http://alterslash.org the unofficial SlashDot digest This is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site, subject to copyright and fair use. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/nVBnKBLvKcU/ Yesterday the Guardian ran a story based on two anonymous sources inside the International Energy Agency who claimed that the agency had distorted key figures on oil reserves. “The world is much closer to running out of oil than official estimates admit, according to a whistleblower at the [IEA] who claims it has been deliberately underplaying a looming shortage for fear of triggering panic buying. http://alterslash.org/#Whistleblower_Claims_IEA_Is_Downplaying_Peak_Oil http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/s4F_lqLecUc/ A previously undiscovered asteroid came within 14,000 km of Earth — just over one Earth diameter 1/30 the lunar distance — on Friday, and astronomers noticed it only 15 hours before closest approach. On Nov. 6 at around 16:30 EST, a 7-meter asteroid, now called 2009 VA, came only about 2 Earth radii from impacting our planet. http://alterslash.org/#Unknown_7m_Asteroid_Almost_Impacted_Earth http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/VY2dzjD-_g0/ Chicago Traffic Court Judges have been throwing out speeding cases in which the driver’s speed was measured with a LIDAR. Judges are asking for a special ‘Frye Hearing’ to determine the accuracy of these devices. http://alterslash.org/#Chicago_Court_Throwing_Out_LIDAR_Speeding_Tickets http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/1DpMmT1fqo4/ In a case that tests whether online and independent journalism has the same protections as mainstream journalism, the Justice Department sent Indymedia a grand jury subpoena. It requires a list of all visitors on a day, and further, a gag order to Indymedia ‘not to disclose the existence of this request.’ CBS reports that ‘Kristina Clair, a 34-year-old Linux administrator living in Philadelphia who provides free server space for Indymedia.us, said she was shocked to receive the Justice Department’s subpoena,’ and that ‘The subpoena from US Attorney Tim Morrison in Indianapolis demanded “all IP traffic to and from www.indymedia.us” on June 25, 2008. http://alterslash.org/#Justice_Dept_Asked_For_Broad_Swath_of_IndyMedia_s_Visitor_Records http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/StBLmOjQIMs/ The New York Times reports that about 10 percent of electricity generated in the United States comes from fuel from dismantled nuclear bombs, mostly Russian. ‘It’s a great, easy source’ of fuel, said Marina V. Alekseyenkova, an analyst at Renaissance Bank and an expert in the Russian nuclear industry that has profited from the arrangement since the end of the cold war. http://alterslash.org/#10_of_US_Energy_Derived_From_Old_Soviet_Nukes http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/EZ1izs6f9xA/ In July, the Software Freedom Law Center (SFLC) leveled the finger at Microsoft for a GPL violation but how often does this actually happen? Sunday, Brad M. Kuhn (tech director at the SFLC) stated in his blog that since August of 2009 he has been finding about one per day. http://alterslash.org/#SFLC_Finds_One_New_GPL_Violation_Per_Day http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/0MTn-lOcgBQ/ Glenn Beck fought the law and the law won. Parody website DidGlennBeckRapeAndMurderAYoungGirlIn1990.com attacked Beck using the same straw man arguments Beck himself is famous for: ‘We’re not accusing Glenn Beck of raping and murdering a young girl in 1990 — in fact, we think he didn’t! But we can’t help but wonder … Why won’t he deny that he raped and killed a young girl in 1990?’ http://alterslash.org/#Glenn_Beck_Loses_Dispute_Over_Parody_Domain http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/KkK9QCqVZLY/ The BBC’s plans to introduce DRM for over-the-air digital broadcasts were today dealt a setback when the regulator, Ofcom, asked them the same question that has been asked of many DRM systems: ’How does this benefit the consumer?’ The letter to the BBC is quoted in the article as saying that ‘Ofcom received a large number of responses to this consultation, in particular from consumers and consumer groups, who raised a number of potentially significant consumer “fair use” and competition issues that were not addressed in our original consultation.’ This does not end the chance of the BBC being allowed to introduce DRM in the future, but it at least delays their opportunity to do so.” http://alterslash.org/#Regulator_Blocks_BBC_DRM_Plans http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/7YNs_Jnseww/ A CS student blogger named Carolyn offers an interesting take on why learning from PowerPoint lectures is frustrating. Unlike an old-school chalk talk, professors who use PowerPoint tend to present topics very quickly, leaving little time to digest the visuals or to take learning-reinforcing notes. http://alterslash.org/#Attack_of_the_PowerPoint_Wielding_Professors http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/6Ga6ANoLZMk/ The US Supreme Court held oral argument Monday in Bilski, a business-methods patent case that might also have important implications for software patents (We have previously discussed the case several times). The tone of the argument appears to be good news, as the justices were very skeptical of the broad patentability claims. http://alterslash.org/#US_Supreme_Court_Skeptical_of_Business_Method_Patents http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/6R_2sCdZJWA/ What geek among us has never thought about how cool it would be if you could call your computer and have it do stuff? Josh Davis put together a quick video demo and source code of his Voice Controlled LED Marquee, powered by Google Voice speech recognition and a DIY LED Array Kit. http://alterslash.org/#Google_Voice_Controls_Giant_LED_Display http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/sBVupowtP1I/ We’ve seen augmented reality applications for years (and seen the GE windmill replicated in PopSci), but now Esquire Magazine seems to be trying to show off the undying value of print by launching its ‘AR issue’ — which, from the demo video, looks pretty cool. Applications include a 3D cover with Robert Downey Jr., a weather-changing fashion portfolio with The Hurt Locker’s Jeremy Renner, a time-sensitive Funny Joke from a Beautiful Woman with Community’s Gillian Jacobs, plus a song, a photo slideshow, and a face-recognition ad from Lexus. http://alterslash.org/#Esquire_Launches_First_Augmented_Reality_Magazine http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Alterslash/~3/6A9Uhhjq3kg/ A new award-winning thesis from an MIT computer science assistant professor showed that the Nash equilibrium of complex games (like the economy or poker) belong to problems with non-deterministic polynomial (NP) complexity (more specifically PPAD complexity, a subset of TFNP problems which is a subset of FNP problems which is a subset of NP problems). More importantly there should be a single solution for one problem that can be adapted to fit all the other problems. http://alterslash.org/#What_Computer_Science_Can_Teach_Economics