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Before getting into quite why Nicholas Wade's A Troublesome Inheritance-a book which argues, among other things, that Jews possess a genetic "adaptation to capitalism"-is racist, it may be worth thinking back to the summer of 2012. Viewers of the BBC's coverage of the Olympics on August 10 would have been surprised, between heats in the 200 metres, by a short video explaining how the slave trade made black people into better athletes:

http://www.newstatesman.com/future-proof/2014/05/jews-are-adapted-capitalism-and-other-nonsenses-new-scientific-racism

Here at the shop I get to use and try more gear than most and one thing I've noticed is that AMD driver 14.4 is to be AVOIDED at all costs! they have already issued one fix so far but even the "fixed" driver just doesn't work. I use a lot of the HD77xx series cards (liked them so much myself and my family are all on HD77xx) and the new drivers are just terrible on those cards, it makes boot slow to a crawl, many formats of video just don't play, even seeing BSODs when playing some H.26x formatted vids.

If I had to guess its the new HSA or Mantle causing the teething problems but until they figure out the cause its best to stick with 13.12 which is rock solid.

Radioactive kitty litter may have ruined our best hope to store nuclear waste. Billions invested in an underground New Mexico repository could be wasted because of one seemingly innocuous decision.
Some of the most dangerous nuclear waste in the US is currently scattered between 77 locations all over the country, awaiting permanent storage. Until February, many experts suggested that the best place to put it was a facility about 40 miles east of Carlsbad, New Mexico, called the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). For 15 years, WIPP has operated as the first and only permanent, deep geologic nuclear waste storage facility in the country, holding "low level" radioactive materials - mostly clothing and tools exposed to radiation from nuclear weapons production - in steel barrels more than 2,150 feet below the Earth's surface. But earlier this year two emergencies brought that suggestion - and WIPP's future - into question. And now it seems kitty litter may be to blame.
http://www.theverge.com/2014/5/23/5742800/did-kitty-litter-just-kill-the-most-successful-nuclear-waste-facility

Is it my browser, my ISP, or the internet itself? Or have I been hacked? Yesterday the links at Soylent were all messed up; I moderated a thread, and the "moderate" button took me to a 404 and I still had the mod points. Other links were taking me to the wrong place as well. This morning I decided to see what was going on with the green site and FireFox informed me that its security certificate wasn't any good.

I think I should be worried. Maybe it's time to slap Linux on this notebook...

For those that haven't tried it lately Comodo Internet Security has added a bit of brilliance...a virtual machine desktop! With this even your most clueless users/friends/relatives can have the added security of surfing in a VM without having to know squat about OSes and VMs, here is how...

1.- Give them the free Comodo IS, 2.- If they don't have it install MSFT Silverlight (no worries about zero days and the like though, because the VM runs in a locked down sandbox), 3.- Show them where the big button is that says "virtual desktop". For the most clueless Comodo comes with a widget on the desktop with most functions including virtual desktop. 4.- There is no step 4, let your user enjoy a virtual desktop loaded with Google apps and Comodo Dragon for surfing while you enjoy not having to worry about infections on their system. Hell it even comes with Angry Birds to give 'em a reason to start using it!

For years we've known that using a VM locked down and separate from the OS was a good thing but its just been too complicated for Joe and Jane, well Comodo hs that problem licked, I have handed it to some of my most clueless and virus prone customers and so far? Clean as a whistle. Its easy, increases security by a large amount, and its free...what's not to like?

The importance of algorithms in our lives today cannot be overstated. They are used virtually everywhere, from financial institutions to dating sites. But some algorithms shape and control our world more than others - and these ten are the most significant. Just a quick refresher before we get started. Though there's no formal definition, computer scientists describe algorithms as a set of rules that define a sequence of operations. They're a series of instructions that tell a computer how it's supposed to solve a problem or achieve a certain goal. A good way to think of algorithms is by visualizing a flowchart.

http://io9.com/the-10-algorithms-that-dominate-our-world-1580110464

New York Times publishes Islamophobic ad by anti-Islam group.
Visit The New York Times' homepage today, and before the page loads you may be shown a 15-second full-screen advertisement warning that unnamed "Islamist groups" are "undermining America's security, liberty, and free speech," with a photo of the World Trade Center towers. The ad's implicitly Islamophobic message, suggesting that Muslim-Americans may be enemies within, and its timing during the opening of the September 11 Memorial Museum, raise questions about why the Times decided to allow it such prominent display on its homepage. The advertising unit, called an interstitial, is typically one of the most expensive because it required users to view the ad or click away before they can see the New York Times homepage.

http://www.vox.com/2014/5/22/5742248/new-york-times-publishes-islamophobic-ad-by-anti-islam-group

Hof is one of the world's most recognized extremophiles. In 2007 he made headlines around the world when he attempted to summit Mount Everest wearing nothing but spandex shorts and hiking boots. He has run barefoot marathons in the arctic circle and submerged his entire body beneath the ice for almost two hours. Every feat defies the boundaries of what medical science says is possible. Hof believes he is much more than a stuntman performing tricks; he thinks he has stumbled on hidden evolutionary potential locked inside every human body.

http://www.playboy.com/playground/view/wim-hoff-endurance-mind-control

Regular readers of Genotopia will be familiar with Dick Dorkins, a genomicist, faculty member of Kashkow University, and founding President of the Society for the Prevention of Intelligent design, Theology, Or Other Nonsense (SPITOON).

A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race, and Human History, by Nicholas Wade (New York: Penguin) 2014, 288 pp.
It really is a bloody shame that India just had yet another free and fair election, because Nicholas Wade's new book is so bally good it makes me want to dig out the old pith helmet and mustache wax and jolly well troop off and colonize her again. Since I can't conquer India, I itch to conquer Mrs. Dorkins and spread my genes, via more little Dorkinses. Alas, Wendy says she has a headache (again!), so the next best thing is to dab my favorite plume into grandfather Dorkins's inkpot and, in my best public-school hand, pen this little squib on behalf of Wade's latest. Perhaps I can prompt the some of you lot to do your Darwinian duty and either have or not have more children, depending on your race.

http://genotopia.scienceblog.com/441/hail-britannia-review-of-wades-a-troublesome-inheritance/

Admitting our faults: When does self-acceptance trump self-destruction ?

When face-to-face with our failures, it's hard not to deny the consequences of our shortcomings- and sometimes we make problems worse by engaging in the behaviors we have been trying so hard to avoid. According to a new study in the Journal of Consumer Research, practicing self-acceptance may be the best way to boost our self-worth and avoid self-deprecating behaviors and consequences. "Consider the person who has just realized that they are poorly prepared financially for retirement," write authors Soo Kim and David Gal (both Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University). "They might either go out and buy something expensive or start binge eating or drinking as a way to avoid dealing with their problems. We introduce the idea that practicing self-acceptance is a more effective alternative to this type of self-destructive behavior."

http://healthmedicinet.com/news/admitting-our-faults-when-does-self-acceptance-trump-self-destruction/

http://www.jcr-admin.org/files/pressreleases/052114082603_May2014Release5.pdf

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/journals/journal/jcr.html