Questo è un intrigante e inquietante problema: e se quei blob di tessuto celebrale umano che facciamo crescere in laboratorio per fare esperimenti e sviluppare nuove terapie farmacologiche prima di buttarli nella centrifuga e vaporizzarli poi fossero in realtà, oltre che tecnicamente "vivi", anche senzienti?
Money quote: "At what point would an organoid be worthy of moral status? Of respect?
“At what point is it reasonable to at least discuss the question of sentience? Or conscious experience? Pain? Pleasure?” asks Christof Koch from the Allen Institute, “We’re not there, but we have to start thinking about these possibilities.” Farahany, Koch, and 15 other leading ethicists and neuroscientists have now outlined some of those issues in a new paper, based on a workshop they held last May.
(The debate was vigorous: “Every one of the authors wordsmithed every line of this paper,” Farahany says.)"
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/04/what-happens-as-we-get-better-at-artificially-growing-brains/558881/
Money quote: "At what point would an organoid be worthy of moral status? Of respect?
“At what point is it reasonable to at least discuss the question of sentience? Or conscious experience? Pain? Pleasure?” asks Christof Koch from the Allen Institute, “We’re not there, but we have to start thinking about these possibilities.” Farahany, Koch, and 15 other leading ethicists and neuroscientists have now outlined some of those issues in a new paper, based on a workshop they held last May.
(The debate was vigorous: “Every one of the authors wordsmithed every line of this paper,” Farahany says.)"
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/04/what-happens-as-we-get-better-at-artificially-growing-brains/558881/
The Atlantic
What's Wrong With Growing Blobs of Brain Tissue?
These increasingly complex organoids aren't conscious—but we might not know when they cross that line.
L’effetto Diderot: compri una cosa e poi ne compri altre dieci. È il consumismo, bellezza.
Money quote: “In the words of sociology professor Juliet Schor, “the pressure to upgrade our stock of stuff is relentlessly unidirectional, always ascending.””
https://medium.com/personal-growth/the-diderot-effect-why-we-want-things-we-dont-need-and-what-to-do-about-it-3b8d49ea968f
Money quote: “In the words of sociology professor Juliet Schor, “the pressure to upgrade our stock of stuff is relentlessly unidirectional, always ascending.””
https://medium.com/personal-growth/the-diderot-effect-why-we-want-things-we-dont-need-and-what-to-do-about-it-3b8d49ea968f
Medium
The Diderot Effect: Why We Want Things We Don’t Need — And What to Do About It
The famous French philosopher Denis Diderot lived nearly his entire life in poverty, but that all changed in 1765.
Spettacolare inchiesta del New Yorker sulla chinatown pratese, sull'immigrazione cinese, sul Made in Italy che non lo è, oppure, se lo è, lo è in senso razzista. E su tante altre cose. Da leggere con calma
Money quote 1: "I thought of a recent visit that I had made to Scandicci, the iconic Italian leatherwork village, just outside Florence. I’d met an artisan named Andrea Calistri, whose workshop was filled with mementos from three generations of leatherworkers. He told me that he had done jobs for Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, and Prada, but that he objected to their use of mills that violated labor laws. He had helped found an association, called “100% Made in Italy,” that focussed on insuring proper labor practices, but his rhetoric was unmistakably nativist. “ ‘Made in Italy’ means made by Italians! ” he told me. He was surrounded by shelves filled with maroon leather handbags. They were supple and gorgeous. Then again, so were the bags that Enrico’s employees were making."
Money quote 2: "The Chinese community in Prato is evolving rapidly. Many of the immigrants’ children, having lived in Italy since birth, are looking beyond the garment and leather-goods industries. “Our kids don’t want to make bags,” Arturo complained. A friend of his agreed, telling me, “They all want to go to the Bocconi now!” (The Bocconi is an élite private university in Milan.) I met one such girl, an eighteen-year-old named Luisa, at a pleasant Chinese bistro called Ravioli di Cristina. (The Italians call dumplings “Chinese ravioli.”) Her father sold coffee-vending machines to the Chinese mills. Chinese Pratans, she complained, thought only about money, so she had mostly Italian friends. When the young Chinese Pratan waiter, who was flirting with her, urged her to listen to a Korean pop song, she countered by recommending a song by the American d.j. duo the Chainsmokers. Her public school, Buzzi, on the eastern edge of Prato, has few Chinese students, and that—along with its specialization in engineering—was why she’d chosen it. “In the beginning, the other students ignore you,” she said. But she had gradually formed friendships. “They still sometimes say racist things—they call me Yellow Face—but I joke back at them,” she said."
