How Microsoft Plan To Get Its Groove Back With Win7

Posted by kdawson on Friday April 04, @11:02AM
from the you-have-no-compatibility-get-over-it dept.

shawnz tips a blog post up at thebetaguy that details Windows 7's huge departure from the past, and the bold strategy Microsoft will be employing to maintain backward compatibility. Hint: Apple did it seven years back. There are interesting anti-trust implications too. "Windows 7 takes a different approach to the componentization and backwards compatibility issues; in short, it doesn't think about them at all. Windows 7 will be a from-the-ground-up packaging of the Windows codebase; partially source, but not binary compatible with previous versions of Windows."

[+] windows (tagging beta)

New Dune Movie Confirmed

Posted by kdawson on Friday April 04, @10:29AM
from the mouse-shadow dept.

bowman9991 writes "Peter Berg will be directing a new big-budget Dune movie from Paramount. SFFMedia reports that 'although there were some doubts that they were going to get it,' the producers have secured the rights to the Dune novel from Frank Herbert's estate and are looking for writers to provide a screenplay that is true to the original text. Can't wait!"

[+] dune, movies, scifi (tagging beta)

World governments.

History of Religion

Neat animated map of world religions

Real World Metaphor

In computer GUI design is often a metaphor for real-world things. This often helps us understand better how to interact with the computer. Here is an alternative take on a computer "desktop".

Voiceless Communication

Basically it looks like Texas Instruments has created a device that picks up information traveling from the brain to the vocal chords and interperets that vocal data. So, even without actually speaking, when you think about talking- it picks up the what you want to say and translates that into actual speech. This could be a very compelling computer interface method as well- where you could "think" and ask a question of Google, for example.

This was an interesting watch on an unlikely subject

From Tomorrow's Trends An old TED video from Malcom Gladewell on spaghetti sauce that is interesting...

A neat video to show how well our brain pays attention to, well, not quite everything

How well does your brain allow you to pay attention? Check out this commercial. I found this on Tomorrow's trends. It took me about 3 times to notice what was right in front of me:)

Spring Flooding In Mid-Western US Forecast, But People Still Build On Floodplains

ScienceDaily (Apr. 4, 2008) — Midwesterners have to be wondering: Will April be the cruelest month? Patterns in the Midwest this spring are eerily reminiscent of 1993 and 1994, back-to-back years of serious flooding. The great flood of 1993 caused nearly $20 billion of economic damage, damaging or destroying more than 50,000 homes and killing at least 38 people.

Read More

Drug Prevents Abnormalities That Lead To Seizures, Mouse Study Shows

ScienceDaily (Apr. 4, 2008) — Current medications for seizures are comparable to over-the-counter cold and flu remedies: They block symptoms, but don't significantly affect the underlying illnesses that cause them.

Read More

Sudden 'Ecosystem Flips' Imperil World's Poorest Regions, Say Water Experts

ScienceDaily (Apr. 4, 2008) — Modern agriculture and land-use practices may lead to major disruptions of the world's water flows, with potentially sudden and dire consequences for regions least able to cope with them researchers at the Stockholm University-affiliated Stockholm Resilience Centre and McGill University have warned.

Read More

Congress to the EPA: we're tired of waiting too

by Melissa Schober
Apr 4th 2008 @ 9:11AM

Filed under: News, Polit-eco, Climate Change

As I mentioned in a previous post, 18 states, two cities and 13 environmental groups are suing the EPA over their failure to issue regulations on greenhouse gas emissions following last year's Supreme Court ruling.

Piling on in what is most certainly becoming a trying week for EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson, the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming voted, 12-0, to issue a subpoena for EPA documents showing the agency's "progress in making the 'endangerment' finding and proposing national emissions standards."

While Henry Waxman, chair the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, issues (or threatens to issue) subpoenas like they're going out of style, Ed Markey is a different story.

In his opening statement, Chair Markey noted that in his 32 years as a member of Congress, this is the first time he has ever found it necessary to issue a subpoena. He went on to say, "Paper is the traditional one year anniversary gift. On this anniversary of Massachusetts v. EPA, we're sending a piece of paper -- a subpoena -- to Stephen Johnson and the EPA. The modern one year anniversary gift is a clock, and we're trying to make sure this administration doesn't run out the clock on their term without taking action to protect the climate."

