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What was highest label on your first car speedometer?

  • 80 mph
  • 88 mph
  • 100 mph
  • 120 mph
  • 150 mph
  • it was in kph like civilized countries use you insensitive clod
  • Other (please specify in comments)

[ Results | Polls ]
Comments:46 | Votes:100

posted by n1 on Wednesday May 04 2016, @11:02PM   Printer-friendly
from the democracy-doesn't-work dept.

Four-term US Senator for California Barbara Boxer is not running for re-election. There are 34 candidates who want the job. In the Secretary of State's pre-election mailer, candidates can try once more to get voters to like them--for $25/word. Among them is engineer[1] Jason Hanania.

El Reg reports

...whose entire [message] comprises: 01100101.

Why? Because, as Hanania explains on his own website, "01100101" is binary for decimal 101, which is the ASCII code for the letter "e", which is short for "e-voting candidate", which is how he describes himself.

What's an e-voting candidate? Well, according to Hanania's vision, it is one that directly follows the wishes of his or her constituents through online votes, regardless of his or her personal views.

His system, which he outlines in a 33-minute video, will allow decisions in the United States to move "from the 1 per cent to the 100 per cent" by giving everyone a direct vote on matters in front of the US Senate.

He's wrong, of course. The system would fall apart within minutes, but he seems genuinely persuaded in the way that only a patent engineer could imagine a theoretical solution would work in the messy world of real people.

TFA goes into some detail on how California state election rules and the Federal Elections Commission (FEC) pull in opposing directions, as do a wish to balance a democratic right to run for office while avoiding cheap corporate advertising.

[1] He is clearly an engineer who doesn't check his work.

Orange County political forum Orange Juice Blog notes that the statements of candidates reveal points about them such as that some don't know where to get help with things e.g. verifying that their English-language statements don't read like gibberish.


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posted by n1 on Wednesday May 04 2016, @09:25PM   Printer-friendly
from the speed-hump dept.

Terry Pedwell reports in the Toronto Sun, Driverless cars would mean 'a lot more sex' behind the wheel: expert:

Federal bureaucrats are raising concerns about distracted driving in semi-autonomous cars that don't require much input from the driver.

And at least one expert is anticipating that, as the so-called 'smart' cars get smarter, there will eventually be an increase in an unusual form of distracted driving: hanky-panky behind the wheel.

"I am predicting that, once computers are doing the driving, there will be a lot more sex in cars," said Barrie Kirk of the Canadian Automated Vehicles Centre of Excellence.

"That's one of several things people will do which will inhibit their ability to respond quickly when the computer says to the human, 'Take over.'"


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posted by n1 on Wednesday May 04 2016, @07:53PM   Printer-friendly
from the synthetic-intelligence dept.

The White House will be holding four public discussions in order to evaluate the potential benefits and risks of artificial intelligence:

The Obama administration says it wants everyone to take a closer look at artificial intelligence with a series of public discussions.

The workshops will examine if AI will suck jobs out of the economy or add to it, how such systems can be controlled legally and technically, and whether or not such smarter computers can be used as a social good. Deputy Chief Technology Officer Ed Felton announced on Tuesday that the White House will be creating an artificial intelligence and machine learning subcomittee at the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) and setting up a series of four events designed to consider both artificial intelligence and machine learning.

[...] The special events will be held between May 24 and July 7, will take place in Seattle, Pittsburgh, Washington DC, and New York.

The events come as tech industry leaders have grown increasingly alarmist about the future of AI development. Get ready for bans and FBI surveillance.


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posted by cmn32480 on Wednesday May 04 2016, @06:18PM   Printer-friendly
from the theft-is-not-a-crime? dept.

Italy's highest court of appeal, the Corte Suprema di Cassazione, has ruled that stealing small amounts of food is not a crime if it is to satisfy a vital need for food:

Judges overturned a theft conviction against Roman Ostriakov after he stole cheese and sausages worth €4.07 (£3; $4.50) from a supermarket. Mr Ostriakov, a homeless man of Ukrainian background, had taken the food "in the face of the immediate and essential need for nourishment", the court of cassation decided. Therefore it was not a crime, it said.

[...] The "historic" ruling is "right and pertinent", said Italiaglobale.it - and derives from a concept that "informed the Western world for centuries - it is called humanity". However, his case was sent to appeal on the grounds that the conviction should be reduced to attempted theft and the sentence cut, as Mr Ostriakov had not left the shop premises when he was caught. Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation, which reviews only the application of the law and not the facts of the case, on Monday made a final and definitive ruling overturning the conviction entirely. Stealing small quantities of food to satisfy a vital need for food did not constitute a crime, the court wrote.

Compare to some of the sentences handed out due to three strikes laws.


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posted by martyb on Wednesday May 04 2016, @04:27PM   Printer-friendly
from the Antidiarrheal-overdose?-Oh,-crap! dept.

