Speed Cameras in Urban Areas Save Millions in Cash, Analysis Finds

ScienceDaily (July 27, 2011) — The deployment of speed cameras in urban areas saves vast amounts of money as well as lives, reveals a two-year financial analysis, published online in Injury Prevention.

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Peanuts Rights Holder Shuts Down Peanutweeter, Pisses Off Fans For No Reason At All

from the how-not-to-do-things dept

You may recall, a few years back, all the attention received by a site called Garfield Minus Garfield, in which a guy, Dan Walsh, took Garfield comic strips and "removed" Garfield, creating existentially weird comic strips in their place. We wrote about it three years ago, mainly to point out how nice it was that Garfield creator Jim Davis didn't freak out about it, and noted that he enjoyed it. In fact, Davis and his publisher, Ballantine Books, were so pleased with the attention it got, that they all worked together to put out an official Garfield Minus Garfield book. As we noted, we hoped that others who saw people doing creative things with their works would react similarly. 

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BB Death?

I am sad because I think the enterprise management is superior to their competitors but I think the pic may be closer to the truth than I would like to admit.

South Korean Scientists Create Glowing Dog

I can't believe that no one has cracked the obvious jokes yet.  I expect to see this on Conan or Leno within a week.






Posted by samzenpus on Thursday July 28, @05:19AM 

from the how-much-is-that-glowing-dog-in-the-window dept.

cultiv8 writes"A research team from Seoul National University (SNU) said the genetically modified female beagle has been found to glow fluorescent green under ultraviolet light if given a doxycycline antibiotic. The researchers, who completed a two-year test, said the ability to glow can be turned on or off by adding a drug to the dog's food. 'The creation of Tegon opens new horizons since the gene injected to make the dog glow can be substituted with genes that trigger fatal human diseases,' the news agency quoted lead researcher Lee Byeong-chun as saying. He said the dog was created using the somatic cell nuclear transfer technology that the university team used to make the world's first cloned dog, Snuppy, in 2005."

State of the Internet

http://www.gizmag.com/akamai-state-of-the-internet-report/19349/

Chinese Couple Sells Kids To Fund Online Gaming

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday July 27, @11:37AM 

from the achievement-unlocked dept.

A Chinese couple who really like to game are under arrest for selling their kids and converting the money into game currency. From the article: "In 2009, Li Lin and Li Juan welcomed their second child, a baby girl, and came up with the idea to sell her for money to fund their online game obsession. They did so, receiving RMB 3,000 (less than $500), which they spent entirely shortly after. The couple then proceeded to sell their first child and got 10 times as much for him -- RMB 30,000, or about $4600. Upon having their third child -- another boy -- the parents followed in their previous footsteps and also got RMB 30,000 for him." I wonder what the "kid seller" achievement looks like?

Is Twitter Rendered Obsolete By Google+?

Posted by timothy on Monday July 25, @09:42PM 

from the imitation-adoption-adaption-repeat dept.

suraj.sun writes with a ComputerWorld piece predicting the end of Twitter, at least in its current form. From the article:"It's only a matter of time before Twitter becomes a ghost town. While Google+ will soon do all the things Twitter does, Twitter can't support a long list of the things Google+ supports. Also on Google+, you can post pictures and videos directly in posts, launch immediately into a video chat, send your posts to nonmembers and even present all your posts marked 'Public' as a blog available to anyone with an Internet."

Heat 'Most Likely Cause' of Pioneer Anomaly

Posted by timothy on Tuesday July 26, @12:47AM 

from the that-dog's-not-so-shaggy-after-all dept.

astroengine writes"Everything from clouds of dark matter, weird gravitational effects, alien tampering and exotic new physics have all been blamed for the 'Pioneer Anomaly' — the tiny, inexplicable sun-ward acceleration acting on the veteran Pioneer deep space probes. However, evidence is mounting for a more mundane explanation. Yes, it's the emission of heat from the spacecrafts' onboard radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs), slowly nudging the Pioneers off course, that looks like the most likely culprit. It's unlikely that this new finding will completely silence advocates of more exotic explanations, however."

