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Thexalon writes:

A federal judge recently ruled that banning photos of ballots was unconstitutional:

The ruling clears the way for New Hampshire voters to post their ballot selfies during the first-in-the-nation presidential primaries early next year.

New Hampshire's ban went into effect September 2014 and made it illegal for anyone to post a photo of a marked ballot and share it on social media. The violation was punishable by a fine of up to $1,000.

[...] Mashable's Juana Summers adds that the judge found "there was no evidence that vote-buying or voter coercion were current problems in New Hampshire."

This seems like an interesting legal question, with good arguments on both sides:
- For the ban: If a photograph of a marked ballot is taken from the voting booth, then the voter can verify their vote with an interested third party, including those that would seek to purchase or coerce their vote.
- Against the ban: Such a photograph is protected free speech, and thus cannot be legally banned.

What do Soylentils think about this?

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

When others get off the train to finally go home, Leonie Müller stays behind. That's because she already is home: The train is her apartment, and she says she likes it that way.

The German college student gave up her apartment in spring. "It all started with a dispute I had with my landlord," Müller told The Washington Post via e-mail. "I instantly decided I didn't want to live there anymore — and then I realized: Actually, I didn't want to live anywhere anymore."

Instead, she bought a subscription that allows her to board every train in the country for free. Now, Müller washes her hair in the train bathroom and writes her college papers while traveling at a speed of up to 190 mph. She says that she enjoys the liberty she has experienced since she gave up her apartment. "I really feel at home on trains, and can visit so many more friends and cities. It's like being on vacation all the time," Müller said.

Agatha Christie wrote a lot of her stories while travelling. DH Lawrence and Hemingway also. Would your work, creativity, and lifestyle mesh well with a life of permanent travel, like the girl from the article?

Original Submission

takyon writes:

http://m.theregister.co.uk/2015/08/22/social_media_driving_change_in_canada/

As Canadians settle in for the longest general election campaign since 1867, some uncomfortable incidents that had been ignored by commercial media outlets are gaining new exposure... A veritable who's who of Canadian protest and civil liberties groups became active in protesting against the pipelines, both online and off. It dragged on for years, and protests are still ongoing. Information emerged that said one of Canada's spy agencies – Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) – allegedly spied on the protesters and then allegedly illegally shared information about the protesters with the National Energy Board (NEB). NEB is the government entity tasked with overseeing environmentally sensitive projects such as oil pipelines. The NEB succumbed to industry capture years ago and now blatantly operates as nothing more than an extension of the energy companies themselves.

The reason everyone is freaking out about spooks spying on protesters is because bill C-51 – Canada's version of the US Patriot Act or the UK Snooper's Charter – gives the government the right to have protesters declared terrorists. Once declared a terrorist, for all intents and purposes one no longer has rights. [...] The BC pipeline protest events have served for many Canadians as confirmation of our worst fears. The sweeping powers granted in bill C-51 – which include the right to snoop on Canadian citizens electronically – will be abused, and they will be abused in short order.

Public support for bill C-51 has never been great, but these events are keeping the issue front of mind. Public outrage has already cost the Liberal party dearly. Many felt betrayed when Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau pushed his party vote for the bill, and even more so when he attempted to defend his actions after the fact. This, combined with a historic NDP victory at the provincial level in Alberta (which had previously had a 43-year-long Conservative dynasty) has moved the NDP to the top of the federal polls. The NDP have never before formed a federal government in Canada.

"exec" writes in with an IRC-submitted emoji update:

The candidate list for Unicode 9 is taking shape, with the final list of new emojis scheduled for approval in mid-2016.

38 emoji characters have been accepted as candidates for the 2016 Unicode update, including Face Palm, Selfie, Shrug, Fingers Crossed, and Pregnant Woman.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Toronto researchers have discovered that a single molecular event in our cells could hold the key to how we evolved to become the smartest animal on the planet.

