold temperatures are very interesting. From a structural point of view, these organisms contain adaptations that prevent their proteins from cold denaturation. From a food science point of view, it is these kinds of organisms that allow us to have "creamy" ice cream.

  6. Re:Either way, you're screwed by ben+there... · · Score: 2, Informative · on Pentagon Reveals News Correction Unit

    Well, it's been going on in this administration at least since 2002. The Office of Strategic Influence was its former name, which was officially shut down because of backlash from the press, but its activities continued. That office was intended to influence foreign media, but the question is, how much of the disinformation makes its way back into (or is spread directly into) our media in the form of blowback. Contracts for this type of work run into the hundreds of millions of dollars in Iraq. You better believe they are using the same strategies at home (no reg.).

  7. Simple USEFUL features from Pogue's blog by purplelocust · · Score: 1 · on Motorola Develops Bare-Bones Phone
    There were some excellent suggestions for cell phone features that actually would be useful in response to a David Pogue blog entry a few weeks ago. It doesn't look like this phone has any of those, but it seems like it wouldn't be that hard to add many things that I think would be quite useful to people who use their cell phone as an actual phone, not as a Swiss army gadget
    • An "expire in two hours" vibrate mode when you turn your phone to vibrate and then forget to set it back to ring.
    • A "ring permitted list" to only allow preferred people to ring, everyone else goes to voicemail.
  8. Re:Ignoring a potential talent pool by kotj.mf · · Score: 1 · on Hiring (Superstar) Programmers
    By definition, they're not paying taxes. If they are, great.. But I'm afraid those few that may be ponying-up via forged credentials are sucking more out of the economy then they give back.

    Have you got any kind of citation for that? Because you're wrong - it's a lot more than a "few."

    Hint: If you get a job with a fake SSN/forged ID, your employer will withhold taxes anyway, and send them to the government. The Social Security Administration, for instance, gets an extra $7 Billion per year from illegals who will never see any of the benefits they're paying for.

  9. Re:Debt incurred during various presidential terms by LaughingCoder · · Score: 1 · on Bush Signs Bill Enabling Martial Law
    Clinton - national debt increased from ~$4.2T to ~$5.8B, or about 38%
    Bush II - Increased from ~$6T to ~$8T, or about 33% with TWO YEARS LEFT IN HIS TERM
    On Bush II we both have the same numbers - 33%. But you conveniently omit Clinton's first year in computing his "contributions". The debt was $4T, not $4.2T when Clinton took over. So Clinton's number is (5.8-4.0)/4.0, or 45%.

    As far as projections to Bush's 8 year number, those are projections. In fact, as the economy gains steam we are seeing frequent down-scoping of the projected deficits for the next two years, so we'll just have to see what the number ends up as, won't we?

    http://travel2.nytimes.com/2005/07/13/business/13d eficit.html?ex=1162357200&en=434fd1179d80d6c5&ei=5 070
    http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/09/washington/09eco n.html?ei=5088&en=ec2d242da8699725&ex=1310097600&p artner=rssnyt&emc=rss
  10. Re:Debt incurred during various presidential terms by LaughingCoder · · Score: 1 · on Bush Signs Bill Enabling Martial Law
    Clinton - national debt increased from ~$4.2T to ~$5.8B, or about 38%
    Bush II - Increased from ~$6T to ~$8T, or about 33% with TWO YEARS LEFT IN HIS TERM
    On Bush II we both have the same numbers - 33%. But you conveniently omit Clinton's first year in computing his "contributions". The debt was $4T, not $4.2T when Clinton took over. So Clinton's number is (5.8-4.0)/4.0, or 45%.

    As far as projections to Bush's 8 year number, those are projections. In fact, as the economy gains steam we are seeing frequent down-scoping of the projected deficits for the next two years, so we'll just have to see what the number ends up as, won't we?

    http://travel2.nytimes.com/2005/07/13/business/13d eficit.html?ex=1162357200&en=434fd1179d80d6c5&ei=5 070
    http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/09/washington/09eco n.html?ei=5088&en=ec2d242da8699725&ex=1310097600&p artner=rssnyt&emc=rss
  11. Several things to look at logically. by gettingbraver · · Score: 1 · on Venezuelan Interest In U.S. Voting Software
    Chavez ownes all the oil man! All of it!, he has the US by the BALLS! He has SO much oil he is GIVING it away!

    First: Diebold changed motherboards in Maryland in 2005, and denies any votes were lost.

    Gilles W. Burger, chairman of the State Board of Elections, said this week that he and fellow members were initially told that Diebold was performing a "technical refresher" of the voting machines during July and August last year. He later learned that the refresher was really the repair of a flaw discovered by Diebold about three years earlier but not disclosed to him and other board members. The "motherboard" of each unit - the main circuit board that holds all of the machine's critical parts - had a glitch that could cause the machines to freeze.

    Second:

    "The government should know who owns our voting machines; that is a national security concern," said Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, Democrat of New York, who asked the Bush administration in May to review the Sequoia takeover.
    Interesting choice of words.

    Third, about those "responsible" for decision making re: national security:

    The US Constitution established Congress as America's premier arm of government. George Bush, Dick Cheney, and their neoconservative allies used 9/11 to turn Congress into a rubber stamp like the old Supreme Soviet. Look at the embarrassing Republican leaders in Congress, the world's greatest legislature, and the heir to the great Roman Senate:

    The shambling Senate leader, Dennis Hastert, was a wrestling coach. The once feared House leader, Tom Delay, was a cockroach exterminator before going to Congress. They were barely worthy of political office in Dogpatch, Texas, never mind Washington.

