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lhsi writes:

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-11/caos-ssr112114.php
Abstract: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1055790314003819

A new genetic sequencing technique has found that turtles are not as closely related to lizards and snakes as previously thought; and instead have a closer relationship with birds, crocodiles and dinosaurs.

We've gotten several submissions about the unrest here today of various sorts, but I couldn't bring myself to publish any of them. I live in St. Louis, not particularly near to the conflict zones, but not so far that they're foreign territory. I have close friends who posted pictures of the StL Metropolitain Police Department's "Civil Disobedience Squad" from their apartment windows and others who got gassed while taking shelter in a coffee shop. My first steady-girlfriend from way back when now lives in Ferguson itself where she and her husband have spent months putting their children back to sleep when circling choppers wake them in the night. I have been to the Canfield Green Apartments, spoken with parents there, and played with their children.

The mood here today is uneasy, as we get the gamut of reactions from our friends, family, and co-workers: head-in-the-sand, outrage, fear, reactionary griping, sadness, hope, and exhaustion. Some want things to go back to normal, for others that is an intolerable proposition. No one knows what will happen next.

So, why talk about this here? What angle does SoylentNews have to offer? For one, feel free to take this as an ask-me-anything about St. Louis and its history. I've lived here most of my life, and have worked jobs from tech to broadcasting to music to cab driving. I know this town and its people. For another, I want to hear what folks far afield have to say about this; especially observations from folk from other regions and countries. Finally, we are uniquely suited to dig into the tech-side of this, streaming, KKK vs Anonymous, drones, etc. than many traditional reporting sources.

-LaminatorX

tonyPick writes:

phys.org has an article on a study which investigates the improved stability that electric vehicles bring to the power grid.

Several recent studies have shown that plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) operating as vehicle-to-grid (V2G) devices can offer advantages for the grid such as backup power for renewable energy sources, power regulation, and load balancing.

Now in a new study, researchers have found another potential advantage of using PEVs as sources of power for the grid: they can improve stability when the grid is subjected to large disturbances

This study appears to look at a two way communication mechanism between the grid and vehicles using low latency ethernet links to control power consumption - Vehicles can consume when there is surplus power, but can react to shortages by feeding return power back into the grid.

The results of the simulations show that PEVs can improve stability in two ways. First, they can reduce the speed and voltage fluctuations resulting from large disturbances by up to 80%. And second, they can extend the critical clearing times (after which the system will be unable to resume stable operation) by 20-40%. In general, the PEVs can begin to stabilize the grid within seconds of a large disturbance

The paper, published in the New Journal of Physics, is available for download.

jbernardo writes:

Do you remember Manic Mansion? The Monkey Island series? The genius behind those great adventure games is back, with a kickstarter project for a new old style adventure, Thimbleweed Park. Thimbleweed Park is the curious story of two washed up detectives called in to investigate a dead body found in the river just outside of town. It’s a game where you switch between five playable characters while uncovering the dark, satirical and bizarre world of Thimbleweed Park. There are also multiple possible endings.

It's a game with a very retro feel, but brought up-to-date with improved programming techniques and advances in technology when compared to the original.

With 23 days to go, it is already funded, but there are some interesting extended goals, including an android version.

AnonTechie writes:

For many decades, a fantasy among space enthusiasts has been to invent a device that produces a net thrust in one direction, without any need for reaction mass. Of course, a reaction-less space drive of this type is impossible. Or is it ? By Charles Platt

In October of this year, at the laboratory of Dr. James Woodward in California State University at Fullerton (above), I watched a very small-scale experiment that was surprisingly persuasive. Unlike all the "free energy" scams that you see online, Woodward's device does not violate basic physical laws (it does not produce more energy than it consumes, and does not violate Newton's third law). Nor is Woodward withholding any information about his methods. He has written a book, published by Springer, that explains in relentless detail exactly how his equipment works--assuming that it does, indeed, work. He published his theory in Foundations of Physics Letters, vol. 3, no. 5, 1990, and he even managed to get a US patent -- number 5,280,864, issued January 25, 1994.

http://boingboing.net/2014/11/24/the-quest-for-a-reactionless-s.html

NotSanguine writes:

While there seem to be a plethora of stories about how "cloud" (private or public) computing is and will revolutionize the way we work and how products are brought to market, has this really affected the way that technical people do their jobs or find new work?

For me, the biggest changes have come in how the systems I'm responsible for are deployed, secured and managed. But aside from changes in some management tools and implementation scenarios, things haven't changed all that much.