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/16/the-chinese-workers-who-assemble-designer-bags-in-tuscany
Money quote 1: "I thought of a recent visit that I had made to Scandicci, the iconic Italian leatherwork village, just outside Florence. I’d met an artisan named Andrea Calistri, whose workshop was filled with mementos from three generations of leatherworkers. He told me that he had done jobs for Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, and Prada, but that he objected to their use of mills that violated labor laws. He had helped found an association, called “100% Made in Italy,” that focussed on insuring proper labor practices, but his rhetoric was unmistakably nativist. “ ‘Made in Italy’ means made by Italians! ” he told me. He was surrounded by shelves filled with maroon leather handbags. They were supple and gorgeous. Then again, so were the bags that Enrico’s employees were making."
Money quote 2: "The Chinese community in Prato is evolving rapidly. Many of the immigrants’ children, having lived in Italy since birth, are looking beyond the garment and leather-goods industries. “Our kids don’t want to make bags,” Arturo complained. A friend of his agreed, telling me, “They all want to go to the Bocconi now!” (The Bocconi is an élite private university in Milan.) I met one such girl, an eighteen-year-old named Luisa, at a pleasant Chinese bistro called Ravioli di Cristina. (The Italians call dumplings “Chinese ravioli.”) Her father sold coffee-vending machines to the Chinese mills. Chinese Pratans, she complained, thought only about money, so she had mostly Italian friends. When the young Chinese Pratan waiter, who was flirting with her, urged her to listen to a Korean pop song, she countered by recommending a song by the American d.j. duo the Chainsmokers. Her public school, Buzzi, on the eastern edge of Prato, has few Chinese students, and that—along with its specialization in engineering—was why she’d chosen it. “In the beginning, the other students ignore you,” she said. But she had gradually formed friendships. “They still sometimes say racist things—they call me Yellow Face—but I joke back at them,” she said."
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/04/16/the-chinese-workers-who-assemble-designer-bags-in-tuscany
The New Yorker
The Chinese Workers Who Assemble Designer Bags in Tuscany
Many companies are using inexpensive immigrant labor to manufacture handbags that bear the coveted “Made in Italy” label.
Un genio assoluto che, a 86 anni, dice che siamo tutti condannati per via del riscaldamento globale, e che solo l'ipocrisia o l'ignoranza impediscono agli altri di ammetterlo. Dopodiché, ripeto, un genio totale.
Money quote: "“With doom ahead, making a case for cycling as the primary mode of transport is almost irrelevant,” he says. “We’ve got to stop burning fossil fuels. So many aspects of life depend on fossil fuels, except for music and love and education and happiness. These things, which hardly use fossil fuels, are what we must focus on.”"
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/26/were-doomed-mayer-hillman-on-the-climate-reality-no-one-else-will-dare-mention
Money quote: "“With doom ahead, making a case for cycling as the primary mode of transport is almost irrelevant,” he says. “We’ve got to stop burning fossil fuels. So many aspects of life depend on fossil fuels, except for music and love and education and happiness. These things, which hardly use fossil fuels, are what we must focus on.”"
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/26/were-doomed-mayer-hillman-on-the-climate-reality-no-one-else-will-dare-mention
the Guardian
'We're doomed': Mayer Hillman on the climate reality no one else will dare mention
The 86-year-old social scientist says accepting the impending end of most life on Earth might be the very thing needed to help us prolong it
La storia del biscugino di The Rock, che è anche il suo stuntman (e non solo il suo), raccontata bene e quasi tutta. Affascinante. Lettura ideal per giorni pigri.
