Slashdot (RSS Feed) 9 months ago

Should Climate Change Be Acknowledged In Movies? The Los Angeles Times publishes a weekly "Boiling Point" newsletter about climate change and energy issues. And this week they examined whether the scientific fact of a change climate is reflected in the mass media: For the second year running, nonprofit consulting firm Good Energy applied its Climate Reality Check to the actual Oscar-nominated films [which] tests whether a movie and its characters acknowledge global warming... Of last year's 13 Oscar-nominated films that met Good Energy's criteria (feature-length movies set in present-day or near-future Earth) three passed the test. This year, there were 10 eligible films. Only "The Wild Robot" passed... Maybe a few years from now, studios will release a torrent of movies and shows reflecting the realities of a scary-but-still-salvageable world, helmed by producers and writers jolted into renewed awareness by the infernos. But for now, the picture is bleak. A peer-reviewed study slated for publication this month, led by Rice University English and environmental studies professor Matthew Schneider-Mayerson, analyzes climate change mentions in 250 of the most popular movies of the last decade. The authors found that just 12.8% of the films allude to global warming. Just 3.6% depict or mention the climate crisis in two or more scenes. "A lot of times, it's really being mentioned in passing," Schneider-Mayerson said... [Good Energy Chief Executive Anna Jane Joyner] pointed to another analysis led by Schneider-Mayerson, which found that movies passing the Climate Reality Check and released in theaters earned 10% more at the box office, on average, than films failing the test. Netflix, meanwhile, says on its website that 80% of its customers "choose to watch at least one story on Netflix that helps them better understand climate issues or highlight hopeful solutions around sustainability...." [Netflix's "Sustainability Stories" collection includes Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget, and Waterworld] Sponsors are interested in selling audiences on climate-friendly products, too. I was sitting in a movie theater last weekend enjoying "Captain America: Brave New World" — the latest entry in Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe — when, to my surprise, Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) got out of his SUV and pulled his iconic red-white-and-blue shield out of the front trunk. Yes, a front trunk, where an internal combustion engine would normally be. That meant Captain America was driving an electric vehicle, right? Indeed, he was. I did some research after I got home and learned that Wilson was driving a GMC Hummer EV, the result of a paid partnership between Marvel Studios and GMC parent company General Motors. Ironically, the movie does not at any point acknowledge global warming, the article points out (adding "Also, SUVs kill more pedestrians and cyclists than smaller cars.") "But the more movies and TV shows spotlight climate solutions — electric vehicles, solar panels, induction stoves — the more likely people are to support those solutions. For Hollywood, that's a step in the right direction." <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Should+Climate+Change+Be+Acknowledged+In+Movies%3F%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fnews.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F02%2F24%2F0334207%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F02%2F24%2F0334207%2Fshould-climate-change-be-acknowledged-in-movies%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

Should Climate Change Be Acknowledged In Movies? - Slashdot

The Los Angeles Times publishes a weekly "Boiling Point" newsletter about climate change and energy issues. And this week they examined whe...

at Slashdot.

Should Climate Change Be Acknowledged In Movies? - Slashdot

The Los Angeles Times publishes a weekly "Boiling Point" newsletter about climate change and energy issues. And this week they examined whe...

Slashdot (RSS Feed) 10 months ago

Fedora Amicably Resolves Legal Threat From OBS Studio Over Downstream Flatpak When it comes to application packaging, earlier this month the site Its FOSS complained that Fedora Flatpaks "are often unmaintained or broken, leading to a poor experience for users who aren't usually aware they're using them." And this apparently created friction with OBS Studio, the free/open-source screencasting and streaming app. "We are now considering the Fedora Flatpaks distribution of OBS Studio a hostile fork," OBS Studio lead Joel Bethke posted in on GitLab's page for Fedora Flatpaks. They said they were making "a formal request to remove all of our branding, including but not limited to, our name, our logo, any additional IP belonging to the OBS Project, from your distribution. Failure to comply may result in further legal action taken...." (Issues with Fedora's packaging led "to users complaining upstream thinking they are being served the official package..." Bethke said in his original Issue. "I would also like some sort of explanation on why someone thought it was a good idea to take a Flatpak that was working perfectly fine, break it, and publish it at a higher priority to our official builds.") 23 people clicked "Like" on the original Issue — but threatening legal action only happened after Bethke felt Fedora was unresponsive, according to It's FOSS: In a comment on a video by Brodi Robertson (check pinned comment), Joel shared that folks from Fedora were not taking this issue seriously, with one of them even resorting to name-calling by labeling the OBS Studio devs as being "terrible maintainers". Since then, a major step has been taken by Neal Gompa, a well-known Fedora contributor and member of the Fedora Engineering Steering Committee (FESCo). He has opened a new issue to remove Fedora's OBS Studio flatpak from the registry as soon as possible. But by Tuesday Bethke posted in a new comment on GitLab announcing that "a very good conversation" with the Flatpak SIG and Fedora Project Leader seemed to have cleared the tension. "We discussed the issues, how we got here, and what next steps are... [T]he OBS Project is no longer requesting a removal of IP or rebrand of the OBS Studio application provided by Fedora Flatpaks." To the issue of not knowing where to report bugs for the downstream package, "We had some very good discussion on how this might be accomplished in the medium-long term, but don't consider it a blocker at this point." As for other issues with Fedora's Flatpak for OBS Studio, "The discussion was positive and they are actively working to resolve..." And similar sentiments were echoed on Fedora's own issue tracker. "We had a good conversation today, and there is a hopeful path forward that does not require the OBS Project distancing itself from Fedora Flatpaks..." <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Fedora+Amicably+Resolves+Legal+Threat+From+OBS+Studio+Over+Downstream+Flatpak%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fnews.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F02%2F24%2F0438216%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F02%2F24%2F0438216%2Ffedora-amicably-resolves-legal-threat-from-obs-studio-over-downstream-flatpak%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