The EPA has 10 days to comply with the request to handover documents to the committee. If they miss that deadline, the next step is for the House to vote on a contempt citation (in the form of a resolution). If the resolution passes, the contempt citation is referred to the U.S Attorney for the District of Columbia and a grand jury impaneled.

Darwin meets PC gold-stripping alchemist, Darwin wins

Posted Apr 4th 2008 5:56AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Death isn't funny, but it's often absurd. A man in Tulsa accidentally poisoned himself while using mercury to "extract gold from computer parts." See, mercury can be used to dissolve gold from discarded PC boards. You then heat the runoff to evaporate the mercury. Guess what though, inhaling mercury is extremely toxic. So much so that the man is now dead and his residence must be gutted before its livable again. Look we know the value of the dollar ain't what it used to be, but you'll need a ton (literally) of old system boards to extract a single ounce of gold. Should you, however, stumble upon the Philosopher's Stone in your quest -- well, immortality solved.

Neuromarketers Pick the Brains of Consumers

Posted by Soulskill on Thursday April 03, @11:04PM
from the ask-me-no-questions-and-i'll-tell-you-no-lies dept.

Pickens points out a story at The Guardian about the development of neuromarketing, the method by which advertisers track signals inside the brain to roughly extrapolate how a consumer reacts to products and advertisements. We've discussed this technique in the past, but now consulting firms are appearing who have begun to use this research to increase the effectiveness of their marketing practices. The author also notes a paper which elaborates on the scientific details (PDF). "At McLean Hospital, a prestigious psychiatric institution run by Harvard University, an advertising agency recently sponsored an experiment in which the brains of half-a-dozen young whiskey drinkers were scanned. The goal, according to a report in Business Week, was 'to gauge the emotional power of various images, including college kids drinking cocktails on spring break, twentysomethings with flasks around a campfire, and older guys at a swanky bar'. The results were used to fine-tune an ad campaign for the maker of Jack Daniels."

FBI Reports All-Time High In Internet Fraud Losses

Posted by Soulskill on Friday April 04, @02:07AM
from the hello-sir-madam dept.

eldavojohn writes "While the number of cases dropped, the amount of money lost to internet fraud reached an all-time high in 2007, a new government report states. 'According to the 2007 Internet Crime Report, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 206,884 complaints of crimes perpetrated over the Internet during 2007. Of the complaints received, more than 90,000 were referred to law enforcement around the nation, amounting to nearly $240 million in reported losses. This represents a $40 million increase in reported losses from complaints referred to law enforcement in 2006.' The top ruses used by the fraudsters involved pets, romance and secret shoppers. The original report[Large PDF] is available online, and it contains some interesting graphs. One indicates that the two largest types of fraud are Auction Fraud and Non-delivery, which combine for over 60% of all cases. As Computerworld notes, men are more likely to fall for scams than women, and over 30% of losses are between $1,000 and $5,000. The report also contains data about the location of the perpetrators (Nigeria only accounts for 5.7%), age demographics, and contact methods."

First manned flight using hydrogen battery doesn't cause rain, only tears

Posted Apr 4th 2008 8:28AM by Thomas Ricker
Filed under: Transportation

You're looking at the world's first manned flight powered by a hydrogen battery. Boeing's prop-driven aircraft set the lone pilot aloft for about 20 minutes at a speed of 100-kilometres (62 miles) an hour at an altitude of about 1,000 meters. The 800-kilogram (1,760-pound) craft with a 16.3-meter (51-foot) wingspan is capable of flying for about 45 minutes under the power of its hydrogen fuel cells -- the airplane's batteries provided an additional boost for takeoff. The fuel cells harvest the energy produced by the chemical transformation of hydrogen and oxygen into water -- that makes the craft clean as well as near silent. Unfortunately, the technology is nowhere near the point of powering commercial aircraft. At best, the fuel-cells could act as a secondary power source... in another 20 years.

Yikes! My Servers are drowning

New Service Maps Speed Traps By Cell Phone

Posted by kdawson on Thursday April 03, @01:31PM
from the i-didn't-do-it-nobody-saw-me-you-can't-prove-anything dept.

esocid writes "In a modern equivalent of flashing your headlights to warn other motorists of police speed traps, you can now warn fellow drivers with a cell phone or personal digital assistant about speed traps, red-light cameras, and other threats to ticket-free driving. And as you approach a known threat, you'll get an audio alert on your mobile device. The developer of Trapster, Pete Tenereillo, said the system, which requires punching in a few keys such as '#1' to submit information to Trapster's database, should comply with laws banning talking on cell phones. The free service can automatically detect location using mobile devices' GPS capabilities or tap their Wi-Fi and get location from a database run by Skyhook Wireless. Police officials that Tenereillo has talked to haven't complained about the service because it inevitably encourages drivers to slow down."

