Is ad-blocking software legal?

So far, the answer is, "Yes," at least in Germany.

Despite its popularity with users, ad-blocking software is unpopular in some quarters: the advertisers & the people & organisations they pay for advertising. Some time ago, these pages reported on threats of legal action from Google, Microsoft & others against creators of ad-block software.

In fact, the first legal action against ad-block software creators has taken place in Germany, where a coalition of newspapers sued AdBlock Plus.

The newspapers lost, but are considering an appeal.

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-32409952

http://www.techworld.com.au/article/573230/making-software-block-annoying-ads-legal-german-court-rules/

http://www.engadget.com/2015/04/22/germany-likes-adblock-plus/

http://www.ubergizmo.com/2015/04/german-court-rules-that-using-ad-blocking-software-is-legal/ / software stops adverts appearing websites defeated two news publishers technology tech web pages Germany Germany's Die Zeit Handelsblatt AdBlock Plus's anti-competitive threatened their ability to make money income court in Hamburg ruled users have the right to use the plug-in judgement implications other disputes tool Hamburg court decision important sets a precedent avoid additional lawsuits expenses defending consumer right control screens block annoying ads protect privacy AdBlock Plus's project manager Ben Williams blog legalities publishers advertisers content creators work with Adblock Plus against us publishers fight on AdBlock Plus illegal anti-competitive practice infringes freedom of the press written reasons for the judgment examine the prospects of an appeals procedure AdBlock Plus Cologne firm Eyeo three separate but related cases media groups ProSiebenSat.1 RTL Interactive Axel Springer white list court case contested the legality AdBlock Plus's software suppressing adverts pages Zeit Online Handelsblatt Wirtschafts Woche news sites publishers sought damages challenge software provider's wider business model Ebba Schroder spokeswoman Zeitverlag Gerd Bucerius AdBlock Plus web browser add-on free makes money operating a "white list" adverts get through filters criteria must not include animations sounds pop-ups that cover other content Website operators white list buy their way onto the white list charge fees support services 30% of the extra revenues ads on its platform unblocked racket service popular many users AdBlock Plus downloaded nearly 400 million times charge fees smaller businesses and blogs block its white-listed ads if desired racketeers 90% of the people on the white list don't pay anything criteria ruling unalienable right online self-determination lawyer other European courts provisions of EU Law not bound to reach the same legal conclusions Paul Henty law firm Charles Russell Speechlys factual economic circumstances jurisdictions different result Hamburg judgment persuasive authority AdBlock disputes /

Two can play that game ... (video)

Youtube is littered with videos demonstrating the extraordinary acceleration of Tesla electric vehicles.

There’s the phone pinned to the seat-back


Startled response of passengers

Roadster


Model S — warning uncensored version


And the numerous videos at the drag strip — here, Tesla Model S vs Dodge Viper


Energica recently decided to do the same thing with its Ego electric superbike & a range of electric & internal combustion powered vehicles


Energica web site:
http://www.energicasuperbike.com/energica-ego-electric-superbike/ / Energica recently released video Energica Ego electric superbike direct competition high-powered cars motorcycles quarter-mile races highlight 3-second 0-to-60-mph accelerationEnergica Ego solid competition competitors include Tesla Roadster BMW 1000RR HP4 Ferrari 45B Italia Zero S Tesla Model S P85D electric gas powered competition odd choice Zero S electric motorcycle motorbike motor bike cycle 4.8-second 0-to-60-mph time more powerful Zero SR 3.3-second 0-to-60 time Energica win much closer race video sounds each vehicle sound generated electric motors gas powered motors electric motorcycles quiet not silent Energica Ego now NHTSA US EPA certified driven on roads legally Q3 deliveries in 2015 Captain America quote races close electric vehicle EV battery charge recharge range LiIon lithium ion battery cell internal combustion engine engine ICE /

Reduced red meat consumption — better for you — better for the environment

Red meat is meat from all sources apart from fish & fowl. Consumption of red meat, at levels typical in western nations, is associated with increased rates of heart & arterial disease as well as digestive tract cancers.

Raising cattle is responsible for at least 18% of greenhouse emissions — carbon dioxide, methane & nitrous oxide.