So how has the advent of more centralized computing (resource pooling, application/workload partitioning, fluid resource allocation, etc.) affected how and with whom you do your work?

E_NOENT writes:

Norm Matloff, professor of Computer Science at UC-Davis, writes an insightful post on how Obama's latest executive actions on immigration might affect the American tech worker.

He writes:

The issue is touchy because while we don't want to discriminate unfairly against our fellow tech workers claiming a different nationality, there might be reason for being concern that continued influx of low-cost labor from overseas might provide (even more) negative pressure on the salaries and opportunities for the American tech worker. The spectre of ageism is certainly lurking in the shadows as well.

We've seen this kind of thing before of course, but now the issue seems to have gained added momentum.

What do you think? Is there cause for concern and if so, what strategies do we need to employ so we don't become irrelevant?

gewg_ writes:

El Reg reports

[The week of November 23,] punters [traveling] between Bristol and Bath will be able to ride on a bus ultimately powered by human poo, the first ever such service in the UK.

The 40-seater "Bio-Bus" will run up to two times a day and is expected to carry around 10,000 passengers a month by tour operator Bath Bus Company. It can travel up to 300km on a full tank of pressurised methane, which is produced from the equivalent annual waste of five people.

The Bio-Bus will be powered by people living in the area "including quite possibly those on the bus itself," said Mohammed Saddiq, GENeco general manager - the company which generates the biomethane gas that will fuel the service. This is done at the Bristol sewage works.

[...]17 million cubic metres of biomethane is generated a year at the Bristol plant. GENeco said this could power 8,300 homes, though in fact most of it is used to power the treatment plant itself. However there is a surplus of biogas left over for projects such as the Poo Bus.

AnonTechie writes:

Researchers have made great progress in recent years in the design and creation of biological circuits — systems that, like electronic circuits, can take a number of different inputs and deliver a particular kind of output. But while individual components of such biological circuits can have precise and predictable responses, those outcomes become less predictable as more such elements are combined.

A team of researchers at MIT has now come up with a way of greatly reducing that unpredictability, introducing a device that could ultimately allow such circuits to behave nearly as predictably as their electronic counterparts. The findings are published this week in the journal Nature Biotechnology, in a paper by associate professor of mechanical engineering Domitilla Del Vecchio and professor of biological engineering Ron Weiss.

Hugh Pickens writes:

Jason Kane reports at PBS that emergency treatments delivered in ambulances that offer “Advanced Life Support” for cardiac arrest may be linked to more death, comas and brain damage than those providing “Basic Life Support.” "They’re taking a lot of time in the field to perform interventions that don’t seem to be as effective in that environment,” says Prachi Sanghavi. “Of course, these are treatments we know are good in the emergency room, but they’ve been pushed into the field without really being tested and the field is a much different environment.” The study suggests that high-tech equipment and sophisticated treatment techniques may distract from what’s most important during cardiac arrest — transporting a critically ill patient to the hospital quickly.

Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulances stick to simpler techniques, like chest compressions, basic defibrillation and hand-pumped ventilation bags to assist with breathing with more emphasis placed on getting the patient to the hospital as soon as possible. Survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest patients are extremely low regardless of the ambulance type with roughly 90 percent of the 380,000 patients who experience cardiac arrest outside of a hospital each year not surviving to hospital discharge. But researchers found that 90 days after hospitalization, patients treated in BLS ambulances were 50 percent more likely to survive than their counterparts treated with ALS. Not everyone is convinced of the conclusions. “They’ve done as much as they possibly can with the existing data but I’m not sure that I’m convinced they have solved all of the selection biases,” says Judith R. Lave. “I would say that it should be taken as more of an indication that there may be some very significant problems here.”

AnonTechie writes:

The new robot sentries guarding Microsoft’s Silicon Valley campus seem like something straight out of a futuristic sci-fi movie. According to ExtremeTech ( http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/194338-here-come-the-autonomous-robot-security-guards-what-could-possibly-go-wrong ), each of the K5 security guard robots from robotics company Knightscope ( http://knightscope.com ) stands 5 feet tall and weighs 300 pounds, so you probably don’t want to mess with one.

The K5 robots don’t come with any weapons onboard—thankfully—but they use a suite of alarms, sirens, and cameras to monitor and patrol the grounds of Microsoft’s campus. If one spots trouble, it’ll either sound an alarm or dispatch a human security guard to its location.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2851393/microsoft-turns-to-robotic-security-guards-to-watch-for-trouble.html

gewg_ writes:

OpenSource.com reports

Jim Myers, professor of genetics at Oregon State University--and before him, breeder Jim Baggett--have, since 1966, worked to

breed a broccoli with an "exserted" head, which meant that instead of nestling in the leaves the crown would protrude on a long stalk, making harvest easier.