    Both Republicans and Democrats are steeped in Washington's endemic corruption and influence peddling due to the constant need to raise campaign funds by kow-towing to special interests. Members of both parties voted like clapping seals for the Iraq War. But Republicans took the lead in promoting and sustaining that totally unnecessary conflict, now estimated to likely cost upwards of $1 trillion before it is lost.

    Q--Now, if fighting supposed terrorism, is so damn important, why the hell even bother w/Chavex?

    Q--How do Bush, Cheney and their cronies make their money?

    A--OIL

  12. Re:This has been known forever....it's our food by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on Testosterone Tumbling in American Males

    and ...This latest contribution to the obesity debate comes in an article by Sheldon H. Jacobson of the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and his doctoral student, Laura McLay. Their paper, published in the current issue of The Engineering Economist, calculates how much extra gasoline is used to transport Americans now that they have grown fatter. The answer, they said, is a billion gallons a year.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/29/weekinreview/29k olata.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

    Fat americanos cause global warming! :)

  13. Re:Well, it USED to be about freedom by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on Bush Signs Bill Enabling Martial Law
    That's a rather less subtle form of slavery
    ... and most of them are black.

    If you really want to bake your noodle: With jobs to do, Louisiana parish turns to inmates describes exactly this sort of post-reconstruction slave labor.
  14. Re:So now Slashdot hates him for this. by dreamer-of-rules · · Score: 1 · on Bush Signs Bill Enabling Martial Law
    Nice little arrangement of words. "Bush has been wiretapping US phone calls"... hah. As if he's sitting in the oval office listening to your conversation with your mother. The NSA has been tapping suspected terrorist phone calls.

    Wow. This is inane. I didn't think I needed to specify that Bush wasn't personally wiretapping US phone calls without a warrant. But it was done on his orders. Or are you suggesting that there was a conspiracy to wiretap without Bush's approval? I did forgot to mention that the problem with the wiretapping was that the wiretapping wasn't being approved by the Judicial Branch as required by law. Remember the Judicial Branch? Remember the checks-and-balances-thing to prevent the abuse of power by one branch of government?

    Bush has paid journalists to repeat his propaganda? Bullshit. Show me your source for that.

    Routinely censors scientific reports? Strike 2. Source, please.

    BUSH delayed the federal response? Strike 3. Bush didn't delay anything.

    • House Republicans plan to issue a blistering report on Wednesday that says the Bush administration delayed the evacuation of thousands of New Orleans residents by failing to act quickly on early reports that the levees had broken during Hurricane Katrina.

    Osama Bin Laden is still at large? Yes, he is. Why? Because he has multiple Middle-Eastern states cooperating with him and Al-Queda. The search for Bin Laden is still ongoing. We haven't forgotten at all.

    • "I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." - G.W. Bush, 3/13/02"
    • "I am truly not that concerned about him." - G.W. Bush, repsonding to a question about bin Laden's whereabouts, 3/13/02 (The New American, 4/8/02)
    • "I don't spend much time on him." -G.W. Bush, six months after 9/11 event. [video]
    • Bush withdrew the majority of our troop
  15. Re:So now Slashdot hates him for this. by dreamer-of-rules · · Score: 1 · on Bush Signs Bill Enabling Martial Law
    Nice little arrangement of words. "Bush has been wiretapping US phone calls"... hah. As if he's sitting in the oval office listening to your conversation with your mother. The NSA has been tapping suspected terrorist phone calls.

    Wow. This is inane. I didn't think I needed to specify that Bush wasn't personally wiretapping US phone calls without a warrant. But it was done on his orders. Or are you suggesting that there was a conspiracy to wiretap without Bush's approval? I did forgot to mention that the problem with the wiretapping was that the wiretapping wasn't being approved by the Judicial Branch as required by law. Remember the Judicial Branch? Remember the checks-and-balances-thing to prevent the abuse of power by one branch of government?

    Bush has paid journalists to repeat his propaganda? Bullshit. Show me your source for that.

    Routinely censors scientific reports? Strike 2. Source, please.

    BUSH delayed the federal response? Strike 3. Bush didn't delay anything.

    • House Republicans plan to issue a blistering report on Wednesday that says the Bush administration delayed the evacuation of thousands of New Orleans residents by failing to act quickly on early reports that the levees had broken during Hurricane Katrina.

    Osama Bin Laden is still at large? Yes, he is. Why? Because he has multiple Middle-Eastern states cooperating with him and Al-Queda. The search for Bin Laden is still ongoing. We haven't forgotten at all.

    • "I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." - G.W. Bush, 3/13/02"
    • "I am truly not that concerned about him." - G.W. Bush, repsonding to a question about bin Laden's whereabouts, 3/13/02 (The New American, 4/8/02)
    • "I don't spend much time on him." -G.W. Bush, six months after 9/11 event. [video]
    • Bush withdrew the majority of our troop
  16. Re:So now Slashdot hates him for this. by dreamer-of-rules · · Score: 1 · on Bush Signs Bill Enabling Martial Law
    Nice little arrangement of words. "Bush has been wiretapping US phone calls"... hah. As if he's sitting in the oval office listening to your conversation with your mother. The NSA has been tapping suspected terrorist phone calls.

