That's right. Don't read it. I'm going to summarize it for you:
Some scientists noticed frogs acting "strange". A couple days later, an earthquake followed. Scientists wondered if the frogs were somehow aware of the earthquake. They had no particular reason to believe they were. Other scientists interviewed on this matter say probably not. People retroactively attribute all kinds of things to big events that follow.
The article ends: "For now at least, the hunt for a way to predict earthquakes must continue."
That's it. You're welcome.
No, I heard the researcher on the radio yesterday; the toads unexpectedly left the area for a few days & whilst they were gone, the quake hit; the toads returned after the quake, she had a couple of hypotheses about how the toads could detect the coming quake, but freely admitted she had no strong evidence for them.
Think of it this way: if you copyright a wooden handle hammer, I can defeat it with a metal handled hammer. But if you were to patent the concept of a hammer, it would be harder/impossible for copycats to eat your marketshare for hammers
Way to miss the point of the second part of my post. If metal handed hammers work better than wooden handed ones, your patent is stifling my innovation.
And it's because some kid in their basement can come up with a better algorithm for doing the same thing that Software patents are broken. The barrier to entry is a lot lower than for hammers; the protection isn't needed as there is less risk to start with.
The second thing, that I learned at University, and I can't remember the exact term, but the patent must be put to use by the owner of the patent, or else they lose it.
Patents allow inventors to earn a living. How is making money by creating valuable things bad?
Patents in general are a good idea, however Software is already copyrightable; there's no need for it to be patentable as well. If I can code your idea better than you, then your patent is stifling innovation, not promoting it.
I guess they just couldn't wait to let them know who it was. Do you really think they wouldn't be believed if they waited?
I think you are reaching a bit too far here.
If they waited, other groups could also try and claim the "credit", that's why they would do it just before the bomb went off. I've got no link, but remember seeing it on a documentary interview with a former IRA member.
A common example is publishing the membership list of the BNP. It is particularly ironic since by outing those people, Wikileaks actually removed some protection and consequently damaged the freedom of expression of a minority political group that has been subject to dubious restrictions by mainstream politicians.
How does naming members of a political party damage their freedom of speech? I'm a member of the Pirate party; I happily tell anyone who asks where I work, what I do etc.
And the IRA would usually call in bombs threats, giving the location and time so that innocents could be evacuated.
No, the IRA would call in bomb threats so that we knew it was them; the fact that it gave time (often only minutes) to evacuate an area was a unrelated side effect.
Good on Sergey & Google. To those clods who will joke about how a six year old can be influenced let me just say I remember when the Berlin Wall was erected. I was six years old and although I don't remember the political details I vividly recall seeing a front page photo in the Detroit News that showed what Woodward Avenue (the main street in downtown Detroit) would look like if the Wall had been built right down the center. It scared the crap out of me then even without knowing why and it remains an image that has stayed with me. Of *course* Sergey was affected.
Indeed; I was only about 7 when it fell & I remember seeing it on the news & being very happy. Obviously at 6 years old, I had no idea of the significance of the falling of the wall, but I sure as hell was able to absorb the atmosphere here in the UK. Both the highs and lows would have been amplified on the other side of the iron curtain.
That was exactly the point I was trying to make - SA has one of the worst crime rates in the world, and yet my Dad's perception was that the UK was worse because of Sky's media coverage.
Seriously? Even Sky isn't that bad is it? I know that they dumb down the news (that's why I stopped watching it), but now it seems I should watch it for the same reason I watch Fox*; comedy.
*For the non-Brits: Yes, we get Fox on Satellite in the UK.
Me: Uh, Dad, do you watch the news about South Africa at all?
Dad: Yeah, but it sounds much worse over there!
OK, I'm probably making a similar mistake the other way round, but isn't South Africa meant to have one of the highest car-jacking rates and some of the highest rates of violent crime in the world? I couldn't imagine here (the sleepy South of England) being worse than many places in the world in terms of crime levels, let alone South Africa.
That intelligent people such as slashdotters have no knowledge of the United States Constitution. Nowhere in the constitution does it guarantee the citizens healthcare.
I'm not American, but (Article I, Section 8, Clause 1):
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States
Health care sounds like providing for the general welfare to me
Republicans are opposed because it's socialism. The same kind of socialism that drove the economies of North Korea and Soviet Russia into the ground.
This will not end well.
