(Click image for full version)
Came across this comic today -- this about perfectly sums up the base idiocy of the "AV software caused lost votes" argument coming from Premier/Diebold. (See Ohio Sues Diebold/Premiere Over Lost E-Voting Votes)
Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label News. Show all posts
Monday, August 18, 2008
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Map that named America is a puzzle for researchers - Yahoo! News
It was ALIENS!!!!!!!
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The only surviving copy of the 500-year-old map that first used the name America goes on permanent display this month at the Library of Congress, but even as it prepares for its debut, the 1507 Waldseemuller map remains a puzzle for researchers.
Why did the mapmaker name the territory America and then change his mind later? How was he able to draw South America so accurately? Why did he put a huge ocean west of America years before European explorers discovered the Pacific?
"That's the kind of conundrum, the question, that is still out there," said John Hebert, chief of the geography and map division of the Library of Congress.
The 12 sheets that make up the map, purchased from German Prince Johannes Waldburg-Wolfegg for $10 million in 2003, were mounted on Monday in a huge 6-foot by 9.5-foot (1.85 meter by 2.95 meter) display case machined from a single block of aluminum.
Map that named America is a puzzle for researchers - Yahoo! News
Monday, December 03, 2007
Rare Mummified Dinosaur Unearthed: Contains Skin, and Maybe Organs, Muscle
Neat new info!
Scientists on Monday announced the discovery of what appears to be the world's most intact dinosaur mummy: a 67-million-year-old plant-eater that contains fossilized bones and skin tissue, and possibly muscle and organs.
Preserved by a natural fluke of time and chemistry, the four-ton mummified hadrosaur, a duck-billed herbivore common to North America, could reshape the understanding of dinosaurs and their habitat, its finders say.
Rare Mummified Dinosaur Unearthed: Contains Skin, and Maybe Organs, Muscle
"So far, they have determined that the hadrosaur's hindquarters are 25 percent larger than previously thought for the species, meaning that it could run up to 28 mph -- faster than previously estimated. They have also discovered that the specimen's vertebrae, which museums commonly stack together, are actually spaced 10 millimeters apart. The result, Manning said, implies that scientists may have been underestimating the size of hadrosaurs and other dinosaurs."
Monday, November 19, 2007
'Shut up' is hit ringtone in Spain - Yahoo! News
This is hilarious :)
MADRID, Spain - Many Spaniards were so amused when their king told Venezuela's president to "shut up" they want to hear the words every time their phone rings.
About half a million people have downloaded a mobile phone ringtone featuring the phrase "Por que no te callas?" or "Why don't you shut up?" leading Madrid daily El Pais reported on its Web site Monday.
That's what King Juan Carlos told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during a heated confrontation at a summit in Chile last week.
...
The spat last week began when Chavez repeatedly called former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar a "fascist."
Spain's current prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, asked Chavez to be more diplomatic and show respect for other leaders. As Chavez repeatedly tried to interrupt, King Juan Carlos leaned forward and said: "Why don't you shut up?"
Evidence Of Injustice, FBI's Bullet Lead Analysis Used Flawed Science To Convict Hundreds Of Defendants - CBS News
I can remember this being used in TV shows as the basis for the prosecutions case; I can imagine this will have pretty significant impact on quite a few case.
The science, called bullet lead analysis, was used by the FBI for 40 years in thousands of cases, and some of the people it helped put in jail may be innocent.
Lee Wayne Hunt says he's been behind bars for over 22 years and 6 months, and maintains he's an innocent man. "What I've said from the word get go that I ain't -- never killed nobody. I didn't have nothing to do with this," Hunt tells Kroft.
Hunt was convicted in 1986 of murdering two people in Fayetteville, N.C., based on the testimony of two questionable witnesses and what turned out to be erroneous ballistics testimony from the FBI lab.
For years, the FBI believed that lead in bullets had unique chemical signatures, and that by breaking them down and analyzing them, it was possible to match bullets, not only to a single batch of ammunition coming out of a factory, but to a single box of bullets. And that is what the FBI did in the case of Lee Wayne Hunt, tying a bullet fragment found where the murders took place to a box of bullets the prosecutors linked to Hunt.---
Tobin says the Quantico lab was the only place in the country that did bullet lead analysis, and the assertion that you could actually match a bullet fragment to a specific batch or box of bullets went unchallenged for 40 years -- until Tobin retired in 1998 and decided to do his own study, discovering that the basic premise had never actually been scientifically tested.