    Wow. This is inane. I didn't think I needed to specify that Bush wasn't personally wiretapping US phone calls without a warrant. But it was done on his orders. Or are you suggesting that there was a conspiracy to wiretap without Bush's approval? I did forgot to mention that the problem with the wiretapping was that the wiretapping wasn't being approved by the Judicial Branch as required by law. Remember the Judicial Branch? Remember the checks-and-balances-thing to prevent the abuse of power by one branch of government?

    Bush has paid journalists to repeat his propaganda? Bullshit. Show me your source for that.

    Routinely censors scientific reports? Strike 2. Source, please.

    BUSH delayed the federal response? Strike 3. Bush didn't delay anything.

    • House Republicans plan to issue a blistering report on Wednesday that says the Bush administration delayed the evacuation of thousands of New Orleans residents by failing to act quickly on early reports that the levees had broken during Hurricane Katrina.

    Osama Bin Laden is still at large? Yes, he is. Why? Because he has multiple Middle-Eastern states cooperating with him and Al-Queda. The search for Bin Laden is still ongoing. We haven't forgotten at all.

    • "I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." - G.W. Bush, 3/13/02"
    • "I am truly not that concerned about him." - G.W. Bush, repsonding to a question about bin Laden's whereabouts, 3/13/02 (The New American, 4/8/02)
    • "I don't spend much time on him." -G.W. Bush, six months after 9/11 event. [video]
    • Bush withdrew the majority of our troop
  17. Re:So now Slashdot hates him for this. by dreamer-of-rules · · Score: 1 · on Bush Signs Bill Enabling Martial Law
    Nice little arrangement of words. "Bush has been wiretapping US phone calls"... hah. As if he's sitting in the oval office listening to your conversation with your mother. The NSA has been tapping suspected terrorist phone calls.

    Wow. This is inane. I didn't think I needed to specify that Bush wasn't personally wiretapping US phone calls without a warrant. But it was done on his orders. Or are you suggesting that there was a conspiracy to wiretap without Bush's approval? I did forgot to mention that the problem with the wiretapping was that the wiretapping wasn't being approved by the Judicial Branch as required by law. Remember the Judicial Branch? Remember the checks-and-balances-thing to prevent the abuse of power by one branch of government?

    Bush has paid journalists to repeat his propaganda? Bullshit. Show me your source for that.

    Routinely censors scientific reports? Strike 2. Source, please.

    BUSH delayed the federal response? Strike 3. Bush didn't delay anything.

    • House Republicans plan to issue a blistering report on Wednesday that says the Bush administration delayed the evacuation of thousands of New Orleans residents by failing to act quickly on early reports that the levees had broken during Hurricane Katrina.

    Osama Bin Laden is still at large? Yes, he is. Why? Because he has multiple Middle-Eastern states cooperating with him and Al-Queda. The search for Bin Laden is still ongoing. We haven't forgotten at all.

    • "I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority." - G.W. Bush, 3/13/02"
    • "I am truly not that concerned about him." - G.W. Bush, repsonding to a question about bin Laden's whereabouts, 3/13/02 (The New American, 4/8/02)
    • "I don't spend much time on him." -G.W. Bush, six months after 9/11 event. [video]
    • Bush withdrew the majority of our troop
  18. Re:This sounds like a troll by Tony · · Score: 1 · on Bush Signs Bill Enabling Martial Law
    I don't think you can say Bush is responsible for the lack of terrorist attacks. In spite of the propaganda, there are very few people who really want to attack the US. Otherwise, we'd have roadside bombs and car bombs every few days. Considering it had been about six years between 9/11 and the previous terrorist attack in the US, Oklahoma City, I don't think terrorist attacks in the US are really all that frequent. So, there is no cause and effect here. There is no evidence to suggest Bush has stopped a single attack on US soil.

    In May of 2001, Bush gave the Taliban $42,000,000. True, he removed them from power after, but he failed to catch bin Laden, though he promised the US he would. Now Afghanistan is controlled by warlords, the Taliban is still around, and people are still dying.

    In Iraq, the civilian death toll is at least 45,000 people. We are no longer in control of Baghdad, and Iraq has gone from one the most progressive middle-eastern countries to . . . well, I don't know. If conservative fundamentalists take control of the government (which seems very possible, if not probable), chances are it will turn into a religious government such as Iran. In any case, Iraq is now more likely to produce a bumper-crop of terrorists with no real reason to like the US, according to recent intelligence reports.

    But, I guess you reap what you sow.

    Unemployment is relatively low, but real wages are not keeping up with inflation, though adjusted profits are up, and executive pay increases are greater than inflation. As others have pointed out, the Dow as a pure number isn't an accurate indicator economic health. You have to factor in the value of the dollar, at a minimum. By that standard, things are not that rosy.

    Anyhow, in the end history will judge this presidency. It is impossible to judge it whilst we are in the middle of it.


    It is *not* impossible to judge his Presidency at the moment. He has authorized the use of torture, he has stripped habeas corpus from "enemy combatants," who can be *anyone*, even US citizens. He changes laws to suit his desire through the use of signing statements. The economy has improved since 2001, but is still soft. He lied to get us into an unnecessary war. (It was proven at the time we went to war that all of the pieces of evidence used in his case for war were forged, incorrectly represented, or outright fabrication. We knew before a single troop stepped foot in Iraq that there was no good case for the war.) He has used the tragedy of 9/11 to frighten and cow American citizens, and to justify laws we would never have allowed otherwise.

