SoylentNews

cafebabe writes:

A Code Of Conduct is a contentious issue but has become common within some of the more progressive software projects (Gnome, Ruby On Rails) and some computer conferences. While some people see it as an essential method to combat casual discrimination, others see it as a trap to oust developers of successful projects. Some of our regulars would regard a Code Of Conduct as somewhere between frivolous and detrimental. But, really, what's wrong with "Don't be a dick" (or, admittedly, something more polite and inclusive) as popularized by Wil Wheaton?

Well, one group of victims of child sexual abuse are boycotting a UK inquiry because participation requires agreement to a Code Of Conduct. I can appreciate this is a very emotive issue even for people not directly affected by abuse and that making allegations publicly can be detrimental to the common law concept of innocent until proven guilty. However, the CoC is the latest incident in an ongoing shambles. The inquiry is currently on its fourth publicly named chairperson, more junior people have quit due to allegations of abuse between staff and £1.5 million has been spent on implementing a case management system. The inquiry has been running for more two years and is likely to cost more than £100 million. The first hearings begin in Feb 2017.

Maybe they're being really careful with conflicts of interests and victim privacy? A quick browse around the website finds that it is aimed at the legal eagles and that victims are most relegated to one subdirectory. Did I mention privacy? Well, the site's privacy is dubious. The homepage currently has an embedded YouTube video, so anyone showing an interest in the matter, for whatever reason, may have their name, email address, postal address and telephone number(s) collated by a Premiere PRISM Partner.

Despite the boycott, the inquiry has 2000 participants and this could grow significantly. One UK celebrity is believed to have sexually abused more than 650 victims; ranging from eight year old boys to 80 year old women plus rumours of necrophilia. A senior politician abused residents of the boys home that he'd founded and dossiers covering broader allegations disappeared. One town with a population of 110,000 people is believed to have 1400 girls who were sexually abused over 16 years. In this case, five abusers went to trial and were convicted. However, The Times of London found that much abuse in Rotherham was ignored and evidence was destroyed for political expediency.

Disclosure: Previous comment about child privacy. Previous comment about adult privacy. "Think of the children!" "Think of the imaginary children!"

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

New research led by the University of Southampton shows Neanderthals kept coming back to a coastal cave site in Jersey from at least 180,000 years ago until around 40,000 years ago.

As part of a re-examination of La Cotte de St Brelade and its surrounding landscape, archaeologists from Southampton, together with experts from two other universities and the British Museum, have taken a fresh look at artefacts and mammoth bones originally excavated from within the site's granite cliffs in the 1970s. Their findings are published in the journal Antiquity.

The researchers matched types of stone raw material used to make tools to detailed mapping of the geology of the sea bed, and studied in detail how they were made, carried and modified. This helped reconstruct a picture of what resources were available to Neanderthals over tens of thousands of years – and where they were travelling from.

Lead author Dr Andy Shaw of the Centre for the Archaeology of Human Origins (CAHO) at the University of Southampton said: "La Cotte seems to have been a special place for Neanderthals. They kept making deliberate journeys to reach the site over many, many generations. We can use the stone tools they left behind to map how they were moving through landscapes, which are now beneath the English Channel. 180,000 years ago, as ice caps expanded and temperatures plummeted, they would have been exploiting a huge offshore area, inaccessible to us today."

"Jersey Shore" was a sequel, not the original.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

Astronomers have detected cloud movement on a Jupiter-like exoplanet. They also suggest that the clouds may be composed of corundum:

Powerful winds sweep sparkling, gem-bright clouds through the upper atmosphere of the huge alien planet HAT-P-7b, a new study suggests. "This is the first detection of weather on a gas giant planet outside the solar system," study lead author David Armstrong, of the University of Warwick in England, said in a statement.

HAT-P-7b, which is about 40 percent larger than Jupiter, lies 1,040 light-years from Earth. The planet completes one lap around its host star every 2.2 days. As a result of this extreme proximity, HAT-P-7b is tidally locked, meaning it always presents the same face to its parent star, just as the moon always shows just one side to Earth.

[...] "These results show that strong winds circle the planet, transporting clouds from the night side to the day side," he said. "The winds change speed dramatically, leading to huge cloud formations building up, then dying away." And those clouds are almost certainly unlike anything here on Earth, the researchers added: Modeling work suggests that HAT-P-7b's clouds are composed at least partially of corundum, the mineral that forms sapphires and rubies.

Variability in the atmosphere of the hot giant planet HAT-P-7 b (open, DOI: 10.1038/s41550-016-0004) (DX)

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Geologists say they are close to creating the hottest borehole in the world.