Money quote: "The large bald man is sitting at a picnic table. Before him is a plate of Thai food. In his hand, the plastic fork he’s using looks like a child’s toy. Sitting next to him is an attractive woman. Like the man, she’s wearing workout clothes and appears to be in a peak state of physical fitness. The man is speaking in an appropriately private voice — about his football days, his work in Hollywood, his life growing up hereabouts with his grandma, who called him Stupid, one of the few English words she used with regularity."
https://melmagazine.com/not-quite-the-rock-914810ab7300
Money quote: "The large bald man is sitting at a picnic table. Before him is a plate of Thai food. In his hand, the plastic fork he’s using looks like a child’s toy. Sitting next to him is an attractive woman. Like the man, she’s wearing workout clothes and appears to be in a peak state of physical fitness. The man is speaking in an appropriately private voice — about his football days, his work in Hollywood, his life growing up hereabouts with his grandma, who called him Stupid, one of the few English words she used with regularity."
https://melmagazine.com/not-quite-the-rock-914810ab7300
MEL Magazine
Not Quite The Rock
The life and times of Tanoai Reed, Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s spitting image, distant cousin and the man who has broken countless bones…
Primo maggio, festa dei lavoratori. Già, ma cos'è il lavoro e chi sono i lavoratori? Sono cambiate parecchie cose da quando è nata la festa. Mi va di pensare a esempi strani. Ad esempio, c'è questo artigiano francese che fa le valvole termoioniche a mano. Un documentario di venti minuti pubblicato qualche anno fa: ipnotico!
https://vimeo.com/47812871
https://vimeo.com/47812871
Rimaniamo in tema festa dei lavoratori. Scusatemi se divento ombelicale (più del solito, perlomeno) e parlo della mia professione di giornalista freelance. Anzi, se faccio parlare qualcun altro della mia professione.
L’articolo che segue è rivolto al mercato degli Stati Uniti. In Italia i freelance non vengono pagati a parola ma a numero di battute (spazi inclusi) oppure a righe su giornale (50-60 battute spazi inclusi) o ancora (ma orami penso sia desueto) a “moduli”. E posso garantirvi che stiamo parlando di miserie, al punto che bisognerebbe riflettere sul valore che viene portato da chi scrive sulla base di quel che scrive (e non solo, perché bisogna fare anche molto altro, in alcuni casi anche l’impaginazione) e quello che riceve economicamente in cambio.
Money quote: “To research this article, I talked to about a dozen freelance writers and a handful of magazine editors about the present state of the job. These were mostly writers who have been doing this work for between 10 and 20 years, who write pieces of national and global importance, and who, from the outside, look like they have reached the top of their profession. I’m not talking about 24-year-olds cobbling together $250 paychecks for their TV recaps so they can afford a corner in a tiny three-bedroom (though I’ve been there, and they too deserve much better). I’m talking about writers you might recognize from their bylines on the covers of magazines or as guests on cable news and Morning Edition. They are mid-career professionals, many with spouses and children. These people are more successful than I or almost any freelance writer can hope to become. And not one of them had a nice word to say about their working conditions.”
https://medium.com/s/story/how-much-is-a-word-worth-7fcd131a341c
L’articolo che segue è rivolto al mercato degli Stati Uniti. In Italia i freelance non vengono pagati a parola ma a numero di battute (spazi inclusi) oppure a righe su giornale (50-60 battute spazi inclusi) o ancora (ma orami penso sia desueto) a “moduli”. E posso garantirvi che stiamo parlando di miserie, al punto che bisognerebbe riflettere sul valore che viene portato da chi scrive sulla base di quel che scrive (e non solo, perché bisogna fare anche molto altro, in alcuni casi anche l’impaginazione) e quello che riceve economicamente in cambio.
Money quote: “To research this article, I talked to about a dozen freelance writers and a handful of magazine editors about the present state of the job. These were mostly writers who have been doing this work for between 10 and 20 years, who write pieces of national and global importance, and who, from the outside, look like they have reached the top of their profession. I’m not talking about 24-year-olds cobbling together $250 paychecks for their TV recaps so they can afford a corner in a tiny three-bedroom (though I’ve been there, and they too deserve much better). I’m talking about writers you might recognize from their bylines on the covers of magazines or as guests on cable news and Morning Edition. They are mid-career professionals, many with spouses and children. These people are more successful than I or almost any freelance writer can hope to become. And not one of them had a nice word to say about their working conditions.”
https://medium.com/s/story/how-much-is-a-word-worth-7fcd131a341c
Medium
Response to
The cost of freelance writing has dramatically declined — and everyone is paying the price
Il vero, grande problema con la tecnologia digitale di rete non è L privacy. È che siamo diventati dipendenti, nel senso di tossici
Money quote: “And that brings us to what we really talk about when we talk about tech.
