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Chrome

Submission + - $250 Chromebook With Ubuntu Linux Is Very Fast (phoronix.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Google Samsung Chromebook was already interesting for its competitive $250 price-tag and that it can be loaded with Linux distributions beyond Chrome OS, but it turns out that its performance is particularly good too. When loaded with Ubuntu Linux, the Samsung Exynos 5 Dual ARM SoC on the Chrome notebook had outperformed a 1.8GHz Intel Atom, a quad-core Calxeda ARM server, and a TI OMAP4 PandaBoard.
Businesses

Submission + - Sharp Overwhelmed By Volunteers For Early Retirement (itworld.com)

Submitted by
jfruh
jfruh writes: "Sharp, the Japanese LCD supplier in dire financial straits, is trying to cut staffing by offering an early retirement package. Unfortunately, it seems Sharp employees are eager to scuttle off the sinking ship. The company was planning on cutting its headcount by about 2,000 employees with the move; instead, it had to cut short the program after getting nearly 3,000 applicants."
Microsoft

Submission + - Poop Powers Experimental Microsoft Data Center (slashdot.org)

Submitted by
Nerval's Lobster
Nerval's Lobster writes: "Microsoft, FuelCell Energy and a collection of local Cheyenne, Wyoming companies are collaborating on a project to supply one of Microsoft’s local data centers with biogas, in a bid to determine if what we poop can be turned into power. FuelCell and Microsoft will test a small 200-kilowatt data center with a fuel cell that can produce up to 300 kilowatts in a carbon-neutral manner. Microsoft estimates the total carbon savings at about 1,833 pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) per megawatt-hour, compared to a typical fossil fuel plant. Although other data centers rely on biogas as a power source, Microsoft claims this is the first time a biogas source—specifically, a wastewater treatment facility—will be integrated directly with a data center."
Your Rights Online

Submission + - Pirate MEP Christian Engström helps draft new Credit Card Company controls (falkvinge.net)

Submitted by Dupple
Dupple writes: Today, the European Parliament ordered new legislation to regulate credit card companies’ ability to refuse service. This regulation follows the unilateral and rightless cutoff of donations to WikiLeaks, as well as similar trampling on small entrepreneurs. The Pirate Party took the initiative to the new regulation.

It has become an increasingly large problem that Visa, MasterCard, and Paypal control the valve to any money flow on the planet. Today, the European Parliament established this as a clear problem, and initiated regulation of the companies, limiting and strictly regulating their right to refuse service. The Pirate Party was the initiator of this regulation, following the damaging cutoff of donations to WikiLeaks. after said organization had performed journalism that was embarrassing to certain governments.

Submission + - Solar power absorbing nanoparticle-based steam generation boasts 24% efficiency (rice.edu)

Submitted by dinfinity
dinfinity writes: Rice University scientists have unveiled a new technology that uses nanoparticles to convert solar energy directly into steam. The new “solar steam” method from Rice’s Laboratory for Nanophotonics is so effective it can even produce steam from icy cold water. Details of the solar steam method were published online today in ACS Nano. The technology’s inventors said they expect it will first be used in sanitation and water-purification applications in the developing world.

Submission + - Greenhouse Gasses Reach Record High (scienceblogs.com)

Submitted by
GregLaden
GregLaden writes: "Despite the fact that the US has been releasing less CO2 into the atmosphere in recent years, greenhouse gasses globally continue to increase in concentration. There are several reasons that these gasses continue to accumulate. Also, the US burns less fossil fuel these days owing to the recession, but exports more. And then there is methane, which is a less well understood problem."
Television

Submission + - Giant Boxing Robots Reality Show Unveiled (ew.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: It looks like the next generation of "Battle Bots" is here:

Syfy has greenlit and shot the first season of a new show where eight-foot-tall state-of-the-art humanoid robots will rock ‘em and sock ‘em in a boxing cage until one is defeated. The future-shock new series is called Robot Combat League and the project has been kept under wraps until today. The action resembles a real-life version of last year’s hit movie Real Steel, with large menacing robots pounding away at each other in a satisfying shower of sparks and gushing hydraulic fluid.

There's pics with the story.
Science

Submission + - Harvard develops drug-filled, injectable sponge that expands inside the body (geek.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Harvard bioengineers have perfected injecteing us with a drug-filled sponge instead of just a liquid.

It may seem strange to want to inject a piece of sponge into your body, but it does actually help solve a number of invasive problems. For example, sometimes it is necessary to have drugs released slowly into our bodies, and/or some kind of bio-scaffold is required to be positioned so that it can help support a damaged organ or to engineer new tissue.

This new, injectable sponge is incredibly useful because not only can it be filled with drugs that then are slowly released, it also has a memory and can be collapsed down to a tiny fraction of its original size.
Data Storage

Submission + - Facebook condemns European data protection fines (computerworlduk.com)

Submitted by concertina226
concertina226 writes: Facebook claims companies could start court battles with data protection authorities if the regulators are given powers to levy fines of 2% of global turnover for data protection law breaches.

Facebook said the European Commission's proposed sanctions regime — which is contained in its draft General Data Protection Regulation — could also put off US and other businesses from trading within the EU, meaning less jobs being created.
Privacy

Submission + - Why big data could sink Europe's "right to be forgotten" (gigaom.com)

Submitted by
concealment
concealment writes: "Europe’s proposed ‘right to be forgotten’ has been the subject of intense debate, with many people arguing it’s simply not practical in the age of the internet for any data to be reliably expunged from history.

Well, add another voice to that mix. The European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) has published its assessment of the proposals, and the tone is sceptical to say the least. And, interestingly, one of the biggest problems ENISA has found has to do with big data."
Government

Submission + - Senate bill rewrite lets Feds read your e-mail without warrants (cnet.com) 1

Submitted by
concealment
concealment writes: "A Senate proposal touted as protecting Americans' e-mail privacy has been quietly rewritten, giving government agencies more surveillance power than they possess under current law.

Leahy's rewritten bill would allow more than 22 agencies — including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Federal Communications Commission — to access Americans' e-mail, Google Docs files, Facebook wall posts, and Twitter direct messages without a search warrant. It also would give the FBI and Homeland Security more authority, in some circumstances, to gain full access to Internet accounts without notifying either the owner or a judge."

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