    He has given billions of dollars to corporations in no-bid or single-bid contracts. He has quelled investigations into abuse of those contracts. He has single-handedly pushed the US into the greatest debt it has ever seen.

    It is easy to judge him now. It may be hard for me to see the good for the bad, but the things you call "good" are not as good as you seem to think.
  19. Citations: a moving target by sakusha · · Score: 2, Insightful · on Can Wikipedia Ever Make the Grade?

    Wikipedia can never be used in research work with an authoritative citation, since it is constantly changing. If I use a wikipedia article in a research paper's footnotes or bibliography, the article is likely to change before anyone goes back to check the references. Sure you could go back through the history file and try to reconstruct the article as it existed when the citation was taken, but that just adds a whole new level of difficulty to citations, now the author must cite the date and exact time when the research was taken. And then, the changes to the article before and after that time, are they more or less accurate than the citation? Furthermore, wikipedia articles are full of "citation needed" footnotes, and may also contain huge sections of plagiarized text. Sources are hugely problematic, it can be impossible to trace a basic fact back to its source from a wikipedia article.

    Scholarship is a system where we build on the work of others, if the chain is broken, there can be no progress. If scholars cannot work with authoritative citations, their work may not just be useless, it may be damaging. Look at some of the recent scandals over scientists who faked research, they got away with it because nobody could check their sources, and millions of dollars of research funding were wasted following up on the faked research. Wikipedia is just going to make this problem worse. I hope that scientists with PhDs know better than to use wikipedia for research, but then, your average 7 year old kid in elementary school might end up as a PhD or M.D. one day, do your really want the surgeon who might operate on YOU someday, to have learned his basic science from possibly-vandalized articles in wikipedia?

  20. It's not the economy, stupid. by doom · · Score: 1 · on How to Hack the Vote and Steal the Election
    danbeck (5706) wrote:
    [...] and you forget that our economy is god damned fucking BOOMING.

    We're not the only ones: This Time, It's Not the Economy

    Yes, it's obvious, with the constant daily barrage by the media telling us how fucked up this country is and how fucked up Iraq is and how angry we are all supposed to be, how could any of us vote for Republicans?

    Ha, ha, ha. It's the liberal media again. Heh. Heh.

    Something you are missing is that a large number of people in this country see our economy booming, we see the RECORD unemployment and the booming housing sector.

    Hm, well maybe war really is good for the economy. Let's see, casualties this month are pushing 100, for how long can we continue to ritually sacrifice 100 servicemen every month? Maybe we should bring back the draft.

    We are smart enough to understand how oil is traded on commodities markets and we aren't freaking out when prices fluctuate.

    Ah, you mean the way they hit the ceiling to maintain the oil companies record profits, and then dive back down just in time for the election?

  21. Re:so I guess... by CreatureComfort · · Score: 0, Flamebait · on Face Recognition - Real or Science Fiction?


    No, you totally miss the point. This isn't about failing to recognize a face you are looking for becuase someone uses a disguise, although that is a perfectly valid reason to despise police and gevernment use of this technology. This is about the absurdly high number of false positives you get. So next time you are walking through the airport, get pulled into a back room, falsly identified as a terrorist (after all if the computer says you're him, you must be traveling with false identification), secretly deported to another country and "questioned", then let loose in a completely different country with no passport, ID, or documentation, just because the computer thought you resembled a potential terrorist. You might re-think your position on this.

  22. Re:DRM sucks, news at 11 by voice_of_all_reason · · Score: 1 · on iPod Cracked, But Does it Matter?

    It seems so. Even the New York Times rejects my reality and substitutes it's own.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/21/science/21ice.ht ml?ei=5088&en=5dc162576f801e16&ex=1298178000&adxnn l=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&adxnnlx=1161788409-6zj7 +k+5qNiQxDHPB6V9Ew

    (that partner crap is so you can read a subscription-only page)

  23. Re:Real poverty is less than average, not just les by rohan972 · · Score: 3, Insightful · on If Not America, Then Where?

    You can exercise greater control over your socioeconomic standing? Honestly? (no, really, I want to know).

    Yes. Most of America's millionaires are first-generation rich.

  24. Re:OR... by klenwell · · Score: 1 · on 2006 Election Maps Mashups

    I loved Electoral-Vote.com during the 2004 election. But it doesn't cover the Congressional races (last I checked). I have to give credit to Old Media here -- I really like the New York Times' election map. It is Flash-based, but impressive and insightful:

    http://www.nytimes.com/ref/washington/2006ELECTION GUIDE.html

  25. Spychips.com press release by Seth+Cohn · · Score: 1 · on Privacy Pitfalls in No-Swipe Credit Cards

    http://www.spychips.com/press-releases/flawed-cred it-card-security.html

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    October 23, 2006

    CONSUMER WATCHDOGS DEMAND RECALL OF SPYCHIPPED CREDIT CARDS
    CASPIAN Advises Consumers to Immediately Remove Cards from Wallets

    Consumer watchdog group CASPIAN is demanding a recall of millions of RFID-equipped contactless credit cards in light of serious security flaws reported today in the New York Times. The paper reports that a team of security researchers has found that virtually every one of these cards tested is vulnerable to unauthorized charges and puts consumers at risk for identity theft.

    Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a controversial technology that uses tiny microchips to transmit information at a distance. These RFID microchips have earned the nickname "spychips" because the data they contain can be read silently and invisibly by radio waves without an individual's knowledge or consent. The technology has long been the target of criticism by privacy and civil liberties groups.