We talk about the fact that we can’t get off this fucking machine.”
https://medium.com/@davepell/the-real-technology-problem-bc6aa27e526b
Money quote: “And that brings us to what we really talk about when we talk about tech.
We talk about the fact that we can’t get off this fucking machine.”
https://medium.com/@davepell/the-real-technology-problem-bc6aa27e526b
Medium
The Real Technology Problem
We know Congress and Mark Zuckerberg won’t discuss the real technology problem. Neither will we. Ironically, it’s private.
Se lo ritwittate, lui (forse) vi fa il mini-ritratto come omino stilizzato. È diventato un virale enorme.
Money quote: “As I write this, now deep into Day 4, the retweets have finally began trickling down to a manageable flow. The total number of retweets is currently at 5411, which means that with the likenesses of 315 people now down on paper, that just leaves another 5096 to go, which begs the question…
Right, who’s next?”
https://medium.com/@chazhutton/i-offered-to-draw-people-then-5000-people-said-yes-83cd7cecfdd7
Money quote: “As I write this, now deep into Day 4, the retweets have finally began trickling down to a manageable flow. The total number of retweets is currently at 5411, which means that with the likenesses of 315 people now down on paper, that just leaves another 5096 to go, which begs the question…
Right, who’s next?”
https://medium.com/@chazhutton/i-offered-to-draw-people-then-5000-people-said-yes-83cd7cecfdd7
Medium
I offered to draw people. Then 5000 people said yes.
“Right, Who’s next.”
Apple rispetta davvero la privacy? Dal cloud alle foto, che cosa succede ai nostri dati - la mia inchiesta per Il Sole 24 Ore
http://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/tecnologie/2018-04-18/apple-rispetta-davvero-privacy-cloud-foto-che-cosa-succede-nostri-dati-182119.shtml
http://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/tecnologie/2018-04-18/apple-rispetta-davvero-privacy-cloud-foto-che-cosa-succede-nostri-dati-182119.shtml
Il Sole 24 ORE
Apple rispetta davvero la privacy? Dal cloud alle foto, che cosa succede ai nostri dati
Apple sostiene da tempo di avere a cuore la privacy dei suoi utenti. In parte questo accade per il modello di business (che prevede la vendita di
È il creatore del gioco per Commodore 64 con i cammelli che camminano. Vive da eremita nel Galles, ha un socio italiano e continua ad andare alla grande, anche se nessuno lo sa (e a lui decisamente non importa). Una bella intervista di Jaime D'Alessandro su Repubblica
Money quote:
D) Dieci anni dopo è arrivata la prima PlayStation con i suoi giochi cinematografici e sono nati fenomeni come Lara Croft. Eppure lei ha deciso di continuare nel solco della “psychedelia”, dell'astrazione. Ha deciso di starne fuori, proprio mentre sul settore iniziavano a piovere investimenti milionari . Oggettivamente: non le sembra una scelta discutibile?
R) Lo sa? In Galles allevo alcune pecore, un asino e un lama (la sua software house si chiama Llamasoft, ndr). E quando è una bella giornata smetto di lavorare e vado al mare o a farmi una passeggiata. No, non sono mai stato interessato alla carriera in una grande multinazionale. Scrivere codice, sviluppare un software, è una cosa molto personale. In due ci mettiamo a volte un anno a fare un gioco, altre volte due o tre mesi. Ma siamo sempre noi a scegliere."
http://www.repubblica.it/tecnologia/2018/04/30/news/jeff_minter_l_uomo_del_futuro_che_ha_scelto_di_vivere_nel_passato-195204956/
Money quote:
D) Dieci anni dopo è arrivata la prima PlayStation con i suoi giochi cinematografici e sono nati fenomeni come Lara Croft. Eppure lei ha deciso di continuare nel solco della “psychedelia”, dell'astrazione. Ha deciso di starne fuori, proprio mentre sul settore iniziavano a piovere investimenti milionari . Oggettivamente: non le sembra una scelta discutibile?
