What cities played it late this year?
Thanks to the people over at TurboTax we have a list of the top late-filing cities. This year’s ranking of late-filing cities are…
Continue reading… “Top 10 Cities of Tax Procrastinators”
Erase Last Night’s Indiscretions From Facebook & Twitter
It’s nearly the weekend, which means that it’s nearly time to make bad decisions, likely with phone in hand. While the tech world can’t stop you from shamelessly making out with that girl in that dive bar, it can wipe away all graphic mentions of how you did so from your Twitter stream.
Enter Last Night Never Happened, a rather well-made novelty iPhone/iPad/iPod touch app from22seeds. The app’s purpose? It deletes posts, photos, comments, tweets and direct messages from your Facebook and Twitter accounts. Unfortunately, you can’t delete as much from Facebook as you might like — merely comments and photos…
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U.S. Internet Piracy Is on the Decline
Internet piracy is on the decline in the U.S., according to new research from NPD Group.
The percentage of the U.S. Internet population using a P2P file-sharing service to download music has decreased from 16% (28 million users) at the end of 2007, to 9% (16 million users) in the fourth quarter of 2010 — the very quarter that LimeWire was forced to shut down its file-sharing service. In the quarter previous, a federal judge ruled against LimeWire in a copyright infringement case versus the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA)…
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Should Men in Uniform be Forced to Shave?
Several US organisations ban beards, including the military and police forces.
A rabbi is suing the US Army for refusing to let him serve unless he removes his beard. The US military, as well as many police forces across America, require recruits to be clean shaven. But what is wrong with sporting a beard in the line of duty?
Chin straps, goatees, stubble, soul patches, mutton chops or just the old-fashioned full version.
There are many ways to grow a beard, but if you’re serving in the US military, getting creative with your chin furniture is not an option.
The different branches of the US insist that recruits are clean shaven. Those later in their career are permitted to go as far as growing a moustache. But even that facial freedom comes with caveats…
Continue reading… “Should Men in Uniform be Forced to Shave?”
The Last Sword Maker in Taiwan
Maria Popova of BrainPickings has posted an excellent article about 7 micro-documentaries about occupations and crafts that are fast becoming obsolete. From being a shoe black to working the film projector to making glass signs, these are the stories of people who are the last of their kinds.
This one above is the story of Taiwan’s last sword maker…
Continue reading… “The Last Sword Maker in Taiwan”
Google Recruits Scientists to Use New Media to Tackle Climate Skeptics
In an effort to help improve communication regarding global warming issues and to counter the rampant ‘noise’ made by fossil fuel industry-funded climate skepticism, Google’s philanthropy arm has launched a new program focused on bringing together scientists, communications experts, and the world of social media. Google has tapped 21 top climate researchers to be fellows on the project, and they plan on mapping out a way to get accurate, scientifically sound information on climate to the masses.
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Naval Sonar Exercises Linked to Whale Strandings
Whales are affected by Naval Sonar Exercises.
Scientists have long been aware of a link between naval sonar exercises and unusual mass strandings of beaked whales. Evidence of such a link triggered a series of lawsuits in which environmental groups sued the U.S. Navy to limit sonar exercises to reduce risk to whales. In 2008, this conflict rose to the level of the US Supreme Court which had to balance potential threat to whales from sonar against the military risk posed by naval forces inadequately trained to use sonar to detect enemy submarines. The court ruled that the Navy could continue training, but that it was essential for the Navy to develop better methods to protect the whales.
Continue reading… “Naval Sonar Exercises Linked to Whale Strandings”
Children’s Playground Replaced With Brick Wall
Just another brick in the wall?
When an ageing playground was dismantled by workmen, people living nearby expected new swings, slides and climbing frames. What they ended up with was . . . a brick wall. The old play equipment in Audenshaw’s Shepley Wood Park was taken away two years ago. Town hall chiefs promised to replace it with brand-new facilities.
But when the plug was pulled on government funding last year, the council was forced to think again. Now it has now replaced the equipment – with a wall for kids to kick a ball against. Eileen Pritchard, whose house overlooks the park, said: “We can’t believe what we’re seeing…
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40th Anniversary Of The Computer Virus
A dreaded word to any computer user.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Creeper, the world’s first computer virus. From Creeper to Stuxnet, the last four decades saw the number of malware instances boom from 1,300 in 1990, to 50,000 in 2000, to over 200 million in 2010.
Besides sheer quantity, viruses, which were originally used as academic proof of concepts, quickly turned into geek pranks, then evolved into cybercriminal tools. By 2005, the virus scene had been monetized, and virtually all viruses were developed with the sole purpose of making money via more or less complex business models…
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U.S. Military Developing False Online Personalities to Counter “Enemy Propaganda”
The US Central Command (Centcom) has purchased software that creates false online personalities for what it calls “information operations.”
Using the software, one member of the U.S. Military can control up to ten different fake accounts that appear to belong to civilians living in other countries. The government purchased the software from California-based Ntrepid for $2.76 million.
Poor Countries Have More Piracy Because Media Costs Too Much — Report
Media Piracy in Emerging Economies, an academic report on pricing and copyright infringement in poor countries, comes to the conclusion that high media prices (as measured against the average wage in poor countries) are responsible for piracy — that is, when you control for social attitudes towards copying, enforcement differences, and so on, the largest predictor of whether a country will have rampant copyright infringement is whether the media in that country is priced high relative to peoples’ earning power.
To make their point, the authors have released the report under a provocative “Consumer’s Dilemma license” that charges escalating rates depending on whether your IP address is in a rich or poor country.
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In Lasers We Trust: NASA Researches 5kW Galactic Trash Disposal System
Dealing with space junk.
Space junk is a growing problem — 200,000 pieces and counting — and as the amount of earth’s orbital debris increases, so does the chance some satellite will be involved in a cosmic collision. As this would cause much gnashing of teeth and woe for the affected terrestrial parties, some researchers from NASA’s Ames Research Center have pitched the idea of removing said junk with a laser — once again proving that everything’s better with lasers…
Continue reading… “In Lasers We Trust: NASA Researches 5kW Galactic Trash Disposal System”