NPR is reporting on the latest drug scare, involving an over-the-counter antidiarrheal drug that is being used for its opioid-like effects by addicts:

Some people addicted to oxycodone and other opioids are now turning to widely available diarrhea medications to manage their withdrawal symptoms or get high. The results can be dangerous to the heart — and sometimes fatal — warn toxicologists in a study [open, DOI: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2016.03.047] recently published online in the Annals of Emergency Medicine.

The researchers describe two case studies where people who were addicted to opioids tried to ease their withdrawal symptoms by taking many times the recommended dose of loperamide, a drug commonly used treat diarrhea. Both patients died.

"Because of its low cost, ease of accessibility and legal status, it's a drug that is very, very ripe for abuse," says lead author William Eggleston, a doctor of pharmacy and fellow in clinical toxicology at the Upstate New York Poison Center, which is affiliated with SUNY Upstate Medical University.

Related:

Kroger Supermarkets to Carry Naloxone Without a Prescription
4/20: Half-Baked Headline


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posted by martyb on Wednesday May 04 2016, @02:49PM   Printer-friendly
from the sudo-make-me-a-[Lord]-sandwich dept.

Reports by AFP via The Guardian , the New York Daily News , The Inquisitr , AAP via News Corp Australia and the Daily Mail say that researchers have found a wreck which they believe is the Lord Sandwich.

Travelling aboard the ship, better known by its original name HMS Endeavour , James Cook became the first European to visit Australia and Hawaii. Later it was sold and renamed. It was believed to have been scuttled along with several other ships in Newport Harbour during the American Revolution in connection with the Battle of Rhode Island. Now researchers with the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project say they have somehow determined with "80 to 100 per cent" certainty which of the wrecks is the Lord Sandwich.

Further details are to be released on 4 May.

A 2006 ABC story has earlier information.


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posted by cmn32480 on Wednesday May 04 2016, @01:16PM   Printer-friendly
from the my-body-isn't-cooperating dept.

From The New York Times:

Kevin Hall, a scientist at a federal research center who admits to a weakness for reality TV, had the idea to follow the "Biggest Loser" contestants for six years after that victorious night. The project was the first to measure what happened to people over as long as six years after they had lost large amounts of weight with intensive dieting and exercise.

It has to do with resting metabolism, which determines how many calories a person burns when at rest. When the show began, the contestants, though hugely overweight, had normal metabolisms for their size, meaning they were burning a normal number of calories for people of their weight. When it ended, their metabolisms had slowed radically and their bodies were not burning enough calories to maintain their thinner sizes.

Researchers knew that just about anyone who deliberately loses weight — even if they start at a normal weight or even underweight — will have a slower metabolism when the diet ends. So they were not surprised to see that "The Biggest Loser" contestants had slow metabolisms when the show ended.

Persistent metabolic adaptation 6 years after "The Biggest Loser" competition (open, DOI: 10.1002/oby.21538)


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posted by cmn32480 on Wednesday May 04 2016, @11:39AM   Printer-friendly
from the take-a-hint-already dept.

Second Brazil Whatsapp Block Overturned

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN0XU1YY

A judicial order blocking WhatsApp in Brazil has been overturned by a different judge. The WhatsApp block marks the second time in five months that the messaging app has been blocked in Brazil.

On Monday, a judge in the northeastern state of Sergipe had ordered Brazil's five main wireless operators to block access to WhatsApp for 72 hours. The reason for the order was not made public due to legal secrecy in an ongoing case before the state court.

However, a different judge from the state tribunal intervened to cancel Monday's ruling following an appeal from WhatsApp's lawyers, the court said in a statement.

WhatsApp Ban Lifted in Brazil

A judge ordered Brazil's telecom providers in the country to block WhatsApp (again) in a dispute over access to chat records related to a drug investigation, but WhatsApp has argued that it cannot access the chats in an unencrypted form and therefore cannot provide the required records to the court.

Brazil has lifted the ban after only 48 hours, and interestingly enough, Telegram has reported to have a surge of 1 million users, hours after the ban's taking effect.


Original Submission #1Original Submission #2

posted by cmn32480 on Wednesday May 04 2016, @09:53AM   Printer-friendly
from the let-me-baidu-that-doens't-have-the-same-ring dept.

Baidu has found itself under attack from China's Internet regulator and other agencies following the death of a student who used the search engine to look up medical advice, and found sketchy advertisements:

The internet search engine, referred to as China's Google, saw its Nasdaq-listed shares fall 7.92%. China's internet regulator has said it will investigate the death of the university student, who used Baidu to search for cancer treatment. Wei Zexi, aged 21, a computer science student at Xidian University, died last month of a rare form of cancer. According to state media, Wei was diagnosed with synovial sarcoma in 2014. He had been undergoing a controversial treatment at a hospital which was advertised on the search engine. Baidu has said on its Weibo account that it had filed a request for the hospital to be investigated.

[...] China's internet regulator - Cyberspace Administration of China - is teaming up with several other government agencies to look into the matter, including the State Administration of Industry and Commerce, and the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

Has "China's Google" grown too close to the West for the comfort of certain Chinese officials?