R) Lo sa? In Galles allevo alcune pecore, un asino e un lama (la sua software house si chiama Llamasoft, ndr). E quando è una bella giornata smetto di lavorare e vado al mare o a farmi una passeggiata. No, non sono mai stato interessato alla carriera in una grande multinazionale. Scrivere codice, sviluppare un software, è una cosa molto personale. In due ci mettiamo a volte un anno a fare un gioco, altre volte due o tre mesi. Ma siamo sempre noi a scegliere."
http://www.repubblica.it/tecnologia/2018/04/30/news/jeff_minter_l_uomo_del_futuro_che_ha_scelto_di_vivere_nel_passato-195204956/
la Repubblica
Jeff Minter, l’uomo del futuro che ha scelto di vivere nel passato
E’ uno dei grandi creatori di videogame degli anni Ottanta. Nato in Inghilterra, oggi ha 56 anni e vive isolato nella campagna del Galles dove cont…
Un film-documentario del 1978 per raccontare la storia dell'ultimo giorno di composizione a caldo del New York Times. Un'epoca che ho sfiorato a Firenze, e che ha per tutti ricordi commoventi. La mezz'ora del documentario è una sorta di storia orale, raccolta e narrata da due tipografi del Times.
https://vimeo.com/127605643
https://vimeo.com/127605643
Vimeo
Farewell - ETAOIN SHRDLU - 1978
A film created by Carl Schlesinger and David Loeb Weiss documenting the last day of hot metal typesetting at The New York Times. This film shows the entire newspaper…
Un viaggio spettacolare e un libro-fotografico-sito-web altrettato bello. Da gustare con calma, su uno schermo all'altezza (almeno Retina)
Money quote: "Koya-san — home to esoteric Buddhism — is the name of a sacred basin eight hundred meters high and surrounded by eight mountains. It is roughly one hundred kilometers of trails north from the Kumano Hongu Taisha shrine in Wakayama, Japan. Though the name of the basin is often incorrectly translated as Mt. Koya in English, Mt. Koya is only one of the eight peaks, and is remote from the central cluster of temples.
We walked towards Koya-san, but we did not touch Mt. Koya."
https://walkkumano.com
Money quote: "Koya-san — home to esoteric Buddhism — is the name of a sacred basin eight hundred meters high and surrounded by eight mountains. It is roughly one hundred kilometers of trails north from the Kumano Hongu Taisha shrine in Wakayama, Japan. Though the name of the basin is often incorrectly translated as Mt. Koya in English, Mt. Koya is only one of the eight peaks, and is remote from the central cluster of temples.
We walked towards Koya-san, but we did not touch Mt. Koya."
https://walkkumano.com
Craig Mod
Walk Kumano Kodo
Notes and tips on walking the Nakahechi, Kohechi, and Iseji, Kumano Kodo UNESCO World Heritage pilgrimage routes
La salute economica di un giornale è un buon indicatore per giudicarne lo stato reale? Perché negli Usa Digital First Media possiede The Mercury News, The Denver Post, St. Paul Pioneer Press, 11 quotidiani della Southern California e altri 49 tra California, Michigan e New Jersey, ha visto nell'ultimo periodo esplodere le proteste delle redazioni per i tagli indiscriminati, i licenziamenti di massa, l'abbattimento della qualità del lavoro, e adesso fa utili in quantità. Viene da pensare che la strategia sia mungere la vacca finché non muore...
Money quote: "Today we can reveal some key financial numbers from the very private company that shows just how successful Alden and DFM have been at milking profit out of the newspapers it is slashing to the bone. DFM reported a 17 percent operating margin — well above those of its peers — in its 2017 fiscal year, along with profits of almost $160 million. That’s the fruit of the repeated cutbacks that have left its own shrinking newsrooms in a state of rebellion.
