Comment Re:Big whoop - successful author leverages his nam (Score 1) 290
Yeah, tough to believe the guy responsible for 'Buffy' was also responsible for 'Firefly'.
Comment Re:Big whoop - successful author leverages his nam (Score 1) 290
Check out Amanda Hocking - she is to whom I was referring earlier.
Comment Re:Big whoop - successful author leverages his nam (Score 1) 290
:-) My point was that a known, popular author disintermediating a publisher is a non-event. Someone like the blogger in Minneapolis who segued that into being a popular chick-lit e-book author (six-figure sales) - she gets props.
Comment Big whoop - successful author leverages his name (Score 1) 290
While one applauds Mr. Eisler's decision to disintermediate his publisher (thus contributing to joblessness for his own gain), one cannot help but notice that his sales problem will be one of distribution; i.e., like him or not, he has his audience and, once they realize they can e-borrow his books from the library, he will retain his volume. For those authors new to the marketplace, this option is a problem - how does one get their book publicized, reviewed and on to the big sites like Barnes & Noble and Amazon?
Comment Time to start stocking up on Head & Shoulders (Score 1) 103
Anyone seen Julianne Moore's t-shirt?
Comment Not a true test of cognitive abilities (Score 1) 674
One of Jeopardy's rules is that one cannot buzz in until the moderator finishes reading the question. That gave an infinite advantage to Watson. I have no doubt that Rutter and Jennings would have made a much better game of it if that rule had been waived; then it would have been a real test of man against machine for comprehending and answering the questions. Ah well, I'm sure IBM funded the whole thing. As far as I am concerned it was an expensive ad, not a contest.
Comment Just jam wifi at the lecture center (Score 1) 804
There have always been distractions at lectures (the girl in the next row, for example). The best one can do is make it easier for those who want to learn, to do so. Jamming wifi in the lecture hall will remove one major distraction; requiring attractive men and women to wear monks' robes to class will remove another.
Seriously, people who want to do the work will find a way to do so. It's called self-discipline.
Factory To Make Biodiesel From Chicken Fat 207
telekon writes "Tyson foods has finally found a use for chicken fat and leftover food grease that isn't McNuggets — they've partnered with Syntroleum to produce biodiesel from the stuff. Their first plant in Louisiana will be able to churn out 75 million gallons a year. The question is, will the exhaust smell like fried chicken?"
British Pizza Chain To Install Cones of Silence 122
itwbennett writes "British pizza chain Pizza Express is installing iPod docks and soundproof domes in booths of their new iPizzeria stores. 'The idea is that you can plug in your iPod and play whatever music you like without disturbing other diners,' says blogger Peter Smith. 'But I'm sure it'd work for talking about government secrets and other spy stuff, too.'"
Russian Army Upgrades Its Inflatable Weapons 197
jamax writes "According to the BBC: 'The Russian military has come up with an inventive way to deceive the enemy and save money at the same time: inflatable weapons. They look just like real ones: they are easy to transport and quick to deploy. You name it, the Russian army is blowing it up: from pretend tanks to entire radar stations.' But the interesting thing is these decoys are not dumb - actually they appear to be highly advanced for what I thought was a WWII-grade aerial photography countermeasures. Apparently they have heat signatures comparable with the military tech they represent, as well as the same radar signature."
Astronaut Sues Dido For Album Cover 264
An anonymous reader writes "Astronaut Bruce McCandless is suing Dido for her album cover that uses a famous NASA photograph of a tiny, tiny, tiny McCandless floating in space. McCandless doesn't own the copyright on the photo, so he's claiming it's a violation of his publicity rights ... except that he's so tiny in the photo, it's not like anyone's going to recognize him."
Comment Shades of Oakland (Score 1, Interesting) 371
Someone should send them pics of the Oakland freeway that collapsed in an earthquake - back in the 90's, was it? During a World Series. Isn't much of China an earthquake zone?
OLED Film Could Provide Cheap Night Vision For Cars 120
thecarchik writes "Night vision systems are already available in the higher-end luxury sedans from companies like Toyota, Volvo, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz. It's expensive technology that few drivers can afford, and at $4,000 for the system without a display, it's a pricey upgrade. That may all change soon, as DARPA-funded scientists have developed a cheap way to turn any infrared light into visible light with a thin film."
Recommendations For C++/OpenGL Linux Tutorials? 117
QuaveringGrape writes "After a few years of Python I've recently been trying to expand my programming knowledge into the realm of compiled languages. I started with C, then switched over to C++. A friend and longtime OpenGL programmer told me about NeHe's tutorials as a good step after the command-line programs started to get old, but there's a problem: all the tutorials are very Windows-based, and I've been using Linux as my single platform for a while now. I'm looking for suggestions for tutorials that are easy to learn, without being dumbed down or geared towards non-programmers."
Piezo Crystals Harness Sound To Generate Hydrogen 187
MikeChino writes "Scientists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have discovered that a mix of zinc oxide crystals, water, and noise pollution can efficiently produce hydrogen without the need for a dirty catalyst like oil. To generate the clean hydrogen, researchers produced a new type of zinc oxide crystals that absorb vibrations when placed in water. The vibrations cause the crystals to develop areas with strong positive and negative charges — a reaction that rips the surrounding water molecules and releases hydrogen and oxygen. The mechanism, dubbed the piezoelectrochemical effect, converts 18% of energy from vibrations into hydrogen gas (compared to 10% from conventional piezoelectric materials), and since any vibration can produce the effect, the system could one day be used to generate power from anything that produces noise — cars whizzing by on the highway, crashing waves in the ocean, or planes landing at an airport."