As another non-American, it doesn't look particularly socialist to me. Even if it was "socialist" so's the police, fire service, army etc. Why not health care; it works here in the UK, or are you one of those people who believe "Stephen Hawking would have died under the British system" - Something I saw one of your politicians actually say (on youTube).
DHS has nothing to do with DOD and CIA. You may be thinking of Director of National Intelligence, who is meant to head up the cooperative efforts of NSA, CIA, DIA, FBI counter intelligence, etc. However, the current DNI is a former Naval officer and is, of course, going to be more sympathetic to the arguments of the NSA (formerly known as Army Signals Intelligence) and DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) than the CIA.
This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the US department of energy. I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the municipal water utility. After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC regulated channels to see what the national weather service of the national oceanographic and atmospheric administration determined the weather was going to be like using satellites designed, built, and launched by the national aeronautics and space administration. I watched this while eating my breakfast of US department of agriculture inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the food and drug administration.
At the appropriate time as regulated by the US congress and kept accurate by the national institute of standards and technology and the US naval observatory, I get into my national highway traffic safety administration approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal departments of transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the environmental protection agency, using legal tender issed by the federal reserve bank. On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the US postal service and drop the kids off at the public school.
After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the department of labor and the occupational safety and health administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to ny house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and fire marshal’s inspection, and which has not been plundered of all it’s valuables thanks to the local police department.
I then log on to the internet which was developed by the defense advanced research projects administration and post on freerepublic.com and fox news forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can’t do anything right
Wow, linked from TFA http://www.silicon.com/management/public-sector/2005/10/31/id-card-costs-could-hit-30bn-39153819/
30bn sterling ($45bn!) is a lot of money. What could be so extremely expensive? They mention integration [with other systems] costs, but it seems like they could build the whole system from ground up with that kind of cash, make it current and secure.
Even Apple could build a huge datacenter for $1bn...
Which is exactly why the next government will scrap it.
The libertoons whinging about ID cards have no idea what they're talking about.
This lot fail to see that most non-Anglo countries have mandatory cards, and it doesn't bother anybody. The idea that an ID card and a record in a database somewhere means getting analprobed constantly by police officers in ski masks is riscible.
Big countries just as advanced, free and democratic as the English-speaking world (perhaps more so), like France and Spain have got them. Why not make life easier for government agencies trying to enforce the law, prevent fraud, and prevent illegal immigration?
It's not the card per se that's the problem, it's the giant database (the NIR) that's going with it that people object too. None of those other countries you mention have anything like the National Identity Register.
Not a Tory*, but "Dave" was absolutely right that a referendum post ratification would be pointless. They were idiots for promising one in the first place.
On the issue of the ID card; both opposition parties have pledged to drop the card and it has stopped being a vote winner to the extent that even Labour have rolled back the extent of the scheme. Now that cuts are needed it's an obvious, symbolic, target, but I'll keep donating to no2id to keep the pressure up to try and make sure that the NIR is dropped as well as the card.
*I live in a lib-dem\tory marginal & am a member of the Pirate Party UK. I'll probably vote Lib-dem.
"The planned sequel to The Hobbit is to be an *original story not written by Tolkien*, covering the 60 years between The Hobbit, and the Lord of the Rings."
Thanks but no thanks.
The summary is wrong, from TFA:
"According to studio New Line, the first film will be an adaptation of The Hobbit, the novel Tolkien published before his Lord of the Rings cycle.
The second will be an original story focusing on the 60 years between the book and the beginning of the Rings trilogy. "
Slashdot Mirror
Nowadays, I can't tell the difference between your typical slashdot stories and April Fool's Day stories.
Everyday is April Fool's day here.
This isn't an April fools story, the BBC also has coverage. Note the date:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8593000/8593396.stm
That's right. Don't read it. I'm going to summarize it for you:
Some scientists noticed frogs acting "strange". A couple days later, an earthquake followed. Scientists wondered if the frogs were somehow aware of the earthquake. They had no particular reason to believe they were. Other scientists interviewed on this matter say probably not. People retroactively attribute all kinds of things to big events that follow.
The article ends: "For now at least, the hunt for a way to predict earthquakes must continue."
That's it. You're welcome.
No, I heard the researcher on the radio yesterday; the toads unexpectedly left the area for a few days & whilst they were gone, the quake hit; the toads returned after the quake, she had a couple of hypotheses about how the toads could detect the coming quake, but freely admitted she had no strong evidence for them.
