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canopic jug writes:

A new Copyright Directive is being drafted for Europe. Within that process the Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) has agreed to an amendment that would greatly reduce citizens' rights in regards to online material and even digital material in general. The "snippet tax" aka "link tax" would require licenses for even the tiniest quotations of published material as well as mandating upload filters. Either of these would effectively ban sites like SoylentNews from Europe, but scholarly publishing would suffer as badly.

Original Submission

We had two reports of an ongoing situation in Sweden where confidential information held by the government has been compromised:

Outsourcing Nightmare

looorg writes:

Sweden might just be experiencing an outsourcing nightmare on a national level. The Swedish transport agency outsourced the entire driver's license database to IBM which in turn made it accessible to three IT workers in the Czech Republic, none of whom had security clearance. With it also came access to various police databases and access to SGSI (Swedish Government Secure Intranet), the secure and encrypted government network. Access to SGSI could also have acted as a backdoor into the STESTA (Secure Trans European Services for Telematics between Administrations) network which is the European and EU equivalent.

Part of the drivers license database and related system are also databases that contain information about active military personnel, vehicles owned and operated by the armed forces, and people with a protected identity. For normal people, beyond all the usual information a drivers license gives such as the personal ID number — that could be used for identity theft — it might also contain medical information that had to be filed to obtain a drivers license.

The former head of the agency was fired in January 2017 after being under investigation from SÄPO (secret service) and fined 70000 SEK (about $8500) for her part in the wrongdoing. So someone got a slap on the wrist, as this was about half a month's salary for her.

Turns out now everyone in power and government might have known about it for about two years give or take a couple of months and had not done anything about it.

Heads are about to roll. I wouldn't want to be in scapegoat range as someone is about to have to fall on the sword to save their incompetent political bosses arses.

https://www.thelocal.se/20170721/it-workers-in-other-countries-had-access-to-secret-records-report
https://www.thelocal.se/20170717/swedish-authority-handed-over-keys-to-the-kingdom-in-it-security-slip-up

"The Cloud" Facilitates Worst Known Leak of Government Material To-date

canopic jug writes:

Over at the Privacy News Online blog, Rick Falkvinge writes about Sweden's lack of foresight and knowledge regarding the nature of hosted services and what kind of data they might be appropriate for:

Sweden’s Transport Agency moved all of its data to “the cloud”, apparently unaware that there is no cloud, only somebody else’s computer. In doing so, it exposed and leaked every conceivable top secret database: fighter pilots, SEAL team operators, police suspects, people under witness relocation. Names, photos, and home addresses: the list is just getting started. The responsible director has been found guilty in criminal court of the whole affair, and sentenced to the harshest sentence ever seen in Swedish government: she was docked half a month’s paycheck.

Source: https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/2017/07/swedish-transport-agency-worst-known-governmental-leak-ever-is-slowly-coming-to-light/

Original Submission #1 Original Submission #2

takyon writes:

The ACLU of Tennessee has criticized a judge's sentence reduction deal for inmates. Judge Sam Benningfield signed an order permitting a 30-day sentence reduction for male inmates who agree to have vasectomy and female inmates who agree to get the birth control implant Nexplanon, which prevents pregnancy for four years.

The program is voluntary. However, the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee has condemned the program, calling it "unconstitutional." [...] But Benningfield, who declined to speak to NBC News, told News Channel 5 that he is trying to encourage "personal responsibility" among inmates, who will not "be burdened with children" when they are released. "This gives them a chance to get on their feet and make something of themselves," Benningfield told the station.

Since the program began, 32 women have received the birth control implant and 38 men have agreed to have a vasectomy, News Channel 5 reported. It was not immediately clear how many men have undergone the surgery.

Inmates can get two days knocked off their sentences for attending a course about the risks of babies born addicted to opioids:

America's opioid crisis is expanding to a new class of victims—unborn children. Infants are being born with symptoms of withdrawal, also known as Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, or NAS. In the last decade, states like Tennessee have seen a ten-fold rise in the number of babies born with NAS.

