http://www.topnews.in/human-race-split-elite-and-ugly-species-11000-years-hence-24632
This article seems to say that we would split into two different races.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Next-gen credit cards to feature miniature displays and keypads
[Via Bsams]
In Some Places, Local Search Beating Google
Posted by kdawson on Monday October 29, @03:03AM
from the think-globally-search-locally dept.
from the think-globally-search-locally dept.
babooo404 points out Newsweek coverage of Google focusing on areas in which the search giant may be vulnerable. In some countries outside the US, local competition is handing Google its head. In South Korea a company called Naver dominates. And in Russia, portal site Yandex leads in both search and advertising. In the Cyrillic language market Google is a distant third in search, and Yandex is trouncing Google in the advertising arena by 70% to 2%.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Brain Regions Responsible for Optimism Located
Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday October 24, @09:59PM
from the I-can-do-this dept.
from the I-can-do-this dept.
TaeKwonDood writes "The brain region responsible for believing you can seduce Giselle Bundchen or make a YouTube clone for bobble-head doll movies successful has been located. Surprisingly, it is not in a bottle of Jager, it's in the rostral anterior cingulate and amygdala."
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Note To Criminals — Don't Call Tech Support
Posted by kdawson on Tuesday October 23, @04:56PM
from the caught-short dept.
It's funny. Laugh.
Billosaur writes "Darwin Awards, here he comes: Ars Technica has up a story about a would-be identity thief who did himself in by calling tech support about printer drivers. Timothy Short must have thought he'd hit the mother-lode when he stole a PC and a Digimarc printer from the Missouri Department of Revenue, perhaps with dreams of cranking out thousands of fake ids. Problem: he could not unlock the computer he stole and without the necessary drivers, he couldn't use the printer. Ever resourceful, Short called Digimarc tech support a couple of days later (twice), which brought him to the attention of a Secret Service agent, who recognized his voice from a recording of the calls. Short now faces a $250,000 fine and up to 10 years in prison."
[+] crime, !darwinawardunlesshedies, humor, identitytheft, haha (tagging beta)
from the caught-short dept.
It's funny. Laugh.
Billosaur writes "Darwin Awards, here he comes: Ars Technica has up a story about a would-be identity thief who did himself in by calling tech support about printer drivers. Timothy Short must have thought he'd hit the mother-lode when he stole a PC and a Digimarc printer from the Missouri Department of Revenue, perhaps with dreams of cranking out thousands of fake ids. Problem: he could not unlock the computer he stole and without the necessary drivers, he couldn't use the printer. Ever resourceful, Short called Digimarc tech support a couple of days later (twice), which brought him to the attention of a Secret Service agent, who recognized his voice from a recording of the calls. Short now faces a $250,000 fine and up to 10 years in prison."
[+] crime, !darwinawardunlesshedies, humor, identitytheft, haha (tagging beta)
Vista Vs. Gutsy Gibbon
Posted by kdawson on Tuesday October 23, @06:22PM
from the difference-in-philosophy dept.
Operating Systems Windows Linux
ricegf writes in with the account of one Rupert Goodwins writing in ZDNet UK. Goodwins has 7 computers running various versions of Windows and Linux, and explains why he chooses to do most of his work on the Gibbon. "So here's the funny thing. I've used Windows since 1.0. I've lived through the bad times of Windows/386 and ME, and the good times of NT 3.51 and 2K. I know XP if not backwards, then with a degree of familiarity that only middle-aged co-dependents can afford each other... Then how come I'm so much more at home with Ubuntu than Vista? It boils down to one abiding impression: Ubuntu goes out of its way to get out of your way... Vista goes out of its way to be Vista and enforce the Vista way."
[+] linux, ubuntu, gibbon, windows, os (tagging beta)
from the difference-in-philosophy dept.
Operating Systems Windows Linux
ricegf writes in with the account of one Rupert Goodwins writing in ZDNet UK. Goodwins has 7 computers running various versions of Windows and Linux, and explains why he chooses to do most of his work on the Gibbon. "So here's the funny thing. I've used Windows since 1.0. I've lived through the bad times of Windows/386 and ME, and the good times of NT 3.51 and 2K. I know XP if not backwards, then with a degree of familiarity that only middle-aged co-dependents can afford each other... Then how come I'm so much more at home with Ubuntu than Vista? It boils down to one abiding impression: Ubuntu goes out of its way to get out of your way... Vista goes out of its way to be Vista and enforce the Vista way."
