Thursday, October 14, 2010
Huge Shocker- 3D TVs Not Selling
itwbennett writes"It comes as no surprise to the vast majority of us who haven't rushed out to buy a 3D TV, but according to a DisplaySearch report consumers aren't doing their part to make 2010 the year of 3D TV, says blogger Peter Smith. And the stats are even worse than Smith imagined they'd be: 'DisplaySearch estimates that 3.2 million 3D TVs will be shipped in 2010. Note, that's shipped, not sold. 3.2 million equates to 2% of all flat panel displays shipped (as far as I can ascertain, that's worldwide shipments). So yeah, there are not many 3D TVs being shipped this year. But wait, that's not the end of the bad news. In Western Europe (the only region where they offered this data point) sales of 3D glasses are less than 1 per 3D set sold. In other words, a lot of Western Europeans who buy a TV with 3D capability don't even bother to buy the glasses to use that feature.'"
Proving 0.999... Is Equal To 1
eldavojohn writes"Some of the juiciest parts of mathematics are the really simple statements that cause one to immediately pause and exclaim "that can't be right!" But a recent 28 page paper in The Montana Mathematics Enthusiast (PDF) spends a great deal of time fielding questions by researchers who have explored this in depth and this seemingly impossibilityis further explored in a brief history by Dev Gualtieri who presents the digit manipulation proof: Let a = 0.999... then we can multiply both sides by ten yielding 10a = 9.999... then subtracting a (which is 0.999...) from both sides we get 10a — a = 9.999... — 0.999... which reduces to 9a = 9 and thus a = 1. Mathematicians as far back as Euler have used various means to prove 0.999... = 1."
Home WiFi Network Security Failings Exposed
An anonymous reader writes"The shocking state of home wireless (Wi-Fi) network security in the UK has been revealed by a life assistance company study. CPP used an 'ethical hacker,' Jason Hart, to test thousands of Wi-Fi networks across six UK cities, including London. He found that many didn't even have a password and roughly half of home UK Wi-Fi networks could be hacked in less than 5 seconds."
Badgers Digging Up Ancient Human Remains
Posted by samzenpus on Thursday October 14, @04:06AM
from the someone-get-a-snake dept.
from the someone-get-a-snake dept.
One of England's oldest graveyards is under siege by badgers. Rev Simon Shouler now regularly patrols the grounds of St. Remigius Church looking for bones that the badgers have dug up. The badger is a protected species in England so they can not be killed, and attempts to have them relocated have been blocked by English Nature. From the article: "At least four graves have been disturbed so far; in one instance a child found a leg bone and took it home to his parents. ... Rev. Simon Shouler has been forced to carry out regular patrols to pick up stray bones, store them and re-inter them all in a new grave."
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Pirate Electrician Supplied Power To 1,500 Homes
Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday October 13, @02:04AM
from the scuttle-the-meter dept.
from the scuttle-the-meter dept.
fridaynightsmoke writes"A former electrical engineer for utility EDF has been prosecuted for illegally supplying power to some 1,500 homes in north London. Derek Brown, 45, was arrested in 2008 after being seen tampering with the electric grid in a manhole. He specialized in connecting separate supplies to houses that were split into apartments. One landlord involved, Haresh Parmar, was jailed for 9 months for stealing £30,000 worth of electricity for 22 of his apartments. Brown's assets will be seized and he has been sentenced to 8 months suspended, and 150 hours community service."
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Computer Defeats Human At Japanese Chess
Calopteryx writes"A computer has beaten a human at shogi, otherwise known as Japanese chess, for the first time. As New Scientist reports, computers have beaten humans at western chess before, but that game is relatively simple, with only about 10^123 possible games existing that can be played out. Shogi is a *bit* more complex, offering about 10^224 possible games."
Too Much Light at Night at Night May Lead to Obesity, Study Finds
ScienceDaily (Oct. 11, 2010) — Persistent exposure to light at night may lead to weight gain, even without changing physical activity or eating more food, according to new research in mice.
