Microsoft Tries a New Ad Agency

Posted by kdawson on Friday August 08, @10:17AM
from the pigs-and-lipstick dept.

Diomidis Spinellis writes "An article in this week's Economist outlines Microsoft's marketing response to Vista's travails and Apple's hip Get a Mac campaign. Describing the recent Mojave Experiment as 'Microsoft at its worst,' the article's writer wonders whether hiring a new hot ad agency, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, to put together a $300m campaign can make Microsoft look cool. Can money buy you love?"

Mitsubishi's i MiEV electric car to be tested in California

by Darren Murph, posted Aug 8th 2008 at 3:03AM

Mitsubishi's i MiEV electric car has spent some serious time on the streets of Japan, but before long, the fuel-shunning vehicle will be roughin' it here in the US of A. The auto maker is teaming up with Southern California Edison and PG&E in order to see how it fares in LA traffic and how to best integrate it with the power grid. As of now, the whips should be cruising down the carpool lanes in Q4, though a few modifications may be needed in order to comply with US laws. Plans are to test the i MiEV for three solid years, and hopefully the $30,000 ride will be made available for purchase shortly thereafter (or earlier, if we're fortunate). What now, MINI?

[Via Wired]

Vista's Security Rendered Completely Useless

Posted by kdawson on Friday August 08, @08:08AM
from the bypassing-memory-protection-safeguards dept.

scribbles89 sends in a story with that alarmist headline from Neowin.net; it does sound like it could be a game-changer. "While this may seem like any standard security hole, other researchers say that the work is a major breakthrough and there is very little that Microsoft can do to fix the problems. These attacks work differently than other security exploits, as they aren't based on any new Windows vulnerabilities, but instead take advantage of the way Microsoft chose to guard Vista's fundamental architecture. According to Dino Dai Zovi..., 'the genius of this is that it's completely reusable. They have attacks that let them load chosen content to a chosen location with chosen permissions. That's completely game over.'"

Office Wars!

The Great Office War @ Yahoo! Video

Server Room negotialtions

A few months back, Jen Frickell's company was given some bad news. When their lease ended, they'd have to move out of their second-floor suite. The good news, however, was that a suite would be available on the first floor. All they'd need to do was pack up and move downstairs.

It was a fairly reasonable request, so the company's executives signed a new lease and prepared to move. There was, however, just one, small hitch. The nice little server room they built in the back of their office - equipped with air conditioning units, ventilation, dedicated power, backup power, and so on - could not be relocated. Not only would it cost too much, but there was simply no room for it. The server room would just have to remain upstairs.

Obviously, the new second-floor tenant wouldn't want their neighbors walking through their office to access a server room, so building management and the company's executives came up with an alternative: wall off the server room door and build a new one. It seemed simple enough, but there was, however, just one small hitch. The only available wall to install a door was adjacent to the women's restroom. Inside the handicapped stall.

And since you're reading about it here, you know that didn't stop them. Here is the email from building management:

From: ---- --------

Sent: Monday, May 5, 2008 4:37 PM

To: Everyone

Subject: Server Room Access

Hi all.

As you all are aware, we have new tenants that have moved into

the 2nd floor suites. The access to the server room is now via

the women’s bathroom.

There will be a sign on the woman’s door that can be changed

from OPEN to CLOSED and vice versa.

Should you need to enter the server room, please change the sign

to CLOSED. Once you are done, please change it back to OPEN.

Once you enter the bathroom, you will be able to access the

server room via the handicapped stall. Please close the stall

door prior to entry, just in case someone doesn’t see that the

bathroom is closed.

I know this isn’t ideal, but if we adhere to this protocol, I

don’t think anyone will be disrupted.

Thanks! Let me know if you have any questions.

---- --------

Building Management

Jen was kind enough to snap a picture of their just-finished server room entrance.

How do you wear a hat?

Thanks to Aunt Vivian and Uncle Butch!!!

