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Google

Submission + - gPhone imminent, open (neowin.net)

Submitted by
Technical Writing Geek
Technical Writing Geek writes: "While Google will provide many of the services which will come on the phone — such as its search, Maps, YouTube, and Gmail services — the platform on which those applications are built will be completely open, right down to the operating system itself. This is a dramatic shift from what is available currently. Most carriers and phone manufacturers lock most of the code down, making it relatively difficult to build new applications without either deals with the carriers or manufacturers themselves.

Only Microsoft offers anything close to what Google is going to do, through Windows Mobile.

http://www.neowin.net/news/main/07/10/31/possible-google-phone-within-2-weeks"
Communications

Submission + - New GPS Navigator shows Traffic Jams Ahead

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "The New York Times is running an article on Dash Express, a new navigation system for automobiles that not only receives GPS location data, but broadcasts information about its travels back to Dash over a cellular data network where it is shared with other users to let them know if there are slowdowns or traffic jams on the road ahead and propose an alternate route. The real benefit of the system isn't apparent until enough units are collecting data so Dash distributed over 2,000 prototype units to test drivers in 25 large cities. The continuous two-way reporting lets the system measure how fast traffic travels on a given road, and use that information to compile a highly detailed and accurate database of traffic information so Dash units can warn each other through the network the second they hit a traffic slowdown."
The Military

Submission + - Robot Cannon Kills 9, Injures 14 (wired.com) 2

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: An auto-targeting, auto-reloading cannon goes out of control during a South African military drill — killing 9 soldiers, and wounding 14 more. Officials can't figure out whether to blame jammed hardware, software glitches... or the start of the robot uprising. One thing's for sure: it's not the first time robo-weapons have started acting dangerously odd.
Robotics

Submission + - Robotic Cannon Looses Control, Kills 9, 14 Wounded 1

Submitted by
TJ_Phazerhacki
TJ_Phazerhacki writes: "A new high tech weapon system demonstrated one of the prime concerns circling smarter and smarter methods of defense last week — an Oerlikon GDF-005 went wildly out of control during live fire test exercises in South Africa, killing 9. Scarily enough, this is far from the first instance of a smart weapon "turning" — the biggest concern seems to be finding the glitches in the system instead of reconsidering automated arms altogether. Sarah Connor, where are you?"
Spam

Submission + - Two Spammers Given Five Years for Porn Spam (guardian.co.uk)

Submitted by
eldavojohn
eldavojohn writes: "In an Arizona case, two porn spammers were given five years each in prison. From the article, "Over nine months in 2004, Kilbride, Schaffer and an associate transmitted more than 600,000 spam messages, according to court documents. They were paid commissions based on the number of people who accessed the websites via the spam. Kilbride and Schaffer tried to make it seem as if they were sending messages from abroad by logging in to servers in Amsterdam. But those messages originated from Phoenix, prosecutors said. They were also ordered to forfeit $1.3m." Good to have them stopped but as always the real question is whether five years imprisonment for each of them is a little harsh. The case started on June 5th."
The Media

Submission + - Hurricane Expert Calls Gore Theory "Ridiculous (smh.com.au) 5

Submitted by DrWho520
DrWho520 writes: ONE of the world's foremost meteorologists has called the theory that helped Al Gore share the Nobel Peace Prize "ridiculous" and the product of "people who don't understand how the atmosphere works".
Dr William Gray, a pioneer in the science of seasonal hurricane forecasts, told a packed lecture hall at the University of North Carolina that humans were not responsible for the warming of the earth.
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - Slightly unclear on the concept... (pasadenastarnews.com)

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: In an article in the Pasadena Star-News about online fraud, our law-enforcement friends caution us about the dangers of the Internet:

"I don't think the public knows how bad things have gotten," said Kathryn Showers, head deputy district attorney of the High Technology Crimes Division. "For example, there is a practice called `war ganging' where if someone has a wireless laptop, they can come and park outside your home, and if you don't have a router on the system to protect transmissions, they can monitor what you are doing and use your IP address to commit crimes."

