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Music

Ask Jonathan Coulton About the Transformation From Code Monkey to Internet Star 122

Posted by samzenpus from the isn't-it-enough-to-know-that-I-ruined-a-pony-making-a-gift-for-you? dept.
Even though he created the definitive guide to enjoying yourself outside, Jonathan Coulton is best known for the programmer anthem Code Monkey, his Thing a Week project, and writing the theme song to Portal. In 2005 Coulton left his programming job to pursue his music career, and has since become a successful one man music label. Jonathan has agreed to answer your questions about robots, life, and internet stardom. Normal Slashdot interview rules apply.
Shark

US Navy Breaks Laser Record 294

Posted by Soulskill from the it's-nice-to-see-val-kilmer-finding-work dept.
ectotherm writes "The US Navy has broken the existing record for the power of a laser. Their new free-electron laser can burn through 20 feet of steel per second. 'Next up for the tech: additional weaponization. The Navy just awarded Boeing a contract worth up to $163 million to take that technology and package it as a 100 kW weapons system, one that the Navy hopes to use not only to destroy things but for on-ship communications, tracking and detection, too — using a fraction of the energy such applications use now, plus with more accuracy.' Now all we need to do is upgrade the sharks..."
Google

Glen Beck Warns Viewers Not To Use Google 1276

Posted by samzenpus from the the-sky-is-falling dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Glenn Beck has told his viewers to do research, but to not use Google, because 'Google is pretty deeply in bed with the government.' He points to the fact that Google is having some problems overseas, as well as Jared Cohen. Cohen is Director of Google Ideas, has worked with the State Department, and has played a role in the 2009 unrest in Iran. He also mentions social networking in sinister undertones, asking if it's government propaganda."
NASA

Submission + - NASA'S Hubble spots most far away galaxy ever (networkworld.com)

Submitted by coondoggie
coondoggie writes: Astronomers said they have used the NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to spot a galaxy whose light traveled 13.2 billion years to reach Hubble, about 150 million years longer than the previous record holder.

According to NASA the tiny, dim object is a compact galaxy of blue stars that existed 480 million years after the big bang. More than 100 such mini-galaxies would be needed to make up our Milky Way.
Iphone

Submission + - AT&T quietly reintroduces unlimited data (geek.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: If you were wondering how much of a threat AT&T thinks Verizon is with the iPhone, it looks like they may be panicing a bit.

The Associated Press has discovered AT&T is quietly offering existing subscribers, who used to be on unlimited plans for their iPhone, the option to have unlimited data again. The thinking here is anyone who had unlimited data, before AT&T removed the option, might switch networks to get it back on Verizon.

The offer seems to be limited to those customers contacting AT&T customer services, but whose to say the company won’t start its sales team phoning round and making the offer to all subscribers who used to have unlimited data plans?
Moon

Submission + - Does the Moon Have Military Value? (yahoo.com) 3

Submitted by MarkWhittington
MarkWhittington writes: Despite the fact that under President Barack Obama's space policy, Americans will not be going back to the moon any time soon, discussions are occurring about what if any military value the Earth nearest neighbor has.

Opinions, as can be expected, vary on the subject
The Military

Chinese Stealth Fighter Jet May Use US Technology 339

Posted by Soulskill from the better-to-be-lucky-than-good dept.
Ponca City writes "In 1999, a US F-117 Nighthawk was downed by a Serbian anti-aircraft missile during a bombing raid. It was the first time one of the fighters had been hit, and the Pentagon blamed clever tactics and sheer luck. The pilot ejected and was rescued. Now, the Guardian reports that pieces of the wrecked F-117 stealth fighter ended up in the hands of foreign military attaches. 'At the time, our intelligence reports told of Chinese agents crisscrossing the region where the F-117 disintegrated, buying up parts of the plane from local farmers,' says Admiral Davor Domazet-Loso, Croatia's military chief of staff during the Kosovo war. 'We believe the Chinese used those materials to gain an insight into secret stealth technologies... and to reverse-engineer them.' Zoran Kusovac says the Serbian regime routinely shared captured western equipment with its Chinese and Russian allies. 'The destroyed F-117 topped that wish-list for both the Russians and Chinese,' says Kusovac."
Apple

The iPad Will Get Playboy In March 223

Posted by samzenpus from the clean-the-screen dept.
Stoobalou writes "Playboy boss Hugh Hefner has confirmed that — despite Steve Jobs' protestations that Apple is pure and Android is for porn — an app for browsing uncensored back issues of Playboy is to launch later this year on the iPad. The news, which is likely to generate significantly more buzz for Apple's popular tablet as a publishing device than Rupert Murdoch's delayed digital newspaper The Daily, comes courtesy of Hefner's Twitter stream, in which he proclaimed: 'Big news! Playboy — both old & new — will be available on [the] iPad beginning in March.'"
America Online

Is Mark Zuckerberg the Next Steve Case? 470

Posted by Soulskill from the case-in-point dept.
theodp writes "With all signs for Facebook pointing up, author Douglas Rushkoff goes contra, arguing that Facebook hype will fade. 'Appearances can be deceiving,' says Rushkoff. 'In fact, as I read the situation, we are witnessing the beginning of the end of Facebook. These aren't the symptoms of a company that is winning, but one that is cashing out.' Rushkoff, who made a similar argument about AOL eleven years ago in a quashed NY Times op-ed, reminds us that AOL was also once considered ubiquitous and invincible, and former AOL CEO Steve Case was deemed no less a genius than Mark Zuckerberg. 'So it's not that MySpace lost and Facebook won,' concludes Rushkoff. 'It's that MySpace won first, and Facebook won next. They'll go down in the same order.'"
Earth

Once-Darling Ethanol Losing Friends In High Places 586

Posted by timothy from the political-economy-case-in-point dept.
theodp writes "It's now conceivable, says BusinessWeek's Ed Wallace, that the myth of ethanol as the salvation for America's energy problem is coming to an end. Curiously, the alternative fuel may be done in by an unlikely collection of foes. Fervidly pro-ethanol in the last decade of his political career, former VP Al Gore reversed course in late November and apologized for supporting ethanol, which apparently was more about ingratiating himself to farmers. A week later, Energy Secretary Steven Chu piled on, saying: 'The future of transportation fuels shouldn't involve ethanol.' And in December, a group of small-engine manufacturers, automakers, and boat manufacturers filed suit in the US Court of Appeals to vacate the EPA's October ruling that using a 15% blend of ethanol in fuel supplies would not harm 2007 and newer vehicles. Despite all of this, the newly-elected Congress has extended the 45 cent-per-gallon ethanol blending tax credit that was due to expire, a move that is expected to reduce revenue by $6.25 billion in 2011. 'The ethanol insanity,' longtime-critic Wallace laments, 'will continue until so many cars and motors are damaged by this fuel additive that the public outcry can no longer be ignored.'"

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