We just had our second re-evaluation appointment last night and Michael is doing very well. The Doctor said that his tracking problems have gone away and that while his spacial reasoning adequate, he would like to see more from him. He said that his main thing that he wants to see Michael do is to is work harder and improve his scanning ability. He does pretty well scanning vertically. His biggest weak point right now is his horizontal scanning which they have some very targeted exercises to build these skills that they will do at the office and give us a kit to take home and work with 3 times a week on top of the office visits. It is going to be really hard to get him over there during marching band so I am happy about the kit that he will be able too continue to make progress even though their schedule and our schedule will not match up well until after marching band is over. We have about 2 months worth of visits left but we probably will not be able to use them all up and get a final report until November or December.

Thanks to Aunt Vivian and Uncle Butch for paying for Michael's vision therapy! Yesterday I saw Michael converge on an object all the way to his nose! This was a BIG, BIG difference from what we saw a few months ago where he lost the object about a foot from his face. He feels that his reading is better and I agree with him and would add that his comprehension is also improved! He still does not care to read but I do see him choose reading a comic book over video games every now and then which NEVER would have happened before.

Thank you Aunt Vivian and Uncle Butch!!! We Love you!

Climate Change And Species Distributions

ScienceDaily (Aug. 5, 2008) — Scientists have long pointed to physical changes in the Earth and its atmosphere, such as melting polar ice caps, sea level rise and violent storms, as indicators of global climate change.

Read More

Vista gets crammed onto a PS3. It's as bad as you think.

by Donald Melanson, posted Aug 5th 2008 at 12:13PM

We can't in good conscience recommend trying this one at home for sake of your own sanity, but one enterprising PS3 enthusiast has thankfully gone the extra mile and installed Windows Vista on the console so you don't have to. As you might have guessed, however, it's not a pretty sight, with the OS running under emulation and requiring nearly 25 minutes to fully boot up. You can also add an extra five minutes and thirty seconds on top of that to load the start menu, and about twelve minutes to load up that most demanding of applications: Notepad. Head on past the break to see it for yourself, and hit up the link below for the installation instructions... if you dare.

[Thanks, Death_Coil]

A third of China's emissions come from exports

by Josh Loposer
Aug 5th 2008 @ 12:01PM

Filed under: Gadgets and Tech, Health, Local, News

Now that China has become the world's top polluter, and the gray haze surrounding their capital city has become a international spectacle, China has become an easy target for eco-bashing. But just like Mama used to say: when you point your finger at someone else, you've got three pointing back at you. As it turns out, 33% of China's emissions are created by manufacturing those cheap goods that keep the western world's economy pumping.

That's right, 1.7B tonnes of carbon -- equivalent to the emissions of France, Germany, and the UK combined -- is spewed into the atmosphere over China so that the developed world can keep the price of their goods low. And, as we all know, it's not just a bunch of accessories that China is producing these days. Much of the pollution is driven by the manufacture of "advanced electronics" -- like the iPhone.

Now, when we watch the Olympians pole-vaulting in their gas masks, we can think: that's outsourcing in action.

[via Earth2Tech]

Turning Those Old Electronic Circuit Boards Into New Park Benches

ScienceDaily (Aug. 5, 2008) — Scientists in China have developed a new recycling method that could transform yesterday's computer into tomorrow's park bench.

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GYM'S WII-ZY MONEY

$110 AN HOUR FOR NINTENDO WORKOUTS

By JEREMY OLSHAN

JOYSTICK AND MOVE:Raja Choubbane, with a 20-foot video screen in the background, works out with Wii Boxing at the Gravity Fitness gym.

Read More

Google Earth Used To Predict Electrical Problems

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday August 07, @12:05AM
from the what-can't-it-do dept.

coondoggie writes "What do you get when you combine images from Google Earth and the brainpower from researchers at Oak Ridge National Labs? Well in this case you get a tool that enables real-time status of the national electric grid that federal state and local agencies can use to coordinate and respond to major problems such as wide-area power outages, natural disasters and other catastrophic events. The Visualizing Energy Resources Dynamically on Earth (VERDE) system, announced this week, mashes together images and stats of everything from real-time status of the electric grid and weather information to power grid behavior modeling and simulation."