GreenTech: Sola Unagi is a solar power generator in a briefcase

by Brad Linder
Apr 3rd 2008 @ 10:01AM

Filed under: Gadgets and Tech, GreenTech, Alternative Energy

If the $25,000 Powercube 600 we showed you yesterday is out of your price range, perhaps the Sola Unagi briefcase solar power generator will fit your budget better. This briefcase-sized (and shaped) solar power generator can be yours for about $1150, with discounts if you buy in bulk. It's also much lighter than the 1 ton Powercube, at just 10 kilograms.

While the Powercube can pump up to 3500 Watts of electricity to power pretty much everything in your house, the Sola Unagi is a bit more modest, with a 400 Watt output capacity. But that's enough juice to power a laptop for up to 6 hours, a small refrigerator for up to 4 hours, or a lighting system for over 10 hours.

The Sola Unagi is designed by Fuji Africa for use in parts of Africa where electricity isn't always available, and the company is targeting it toward doctors, field researchers, universities, farmers, shop owners, and soldiers who might need a reliable source of electricity.

[via The Red Ferret Journal]

PowerCube 600: the 2000-pound solar-powered generator

Posted Apr 3rd 2008 10:05AM by Darren Murph
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Curious designs and solar-powered wares seem to go hand in hand, but honestly, the PowerCube 600 is going to be hard to top. In what appears to be a ginormous (and inexplicably uncomfortable) recliner, the creators have managed to shove enough solar panels in this foldable, "portable" generator to crank out 600-watts of power. You'll also find 3,500-watts of continuous inverter output, 2,400 amp hours of battery storage and a rugged / watertight case. Even when closed up, this beast measures 72- x 124- x 50-inches, and while it technically is a mobile solution, 2,000-pounds isn't exactly what you want to lug around each time you feel like hosting a LAN party in Zzyzx, California. Forget the fact that you'll need to phone up Reluminati in order to acquire a price -- just think of the shipping!

James Bond drives a what?

by Josh Loposer
Apr 3rd 2008 @ 9:33AM

Filed under: Cars and Transportation, Celebrities, Fashion, Movies, TV and Books

Throughout his decades of crime fighting, James Bond has seldom strayed from the flashy and gas-hogging Aston Martin. In Casino Royale, Bond began his assignment driving the notably less cool more economical Ford Mondeo. In the next installment -- Quantum of Solace -- AutoBlogGreen is reporting that James will be slumming it even harder in the 45mpg Ford Ka.

I don't how the writers are justifying 007's fascination with the Ford Motor Company -- since their vehicles don't exactly fall in line with his taste for the finer things in life -- but apparently Ford paid about $35 million to get the 45mpg Ka in the picture. So, I guess they'll figure it out. So what's the deal? Is James Bond turning over a new leaf?

In my opinion, if Bond is going green, he definitely wouldn't be driving a Ford economy car. I could maybe, maybe see him driving a Prius or a Mercedes Bluetec, but ideally he'd be driving a Tesla Roadster like Iron Man. I guess Tesla didn't have the ad budget.

[via Autobloggreen]

Vectrix zero emission scooter: From zero to green in 7 seconds

by Brad Linder
Apr 3rd 2008 @ 9:02AM

Filed under: Cars and Transportation

While motorcycles and scooters tend to get better mileage than your typical SUV, or even compact car, they usually still chug a little gas an spurt out a bit of gray stuff. The Vectrix ZEV, on the other hand, is 100% electric, meaning you get no tailpipe emissions (which makes sense since there's no tailpipe).

The Vectrix ZEV is pretty zippy. It's able to go from 0 to 50 miles per hour in seven seconds, and has a top speed of 62 miles per hour. You can travel about 50 miles on a single charge, so this scooter's obviously meant more for city travel than cross-country trips.

You can pick up a Vectrix ZEV for $10,000 to $12,000.

