Build an $800 Gaming PC

Posted by kdawson on Tuesday May 26, @11:52PM

from the fast-as-you-like dept.

ThinSkin writes"Building a computer that can handle today's games doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. In fact, you can build one for less than $800, especially given that many hardware manufacturers have cut costs considerably. Loyd Case over at ExtremeTech shows gamers how to build an $800 gaming PC, one that features an overclockable Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 and a graphics-crunching EVGA 260 GTX Core 216. The computer exceeded expectations in gaming and synthetic tests, and was even overclocked well over spec at 3.01GHz."

How are Social Security numbers generated? Are they recycled?

Dan Prudenville, Michigan

Dear Dan:

We wanted to go straight to the source on this one, so we headed to the Social Security Administration (SSA) web site. Once there, we made a beeline for the FAQ section and got down to business. First, we focused our search by selecting the "Social Security Numbers and Cards" topic. After a moment or two of browsing, we spotted "Is there any significance to the numbers assigned in the Social Security number?" The answer explained that the first three digits of a Social Security number are assigned based on the geographical location of the person obtaining a number. The remaining six digits are "more or less randomly assigned." Next, we returned to the FAQ, searching for an answer to your second question. Lo and behold, we found "Are Social Security numbers re-assigned after a person dies?" In the answer, the SSA states it does not re-assign numbers after the original holder's death. So far, over 400 million SSNs have been issued, and about 6 million new numbers are assigned annually. Apparently there are enough numbers left to last for several generations.

Cognitive Psychologists Show Conversations Lower Visual Abilities

August 1, 2005 — A study showed that the part of the brain that controls vision becomes less active when people focus on something visually while having a conversation -- underscoring the hazards of talking on your cell phone while driving. Human factors experts say hands-free phones do not lower risk. Drivers on the phone are four times more likely to have accidents.

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White House To Appoint "Internet Czar"

Posted by timothy on Tuesday May 26, @09:36AM

from the with-enough-czars-all-things-are-possible dept.

An anonymous reader writes"The Washington Post reports that President Obama is set to appoint a 'Cybersecurity czar with a broad mandate': 'The adviser will have the most comprehensive mandate granted to such an official to date and will probably be a member of the National Security Council but will report to the national security adviser as well as the senior White House economic adviser, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deliberations are not final. The announcement will coincide with the long-anticipated release of a 40-page report that evaluates the government's cybersecurity initiatives and policies. The report is intended to outline a "strategic vision" and the range of issues the new adviser must handle, but it will not delve into details, administration officials told reporters last month.' Cynics are expecting the appointee to be a lawyer for the RIAA."

Brazilian RC helicopter cellphone delivery service busted

by Tim Stevens, posted May 26th 2009 at 8:22AM

What do you do when your cellphone-smuggling carrier pigeons get caught on their way to the big house? Why, you go higher tech, of course. Those texting-crazed Brazlian ultra-max prisoners hatched a new plot to fly a radio controlled helicopter up over the wall of a prison, dropping diaper-swaddled handsets into the awaiting hands of criminal non-masterminds on the inside. Unfortunately for them, police foiled the plan when they pulled over the accomplices on the outside, confiscating the chopper, a suite of phones, and arresting the four who were paid just $5,000 to get the plan airborne. Our suggestion for their next attempt? Jetpacks.

Virus Tamed To Attack Cancer, Cancer Drugs To Treat Alcoholism

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday May 25, @02:04PM

from the and-alcohol-to-treat-the-common-cold dept.

ScienceDaily is reporting that scientists at Oxford University seem to have adapted a virus so that it attacks cancer cells but does not hurt healthy cells."Adenovirus is a DNA virus widely used in cancer therapy but which causes hepatic disease in mice. Professor Len Seymour and colleagues found that introducing sites into the virus genome that are recognized by microRNA 122 leads to hepatic degradation of important viral mRNA, thereby diminishing the virus' ability to adversely affect the liver, while maintaining its ability to replicate in and kill tumor cells."Relatedly, cancer drugs already approved for use may be cross-functional as a treatment for alcohol addiction."Now, the researchers show that flies and mice treated with erlotinib also grow more sensitive to alcohol. What's more, rats given the cancer-fighting drug spontaneously consumed less alcohol when it was freely available to them. Their taste for another rewarding beverage -- sugar water -- was unaffected."