Fedora Amicably Resolves Legal Threat From OBS Studio Over Downstream Flatpak - Slashdot

When it comes to application packaging, earlier this month the site Its FOSS complained that Fedora Flatpaks "are often unmaintained or broken,...

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Fedora Amicably Resolves Legal Threat From OBS Studio Over Downstream Flatpak - Slashdot

When it comes to application packaging, earlier this month the site Its FOSS complained that Fedora Flatpaks "are often unmaintained or broken,...

Slashdot (RSS Feed) 10 months ago

Unexpected Shape of Lead-208 Nucleus of May Force Scientists to Reevaluate Atomic Nuclei Models "An international research collaboration led by the University of Surrey's Nuclear Physics Group has overturned the long-standing belief that the atomic nucleus of lead-208 is perfectly spherical," reports Phys.org. They add that the discovery "challenges fundamental assumptions about nuclear structure and has far-reaching implications for our understanding of how the heaviest elements are formed in the universe..." [A] new study published in Physical Review Letters used a high-precision experimental probe to examine its shape and found that rather than being perfectly spherical, the nucleus of lead-208 is slightly elongated, resembling a rugby ball (prolate spheroid)... Using the state-of-the-art GRETINA gamma-ray spectrometer at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, U.S., scientists bombarded lead atoms with high-speed particle beams accelerated to 10% of the speed of light — equivalent to circling the Earth every second. The interactions created unique gamma-ray fingerprints of the properties of excited quantum states in lead-208 nuclei — in other words, the nuclei were energized — which, in turn, were used to determine its shape. Theoretical physicists, including those at the Surrey Nuclear Theory Group, are now re-examining the models used to describe atomic nuclei, as the experiments suggest that nuclear structure is far more complex than previously thought. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Unexpected+Shape+of+Lead-208+Nucleus+of+May+Force+Scientists+to+Reevaluate+Atomic+Nuclei+Models%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fscience.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F02%2F23%2F0051225%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fscience.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F02%2F23%2F0051225%2Funexpected-shape-of-lead-208-nucleus-of-may-force-scientists-to-reevaluate-atomic-nuclei-models%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

Unexpected Shape of Lead-208 Nucleus May Force Scientists to Reevaluate Atomic Nuclei Models - Slashdot

"An international research collaboration led by the University of Surrey

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Unexpected Shape of Lead-208 Nucleus May Force Scientists to Reevaluate Atomic Nuclei Models - Slashdot

