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janrinok writes:

A report that could be bad news for many Californians describes how 2 faults are, in fact, connected which might have significant consequences:

University of California, Berkeley seismologists have proven that the Hayward Fault is essentially a branch of the Calaveras Fault that runs east of San Jose, which means that both could rupture together, resulting in a significantly more destructive earthquake than previously thought. "The maximum earthquake on a fault is proportional to its length, so by having the two directly connected, we can have a rupture propagating across from one to the other, making a larger quake," said lead researcher Estelle Chaussard, a post-doctoral fellow in the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory. "People have been looking for evidence of this for a long time, but only now do we have the data to prove it."

The 70-kilometer-long Hayward Fault is already known as one of the most dangerous in the country because it runs through large population areas from its northern limit on San Pablo Bay at Richmond to its southern end south of Fremont. In an update of seismic hazards last month, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated a 14.3 percent likelihood of a magnitude 6.7 or greater earthquake on the Hayward Fault in the next 30 years, and a 7.4 percent chance on the Calaveras Fault. These are based on the assumption that the two faults are independent systems, and that the maximum quake on the Hayward Fault would be between magnitudes 6.9 and 7.0. Given that the Hayward and Calaveras faults are connected, the energy released in a simultaneous rupture could be 2.5 times greater, or a magnitude 7.3 quake.

"A rupture from Richmond to Gilroy would produce about a 7.3 magnitude quake, but it would be even greater if the rupture extended south to Hollister, where the Calaveras Fault meets the San Andreas Fault," Chaussard said.

tonyPick writes:

From the FSF website is the release that there has been a sudden increase in the use of GNU Social following the suspension of a prominent Twitter user.

GNU Social provides a decentralised social networking system,and:

Twitter user @Barbijaputa is popular in Spain, with more than 167,000 followers. She's known for criticizing the government or any other political parties or groups of power.

On January 14th, Twitter suspended @Barbijaputa's account after she participated in a conversation about sexually transmitted diseases. The next day, she created a profile on GNU social node Quitter.se and started posting. Her Twitter followers proved willing to follow her all the way to GNU social, and began joining existing nodes en masse and starting their own.

The growth was so explosive that the some of the existing GNU social nodes were unable to handle the traffic

There is further background information on GNU Social at the project homepage.

It's worth noting that the numbers (in the thousands) are still relatively low, compared to the Twitter statistics:

The node Quitter.es (Quitter Spain) was created to handle some of the extra people that overloaded existing GNU social instances like Quitter.no and Quitter.is. Quitter Spain now has 6,667 users and counting and Quitter.se reports 4,982 users, due in part to the incoming Spanish users.

However it's still interesting to hear about the improvement in traction gained in a relatively short time frame, and it will be worth monitoring to see if the gains persist or continue.

Originally spotted at HackerNews

janrinok writes:

Several weeks back, Bill Gates was proclaiming the dark side of artificial intelligence (AI). Teradata's John Thuma believes that Bill Gates is wrong, and explains how big data and machine intelligence could be a massive game changer if only we can get over our fear of progress:

If I can come up with a computer doctor better than your current doctor, would you as a patient consider it? Would you as a doctor use it? For example, if we do an analysis of common genes between diseases such as obesity and asthma, we can construct a virtual dictionary that defines those genes. We can then take the human genome and check it against that dictionary to see who's got those genes and use a proven data source to see who's afflicted with either of the diseases. With that information we can predict who's obese and who's asthmatic, and vice versa. If we can do that across a collection of diseases, we would have a tool for being proactive with healthcare and promoting wellness.

I'm not saying we'll ever want to get rid of doctors, but we must overcome fear that stops us from making progress. Right now, humans are on the front line of fields like healthcare and machine intelligence is in the background. In the future we'll see machines move closer to the front under the governance of doctors.

So Soylentils, do you agree with Thurma, or do you think that we are treading a very dangerous path?

An Anonymous Coward writes:

Amazon has unveiled a button that can re-order your commonly-used household products. And they can be delivered in as little as one hour, if you live in one of six cities where Amazon is also testing a new ultra-speed delivery service! "Since launching, we've seen high demand on everything from essentials like water and paper towels to more surprising deliveries like getting a customer a hard-to-find, top-selling toy in 23 minutes," says one Amazon VP of their "Prime Now" service. And the Amazon Dash button lets you set up recurring orders which can be triggered whenever you press a small real-world button you keep somewhere in your house (which then places that order over your Wi-Fi network).