They are drilling into the heart of a volcano in the south-west of Iceland.

They have told the BBC that they should reach 5km down, where temperatures are expected to exceed 500C (932F), in the next couple of weeks.

The researchers want to bring steam from the deep well back up to the surface to provide an important source of energy.

"We hope that this will open new doors for the geothermal industry globally to step into an era of more production," said Asgeir Margeirsson, CEO of the Iceland Deep Drilling Project (IDDP), a collaboration between scientists, industry and the Icelandic government.

Original Submission

takyon writes:

The Freedom of the Press Foundation has called on professional camera makers to implement encryption in cameras to prevent governments from easily searching and seizing the contents:

An open letter written by the Freedom of the Press Foundation and signed by over 150 filmmakers and photojournalists calls on professional camera makers such as Nikon, Canon, Olympus, and Fuji to enable encryption to protect confidential videos from seizure by oppressive governments or criminals. The Freedom of the Press Foundation is a non-profit organization that has several noteworthy members, such as "Pentagon Papers" Daniel Ellsberg, Edward Snowden, and EFF's co-founder John Perry Barlow, on its board of directors.

[...] Filmmakers and photojournalists that film documentaries or shoot photos of abuses committed by governments or terrorists in dangerous parts of the world are constantly under threat of having their videos and photos seized and destroyed. The danger is even bigger when these bad actors can see what's on the cameras--it's not just the documentation of abuses that is exposed, but also the confidential sources that may have wanted to keep their identities hidden. Encryption would ensure those who seize their cameras couldn't see the contents of the cameras, nor the journalists' sources.

This won't necessarily ensure that the information collected by journalists is disseminated, since border agents and law enforcement officers can just destroy encrypted equipment. For that, cloud storage or live streaming features are needed, as well as reliable access to the Internet even during times of political crisis and network shutdowns.

Also at The Register, CNET, and TechCrunch (they also found a small cameramaker that is planning to ship on-camera encryption).

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

What Is A Neural Network?

The simplest definition of a neural network, more properly referred to as an 'artificial' neural network (ANN), is provided by the inventor of one of the first neurocomputers, Dr. Robert Hecht-Nielsen. He defines a neural network as:

        "...a computing system made up of a number of simple, highly interconnected processing elements, which process information by their dynamic state response to external inputs.

        In "Neural Network Primer: Part I" by Maureen Caudill, AI Expert, Feb. 1989

ANNs are processing devices (algorithms or actual hardware) that are loosely modeled after the neuronal structure of the mamalian cerebral cortex but on much smaller scales. A large ANN might have hundreds or thousands of processor units, whereas a mamalian brain has billions of neurons with a corresponding increase in magnitude of their overall interaction and emergent behavior. Although ANN researchers are generally not concerned with whether their networks accurately resemble biological systems, some have. For example, researchers have accurately simulated the function of the retina and modeled the eye rather well.

Although the mathematics involved with neural networking is not a trivial matter, a user can rather easily gain at least an operational understanding of their structure and function.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

The world’s oldest water, which is locked deep within the Earth’s crust, just got even older.

The liquid was discovered deep down in a mine in Canada in 2013 and is about 1.5 billion years old.

But now, at the same site, University of Toronto scientists have found a deeper source of water that is at least 500 million years more ancient.

The work was presented at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting in San Francisco.

Professor Barbara Sherwood Lollar, who led the team that made the discovery, told BBC News: “When people think about this water they assume it must be some tiny amount of water trapped within the rock.

“But in fact it’s very much bubbling right up out at you. These things are flowing at rates of litres per minute - the volume of the water is much larger than anyone anticipated.”

In your face, Peru!

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

If you've watched any sort of spy thriller or action film over the last few years – think Jason Bourne or Mission: Impossible – the chances are you've seen facial recognition software in action. These movie scenes often involve an artist's sketch compared to mug shots, or sometimes even a live CCTV stream, and with the clock ticking, a match is usually found for the culprit in the nick of time.

It seems natural then to assume that what happens in the film world is similar to what happens (most of the time) in the real world. We might think that our faces are constantly being tracked and recognised as we walk past security cameras in city centres – but this is not actually the case.

Not only would such a system require millions of cameras capable of producing high-quality footage, but it would also require the integration of photo-ID databases such as mugshots from every police force, previous passport images, and driving license images for everyone in the country.

And yet even if this high level of integration was possible, a far more basic problem still exists – facial recognition systems are still not 100% accurate.

Original Submission

Heard on CBC radio from Toronto/Ottawa and also just posted to BBC --
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38324045

A special archiving event is being held in collaboration with Archive's End of Term project. Since 2008 this has saved US government websites at risk during government transitions.