Menopause Transition May Cause Trouble Learning

ScienceDaily (May 26, 2009) — The largest study of its kind to date shows that women may not be able to learn as well shortly before menopause compared to other stages in life. The research is published in the May 26, 2009, print issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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New Memory Material May Hold Data For One Billion Years

ScienceDaily (May 26, 2009) — Packing more digital images, music, and other data onto silicon chips in USB drives and smart phones is like squeezing more strawberries into the same size supermarket carton. The denser you pack, the quicker it spoils. The 10 to 100 gigabits of data per square inch on today's memory cards has an estimated life expectancy of only 10 to 30 years. And the electronics industry needs much greater data densities for tomorrow's iPods, smart phones, and other devices.

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US Federal Government Launches Data.gov

Posted by timothy on Thursday May 21, @01:53PM

from the selective-reporting dept.

Elastic Vapor writes"I'm happy to announce that the US Federal Government earlier today launched the new Data.Gov website. The primary goal of Data.Gov is to improve access to Federal data and expand creative use of those data beyond the walls of government by encouraging innovative ideas (e.g., web applications). Data.gov strives to make government more transparent and is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. The openness derived from Data.gov will strengthen the Nation's democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government."I hope the data reported will be impartially selected, honestly gathered, clearly explained, and perfectly accurate. Perhaps they could start with inspiration from the Concord Coalition's National Debt Counter.

Tying Education To Future Goals May Boost Grades More Than Helping With Homework

ScienceDaily (May 21, 2009) — Helping middle school students with their homework may not be the best way to get them on the honor roll. But telling them how important academic performance is to their future job prospects and providing specific strategies to study and learn might clinch the grades, according to a research review.

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Robot Soldiers Are Already Being Deployed

Posted by timothy on Wednesday May 20, @03:20PM

from the from-my-cold-dead-solenoids dept.

destinyland writes"As a Rutgers philosopher discusses robot war scenarios, one science magazine counts the ways robots are already being used in warfare, including YouTube videos of six military robots in action. There are up to 12,000 'robotic units' on the ground in Iraq, some dismantling landmines and roadside bombs, but 'a new generation of bots are designed to be fighting machines.' One bot can operate an M-16 rifle, a machine gun, and a rocket launcher — and 250 people have already been killed by unmanned drones in Pakistan. He also tells the story of a berserk robot explosives gun that killed nine people in South Africa due to a 'software glitch.'"

Robot Soldiers Are Already Being Deployed

Posted by timothy on Wednesday May 20, @03:20PM

from the from-my-cold-dead-solenoids dept.

destinyland writes"As a Rutgers philosopher discusses robot war scenarios, one science magazine counts the ways robots are already being used in warfare, including YouTube videos of six military robots in action. There are up to 12,000 'robotic units' on the ground in Iraq, some dismantling landmines and roadside bombs, but 'a new generation of bots are designed to be fighting machines.' One bot can operate an M-16 rifle, a machine gun, and a rocket launcher — and 250 people have already been killed by unmanned drones in Pakistan. He also tells the story of a berserk robot explosives gun that killed nine people in South Africa due to a 'software glitch.'"

New 'Broadband' Cloaking Technology Simple To Manufacture

ScienceDaily (May 21, 2009) — Researchers have created a new type of invisibility cloak that is simpler than previous designs and works for all colors of the visible spectrum, making it possible to cloak larger objects than before and possibly leading to practical applications in "transformation optics."

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Area Of Brain That Makes A 'People Person' Discovered

ScienceDaily (May 21, 2009) — Cambridge University researchers have discovered that whether someone is a 'people-person' may depend on the structure of their brain: the greater the concentration of brain tissue in certain parts of the brain, the more likely they are to be a warm, sentimental person.

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Freshman Representative Opposes 'TSA Porn'

Posted by Soulskill on Wednesday May 20, @11:42AM

from the things-we-really-really-don't-want-to-see dept.

An anonymous reader writes"Not content to simply follow the 'anything to protect American lives' mantra, freshman Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) has introduced a bill to prohibit mandatory full body scans at airports. Chaffetz states, 'The images offer a disturbingly accurate view of a person's body underneath clothing ... Americans should not be required to expose their bodies in this manner in order to fly." He goes on to note that the ACLU has expressed support for the bill. Maybe we don't need tin-foil sports coats to go with our tin-foil hats. For reference, the Daily Herald has a story featuring images from the millimeter wavelength imager, and we've talked about the scanners before."

Climate Change Odds Much Worse Than Thought

ScienceDaily (May 20, 2009) — The most comprehensive modeling yet carried out on the likelihood of how much hotter the Earth's climate will get in this century shows that without rapid and massive action, the problem will be about twice as severe as previously estimated six years ago - and could be even worse than that.