So, disturbed by this but enlightened, I went out and bought a nice Ryobi 1/4" router at Home Depot, and as soon as I figure out how to plug it into my PC, I'm sure my DSL transmissions will be safe from war gangers committing any crimes.
Media

Submission + - Lead India (devangnanavati.com)

Submitted by
Lead devang
Lead devang writes: "A Practicing Advocate in the Gujarat High Court and Supreme Court of India with varied interests in Law, Sports, Education and Human Rights; Mr Devang Nanavati has been a true representation of the young leader who would drive the nation's dreams to converge them into realities.

Vote for the Indian Leader by SMSing LEAD DEVANG to 58888
With zeal to lead the nation and set benchmarks in Governance, Mr Devang Nanavati has deservingly been ranked amongst the Top 3 nominees out of Gujarat's Super Eight in the LEAD INDIA Campaign promoted by the Times Of India.
Association
A Senior Partner in leading Law Firm of M/s.Nanavati & Nanavati Advocates based in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, he is closely associated with the various governmental and non-governmental organizations at national as well as international levels in the field of Education, Law and Order, Sports and Culture.
Inclination towards Excellence in Education
He is a Trustee of the C.U. Ronak Foundation Trust and also a member of the governing body member of Gujarat law Society, Founder Director of GLS Institute of Professional Training for Law students and a Member of the Ahmedabad Management Association (AMA). A perfectionist at whatever he does and his pursuits speak volumes about his inclination towards imparting excellence in education.
Pursuits and Associations
Practicing Law since 1995, Mr Devang Nanavati is closely allied with Gujarat High Court Advocates Association (Ahmedabad), Supreme Court Bar Association (New Delhi), Forum of Free Enterprise (Mumbai) and Society of Indian Law Firms. In addition to these he shares diverse interests in the field of Sports such as Billiard, Snooker, Cricket, Football, Tennis etc and is deeply involved with organizations like Gujarat State Billiards Association & Ahmedabad Chess Association as their President and as a Vice President of Billiards and Snooker Federation of India.
Corporate and Organizational Attachments
His corporate associations range from being member of bodies such as International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Union International Des Avocets, Shreemad Vallabh Vishva Dharma- Sastha Vallabh Sadan (Ahmedabad), CII-Gujarat Infrastructure Development Council (GIDeC) to Gujarat Chamber of Commercial Industry (GCCI) to being an advisor to Gujarat Pipavav Ports Ltd. ,Gujarat Pipavav Ports Ltd. , Gujarat Positra Port Ltd. as well as the Special Economic Zone, Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC), Sardar Sarovar Nigam. He has also been appointed as a Additional Central Standing Counsel in the Gujarat High Court by the Ministry of Law, Justice & Company Affairs, Government of India 2001-2004 and has a stint as a Director at Co-ex Packaging (India) Pvt. Ltd.
Retained by various corporate conglomerates such as Reliance Industries Ltd. and Gujarat Gas Co.Ltd.( a Subsidiary of British Gas), he also advises companies like Baptic Consultants, Dalal-Mott Mc Donald and The Arvind Mills. His areas of expertise include ports, logistics infrastructure, Infrastructure projects, SEZs and Urban Panning.
Vote for establishing a Progressive India at http://lead.timesofindia.com/voteing_Ahmedabad.asp