Administration Claimed Immunity To 4th Amendment

Posted by kdawson on Thursday April 03, @08:32AM
from the unreasonable-searches-and-seizures dept.

mrogers writes "The EFF has uncovered a troubling footnote in a newly declassified Bush Administration memo, which asserts that 'our Office recently [in 2001] concluded that the Fourth Amendment had no application to domestic military operations.' This could mean that the Administration believes the NSA's warrantless wiretapping and data mining programs are not governed by the Constitution, which would cast Administration claims that the programs did not violate the Fourth Amendment in a whole new light — after all, you can't violate a law that doesn't apply. The claimed immunity would also cover other DoD agencies, such as CIFA, which carry out offline surveillance of political groups within the United States."

Daily Caffeine Protects Your Brain

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday April 03, @07:52AM
from the it's-what-brains-crave dept.

Chroniton writes "The BBC has a story that many Slashdot geeks will be happy to hear: the caffeine from a cup of coffee a day can help prevent Dementia, by blocking the damage of cholesterol. (At least in rabbits) This is in addition to the already-known protection against Alzheimer's Disease. More research is needed to test the effect on humans."

[+] science, coffee, rabbits (tagging beta)

Microsoft Told to Pay Tax on Licence Fee

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday April 03, @12:20AM
from the we-do-whatever-is-cheaper dept.

MissingRainbow writes "To avoid paying taxes in India, Microsoft wanted a court to believe that it is selling its product and that there are no royalty payments involved. Their own EULA worked against them in this particular case however as it states, "the product is licensed, not sold". The court ruled against them."

Scientists Discover Teeny Tiny Black Hole

Posted by Zonk on Wednesday April 02, @07:04PM
from the for-relative-terms-of-teeny-and-tiny dept.

AbsoluteXyro writes "According to a Space.com article, NASA scientists have discovered the smallest known black hole to date. The object is known as 'XTE J1650-500'. Weighing in at a scant 3.8 solar masses and measuring only 15 miles across, this finding sheds new light on the lower limit of black hole sizes and the critical threshold at which a star will become a black hole upon its death, rather than a neutron star. XTE J1650-500 beats out the previous record holder, GRO 1655-40, by about 2.5 solar masses."

News: RIAA "Making Available" Theory Rejected

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday April 01, @03:56PM
from the complaint-without-a-complaint dept.

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "In a 25-page decision (PDF) which has been awaited for two years in Elektra v. Barker, Judge Kenneth M. Karas has rejected the RIAA's 'making available' theory and its 'authorization' theory, but sustained the sufficiency of the complaint's allegations of 'distribution' and 'downloading,' and also gave the RIAA 30 days to cure the defects in its complaint by filing a new complaint. The judge left it open for the RIAA to allege that defendant made an 'offer to distribute,' and that the offer was for "'the purpose of further distribution,' which, the judge held, would be actionable."

[+] court, riaa, mafiaa (tagging beta)

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Your Rights Online: Using Tire Pressure Sensors To Spy On Cars

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday April 01, @05:21PM
from the privacy-under-pressure dept.

AngryDad writes "Beginning last September, all vehicles sold in the US have been required to have Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) installed. An article up at HexView enumerates privacy issues introduced by TPMS, and some of them look pretty scary. Did you know that traffic sensors on highways can be adopted to read TPMS data and track individual vehicles? How about an explosive device that sets itself off when the right vehicle passes nearby? TPMS has been discussed in the past, but I haven't seen its privacy implications analyzed before. Fortunately the problem is easy to fix: encrypt TPMS data the way keyless entry systems do."

Microsoft's Vista Blogger Quits

Posted by Zonk on Wednesday April 02, @04:21PM
from the community-and-communication dept.

Preedit writes "Nick White, the in-house Microsoft blogger who wrote about all things Vista, has resigned. White is leaving Redmond to join the blog-centric marketing and public relations firm BuzzCorps. White did not provide a reason for his decision. InformationWeek, however, notes that his position could not have been easy. White's posts often elicited hundreds of responses from Vista users complaining about the OS's numerous glitches and quirks. The story further notes that White is the sort of young, blogosphere-savvy manager that Microsoft needs if it hopes to outrun Google, and his departure raises questions about the company's ability to retain Web 2.0 talent."