Now, as the company decides if and how to move against its publicly protesting top editors, Alden would seem to be at a crossroads. But as we explore below, it shows no particular sign of selling its embattled properties. Is continuing to milk its newspapers until they run dry still Alden’s likeliest course?"
http://www.niemanlab.org/2018/05/newsonomics-alden-global-capital-is-making-so-much-money-wrecking-local-journalism-it-might-not-want-to-stop-anytime-soon/
Money quote: "Today we can reveal some key financial numbers from the very private company that shows just how successful Alden and DFM have been at milking profit out of the newspapers it is slashing to the bone. DFM reported a 17 percent operating margin — well above those of its peers — in its 2017 fiscal year, along with profits of almost $160 million. That’s the fruit of the repeated cutbacks that have left its own shrinking newsrooms in a state of rebellion.
Now, as the company decides if and how to move against its publicly protesting top editors, Alden would seem to be at a crossroads. But as we explore below, it shows no particular sign of selling its embattled properties. Is continuing to milk its newspapers until they run dry still Alden’s likeliest course?"
http://www.niemanlab.org/2018/05/newsonomics-alden-global-capital-is-making-so-much-money-wrecking-local-journalism-it-might-not-want-to-stop-anytime-soon/
Nieman Lab
Newsonomics: Alden Global Capital is making so much money wrecking local journalism it might not want to stop anytime soon
Digital First Media's financials — revealed here — show how the company has ridden its deep cuts to nearly $160 million in profits and the highest margins in the business.
Crescere i figli adolescenti vuol dire un sacco di cose. Ci sono lunghi discorsi da fare. Se però siete la madre di una figlia nera, c’è un discorso in più da fare. Un discorso che vi toglie la voglia di vivere in America, casomai uno l’avesse mai avuta.
Money quote: “I told her that there were rules for dealing with the police. That she was to say yes, sir and no, sir instead of arguing, even if she was in the right. She was to give over her ID even if it wasn’t warranted. She was to stay in her car during a traffic stop, with her hands on the steering wheel. I warned her not to go digging around in her pockets, her purse, the rest of the car. She was to tell the officer what she was planning to do before she did it — I’m reaching for my license; I’m going to lean over for my registration”
https://medium.com/@tessintrovert/the-talk-is-different-for-parents-of-black-kids-77d5e8238c64
Money quote: “I told her that there were rules for dealing with the police. That she was to say yes, sir and no, sir instead of arguing, even if she was in the right. She was to give over her ID even if it wasn’t warranted. She was to stay in her car during a traffic stop, with her hands on the steering wheel. I warned her not to go digging around in her pockets, her purse, the rest of the car. She was to tell the officer what she was planning to do before she did it — I’m reaching for my license; I’m going to lean over for my registration”
https://medium.com/@tessintrovert/the-talk-is-different-for-parents-of-black-kids-77d5e8238c64
Medium
‘The Talk’ is Different for Parents of Black Kids
Everyone has the talk with their children. No parent looks forward to sitting their kids down for a conversation about sex, but it’s a…
Nostalgia anni novanta: la prossima retro-console sarà il NeoGeo - il mio articolo per La Stampa
http://www.lastampa.it/2018/05/03/tecnologia/nostalgia-anni-novanta-la-prossima-retroconsole-sar-il-neogeo-Fb03lvIpXko5lIafDR3wqO/amphtml/pagina.amp.html
http://www.lastampa.it/2018/05/03/tecnologia/nostalgia-anni-novanta-la-prossima-retroconsole-sar-il-neogeo-Fb03lvIpXko5lIafDR3wqO/amphtml/pagina.amp.html
LaStampa.it
Nostalgia anni novanta: la prossima retro-console sarà il NeoGeo
La giapponese SNK celebra i suoi 40 anni e prepara la Classic Edition della sua console con titoli come King of Fighters e Metal Slug preinstallati
Forwarded from Social&Positive News - L'informazione che fa bene
⚖️ 📣 #Diritti #Informazione
Senza di loro, li scandali di Cambridge Analytica, Panama Papers o Dieselgate non sarebbero mai venuti alla luce. Sono i whistleblower: i dipendenti di aziende o enti pubblici che ne denunciano irregolarità, comportamenti illegali o potenzialmente dannosi che, ancora oggi, non sono abbastanza tutelati dalle normative dei vari Paesi del Vecchio continente. Ebbene, lo scorso 23 aprile la Commissione europea ha presentato una proposta per una direttiva che prevede l’applicazione di uno standard europeo per la protezione dei whistleblower. La nuova normativa creerà canali di comunicazione sicuri che permetteranno ai dipendenti di effettuare segnalazioni sia all’interno di un’organizzazione sia all’esterno, rivolgendosi in tal caso ad un’autorità pubblica. Gli informatori, inoltre, saranno tutelati dal rischio di licenziamento o demansionamento. Transparency International ha definito il provvedimento «un passo coraggioso». Il testo dovrà ora essere approvato dal Parlamento europeo e dal Consiglio dell’Unione prima di essere definitivamente adottato.
