Journalism used to be about telling the story - I won't rehash the modern history here but basically it became about making a difference. And that is the wrong reason to be a journalist because 'making a difference' is going to come down on where you sit regarding your personal advocacy and advocacy prevents journalists from being trusted guides for the public.

If you are going to brag about your hacking, don't use a photo of your online honey's boobs and leave the EXIF information intact.Yes, it is cool you have an online chick who will send you pictures, and that she actually has boobs (webcams don't lie!), but it doesn't take long to track that stuff down.  The FBI saw it, tracked the EXIF data to her and then to him. Pwned by the FBI can be his next pic.  Suspected Anonymous Hacker Busted By FBI — Thanks To A Racy Photo CBS Houston

Recent tests by Bayer show that a glass fiber wallpaper in conjunction with a special adhesive made from polyurethane can prevent the collapse of building walls during an earthquake. This innovation could be a lifesaver for people living in earthquake areas.

Greece has reopened a major archaeological site on the island of Santorini. It was closed for over six years years after a roof collapsed, killing a tourist.The bronze-age town at Akrotiri reopened today, following completion of a new roof that shelters the entire site of the excavation from the elements.

Why would Stone Age man remove brains from skulls and put them on stakes? At the bottom of a pond?  Why would Stone Age man carve a wooden fish?It's a science mystery.It’s unusual to find a stone burial mound this old. Swedish burial mounds did not become common until around 500 B.C., the Iron Age - its location at the bottom of a little pond is yet another puzzle.

The deaths of millions of bats in the United States and Canada due to 'white nose syndrome' over the last few years has been linked to a fungus that came from Europe, scientists have reported.In North America, more than 5.7 million bats have died since 2006 when white nose syndrome was first detected in a cave in upstate New York. The disease does not pose a threat to humans but people can carry fungal spores, so while it's not known exactly how the fungus crossed the Atlantic, it was likely brought accidentally introduced by tourists. Spores are known to stick to people's clothes, boots and caving gear.

The Canadian military, those legends of World War II, don't get a lot of respect these days - namely from the Canadian government.But they can still kill stuff. Unfortunately, the only time it makes the news is when they might have killed a whale during training exercises.  There's no proof, of course, but when it comes to criticizing the military, Canadian news does not need proof; the headlines make the claim and then they bury the qualifiers.A young killer whale, orca L112, died on the beach in Washington state in February a few days after HMCS Ottawa conducted sonar training exercises in the waters off Victoria, B.C. This prompted Americans to launch an investigation and look at Canadians.

If you get into a Ph.D. program, are you there to learn and do research, like an academic, or are you there to earn a wage, like a corporate researcher?  Basically, are you still a student or are you an employee?A group of Michigan students who had sought to unionize a year ago has been denied. A few weeks back, Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation clarifying that graduate student research assistants are not public employees as recognized by the state Public Employment Relations Act. So they can't form a union.

Usually, when the majority of reporters in a newsroom rallies around coverage of a single story or event something really big is breaking. Maybe a mass shooting, a tsunami, or a terrorist attack.Or, if you happen to work for the Orange County Register, it’s opening day for the Los Angeles Angels — April 6, 2012 — and you’re part of the newspaper’s first official “news mob.”So what exactly does an Angels news mob cover?

I have long argued that while the kooky, anti-science conservative is a new phenomenon, the kooky, anti-science progressive has a decades-old history.  And it basically came into existence due to Rachel Carson's anti-science screed "Silent Spring"(1) - unless you really want to believe someone sprayed DDT, got cancer and died 6 months later.