Original Submission

Lagg writes:

Not even 8 months after my home state of Arizona voted against recreational legalization in part due to meddling and hack science, Colorado has reported that since the beginning of the year they have made $620 million in sales with $95 million of it going to the state¹.

Meanwhile, Jeff Sessions continues insisting that marijuana will lead to the fall of society.

[¹ Forbes site — page is behind an ad-blocker blocker. --Ed.]

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Algebra is one of the biggest hurdles to getting a high school or college degree — particularly for students of color and first-generation undergrads.

It is also the single most failed course in community colleges across the country. So if you're not a STEM major (science, technology, engineering, math), why even study algebra?

That's the argument Eloy Ortiz Oakley, chancellor of the California community college system, made today in an interview with NPR's Robert Siegel.

At American community colleges, 60 percent of those enrolled are required to take at least one math course. Most — nearly 80 percent — never complete that requirement.

Oakley is among a growing number of educators who view intermediate algebra as an obstacle to students obtaining their credentials — particularly in fields that require no higher level math skills.

Their thinking has led to initiatives like Community College Pathways, which strays away from abstract algebra to engage students in real-world math applications.

-- submitted from IRC

Original Submission

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

US Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) criticized the Federal Communications Commission for failing to turn over its internal analysis of the DDoS attacks that hit the FCC's public comment system.

The FCC declined to provide its analysis of the attacks to Gizmodo, which had filed a Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) request for a copy of all records related to the FCC analysis "that concluded a DDoS attack had taken place." The FCC declined the request, saying that its initial analysis on the day of the attack "did not result in written documentation."

“If the FCC did suffer a DDoS attack and yet created no written materials about it, that would be deeply irresponsible and cast doubt on how the FCC could possibly prevent future attacks," Wyden told Gizmodo in a story today. "On the other hand, if FCC is playing word games to avoid responding to FoIA requests, it would clearly violate Chairman Ajit Pai’s pledge to increase transparency at the FCC.”

Wyden also said that the FCC's response to the FoIA request raised "legitimate questions about whether the agency is being truthful when it claims a DDoS attack knocked its commenting system offline.”

After yesterday's articles about the FoIA request, the FCC issued a statement claiming that it is "categorically false" to suggest that "the FCC lacks written documentation of its analysis." The FCC claimed that Gizmodo only asked for analysis produced on May 8, the day of the attack, and that the FCC thus doesn't have to provide any written analysis produced after that date. Those are the "word games" that Wyden referred to.

Gizmodo's new article, titled "The FCC Is Full of Shit," disputes the FCC's characterization of the FoIA request.

-- submitted from IRC

Original Submission

c0lo writes:

The New York Times

The Minneapolis police chief, Janee Harteau, resigned on Friday at the mayor’s request, less than a week after one of the city’s officers fatally shot an unarmed Australian woman who had called 911 for help.

Mayor Betsy Hodges said in a statement that “I’ve lost confidence in the chief’s ability to lead us further” and that “it is clear that she has lost the confidence of the people of Minneapolis as well.”
...
At a press conference on Friday night about the chief’s departure, protesters interrupted Ms. Hodges and called on her to resign, as well. “Bye, bye, Betsy,” they chanted when she tried to continue speaking.

An Anonymous Coward writes:

"If you're using an operating system [from Microsoft] that's over a decade old to play Blizzard games, we have some bad news for you. Starting in October, Blizzard says it will "begin the process of ending support for Windows XP and Windows Vista in World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Diablo III, Hearthstone, and Heroes of the Storm." - via ArsTechnica

Original Submission

mrpg writes:

From phys.org

It is a classic chase scene in modern cinematic history. The image of a rampant Tyrannosaurus rex (T. rex) chasing Jeff Goldblum as he sits injured in the back of a 4x4 vehicle in Stephen Spielberg's original film adaptation of Jurassic Park.