Hacking Ring Nabbed By US Authorities

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday August 07, @03:13AM
from the go-directly-to-jail dept.

Slatterz writes "The members of a hacking ring responsible for stealing more than 40 million credit and debit card numbers from retail organizations in the US have been caught and charged. The case before the US Department of Justice is believed to be the largest hacking and identity theft case ever prosecuted. The criminals allegedly obtained bank details by hacking into the retailers' computer networks and then installing 'sniffer' programs to capture card numbers and password details as the customers moved through the retailers' credit and debit processing networks."

Apple Sued For Turning Workers Into Slaves

Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday August 07, @09:21AM
from the waiting-for-a-jon-ives-designed-prison dept.

SwiftyNifty writes "Apple employees are putting together a class action lawsuit for not receiving overtime pay. A Lawsuit filed Monday in California seeks class action status alleging that Apple denied technical staffers required overtime pay and meal compensation in violation of state law. Filed in the US District Court for Southern California, the complaint claims that many Apple employees are routinely subjected to working conditions resembling indentured servitude, or 'modern day slaves', for lack of better words."
http://www.pcauthority.com.au/News/118946,apple-sued-for-indentured-servitude.aspx

A New Look At How Memory And Spatial Cognition Are Related

ScienceDaily (Aug. 7, 2008) — In a study that sheds new light on how memory and spatial cognition are related to each other in the brain, researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the Veteran Affairs (VA) San Diego Healthcare System studied memory-impaired patients as they navigated their environment.

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Eating Fish May Prevent Memory Loss And Stroke In Old Age

ScienceDaily (Aug. 5, 2008) — Eating tuna and other types of fish may help lower the risk of cognitive decline and stroke in healthy older adults, according to a new study.

Read More

The Low-End Approach To Wireless Hacking

Posted by timothy on Tuesday August 05, @09:07AM
from the not-enough-empty-cans-yet dept.

Adrian writes "Zack Anderson, an MIT student, created a solution to wardriving on a budget: warcarting. The Warcart is a shopping cart retrofitted with just about every sort of wireless sniffing device available. It has pivoting antennas and a smoke grenade launcher. It can even dispense infected USB flash drives. It's part of a talk about subway fare-collection-system vulnerabilities that will be given at Defcon 16 in a few days." "Mostly as a joke," says the site — but only mostly.

[+] security, wireless, humor (tagging beta)

Virgin forests hold up to three times more carbon

by Shawn Schuster
Aug 5th 2008 @ 9:04AM

Filed under: Climate Change

I always find it interesting when it takes years of research and untold dollars to discover that Mother Nature just knows what she's doing. Case in point: A recent report by researchers in Australia discovered that untouched, natural forests can store up to three times the carbon than those forests created in man-made tree farms and plantations. Plus, to add insult to injury, those untouched forests not only store more, but the carbon that is stored is never released, as it is with tree farms that are frequently logged.

"Protecting the carbon in natural forests is preventing an additional emission of carbon from what we get from burning fossil fuel," says Brendan Mackey, co-author of the report. "The majority of biomass carbon in natural forests resides in the woody biomass of large old trees. Commercial logging changes the age structure of forests so that the average age of trees is much younger."

Related Link

Micron announces insanely quick RealSSD C200 SSDs

by Thomas Ricker, posted Aug 5th 2008 at 1:40AM

Intel's partner in solid state crime, Micron, just announced an update to its RealSSD lineup of SSDs. Based on the typically slower (and cheaper) MLC NAND process technology, the new 2.5-inch (up to 256GB) laptop and 1.8-inch (32GB to 128GB) ultra-portable storage slabs offer a 3Gbps SATA interface and ridiculous 250MBps read and 100MBps write speeds -- yes, that's fast, damn fast when you consider the 70MBps write and 90MBps read speeds of Samsung's latest consumer oriented SSDs. They even best the listed read speeds of Samsung's top-ender. Unfortunately, no prices were given though it's said to be "balanced price to performance." Expect 'em to hit the market in Q4 under the Lexar brand, and maybe even Crucial, Seagate, and Intel for all we know.