Benjamin Blencowe, a professor in the University of Toronto's Donnelly Centre and Banbury Chair in Medical Research, and his team have uncovered how a small change in a protein called PTBP1 can spur the creation of neurons -- cells that make the brain -- that could have fuelled the evolution of mammalian brains to become the largest and most complex among vertebrates.
...
The key lays in the process that Blencowe's group studies, known as alternative splicing (AS), whereby gene products are assembled into proteins, which are the building blocks of life. During AS, gene fragments -- called exons -- are shuffled to make different protein shapes. It's like LEGO, where some fragments can be missing from the final protein shape.

AS enables cells to make more than one protein from a single gene, so that the total number of different proteins in a cell greatly surpasses the number of available genes. A cell's ability to regulate protein diversity at any given time reflects its ability to take on different roles in the body. Blencowe's previous work showed that AS prevalence increases with vertebrate complexity. So although the genes that make bodies of vertebrates might be similar, the proteins they give rise to are far more diverse in animals such as mammals, than in birds and frogs.

So...it turns out the answer to why we're smarter than chickens is not because we don't pass hraka where we silflay.

An alternative splicing event amplifies evolutionary differences between vertebrates [abstract]

Original Submission

t-3 writes:

From Boston.com:

Authorities stopped two men from entering the Pokemon World Championships in Boston after learning of violent threats against people attending the event, police said. They later found an array of weapons and arrested the pair on firearms charges, they said.

Security employees at the Hynes Convention Center, where the event was held Friday and Saturday, notified the Boston Regional Intelligence Center on Thursday of the threats.

The two men, 18-year-old Kevin Norton and 27-year-old James Stumbo, both of Iowa, were stopped when they tried to enter the event. Detectives, who had been informed that the men had driven from Iowa and had several firearms in their vehicle, asked the pair for licenses for any weapons, and the men could not produce them, police said. Authorities impounded the vehicle and released the suspects while they obtained a search warrant, police said.

On Friday, after obtaining a warrant, detectives searched the vehicle and "recovered one 12-gauge Remington shotgun, one DPM5 Model AR-15 rifle, several hundred rounds of ammunition, and a hunting knife," according to police.

Boston Globe link from submission [5 article/month paywall].

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

In the shadow of the nearby United Nations, I approached the Estonian consulate this week ready to complete what's been an eight-month journey. I waited this entire time to visit the 6th floor, finalize some paperwork, and leave with a shiny blue box no bigger than a standard envelope. Soon after, it was official.

I was finally an Estonian e-resident, one of the first 10,000 worldwide.

This Northern European country, formerly occupied by the Soviet Union, has become a tech powerhouse in recent years. Its burgeoning startup scene is highlighted by Skype, Estonian citizens have their own digital ID cards (which power the country's online voting system), and the country is the home of the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence. And a few months back in California, I heard Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas explain his homeland's latest ambition—e-residency cards that could extend some Estonian government services to non-residents like me.

"We have digital identity and digital signing that is equal by law for each and every Estonian citizen and each and every person that lives in Estonia," Rõivas said during a December 2014 event at Stanford University. "If you have a signature that is on your ID card, and you put it to your smart card reader combined with your PIN, and this is legally binding, and this is equal to your handwritten signature, you can do anything with that. We have used this for 10 years now, and we do believe that there are many things we can do."

Any Estonian e-residents care to comment on why this is worth doing?

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Access to a world of infinite information has changed how we communicate, process information, and think. Decentralized systems have proven to be more productive and agile than rigid, top-down ones. Innovation, creativity, and independent thinking are increasingly crucial to the global economy.

And yet the dominant model of public education is still fundamentally rooted in the industrial revolution that spawned it, when workplaces valued punctuality, regularity, attention, and silence above all else. (In 1899, William T. Harris, the US commissioner of education, celebrated the fact that US schools had developed the "appearance of a machine," one that teaches the student "to behave in an orderly manner, to stay in his own place, and not get in the way of others.") We don't openly profess those values nowadays, but our educational system—which routinely tests kids on their ability to recall information and demonstrate mastery of a narrow set of skills—doubles down on the view that students are material to be processed, programmed, and quality-tested. School administrators prepare curriculum standards and "pacing guides" that tell teachers what to teach each day. Legions of managers supervise everything that happens in the classroom; in 2010 only 50 percent of public school staff members in the US were teachers.
...
That's why a new breed of educators, inspired by everything from the Internet to evolutionary psychology, neuroscience, and AI, are inventing radical new ways for children to learn, grow, and thrive. To them, knowledge isn't a commodity that's delivered from teacher to student but something that emerges from the students' own curiosity-fueled exploration. Teachers provide prompts, not answers, and then they step aside so students can teach themselves and one another. They are creating ways for children to discover their passion—and uncovering a generation of geniuses in the process.