[+] linux, ubuntu, gibbon, windows, os (tagging beta)
Crime Reduction Linked To Lead-Free Gasoline
Posted by kdawson on Tuesday October 23, @02:55PM
from the getting-the-lead-out dept.
from the getting-the-lead-out dept.
Hugh Pickens writes "Even low levels of lead can cause brain damage, increasing the likelihood of behavioral and cognitive traits such as impulsivity, aggressiveness, and low IQ that are strongly linked with criminal behavior. The NYTimes has a story on how the phasing out of leaded gasoline starting with the Clean Air Act in 1973 may have led to a 56% drop in violent crime in the US in the 1990s. An economics professor at Amherst College, Jessica Wolpaw Reyes, discovered the connection and wrote a paper comparing the reduction of lead from gasoline between states (PDF) and the reduction of violent crime. She constructed a table linking crime rates in every state to childhood lead exposure in that state 20 or 30 years earlier. If lead poisoning is a factor in the development of criminal behavior, then countries that didn't switch to unleaded fuel until the 1980s, like Britain and Australia, should soon see a dip in crime as the last lead-damaged children outgrow their most violent years."
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Treadmill recall stuck in endless, fiery loop
Brazilian Pop Music Scene Thrives on Piracy
Posted by Zonk on Tuesday October 23, @12:14PM
from the arr-they-like-their-piratical-music dept.
from the arr-they-like-their-piratical-music dept.
langelgjm writes "When people talk about the failing business model of the traditional record company, they often only offer vague suggestions as to how things would work otherwise. But a concrete example of a music scene that thrives on piracy is to be found in Brazil, in the form of tecnobrega. From the article: 'While piracy is the bane of many musicians trying to control the sale of their songs, tecnobrega artists see counterfeiters as key to their success ... Ronaldo Lemos, a law professor at Brazil's respected Getulio Vargas Foundation, an elite Rio de Janeiro think tank and research center, says tecnobrega and other movements like it represent a new business model for the digital era, where music is transformed from a good to a service.'"
Monday, October 22, 2007
Make Your Own Sputnik
Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday October 22, @11:21AM
from the because-you-can dept.
from the because-you-can dept.
An anonymous reader writes "What better way of celebrating the 50th anniversary of Sputnik than by making one of your own. The BBC says that you can build your own Sputnik satellite from stuff lying around the house. The BBC quotes an electronics hobbyist: "Technology now is way ahead of what was available in 1957, and making your own fully functional Sputnik would now be very simple indeed. I wouldn't be surprised if you could build one in a container smaller than a matchbox, weighing about as much as a wristwatch. The components, including a transmitter, battery and the sensors you'd need would probably cost less than 50 pounds [about 100 US dollars]. It really shouldn't be a problem to build and program the whole thing in under a day." Unfortunately, the BBC article doesn't go into technical details." And of course, actually getting it up into orbit might take a little more work.
Home-made Helicopters in Nigeria
Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday October 22, @10:39AM
from the financed-entirely-by-dead-princes dept.
from the financed-entirely-by-dead-princes dept.
W33dz writes "A 24-year-old undergraduate from Nigeria is building helicopters out of old car and bike parts. Mubarak Muhammed Abdullahi, a physics student, spent eight months building the yellow model seen on yahoo or on Gizmodo using the money he makes from repairing cell phones and computers. While some of the parts have been sourced from a crashed 747, the chopper contains all sorts of surprises."
Very High Tech - Elevator Garages in an NYC Hi-Rise
Posted by Zonk on Monday October 22, @01:29AM
from the moving-on-up dept.
from the moving-on-up dept.
theodp writes "If the hassle of getting groceries from the parking garage to your 12th floor condo has been holding you back from buying a deluxe apartment in the sky, wait no more. Wired reports on the En-Suite Sky Garages at 200 Eleventh Avenue (Flash) in Chelsea, where an 8,000-pound-capacity freight elevator will whisk your Bentley directly into your pad. The convenience doesn't come cheap — a garage-equipped 2BR starts at $4.7M."
