From TV trailblazer to IP afterthought: TiVo bought for $1.1 billion | Ars Technica

From TV trailblazer to IP afterthought: TiVo bought for $1.1 billion | Ars Technica: "Entertainment company Rovi announced that it has officially acquired DVR maker TiVo in a deal worth $1.1 billion. Rovi will pay for the deal mostly in stock at $10.70 per share, with approximately $277 million to be paid in cash at $2.75 per share. Rovi's CEO Tom Carson will continue to run the company, although it will now assume the "iconic TiVo brand" as its name."

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5 New Cajun Reality Shows Airing This Fall | THE PUSH POLE

This is fucking hilarious!

"The chief export of Louisiana (besides oil and NFL talent) is reality TV shows. America can’t get enough of that spicy Cajun flavor, and they need it zapped straight into their brains through the airwaves. With demand at an all time high, five new Cajun-themed reality shows will be airing later this year. Below is a list of these exciting new programs."


5 New Cajun Reality Shows Airing This Fall | THE PUSH POLE:


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Senator: let’s fix “third-party doctrine” that enabled NSA mass snooping | Ars Technica

Senator: let’s fix “third-party doctrine” that enabled NSA mass snooping | Ars Technica: "Let’s take some of these devices one by one. As your readers know, for weeks now we’ve been told that there is going to be a Burr-Feinstein bill in the United States Senate that in fact would be a piece of legislation that would, in effect, mandate that a private company weaken the security of their products so they would be to comply with a court order. The first thing that I want to do as part of our strategy is to block that legislation. And I’m going to argue that it should be blocked on the grounds that it will weaken the security of millions of Americans. The second thing that I want to do after we block that bill is pass affirmative legislation that I’ve introduced called the Secure Data Act, where we wouldn’t be talking about blocking legislation, but talking about affirmative action to ensure the security of the data of millions of Americans. So those would clearly be two steps that would be very relevant to today’s discussion. Beyond that, with respect to the third-party doctrine. I think that when people enter into a private business relationship, they don’t expect that that’s going to be public. And particularly now in an age of digital services I think it’s important that that law be re-written: that law stems from a decision that’s decades old. And I’m encouraged that even people like Justice Sotomayor thinks it ought to be rewritten. So that’s the third area."

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Oilpro.com founder indicted for hacking Rigzone - Fuel Fix

Ruh-Roh...!

Oilpro.com founder indicted for hacking Rigzone - Fuel Fix: "The founder of the Houston-based Oilpro.com networking website was indicted Wednesday for allegedly hacking Rigzone, a competitor that he created and later sold. David W. Kent, 40, of Spring, was arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit computer hacking and wire fraud for allegedly stealing information from more than 700,000 customer accounts in order to build up Oilpro’s network. He then recently tried to sell Oilpro, which he created in 2013, to Rigzone’s parent company, New York-based DHI Group, using beefed-up membership numbers, according to a U.S. Department of Justice’s statement. Kent founded Rigzone in 2000 with his father and sold it in 2010 for about $51 million to DHI. Kent left Rigzone one year after the sale. Oilpro, which was offline Thursday, is touted as a professional network for oil and gas professionals — essentially LinkedIn for the energy sector. Rigzone features oil and gas information as well as details on jobs in Houston and worldwide. The investigation and arrest were led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Manhattan-based U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. “Instead of relinquishing control of his former company, subject David Kent continued to illegally access data and information from his former business to help benefit a competing business he formed after the sale,” FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Diego Rodriquez said in a prepared statement. “Unauthorized access to a protected computer system is a federal crime,” he added. “The FBI will investigate and bring to justice criminal actors who commit computer intrusions, whether the unauthorized access is to a personal computer or a corporate server.”"

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A graphene patch that monitors and possibly treats diabetes | Ars Technica

A graphene patch that monitors and possibly treats diabetes | Ars Technica: "The device is activated when a sufficient amount of sweat is detected. Although diabetes is associated with blood glucose levels, studies have actually shown that these levels can be estimated from precise measurements of sweat glucose concentrations. The readings from the device exhibited a lag time that is consistent with results from previous investigations of sweat glucose (meaning that there's a consistent delay between changes in blood levels and when those changes show up in the sweat). The device contains the enzyme glucose oxidase, which is able to oxidize glucose and form hydrogen peroxide in the process. The hydrogen peroxide is then involved in another chemical reaction that results in noticeable electrochemical changes, which the glucose and pH sensors measure. The patch can be connected to a portable electrochemical analyzer that has a dual function: power source and wireless data transmitter. The device is rather user-friendly; the data can be easily sent to a smartphone or tablet."

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SMBC Funny: The Scientific Happiness Fairy!

I am pretty sure the Scientific Happiness Fairy has already visited most of the US and taken away 92.837% of the population's will to achieve...

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal:

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Being Emotional Isn't a Form of Debate | Intellectual Takeout

Being Emotional Isn't a Form of Debate | Intellectual Takeout: "“It has become clear, for example, that we are suffering the tragic results of having cut logic and rhetoric from the standard college curriculum. When I say ‘logic,’ I’m not talking about modern ‘symbolic logic,’ which was an attempt to replace ordinary language with mathematical symbols. Nor am I talking about that diffuse, abstract thing called ‘critical thinking.’ We need the logic of ordinary language. And then we need our students to understand the nature and character, the strengths and weaknesses, of classical rhetoric. We need them to distinguish good arguments from bad, valid inferences from invalid, and we need them to recognize various rhetorical appeals and appreciate them for what they are or discount them for what they are not. A critical mass of the citizenry must once more come to recognize basic argumentative fallacies, value logical consistency, and prize the fine art of Socratic dialogue.”"

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