Hugh Pickens writes:

Alyssa Newcomb reports at ABC News that the software company started by Bill Gates and Paul Allen on April 4, 1975 is 40 and fabulous and highlights products and moments that helped define Microsoft's first four decades including: Microsoft’s first product - software for the Altair 8800; Getting a deal to provide a DOS Operating System for IBM's computers in 1980; Shipping Windows 1.0 in 1985; Microsoft Office for Mac released in 1989; Windows 3.0 ships in 1990, ushering in the era of graphics on computers; Windows 95 launches in 1995, selling an astounding 7 million copies in the first five weeks, and the first time the start menu, task bar, minimize, maximize and close buttons are introduced on each window.

For his part, Bill Gates sent a letter to employees celebrating Microsoft's anniversary, recalling how far computing has come since he and Paul Allen set the goal of a computer on every desk and in every home, and predicting that computing will evolve faster in the next 10 years than it ever has before. "We are nearing the point where computers and robots will be able to see, move, and interact naturally, unlocking many new applications and empowering people even more. Under Satya's leadership, Microsoft is better positioned than ever to lead these advances. We have the resources to drive and solve tough problems. We are engaged in every facet of modern computing and have the deepest commitment to research in the industry," concludes Gates. "We have accomplished a lot together during our first 40 years and empowered countless businesses and people to realize their full potential. But what matters most now is what we do next. Thank you for helping make Microsoft a fantastic company now and for decades to come."

Some of us may disagree that the company is currently fabulous, but there is no doubt that it has been a force that has shaped the industry for the past forty years.

janrinok writes:

Wired has a story about volcanoes or, more specifically, the growing number of volcanoes that are being watched by webcams:

Never in the history of volcanology have so many volcanoes been monitored. We have the ability to sit and watch hundreds of volcanoes as they sleep, rumble or erupt — all from the comfort of our homes or offices. This instant connectivity to volcanoes in some of the most remote parts of the world is what gives us the impression that there are more volcanic eruptions today than in the past. There really aren’t more, but rather we hear about or see the eruptions much faster. With the network of webcams and the peering eyes of satellites, almost no volcano can erupt on the planet and we not notice. So, fear not, volcanism isn’t on the rise but our ability to see the action live is.

The article goes on to list well over 100 volcanoes that you can watch from the comfort of your own computer, and the list was updated on 2 April. However, remember that watching a volcano that isn't doing what volcanoes are most famous for doing - erupting - can be a little bit like watching paint dry...

An Anonymous Coward writes in with an article from Vice.com.

The Economist has a breakdown of the current system of the tax credits and the expected economic impact of the changes.

janrinok writes in with a story from IT World regarding Google's announcement of new Chromebook and Chromebit HDMI models:

Google announced an Asus “Chromebit” HDMI stick running Chrome OS, plus four new low-cost Chromebooks, and opened its Android-to-Chrome OS app porting tech.

Google took the Linux and Chrome browser based Chrome OS a step closer to a potential convergence with Android as it announced the first embedded form-factor Chrome OS computer, as well as the most affordable touchscreen Chromebook yet. Google also opened up its App Runtime for Chrome (ARC) technology for porting Android apps to Chrome OS to all Android app developers, and revealed a beta Chrome Launcher 2.0 with greater integration of Android’s Google Now application.

The Haier Chromebook 11 and Hisense Chromebook — two 11.6-inch models aimed at educational and emerging markets — each go for $149, down from a previous Chromebook low of $199. The convertible, touchscreen-enabled Asus Chromebook Flip sells for $249, which is $30 cheaper than the touch-ready Acer C720P-2661 and $50 less than the $299 HP Chromebook 14 G3.

All four Chromebooks integrate the HD-ready RK3288SoC, as well as 2GB of DDR3 RAM, 16GB of eMMC flash, a microSD slot, an HDMI port, dual USB 2.0 ports, 802.11ac, and Bluetooth 4.0.A front-facing 720p camera is also available, as well as 100GB of free Google Drive storage for two years.

jdccdevel writes:

The CBC has an article about a medieval recipe found in a 1,000-year-old book that can kill antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

The recipe's ingredients include: garlic, onion or leek, wine, and oxgall (bile from a cow's stomach). Oh, yeah, it's also supposed to be "brewed in a brass vessel, strained and then left to sit for nine days before use."