Tapping into the 'diesel tree'

by Josh Loposer
Apr 2nd 2008 @ 12:30PM

Filed under: Local, Alternative Energy

If you were to tell farmers in Queensland, Australia that diesel doesn't grow on trees, they'd say you're right, it grows inside them. As unbelievable as it sounds, there's a tree that grows in the Brazilian Amazon called the copaifera langsdorfi that produces an oil that can be tapped, filtered and then poured into your fuel tank. A group of farmers in North Queensland have purchased 20,000 of the trees and are hoping to set up a whole new kind of biodiesel factory. According to estimates, one hectare of mature 'diesel trees' could produce 12,000 liters of diesel -- annually.

With all of the excitement surrounding agriculturally based fuels, it's a pretty huge oversight to have not mentioned that there is a tree out there that produces diesel fuel -- just like a maple tree produces syrup. The truth is: we've never heard of it before. Is the corn lobby trying to keep the diesel tree out of the picture? Or is the biofuels industry really just now discovering the diesel tree?

Obviously, the trees don't mature in a couple of season, like corn, so the investment is much more long-term. The trees also require wet, tropical climates to survive -- another drawback. In the US, for example, the trees would probably only grow in Florida. According to Purdue University's findings, 'diesel trees' can produce 25 barrels (1050 gallons) of fuel per year. Corn produces roughly 439 gallons of ethanol per acre.

[via Treehugger]

Hotels are wising up, providing Wii Sports and Guitar Hero to bored guests

Posted Apr 2nd 2008 10:04AM by Paul Miller
Filed under: Gaming

We keep telling ourselves we're going to play through Mario 64 some day on one of those ubiquitous N64s embedded into hotel entertainment systems, but we never get around to it -- primarily because of our unhealthy addiction to "next-gen" graphics and gameplay. Lucky for us, hotels are starting to get in on the action and hand-delivering consoles to guests, sticking a Wii in the fitness center, and offering Guitar Hero nights in the hotel bar. Best of all, Hotel Sax Chicago networked its Xboxen for Rock Band and Guitar Hero multiplayer with other hotel guests. Unfortunately, most of these hotels are charging an arm and a leg for the priveldge -- $50 an hour of Wii rental? Ouch! -- but it's starting feel like these places have at least figured out which century we're living in.

Eigg: the self-sustaining Scotish Isle

by Josh Loposer
Apr 2nd 2008 @ 9:30AM

Filed under: Local, Activism, Alternative Energy

Want to live on a green-powered island? The island of Eigg -- located off the coast of Scotland -- recently achieved its energy independence goals by constructing a completely renewable and self-sufficient power system through a mix of wind, hydro, and solar sources. The islands 45 households and 20 businesses will now all be powered by a community-owned £1.6 million renewable facility -- with diesel backups just in case. Think it's easy to provide power for a community of 87 people? It took Eigg 10 years to realize the dream.

In 1997, the residents of the island formed the Eigg Heritage Trust and bought out the island from their absentee landlords. One of the goals was to build a island-wide sustainable power grid -- before, each house had produced its own electricity with noisy generators. After raising money from various Energy companies and even The Big Lottery Fund, the islanders were able to partner with Synergie Scotland to install the island's ambitious power network. Six miles of cable now connect the residents with solar panels, wind turbines and hydro-electric generators that produce 95% of the island's power.

[via Treehugger]

Related Link

U. Maine Law Students Trying To Shut RIAA Down

Posted by kdawson on Wednesday April 02, @08:14AM
from the corrupt-enterprise dept.

NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "Remember those pesky student attorneys from the University of Maine School of Law's Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic, who inspired the Magistrate Judge to suggest monetary fines against the RIAA lawyers? Well they're in the RIAA's face once again, and this time they're trying to shut down the RIAA's whole 'discovery' machine: the lawsuits it files against 'John Does' in order to find out their names and addresses. They've gone and filed a Rule 11 motion for sanctions (PDF), seeking — among other things — an injunction against all such 'John Doe' cases, arguing that the cases seek to circumvent the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act which protects student privacy rights, are brought for improper purposes of obtaining discovery, getting publicity, and intimidation, and are in flagrant violation of the joinder rules and numerous court orders. If the injunction is granted, the RIAA will have to go back to the drawing board to find another way of finding out the identities of college students, and the ruling — depending on its reasoning — might even be applicable to the non-college cases involving commercial ISPs."

Host an Earth Dinner for Earth Day

by Patricia Mayville-Cox
Apr 1st 2008 @ 10:30AM

Filed under: Home

Hopefully, you'll get out and get to do some earth-friendly activities in your community on Earth Day, this coming April 22nd, whether it be helping to clean up a part of your town, or going to a festival.