French City To Use CCTV For Parking Fines
horza writes"The city of Nice, France is rolling out 626 CCTV cameras throughout town, giving it one of the highest levels of surveillance in the world (1.8 cameras per 1000 inhabitants). The usual rhetoric was given — that they will be used solely for reducing violent crime — but the city will now begin sending out parking tickets solely based on the CCTV video evidence."
Florida Town Builds Data Center In Water Tank
miller60 writes"The Florida town of Altamonte Springs has converted an old water storage tank into a new data center. The decommissioned tank previously held up to 770,000 gallons of water, but its 18-inch-thick walls provided a hurricane-proof home for the town's IT gear, which had to be relocated three times in 2004 to ride out major storms. The Altamonte Springs facility is the latest example of data centers in strange places, including chapels, shopping malls, cargo ships, old particle accelerators and caves."
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Saturn's Rings Formed From Large Moon Destruction
Matt_dk writes"The formation of Saturn's rings has been one of the classical if not eternal questions in astronomy. But one researcher has provided a provocative new theory to answer that question. Robin Canup from the Southwest Research Institute has uncovered evidence that the rings came from a large, Titan-sized moon that was destroyed as it spiraled into a young Saturn."
Robot Controlled By Rat Brain
Posted by samzenpus on Thursday October 07, @07:59AM
from the we're-gonna-need-a-smarter-trap dept.
from the we're-gonna-need-a-smarter-trap dept.
kkleiner writes"Kevin Warwick, once a cyborg and still a researcher in cybernetics at the University of Reading, has been working on creating biological neural networks that can control machines. He and his team have taken the brain cells from rats, cultured them, and used them as the guidance control circuit for simple wheeled robots. Electrical impulses from the bot enter the batch of neurons, and responses from the cells are turned into commands for the device. The cells can form new connections, making the system a true learning machine."
Solar Power On the White House
Posted by samzenpus on Thursday October 07, @02:19AM
from the red-white-and-green dept.
from the red-white-and-green dept.
CartaNova writes"The Obama administration has announced plans to install Solar Panels and Solar Hot Water on the White House. The Carter administration had previously installed a 32 panel solar system to white house - which was quietly removed during Reagan's tenure in office. Solar Hot Water and PV (Photovoltaic) firms had been campaigning on this issue for some time."
Light Drinking During Pregnancy: Harmful to Child's Behavioral or Intellectual Development?
ScienceDaily (Oct. 5, 2010) — Light drinking during pregnancy does not harm a young child's behavioural or intellectual development, reveals research published online in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.
Best Buy Unapologetic About Charging For PS3 Firmware Updates
donniebaseball23 writes"After discovering that electronics retailer Best Buy was charging ignorant customers $30 for the 'service' of installing updated firmware on PS3s, IndustryGamers got word from the company on its policy. Best Buy sees no problem with charging for this convenience, even though it's something Sony provides to PS3 owners completely free. 'While many gamers can handle firmware upgrades easily on their own, those customers who do want help can get it from Geek Squad, and we continue to evaluate this offering to ensure it meets their needs. The service goes beyond a firmware updates, and includes user account setup, parental control setup and other components,' a representative said."
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Inventor Creates Flotation Device Bazooka
Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday October 06, @01:37PM
from the point-shoot-and-save dept.
from the point-shoot-and-save dept.
Australian inventor Sam Adeloju has won the £20,000 ($32,000) James Dyson Award for inventing the coolest piece of life-saving equipment ever. The Longreach is a modified bazooka which can fire an expanding flotation device up to 150m to a person in distress. From the article: "Mr Adeloju told NEWS.com.au that the Longreach was inspired by a grenade-launch training session with the Army Reserves. Weighing just 3.5kg, it shoots the rescue device 150m in a manner similar to the way the army uses a grenade launcher to deliver flares and aerial observation devices. Hitting the water activates an expanding foam unit in the Longreach rescue unit, which also incorporates LED illumination and a vortex air whistle."