"FBI lab personnel testified that you could match these fragments to this bullet," Kroft remarks.
"Yes, that's correct," Tobin says.
Asked what he found out, Tobin tells Kroft, "It hadn't been based on science at all, but rather had been based on subjective belief for over four decades."
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Good news.. but wait, what about the terrorists and pedophiles!!
Reading the news today, I came across this bit, which by itself is pretty good news. It, if passed, would extend reporter's privilege to federal cases; such already exists for all states, including DC. It also, as a side effect, would include Bloggers, or anyone else involved in "the regular gathering, preparing, collecting, photographing, recording, writing, editing, reporting, or publishing of news or information that concerns local, national, or international events or other matters of public interest for dissemination to the public".
Anyone regularly engaged in "journalism," which would seem to include some bloggers, wouldn't generally be forced to divulge confidential sources in federal cases under a bill approved Thursday by a U.S. Senate committee.
By a 15-2 vote, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee backed an amended version of the so-called Free Flow of Information Act. Sens. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) and Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.) cast the "no" votes.
Bloggers land legal shield in Senate panel vote | Tech news blog - CNET News.com
But wait, there's more! You can't simply pass a new law these days; someone has to tie it to terrorism and child porn or child predators:
The Justice Department has argued that the language is far too broad and could endanger national security and criminal investigations. A Thursday Washington Post op-ed by U.S. attorney Patrick Fitzgerald claims the bill would unwittingly protect Iraqi spies posing as journalists and child pornographers who swapped information via the Internet.
Give me a break. I'm sick and tired of everything being reduced to either terrorism or "protect the children!". I'd vote for Mickey Mouse for president at this point if I thought he'd govern thru wisdom, and not thru fear mongering.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Ridiculous! Texas Legislature
This is shameful behavior from politicians. Voting for other members, racing to get your vote in place for another member before someone else can get THEIR vote in place for another member... shocking behavior that clearly needs to be blocked against, since those who should be policing themselves, aren't.
Starting at 00:55: "Elkins goes to vote for Merit but Hancock is faster. Elkins heads back to his desk but before he can vote Joe Crabb turns around and beats him to it." Then watch... while Elkins turns around to vote on someone else's desk, Crabb votes on Elkins desk!
Friday, September 14, 2007
Dark Sky, Bright Lights Over Pennsylvania - New York Times
Well I'm not over 40, but I can certainly remember. Living in San Jose now, there's very little star shine, and tons of light pollution .
Anyone over 40 can probably remember staring into a sky that pulsed with stars, but nowadays, man’s artificial light has erased the view. Chip Harrison, who manages Cherry Springs and seven other state parks, said only 10 percent of the United States population has seen a true dark sky
...
On a good night for stargazing at Cherry Springs State Park, in north central Pennsylvania, the Milky Way is a speckled wash across the sky. On a perfect night, particularly during a new moon, the Milky Way is so bright it casts shadows. Stargazers hold out their hands and look at the shadows on the ground in awe.
...
“I don’t have a telescope, but I love to come out here because it’s so beautiful,” she said between bites of a cookie. “These people are so anxious to share their telescopes with you and help you see the skies. It takes your breath away.
“You feel like you can touch the stars.”
Thursday, September 06, 2007
3,000-year-old beehives unearthed in Israel - CNN.com
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Archaeologists digging in northern Israel have discovered evidence of a 3,000-year-old beekeeping industry, including remnants of ancient honeycombs, beeswax and what they believe are the oldest intact beehives ever found.
One of the ancient beehives found at Tel Rehov in Israel.
...
The beehives, made of straw and unbaked clay, have a hole at one end to allow the bees in and out and a lid on the other end to allow beekeepers access to the honeycombs inside. They were found in orderly rows, three high, in a room that could have accommodated around 100 hives, Mazar said.
The Bible repeatedly refers to Israel as a "land of milk and honey," but that's believed to refer to honey made from dates and figs -- there is no mention of honeybee cultivation. But the new find shows that the Holy Land was home to a highly developed beekeeping industry nearly 3,000 years ago.
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