Well, here's a neat idea for celebrating Earth Day, once the day's festivities are done. Host an Earth Dinner, whether at your home or with a group in your community. The Earth Dinner website, by Organic Valley, has tons of ideas:

• Try to serve foods that are locally-produced, fresh and organic.
• Go potluck and let everyone join in the fun of bringing a dish.
• Let the decor reflect the spirit of the day, flowers, greens, natural textures. A seasonal centerpiece.
• For party favors, decorate mini-pots of various herb starters from your local nursery. Another favor idea is one or two wildflower seed packets tied together with ribbon.
• Got kiddies in attendance? Here are some ideas to help make the party more fun for them.

What about entertainment? While I'm sure just being with your family and friends will be fun enough, how about starting some earthy conversation with the Earth Dinner cards. The Earth Dinner cards are designed to spark conversation about memories regarding food and people and "inspire new thinking." You can buy the whole set of cards for ten dollars or just use the free download of eight cards that would probably be enough to get the conversation rolling.

Related Link

US Military Explored Hiring Bloggers As Propagandists

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday April 01, @12:20PM
from the meme-warfare-has-been-going-on-for-a-while dept.

Zeinfeld writes "Wired reports that one time Clipper Chip supporter Dorothy Denning wrote a report on using blogs for information warfare in 2006 (a report available from cryptome). Amongst the proposals were hiring bloggers directly as propaganda agents and using military media resources to 'make' a blogger posting favorable material. Notably, and most unfortunately absent from the report, is the very real question of whether the military should be manipulating domestic media." Is meme warfare just another battleground, or is this dirty pool?

[+] internet, usa (tagging beta)

Humans Have More Distinctive Hearing Than Animals, Study Shows

ScienceDaily (Apr. 2, 2008) — Do humans hear better than animals? It is known that various species of land and water-based living creatures are capable of hearing some lower and higher frequencies than humans are capable of detecting. However, scientists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and elsewhere have now for the first time demonstrated how the reactions of single neurons give humans the capability of detecting fine differences in frequencies better than animals.

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Specially-designed Soils Could Help Combat Climate Change

ScienceDaily (Apr. 2, 2008) — Could part of the answer to saving the Earth from global warming lie in the earth beneath our feet?

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Algae Could One Day Be Major Hydrogen Fuel Source

ScienceDaily (Apr. 2, 2008) — As gas prices continue to soar to record highs, motorists are crying out for an alternative that won’t cramp their pocketbooks.

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Continents Loss Of Dense Matter To Oceans Helps Keep Continents Above The Mantle

ScienceDaily (Apr. 2, 2008) — New research suggests that the geological staying power of continents comes partly from their losing battle with the Earth's oceans over magnesium. The research finds continents lose more than 20 percent of their initial mass via chemical reactions involving the Earth's crust, water and atmosphere. Because much of the lost mass is dominated by magnesium and calcium, continents ultimately gain because the lighter, silicon-rich rock that's left behind is buoyed up by denser rock beneath the Earth's crust.

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'Alien'-type Viruses May Be Able To Treat MRSA

ScienceDaily (Apr. 2, 2008) — New methods that involve sticking thousands of bacteria-killing viruses to wound dressings are offering ways to prevent hospital operating theatres from spreading infections, scientists heard 1 April 1, 2008 at the Society for General Microbiology's 162nd meeting.

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April Fools' Day makes the internet cry

Posted Apr 1st 2008 11:59PM by Paul Miller
Filed under: Misc. Gadgets

Did you fall for it? The internet didn't really cry, we were just kidding. You gotta be on your toes! And just in case you managed to blissfully glide through this April 1st with nary a fooling, here's a small taste of what you were missing:

Read - Space bot demands to be called "Dextre the Magnificent"
Read - Windows XP running on the iRex iLiad
Read - iPhone_iTouch_2.0_Beta_5a225c_ipsw
Read - Free Nokia 6630 bundled with Girl Talk mag for tweens
Read - Google's gDay with MATE searches the future
Read - Toshiba announces HD DVD+
Read - Think Geek's Betamax to HD-DVD Converter
Read - Qualcomm's HandSolo
Read - FireFold's Ultra High-Performance Coat Hanger
Read - Virgin and Google form Virgil for Mars expedition
Read - Xbox 360 Wireless Helmet, Board Game

