City Councilman: Email Tax Could Discourage Spam, Fund Post Office Functions

New submitter Christopher Fritz writes “The Berkeley, CA city council recently met to discuss the closing of their downtown post office, in attempt to find a way to keep it from relocating. This included talk of ‘a very tiny tax’ to help keep the U.S. Post Office’s vital functions going. The suggestion came from Berkeley City Councilman Gordon Wozniak: ‘There should be something like a bit tax. I mean a bit tax could be a cent per gigabit and they would still make, probably, billions of dollars a year And there should be, also, a very tiny tax on email.’ He says a one-hundredth of a cent per e-mail tax could discourage spam while not impacting the typical Internet user, and a sales tax on Internet transactions could help fund ‘vital functions that the post office serves.’ We all know an e-mail tax is infeasible, and sales tax for online purchases and for digital purchases are likely unavoidable forever, but here’s hoping talk of taxing data usage doesn’t work its way to Washington.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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City Councilman: Email Tax Could Discourage Spam, Fund Post Office Functions

Carry a Tiny Supernova In Your Pocket With the Ultra-Bright LED Lenser F1

You might think all flashlights are created equal, but don’t tell that to a flashaholic. There are large online communities of flashlight aficionados who take their illumination very seriously, and there’s a good chance even they’ll be impressed by LED Lenser’s new F1 which manages to squeeze a whopping 400 lumens from a single CR123 battery. More »

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Carry a Tiny Supernova In Your Pocket With the Ultra-Bright LED Lenser F1

This Cheat Sheet Makes Learning Your Way Around Linux Easy

Whether you’re experimenting with Linux or making the switch, you’ll need to get your bearings. This Linux cheat sheet runs you through common and helpful commands you’ll need to know as you get comfortable with the command line. More »

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This Cheat Sheet Makes Learning Your Way Around Linux Easy

Moon Mining Race Under Way

New submitter rujholla writes “The race to the moon is back! This time, though, it’s through private enterprise. Google has offered a $20m grand prize to the first privately-funded company to land a robot on the moon and explore the surface (video) by moving at least 500 meters and sending high definition video back to Earth by 2015.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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Moon Mining Race Under Way

Movie studios sign on for satellite-based digital delivery to theaters

We doubt we’ll see any reduction in ticket prices, but the process of bringing new movies to theaters could get easier very soon as five major studios have signed on with the Digital Cinema Distribution Coalition (DCDC) to use its satellite distribution network. Lionsgate, Universal, Disney, Warner and Paramount are all on board with the scheme, which says it will provide participants access to “a host of delivery options” as digital projection becomes increasingly common . The Hollywood Reporter quotes spokesman Randolph Blotky saying the network is expected to reach 300 locations when it launches this summer, all of which will be equipped with an appliance from video distributor KenCast. The satellite end of things is being handled by EchoStar/Deluxe, and once it’s rolled out should make things much easier than the current system of shipping hard drives back and forth. Of course, what we’re not hearing so far is if/how this upgrade will reach smaller, older theaters that are facing pricey upgrades from film-based equipment, but with theater chains like AMC, Regal and Cinemark forming the DCDC along with Universal and Warner, those considerations are probably a little further down the list. Filed under: Home Entertainment , HD Comments Source: The Hollywood Reporter

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Movie studios sign on for satellite-based digital delivery to theaters

FTC Goes After Scammers Who Blasted Millions of Text Messages

coondoggie writes “The Federal Trade Commission today said it has filed eight court cases to stop companies who have sent over 180 million illegal or deceptive text messages to all manner of mobile users in the past year. The messages — of which the FTC said it had received some 20,000 complaints in 2012 — promised consumers free gifts or prizes, including gift cards worth $1,000 to major retailers such as Best Buy, Walmart and Target.” Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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FTC Goes After Scammers Who Blasted Millions of Text Messages

This Fascinating Email Map Shows You Which Countries Are Buddies and Which Aren’t Getting Along

After analyzing more than 10 million anonymized emails from Yahoo!, a group of computer researchers stumbled upon a fascinating trend: countries with economic and cultural similarities had a tendency to send each other emails far more frequently. More »

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This Fascinating Email Map Shows You Which Countries Are Buddies and Which Aren’t Getting Along

Porn trolling mastermind is the world’s most evasive witness

Stefan Schlautmann On Wednesday we wrote about the elaborate chart defense attorney Morgan Pietz created to help Judge Otis Wright keep track of the many organizations associated with porn copyright trolling firm Prenda law, all of which seem to be run by the same half-dozen people. Pietz has now released a transcript of a remarkable deposition he took of Paul Hansmeier, who along with John Steele is widely regarded as the brains behind Prenda’s litigation campaign. Officially, a Prenda-linked shell company called “AF Holdings” is suing Pietz’s client for infringing copyright by downloading a pornographic film from BitTorrent. But in recent weeks, the focus of the litigation has shifted to alleged misconduct by Prenda, including whether the firm stole the identity of Minnesota resident Alan Cooper to use as an officer of AF Holdings. Judge Wright has scheduled a Monday hearing to get to the bottom of the allegations. Last month, we covered a filing by Prenda attorney Brett Gibbs, who insisted that all the important decisions had been made by “senior members of the law firms” connected to Prenda. Gibbs later identified these individuals as Hansmeier and Steele. Read 18 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Porn trolling mastermind is the world’s most evasive witness