    "For these financial institutions to put RFID in credit cards, one of the most sensitive items we carry, is absolute lunacy," said Dr. Katherine Albrecht, founder and director of CASPIAN, a consumer group with over 12,000 members in 30 countries worldwide.

    Researchers are showing how a thief could skim information from the cards right through purses, backpacks and wallets. This information includes the cardholder's name, credit card number, expiration date and other data that would be sufficient to make unauthorized purchases. They say the information could even be used to identify and track people, a scenario Albrecht and co-author Liz McIntyre lay out in their book, "Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Purchase and Watch Your Every Move."

    Despite earlier assurances by the issuing companies that the data contained in the credit cards would be secure, researchers found that the majority of cards they tested did not use encryption or protect the data in any way. The information on them was readily available to unauthorized parties using equipment that could be assembled for as little as $50, the researchers said.

    "We cautioned companies against using item-level RFID, and they didn't heed us. Now the credit card industry is facing an unprecedented PR and financial disaster," says McIntyre, who is also a former bank examiner. She points to the astronomical cost to replace the cards, not to mention the potential financial losses, litigation expenses, and erosion of consumer trust.

    Albrecht and McIntyre are calling on the industry to issue a public alert detailing the dangers of the cards they've issued, institute an active recall, and make safe versions without RFID available to concerned consumers.

    "This recall has to be very clear and very directed since consumers may not know their cards contain RFID tags," says Albrecht. "The industry has repeatedly resisted calls to clearly label the cards. Rather, they've given the cards innocent-sounding names like 'Blink.'"

    CASPIAN is advising consumers to immediately remove the credit cards from their wallets and call
    the 800 number on the back to insist on an RFID-free replacement card. The group is cautioning consumers not to mail the cards back or simply throw them away due to the risk of their personal information being skimmed.

    Today's New York Times article by John Schwartz can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/23/business/23card. html?ref=business

    A research report detailing the findings can be found here:
    http://www.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/business/20061 023_CARD/techreport.pdf

  26. Spychips.com press release by Seth+Cohn · · Score: 1 · on Privacy Pitfalls in No-Swipe Credit Cards

    http://www.spychips.com/press-releases/flawed-cred it-card-security.html

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
    October 23, 2006

    CONSUMER WATCHDOGS DEMAND RECALL OF SPYCHIPPED CREDIT CARDS
    CASPIAN Advises Consumers to Immediately Remove Cards from Wallets

    Consumer watchdog group CASPIAN is demanding a recall of millions of RFID-equipped contactless credit cards in light of serious security flaws reported today in the New York Times. The paper reports that a team of security researchers has found that virtually every one of these cards tested is vulnerable to unauthorized charges and puts consumers at risk for identity theft.

    Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a controversial technology that uses tiny microchips to transmit information at a distance. These RFID microchips have earned the nickname "spychips" because the data they contain can be read silently and invisibly by radio waves without an individual's knowledge or consent. The technology has long been the target of criticism by privacy and civil liberties groups.

    "For these financial institutions to put RFID in credit cards, one of the most sensitive items we carry, is absolute lunacy," said Dr. Katherine Albrecht, founder and director of CASPIAN, a consumer group with over 12,000 members in 30 countries worldwide.

    Researchers are showing how a thief could skim information from the cards right through purses, backpacks and wallets. This information includes the cardholder's name, credit card number, expiration date and other data that would be sufficient to make unauthorized purchases. They say the information could even be used to identify and track people, a scenario Albrecht and co-author Liz McIntyre lay out in their book, "Spychips: How Major Corporations and Government Plan to Track Your Every Purchase and Watch Your Every Move."

    Despite earlier assurances by the issuing companies that the data contained in the credit cards would be secure, researchers found that the majority of cards they tested did not use encryption or protect the data in any way. The information on them was readily available to unauthorized parties using equipment that could be assembled for as little as $50, the researchers said.

    "We cautioned companies against using item-level RFID, and they didn't heed us. Now the credit card industry is facing an unprecedented PR and financial disaster," says McIntyre, who is also a former bank examiner. She points to the astronomical cost to replace the cards, not to mention the potential financial losses, litigation expenses, and erosion of consumer trust.

    Albrecht and McIntyre are calling on the industry to issue a public alert detailing the dangers of the cards they've issued, institute an active recall, and make safe versions without RFID available to concerned consumers.

    "This recall has to be very clear and very directed since consumers may not know their cards contain RFID tags," says Albrecht. "The industry has repeatedly resisted calls to clearly label the cards. Rather, they've given the cards innocent-sounding names like 'Blink.'"

    CASPIAN is advising consumers to immediately remove the credit cards from their wallets and call
    the 800 number on the back to insist on an RFID-free replacement card. The group is cautioning consumers not to mail the cards back or simply throw them away due to the risk of their personal information being skimmed.

    Today's New York Times article by John Schwartz can be found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/23/business/23card. html?ref=business

    A research report detailing the findings can be found here:
    http://www.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/business/20061 023_CARD/techreport.pdf

  27. Re:You mean by Vadim+Makarov · · Score: 1 · on The Internet Black Hole That Is North Korea

    No, I see the island. I mean the large group of big dots to the right side of the image, a bit away from the coast. NYT writes that's a map they snapped over Rumsfield's shoulder. So this can just be the American fleet stationed in the Sea of Japan, I suppose?

