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Comment Re:gone? (Score 1) 3

by phaunt (#33338838) Attached to: Solar System older than previously thought

Thanks for the suggestion.

I already looked for it in the browser history but couldn't find it. Don't have the time to retype at the moment... next time, I'll write up the description in a text editor and copy-paste into the browser window. Frankly, I've had similar stuff happen before in a browser and should've learned this lesson already. Oh well.
Earth

Frank Herbert's Moisture Traps May Be a Reality 226

Posted by kdawson from the it's-a-dry-heat dept.
Omomyid writes "In the seminal science fiction book 'Dune,' Frank Herbert envisioned the Fremen collecting water from the air via moisture traps and dew collectors. Science Daily reprints a press release from the Fraunhofer Institute in Stuttgart, where scientists working with colleagues from Logos Innovationen have developed a closed-loop and self-sustaining method, no external power required, for teasing the humidity out of desert air and into potable water."
Google

Harsh Words From Google On Linux Development 948

Posted by timothy from the constructive-criticism dept.
jeevesbond writes "The alpha version of Google Chrome is now available for GNU/Linux. Google Chrome developer and former Firefox lead Ben Goodger has some problems with the platform though. His complaints range from the lack of a standardised UI toolkit, inconsistencies across applications, the lack of a unified and comprehensive HIG, to GTK not being a very compelling toolkit. With Adobe getting twitchy about the glibc fork and previously describing the various audio systems as welcome to the jungle, is it time to concentrate on consolidation and standardisation in GNU/Linux in general, and the desktop in particular?"
Science

Stone Tool 1.83M Years Old Discovered In Malaysia 200

Posted by kdawson from the chipping-away-at-it dept.
goran72 writes with news out of Malaysia that archaeologists have announced the discovery of stone tools more than 1.8 million years old — the earliest evidence of human ancestors in South-east Asia. Researchers believe the tools were made by members of the early human ancestor species Homo erectus. The tools actually date as slightly older than the earliest H. erectus fossils, which came from Georgia and China. No bones of that antiquity have so far been found in Malaysia. "The stone hand-axes were discovered last year in the historical site of Lenggong in northern Perak state, embedded in a type of rock formed by meteorites which was sent to a Japanese lab to be dated."

Comment 'barbecue', not 'barbeque' (Score 1) 302

by phaunt (#24792227) Attached to: Labor Day, to me means primarily ...

The reason for this comment is the misspelled 'barbecue'. If you really want to spell it with a "q", then spell it 'barbequeue' to get the right pronunciation (just kidding, just kidding).

As to my vote: You insensitive clod!, because this poll seems aimed at US readers exclusively. In Holland, the first of May is not an official holiday but is observed by some.

The Wikipedia article on Labor day targets the U.S. holiday, whereas the article on Labour day discusses the general phenomenon (and references May Day and International Workers' Day).

By the way, on 7 September I'll probably go sailing, for the last time this year.
Government

Seattle Flushes $5M High-Tech Toilets 433

Posted by kdawson from the siruis-cybernetics-corp.-was-here dept.
theodp writes "Hopes were high back in 2004 as Seattle's posh public potties opened for business. But four years later, city officials have said good riddance to the five high-tech toilets, self-cleaning and cylindrical, that had cost Seattle $5 million. The city unloaded them on eBay for just $12,549. The commodes had become filthy hide-outs for drug use and prostitution."
Mars

NASA Plans Test of New Plasma Drive 266

Posted by timothy from the please-don't-bring-carrie-ann-moss dept.
Sallust writes "Flightglobal has an interesting article about the testing of a new electrically powered plasma engine called the Vasimir. It's being developed by former astronaut Franklin Chang-Diaz and promises to greatly reduce the time and fuel required for interplanetary journeys. According to the article: 'The Vasimir involves the injection of a gas such as hydrogen into an engine that turns it into a plasma. That plasma is then energised further using radio signals as it flows through the engine, a process controlled by electromagnetic waves from superconducting magnets. Accelerated and heated through this process the plasma is focused and directed as exhaust by a magnetic nozzle. Vasimir is many times more efficient than conventional chemical rockets and far less fuel is needed.' The developers are finalising an agreement with NASA to fit a scaled-down version of the engine to the ISS to conduct operational tests. There is also a concept video on YouTube suggesting a journey time for a manned craft to Mars on the order of 60-70 days."
The Courts

Tufts Tells Judge, We Can't Tie IP To MAC Addresses 419

Posted by kdawson from the we're-cooperatin'-here dept.
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "Protesting that Tufts University's DHCP-based systems 'were not designed to facilitate forensic examinations,' but rather to ensure 'smooth operations and to manage capacity issues,' the IT Office at Tufts University has responded to the subpoena in an RIAA case, Zomba v. Does 1-11, by submitting a report to the judge (PDF) explaining why it cannot cross-match IP addresses and MAC addresses, or identify users accurately. The IT office explained that the system identifies machines, not users; that some MAC addresses have multiple users; that only the Address Resolution Protocol system has even the potential to match IP addresses with MAC addresses, but that system could not do so accurately. For reasons which are unclear, the IT department then suggested that the RIAA next time send them 'notices to preserve information,' in response to which they would preserve, rather than overwrite, the DHCP data, for the RIAA's forensic benefit."

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