Friday, March 12, 2010

On Social Networks, You Are Who You Know

Posted by kdawson on Friday March 12, @10:28AM
from the spy-with-a-little-help-from-my-friends dept.

santosh maharshi writes"On social networks like Facebook, even if you have kept your profile very private, people can just look at your friends list and infer lots of vital information about you. Most of the social networks like Facebook and LinkedIn allow people to see your picture and your friends list as part of the open access for visitors (the article says that only 5% of Facebook users have bothered to hide their friends list). In a study titled You Are Who You Know: Inferring User Profiles in Online Social Networks (PDF), conducted by Alan Mislove of Northeastern University and his colleagues at the Max Planck Institute for Software Systems, an algorithm was tested that can accurately infer the personal attributes of Facebook users simply by looking at their friend lists. 'At Rice [University], the algorithm accurately predicted the correct dormitory, graduation year, and area of study for the many of the students. In fact, among these undergraduates, researchers found that “with as little as 20 percent of the users providing attributes we can often infer the attributes for the remaining users with over 80 percent accuracy."'"

Thanks THINKGEEK!

Rise, RISE I say!

Our original MAME creation

High-Tech Armrest: Computer-Controlled Hand and Arm Support Devise Developed for Doctors, Artists

ScienceDaily (Mar. 12, 2010) — University of Utah engineers developed a computer-controlled, motorized hand and arm support that will let doctors, artists and others precisely control scalpels, brushes and tools over a wider area than otherwise possible, and with less fatigue.

on Friday March 12, @05:00AM

Posted by timothy on Friday March 12, @05:00AM
from the undra-the-tundra dept.

earth er

technology

lilbridge writes "Huge reserves of "combustible ice" — frozen methane and water, have been discovered in the tundra of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China. Estimates show that there is enough combustible ice to provide 90 years worth of energy for China. Burning the combustible ice may be a far better alternative than letting it just melt, releasing tons of methane into the air."

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Portable NES modded into a cartridge, hearts modded into love

My Next Project;)

By Nilay Patel

posted Oct 11th 2009 6:03PM

We've seen NES mods that incorporate a screen and controls into a cartridge in the past, but this example from Airz in BenHeck's forums is just so clean and well-polished that we had to give it some love. Inside Airz says it's just a generic Chinese media player that can play NES, Gameboy, and Gameboy Color ROMs, along with the relevant controller bits, a 2.8-inch LCD, 4GB of storage, and a rechargeable battery. Oh, and if you're feeling particularly retro, you can hook it up over TV-out and play on the big screen. Not bad -- and it's for sale if you're as in love as we are. Video after the break.

[Via 8bitfix; thanks, Gusto]

Obesity Linked to Poor Colon Cancer Prognosis

ScienceDaily (Mar. 11, 2010) — Obese patients with colon cancer are at greater risk for death or recurrent disease compared to those who are within a normal weight range, according to a report inClinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Papaya Extract Thwarts Growth of Cancer Cells in Lab Tests

ScienceDaily (Mar. 10, 2010) — The humble papaya is gaining credibility in Western medicine for anticancer powers that folk cultures have recognized for generations.

ScienceDaily (Mar. 10, 2010) — A team of scientists at MIT have discovered a previously unknown phenomenon that can cause powerful waves of energy to shoot through minuscule wires known as carbon nanotubes. The discovery could lead to a new way of producing electricity, the researchers say.

ScienceDaily (Mar. 10, 2010) — Consider this T-shirt: It can monitor your heart rate and breathing, analyze your sweat and even cool you off on a hot summer's day. What about a pillow that monitors your brain waves, or a solar-powered dress that can charge your MP3 player? This is not science fiction -- this is cotton in 2010.

By Thomas Ricker posted Mar 10th 2010 5:38AM

While the verdict is still out with regard to consumer appetites for a 3rd portable computing device, PC makers are betting the farm on consumer interest in tablets that fill the gap between small-screened smartphones and bulky (by comparison) netbooks/laptops. We've already seen an uptick in tablet devices on display at the big CES and CeBIT trade shows, now tablet and MID device vendors look ready to blow out Computex when it kicks off on June 1st in Taipei. According to Roy Chen, ARM's ODM manager for worldwide mobile computing, more than 50 ARM-based tablet PCs will launch in 2010 starting in Q2 with "a lot more" landing in the third quarter -- a date that just happens to line up with the most optimistic Chrome OS launch schedule. ARM's seeing so much interest that it had to rent additional floor space to show off the devices. Chen said that many of the tablets are slated for China although all of the world's top 10 carriers have signed up as well. ARM was showing off two Android based tablets at the press event, including the 7-inch Compal device (pictured above) we gave a whirl at CES. Let's just hope that tablet makers have plans for some compelling content and service hook-ups with a focus on the user experience -- 50 near-identical slabs of touchscreen computing won't generate much enthusiasm around here.

Martin Jetpack priced at $86,000, mere mortals will soon be able to buy one too

By Vladislav Savov posted Mar 10th 2010 4:24AM

Tired of the limited legroom, bad food, and worse movies you have to put up with during a flight? Well, it's time to bust out your company credit card and get yourself a Martin Jetpack, which has just become the first commercially available jetpack. Driven by a pair of washing machine-sized fans strapped to your back, this personal transporter will give you a pretty cool 30 minutes of flight time and comes with a bunch of redundancy systems to ensure any mistakes don't turn fatal. The rotors are built out of a carbon / Kevlar composite and are powered by a two-liter V4 two-stroke engine capable of delivering 200hp (or 150kW). Good old gasoline is the fuel of choice here and private individuals are expected to be offered the chance to fulfill every geek and geekette's dream later this year. Just make sure you have $86,000 lying around to fund it.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

To Remember the Good Times, Reach for the Sky

ScienceDaily (Mar. 8, 2010) — Simple motor actions, like moving marbles upward or downward between two cardboard boxes, may not seem meaningful. But a study published April 2010 inCognition shows that motor actions can partly determine people's emotional memories.

ScienceDaily (Mar. 8, 2010) — Doctors treat millions of children with Ritalin every year to improve their ability to focus on tasks, but scientists now report that Ritalin also directly enhances the speed of learning.

ScienceDaily (Mar. 9, 2010) — Seeing the letter A before an exam can improve a student's exam result while exposure to the letter F may make a student more likely to fail.

50% Efficiency Boost From New Fuel Injection System

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday March 09, @08:14AM
from the only-four-years-out dept.

chudnall notes a Technology Review story on a new gas engine injection system that promises increased efficiency of up to 50%."The key is heating and pressurizing gasoline before injecting it into the combustion chamber, says Mike Rocke, Transonic's vice president of business development. This puts it into a supercritical state that allows for very fast and clean combustion, which in turn decreases the amount of fuel needed to propel a vehicle. The company also treats the gasoline with a catalyst that 'activates' it, partially oxidizing it to enhance combustion."

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