From the article:

A recipe for the potion, originally an eye salve, was found in Bald's Leechbok, a 10th-century book of Anglo-Saxon medical advice and recipes for medicines, salves and treatments found in the British Library.
...
When tested in mice on wounds infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), it performed at least as well as conventional antibiotics, reported scientists at the Annual Conference of the Society for General Microbiology this week in the United Kingdom.

"We were absolutely blown away by just how effective the combination of ingredients was," Freya Harrison, the University of Nottingham microbiologist who led the study, said in a statement.

Apparently, this recipe is even effective against biofilms which modern antibiotics really struggle to combat.

More details from The University of Nottingham and BBC News.

janrinok writes:

A study [Abstract; full paper pay-walled] published online on 23 March, 2015 in Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences related to the fight against malaria is being reported by Heather Zeiger over at phys.org:

The World Health Organization's 2014 report on worldwide malaria cases showed that while there has been a significant decrease in the incidence of malaria, overall, there were still 198 million cases reported in 2013, with an estimated 584,000 deaths. Most deaths are due to the more lethal form of malaria that is derived from P. falciparum. While artemisinin combination therapies have been effective in fighting malaria, five countries have reported artemisinin resistance, with the area along the Cambodia-Thailand border reporting resistance to almost all available antimalarial drugs.

To find new and better drugs to combat malaria, scientists need to understand the mechanism by which toxic hematin forms in the body and how drugs like the classic antimalarial drug, chloroquine, serve to inhibit this process. To this end, a group from the University of Houston has elucidated, for the first time, the mechanism by which hematin crystals form as well as how chloroquine inhibits this process. Their work is reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

When the malarial parasite consumes hemoglobin in red blood cells, it releases toxic hematin which is then converted into non-toxic hemazoin crystals. As long as hemazoin crystals are formed, the parasite survives. Even though hemozoin crystals were identified as early as the late nineteenth century, scientists are still unsure of the fundamental mechanisms by which hemozoin crystals are grown within the parasite. Additionally, while there are theories as to how antidotes, like chloroquine, act to inhibit crystallization, the mechanism has remained unclear. Katy N. Olafson, Megan A. Ketchum, Jeffrey D. Rimer, and Peter G. Vekilov from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and the Department of Chemistry at the University of Houston sought to investigate this process using model systems and in situ atomic force microscopy (AFM).

takyon writes in with a story about new star formation. Science Magazine is reporting on research[Abstract, full article pay walled] published on 2 April, 2015 in the journal Science. The paper details observations of a protostar in the early phases of formation. The protostar, named W75N(B)-VLA 2 was first observed in 1996.

Radio telescope observations in 1996 showed little structure in the protostar, while new (2014) observations showed significantly more structure in the protostar. From the Science Magazine article:

In teenagers as in stars, the first years of life are times of great change. A massive protostar that lies about 4250 light-years from Earth has undergone a dramatic evolution over the course of just 18 years, a new study reveals. In 1996, when scientists used a radio telescope to observe a star-forming region dubbed W75N(B), one of the objects in that cloud—called VLA 2—had very little structure: Its magnetic field wasn’t oriented in any particular direction, and the ionized material streaming from the star—its version of solar wind—spewed outward at similar speeds in all directions. But observations last year hint that the protostar’s stellar wind was flowing more quickly from the object’s poles (relative speeds depicted in bluish ovoid in image above), and its magnetic field had become aligned with that of the larger cloud of gas and dust that surrounds it[Abstract].

...

Over the next few hundred thousand years, W75N(B)-VLA 2 will evolve into a star about six times the mass of our sun, team members estimate.

This story has also been covered by Astronomy.com, Phys.org, and the BBC.

AnonTechie writes:

A federal appeals court ruled (PDF) yesterday that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) doesn't apply to Netflix, since the online video provider is "not connected to any actual, physical place."

Donald Cullen sued Netflix in March 2011, attempting to kick off a class-action lawsuit on behalf of disabled people who didn't have full use of the videos because they aren't all captioned. A district court judge threw out his lawsuit in 2013, and yesterday's ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit upholds that decision.