Think of it this way: if you copyright a wooden handle hammer, I can defeat it with a metal handled hammer. But if you were to patent the concept of a hammer, it would be harder/impossible for copycats to eat your marketshare for hammers
Way to miss the point of the second part of my post. If metal handed hammers work better than wooden handed ones, your patent is stifling my innovation.
And it's because some kid in their basement can come up with a better algorithm for doing the same thing that Software patents are broken. The barrier to entry is a lot lower than for hammers; the protection isn't needed as there is less risk to start with.
The second thing, that I learned at University, and I can't remember the exact term, but the patent must be put to use by the owner of the patent, or else they lose it.
IIRC That's trademarks, not patents.
Patents allow inventors to earn a living. How is making money by creating valuable things bad?
Patents in general are a good idea, however Software is already copyrightable; there's no need for it to be patentable as well. If I can code your idea better than you, then your patent is stifling innovation, not promoting it.
now i'll have to actually WORK ???
Not if you just carry on reading /.
2)Who cares which pepper the capsaicin came from!?
Psychology. A bomb made from "the word's hottest pepper" sounds worse than pepper spray
I guess they just couldn't wait to let them know who it was. Do you really think they wouldn't be believed if they waited?
I think you are reaching a bit too far here.
If they waited, other groups could also try and claim the "credit", that's why they would do it just before the bomb went off. I've got no link, but remember seeing it on a documentary interview with a former IRA member.
A common example is publishing the membership list of the BNP. It is particularly ironic since by outing those people, Wikileaks actually removed some protection and consequently damaged the freedom of expression of a minority political group that has been subject to dubious restrictions by mainstream politicians.
How does naming members of a political party damage their freedom of speech? I'm a member of the Pirate party; I happily tell anyone who asks where I work, what I do etc.
And the IRA would usually call in bombs threats, giving the location and time so that innocents could be evacuated.
No, the IRA would call in bomb threats so that we knew it was them; the fact that it gave time (often only minutes) to evacuate an area was a unrelated side effect.
Good on Sergey & Google. To those clods who will joke about how a six year old can be influenced let me just say I remember when the Berlin Wall was erected. I was six years old and although I don't remember the political details I vividly recall seeing a front page photo in the Detroit News that showed what Woodward Avenue (the main street in downtown Detroit) would look like if the Wall had been built right down the center. It scared the crap out of me then even without knowing why and it remains an image that has stayed with me. Of *course* Sergey was affected.
Indeed; I was only about 7 when it fell & I remember seeing it on the news & being very happy. Obviously at 6 years old, I had no idea of the significance of the falling of the wall, but I sure as hell was able to absorb the atmosphere here in the UK. Both the highs and lows would have been amplified on the other side of the iron curtain.
That was exactly the point I was trying to make - SA has one of the worst crime rates in the world, and yet my Dad's perception was that the UK was worse because of Sky's media coverage.
Seriously? Even Sky isn't that bad is it? I know that they dumb down the news (that's why I stopped watching it), but now it seems I should watch it for the same reason I watch Fox*; comedy.
*For the non-Brits: Yes, we get Fox on Satellite in the UK.
I was hoping it would be called Her Majesty's Space Agency (HMSA), it sounds much better then UKSA.
(Great British Space Agency) GBSA* also sounds better. They picked the worst possible name from those available...
*Yes, yes I know... but how much input will come from Northern Ireland, really?
Me: Uh, Dad, do you watch the news about South Africa at all?
Dad: Yeah, but it sounds much worse over there!
OK, I'm probably making a similar mistake the other way round, but isn't South Africa meant to have one of the highest car-jacking rates and some of the highest rates of violent crime in the world? I couldn't imagine here (the sleepy South of England) being worse than many places in the world in terms of crime levels, let alone South Africa.
Whoosssssh
That intelligent people such as slashdotters have no knowledge of the United States Constitution. Nowhere in the constitution does it guarantee the citizens healthcare.
I'm not American, but (Article I, Section 8, Clause 1):
The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States
Health care sounds like providing for the general welfare to me
Republicans are opposed because it's socialism. The same kind of socialism that drove the economies of North Korea and Soviet Russia into the ground.
This will not end well.
As another non-American, it doesn't look particularly socialist to me. Even if it was "socialist" so's the police, fire service, army etc. Why not health care; it works here in the UK, or are you one of those people who believe "Stephen Hawking would have died under the British system" - Something I saw one of your politicians actually say (on youTube).