Tags: april fools, AprilFools

Amazing Virtual Pee Experience from Japan

As any good geek should know by now Japan has some of the wackiest and most unusual products anywhere. So when we were visiting Tokyo recently and saw lines of Japanese schoolgirls waiting to play an amazing new game for the Wii called Super Pii Pii Brothers we were only a little surprised. After all with games like WarioWare and Raving Rabbids the Wii is no stranger to crazy gameplay mechanics... but it was quite unusual to see the "strap-on" style accessory and peeing action that Pii Pii Brothers provides. Normally ThinkGeek doesn't carry video games, but we were so blown-away by Super Pii Pii Brothers that we immediately got our trusted Japanese importer on the phone and arranged to bring over a limited quantity of this amazing Wii game along with some cross regional boot discs to allow play on USA Wii consoles.



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Lawsuit Against RIAA Tries to Stop Them All

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday April 01, @08:35AM
from the like-the-one-ring-but-a-lawsuit dept.

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "Tanya Anderson has filed an amended complaint against the RIAA. One of the more interesting provisions in it is in the 18th claim, which seeks to stop the RIAA from 'continuing to engage in criminal investigation of private American citizens', no doubt referring to the unlicensed MediaSentry investigations. If granted, that could shut down the RIAA lawsuits entirely. Naturally, the RIAA doesn't like this at all. First, they got the judge to agree that the original complaint was too light on the details, so it was amended. Now the RIAA complains that it's too long, because it's 108 pages filled with the RIAA's dirty laundry. You may remember this as the countersuit to the lawsuit where RIAA lawyers tried to grill a 10-year-old girl, only later to drop their case for lack of evidence and have the mother sue them for malicious prosecution."

IBM Suspended From US Federal Contracts

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday April 01, @03:18AM
from the shouldn't-aught-to-have-done-that dept.

theodp writes "IBM has been temporarily banned from receiving future contracts with federal agencies, the Environmental Protection Agency confirmed on Monday. The suspension went into effect last Thursday due to 'concerns raised about potential activities involving an EPA procurement,' the agency said in an e-mailed statement. Under a reciprocal agreement among federal agencies, when one issues a ban, the others follow it. The EPA said it will not comment further on the matter. An IBM spokesman said he had no immediate comment. 'You don't see this very often, particularly for large companies,' commented a stunned industry analyst, mentioning a bankrupt MCI as a notable exception. IBM earned an estimated $1.5 billion in revenue from federal prime contracts in fiscal 2007."

[+] government, ibm, usa (tagging beta)

Electric Shocks Boost Plants' Production Of Commercially Useful Chemicals

ScienceDaily (Apr. 1, 2008) — Now for some "shocking" news about plants: Exposing plants to electricity can boost production of useful plant chemicals and may provide a cheaper, safer, and more efficient method for producing medicines, pesticides, and other commercially important plant-based materials, researchers in Arizona and Oklahoma report.

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Schizophrenic Brains Show Sex Pattern Reversal, Compared With General Population

ScienceDaily (Apr. 1, 2008) — It’s not always politically correct to say so, but there are a few minor differences between the brains of men and women. The research of Adrianna Mendrek indicates a reversal of these differences in the brains of schizophrenics.

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Transparent Computer Monitors? Engineers Make First 'Active Matrix' Display Using Nanowires

ScienceDaily (Apr. 1, 2008) — Engineers have created the first "active matrix" display using a new class of transparent transistors and circuits, a step toward realizing applications such as e-paper, flexible color monitors and "heads-up" displays in car windshields.

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Two Totally Unique Star Systems Discovered

Posted by Zonk on Tuesday April 01, @05:22AM

from the two-of-a-kind-beats-ace-high dept.

esocid writes "Astronomers have spied a faraway star system that is so unusual, it was one of a kind — until its discovery helped them pinpoint a second one that was much closer to home. In a paper published in a recent issue of the Astrophysical Journal Letters, Ohio State University astronomers and their colleagues suggest that these star systems are the progenitors of a rare type of supernova. In research funded by the National Science Foundation, they found a star system that is unusual, because it's what the astronomers have called a 'yellow supergiant eclipsing binary' — it contains two very bright, massive yellow stars that are very closely orbiting each other. In fact, the stars are so close together that a large amount of stellar material is shared between them, so that the shape of the system resembles a peanut."