• Read
• 
  

Things you miss when you Don't go to church

Got this from a guy a work and thought it was too funny not to share.

Gravity Tractor Could Deflect Asteroids

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday August 04, @12:55PM
from the massive-undertakings dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "A new study at the Jet Propulsion Labs shows that weak gravitational pull of a "gravity tractor" could deflect an Earth-threatening asteroid if it was deployed when the asteroid was at least one orbit away from potential impact with Earth. First a spacecraft would be crashed directly into the asteroid, similar to the Deep Impact mission that impacted a comet in 2005. This would provide a big change of direction, but in a less controllable fashion that could push the path of the asteroid into a dangerous keyhole. But then a second spacecraft, the gravity tractor, would come into play, hovering about 150 meters away from the asteroid, to exert a gentle gravitational force, changing the asteroid's velocity by only 0.22 microns per second each day. Over a long enough time, that could steer it away from the keyhole. In the simulation, a simple control system kept the spacecraft in position, and a transponder on the asteroid helped monitor its position and thus determine its trajectory more precisely than would be possible otherwise. 'The gravity tractor is a wimp, but it's a precise wimp,' said astronaut Jack Schweickart. 'It can make very small, precise changes in orbit, and that's what you need to avoid a keyhole.'"

[+] nasa, science, neatidea (tagging beta)

The hot tub-sized nuclear reactor in a box

by Josh Loposer
Aug 4th 2008 @ 12:02PM

Filed under: Alternative Energy

While the concept of nuclear power stirs up lots of intense emotions, the debate over the America's nuclear energy future has fizzled over the last few months -- probably as a result of the worldwide bottleneck in reactor supply. That could all change in 2013, when a company named Hyperion Power Generation plans to flood the market with small-scale nuclear reactors that could power 20,000 homes a piece.

These reactor capsules would be about the size of a VW Bug and would be buried underground to prevent tampering (or maybe to limit potential exposure to radiation?). The idea is as terrifying as it is intriguing -- just check out the creepy concept artwork to the right. According to Hyperion, the modules would be replaced every 5 years, the decommissioned module shipped back for servicing -- never to be opened on site. Hyperion also claims that the materials inside the module can't be used for proliferation. Hmm, still seems kinda risky.

[via Earth2Tech]

Got a lead foot? Nissan's new pedal pushes back

by Josh Loposer
Aug 4th 2008 @ 1:45PM

Filed under: Cars and Transportation, GreenTech

Great news for hypermilers: Nissan's developing a new high-tech accelerator pedal that will force you to drive more efficiently. The "ECO Pedal" is equipped with sensors that detect any excess pressure or poor fuel economy and then literally pushes back against your foot to correct wasteful driving habits. I've heard of engines that shut down cylinders when they're not needed, but this seems like a scary new level of artificial intelligence.

While the accelerator with a mind of its own concept might be unsettling to some drivers, there's a growing subculture that's willing to voluntarily drive 55mph to conserve oil -- albeit a small one. So maybe Nissan's not as off the mark with this innovation as it seems. According to Nissan, the 'smart' pedal could give your fuel economy a boost of 5-10% starting next year. Still, the best part about the ECO Pedal might be that fact that the driver can switch it on or off at random.

Related Link

Knights Templar Sues the Pope

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday August 04, @11:27AM
from the trade-ya-for-the-grail dept.

pdragon04 writes "According to The Register, "the Knights Templar are demanding that the Vatican give them back their good name and, possibly, billions in assets into the bargain, 700 years after the order was brutally suppressed by a joint venture between the Pope and the King of France..."." I wonder what a holy grail goes for with 700 years of compound interest.