"An international research collaboration led by the University of Surrey

Slashdot (RSS Feed) 10 months ago

Lithium Batteries Reignited Tuesday at the Moss Landing Power Plant Fire Site Remember that battery plant fire last month in Moss Landing, California? Tuesday night local firefighters "determined that a group of lithium batteries in an area that had previously burned during the January 16 fire had smoldered and reignited," reports SFGate. Fire Chief Joel Mendoza said the flames burned at varying intensities throughout Tuesday night before the fire burned itself out at about 8 a.m. on Wednesday. Additional flare-ups at the site are expected due to weather exposure and damage to the remaining batteries. "Rekindling is very, very likely — almost a certainty," said EPA onsite coordinator Eric Sandusky, adding that rain and humidity can interact with the damaged batteries, leading to short circuits and reignition. To further reduce fire risk, Sandusky said the EPA is working with Vistra to begin "de-linking the batteries," a process that disconnects them to lower the risk of propagation and prevent a large-scale fire... "Vistra said that since the January 16 fire, they have brought in a private fire crew that is on-site at all times to monitor the Moss 300 building," according to a local news site. Fire Chief Joel Mendoza shared more details with the digital newspaper Lookout Santa Cruz. "We've been saying all along that batteries exposed to heat that didn't burn can ignite. We were hoping that it wouldn't happen, but it did." <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Lithium+Batteries+Reignited+Tuesday+at+the+Moss+Landing+Power+Plant+Fire+Site%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fhardware.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F02%2F23%2F039220%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fhardware.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F02%2F23%2F039220%2Flithium-batteries-reignited-tuesday-at-the-moss-landing-power-plant-fire-site%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

Lithium Batteries Reignited Tuesday at the Moss Landing Power Plant Fire Site - Slashdot

Remember that battery plant fire last month in Moss Landing, California? Tuesday night local firefighters "determined that a group of lithium...

at Slashdot.

Lithium Batteries Reignited Tuesday at the Moss Landing Power Plant Fire Site - Slashdot

Remember that battery plant fire last month in Moss Landing, California? Tuesday night local firefighters "determined that a group of lithium...

Slashdot (RSS Feed) 10 months ago

California Sues Data-Harvesting Company NPD, Enforcing Strict Privacy Law California sued to fine a data-harvesting company, reports the Washington Post, calling it "a rare step to put muscle behind one of the strongest online privacy laws in the United States." Even when states have tried to restrict data brokers, it has been tough to make those laws stick. That has generally been a problem for the 19 states that have passed broad laws to protect personal information, said Matt Schwartz, a policy analyst for Consumer Reports. He said there has been only 15 or so public enforcement actions by regulators overseeing all those laws. Partly because companies aren't held accountable, they're empowered to ignore the privacy standards. "Noncompliance is fairly widespread," Schwartz said. "It's a major problem." That's why California is unusual with a data broker law that seems to have teeth. To make sure state residents can order all data brokers operating in the state to delete their personal records [with a single request], California is now requiring brokers to register with the state or face a fine of $200 a day. The state's privacy watchdog said Thursday that it filed litigation to force one data broker, National Public Data, to pay $46,000 for failing to comply with that initial phase of the data broker law. NPD declined to comment through an attorney... This first lawsuit for noncompliance, Schwartz said, shows that California is serious about making companies live up to their privacy obligations... "If they can successfully build it and show it works, it will create a blueprint for other states interested in this idea," he said. Last summer NPD "spilled hundreds of millions of Americans' Social Security Numbers, addresses, and phone numbers online," according to the blog Krebs on Security, adding that another NPD data broker sharing access to the same consumer records "inadvertently published the passwords to its back-end database in a file that was freely available from its homepage..." California's attempt to regulate the industry inspired the nonprofit Consumer Reports to create an app called Permission Slip that reveals what data companies collect and, for people in U.S. states, will "work with you to file a request, telling companies to stop selling your personal information." Other data-protecting options suggested by The Washington Post: Use Firefox, Brave or DuckDuckGo, "which can automatically tell websites not to sell or share your data. Those demands from the web browsers are legally binding or will be soon in at least nine states." Use Privacy Badger, an EFF browser extension which the EFF says "automatically tells websites not to sell or share your data including where it's required by state law." <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=California+Sues+Data-Harvesting+Company+NPD%2C+Enforcing+Strict+Privacy+Law%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fyro.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F02%2F22%2F1512258%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fyro.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F02%2F22%2F1512258%2Fcalifornia-sues-data-harvesting-company-npd-enforcing-strict-privacy-law%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

California Sues Data-Harvesting Company NPD, Enforcing Strict Privacy Law - Slashdot

California sued to fine a data-harvesting company, reports the Washington Post, calling it "a rare step to put muscle behind one of the stronge...

at Slashdot.

California Sues Data-Harvesting Company NPD, Enforcing Strict Privacy Law - Slashdot

California sued to fine a data-harvesting company, reports the Washington Post, calling it "a rare step to put muscle behind one of the stronge...

