Posted October 30th, 2009
They’re washing ashore on Vancouver Island.
Scientists have begun attaching tracking devices to squid off the coast of Vancouver Island to find out why the marine animals have wandered so far from their traditional territory.
They also hope to find out why the squid have been beaching themselves and dying by the hundreds this summer near the town of Tofino on the island’s west coast.
Two great batches of Humboldt squid washed ashore, one in August then another in September. The Humboldt is a species of squid that, up to now, has been associated with waters warmer than those found off Vancouver Island.
Posted October 30th, 2009
Posted October 30th, 2009
Squirrel terrorists.
We have a cognitive bias to exaggerate risks caused by other humans, and downplay risks caused by animals (and, even more, by natural phenomena.)
Posted October 30th, 2009
EU – Telecoms: Commission steps up UK legal action over privacy and personal data protection: “(RAPID)
The Commission has moved to the second phase of an infringement proceeding over the UK to provide its citizens with the full protection of EU rules on privacy and personal data protection when using electronic communications. European laws state that EU countries must ensure the confidentiality of people’s electronic communications like email or internet browsing by prohibiting their unlawful interception and surveillance without the user’s consent. As these rules have not been fully put in place in the national law of the UK, the Commission will send the UK a reasoned opinion. Specifically, the Commission has identified three gaps in the existing UK rules governing the confidentiality of electronic communications: 1) There is no independent national authority to supervise interception of communications 2) The current UK law ? the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) ? authorises interception of communications not only where the persons concerned have consented to interception but also when the person intercepting the communications has ‘reasonable grounds for believing’ that consent to do so has been given. These UK law provisions do not comply with EU rules defining consent as freely given, specific and informed indication of a person’s wishes 3) The RIPA provisions are limited to ‘intentional’ interception only, whereas the EU law requires Members States to prohibit and to ensure sanctions against any unlawful interception regardless of whether committed intentionally or not.
(Via QuickLinks Update.)
Posted October 30th, 2009
Mandelson’s piracy tactics leave Tories with a dilemma: James Blunt, who wrote to Lord Mandelson on the vexed subject of internet piracy, called the internet service providers ‘drug pushers’ in an e-mail that the minister saw fit to publish this week.
(Via Tech and Web from Times Online.)