Canadian "guerrilla" archivists will be assisting a rushed effort to preserve US government climate data.

Environmentalists, climate scientists and academics are collaborating to protect what they view as fragile digital federal records and research.

They want the data saved before Donald Trump takes office.

The CBC report interviewed a Canadian scientist who described some of the scientific data that was lost during the Harper government.

Help and donations are requested.

Original Submission

AthanasiusKircher writes:

Airgas, Inc. has apparently run out of gas -- specifically nitrous oxide. Given that Airgas is the foremost manufacturer of nitrous oxide in the U.S., there is now a nationwide shortage.

Although the problems supposedly date back to an August plant explosion in Florida (which apparently was only reported locally), no one really noticed a problem until coffee shops started running out of whipped cream lately.

Now the news media is being whipped up into a frenzy over the possibility of a holiday desserts without whipped cream.

Time reports on this "dire" issue:

Stock up on canned whipped cream during your next jaunt to the grocery store, because we—as a nation—might be running out soon. That's right: the most important topping (or stand-alone ingredient, for some) in the dessert world is in dire short supply this holiday season. According to the Chicago Tribune, this terrifying fact is all due to a national shortage in nitrous oxide, the gas used to make aerosol cans of whipped cream function the way they're supposed to (among other things).

While this gas shortage reporting about missing coffee toppings may seem silly, it really is no laughing matter. Other Airgas plants beyond Florida are apparently also having problems, so some reports suggest remaining nitrous oxide stocks are now being restricted to medical use until replacement supplies can be imported from Europe. A bulletin sent out to store managers at regional grocery chain Market Basket notes:

Airgas, Inc. had an explosion in their Florida plant and a total loss. Their Maitland, Ontario plant was shut down for safety reasons, and their Yazoo City, Mississippi facility continues to have issues with two lines. Airgas will begin importing nitrous oxide from Europe in December. However, for now, all nitrous oxide available is being used for medical purposes.

More details at the Chicago Tribune .

[Continues...]

Phoenix666 writes:

As NASA's Curiosity rover makes its way up the central peak of Gale Crater, it has been gathering evidence from ancient lake beds and long ago groundwater environments that are promising to life.

Scientists in charge of the mission gave an update of their findings on Tuesday at the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco, saying the landing site at Gale Crater had exceeded their expectations. They said they have "hit a jackpot" of exposed mineral layers as the rover moves up Mount Sharp, offering a glimpse into the geologic history of the site and how global environmental conditions might have changed on Mars over the course of millions of years.

"We see all of the properties in place that we really like to associate with habitability," said geologist John Grotzinger of California Institute of Technology. "There's nothing extreme here. This is all good for habitability over time."

Gale Crater is the lowest point within thousands of kilometers in all directions and scientists believe water once pooled there into a lake and also seeped underground. They believe the groundwater may have persisted even after the surface water dried up, offering a prolonged period for life to persist. So far, there's been no evidence of life, microbial or otherwise, but if Mars did once support living organisms this would have been one of the most likely spots on the Red Planet.

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Every meal you eat now costs the planet 10 kilos in lost topsoil.

That's the warning of "Surviving the 21st Century" author Julian Cribb to an international soil science conference in Queenstown, New Zealand on Dec 15, 2016.

"10 kilos of topsoil, 800 litres of water, 1.3 litres of diesel, 0.3g of pesticide and 3.5 kilos of carbon dioxide – that's what it takes to deliver one meal, for just one person," Cribb says.

"When you multiply it by 7 to 10 billion people each eating around a thousand meals a year, you can see why food is fast becoming the challenge of our age."

"The human jawbone is now by far the most destructive implement on the planet. It's wrecking soil and water, clearing forests, emptying oceans of fish and destroying wildlife as never before – but few people realise it because of long industrial food-chains that hide the damage from them," he says.

Do the 10 kg of lost topsoil result in 10 kg of night soil?

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

Ten senior civil servants left the Government Digital Service (GDS) in the year to April, the BBC has learned. This has prompted concern as to why the service cannot hang on to its most experienced staff.

The GDS, which was set up within the Cabinet Office in 2011, helps to support the digital transformation of government, working with departments to introduce and improve online services.

An opposition MP has said the news is "alarming".

A BBC freedom of information request revealed that the GDS lost 10 senior civil servants - of deputy director level and above - across the 2015-16 financial year. The service had 21 senior posts in total as of March 2016.

[...] Tim Farron, leader of the Liberal Democrats, expressed concern at these departures.

