20693592
submission
timothy writes:
Forbes magazine's "crack team of fictional reporters" creates annually a list of the 15 richest fictional characters. Good work, if you can get it, right? To silence critics who seem to think they might pull their numbers straight out of some nether orifice in a land far, far removed from fictional reality (vs. real reality, or fictional fiction), they've now put up a piece explaining their methodology.
20629430
submission
timothy writes:
Russia and Ukraine have become embroiled in a bizarre spat over their respective folklore with both countries claiming the same popular fairytale characters as their own.
20623522
submission
timothy writes:
Awesome — Gnome's new on-screen keyboard running on a tablet. Cross-pollination rocks!
20424558
submission
timothy writes:
Android Central has taken a close look at the new Transformer tablet from Asus, giving it an overall positive review, with minor points deducted for a "plasticy" feel. The Transformer joins the Motorola Xoom in the world of Honeycomb (Android 3.0), and has very similar, high-end specs (though it's Wi-Fi only) with one big difference: the Transformer is marketed with a not-included-in-the-price attachable keyboard that adds a battery. I wonder what other OSes will eventually be hacked onto this device; 16 hours of battery life in a netbook-sized computer sure sounds good to me, but I might want that to be with standard Linux apps instead of only with Android.
20395562
submission
timothy writes:
Considering that x86 and ARM have been playing leapfrog in at least their future *promised* efficiencies, and that there are a ton of x86 tablets in the works, it's good to see cross-platform OS choices. The most popular Linux distro (Ubuntu) as well as several other conventional Linux options, Windows (even if so far confined to tech demos), and Android — interesting mix.
17541264
submission
timothy writes:
According to Pocketnow.com, AMD has announced it has joined The Linux Foundation's MeeGo open source Linux project started out by Intel and Nokia.
That's encouraging; I was turned off by the idea that it was essentially an Intel-only project, since I like to keep my processor options open, so when I look for a new machine, I can choose from AMD's and Intel's x86 chips at least. (And hopefully soon more ARM-based tablets, etc.)
17537816
submission
timothy writes:
Two middle school students thought they would get away with their iinsidious plans to sell baked goods in a local park, and if it wasn't for those meddling kids, they would have! Hmm. OK, if it wasn't for that meddling, portly small-time politician they would have! There, much more satisfying story now.
Related: http://idle.slashdot.org/story/10/08/06/169205/Portland-Health-Inspector-Shuts-Down-Lemonade-Stand
17536130
submission
timothy writes:
Says the story: "He was an adventurer, a scholar, and possibly a spy — but as Dutchman Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje proved with his rare 1885 photographs and sound recordings of Mecca, he was also a pioneering multimedia journalist."
17533824
submission
timothy writes:
I'd like to see a computer with no need for an external power supply as an e-book reader, a general knock-about PDA, a phone — all kinds of things. But there's a certain heart-strings appeal to such a computer intended as an educational tool for precisely those kind of places where basic infrastructure (like the provision of electricity) is a stumbling block. Perhaps built-in solar makes more sense, more places, than the hand-cranked power that the OLPC project ended up dropping from their laptops-for-kids program.
17516104
submission
timothy writes:
"The results present a dilemma for shoppers who avoid paper or plastic for environmental reasons." Perfect for carrying home a nice load of Cadmium Creme Eggs.
17506856
submission
timothy writes:
The Lingerie Football League (really — http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingerie_football) was looking toward expanding to Oklahoma City. But that would be wrong! For too many reasons for the mayor to list! Honestly! Good argument for separation of sports and state.
Bizarro. I boggle.
17198274
submission
timothy writes:
You could download the extension that gives you point-and-click access to other people's (unencrypted) social networking interactions and impersonate them for (totally harmless) pranks, but if you're nice, you'll instead encourage your friends to instead use encryption by default. The EFF and the Tor Project have cooperated to make that easier, with their HTTPS Everywhere extension for Firefox, which rewrites any unencrypted exchanges to "a number of major websites" as encrypted ones instead.
17192592
submission
timothy writes:
Says the article: "It sounds like the plot of a Troma flick, but yes, your lungs contain taste receptors. When these receptors encounter bitter compounds, they open up your airways — this discovery could radically improve the treatment of lung conditions like asthma." I wonder if this is why some people can handle spicy foods, and others can't ...
16551104
submission
timothy writes:
The picture might be a bad idea, when they are in the witness protection program, but John Sweeney and Joanne Doane have decided to memorialize their love for each other with a nice wrapping of their love for Mafia Wars.
Sugg: link also to the Apple Store wedding ...
16256518
submission
timothy writes:
Acording to eco-blog Mother Nature Network, American electric car drivers may have an unexpected government ally in the east; the state is offering 'clever rebates and other perks, too.' Clever or not (I'm not convinced that electric cars are anything like the environmental good they're touted as, and neither is Nobel-winner Robert Laughlin), electric cars look fun to drive, and the TVA sure has some electricity to dish out, after drowning thousands of family farms in hilly eastern Tennessee.