Turn your college bills green

by Amanda Miller
Mar 30th 2008 @ 2:00PM

Filed under: GreenFinance, Green on Campus

So you arrive at college and life's a party; until exams come and bills start rolling in. Well, I can't help you with your exams, but I can offer some advice for your bill situation.

It seems obvious that setting up all of your bills to be delivered online rather than on paper is the greener option, but do you really know how much of a positive impact you'd be making?

According to a recent study, if one American household converts all of their bills and statements (on average about 19 per month), as well as payments (7 per month on average) from paper to online, 24 square feet of forest would be saved each year.

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Does your produce kill songbirds?

by Patricia Mayville-Cox
Mar 31st 2008 @ 9:35AM

Your shopping cart could be killing songbirds, says Bridget Stuchbury, of York University. How? Imported fruits and vegetables, which North Americans buy in the winter, are grown with highly toxic pesticides in the Southern Hemisphere, causing toxic levels of pesticides in various migratory birds.

These pesticides are chemicals that are often either restricted or banned here in the U.S, and they affect not only birds, but the environment, the workers and consumers. Fruits and vegetables imported from Latin America are three times as likely to violate EPA standards for pesticide residues as U.S.-grown produce. So how can you have a bird- and human-friendly grocery list? Here are the most important tips according to Stuchbury:

• Buy organic coffee that is certified Bird Friendly.
• Buy organic bananas
• It can be difficult to find organic melons, green beans, tomatoes, bell peppers and strawberries; only buy these foods if they are not imported from Latin America.

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World's Fastest Net Link 'Used to Dry Laundry'

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday March 31, @09:40AM
from the it-gets-pretty-hot-in-there dept.

praps writes "Last summer a 75-year-old woman from central Sweden became the envy of the IT world with her scorching 40Gbps internet connection. 1,500 simultaneous HDTV channels or a whole high definition DVD downloaded in two seconds were hers for the taking. Now Sigbritt Löthberg could soon be treated to an incredible 100 Gbps link — but it may not be put to great use. According to the head of the ultra-fast fiber connection project, Sigbritt mostly used the gear 'to dry her laundry.'"

Get your college books free

by Amanda Miller
Mar 31st 2008 @ 10:22AM

Filed under: Green Giving, Green on Campus

On the heels of Freecycle's success comes 2Swap, a new website dedicated to helping you pass your old books into loving hands, while receiving books of your choice for free.

Although its newness has not produced many text books, it would be a keen source for classics and modern literature, as well as providing for your guilty pleasure reading.

Simply create a free account and list some books you wouldn't mind sending out. For your first 10, you'll get three credits; that's three free books. Once you find one you want, just click "want it" and the owner will mail it to you at their expense, using a postage label you can print from the site.

In return for the postage, the owner receives a credit; in the end, you come out even, only ever having paid a dollar or two. There's nothing better than free books (well, assuming no one is giving out free beer).

Related Link

Self-assembled Materials Form Mini Stem Cell Lab

ScienceDaily (Mar. 31, 2008) — Imagine having one polymer and one small molecule that instantly assemble into a flexible but strong sac in which you can grow human stem cells, creating a sort of miniature laboratory. And that sac, if used for cell therapy, could cloak the stem cells from the human body’s immune system and biodegrade upon arriving at its destination, releasing the stem cells to do their work.

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The Man Who Guards Clinton's Wikipedia Entry

Posted by kdawson on Monday March 31, @08:05AM
from the lonely-vigil dept.

Timothy found a profile in The New Republic of Jonathan Schilling, a 53-year-old software developer from New Jersey who works to keep Hillary Clinton's Wikipedia entry clean and fair throughout the election season. "After he started editing her page in June 2005, Schilling became consumed with trying to capture her uncomfortable place in American culture, researching and writing a whole section on how she polarizes the public... [T]he attacks on Hillary's page mainly take the form of crude vandalism... It's different on Obama's page, where the fans — no surprise — are more enthusiastic, the haters are more intelligent, and the arguments reflect the fact that Obama himself is still a work under construction... The bitterness of the fights on Obama's page could be taken as a bad sign for the candidate. But it may actually be Hillary's page that contains the more troubling omens. Few, if any, Hillary defenders are standing watch besides Schilling. In recent days, the vaguely deserted air of a de-gentrifying neighborhood has settled over her page..."