Good, long article on how education could be reinvented for the 21st century.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Using the foundations of 3D printing and applying them to the ancient art of glass production, the team at MIT has created a glass printing machine called G3DP.

The machine works like this: the upper part is essentially a kiln, where glass is loaded in and heated up to 1,900°F. Below that sits an alumina-zircon-silica nozzle​, which can programmed to make the same intricate moves in X-, Y-, and Z-space familiar to anyone who has seen a 3D printer in action. Shapes can be designed on the computer, and the G3DP will execute them.

In a paper scheduled to be published in the September 2015 issue of  3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing, the team outlines why the process could be useful more than simply creating beautiful glass sculptures: the precision the machine is able to work at means there's potential applications in product and architectural design as well.

Additive Manufacturing of Optically Transparent Glass

Original Submission

takyon writes:

NextBigFuture highlights this passive exoskeleton proof-of-concept being tested by the Australian Defence Science and Technology Group:

The current generation of powered exoskeletons uses a complex system of rigid linkages and mechatronics. They are showing real promise in enabling the wearer to lift and move about with very heavy loads.

However, the design and natural movement of the human body tends to battle with the exoskeleton movement, causing a dramatic increase in the user's energy cost when walking with a load. These systems tend to be heavy (>35 kg), very expensive and power hungry.

Defence science and technology researchers have developed a simple, lightweight (3 kg) fully-passive exoskeleton. This system uses Bowden cables to attached to a rigid backpack frame. The cables run down the back and legs to the base of the boot and transfer approximately two thirds of the backpack load to the ground. This load force bypasses the user's body, reducing compression forces from the backpack load through the torso and legs.

The benefits of such a system compared to a powered exoskeleton include: simplicity, no requirements for heavy batteries; low cost; easier to integrate with the user and equipment and redundancy when no longer required – remove and add to pack.

The development is at a proof-of-concept stage with early testing showing encouraging results. However, the biomechanics of the system require extensive refinement to ensure it is integrated optimally with the soldier and truly fit for purpose.

Earlier in the year, Carnegie Mellon and North Carolina State researchers showed off a prototype ankle exoskeleton that reduces the metabolic cost of walking by approximately 7 percent, which is about the equivalent of taking off a 10-pound backpack.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Oil rig inspection is a dangerous business. Traditionally roughnecks dangled from a wire, in gale-force winds if needed, to manually log wear and tear on the girders. Assessments include giant chimneys — called flare stacks — that belch fire during million-dollar-a-day shutdowns.

Increasingly the industry has found that swapping abseiling humans for small drones equipped with high-definition and thermal cameras can save time, cut costs and improve safety.

"These are large metal structures in a big pond of seawater. They will rust a lot, particularly in the North Sea where rigs designed to last 20 years are lasting more than 40. They are continually getting cracks and physical damage from the waves and need to be refurbished and fixed," says Chris Blackford, Sky Futures' chief operations officer.

Original Submission

Arthur T. Knackerbracket writes in wiht an article from ITWorld:

About one in 10 U.S. owners of an iPhone or other iOS device are currently using Apple Music, the Cupertino, Calif. company's streaming service, according to a survey conducted by MusicWatch.

But nearly half of those who have tried Apple Music -- which offers a free three-month trial -- have stopped using it, said MusicWatch, a research firm based in Huntington, N.Y. that specializes in the music industry.

Apple disputed MusicWatch's numbers. According to a company spokesman Thursday, 79% of the those worldwide who have signed up for Apple Music's trial continue to use the service.

