Comment Re:Wow (Score 1) 341
And don't forget your kevlar umbrella, in case it rains.
Comment Ironic (Score 5, Funny) 183
When I logged in, I was greeted with "Did you know subscribers can see articles in the future?"
Submission + - Intel Developing TV-Internet Convergence Chip (hothardware.com)
MojoKid writes: "The concept of television as an interactive device has never really found traction in a shipping product thus far. However, Intel wants to see that change, and has launched a new SoC (system-on-chip) family meant to give content creators and consumers a broader range of options and a better overall experience. The new CE4100 series will replace Intel's older CE3100. Unlike that chip, which was built around a low-power iteration of the Pentium-M, this new SoC is built around an Atom core and will be clocked at speeds up to 1.2GHz. The newer CE4100 should draw significantly less power than the C3100 and is built on a 45nm process. Intel also has a product development framework for TV-centric applications (widgets). Their Widget Channel Technology Brief defines widgets as: "small Internet applications designed to enhance the the traditional TV watching experience and bring content, information and community features available on the Internet within easy reach your remote."
Submission + - Picasa 3.5 adds face recognition, better geolocati (cio.com.au)
Dan Jones writes: Google's popular photo management software Picasa has added face-recognition features and simplified geotagging with the new 3.5 version. Picasa 3.5 can now automatically group photos in which the same person appears and the application will scan stored photos and create groups of similar faces, putting them into an album titled 'Unnamed People.' Then users can manually add name tags to the photos. What's more, Picasa 3.5 also comes integrated with Google Maps to add geolocation information to photos. Previously, Picasa required that users install and run Google Earth to do this.
Submission + - Peugeot Experiments with Shape-Shifting Cars (goodcleantech.com) 1
adeelarshad82 writes: "Peugeot has developed a shape-shifting concept car that could run on electric motors. The car is made of four individual pods, and resembles an amusement park ride more than any car on the road today. Each pods holds one person, and they're all covered by a flexible polymer covering."
Bacteria Used To Make Radioactive Metals Inert 237
Serenissima writes "Researcher Judy Wall is experimenting with bacteria that can cleanse the radioactivity from toxic areas by rendering the heavy metals into non-toxic, inert versions. The technology is not without its flaws (the bacteria can't exist in an oxygenated environment yet), but it does have the potential to cleanse some of the world's hazardous sites. From the article: 'The bacteria Wall is studying are bio-corrosives and can change the solubility of heavy metals. They can take uranium and convert it to uraninite, a nearly insoluble substance.'"
Obesity May Accelerate Brain Aging 289
natehoy writes "According to the US News and World Report, a recent study has shown a link between obesity and the loss of neurological tissue. The brains of elderly patients who were obese had on average 8% less tissue than their trimmer counterparts. Overweight patients had brains lighter by about 4%. This could have implications for the onset of dementia illnesses such as Alzheimer's. Just one more risk factor to add to the growing body (no pun intended) of reasons to try and stay trim."
Submission + - Are Sunspots Different During This Solar Minimum? (leif.org)
PhreakOfTime writes: "According to Bill Livingston and Matt Penn of the National Solar Observatory in Tucson, Arizona, sunspot magnetic fields are waning. The two respected solar astronomers have been measuring solar magnetism since 1992. Their technique is based on Zeeman splitting of infrared spectral lines emitted by iron atoms in the vicinity of sunspots. Extrapolating their data into the future suggests that sunspots could completely disappear within decades."
Submission + - Battlestar Galactica Feature Film Confirmed (scifiwire.com)
Dave Knott writes: "Entertainment Weekly reports that Univeral Pictures has confirmed rumours of a Battlestar Galactica feature film. Directed by Bryan Singer, and co-produced by original series creator Glen Larson, the new movie will not be related to the recently concluded SyFy Network series. Rather, it will be a "complete re-imagining of the sci-fi lore that was invented by Larson back in the 70s"."
Submission + - Ice-Core Researchers Need to Chill Out
Hugh Pickens writes: "Ice cores, containing tiny bubbles of trapped air allowing scientists to measure the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere from hundreds of thousands of years ago, are one of the most useful research tools for studying climatic parameters such as air temperature, precipitation rate, and solar radiation so that scientists can identify the natural cycles in global warming and cooling. Now Nature reports that the cores, drilled at multi-million-dollar expense from polar and glacial ice, are in danger of losing some of their value because of a lack of proper storage facilities. Oxygen in the cores is gradually lost when cores are stored at -20 to -30 degrees C, the standard temperature of current cold-storage facilities in the United States and Europe resulting in higher ratios of nitrogen to oxygen that can distort the conclusions scientists draw from them. In 2005, Japanese researchers showed that colder storage temperatures could mitigate this gas loss and the ice-core storage facility at the National Institute of Polar Research in Tokyo was subsequently upgraded with technology used to maintain cold stores for high-grade tuna at -50 degrees C. Now US researchers are seeking roughly $5 million to rebuild cold-storage facilities at the US Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory in Hanover, New Hampshire, which would also have its storage capacity increased by about 25%. In the interim, Jeffrey Severinghaus, an IPICS steering-committee member from the Scripps Institute of Oceanography says some institutions like his are building smaller units to keep parts of cores at -50 degrees C. These units can be created for about $15,000, but the necessary freezer adaptations void warranties and there are concerns that keeping sections of ice cores in many different locations may hamper researchers' access."
Submission + - Radio waves pushed faster than the speed of light (current.com)
astroengine writes: "A Los Alamos National Laboratory scientist has created a rather awesome gadget that abuses radio waves so severely that they finally give in and travel faster than the speed of light. This may give us an insight to the dynamics of spinning neutron stars.
The article says: "The polarization synchrotron combines the waves with a rapidly spinning magnetic field, and the result could explain why pulsars — which are super-dense spinning stars that are a subclass of neutron stars — emit such powerful signals, a phenomenon that has baffled many scientists.""
The article says: "The polarization synchrotron combines the waves with a rapidly spinning magnetic field, and the result could explain why pulsars — which are super-dense spinning stars that are a subclass of neutron stars — emit such powerful signals, a phenomenon that has baffled many scientists.""
Submission + - Starcraft 2 Drops LAN Support, Battle.net Only (gamespot.com) 2
Kemeno writes: Blizzard has announced that they will be dropping LAN support for Starcraft II, citing piracy and quality concerns. Instead, ALL multiplayer games will be hosted through their new Battle.net service. I suppose I shouldn't be suprised by this move, but wasn't LAN play how the original Starcraft became popular? It's the only way I ever played it, and I don't see why Blizzard would alienate casual LAN gamers in favor of forcing their new service upon everyone (well, except for more profit, of course).
Submission + - The Pirate Party is coming to Canada (www.cbc.ca) 1
innocent_white_lamb writes: On the heels of its success in Sweden, the Pirate Party is now setting its sights on Canada.
http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/06/30/tech-pirate-party-canada.html
Submission + - VirtualBox 3.0 Released (virtualbox.org)
royallthefourth writes: VirtualBox 3.0 was released today. In addition to numerous other fixes and feature additions, it includes experimental support for OpenGL 2.0 and DirectX 9 on Windows guests. This sort of 3D support is a first for freely available virtual machines on Linux.
Comment Dismantling Pictures (Score 3, Insightful) 283
"For the Pre-verts out there, here's some Palm Pre dismantling pictures."
Yes, but does it blend?
