The Fount of Useless Information
Your place for useless information that just might possibly be interesting.
Gangster Banks Keep Winning Public Business. Why?
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/gangster-banks-keep-winning-public-business-why-20120322
Why? Simple: it is anonymous tax payers that get screwed and in any case the politicians are corrupt. This is telling:
…“I haven’t found an investment bank that hasn’t had some problem
Supreme Court expands defendant’s rights in plea deals
In two 5-4 decisions, the Supreme Court rules that defendants in criminal cases have a constitutional right to a competent lawyer’s advice when deciding whether to accept a plea deal.
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-court-plea-20120322,0,2067347.story
It …
‘See-around-a-corner’ camera prototype unveiled
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/story/2012-03-20/see-around-a-corner-camera/53668372/1
Not ready for prime time, but it is quite interesting, none the less. In a few years I can see this being developed to the point where you can get really good images of what …
Stop Stealing Dreams
http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/docs/StopStealingDreamsSCREEN.pdf
I have not yet finished it, but I have already decided that the content must be promulgated. The author, Seth Godin, seems like a pretty smart guy so I might read some of this other …
Man-made noise disrupts the growth of plants and trees
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/17457323
When I read the title I thought that somehow the plant and trees were being individually affected by the noise, but it seems it is ‘just’ the behavior of pollinators …
Vernor Vinge Is Optimistic About the Collapse of Civilization
http://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/03/vernor-vinge-geeks-guide-galaxy/
I like Mr. Vinge a lot as an author (I would love to hang out with him and find out if he is as cool in person). I loved his …
You won’t read any of this in the US:
Robert Fisk: Madness is not the reason for this massacre
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-madness-is-not-the-reason-for-this-massacre-7575737.html
Even if we accept that the accused legitimately doesn’t remember killing those people, that doesn’t change the act or what …
Not something that I think has any potential with the current GOP morons…
Rice, Klein: Education keeps America safe
http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/20/opinion/rice-klein-education/index.html?hpt=hp_bn6
I agree with much of what the article has to say (I know Rice, but don’t know Klein, but I …
RS policies help fuel tax refund fraud, officials say
http://www.cnn.com/2012/03/20/us/tax-refund-scam/index.html
A sad article indeed. The sums involved are HUGE and all of it a direct withdrawal from our (taxpayer) pockets. This is on par with medicare/medicaid fraud: billions of dollars. …
Satellites spy thousands of ancient human settlements
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/03/20/satellites-spy-thousands-ancient-human-settlements/
This is a really cool idea to me. As mentioned in the article this is not the first time satellites have been used to identify archeology sites, but this is the first …