Wednesday, February 1, 2012

How-To: Set up a home file server using FreeNAS

By   posted Feb 1st 2012 3:00PM

In today's digital world we've all got data, and lots of it. Our libraries are also growing rapidly: where you used to get by setting aside a few bookshelves for your books, CDs, DVDs and VHS tapes, we now require untold server space to preserve our beloved media in digitized form. We also want our data to be itinerant, or at least seem that way. That is, if you want to take a book or disc to another room of your abode, you pull it from the bookshelf and take it with you. Similarly, if you're working on a document upstairs on your desktop and you want to move to the den with your laptop, you'll need the proper infrastructure working in the background to enable that kind of wizardry. So, how can we create this "digital bookshelf?" Can you go out and buy it now? Can you build it in your garage? As it turns out, the answer is "yes" on all counts. You could go out and buy a Drobo device but in this case, we're going to assemble our own. And we're going to do that with the help of an open source storage platform called FreeNAS. So how involved a process is that? Meet us after the break to find out. 

Science Panel Recommends Censoring Bird Flu Papers

Posted by Soulskill  

from the otherwise-the-terrrrrists-win dept.
Morty writes"The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) has recommended that details of two research papers involving Avian Flu not be published because of security concerns. At least one of the research groups says that their work should be logically reproducible. The NSABB's censorship recommendations do not (currently) have the force of law, butScience and Nature voluntarily delayed publication."

Angry Birds Boss Credits Piracy For Popularity Boost

Posted by Soulskill  

from the easier-to-do-that-when-you're-successful dept.
An anonymous reader writes"Mikael Hed is the CEO of Rovio Mobile, the company behind popular mobile puzzle game Angry Birds. At the Midem conference Monday, Hed had some interesting things to say about how piracy has affected the gaming industry, and Rovio's games in particular: '"We could learn a lot from the music industry, and the rather terrible ways the music industry has tried to combat piracy." Hed explained that Rovio sees it as "futile" to pursue pirates through the courts, except in cases where it feels the products they are selling are harmful to the Angry Birds brand, or ripping off its fans. When that's not the case,Rovio sees it as a way to attract more fans, even if it is not making money from the products. "Piracy may not be a bad thing: it can get us more business at the end of the day." ... "We took something from the music industry, which was to stop treating the customers as users, and start treating them as fans. We do that today: we talk about how many fans we have," he said. "If we lose that fanbase, our business is done, but if we can grow that fanbase, our business will grow."'"

Honey Could Be Effective at Treating and Preventing Wound Infections

ScienceDaily (Jan. 31, 2012) — Manuka honey could help clear chronic wound infections and even prevent them from developing in the first place, according to a new study published inMicrobiology. The findings provide further evidence for the clinical use of manuka honey to treat bacterial infections in the face of growing antibiotic resistance.

Pairing Masks and Hand Washing Could Drastically Slow Spread of a Pandemic Flu

ScienceDaily (Jan. 31, 2012) — Masks and hand hygiene could cut the spread of flu-like symptoms up to 75 percent, a University of Michigan study found.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Was the Little Ice Age Triggered by Massive Volcanic Eruptions?

ScienceDaily (Jan. 30, 2012) — A new international study may answer contentious questions about the onset and persistence of Earth's Little Ice Age, a period of widespread cooling that lasted for hundreds of years until the late 19th century.

Terahertz Polarizer Nears Perfection: Research Leads to Nanotube-Based Device for Communication, Security, Sensing

ScienceDaily (Jan. 30, 2012) — Researchers at Rice University are using carbon nanotubes as the critical component of a robust terahertz polarizer that could accelerate the development of new security and communication devices, sensors and non-invasive medical imaging systems as well as fundamental studies of low-dimensional condensed matter systems.

Mechanic's Mistake Trashes $244 Million Aircraft

Posted by Unknown Lamer  

from the total-tool-awareness dept.
Hugh Pickens writes"An accident report is finally out for the Air Force E-8C Joint Surveillance Targeting and Attack Radar System that had started refueling with a KC-135 on on March 13, 2009 when the crew heard a 'loud bang throughout the midsection of the aircraft.' Vapor and fuel started pouring out of the JSTARS from 'at least two holes in the left wing just inboard of the number two engine.' The pilot immediately brought the jet back to its base in Qatar where mechanics found the number two main fuel tank had been ruptured, 'causing extensive damage to the wing of the aircraft.' How extensive? 25 million dollars worth of extensive. What caused this potentially fatal and incredibly expensive accident to one of the United States' biggest spy planes? According to the USAF accident report, a contractor accidentally left a plug in one of the fuel tank's relief vents (PDF) during routine maintenance. 'The PDM subcontractor employed ineffective tool control measures,' reads the report. Tool control measures? 'You know, theabsolutely basic practice of accounting for the exact location of every tool that is used to work on an airplane once that work is finished.' Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz just told Congress, 'there is a JSTARS platform that was damaged beyond economical repair that we will not repair.' So, if this is the one Schwartz is talking about, then one mechanic's mistake has damaged a $244 million aircraft beyond repair."

Inside the Museum of Nonsense

Posted by samzenpus  

from the one-man's-junk dept.

coondoggie writes"Some call it the museum of failed inventions and others might just call it the stupidity museum, either way it is officially known as the Museum of Nonsense and it opened in Austria this month. It is decidedly low-tech though it does contain some high-tech ideas like a truly interesting way to anonymize identity (a piece of black card on a stick so people can't see your eyes) and a device that promises to cut down on those huge cell-phone bills (think tin cans and a string)."




There are some worse ones here.  They are OMG bad!

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/17/failed-inventions-museum-_n_1210860.html

Monday, January 30, 2012

US Navy ship-mounted railgun closer to reality, Raytheon and others to make it happen

By   posted Jan 30th 2012 4:25PM

Ah, the railgun. Previously a flight of fancy fit only for wars in works of science fiction, the ultimate in electromagnetic weaponry is one step closer to becoming a reality for the US Navy. We've seen the system working well in the lab, but Raytheon has just gotten $10 million to create the pulse-forming network needed to get a railgun flinging projectiles off the deck of a Naval warship. Making such a network isn't easy, as it must store massive amounts of energy in a small enough package that it can be "used in a modular and versatile way for multiple platforms" -- so that some day, even dinghies will have33-megajoule stopping power on board. In addition to Raytheon's pulse-forming framework project, the Navy has already tasked BAE and General Atomics to design tactical technologies that'll get future railguns firing up to ten rounds per minute. When can we expect to see kinetic weapons on the high seas? The goal is 2025, but naturally, finances and politics will dictate its date of deployment, so keep your fingers crossed it's sooner, rather than later.