Mr. Devang Nanavati
A Bachelor of Arts from Pepper dine University, California, U.S.A and an LLB from Sir LA Shah Law College, Ahmedabad his academic years have always been a perfect synonym of excellence with over 15 Gold Medals in various areas of Academics and pursuits like elocutions as well as public speaking. In addition to these he has attended various programs in the areas of International Finance and Law, Private power projects and Foreign Collaborations
Displaying the traits of a leader, Mr Devang Nanavati has always been representing the state of Gujarat and the University in competitions such as 'Late Shri I.M. Nanavati All India Inter University Moot Court Competition for Law Students' and Bar Council of India Trust's XIth All India Inter University Moot Court Competition — 1993.
He has participated into and won various state and national level contests in the areas of Elocutions, Public Speaking, Dramatics, Speech and other literary Competitions.
Societal Responsibility
Mr Devang is always leading initiatives directed towards betterment of the society and has taken a keen interest in the area of Human Rights and also has been actively involved in various Clubs where he has assumed a very active role of a Decision Maker and established standards of governance. He believes that the Real freedom is like freedom from Corruption, injustices of the system, social insecurity, poverty, illiteracy and Laws play an important role to achieve true freedom. It is a fact that for removing such problems we need to choose a true leader who can lead India; a leader who has the vision and energy to carry forward the spirit of a Progressive Nation.
And Mr Devang Nanavati is in all dimensions the deserving choice to be designated as the Leader.
To choose a Leader who understands you, respects the Constitution and is committed to fulfill his role as a flag bearer of the Indian Youth sms LEAD DEVANG to 58888 or Vote at http://lead.timesofindia.com/voteing_Ahmedabad.asp.

http://www.devangnanavati.com/"
Robotics

Submission + - BigDog's little brother tackles tough terrain

Submitted by
willatnewscientist
willatnewscientist writes: "The company that that brought us BigDog has a new robotic pooch. LittleDog is a smaller, more nimble version of the larger robot and was developed for DARPA to test competing adaptive approaches to crossing a highly irregular piece of terrain. Six different research groups — MIT, CMU, University of Pennsylvania, Stanford, USC and IHMC — have each been given one LittleDog and are developing their own walking algorithms. Once a month, DARPA tests these algorithms on its own LittleDog to see which shows the most promise. Ultimately, the program could help robots like BigDog cross rocky ground without breaking a robot leg."
Biotech

Submission + - Cure for cancer may be ready in two years (newscientist.com)

Submitted by GnarlyDoug
GnarlyDoug writes: Dr Zheng Cui has, through a stroke of luck, found that the granulocytes from some mice are up to 50 times better at fighting cancer than others. He has cured mice with simple transfusions of granulocytes. These cells seem to recognize almost all cancer lines, are extremely effective even in advanced cases, and and the resistance seems to last for the life of the mouse. So not only does this treatment cure many cancers, but it also provides resistance to future cancers as well.

Evidence suggests that this should hold true for humans as well. Because this is based on blood transfusions, a technology already long established, this could be ready to so very soon. The go-ahead for a human trial has already been given, and if it pans out then this could be available in as little as two years time. Some simple tests to find people with the resistant strain of blood and then a system of transfusions is all that is needed to get this started.

If it pans out, we may be looking at a general cure for cancer within a few years time.
Robotics

Submission + - Build Your Own Bot

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: It seems nearly every week Slashdot posts an article about the latest robotics. While it is always interesting to see the result of other's hard work, there is no substitute for experience. So my question to the Slashdot community is; how might someone start out in hobby robotics? I'm sure most of us are aware of Lego Mindstorms, but I'm looking for something a bit more professional. I'm sure I'm not the only Slashdotter that has dreamed of building their own robot from the ground up, gears to software. So how would you do it? Share your ideas — from sensors and actuators to computers and programming languages. It would be best to avoid proprietary components that would become irreplaceable orphans after a small company folds. After all, we will need replacement parts for our soon-to-be girlfriends.
NASA

Submission + - Nobel Laureate "disses manned spaceflight"

Submitted by perturbed1
perturbed1 writes: Nobel laureate Steven Weinberg "disses manned spaceflight" according this Article, calling the International Space Station(ISS) "an orbital turkey," saying that "no important science has come out of it." Weinberg points to NASA's treatment of its Beyond Einstein program (designed to test the Theory of General Relativity) as an example of the agency's misplaced priorities, commenting that "if we suddenly run into extra expenses in the manned spaceflight program, that will be put on the back burner, just as has been done time and time again by NASA."

Weinberg forgets about the largest scientific payload of the space program designed for the ISS, the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), a particle physics experiment designed to search a dark matter signature in cosmic rays. Another Nobel laurate, Samuel Ting leads AMS which cost about $1.5 billion and has been long waiting for a shuttle flight as discussed in this article.

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