"I am somewhat surprised that Baidu would be the target of an aggressive government investigation like this because they have always been supported as a home-grown alternative to Google," David Riedel, president of New York-based Riedel Research Group Inc. said by e-mail. He has a hold rating on the stock. "Investors must be wary of this development because if it becomes clear that Baidu has somehow fallen afoul of powerful politicians in Beijing this could be the first of many attacks on the company," Riedel said.


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posted by cmn32480 on Wednesday May 04 2016, @08:12AM   Printer-friendly
from the they-had-a-good-run dept.

Venture Beat reports on "preview data that has NOT been reviewed by Quality Assurance" from Net Applications showing that, among desktop operating systems used for browsing the 40,000 participating Web sites, Microsoft Windows has fallen to 80.23% market share. The 1.22% decline from the previous month is unusual; Windows had been gradually losing share since November of 2007, when it was at 95.89%. OS X makes up 9.20% of the market (slightly less than Windows XP's 9.66% share) and Linux 1.56%.


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posted by cmn32480 on Wednesday May 04 2016, @06:29AM   Printer-friendly
from the you-don't-say dept.

https://www.baekdal.com/analysis/the-increasing-problem-with-the-misinformed

The 'experts' used by the media are less truthful than the politicians. And you are giving them a voice? No wonder people don't trust the news anymore.

You have to be much more than just average news. You have to be a source of amazing news and unique news

But isn't that why many lost credibility? ;-)


Original Submission

posted by martyb on Wednesday May 04 2016, @04:51AM   Printer-friendly
from the all-meeting-notes-will-be-open-access...-in-binary dept.

Softpedia reports on the announcement by programmer Lennart Poettering of systemd.conf 2016, a conference around the topic of the systemd software.

According to the announcement, the event "will consist of two days of presentations, a one-day hackfest and one day of hands-on training sessions," happening from 28 September to 1 October at the betahaus coworking space.


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posted by cmn32480 on Wednesday May 04 2016, @03:18AM   Printer-friendly
from the get-your-popcorn dept.

After losing the Indiana primary, Ted Cruz suspended his presidential bid, saying that "the path has been foreclosed".

Donald Trump will likely succeed on the initial ballot at the Republican National Convention, avoiding a contested convention. Bernie Sanders won a 5-6 point victory in Indiana, prolonging the Democratic side of the race.


Original Submission

posted by takyon on Wednesday May 04 2016, @01:30AM   Printer-friendly
from the complete-artificial-womb-next dept.

A new artificial placenta that mimics conditions in the womb being developed by researchers at the University of Michigan (UM) might provide new hope [for premature babies].

The university has just reported that such an external placenta has kept five extremely premature lambs alive for a week. Although clinical trials are yet to be scheduled for humans, the researchers are hopeful that the technology might one day become a viable way to keep the earliest born babies alive until they can develop on their own.

[...] The artificial placenta works by using an [extracorporeal membrane oxygenation] (ECMO) system in which an external pump, or artificial lung, oxygenates the blood directly and bypasses the lungs. While ECMO has been around awhile, the researchers altered it in this case to serve very premature infants.

The technology would be a godsend for expectant parents if it pans out.

butthurt sent a correction: ECMO is short for "Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation" rather than "Extracorporeal Membrane Oxidation". Sources: Boston Children's Hospital, U.S. National Library of Medicine, and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.


Original Submission #1Original Submission #2

posted by CoolHand on Tuesday May 03 2016, @11:59PM   Printer-friendly
from the red-dwarfs-can-be-ultra-cool-too dept.

Popular Mechanics reports:

An international team of astronomers has discovered three Earth-like exoplanets orbiting an ultra-cool dwarf star—the smallest and dimmest stars in the Galaxy—now known as TRAPPIST-1. The discovery, made with the TRAPPIST telescope at ESO's La Silla Observatory, is significant not only because the three planets have similar properties to Earth, suggesting they could harbor life, but also because they are relatively close (just 40 light years away) and they are the first planets ever discovered orbiting such a dim star. A research paper detailing the teams findings was published [May 2nd] in the journal Nature

"What is super exciting is that for the first time, we have extrasolar worlds similar in size and temperature to Earth—planets that could thus, in theory, harbor liquid water and host life on at least a part of their surfaces—for which the atmospheric composition can be studied in detail with current technology," lead researcher Michaël Gillon of the University of Liège in Belgium said in an email to Popular Mechanics.

[...] The fact that the planets are orbiting an ultra-cool dwarf star is significant for other reasons. Stars like TRAPPIST-1 have incredibly long lifetimes—longer than the current age of the universe—giving life plenty of time to take root. TRAPPIST-1 is roughly estimated to be between 1 and 10 billion years old, according to Gillon, and the star's life will continue for tens of billions of years..

A mere 40 light-years away and tens of billions of years for life to evolve still remaining? That's beyond ultracool (if we start a stroll toward it at 6km/h, will get there in about 55 billion years. So, if no warp drive available, maybe we should use a bicycle)

Temperate Earth-sized planets transiting a nearby ultracool dwarf star (DOI: 10.1038/nature17448)


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