Slashdot (RSS Feed) 10 months ago

ArcaOS (OS/2 Warp OEM) 5.1.1 Has Been Released "IBM stopped supporting OS/2 at the end of 2006," write the makers of ArcaOS, an OEM distribution of OS/2's discontinued Warp operating system. And now long-time Slashdot reader martiniturbide tells us that ArcaOS 5.1.1 has been released, and that many of it's components have been updated too. From this week's announcement: ArcaOS 5.1.1 continues to support installation on the latest generation of UEFI-based systems, as well as the ability to install to GPT-based disk layouts. This enables ArcaOS 5.1.1 to install on a wide array of modern hardware. Of course, ArcaOS 5.1.1 is just as much at home on traditional BIOS-based systems, offering enhanced stability and performance across both environments.... Need more convincing? How about a commercial operating system which doesn't spy on you, does not report your online activity to anyone, and gives you complete freedom to choose the applications you want to use, however you want to use them? How about an operating system which isn't tied to any specific hardware manufacturer, allowing you to choose the platform which is right for you, and fits perfectly well in systems with less than 4GB of memory or even virtual machines? <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=ArcaOS+(OS%2F2+Warp+OEM)+5.1.1+Has+Been+Released%3A+https%3A%2F%2Ftech.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F02%2F22%2F0748224%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Ftech.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F02%2F22%2F0748224%2Farcaos-os2-warp-oem-511-has-been-released%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

ArcaOS (OS/2 Warp OEM) 5.1.1 Has Been Released - Slashdot

"IBM stopped supporting OS/2 at the end of 2006," write the makers of ArcaOS, an OEM distribution of OS/2

at Slashdot.

ArcaOS (OS/2 Warp OEM) 5.1.1 Has Been Released - Slashdot

"IBM stopped supporting OS/2 at the end of 2006," write the makers of ArcaOS, an OEM distribution of OS/2

Slashdot (RSS Feed) 10 months ago

HP Deliberately Adds 15 Minutes Waiting Time For Telephone Support Calls HP will impose a minimum 15-minute wait time for consumer PC and printer support calls in five European countries, seeking to push customers toward digital channels, according to internal documents seen by The Register. The policy, implemented February 18, affects retail customers in Britain, Ireland, France, Germany and Italy. The outlet added that it anticipates "more countries could be added." <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=HP+Deliberately+Adds+15+Minutes+Waiting+Time+For+Telephone+Support+Calls%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fit.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F02%2F20%2F1827203%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fit.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F02%2F20%2F1827203%2Fhp-deliberately-adds-15-minutes-waiting-time-for-telephone-support-calls%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

HP Deliberately Adds 15 Minutes Waiting Time For Telephone Support Calls - Slashdot

HP will impose a minimum 15-minute wait time for consumer PC and printer support calls in five European countries, seeking to push customers toward...

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HP Deliberately Adds 15 Minutes Waiting Time For Telephone Support Calls - Slashdot

HP will impose a minimum 15-minute wait time for consumer PC and printer support calls in five European countries, seeking to push customers toward...

Slashdot (RSS Feed) 10 months ago

Rare Genetic Disorder Treated in Womb For the First Time A two-and-a-half-year-old girl shows no signs of a rare genetic disorder, after becoming the first person to be treated for the motor-neuron condition while in the womb. Nature: The child's mother took the gene-targeting drug during late pregnancy, and the child continues to take it. The "baby has been effectively treated, with no manifestations of the condition," says Michelle Farrar, a paediatric neurologist at UNSW Sydney in Australia. The results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine yesterday. The child was conceived with a genetic condition known as spinal muscular atrophy, which affects motor neurons that control movement, and leads to progressive muscle weakening. About one in every 10,000 births have some form of the condition -- making it a leading genetic cause of death in infants and children. In its most severe form, as in the case of this child, individuals lack both copies of the SMN1 gene, and have only one or two copies of a neighbouring gene, SMN2, that partially compensates for that deficiency. As a result, the body does not produce enough of the protein required for maintaining motor neurons in the spinal cord and brainstem. This protein is most important in the second and third trimesters, and the first few months of life. Babies with severe disease don't usually live past their third birthday. <a href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Rare+Genetic+Disorder+Treated+in+Womb+For+the+First+Time%3A+https%3A%2F%2Fscience.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F02%2F20%2F133212%2F%3Futm_source%3Dtwitter%26utm_medium%3Dtwitter" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fscience.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F25%2F02%2F20%2F133212%2Frare-genetic-disorder-treated-in-womb-for-the-first-time%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook" rel="nofollow"><img src="https://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"></a>

Rare Genetic Disorder Treated in Womb For the First Time - Slashdot

A two-and-a-half-year-old girl shows no signs of a rare genetic disorder, after becoming the first person to be treated for the motor-neuron condit...

at Slashdot.

Rare Genetic Disorder Treated in Womb For the First Time - Slashdot

A two-and-a-half-year-old girl shows no signs of a rare genetic disorder, after becoming the first person to be treated for the motor-neuron condit...