But could a T. rex actually move that fast, or even run at all?

New research from the University of Manchester says the sheer size and weight of T. rex means it couldn't move at high speed, as its leg-bones would have buckled under its own weight load.

The research, published by journal PeerJ, looks extensively into the gait and biomechanics of the world's most famous Dinosaur and, using the latest high performance computing technology from N8 High Performance Computing (HPC), has created a new simulation model to test its findings.

Led by Professor William Sellers from the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, the researchers have combined two separate biomechanical techniques, known as multibody dynamic analysis (MBDA) and skeletal stress analysis (SSA), into one simulation model, creating a new more accurate one.

Prof Sellers says the results demonstrate any running gaits for T. rex would probably lead to 'unacceptably high skeletal loads'. Meaning, in layman's terms, any running would simply break the dinosaur's legs. This contradicts the running speeds predicted by previous biomechanical models which can suggest anything up to 45mph.

Original Submission

MrPlow writes:

A federal judge on Friday approved an $11.2 million settlement between the marital infidelity website Ashley Madison and users who sued after hackers released personal information, including financial data and details of their sexual proclivities.

[...] A final approval hearing is scheduled for Nov. 20.

[...] The company denied wrongdoing but said in a statement that it settled to "avoid the uncertainty, expense, and inconvenience associated with continued litigation."

[...] The case is unique in that many website users not only want to remain anonymous but registered using false names, said James McDonough III, an attorney for the users. As a result, those eligible for the settlement won't be contacted directly. Instead, they will reach out to those who could benefit via magazine and web ads.

[...] McDonough said there is no estimate on how many people will seek part of the settlement money, which could range from as little as $19 for those victimized by the hack up to $2,000 for those who were victims of identity theft because of the hack.

Source: Judge OKs $11.2M settlement for hacked Ashley Madison users

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

During a hearing of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology Tuesday, Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher managed to baffle and amaze when he asked about life on Mars.

[...] "You have indicated that Mars had a, was totally different thousands of years ago," the California congressman said, addressing a panel of space science experts.

"Is it possible that there was a civilization on Mars thousands of years ago?".

[...] Kenneth Farley — NASA Mars 2020 rover project scientist — had to start off his answer by correcting Rohrabacher's question.

"So, the evidence is that Mars was different billions of years ago, not thousands of years ago," Farley said.

[...] "Would you rule that out? That — see, there are some people — well, anyway," Rohrabacher said.

Farley answered: "I would say that is extremely unlikely."

Source: Mashable

Original Submission

CoolHand writes:

A recent law promoting whaling allows Japan to take a key step towards resuming commercial hunting of the giant mammals that are "a great source of food," officials said on Thursday.

Japan defies international protests to carry out what it calls scientific research whaling, having repeatedly said its ultimate goal is to whale commercially again. In the 2016-2017 season, its fleet took 333 minke whales in the Antarctic.

The new law, passed in June, will help enshrine as a "national responsibility" an activity that was previously just a tacit policy, said Shigeki Takaya, director of the Whaling Affairs Office at Japan's Fisheries Agency.

"While the government has given its support to the implementation of scientific research into whales, it is heartening to see that the law clarifies its position even further," Takaya told a news conference.

In 2014, the International Court of Justice ruled that Japan should halt Antarctic whaling.

Per the Huff, Japan's government thumbs its nose at international law at the behest of their commercial fishing industries, and gives permission to "deal with" protesters.

In a 2012 poll conducted for the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), 88.8% of the Japanese public said they had not bought any whale meat in the past 12 months. While 26.6% said they supported Japan's scientific whaling, 18.5% opposed the hunts and the rest of the population were undecided, hardly a ringing endorsement of Japan's bloody whaling policy.

Much of the whale meat brought in from the scientific whaling scheme is being held in warehouses, frozen because it does not sell well on the Japan market. Sales of dolphin meat have also plummeted. Because sales of whale meat are so poor, the Japan government has subsidized the scientific whaling scheme at 5 billion yen ($44.7 million US) annually.