  28. Re:So why did we move to electronic voting again? by DDLKermit007 · · Score: 1 · on Diebold Disks May Have Been For Testers

    Currently systems in the US are approved or denied by a federal body (usualy). The problem is that they are not funded by the government. They are funded directly by these voting companies. Right off the bat you have a serious conflict of intrests right there. Not to mention they are really not awnserable to anyone given thier funding. For a better read on the situation I'd recomend this NY Times article. Hell it's 2 years old and it's more relivant than most other articles on the subject that are written today.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/13/opinion/13SUN1.h tml?ex=1402459200&en=40e4afe91f2a555f&ei=5007&part ner=USERLAND

  29. Speaking of Black Holes... by this+great+guy · · Score: 4, Informative · on The Internet Black Hole That Is North Korea

    The Internet is all about sharing information. Yet, they chose to make it difficult for people to share and access it. Gosh, I hate this nytimes.com login form. Here is a direct link to the article (no login required).

  30. lol slow news day? by niola · · Score: -1, Offtopic · on Boy Scouts Introduce Merit Badge For Not Pirating

    Who gives a shit what a bunch of homophobes are doing.

    Never know what you will see in the news these days.

    Only in a county like the US can we have a congressman plead guilty yet stay in his job, a Secretary of Defense getting his advice from God, a foreing president jealous of a rapist, and militants re-taking cities in that "all is going well" Iraq war that some BS about a homophobe organization like the boy scouts enforcing corporate interests would make the news.

  31. lol slow news day? by niola · · Score: -1, Offtopic · on Boy Scouts Introduce Merit Badge For Not Pirating

    Who gives a shit what a bunch of homophobes are doing.

    Never know what you will see in the news these days.

    Only in a county like the US can we have a congressman plead guilty yet stay in his job, a Secretary of Defense getting his advice from God, a foreing president jealous of a rapist, and militants re-taking cities in that "all is going well" Iraq war that some BS about a homophobe organization like the boy scouts enforcing corporate interests would make the news.

  32. Re:Anecdotal evidence?!!! by Foerstner · · Score: 1 · on U.S. Population Hits 300 Million
    The standard usage of the word "anecdote" refers to biographical information (of or pertaining to a person's life). Such as "I work in Atlanta. There are only three native Georgian's in my company of 50 employees. You see this everywhere."

    My example, on the otherhand was not from my own life.

    You do have a bit of a point there. I should not have focused on anecdote at all. The word in your post (and my subject was actually anecdotal , the most prevalent usage of which carries subtly different connotations from the noun. The relevant definitions (from your dictionary or mine) both include specific mentions of the common phrase you used ("anecdotal evidence.")

    - based on or consisting of reports or observations of usually unscientific observers (anecdotal evidence)
    - based on personal observation, case study reports, or random investigations rather than systematic scientific evaluation: anecdotal evidence.

    In any event, the story you related certainly qualifies.

    But enough pedantry...

    I brought up a company publically stating that their research has shown that the education in southern states is not high enough to have a competent workforce.
    No, you didn't. You brought up an unsourced statement, which I was able to trace only to paraphrased remarks by a lobbyist targeting the company in question... Unless you can cite a more credible source, your blurb is both anecdotal and highly suspect.

    If you want more statistics...
    What do you mean, "more"? These are the first statistics you've provided. And they're pretty good. Almost as good as the ones I suggested you use.

    Your average college graduate has trouble even figuring out the tip at a restaurant. Hell, your average slashdotter can't tell the difference between "anecdotal evidence" and "statistics."
  33. Re:fp by cheesybagel · · Score: 1 · on Letter to European Commission Warns Against Open Source
    It seems OSS is commoditizing development tools. Hence freeing resources previously used to purchase that. This simply means more people will be free to work in the segments which depend on that. Much like the Industry sector jobs replaced Agricultural menial jobs when improved farming methods meant less people were required to make enough food to sustain the population. Then Service jobs replaced Industry as it became increasingly automated. Then Computing Service jobs replaced some menial Service jobs (when was the last time you had to use a telefone operator, go to a bank cashier to withdraw money for shopping, or require the services of a human calculator?).

    I believe the net effect is positive. By decreasing the cost of existing products the whole society takes a quantum leap forward in terms of prosperity and material wealth. Repetitive and harsh, dangerous jobs also tend to vanish.

    As for the people spending time with online addiction or porn addiction: there has always been addiction and addicted people. They sold opium in Ancient Greece, and prostitution is just about the oldest business known. Heck even monkeys do it.

    As for the people milking other people by selling over and over the same bugged 10 year old RDBMS with some extra spit and polish... Though shit. How about doing something else other than paying house maids, building contractors and foreign luxury car and boat manufacturers?

  34. Anecdotal evidence?!!! by Foerstner · · Score: 1 · on U.S. Population Hits 300 Million
    If you want to use anecdotal evidence, there are plenty of rednecks in Illinois too. But I do not use anecdotal evidence, the truth is much more useful.

    anecdote: a usually short narrative of an interesting, amusing, or biographical incident

    Anecdotes (see definition) are not necessarily false. Indeed they are often true and are almost always presented as if they were true, even when they are apocryphal. The problem with anecdotes lies not in their (often questionable) veracity; it is in their relevance.