Senza di loro, li scandali di Cambridge Analytica, Panama Papers o Dieselgate non sarebbero mai venuti alla luce. Sono i whistleblower: i dipendenti di aziende o enti pubblici che ne denunciano irregolarità, comportamenti illegali o potenzialmente dannosi che, ancora oggi, non sono abbastanza tutelati dalle normative dei vari Paesi del Vecchio continente. Ebbene, lo scorso 23 aprile la Commissione europea ha presentato una proposta per una direttiva che prevede l’applicazione di uno standard europeo per la protezione dei whistleblower. La nuova normativa creerà canali di comunicazione sicuri che permetteranno ai dipendenti di effettuare segnalazioni sia all’interno di un’organizzazione sia all’esterno, rivolgendosi in tal caso ad un’autorità pubblica. Gli informatori, inoltre, saranno tutelati dal rischio di licenziamento o demansionamento. Transparency International ha definito il provvedimento «un passo coraggioso». Il testo dovrà ora essere approvato dal Parlamento europeo e dal Consiglio dell’Unione prima di essere definitivamente adottato.
Il Sole 24 ORE
Whistleblowers, proposta di legge Ue per proteggere i cittadini «informatori»
BRUXELLES – La Commissione europea ha presentato oggi qui a Bruxelles una proposta legislativa che dovrebbe rafforzare la protezione di tutti coloro
Gli alberi sono piante. Ma quando una pianta è un albero e quando non lo è? La distinzione è meno banale (e meno scientifica) di quel che sembra
Money quote: "Some 400 miles to the east, a spindly wisp of a tree has both the bristlecones and the sequoias beat when it comes to lifespan — through another strategy altogether. The quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) — a tree you can wrap your arms around that rarely grows taller than 50 feet — excels at sending up new shoots from its base. This results in giant stands of “trees” that are, in fact, one genetic individual connected beneath the ground. A Utah colony of quaking aspen is estimated to be 80,000 years old. Neanderthals were around back then."
https://www.knowablemagazine.org/article/living-world/2018/what-makes-tree-tree
Money quote: "Some 400 miles to the east, a spindly wisp of a tree has both the bristlecones and the sequoias beat when it comes to lifespan — through another strategy altogether. The quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) — a tree you can wrap your arms around that rarely grows taller than 50 feet — excels at sending up new shoots from its base. This results in giant stands of “trees” that are, in fact, one genetic individual connected beneath the ground. A Utah colony of quaking aspen is estimated to be 80,000 years old. Neanderthals were around back then."
https://www.knowablemagazine.org/article/living-world/2018/what-makes-tree-tree
Knowable Magazine | Annual Reviews
What makes a tree a tree?
Despite numerous studies and 30-plus genomes under their belts, scientists are still struggling to nail down the defining traits of these tall, long-lived, woody plants
Attenzione, innocenti domande potrebbero avere drammatiche conseguenze
Money quote: "Social media sites are littered with seemingly innocuous little quizzes, games and surveys urging people to reminisce about specific topics, such as “What was your first job,” or “What was your first car?” The problem with participating in these informal surveys is that in doing so you may be inadvertently giving away the answers to “secret questions” that can be used to unlock access to a host of your online identities and accounts."
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2018/04/dont-give-away-historic-details-about-yourself/
Money quote: "Social media sites are littered with seemingly innocuous little quizzes, games and surveys urging people to reminisce about specific topics, such as “What was your first job,” or “What was your first car?” The problem with participating in these informal surveys is that in doing so you may be inadvertently giving away the answers to “secret questions” that can be used to unlock access to a host of your online identities and accounts."
https://krebsonsecurity.com/2018/04/dont-give-away-historic-details-about-yourself/