Furthermore, the new legislation allows Japan to send vessels to Antarctica with the fleet specifically to deal with harassment from such organizations as the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which seeks to interfere with whaling activities they contend violate international law. [...] The legislation also gives new authority to Japan immigration enforcement to deal with people who may be "likely" to sabotage or harass whaling vessels in Japan. This is an obvious effort to legalize the blocking of people, such as members of Sea Shepherd, who come to Japan to legally and peacefully protest the dolphin hunts in Taiji.

Original Submission

martyb writes:

Weather is big business. Farmers want to know when is the best time to plant (or harvest). Event organizers want to know if a thunderstorm might come up during an open-air concert. And the rest of us want to know about their daily commute and plans for the weekend barbeque.

During a chat not long ago in the #Soylent channel of SoylentNews' IRC server, I discovered there are likely others who have an interest in all things weather-related.

I thought it might be interesting to see what weather resources my fellow Soylentils use. Not just for forecasting, but for getting current conditions, and while we are at it, let's include space weather forecasts, too. Note: I live in the USA and my primary browser is Pale Moon; please submit comments with other resources!

• Broadcast media - Local radio / TV station broadcasts.
• The Weather Channel - Cable TV weather channel
• http://www.accuweather.com/ - online weather forecast
• http://www.intellicast.com/ - online weather forecast
• ForecastFox -- an addon for Firefox, it gets a localized report from AccuWeather and displays it in a toolbar in FireFox (original, FF v28+) browser.
• http://images.intellicast.com/WxImages/RadarLoop/usa_None_anim.gif - Radar Loop for entire USA.
• https://earth.nullschool.net/ - earth :: a global map of wind, weather, and ocean conditions
• http://en.blitzortung.org/live_lightning_maps.php - A worldwide, real time, community collaborative lightning location network.
• http://www.weather.gov/ US National Weather Service.
• http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/planetary-k-index - Planetary k-index -- likelihood of geomagnetic storms (aurora).
• http://services.swpc.noaa.gov/images/aurora-forecast-northern-hemisphere.jpg - visual prediction of aurora in northern hemisphere or southern hemisphere

Many of the sites require some Javascript, but I have had success using NoScript and selectively enabling from 1 to 4 domains to get things to work.

My favorite going-down-the-rabbit-hole site is at nullschool.net -- click on the word "earth" to bring up (and hide) a menu of features and presentations you can choose. Check out ocean currents and temps, surface winds and temps, etc. See their about page for a more detailed summary of the options.

Original Submission

An Anonymous Coward writes:

For quite some time now Linux and FOSS vlogger Nixie Pixel, has been bringing videos about Linux, FOSS, and more to many a thirsty geek. Finally, after a mysterious absence of one year, the vlog darling returns to YouTube.

If you're not familiar with her, she has two channels on YouTube:

NixieDoesLinux, and "OS.ALT. The second of which covers the indie/hacking/geek community, including open source alternatives to operating systems and gaming."

Original Submission

frojack writes:

Remember all the handwringing over the fact that games like Pokemon go brought people into their own parks? We covered it just a few weeks ago. Seems a lot of Soylentils were very much in favor of requirements for demanding pre-approval and fees from any company that may someday make any future profit from any citizen who wandered into a city park.

Trial Will Decide Whether Milwaukee Can Require Permits for Using Locations in Augmented Reality

Well it didn't take long for that to be slapped down by the courts.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/07/judge-blocks-law-regulating-where-augmented-reality-games-can-be-played/

A judge on Thursday declared as unconstitutional a local Wisconsin ordinance mandating that the makers of augmented reality games get special use permits if their mobile apps were to be played in county parks. The law—the nation's first of its kind—was challenged on First Amendment grounds amid concerns it amounted to a prior restraint of a game maker's speech. What's more, the law was seemingly impossible to comply with.

Original Submission