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/scienceshow/reduced-red-meat-consumption-aids-health-and-the-environment/6286218

http://www.abc.net.au/health/thepulse/stories/2013/04/11/3734774.htm / we’re eating too much red meat chicken fish high consumption increased risk cancers bowel cancer World Cancer Research Fund Australian Dietary Guidelines2013 maximum weekly intake 500g consumption processed meat flexitarianism flexible vegetarian average Australian consumption 111Kg/year recommended amount 26Kg/year reduction livestock environmental benefits large quantities grain water emissions 50% of total greenhouse gas emissions human activities New Scientist 24th January red meat health environmental impact Talia Raphaely lecturer Curtin University Perth we are eating too much highly credible literature sources World Health Organisation American Cancer Foundation European Prospective Investigation into Cancer biggest cancer study in the world excessive amounts of meat consumption consuming health public health costs World Bank Food and Agricultural Organisation greenhouse gas emissions at least 18% of greenhouse gas emissions livestock health implications environmental implications human humanity Michael Mosley's documentary flexitarianism reduced meat consumption World Cancer Research Fund Australian 2013 dietary guidelines Australian Health Institute 500 grams of red meat a week maximum Vanessa Hayes Garvan Institute paleo diet paleo diet occasional red meat annual consumption Curtin University researchers Health Department CSIRO total well-being diet risk colon cancer research evidence high meat based diet healthy excessive consumption medical evidence cured meats bacon produce nitrosamines carcinogenic effect steak which cook without burning steroids hormones inbreeding genetic modification bred intensively dire conditions antibiotic use dangerous directly linked colon cancer ferments gut nitrate processed meat World Cancer Research Fund EPIC don't eat processed meats at all Australian health guidelines cancers colon cancer Dora Marinova healthy recommended guideline reduced meat consumption flexible vegetarianism researcher research healthy levels healthy recommendations significant reduction health environmental impact lamb pork chicken fish white meat environmentally human health personal health public health mutton lamb pork veal beef /

Serial knuckle cracking

Notice the white spot in the joint as the bones separate.
Credit: Gregory Kawchuk, University of Alberta/Plos Media/Wired

Most surprising part of this for me — the revelation is that the cracking sound is caused by bubble formation as the joint comes apart — this was always my understanding.

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2015/04/mri-video-reveals-what-it-actually-looks-like-when-you-crack-your-joints/

http://www.wired.com/2015/04/watch-gross-mri-knuckle-cracking/ / knuckle cracking crack joints scientists never really understood physics chilling noise 1970s experts collapse gas nitrogen air bubbles synovial fluid lubricates joints new evidence sound formation gas-filled cavity joints stretch apart study researchers University of Alberta crack his knuckles multiple scientists fingers magnetic resonance imager watching cracking events researchers video bones in the joint separate negative pressure gas nitrogen synovial fluid sudden formation of bubbles scientific term tribonucleation crack pop flash space joint surfaces separate MRI signal cavitation tribonucleation joint surfaces come together bubble rapidly collapses popping phenomenon medical insight study Jacob Jaremko radiologist University of Alberta bubble collapse shock damage surrounding structures cavitation latest study provides some new information on the physics behind joint cavitation researchers research effects bubble collapse places of the human body flow dynamics heart circulation bloodstream fluid under pressure tribonucleation effects large consequences crack /

Moore’s law turns 50

Moore’s Law has been widely quoted & misquoted. Possibly the most popular misquote is: “Moore’s Law states that computing power doubles every 18 months.”

In fact, what Gordon Moore was talking about in 1965, was transistor density: that the number of transistors in a given area would double every two years. Performance impact is only indirect.

Despite frequent predictions of its imminent demise, Moore’s Law is alive & well at 50.

http://www.itworld.com/article/2911275/moores-law-at-50-the-past-and-future.html / smartwatch smart watch iPhone Moore’s Law computers smaller cheaper faster Moore’s Law computers Microsoft’s HoloLens holographic wearable develop development developed decades modern electronics scientific theory set of observations and predictions Intel co-founder Gordon Moore first published Electronics Magazine April 19 1965 core prediction states that density of transistors number of transistors on a given die area double every two years double the performance loosely translated in 18 to 24 months buy a computer that is significantly faster same amount of money tech industry cheaper with scaling transistor density doubles chips shrink in size processor processing speeds cost per processor declines smaller cheaper faster devices manufacturing advances chips power-efficient more battery devices smartphone Randhir Thakur Silicon Systems Group Applied Materials engineers predicted physical economic challenges conventional computers quantum computers systems brain-like neural chips function differently current processors silicon replaced chips new materials graphene carbon nanotubes Intel memory products benefit lower cost per bit integrated circuits 4004 had 2,300 transistors latest chips billions of transistors faster more power efficient changes in computing computer performance lowering power consumption last decade Mark Bohr performance desktops laptops smartphones wearables Internet of Things devices robots recognize objects make decisions products cars health devices home appliances integrated circuits engineers chips scale down atomic scale IEEE Spectrum innovations technology advance FinFET transistors chips new factories strained silicon high-k metal gate FinFET Xian-He Sun professor computer science Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago etch features smaller chips errors defects designing processes new materials technologies silicon gallium arsenide indium gallium arsenide new materials Alex Lidow semiconductor industry CEO of Efficient Power ConversionEPC gallium nitrideGAN better conductor electrons performance power-efficiency advantages digital chips EUV extreme ultraviolet lithography semiconductor /