Earlier this week, MusicWatch, citing the results of a survey it conducted this month of 5,000 U.S. consumers, contended that just 11% of all domestic iOS users were now using Apple Music.

"Actually, I was surprised, given all the run-up to Apple Music," said Russ Crupnick, a managing partner at MusicWatch, in an interview. "I thought the [11%] would be higher."

So did Jan Dawson, chief analyst at Jackdaw Research, who last week parsed Apple's Aug. 3 claim that globally it had signed up 11 million customers to Apple Music since the June 30 debut. "Eleven million is only about 2% of [the 500 million iPhone users worldwide], which makes for a tiny conversion rate," Dawson wrote in a piece published on Tech.pinions (subscription required).

Both Crupnick and Dawson were nonplussed by the low number, whether the 11% using Apple Music in the U.S. (Crupnick) or the 11 million Apple touted worldwide (Dawson). After all, the service doesn't cost users a dime until their three-month free ride ends. "It's a free, low-risk endeavor," said Dawson in an interview today. "Yet they have this very, very small number who have bothered to try it out."

Crupnick and Dawson each cast for reasons why fewer iOS owners -- the prime audience, although Apple Music can also be accessed by Mac and Windows users -- than expected had taken to the service. One possibility, both said, is that interest in music streaming had been grossly overestimated.

"This whole concept is relatively new to most people [in the U.S.], and is still getting traction," said Crupnick.

"Is this an indication that the market for streaming is very, very small, that it's not much bigger than Spotify has signed up?" asked Dawson, who pegged Spotify's global paid subscription base at 20 million.

Or is it because of the way that Apple presented the service?

Original Submission

tt4122068 writes:

The NBER (National Bureau of Economic Research) has published a new paper examining the increasing requirement for social skills in modern labor markets. Reinforcing some of the lessons of another recent story here on Soylent, the abstract is as follows:

A paywall-free version of the paper is available here.

Original Submission

The Mighty Buzzard writes:

So, last night the SJW types over at the Hugo awards decided they'd rather burn the whole thing to the ground than give out an award based on what the readers like instead of social justice reasons:

The members of the World Science Fiction Society rejected the slate of finalists in five categories, giving No Award in Best Novella, Short Story, Related Work, Editor Short Form, and Editor Long Form. This equals the total number of times that WSFS members have presented No Award in the entire history of the Hugo Awards, most recently in 1977.

Here are a few of the people on the #SadPuppies slate that should be quite surprised to learn that they were denied a chance at an award for being white males when they wake up this morning: Rajnar Vajra, Larry Correia, Annie Bellet, Kary English, Toni Weisskopf, Ann Sowards, Megan Gray, Sheila Gilbert, Jennifer Brozek, Cedar Sanderson, and Amanda Green.

takyon: Here are in-depth explanations of the Hugo Awards controversy.

Previously: "Rightwing lobby has 'broken' Hugo awards" Says George R.R. Martin (240 comments)

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Swedish exchange students who studied in India and in central Africa returned from their sojourns with an increased diversity of antibiotic resistance genes in their gut microbiomes. The research is published 10 August in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, a journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

In the study, the investigators found a 2.6-fold increase in genes encoding resistance to sulfonamide, a 7.7-fold increase in trimethoprim resistance genes, and a 2.6-fold increase in resistance to beta-lactams, all of this without any exposure to antibiotics among the 35 exchange students. These resistance genes were not particularly abundant in the students prior to their travels, but the increases are nonetheless quite significant.
...
in fact, the increases the investigators observed in abundance and diversity of resistance genes occurred despite the fact that none of the students took antibiotics either before or during travel. The increase seen in resistance genes could have resulted from ingesting food containing resistant bacteria, or from contaminated water, the investigators write. Providing further support for the hypothesis that resistance genes increased during travel, genes for extended spectrum beta-lactamase, which dismembers penicillin and related antibiotics, was present in just one of the 35 students prior to travel, but in 12 students after they returned to Sweden.

Original Submission