[...]Baggett had used versions of another broccoli called Waltham, released by the University of Massachusetts in the 1950s, as part of the foundation for his original exserted-head lines. Hoping to advance its evolution by letting others work on it, he and Myers shared their germplasm (an industry term for seed) with breeders throughout the United States.

One recipient was the broccoli division of Royal Sluis, a Dutch company that had a research farm in Salinas, California. Through the channels of corporate consolidation, that germplasm ended up with the world's largest vegetable-seed company, Seminis, which in 2005 was bought by the world's largest seed company, Monsanto.

In 2011, Seminis was granted US Patent 8,030,549--"Broccoli adapted for ease of harvest"--whose basic identifying characteristic was an exserted head. More than a third of the original plant material behind the invention was germplasm that Baggett had shared in 1983.

[...]What infuriates Myers, though, is that patents such as the one Seminis is seeking don't just impede sharing; they deter others from using their own germplasm. As the examiner noted, Seminis's patent application claims essentially all broccoli with an exserted head of a commercial size. If Myers's plants are too similar to those grown by Seminis, he won't be able to release his own variety for fear of patent infringement. Even if he did, no farmer or seed company would use it lest they be sued for the same violation.

mendax writes:

Ars Technica published a story that should give many of us some pause:

A 29-year-old Virginia woman is set to appear again in federal court Wednesday after being charged in connection to favorable Facebook posts about the Islamic State of in Syria (ISIS). One of her posts simply read, "I love ISIS."

The woman, Heather Coffman, was caught in a terrorism sting operation after the authorities got a search warrant to unmask her Facebook account information. The warrant noted that there was probable cause to unveil who was behind several Facebook accounts because there were pictures of ISIS freedom fighters with words at the bottom that said "Allah has preferred the Mujahideen over those who remain [behind] with great reward." She also shared a job description on the social networking site that said "jihad for Allah's sake."

"In my experience, this indicates support for violent jihad. Further, the mujahideen are individuals that fight violent jihad," FBI agent Odette Tavares said in court documents. Additionally, in response to a question on Facebook about why she published pro-ISIS pictures, Coffman responded, "I love ISIS," according to the government. The feds also said she posted that she hates gays and Zionists and that "they should all die."

Since when did advocating a revolution, even one as distasteful and violent as ISIS, become illegal? Does this mean that if we support the work of Edward Snowden and Glenn Greenwald, Wikileaks, the ACLU, EFF, or Anonymous we're just as guilty of supporting terrorism and espionage in our own ways?

gewg_ writes:

The European Union's interoperability page reports:

The Dutch city of Arnhem has some civil servants working from home. The city did not properly license the proprietary software those folks were using. After paying a €600k settlement with A_software_vendor_you_all_know, the town has cancelled its plans to convert to Open Source office software.

[...]says the city's CIO, Simon Does

"It makes no sense not to use these licences, so we've stopped looking for alternatives", the CIO told the European Commission's Open Source Observatory and Repository (OSOR). Possible alternatives would have been LibreOffice or Apache OpenOffice, two closely related open source office suites.

N.B. Some here will remember that in the year 2000, Ernie Ball, Inc. was dinged for $100k and that that episode was enough to convince CEO Sterling Ball to order that all EULAware used in that operation be replaced with FOSS.

I am one of lucky guys who works mostly from home, but I work for a big company and every now and then have teleconferences with people. The video is currently over Jabber or Skype from my dull looking basement.

What I would really like (yes, I am greedy here:) is a way to work from anywhere without my colleagues asking jealous questions and the only thing that stops me currently is my said basement on the video. I need a portable way to replace it with something - anything - consistent.

The ideal high-tech solution would be a video camera driver that substitutes the background, which I believe does not exists (I run Jabber on Apple and Skype mostly on Linux).

Low tech solution is a screen on the back. Regular Japanese type screens or photo backgrounds are bulky and may fall. A little screen hanging from a wall looks fine, but it would require finding a wall to hang it onto. Something attachable to the chair or even to my back appears more desirable. This screen http://www.amazon.com/Impact-Collapsible-Background-Black-White/dp/B0053EBFBQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1416519164&sr=1-1&keywords=collapsible+background looks good, but still too big folded. Light reflectors of similar design are smaller, but probably not very good as screens.

Perhaps, I should make one myself - reflector size wire loop with screen quality panel?

If anybody has a bright idea or a ready solution I would really appreciate it.