Topic: Bdays - on August 30, 2013 at 5:19:00 PM CEST
Happy 50th birthday, Compact Cassette: How it struck a chord for millions
On 30 August, 1963, a new bit of sound recording tech that was to change the lifestyle of millions was revealed at the Berlin Radio Show.
The adoption of the standard that followed led to a huge swath of related technological applications that had not been envisaged by its maker; for Philips, the unveiling of its new Compact Cassette tape and accompanying recorder was about enticing people to buy a fuss-free portable recording system.
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Topic: DRUGS - on August 30, 2013 at 4:34:00 PM CEST
These States Are Most Likely To Legalize Pot Next
Attorney General Eric Holder gave a green light on Thursday to two states whose efforts to legalize marijuana had been locked in by legal uncertainty for more than nine months. With that announcement, Colorado and Washington -- both of which passed pro-pot initiatives at the polls last November -- can now proceed with establishing a framework for the taxation and regulation of legal weed.
The administration's decision holds clear and immediate implications for the two states, both of which had been hesitant to act too quickly over concerns that the government might decide to enforce federal law, which still considers marijuana an illegal substance. But the new precedent also opens the door for other states to pursue similar pot legalization efforts, so long as they include "strong and effective regulatory and enforcement systems." Experts on both sides of the issue have already said they expect to see movement come quickly.
Below, the states that are most likely to take the next steps toward legalizing marijuana:
Alaska Arizona California Nevada Oregon Maine Massachusetts Montana Rhode Island Vermont
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Topic: FUN - on August 30, 2013 at 2:49:00 PM CEST
Nach Entdeckung des Higgs-Teilchens: Cern-Forscher laden zur Comedy-Nacht
Das Forscher keine humorlosen Eigenbrödler sind, sondern auch witzig und spontan sein können - diesen Beweis wollen Mitglieder des Kernforschungszentrums Cern am Freitagabend wagen. Bei SPIEGEL ONLINE können Sie das Experiment verfolgen.
Genf - Was machen die Wissenschaftler des Kernforschungszentrums Cern in der Nacht? Ein schlechter Witz wäre die Antwort, die Physiker suchten weiter nach dem Higgs-Boson, jenem Teilchen, dass eine Schlüsselrolle für das Verständnis der Welt trägt. Tatsächlich haben die Forscher nach eigenen Angaben dieses Teilchen bereits im Juli 2012 entdeckt - die Erfolgsmeldung sorgte weltweit für Schlagzeilen und war auch nicht unumstritten.
Und anscheinend haben die Forscher abends anderes vor. Dass sie auch lustig sein können, dass Wissenschaft nicht nur trockene Materie, sondern auch faszinierend und lustig sein kann, das wollen sie an diesem Freitag Abend unter Beweis stellen. Um 18 Uhr beginnt in der Kernforschungsanlage die erste Stand up-Comedy-Nacht.
spiegel.de webcast The event will start the 30th Aug 2013 at 20:00 Europe/Zurich
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Topic: FUN - on August 30, 2013 at 2:46:00 PM CEST
MESS in a browser!
The JAVASCRIPT MESS project is a porting of the MESS emulator, a program that emulates hundreds of machine types, into the Javascript language. The MESS program can emulate (or begin to emulate) a majority of home computers, and continues to be improved frequently. By porting this program into the standardized and cross-platform Javascript language, it will be possible to turn computer history and experience into the same embeddable object as movies, documents, and audio enjoy.
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Topic: MAKE - on August 30, 2013 at 1:56:00 PM CEST
Bicycle-Powered Treehouse Elevator
Ethan Schlussler built this clever bicycle-powered treehouse elevator to make it easier to reach his nearly 30-foot-high treehouse.
“I got tired of climbing a ladder six and a half million times a day, so I made a bicycle powered elevator to solve this problem,” he writes.
“It was originally a 20-something speed bicycle, but first gear wasn’t slow enough, so I cut the large sprocket off the front, and welded it on the rear to get a lower gear. I also had to do away with the de-railers and make a new chain tensioner.”
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Topic: STRANGE - on August 30, 2013 at 1:33:00 PM CEST
Tokyo's Toilet Cleaning Social Club
A group of adults and children assemble at a public toilet near a station in Tokyo on a Sunday morning at 6am.
They're here to scrub it clean - from top to bottom.
Urinals and toilets are the first targets, then it's the turn of the walls, the sinks and the floor.