Biofuels — green energy solution?

At first sight, biofuels look like the ideal solution to our energy needs — simply grow all the fuel we need.

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple:
● creating fuel from foods, such as soyabeans & sugarcane requires diversion of the food supply
● growing fuel crops requires arable land & fresh water
● commercial food production requires many fossil fuel calories for each food calorie — 10 in USA*

http://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21648630-investment-biofuels-dwindling-and-scepticism-growing-thin-harvest
___________
* Melissa C. Lott: “10 Calories in, 1 Calorie Out – The Energy We Spend on Food”, http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/2011/08/11/10-calories-in-1-calorie-out-the-energy-we-spend-on-food/

Thomas Starrs: “Gas Guzzling Food”, https://www.organicconsumers.org/old_articles/btc/gasfood112105.php / making fuel solar energy stored living organisms photosynthesis green biofuel fermenting starch recycling cooking oil algae jet fuel investment Bloomberg New Energy Finance BNEF research Venn diagram sets biofuels compete commercially green green compete commercially ungreenness biofuels food crops plants grown on land produce such crops hurt food supplies committee European Parliament first-generation biofuels current European target renewables energy used in transport by 2020 new proposal first-generation fuels waste feedstocks food production European demand advanced biofuels Claire Curry of BNEF advanced fuels large-scale production waste cooking oil fats diesel ethanol from cellulose enzymatic hydrolysis commercial production renewable jet fuel South African Airways SAA Boeing fuel seeds tobacco plant crop specially bred strain tobacco nicotine-free seeds fertiliser food crop residue animal feed Ian Cruickshank cost tobacco-based product jet fuel refined fossil sources airline blended 50-50 jatropha bush toxic vegetable investors grow grown grower animal fodder oil diesel fuel biofuel sweet spot Venn diagram damage environment food security grown controversial issue genetic modification improve yields insects resistance biofuel crops grown on unirrigated marginal land GM crop researchers University of Manchester University of Turku Finland Imperial College London enzyme currently produce bio-butanol propane commercialised at scale algae-to-fuel high-value chemicals sunlight source energy biology /

Huawei P8 Max — when only too much will do

Credit: Huawei/Android Central

Larger & smaller screen phones both have their advantages, & this has been argued back & forth on these pages.

http://hhg2tech.blogspot.com.au/2014/10/making-case-for-large-screen-phone.html

http://hhg2tech.blogspot.com.au/2014/10/eight-of-best-pocket-sized-phones-for.html

Apparently, Huawei sees a case for phone with a 6.8 inch screen in their Huawei P8 Max

http://www.digitaltrends.com/cell-phone-reviews/huawei-p8-max-hands-on/#/10

http://www.androidauthority.com/huawei-p8-max-hands-on-601694/ / 6.8-inch P8 Max stretch your hands limits Huawei features P8 smartphone smart phone P8 Max much bigger phablet absolutely massive large hold up to your face tablets iPhone 6 Plus size big one-handed mode swipe across the navigation bar two hands activate massive Sony Xperia Z Ultra 6.4-inch screen possible to hold it in one hand big phone big battery giant phone giant battery inside 4,360mAh battery recharge day-and-a-half heavy use not heavy aluminum Gorilla Glass 4 edges chamfered slightly recessed oversized power button 13-megapixel camera lens flush dual-LED flash plastic section antenna array sharp colorful screen octa-core Huawei Kirin 935 processor new features slower shutter speed display 1080p 6.8-inch screen very sharp colours colors vibrant looks great quirky device small niche oversized phablet tablet phone smartphone sharp colorful 1080p screen two day battery life camera high-end build quality massive body one-handed use almost impossible /