Monday, January 31, 2011
Facebook-Deprived Man Sues For $500K
Posted by samzenpus
from the farmville-or-die dept.
broggyr writes"According to a story from MSNBC: 'For Mustafa Fteja, Facebook is more than just a hobby. It's the main way the 30-year-old Albanian native has stayed in touch with friends and family all over the world for three years, and when he was inexplicably cut off from it, he did what every other person in this country seems to do when they're mad enough: he sued. In seeking $500,000, Fteja is suing Facebook for disabling his account, in which he had about 340 friends and family and had spent "timeless hours creating content and relationships [Facebook] benefited from," the suit contends. He wants it back on, and he wants the company to pay for the damage of alienating him from his family and friends (about $1500 per friend/family).' Must be nice when you can use a free site and expect to get paid when they cut you off."
Water-propelled jetpack is no dream, can be yours for $99,500 this March (video)
By Vlad Savov 
posted Jan 31st 2011 8:15AM
[Thanks, Suraj]
Inside London’s Secret Crisis-Command Bunker
By Pete Brook 
January 31, 2011 |
7:00 am |
Categories: Fine Art, Law, Photo Gallery, Politics, War
If nuclear attack or civil breakdown ever threatens the United Kingdom, the heads of government and the military know where to go. Beneath the streets of London, deeper than the capitol’s famous tube system, exists a hidden bunker on constant standby.
Ski Lifts Can Could Help Get Cargo Traffic Off the Road
Posted by timothy
from the you-either-like-this-or-have-no-soul dept.
An anonymous reader writes with this except from a beautifully illustrated, thought-provoking article:"These days, we use them almost exclusively to transport skiers and snowboarders up snow slopes, but before the 1940s, aerial ropeways were a common means of cargo transport, not only in mountainous regions but also on flat terrain. An electrically powered aerial ropeway is one of the cheapest and most efficient means of transportation available. Some generate excess energy that can be used to power nearby factories or data centers. An innovative system called RopeCon (not to be confused with a role-playing convention held annually in Finland) can move up to 10,000 tonnes of freight per hour."
Molybdenite As an Alternative To Silicon
Posted by timothy
from the mind-the-gap-sir dept.
An anonymous reader writes"Molybdenite (MoS2) can be used to make transistors that consume 100,000 times less energy in standby state. This mineral, which is abundant in nature, is often used as an element in steel alloys or as an additive in lubricants. Research carried out in Switzerland at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne's Laboratory of Nanoscale Electronics and Structures (LANES) has revealed that is a very effective semiconductor. Molybdenite's 1.8 electron-volt gap is ideal for transistors and gives it an advantage over graphene (which does not have a gap)."
EFF Uncovers Widespread FBI Intelligence Violations
Posted by timothy
from the man-v-state-the-case-that-never-ends dept.
An anonymous reader writes"EFF has uncovered widespread violations stemming from FBI intelligence investigations from 2001 — 2008. In a report released today, EFF documents alarming trends in the Bureau's intelligence investigation practices, suggesting that FBI intelligence investigations have compromised the civil liberties of American citizens far more frequently, and to a greater extent, than was previously assumed. Using documents obtained through EFF's Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation, the report finds: Evidence of delays of 2.5 years, on average, between the occurrence of a violation and its eventual reporting to the Intelligence Oversight Board; reports of serious misconduct by FBI agents including lying in declarations to courts, using improper evidence to obtain grand jury subpoenas, and accessing password-protected files without a warrant; and indications that the FBI may have committed upwards of 40,000 possible intelligence violations in the 9 years since 9/11."
Cheap, Clean Ways to Produce Hydrogen for Use in Fuel Cells? A Dash of Disorder Yields a Very Efficient Photocatalyst
(Jan. 30, 2011) — A little disorder goes a long way, especially when it comes to harnessing the sun's energy. Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) jumbled the atomic structure of the surface layer of titanium dioxide nanocrystals, creating a catalyst that is both long lasting and more efficient than all other materials in using the sun's energy to extract hydrogen from water.