The decision is "unpublished," meaning it isn't intended to be used as precedent in other cases. However, it certainly doesn't bode well for any plaintiff thinking about filing a similar case in the 9th Circuit, which covers most of the Western US.

At least one other court has come out the other way on this issue. Three months after Cullen filed suit, the National Association for the Deaf (NAD) filed an ADA lawsuit against Netflix in Massachusetts over the same issue. In that case, the judge found that Netflix was a "place of public accommodation" and would have to face the lawsuit against the disability rights group.

After the company lost the initial motion, Netflix settled the case with NAD, agreeing to pay $750,000 in legal fees and caption all of its videos by the year 2014.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/04/9th-circuit-rules-netflix-isnt-subject-to-disability-law/

NotSanguine writes:

Jacob Aron at New Scientist reports on new research based on data collected by NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer.

The research, presented on March 16, 2015 at the 46th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, details the discovery of a second "tail" of material trailing behind the moon.

According to the article, Anthony Colaprete theorizes that if the same processes are at work in other parts of the solar system, these techniques could provide a way to remotely characterize the surfaces of other celestial bodies.

Data from NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE), which spent seven months orbiting the moon in 2013 and 2014, has revealed a tail of nanoscale dust particles.

The finding follows the discovery of the first lunar tail in 1999, when ground-based telescopes spotted a faint stream of sodium gas stretching out behind the moon for hundreds of thousands of kilometres.

Anthony Colaprete, who is in charge of LADEE's spectrometer instrument, wanted to get a closer look at the sodium tail, so positioned LADEE on the dark side of the moon and pointed it away from the sun. The spectrometer works by looking at the patterns of light wavelengths that different substances emit or reflect. In this position, the instrument picked up the sodium, but there also seemed to be something else, a brighter signal in the blue and ultraviolet wavelengths.

mendax writes:

A Pew Research Center report has found that one in ten Americans access the Internet exclusively by using their smartphones:

10% of Americans own a smartphone but do not have broadband at home, and 15% own a smartphone but say that they have a limited number of options for going online other than their cell phone. Those with relatively low income and educational attainment levels, younger adults, and non-whites are especially likely to be "smartphone-dependent."

[...]

Some 13% of Americans with an annual household income of less than $30,000 per year are smartphone-dependent. Just 1% of Americans from households earning more than $75,000 per year rely on their smartphones to a similar degree for online access. 12% of African Americans and 13% of Latinos are smartphone-dependent, compared with 4% of whites.

Ars Technica points to other troubling signs about the state of broadband access in America:

US Census data from 2013 has previously shown that 24.9 million households out of 116.3 million nationwide have no Internet access, not even mobile broadband on a smartphone. In Detroit and some other cities, nearly 40 percent went without Internet service.

Nearly all Americans live in areas where they can buy broadband service if they could afford it, but Internet providers often don't compete against each other in individual cities and towns, keeping prices high. A new analysis by The Center for Public Integrity shows how broadband providers divide up territory in order to avoid competing against each other.

This is more of an "Ask Soylentils" question: A professor of mine once said in class that the digital divide between Internet "haves" and "have-nots" would eventually create serious social discord. Any thoughts on the subject?

Jim Profit writes:

Joyent announced a new platform for Docker deployment, where Docker instances are deployed into containers running directly on the hypervisor, called Triton.

Joyent is using their own Illumos-derived distribution, SmartOS, which combines features from Solaris, including ZFS, Zones, Dtrace, Crossbow and others, with SmartOS and Linux (via ABI translation) containers , alongside VMs (using their port of KVM), encapsulated into Solaris Zones.

They claim to offer better performance by removing some of the virtualization layer (and because of the supposed superior performance of their SmartOS hypervisor), and better security by using Solaris Zones and Crossbow network virtualization. You can even use Dtrace inside Linux containers.

Joyent also claims the data center can now be seen as a single, elastic Docker host, as the Docker API is implemented at the datacenter level via their SmartDatacenter software.

The environment is open source and available on github.

Is SmartOS and the platform built on top of it being marginalized because it's not Linux? What comparable virtualization/containerization platforms run on Linux?

Is this just an attempt by a niche-player to grab some attention?