New Photonic Crystals Have Both Electronic and Optical Properties

ScienceDaily (July 24, 2011) — In an advance that could open new avenues for solar cells, lasers, metamaterials and more, researchers at the University of Illinois have demonstrated the first optoelectronically active 3-D photonic crystal.
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Graphene's 'Quantum Leap' Takes Electronics a Step Closer

ScienceDaily (July 24, 2011) — The Nobel Prize winning scientists Professor Andre Geim and Professor Kostya Novoselov have taken a huge step forward towards creating electronics from wonder material graphene. Writing in the journalNature Physics, the academics, who discovered the world's thinnest material at The University of Manchester in 2004, have revealed more about its electronic properties.
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Kinect-driven tactile bodysuit makes you tingle in eight different places

By Sharif Sakr  posted Jul 25th 2011 7:45AM

We know the US Army has already experimented with vibrating clothing, and soon it could be our turn. The trendy figure-hugger above is rigged with haptic actuators across the arms and torso, which respond when the wearer's body 'touches' virtual objects created via Microsoft's Kinect platform. The outfit's designers at the University of Aachen spent just a few hundred dollars on components, aside from the cost of the Kinect, so this might well have commercial potential. Click the source link if you're reallykeen to see a concept video -- although it doesn't consist of much beyond a German dude doing the Hey Macarena in his socks.

RIM axes 2000 jobs, changes managers in effort to halt decline

By Sharif Sakr  posted Jul 25th 2011 8:06AM

Just a month after a disgruntled employee accused RIM's managers of failing to make bold decisions, the latter have responded by boldly sacking 11 percent of their workforce. The company says it will notify affected employees in North America and some other countries this week. It also announced a number of changes to its executive team, with Thorsten Heins taking on the expanded role of COO, Product and Sales. Other personnel changes were generally confined to sales, marketing and operations, which leaves us wondering what, if anything, will change in the way RIM comes up with new products.

SwiftKey X keyboard app is free today on Amazon, be swift or pay $3.99

By Sharif Sakr  posted Jul 21st 2011 7:36AM

After plenty of hands-on time with SwiftKey X, we reckon it's probably the best virtual keyboard you can get for Android phones. And, for the next 21 hours or so, it's even better than that -- because it's free at Amazon's Appstore. So, if you're brandishing Android 2.1 or higher and you type in one of the 17 supported languages, then the source link below beckons. Come back quickly, though, or we'll miss you terribly. (The tablet version of the app is still $4.99, mind -- but there's always tomorrow.)

Vegetarian Diet May Protect Against Common Bowel Disorder

ScienceDaily (July 19, 2011) — Vegetarians are a third less likely to get a common bowel disorder (diverticular disease) than their meat eating counterparts, finds a new study published on theBritish Medical Journal website.


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NAND Flash Better Than DRAM For PC Performance

Posted by Soulskill on Wednesday July 20, @01:15AM 

from the drams-do-better-for-memory-loss dept.

Lucas123 writes"Adding NAND flash memory to a PC does more for performance than DRAM and costs less, according to a new study. As the price difference between the two memory types widens, NAND flash will become the memory of choice in the PC. The effects of NAND flash adoption are already being felt in the DRAM market, as revenue in 2011 is expected to decline 11.8%."

WTF? I don't remember this!!!

Borders Books, Dead At 40

Posted by timothy on Tuesday July 19, @08:09AM 

from the will-be-sorely-missed dept.

theodp writes"There will be no storybook ending for Borders. The 40-year-old book seller could start shuttering its 399 remaining stores as early as Friday(store closing map). The Ann Arbor, MI-based chain, which helped pioneer the big-box bookseller concept, is seeking court approval to sell off its assets after it failed to receive any bids that would keep it in business. Hang on to those Borders Midnight Magic Party memories, kids!"

IE6 Still Going Strong In China

Posted by timothy on Tuesday July 19, @02:08AM 

from the not-so-big-in-japan dept.

RackNine writes"Net Applications estimates that IE6 has a share of 33.8% in China, StatCounter estimates about 40.2%. Consider the fact that there are currently about 477 million Internet users in China and you get 160 to 192 million IE6 users. That is potentially more than all Internet users in Africa and the Middle East combined (187 million)."