US Military Orders Less Dependence On Fossil Fuel
Hugh Pickens writes"The NY Times reports that it can cost hundreds of dollars to get each gallon of traditional fuel to forward base camps in Afghanistan, so with enemy fighters increasingly attacking American fuel supply convoys crossing the Khyber Pass from Pakistan, the military is pushing aggressively to develop, test and deploy renewable energy to decrease its need to transport fossil fuels. 'Fossil fuel is the No. 1 thing we import to Afghanistan,' says Ray Mabus, the Navy secretary, 'and guarding that fuel is keeping the troops from doing what they were sent there to do, to fight or engage local people.' The 150 Marines of Company I, Third Battalion, Fifth Marines, will be the first to take renewable technology into a battle zone, bringing portable solar panels that fold up into boxes; energy-conserving lights; solar tent shields that provide shade and electricity; solar chargers for computers and communications equipment replacing diesel and kerosene-based fuels that would ordinarily generate power to run their encampment."
Canadian Spammer Fined Over $1 Billion
innocent_white_lamb writes"A man has been fined ONE BEELYUN DOLLARS (yes, really) for sending 4,366,386 spam messages that were posted on Facebook. He was fined $100 for each message, and including punitive damages he now owes $1,068,928,721.46. A ruling by by a US District Court judge in San Jose, California has now been upheld by the Quebec Superior Court (the defendant lives in Montreal)."
New Type of Liquid Crystal Promises to Improve Performance of Digital Displays
ScienceDaily (Oct. 5, 2010) — Chemists at Vanderbilt University have created a new class of liquid crystals with unique electrical properties that could improve the performance of digital displays used on everything from digital watches to flat panel televisions.
Canadian Spammer Fined Over $1 Billion
innocent_white_lamb writes"A man has been fined ONE BEELYUN DOLLARS (yes, really) for sending 4,366,386 spam messages that were posted on Facebook. He was fined $100 for each message, and including punitive damages he now owes $1,068,928,721.46. A ruling by by a US District Court judge in San Jose, California has now been upheld by the Quebec Superior Court (the defendant lives in Montreal)."
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
ADHD More Common in Offspring of Mothers With Genetic Serotonin Deficiencies
ScienceDaily (Oct. 4, 2010) — Children whose mothers are genetically predisposed to have impaired production of serotonin appear more likely to develop attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) later in life, according to a report in the October issue ofArchives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
West Virginia Is Geothermically Active
Posted by Soulskill on Tuesday October 05, @05:09AM
from the time-to-sell-some-volcano-insurance dept.
from the time-to-sell-some-volcano-insurance dept.
sciencehabit writes"Researchers have uncovered the largest geothermal hot spot in the eastern United States. According to a unique collaboration between Google and academic geologists, West Virginia sits atop several hot patches of Earth, some as warm as 200C and as shallow as 5 kilometers. If engineers are able to tap the heat, the state could become a producer of green energy for the region."
TheSpaceGame — Design Your Route To Jupiter
An anonymous reader writes"The Advanced Concepts Team of the European Space Agency is celebrating World Space Week (4-10 October 2010) with the release of 'The Space Game,' an online game for interplanetary trajectory design. The Space Game is an online crowdsourcing experiment where you are given the role of a mission designer to seek the best path to travel through space. The interactive game, coded in HTML5, challenges the players to devise fuel-efficient trajectories to various bodies of the Solar System via a user-friendly interface. The aim of the experiment is get people from all ages and backgrounds to come up with better strategies that can help improve the effectiveness of the current computer algorithms. As part of the events organized worldwide for Space Week, the first problem of the game is to reach Jupiter with the lowest amount of propellant. The best scores by 10 October will be displayed on the Advanced Concepts Team website and the three best designs will also receive some ESA prizes."
Monday, October 4, 2010
Wooden DIY quadrocopter gets no respect from Minnesota State Fair
By Tim Stevens 
posted Oct 4th 2010 10:25AM
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