Microsoft concedes, complies with EU antitrust ruling
- Rival software developers (including open-source) can now access and use Microsoft interoperability information
- Royalties for this information will be reduced to a one-off payment of €10,000 / $14,000
- Royalties for a world-wide license to use Microsoft's product and patents will be reduced from 5.95% to just 0.4%
Scientist Are Working to 'Steer' Hurricanes
Posted by Zonk on Sunday October 21, @04:45PM
from the just-like-that-episode-of-ds9-on-risa-where-worf-is-a-jerk dept.
Sci-Fi Space Science
E++99 writes "In the wake of Katrina, two teams of climate scientists have been working to steer hurricanes. Both teams are using the technique of removing power and speed from strategic points in the hurricane, effectively refracting its path. The American team is approaching this by warming the areas of the tops of the hurricane clouds, either by dropping ash to absorb heat from the sun, or directly beaming microwaves on those areas from space. The Israeli team is taking the approach of cooling the bottom of the hurricane by releasing dust along its base."
[+] science, scifi, space, weredoomed, cool (tagging beta)
from the just-like-that-episode-of-ds9-on-risa-where-worf-is-a-jerk dept.
Sci-Fi Space Science
E++99 writes "In the wake of Katrina, two teams of climate scientists have been working to steer hurricanes. Both teams are using the technique of removing power and speed from strategic points in the hurricane, effectively refracting its path. The American team is approaching this by warming the areas of the tops of the hurricane clouds, either by dropping ash to absorb heat from the sun, or directly beaming microwaves on those areas from space. The Israeli team is taking the approach of cooling the bottom of the hurricane by releasing dust along its base."
[+] science, scifi, space, weredoomed, cool (tagging beta)
Monster Black Hole Busts Theory
Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday October 17, @10:44PM
from the old-bob-and-vincent dept.
Space Science
Genocaust writes "A stellar black hole much more massive than theory predicts is possible has astronomers puzzled. Stellar black holes form when stars with masses around 20 times that of the sun collapse under the weight of their own gravity at the ends of their lives. Most stellar black holes weigh in at around 10 solar masses when the smoke blows away, and computer models of star evolution have difficulty producing black holes more massive than this. The newly weighed black hole is 16 solar masses. It orbits a companion star in the spiral galaxy Messier 33, located 2.7 million light-years from Earth. Together they make up the system known as M33 X-7."
[+] science, space, blackhole, oldnews (tagging beta)
from the old-bob-and-vincent dept.
Space Science
Genocaust writes "A stellar black hole much more massive than theory predicts is possible has astronomers puzzled. Stellar black holes form when stars with masses around 20 times that of the sun collapse under the weight of their own gravity at the ends of their lives. Most stellar black holes weigh in at around 10 solar masses when the smoke blows away, and computer models of star evolution have difficulty producing black holes more massive than this. The newly weighed black hole is 16 solar masses. It orbits a companion star in the spiral galaxy Messier 33, located 2.7 million light-years from Earth. Together they make up the system known as M33 X-7."
[+] science, space, blackhole, oldnews (tagging beta)
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Man Hacks 911 System, Sends SWAT on Bogus Raid
Posted by Zonk on Wednesday October 17, @03:33PM
from the word-dumb-doesn't-cover-it dept.
from the word-dumb-doesn't-cover-it dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The Orange County Register reports that a 19 year old from Washington state broke into the Orange County California 911 emergency system. He randomly selected the name and address of a Lake Forest, California couple and electronically transferred false information into the 911 system. The Orange County California Sheriff's Department's Special Weapons and Tactics Team was immediately sent to the home of a couple with two sleeping toddlers. The SWAT team handcuffed the husband and wife before deciding it was a prank. Says the article, 'Other law enforcement agencies have seen similar breaches into their 911 systems as part of a trend picked up by computer hackers in the nation called "SWATting"'"
Bill Introduced to Congress Would Allow ID Theft Restitution
Posted by Zonk on Wednesday October 17, @02:11PM
from the an-increasingly-common-problem dept.
from the an-increasingly-common-problem dept.
verybadradio writes with an article at News.com about a bill introduced into Congress that would allow citizens who have been victimized by identity theft to seek repayment for the money and time spent repairing their credit history. The bill was introduced by Democrat Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Republican Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. "Last year, 8.4 million Americans were victims of identity theft, and many were left with a bad credit report, which takes months or years to repair, the lawmakers said ... The bill would also eliminate a requirement that the loss resulting from damage to a victim's computer must exceed $5,000 for prosecution; make it a felony to use spyware or keyloggers to damage 10 or more computers; and expand the definition of cybercrime to include extortion schemes that threaten to damage or access confidential information on a computer."