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Of Body And Mind, And Deep Meditation

ScienceDaily (May 20, 2009) — Chinese researchers have unlocked the mechanism of an emerging mind-body technique that produces measurable changes in attention and stress reduction in just five days of practice.

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US To Require That New Cars Get 42 MPG By 2016

Posted by kdawson on Monday May 18, @11:28PM

from the jevons-paradox dept.

Hugh Pickens writes"New cars and trucks will have to get 30 percent better mileage starting in 2016 under an Obama administration move to curb emissions tied to smog and global warming. While the 30 percent increase would be an average for both cars and light trucks, the percentage increase in cars would be much greater, rising from the current 27.5 mpg standard to 42 mpg. Environmentalists praised the move. Carl Pope, executive director of the Sierra Club, called it 'one of the most significant efforts undertaken by any president, ever, to end our addiction to oil and seriously slash our global warming emissions.' Obama's plan also would effectively end litigation between states and automakers that had opposed state-specific rules, arguing that having to meet several state standards would be much more expensive for them than just one federal rule. The Detroit News reported that automakers were on board with the new rule and had worked with the administration on creating a timeline for the transition."There's a case to be made that raising the CAFE won't save oil or reduce greenhouse gases.

Ball And Chain To Force Children To Study

Posted by samzenpus on Monday May 18, @02:15PM

from the school-chain-gang dept.

You haven't tried everything to get your kids to study until you've tried the Study Ball. The Study Ball is a 21-pound prison-style device that locks onto your children's leg and only unlocks after a predetermined amount of study time has passed. The homework manacles can't be locked for more than four hours, and come with a safety key. The product website states, "Quite often, students who are having problems concentrating tend to get up every ten minutes to watch TV, talk on the phone, take something out of the fridge, and a long list of other distractions. Were they to dedicate all this wasted time to studying, they would optimise their performance and have more free time available. Study Ball helps you study more and more efficiently." Stop Teasing Your Brother Pepper Spray coming soon.

Air-fueled Battery Could Last Up To 10 Times Longer: Ground-breaking Technology For Electric Cars

ScienceDaily (May 18, 2009) — A new type of air-fuelled battery could give up to ten times the energy storage of designs currently available.

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Biochemists And Computer Scientists Collaborate To Create Protein-folding Computer Game

October 1, 2008 — Computer scientists designed a computer game based on the principles of biochemistry. It allows amateurs to compete against and collaborate with specialists to design protein structures. Introductory levels teach the general governing concepts that users must understand before moving on to design complicated, potentially useful molecules.

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Insane Russian casemod shamelessly puts good taste to bed once and for all

by Laura June, posted May 18th 2009 at 10:31AM

We see plenty of wild casemods around here -- staying on the pulse of what's new with the cool kids is part of our jobs. We've never really seen anything like this one, however. We don't know a terrible lot about the case -- just that it's made of what appears to be solid evil dipped in bronze, and lit by the blood of a terrifying hellbeast. Regardless: it's going to look great in your living room... once you convince Satan to sell it to you for a reasonable price, that is. One more terrifically horrendous photo after the break.

Cigarette Smoke Can Prevent Allergies, Study Suggests

Matt's comment:  Could it be that it is the exposure to small amounts of smoke, not necessarilty cigarette smoke that helps alergies?

ScienceDaily (May 18, 2009) — Everyone knows that smoking can kill you, but new research suggests that it may help with your allergies. A study of mouse mast cells shows that cigarette smoke can prevent allergies by decreasing the reaction of immune cells to allergens.

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Enriched Environment Improves Wound Healing In Rats

ScienceDaily (May 18, 2009) — Improving the environment in which rats are reared can significantly strengthen the physiological process of wound healing, according to a new report. Researchers from the Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Shriners Burns Hospital found that giving rats living in isolation the opportunity to build nests led to faster and more complete healing of burn injuries than was seen in isolation-reared rats without nest-building materials.

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Rotten Office Fridge Cleanup Sends 7 To Hospital

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday May 13, @02:21PM

from the step-away-from-the-handle dept.

bokske writes"An office worker cleaning a fridge full of rotten food created a smell so noxious that it sent seven co-workers to the hospital and made many others ill. Firefighters had to evacuate the AT&T building in downtown San Jose on Tuesday, after the flagrant fumes prompted someone to call 911. A hazmat team was called in. Just another day at the office."