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  1. Re:email leak on Scientists Explain Why Chairman of House Committee On Science Is Wrong · · Score: 1

    when people mention reasons why they don't believe it, or ask real questions about it seeking clearer understanding, all we get is attacked, demeaned and insulted.

    But you didn't ask any questions. Your post said

    I was 100% on board with global warming until the email leaks

    How insightful. What kind of a response do you expect if you haven't even looked into the CRU hacking case?

    Now, the two important things we did learn from the CRU emails are that 1) denialists bombard the scientists with information requests, which is a drain on their resources and 2) there wasn't anything weird going on at CRU.

    So, can you tell us why these facts made you doubt the existence of AGW?

  2. Youtube link on Canon Shows the Most Sensitive Camera Sensor In the World · · Score: 1

    The same video is also available at youtube, which presumably has more bandwidth than Canon's poor server.

  3. Re:And where does all this content come from? on The Internet Archive Starts Seeding Over a Million Torrents · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Ever heard of Hollywood accounting?

    Hollywood accounting (also known as Hollywood bookkeeping) refers to the opaque accounting methods used by the film, video and television industry to budget and record profits for film projects. Expenditures can be inflated to reduce or eliminate the reported profit of the project thereby reducing the amount which the corporation must pay in royalties or other profit-sharing agreements, as these are based on the net profit.

    How it works

    An example is the Warner Bros. television series Babylon 5 created by J. Michael Straczynski. The series, which was profitable in each of its five seasons from 1993–1998, has garnered more than US$1 billion for Warner Bros., most recently US$500 million in DVD sales alone. But in the last profit statement given to Straczynski, Warner Bros. claimed the property was $80 million in debt. "Basically," says Straczynski, "by the terms of my contract, if a set on a WB movie burns down in Botswana, they can charge it against B5's profits."

  4. Some studios are ok on DVDs, Blu-Rays To Show 20-Second Unskippable Govt. Warnings · · Score: 1

    Some studios are playing nicely. Criterion Collection's discs don't have warnings, just their and occasionally Janus Films's logo. Same applies to Eureka's Masters of Cinema releases. Blue Underground's Zombi 2 has a 5 second FBI warning in the beginning, but to my astonishment the disc resumes playback from the previous position without prompting - the first disc I've seen that does this.

    On the other end of the spectrum is Fox. Sigh.

  5. Greenpeace opposes fusion research on Apple: Greenpeace's Cloud Critique Driven By Bogus Numbers · · Score: 1

    Excellent points. But did you know that Greenpeace is opposed to fusion research? In their own words:

    Fusion energy - if it would ever operate - would create a serious waste problem, would emit large amounts of radioactive material and could be used to produce materials for nuclear weapons. A whole new set of nuclear risks would thus be created.

    Contrast this with Fusion.org's FAQ (or consult your physics book):

    The major conclusions reached by the SEAFP team in 1995 were that fusion has very good inherent safety qualities; there are no chain reactions and no production of 'actinides'. The worst possible accident originating in a fusion power station could not breach the confinement; any releases could not approach levels at which evacuation would be considered.

    The radiotoxicity of a fusion power station's waste materials decays rapidly, and they present no accumulating or long-term burden on future generations. They would not need guaranteed isolation from the environment for very long timespans. In addition to these favourable results, fusion produces no climate-changing or atmosphere-polluting emissions.

    I'm linking to archived version of the FAQ, since the current version seems to be dumbed down.

  6. Re:16-bit? on GIMP Core Mostly Ported to GEGL · · Score: 1

    List all the cameras that support OpenEXR. There's your answer.

  7. Re:Pay attention to the professor? on Estonian Tech University Bans Notebooks and Smartphones · · Score: 2

    For that one class, the prof was one of the best lecturers I've ever seen.

    Did you thank him for the lecture, and urge him to continue in this fashion?

  8. Some nonfiction on Ask Slashdot: What Do You Like To Read? · · Score: 1

    Jeff Gunn: Go Down Together - The True Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde. If you've only seen the movies, do read this one. The media exaggerated the Barrow Gang's deeds and Hollywood cared less about reality. Gunn has done his research and his writing makes this a page-turner.