By 7:30am, they are gone, leaving behind them a gleaming public toilet, looking as good as the day it was installed.
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Topic: Style - on August 30, 2013 at 1:32:00 PM CEST
WTF? Super-Expensive Designer Toilet Paper?
When I first read about the $13 a roll Japanese toilet paper, I thought it had to be a joke. Seriously, who wipes their rear with something that should be hung on the wall as art? Alas, no. Japan has long been the bastion of products many Americans consider weird and wacky. Why would high “end” toilet paper be the exception?
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Topic: DRUGS - on August 30, 2013 at 1:31:00 PM CEST
Washington duldet Cannabis-Legalisierung
"Legalize it"- die alte Forderung Marihuana-rauchender Hippies wird zumindest in Teilen der USA Wirklichkeit. Washington gibt den Bundesstaaten bei der Legalisierung von Cannabis freie Hand.
Das Justizministerium in Washington erklärte, es werde entsprechende gesetzliche Regelungen in den US-Bundesstaaten nicht anzufechten. Damit können Colorado und Washington (der Bundesstaat im Nordosten, nicht die Hauptstadtregion) den Konsum der Droge für alle Bürger über 21 Jahren freigeben, ohne Probleme mit Bundesbehörden befürchten zu müssen.
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Topic: DRUGS - on August 30, 2013 at 1:29:00 PM CEST
Obama administration will not block state marijuana laws, if distribution is regulated
The Obama administration said Thursday that it would not challenge laws legalizing marijuana in Colorado and Washington state as long as those states maintain strict rules involving the sale and distribution of the drug.
In a memo to U.S. attorneys in all 50 states, Deputy Attorney General James M. Cole said the Justice Department is “committed to using its limited investigative and prosecutorial resources to address the most significant threats in the most effective, consistent and rational way.” He stressed that marijuana remains illegal under federal law.
washingtonpost.com Obama's New Pot Rules Are a Bigger Deal Than You Think
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Topic: SECURITY - on August 30, 2013 at 1:27:00 PM CEST
Snowden Spoofed Top Officials' Identity To Mine NSA Secrets
As government investigators continue to try to figure out just how much data whistleblower Edward Snowden had access to, MSNBC is reporting that Snowden used his sysadmin privileges to assume the user profiles of top NSA officials in order to gain access to the most sensitive files. His sysadmin privileges also enabled him to do something other NSA users can't — download classified files from NSAnet onto a thumb drive. 'Every day, they are learning how brilliant [Snowden] was,' said a former U.S. official with knowledge of the case. 'This is why you don't hire brilliant people for jobs like this. You hire smart people. Brilliant people get you in trouble.
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Topic: SECURITY - on August 30, 2013 at 1:25:00 PM CEST
Das Budget der US-Ausspäher
Neue Enthüllungen des NSA-Informanten Edward Snowden offenbaren die finanzielle Ausstattung der US-Geheimdienste. Die "Washington Post" zeigt, welche Gelder NSA, CIA und Co. zur Verfügung stehen - und wo die Späher selbst ihre Schwachstellen sehen.
Washington - Die meisten Informationen über die Finanzen ihrer Geheimdienste sind der US-Öffentlichkeit unbekannt. Doch jetzt bietet Material des Informanten Edward Snowden einen bislang ungekannten Einblick in die Ausstattung der Ausspäher. Demnach stellt die US-Regierung ihren Diensten in diesem Jahr voraussichtlich 52,6 Milliarden Dollar zur Verfügung, umgerechnet 39,7 Milliarden Euro.
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Topic: SECURITY - on August 30, 2013 at 1:24:00 PM CEST
U.S. spy network’s successes, failures and objectives detailed in ‘black budget’ summary
U.S. spy agencies have built an intelligence-gathering colossus since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but remain unable to provide critical information to the president on a range of national security threats, according to the government’s top-secret budget.
The $52.6 billion “black budget” for fiscal 2013, obtained by The Washington Post from former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, maps a bureaucratic and operational landscape that has never been subject to public scrutiny. Although the government has annually released its overall level of intelligence spending since 2007, it has not divulged how it uses the money or how it performs against the goals set by the president and Congress.
washingtonpost.com US Spy Budget FY2013 Vol 1 [pdf] US Spy Budget FY2013 Vol 4 [pdf] US Spy Budget FY2013 Vol 12 [pdf]
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