'Bionic' Nerve To Repair Damaged Limbs and Organs
Journal written by stemceller (975823) and posted by samzenpus on Thursday October 18, @02:29AM
from the we-will-rebuild-him dept.
from the we-will-rebuild-him dept.
University of Manchester researchers have transformed fat tissue stem cells into nerve cells -- and now plan to develop an artificial nerve that will bring damaged limbs and organs back to life. In a study published in October's Experimental Neurology, Dr Paul Kingham and his team at the UK Centre for Tissue Regeneration (UKCTR) isolated the stem cells from the fat tissue of adult animals and differentiated them into nerve cells to be used for repair and regeneration of injured nerves. They are now about to start a trial extracting stem cells from fat tissue of volunteer adult patients, in order to compare in the laboratory human and animal stem cells.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Spam Hits 95% of All Email
Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday October 17, @08:45AM
from the thats-just-depressing dept.
from the thats-just-depressing dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Commtouch released its Email Threats Trend Report based on the automated analysis of billions of email messages weekly. The report examines the appearance of new kinds of attachment spam such as PDF spam and Excel spam together with the decline of image spam, as well as the growing threat of innocent appearing spam containing links to malicious web sites. Image spam declined to a level of less than 5% of all spam, down from 30% in the first quarter of 2007; also, image pump-and-dump spam has all but disappeared, with pornographic images taking its place."
Geek and Gadgets Set Cross-US Speed Record
Posted by kdawson on Wednesday October 17, @02:13AM
from the breaker-breaker-need-a-bear-check dept.
from the breaker-breaker-need-a-bear-check dept.
Brikus writes "And you thought your car had gadgets. In this story from Wired magazine, we hear about Alex Roy and his quest to break the record time for a cross-USA road trip. One of the biggest roadblocks to breaking the record: highway patrol officers, about 31,000 along the way. So Roy decked out his E39 BMW M5 with a thermal camera, radar/laser detectors, GPS devices, police scanners, and other high-tech gadgets and toys."
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Spore Release Date is official
I heard some time ago but forgot to post anything. Spore's release date is 3/3/08. I am going to pre-order it . If this does not matter to you at first glance, read the link what the game is about. It has the potential to change the future of gaming IMO!
Monday, October 15, 2007
Microwind Generator For Low Power Systems
Posted by CmdrTaco on Sunday October 14, @09:06AM
from the welcome-to-sunday dept.
from the welcome-to-sunday dept.
An anonymous reader wrote in to say that "Shawn Frayne, has developed Windbelt, efficient, cheap lowpower wind generator built out of taut kite fabric." Everyone has seen the video where the suspension bridge is ripped apart by wind- his idea was to use the same thing to generate power. I doubt I'll be running my desktop off it any time soon, but it's a cool idea.
Promising Blood Test for Alzheimer's
Posted by kdawson on Sunday October 14, @05:59PM
from the results-look-good-i-forget-why dept.
from the results-look-good-i-forget-why dept.
The online edition of the British journal Nature Medicine has a study of a blood test for Alzheimer's disease, developed at Stanford. The test lights up if 18 specific molecules are present in a blood sample. Using samples of stored blood, the test proved 90% accurate in identifying people who had been diagnosed with the disease by other methods. It was also 87% accurate in distinguishing samples from people who do not have Alzheimer's but exhibit some other form of dementia. The numbers of samples involved were small — SFGate's writeup has some details. The Mercury News's article says the test's developers want to begin selling it to laboratories in 2008, for which FDA approval would not be required. They hope to get FDA approval for general use by 2009.
Space solar power potential highlighted in report
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