A Quasi-Quasicrystal

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday August 05, @02:47AM
from the fractional-quasiness dept.

An anonymous reader sends along a link to a mindbending article in Science News on quasicrystals — odd materials with a structure partway between order and disorder. Now researchers have found something even odder: a material that's partway between a quasicrystal and a regular crystal. The order in the new structure is provided by the Fibonacci sequence. It was constructed with plastic beads and laser beams, so no new materials science inventions are on the horizon. "'We are absolutely sure that this structure should have properties that are not usual,' Mikhael says, because materials with odd structures almost always do. Now they just have to figure out what those properties are."

Mothers From Affluent Neighborhoods Near Highways Increase Odds Of Low Weight Babies By 81 Percent

ScienceDaily (July 31, 2008) — Living near city expressways is associated with adverse birth effects on expectant mothers and their newborns, according to a novel study with global implications. Scientists from the Université de Montréal and the University of South Australia have revealed that women living closest to expressways are more vulnerable to highway pollution – especially affluent mothers.

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Protein Made By Fat Cells May Increase Risk Of Heart Attack In Older Adults

ScienceDaily (July 31, 2008) — Adiponectin, a protein produced by fat cells, may play a pivotal and counterintuitive role in cardiovascular health for older Americans according to a new study accepted for publication in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM).

Read More

Improved Estrogen Reception May Sharpen Fuzzy Memory

ScienceDaily (July 31, 2008) — Estrogen treatments may sharpen mental performance in women with certain medical conditions, but University of Florida researchers suggest that recharging a naturally occurring estrogen receptor in the brain may also clear cognitive cobwebs.

Read More

Cash for Clunkers

by Patricia Mayville-Cox
Jul 31st 2008 @ 4:01PM

Filed under: Cars and Transportation

We often think it's better to keep things for as long as possible, but when it come to cars (and appliances and especially refrigerators), that is not always the case. Sometimes it is the wiser environmental choice to scrap it.

Alan S. Binder, an economics professor at Princeton, has come up with a way to stimulate the economy and improve the environment, a program he calls "Cash for Clunkers," which he outlines in a recent NY Times Op-Ed.

"Cash for Clunkers" would be a federal program under which the government would buy up the oldest, most polluting vehicles and scrap them, all while "stimulating the economy, improving the environment and reducing income inequality." Binder explains that the oldest cars pollute far more per mile driven, and quotes a California study which shows that cars 13 years or older account for only 25 percent of miles driven, but 75 percent of car air pollution. Older cars are mostly owned by low-income people and any cash paid would most likely be spent (I'm thinking, probably towards a new car), hence, the economic stimulus part of the package.

Binder proposes that the government post buying prices, perhaps set at a 20 percent premium over Kelley Blue Book prices, for cars and trucks over a certain age. Binder estimates taking 5 of the 75 million clunkers off the road, each year, would cost $20 billion a year, far less than the $168 billion federal stimulus that went into place this past spring. And of course, it comes with the added bonus of reducing air pollution, something we desperately need.

Related Link

Researchers Find Color In Fossils

Posted by kdawson on Sunday August 03, @06:54PM
from the any-color-as-long-as-it's-black dept.

Science News has a look at the latest paleontological fashion: what may be the remains of pigment in fossilized feathers 100 million years old. The material in question is believed to be black melanin, on the evidence of its similarity in scanning-microscope images to the modern pigment. The researchers are hopeful of identifying other varieties of melanin, which provide red or yellow coloration; and also possibly of spotting fossilized nanostructures of melanin that create iridescent patterns in some modern animals.

[+] science (tagging beta)

Project Aims To Improve Energy Efficiency Of Computing

ScienceDaily (Aug. 4, 2008) — The information technology industry consumes as much energy and has roughly the same carbon “footprint” as the airline industry. Now scientists and engineers at the University of California, San Diego are building an instrument to test the energy efficiency of computing systems under real-world conditions – with the ultimate goal of getting computer designers and users in the scientific community to re-think the way they do their jobs.

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