"It should be deeply worrying to see some of the brightest talent in the civil service leaving public service to go and work in the private sector," he said.

"Ministers need to make sure that staff feel empowered and engaged, and at the moment it's clear that many civil servants feel neither."

Government workers need to feel "empowered and engaged."

Original Submission

Phoenix666 writes:

The highest-ever wave detected by a buoy has been recorded in the North Atlantic ocean, the World Meteorological Organization has said.

The 19-metre (62.3ft) wave happened between Iceland and the United Kingdom, off the Outer Hebrides.

It was created in the aftermath of a very strong cold front with 43.8 knot (50.4mph) winds on 4 February 2013.

The WMO, which released the data, said the previous record was 18.275 metres (59.96ft) in December 2007.

That wave was also in the North Atlantic.

It is not the biggest-ever recorded wave, however. In 2002 a ship spotted a 29-metre (95 ft) North Atlantic wave.

This is why I lubb the land.

Original Submission

MostCynical and Roo_Boy wrote in with stories on an Australian judge's order to block pirate sites:

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that ISPs will have to block access to piracy sites and divert Australians towards a web page created by movie studios, the Federal court ruled on Thursday afternoon.

In a case that covers more than fifty Australian internet service providers [ISPs], Justice John Nicholas of the Federal Court in Sydney ruled in favour of movie studios, including Roadshow Films, Colombia Pictures, Disney Studios, Paramount Pictures, and 20th Century Fox.

The movie studios must now create and host a website within five days, to which Australian ISPs will direct any user who tries to connect to (initially) the SolarMovie pirating site. The content owners will also have to pay the ISPs $50 for every site they want blocked.

[...] In his decision Justice Nicholas said there were 61 sites that infringed Australian copyright laws by making films available online without licence from the copyright owners.

In relation to The Pirate Bay he wrote: "I am satisfied that the facilitation of the infringement of copyright is flagrant, and that the operator of the The Pirate Bay sites has shown a blatant and wilful disregard for the rights of copyright owners".

[...] Hollywood studios tried to get ISPs to crack down on piracy in 2012, but failed after the High Court found internet providers are not liable for copyright infringement.

VPN use is already taking off in Australia. This will just increase the uptake.
https://www.cnet.com/au/news/vpn-use-increases-in-australia-amid-data-retention-and-piracy-concerns/

Australia's Federal Court has handed down a decision to block piracy websites but sided with the ISPs that the content holders should foot the bill. The means of blocking is to be agreed on by the content holders and ISPs.

Media Reports:
http://www.news.com.au/technology/online/piracy/federal-court-expected-to-hand-down-decision-on-blocking-illegal-torrent-and-streaming-sites-today/news-story/c1b0349a2cc6e3fb96007ddf04742efc
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-12-15/federal-court-orders-pirate-bay-blocked-in-australia/8116912

Actual decision :
http://www.judgments.fedcourt.gov.au/judgments/Judgments/fca/single/2016/2016fca1503

Original Submission #1  Original Submission #2 

takyon writes:

As Russian President Vladimir Putin visits Japan this week, one issue on the table is the lack of a peace treaty between the two neighboring nations:

Russia wants to boost bilateral ties with Japan on all fronts and hopes to reach a peace treaty with its eastern neighbor, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Tuesday, adding however that agreeing a peace treaty needed "scrupulous work." Ushakov was briefing reporters before Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Japan later this week.

A territorial dispute between Tokyo and Moscow over a chain of western Pacific islands, seized by Soviet troops at the end of World War Two, has upset diplomatic relations ever since, precluding a formal peace treaty between the two countries.

But don't count on any islands changing hands:

Russia took control of the four islands, northeast of Hokkaido, just days before Japan surrendered in 1945 and has retained control of them ever since. Efforts to resolve the issue in the 1990s led nowhere.

The issue is personal for Abe, whose father served as foreign minister and had tried to get the islands back.

"Abe considers this an infringement of Japan's national sovereignty and can't accept it," said Shigeki Hakamada, who studies Japan-Russian relations at the University of Niigata Prefecture. "I think he has an ambition to make it his legacy by solving the issue."

But Putin has a personal stake in standing fast. He has carefully cultivated an image as the protector of Russian lands, and that has proved beneficial to him — his popularity spiked after Russia's annexation of Crimea and intervention in eastern Ukraine and has floated above 80 percent since then. A May poll by the Levada Center suggested that more than 70 percent of Russians are opposed to any transfer of territory to Japan; 55 percent said Putin's credibility would take a hit if he agreed to hand over any part of the islands.

Also at The Economist and Firstpost (AFP).

Original Submission