    Yaroslav Trofimov: The Siege of Mecca - The Forgotten Uprising in Islam's Holiest Shrine. This is simply amazing. The book reads like an action movie, and it helps you understand how the radical islamism got its beginnings - including the eventual rise of Al Qaeda.

    Robert Whiting: Tokyo Underworld - The Fast Times and Hard Life of an American Gangster in Japan is a riot. The culture shock and the absurdities that ensue make this perhaps the funniest book I have read in recent years. The first chapter just sets the stage, it's a huge "wait, what?!" from there on.

    Philip Zimbardo: The Lucifer Effect - How Good People Turn Evil. You have heard of the Standford Prison Experiment, and it's likely you've seen the awful Das Experiment movie. The reality is - again - far more interesting.

  9. Re:Adverts and lack of control (by the user) on Movie Industry: Loss of Control Worse Than Piracy · · Score: 1

    Whedon's Angel box exemplifies the studios' attitude towards the customers.

    Season 1: Copyright warnings, Fox logo, menu. User can skip the warnings by pressing MENU.
    Season 2: Copyright warnings, Fox logo, menu. User cannot skip the warnings anymore.
    Season 5: YOU WOULDN'T STEAL A CAR. Fact.co.uk:s "It' illegal to copy this dvd" blurb. Fox logo. Menu.

    Consider that each season has 6 dvds, and the constant blaring becomes rather tiring. The irony is that I quickly calculated the cost of downloading and possibly burning the entire show, and decided that it was far easier to pay the full box set price. Had I known about S5's menus, I would've reconsidered.

  10. Re:Awesome! on DIY Laser Pistol Shoot 1MW Blasts · · Score: 5, Informative
    From Wikipedia:

    Infrared lasers are particularly hazardous, since the body's protective "blink reflex" response is triggered only by visible light. For example, some people exposed to high power Nd:YAG laser emitting invisible 1064 nm radiation, may not feel pain or notice immediate damage to their eyesight. A pop or click noise emanating from the eyeball may be the only indication that retinal damage has occurred i.e. the retina was heated to over 100 C resulting in localized explosive boiling accompanied by the immediate creation of a permanent blind spot.

  11. This is old news on Cleaner Air Could Speed Global Warming · · Score: 1

    There have been several documentaries about Global Dimming, and it seems one of them is available on Google Video. Check it out.

  12. Re:Perhaps nobody else cares? on HDTV Has Ruined the LCD Market · · Score: 1

    besides gamers and drafters who else really wants it?

    How about photographers? My old Konica-Minolta from 2004 used to take 2272 x 1704 pictures. My new Canon takes 18 megapixel images. Trying to edit them with a 22" widescreen monitor is rather painful, so I'm upgrading my display RSN.

    Also on my wish list: Proper color management at OS level. Sheesh, it's 2010 already, make it just work!

  13. The horrible, horrible UI on Review of Adobe Creative Suite 5 · · Score: 1

    Personally I like the GIMP interface and I don't see what's so horrible about it

    How about this: Straight Line Tutorial.

    Now consider that for a moment. A tutorial for drawing lines? This is a graphics software purportedly meant for image manipulation, yet the developers haven't created a simple Line icon.

    I rest my case.

  14. Re:easy. on Keeping a PC Personal At School? · · Score: 1

    This reminds me of Jeff Covey's Antidesktop, published back in 2002. It seems to be effective and quite user-unfriendly to anyone who doesn't know how the system has been built.

  15. Um on Zombie Macs Launch DoS Attack · · Score: 4, Funny

    So does this mean that Macs are finally Enterprise Ready?

  16. Quick and dirty translation on Finnish Court Dismisses E-Voting Result · · Score: 3, Informative

    The Supreme Administrative Court ruled that the municipal elections will be renewed at Karkkila, Kauniainen and Vihti. Last autumn 232 votes were lost in the three municipalities that participated in the electronic voting pilot.

    The court annulled the election results and ordered the election to be held again. In its summary, the court finds that the errors in the e-voting system, the insufficent instructions and the large amount of lost votes mean that the election wasn't properly held.

    16 citizens appealed about the election results, some of whom were also candidates in the election. The previous appeal the Helsinki Administrative Court didn't result in the rejection of election results, as the Administrative Court did not consider the voting problems serious enough.