    So this...
    In the summer of 2005 Toyota passed up building a new plant to produce RAV4s in the south; passing up huge financial incentives to build in various southern U.S. locations (which are trying to build up their economy). Why did they do this? Because the educational level in the Southern United States was so low that trainers for Japanese plants in Alabama had to use pictorials to teach illiterate workers how to use high-tech equipment. Toyota passed up over $150 million more in incentives (to build a $800 million manufacturing plant) to have a workforce that could actually read.
    ...is an anecdote. If you wished, as you say, to avoid anecdotal evidence, you might have pointed to the ample body of statistical evidence of the inadequacy of public education. (Test scores, expenditures per student, average class sizes, college attendance and graduation rates....)

    You may now consider yourself educated by a southerner. And if I were you, sir, I would avoid lecturing people on the comparative quality of education.

    --
    (Incidentally, the only source to which I could trace your own anecdote was an article paraphrasing remarks by the Automotive Parts Manufacturer's Association, a Canadian industry group that lobbied Toyota to build the plant in Ontario, where its members would be better able to win contracts to supply it.)
  35. Re:Subjective "Reporting" by deanj · · Score: 1 · on YouTube Accused Of Censorship

    I think my point is well outlined in this article, "A Slippery Slope of Censorship at YouTube"

    http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/09/technology/09lin k.html?ex=1161230400&en=46200e58715eb0ad&ei=5070

    People didn't like the facts presented, and their answer was the censor it. Fortunately, YouTube restored it.

    So, bottom line, you're wrong.

  36. Re:Apple 1984 by Lord+Kano · · Score: 1 · on A History of Computers, As Seen in Old TV Ads

    I was 15 when this Ad aired. I recall zero buzz around it. The media ignored. The masses ignored it. The geeky afterskewl computer club i belonged to ignored it. You might be one of the 2 people who saw and paid attention to this spot.

    I guess that the New York Times and the Cannes Film Festival are two bit outfits that don't matter.

    Yeah, Reaganomics were just great. Have to love inflation. The war on drugs. The iran-contra. affair. Aliens. Psychics. His civil rights history was just awesome. middle america voted in bush too. They really arent the smartest peanuts in the turd. Clinton was a warm welcome from the insanity of the previous 12 years.

    Yeah, 49% of the vote versus 49 States is such a close comparison.

    Reagan took 58.8% of the popular vote while the next highest candidate was 40.6%.

    Clinton took 49.2% in his second election.

    George W. Bush took 50.7% in his second election.

    Hell, Kerry, the loser in 2004 took more votes(numbers, not percentage) than did Clinon in 1996. Talk about revisionist history. Like I said, I didn't like the man but middle America loved him.

    LK

  37. Re:Install panels for data centers? by lababidi · · Score: 1 · on Google Campus to Become Solar-powered

    i believe the new Data Center located in the Dalles [Map] apparently uses windmills and hydroelectric power. So this has been in their sites for a while.

  38. Re:Good, but not a huge deal by Leto-II · · Score: 1 · on Google Campus to Become Solar-powered

    It's not just a joke. They essentially chose the location for their new facility in Dalles, Oregon because of it's cheap electricity. It's out in the middle of nowhere and fairly close to Bonneville Dam.

    NY Times story on it.

  39. Re:People said the same thing about Cable TV. by mgabrys_sf · · Score: 1 · on Howard Stern Coming To the Net

    From the NYT:

    http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/arts/entertainment- media-stern.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

    And if the link doesn't work (login? - crap!)

    "After fulfilling the last 14 months on his contract at CBS Corp., Stern debuted in January 2006 on Sirius under a five-year deal valued at $500 million and immediately became the marquee talent of the No. 2 satellite radio provider. He also recently ventured into the realm of video-on-demand television with an all-Stern channel available through several major cable operators. Sirius ended the third quarter with 5.12 million subscribers, an audience that pales in comparison to the 12 million listeners who regularly tuned into Stern at the peak of his CBS career. XM posted nearly 7.2 million subscribers for the third quarter."

    So I was off 2.8 million on XM. I also lowballed his origonal radio audience by 2 million so he's hurting even worse.

    Oh and I can assure you - not all of Sirius' subscribers listen to him hence the peak numbers will always lag the total subscriber base. That was infered in the previous post - but of course - the fanbase can be a bit - um - "slow".

  40. Re:Direct link by Anne_Nonymous · · Score: 4, Funny · on The eBook, Mark 2

    Link to printable version

    :)

  41. Direct link by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative · on The eBook, Mark 2

    .. to tfa

  42. Re:If North Korea says so... by freezin+fat+guy · · Score: 1 · on North Korea Air Sample Shows Radiation

    "Where on the mainstream left are they speaking out against Chavez?"

  43. Re:If North Korea says so... by freezin+fat+guy · · Score: 1 · on North Korea Air Sample Shows Radiation

    "Where on the mainstream left are they speaking out against Chavez?"

  44. Re:Subjective "Reporting" by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 1 · on YouTube Accused Of Censorship

    Here's another far right source you might have missed:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/09/technology/09lin k.html

    Oh, wait, it's the New York Times. My bad.

  45. Re:bogus by Stalyn · · Score: 5, Informative · on YouTube Accused Of Censorship

    YouTube users can flag any video as containing pornography, mature content or graphic violence, depicting illegal acts or being racially or ethnically offensive. A video is removed -- as Ms. Malkin's was on Sept. 28 -- only if a review by the company's customer support department agrees that it is inappropriate, or that the video is on its face in violation of the site's terms of use.

    NYTimes - "A Slippery Slope of Censorship at YouTube"

  46. Great NYT Magazine Article related to this by Punchinello · · Score: 1 · on Do Big Screens Make Employees More Productive?