Homebuilt UAV hunts down hydrogen balloons, shoots firework missiles (video)
By Sean Hollister posted Jan 30th 2011 2:29PM
Augmented reality is swell, don't get us wrong, but it's no substitute for the real thing -- especially when that thing is a badass tricopter equipped with a jury-rigged firework cannon to rain down miniature hell. Swedish R/C enthusiasts built this first-person flying contraption to carry out a single mission -- destroy a series of hydrogen-filled balloons -- which will hopefully be hard-coded into future automatons too. After all, balloons could serve as an excellent distraction when they inevitably come for you. Still, there's no need to worry quite yet, so kick back and enjoy the video above while you contemplate humanity's end.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Workers Most Invested in Their Jobs Have Highest Stress Levels
ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2011) — A workplace's key employees may be at the greatest risk of experiencing high levels of work stress, according to a new study by the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).
Mathematical Model Explains How Complex Societies Emerge, Collapse
ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2011) — The instability of large, complex societies is a predictable phenomenon, according to a new mathematical model that explores the emergence of early human societies via warfare. Capturing hundreds of years of human history, the model reveals the dynamical nature of societies, which can be difficult to uncover in archaeological data.
Practical Full-Spectrum Solar Cell Comes Closer
ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2011) — Solar cells are made from semiconductors whose ability to respond to light is determined by their band gaps (energy gaps). Different colors have different energies, and no single semiconductor has a band gap that can respond to sunlight's full range, from low-energy infrared through visible light to high-energy ultraviolet.
Hot Flushes Are Linked With a Significant Reduction in Breast Cancer Risk, Study Finds
ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2011) — Women who have experienced hot flushes and other symptoms of menopause may have a 50 percent lower risk of developing the most common forms of breast cancer than postmenopausal women who have never had such symptoms, according to a recent study by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Chopin's Hallucinations Were Probably Caused by Epilepsy, Study Suggests
ScienceDaily (Jan. 24, 2011) — The composer Frédéric Chopin, who regularly hallucinated, probably had temporal lobe epilepsy throughout his short life, reveals research published online in Medical Humanities. Hallucinations typically feature in seizure disorders, the study's authors say.
Two-Thirds of US Internet Users Lack Fast Broadband
jbrodkin writes"Two-thirds of US Internet connections are slower than 5 Mbps, putting the United States well behind speed leaders like South Korea, where penetration of so-called 'high broadband connectivity' is double the rate experienced in the United States. The United States places ninth in the world in access to high broadband connectivity, at 34% of users, including 27% of connections reaching 5 Mbps to 10 Mbps and 7% reaching above 10 Mbps, Akamai says in its latest State of the Internet Report. That's an improvement since a year ago, when the United States was in 12th place with only 24% of users accessing fast connections. But the United States is still dwarfed by South Korea, where 72% of Internet connections are greater than 5 Mbps, and Japan, which is at 60%. The numbers illustrate the gap between expectation and reality for US broadband users, which has fueled the creation of a government initiative to improve access. The US government broadband initiative says 100 million Americans lack any broadband access, and that faster Internet access is needed in the medical industry, schools, energy grid and public safety networks."
Obama Nominates RIAA Lawyer for Solicitor General
By David Kravets 
January 24, 2011 |
6:32 pm |
Categories: RIAA Litigation, The Courts
President Barack Obama nominated former Recording Industry Association of America lawyer Donald Verrilli Jr. on Monday to serve as the nation’s solicitor general.If confirmed by the Senate, Verilli, now the White House deputy counsel, would assume the powerful position left vacant by Elena Kagan, who was elevated to the Supreme Court. Obama said he was “confident” Verrilli, one offive former RIAA attorneys appointed to the administration, would “serve ably.”
TankChair deemed too heavy to use on UK streets, disabled man becomes marketing boon (video)
By Sean Hollister posted Jan 24th 2011 12:37AM
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