    That verdict wasn't satisfactory to the appellants, who took the matter to the Supreme Court. Two percent of the votes were lost in the municipality of Kauniainen; the difference would have affected the outcome.

    Minister Tuija Brax (Green party) - one of the main proponents of the highly controversial e-voting system - said that she was happy with the decision. Before the court's ruling came in, the minister refused to comment about the necessity of holding a new election, as such thing was impossible [without court order]. Before the election, minister Brax had said that all the [proposed] problem scenarios with the election system were pure "science fiction".

    The story isn't that well written. The system allowed the user to remove his ID card before the vote was registered. The lack of a paper trail is a large problem, and the lack of openness in the design doesn't help to gain the users' trust. Further, the system was designed by Tieto Oy (formerly TietoEnator), also responsible for the new systems at Sampo Bank (with numerous login problems, XSS exploits and such). Vestigia terrent.

  17. I didn't understand half of that on Massive EVE Online Alliance Disbanded · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This story is rather incomprehensible to the rest of us. Could an EVE player explain some terms like sovereignty, ISK reserves, cyno-jammers and capfleet towers, please? Good thing that territorial control was explained...

    The article also says

    Once assured a place within GoonSwarm, Agamar proceeded to disband the Band of Brothers alliance using his director level access.

    ...but what powers does the director level access give you, exactly?

  18. Re:What's the margin of victory? on Finnish Court Accepts E-Voting Result With 2% Lost · · Score: 2

    This was a municipal election, carried out in three small municipalities with just several thousand voters. The victory margin in those municipalities was just a few votes. This error clearly affects the outcome of the vote.

    Effi's site had an english version, too:
    An error margin of 2% in municipal elections ruled acceptable in Finland

  19. Re:X-Files on Interesting Uses For a USB LED Screen? · · Score: 2, Informative

    That's Blood, second season, third episode.
    Synopsis and quotes, including all LED messages.

  20. Re:Oh Noes! on AT&T Slaps Family With a $19,370 Cell Phone Bill · · Score: 1

    how do you call out sick when you can't place calls?

    Pick a mobile phone, turn it on, select 911 (or 112 in EU) and press "Call".
    You don't need a SIM card or enter the PIN code.

  21. Re:True, but doesn't apply on EU Commissioner Proposes 95 year Copyright · · Score: 1

    Oh, that makes more sense. Thanks for the clarification.

  22. WHAT? on EU Commissioner Proposes 95 year Copyright · · Score: 5, Informative

    People are living longer and 50 years of copyright protection no longer give lifetime income to artists who recorded hits in their late teens or early twenties

    The commissioner is either ignorant or lying. I don't know which one is worse.

    The chosen term was 70 years from the death of the author (post mortem auctoris) for authors' rights (Art. 1), longer than the 50 year post mortem auctoris term required by the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (Art. 7.1 Berne Convention). (Wikipedia)

    He should mean that the artists' children can enjoy the royalties for mere 50 years after their parent has died. Cry me a river.

  23. Re:Greenpeace on FTC Offput by Offsets · · Score: 2, Informative
    The quote shows that they either don't know basic facts or they are willing to lie. From Fusion.org.uk's FAQ section (or check your physics book):

    The major conclusions reached by the SEAFP team in 1995 were that fusion has very good inherent safety qualities; there are no chain reactions and no production of 'actinides'. The worst possible accident originating in a fusion power station could not breach the confinement; any releases could not approach levels at which evacuation would be considered.

    The radiotoxicity of a fusion power station's waste materials decays rapidly, and they present no accumulating or long-term burden on future generations. They would not need guaranteed isolation from the environment for very long timespans. In addition to these favourable results, fusion produces no climate-changing or atmosphere-polluting emissions.

  24. Greenpeace on FTC Offput by Offsets · · Score: 1, Troll
    > Just who contends that? Seriously.

    Since you asked... did you know that Greenpeace opposes fusion research? In their own words:

    Fusion energy - if it would ever operate - would create a serious waste problem, would emit large amounts of radioactive material and could be used to produce materials for nuclear weapons. A whole new set of nuclear risks would thus be created.
  25. Re:video here on The Real Mother of All Bombs, 46 Years Ago · · Score: 4, Informative

    Be kind to the server; YouTube has video footage as well.

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=pgY9gYoCsgs