    Recently I read an article in NYT Magazine about "Life Hacking." Part of the article talks about Microsoft research into productivity and how they have also found that more screen space = greater productivity. A great read found here: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/16/magazine/16guru. html?ei=5088&en=2864cc65d74cefb8&ex=1287115200&par tner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=print

  47. Re:Really...? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative · on Miami Court Orders Take Two to Hand Over Bully

    In the game, bullies are the enemies. You star as a new kid at school, trying to work your way through the school's hierarchy.

    Actually, here's a good review of it from the Times:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/10/arts/10bull.html ?ex=1312862400&en=f536b0ae84f0468b&ei=5088&partner =rssnyt&emc=rss

  48. Re:That's intense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative · on Laser TV — the Death of Plasma?

    Probably they use 3 laser diodes here in primary colors in to create an RGB image on a white phosphor screen. The lasers can be modulated in an analogue way, so it will have better intensity dynamics than LCD.

    Nice guess, but it's really just illuminating a "standard" Texas Instruments DLP chip with three lasers instead of a hot mercury lamp and a spinning color wheel.

    It should be a huge improvement, but it'll still be DLP projection.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/03/business/03hdtv. html?ex=1301716800&en=00dcf2d34532e989&ei=5089&par tner=rssyahoo&emc=rss

  49. MS redefines the meaning of Open Source by rs232 · · Score: 1 · on Ballmer Sounds Off

    "[Take open source.] Open source is not a new technology area. It was a new business model", SB

    First RFC April 1969 for the ARPANET. The Open Source Initiative originated in Feb 1998.

    "In the last three or four years, we have competed very well by extending our value", SB

    "Microsoft has proposed a licencing agreement blatantly tailored to exclude free software from accessing it.", FSF Europe

    " RealNetworks .. sued .. Microsoft on antitrust charges .. Our case is based on .. failure to disclose interface information and imposing restrictions on PC makers"

    "Open source never goes away as a business model or competitor. We have learned how to compete with open source", SB

    "Microsoft is claiming some form of IP rights over .. a total of 130 protocols which Microsoft is offering for license .. Many of the listed protocols are [IETF] RFC to the core TCP/IP v4 and TCP/IP v6 protocol specifications"

    "competing with open source will have to be something that's burned bright on the foreheads of our senior people", SB

    "OSS projects have been able to gain a foothold in many server applications because of the wide utility of highly commoditized, simple protocols. By extending these protocols and developing new protocols, we can deny OSS projects' entry into the market."

    "In the case of open source, we couldn't adopt the business model. We adopted a competitive approach that so far has worked very well", SB

    Under NO circumstances lose against Linux"

    "Microsoft also indicated there was a lot more money out there and they would clearly rather use Baystar "like" entities to help us get signifigantly more money if we want to grow further or do acquisitions"

    "Microsoft and Sun .. announced the antitrust settlement/technology pact between the two on Friday"

    "Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq: SUNW) has signed a deal to license SCO Group's Unix intellectual property"

    "Microsoft will license the rights to Unix technology from SCO"

    "there are cases where software gets monetized through hardware", SB

    Like years ago when you bought hardware and the software was included for free.

  50. Re:real food lover here by Maxo-Texas · · Score: 2, Informative · on Engineering Food at the Molecular Level

    Yea but for example-- efficiently farm raised salmon basically have none of the nutritional value that we eat salmon for in the first place.

    Efficiency involves a lot of simplification and cutting out less important things like good omega 3 fatty oils and the real red color that comes from eating thousands of shellfish and replacing them with red dye.

    From here: http://money.aol.com/bw/general/canvas3/_a/whats-i n-my-food/20060808141909990001

    The fresh, farm-raised salmon that shoppers buy also get their orange-red hue from eating the chemicals astaxanthin and canthaxanthin. Wild salmon are pink because they eat shrimp-like creatures called krill. But to achieve the same pink color, farmed salmon need chemicals, which are mixed with their feed. In the past couple of years, the European Union significantly reduced the level of such dyes that can be fed to salmon because of concerns that the dyes, at high levels, can affect people's eyesight.

    Two years ago, in the U.S., Seattle law firm Smith & Lowney filed two class actions against grocers Kroger and Safeway in Washington and California, contending that they should disclose that their salmon are dyed pink. Both lawsuits got thrown out of court. However, Knoll Lowney, a partner at the law firm, says that the lawsuits raised enough public awareness that many grocers voluntarily use "color added" labels to their salmon.

    interesting side note from the same article:
    Betty Crocker icing gets its bright white color not from natural cream and egg whites but from *titanium dioxide*, a mineral that is also used in house paints.

    Also of note: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=hea lth&res=9802E7DA1F38F93AA35755C0A964948260

    Miss Silbergeld, who was formerly a researcher with the National Institute of Neurological Diseases, discovered that Red No. 3 (which is being used in place of Red No, 2, a known carcinogen, and Red No. 40, a suspected carcinogen) interferes with certain forms of metabolism.

    Miss Silbergeld said that just a small proportion of children may react adversely to the dye. ''However,'' she added, ''the reaction is genetically linked and appears to confirm the neurotoxicity of Red No. 3.'' On 'Natural' Cheese

    And of course: http://www.epicurious.com/cooking/healthy/self/fea tures/natural
    If it looks natural but isn't, don't eat it: Like some good-looking guys before you get to know...

    and the point of what I'm saying is also in the same article:

    If it's edible but has no nutrients, it's entertainment.