Not if the government declares it necessary for national security.
Then the government wouldn't bother buying it, they'd simply take it; still no profit involved (for the corps.).
DHS has nothing to do with DOD and CIA. You may be thinking of Director of National Intelligence, who is meant to head up the cooperative efforts of NSA, CIA, DIA, FBI counter intelligence, etc. However, the current DNI is a former Naval officer and is, of course, going to be more sympathetic to the arguments of the NSA (formerly known as Army Signals Intelligence) and DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) than the CIA.
OTT with the TLAs ;p
The government has a bad resume?
This morning I was awoken by my alarm clock powered by electricity generated by the public power monopoly regulated by the US department of energy. I then took a shower in the clean water provided by the municipal water utility. After that, I turned on the TV to one of the FCC regulated channels to see what the national weather service of the national oceanographic and atmospheric administration determined the weather was going to be like using satellites designed, built, and launched by the national aeronautics and space administration. I watched this while eating my breakfast of US department of agriculture inspected food and taking the drugs which have been determined as safe by the food and drug administration.
At the appropriate time as regulated by the US congress and kept accurate by the national institute of standards and technology and the US naval observatory, I get into my national highway traffic safety administration approved automobile and set out to work on the roads build by the local, state, and federal departments of transportation, possibly stopping to purchase additional fuel of a quality level determined by the environmental protection agency, using legal tender issed by the federal reserve bank. On the way out the door I deposit any mail I have to be sent out via the US postal service and drop the kids off at the public school.
After spending another day not being maimed or killed at work thanks to the workplace regulations imposed by the department of labor and the occupational safety and health administration, enjoying another two meals which again do not kill me because of the USDA, I drive my NHTSA car back home on the DOT roads, to ny house which has not burned down in my absence because of the state and local building codes and fire marshal’s inspection, and which has not been plundered of all it’s valuables thanks to the local police department.
I then log on to the internet which was developed by the defense advanced research projects administration and post on freerepublic.com and fox news forums about how SOCIALISM in medicine is BAD because the government can’t do anything right
This. You, sir win the internet.
Wow, linked from TFA http://www.silicon.com/management/public-sector/2005/10/31/id-card-costs-could-hit-30bn-39153819/ 30bn sterling ($45bn!) is a lot of money. What could be so extremely expensive? They mention integration [with other systems] costs, but it seems like they could build the whole system from ground up with that kind of cash, make it current and secure. Even Apple could build a huge datacenter for $1bn...
Which is exactly why the next government will scrap it.
The libertoons whinging about ID cards have no idea what they're talking about.
This lot fail to see that most non-Anglo countries have mandatory cards, and it doesn't bother anybody. The idea that an ID card and a record in a database somewhere means getting analprobed constantly by police officers in ski masks is riscible.
Big countries just as advanced, free and democratic as the English-speaking world (perhaps more so), like France and Spain have got them. Why not make life easier for government agencies trying to enforce the law, prevent fraud, and prevent illegal immigration?
It's not the card per se that's the problem, it's the giant database (the NIR) that's going with it that people object too. None of those other countries you mention have anything like the National Identity Register.
and they sell your profile to the government... for profit
As UK law currently stands, that would be a breech of the data protection act.
That's charmingly naive. You seriously think that Cameron will hold to his promise to cancel ID cards?
Not a Tory*, but "Dave" was absolutely right that a referendum post ratification would be pointless. They were idiots for promising one in the first place.
On the issue of the ID card; both opposition parties have pledged to drop the card and it has stopped being a vote winner to the extent that even Labour have rolled back the extent of the scheme. Now that cuts are needed it's an obvious, symbolic, target, but I'll keep donating to no2id to keep the pressure up to try and make sure that the NIR is dropped as well as the card.
*I live in a lib-dem\tory marginal & am a member of the Pirate Party UK. I'll probably vote Lib-dem.
"The planned sequel to The Hobbit is to be an *original story not written by Tolkien*, covering the 60 years between The Hobbit, and the Lord of the Rings."
Thanks but no thanks.
The summary is wrong, from TFA:
"According to studio New Line, the first film will be an adaptation of The Hobbit, the novel Tolkien published before his Lord of the Rings cycle.
The second will be an original story focusing on the 60 years between the book and the beginning of the Rings trilogy. "
So we're getting a hobbit movie AND a new story.