Dual-boot your Nook Color with Android using a micro-SD card, $35

As David Chernicoff over atBetween the Lines reminds us, the Barnes & Noble Nook Color is an Android device at its core (it runs Froyo 2.2), so it is a shame that the B&N interface would hide the “major capabilities of an Android 2.2 tablet.”


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Do 'Ultracool' Brown Dwarfs Surround Us?

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday July 18, @10:04AM 

from the itsatrap dept.

astroengine writes"The recent discovery of two very cool 'T-class' brown dwarfs in our cosmic neighborhood has prompted speculation that there may be many more ultracool 'failed stars' nearby. Not only are these objects themselves very interesting to study, should there be many such brown dwarfs spanning interstellar space. Perhaps they could be used as 'stepping stones' to the stars."

Stanford Students Build "JediBot"

Posted by samzenpus on Monday July 18, @10:45AM 

from the may-the-grades-be-with-you dept.

An anonymous reader writes"By combining a dexterous robotic arm, a foam-padded lightsaber, the movement tracking capabilities of Microsoft's Kinect sensor, and some clever software, students at Stanford University have created what can only be called a JediBot. Using a series of pre-programmed 'attack moves', and Kinect to detect the location of the enemy's light saber, JediBot can attack and defend with surprising grace. For now its attack moves are fairly slow — it can only attack once every 2 or 3 seconds — but presumably you could tweak a knob (and remove the foam padding) to turn JediBot into a real killing machine."I look forward to model that can also "force choke" an opponent.

Sub-Centimeter Positioning Coming To Mobile Phones

Posted by timothy on Thursday July 14, @02:01PM 

from the we-control-the-latitude-we-control-the-longitude dept.

Oooskar writes"SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping), a technique invented by NASA, defines the concept of building a 3D-map of the environment and simultaneously computing the position within it. Based on SLAM, Swedish startup 13th Lab has implemented real-time sub-centimeter local 3D-positioning by using only the sensors, most importantly the camera, already present in most mobile devices (demo video). The technology will be made available as a software platform for developers (sign up for beta). A first application demonstrating the technology has just been released for the iPad2. The technology should be available on other devices with similar computational power soon."

Researchers Build "Squishy" Memory Device

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday July 14, @11:07AM 

from the memory-stuck-between-my-fingers dept.

ShipLives writes"Researchers have developed a memory device that is soft and functions well in wet environments, which could lead to new biocompatible electronic devices. 'We’ve created a memory device with the physical properties of Jell-O,' says Dr. Michael Dickey, an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at NC State and co-author of a paper describing the research."

Man builds turbine-powered Batmobile, brags about having the only one (video)

By Billy Steele  posted Jul 14th 2011 6:51AM

So you think you're a huge fan of the Dark Knight, huh? Not so fast. Do you own a full-sized Batmobile? Yeah... we didn't think so. But, auto restoration guru Casey Putsch does, and to launch himself further into super-fanboy status, he upgraded the engine with a Boeing turboshaft -- snatched out of a naval drone helicopter. According to him, this makes his collector's item one of a kind, in true Bruce Wayne fashion. Sure, these discarded movie props are usually powered by a standard 350 (especially the older models), but that wasn't enough for a dude's dude who appraises and designs all types of vehicles for a living. Mods were also made to the interior, including an iPad in the dash which serves as the avionics system and keeps track of the important GPS coordinates -- you know, stuff you'd expect Lucious Fox to toss in to track villains and such. For a look at this beast in action, check out the video after the break; meanwhile we'll try to figure out how to cram a jet engine into a Tesla Roadster.

Snail Discovered That Can Survive Digestion By Birds

Posted by samzenpus on Tuesday July 12, @02:47PM 

from the service-on-this-flight-is-sh*t dept.

smitty777 writes"A recent article in the Journal of Biogeography describes research showing that 15% of the snails devoured by birds on a Japanese island can survive the digestive process. This is thought to be the mechanism by which the snail populations can migrate from island to island, similar to the way plant seeds are deposited. From the article: 'In the lab, scientists fed the birds with the snails to find out whether any survived the digestive process. "We were surprised that a high rate, about 15 percent, of snails were still alive after passing through the gut of [the] birds," explained researcher Shinichiro Wada.'"As bad as riding in a bird's digestive tract sounds, I'd take it over flying standby on a puddle jumper.