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Google

Submission + - Google starts charging Chrome Extension developers (chromium.org) 2

Submitted by trooperer
trooperer writes: Yesterday, Google introduced two significant changes in the Google Chrome Extensions Gallery: a developer signup fee and a domain verification system.

The signup fee is a one-time payment of $5. Supposedly, it's purpose is to "create better safeguards against fraudulent extensions in the gallery and limit the activity of malicious developer accounts". Developers who already registered with the gallery can continue to update their extensions and publish new items without paying the fee.
Handhelds

Submission + - Real-time, detailed face tracking on a Nokia N900 (manchester.ac.uk)

Submitted by ptresadern
ptresadern writes: Researchers at the University of Manchester this week revealed a detailed face tracker that runs in real-time on the Nokia N900 mobile phone. Unlike existing mobile face trackers that give an approximate position and scale of the face, Manchester's embedded Active Appearance Model accurately tracks a number of landmarks on and around the face such as the eyes, nose, mouth and jawline. The extra level of detail that this provides potentially indicates who the user is, where they are looking and how they are feeling. The face tracker was developed as part of a face- and voice-verification system for controlling access to mobile internet applications such as e-mail, social networking and on-line banking.
Cellphones

Submission + - Sony Simplifies Flip-Phone Cabling (thinq.co.uk)

Submitted by Stoobalou
Stoobalou writes: Sony has developed a single-wire interface technology which could see and end to the fragile ribbon cables used in clamshell devices like flip phones and laptop computers.

The technology allows the data and power normally transmitted between hinged or rotating components to be sent using a single copper cable rather than the multi-strand ribbon cables commonly used which are prone to stress fractures and breakage.
The Internet

Submission + - Telenet ISP: One of our customers downloads 2.7TB (geek.com) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: While for most people the data limit is never reached, with media-rich websites becoming every more prevalent, and more media services going online (we’re looking at you streaming video services), it won’t be long before the average user is surpassing even the highest caps commonly imposed today.

But how much data is it possible to download every month? And do the so-called data-hogs really burn through that much more data than everyone else? According to Belgian ISP Telenet, the answers are “a lot” and “yes, they can”.
Programming

Submission + - Sorting algorithms: boring until you add sound (geek.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Anyone who has ever done a programming course or tried to learn to code out of a book will have come across sorting algorithms. Bubble, heap, merge, there’s a long list of these methods of sorting data. The subject matter is fairly dry. Thankfully someone has found a way to not only make sorting more interesting, but easier to remember and understand too.
Science

Submission + - What happens to a football player's neurons? (discovermagazine.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: It seems like every week there's a new story about the consequences of all those concussions experienced by football players and other athletes — just a few days ago, the NY Times reported that some athletes diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease may actually have a neural disease brought on by head trauma. But missing in these stories is an explanation of what head trauma actually does to the brain cells. Now Carl Zimmer has filled in the gap with a column that takes a look at how neurons respond to stress, and explains how stretching a neuron's axon turns its internal structure into "mush."

Submission + - Secrets of 'Magic' Antidepressant by Yale Team

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Yale researchers have discovered how a novel anti-depressant can take effect in hours, rather than the weeks or months usually required for most drugs currently on the market. The findings, described in the August 20 issue of the journal Science, should speed development of a safe and easy-to-administer form of the anti-depressant ketamine, which has already proven remarkably effective in treating severely depressed patients. The Yale scientists found that, in rats, ketamine not only quickly improves depression-like behaviors but actually restores connections between brain cells damaged by chronic stress.

Submission + - ACTA Negotiators Don't Seem to Care/Know About It (techdirt.com)

Submitted by supersloshy
supersloshy writes: Techdirt reports that ACTA negotiators don't seem to know or care that it violates USA law and that they assume that the USA will just "ignore the parts that don't mesh with the current law". Why should the USA have special exemption to having to follow ACTA word-for-word, while other countries that sign on with ACTA will? The article points out that Luc Devigne, the top European negotiator, did not realize or care that ACTA is supposed to be an "anti-counterfeiting" agreement (hence the name), and instead insists that it is an "intellectual property agreement", contrary to the name.

Submission + - Brain Connections Break Down as We Age

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: It's unavoidable: breakdowns in brain connections slow down our physical response times as we age, a new study suggests. This slower reactivity is associated with an age-related breakdown in the corpus callosum, a part of the brain that acts as a dam during one-sided motor activities to prevent unwanted connectivity, or cross-talk, between the two halves of the brain, said Rachael Seidler, associate professor in the University of Michigan School of Kinesiology and Department of Psychology, and lead study author.
Privacy

Submission + - Warner Bros, others, sued for sneaky flash cookies (networkworld.com)

Submitted by Julie188
Julie188 writes: A lawsuit in federal court alleges that several companies like Warner Bros. Records, Disney, Ustream and others "hacked the computers" of millions of consumers "to covertly, without consent, and in an unauthorized, deceptive, invasive, and fraudulent manner" implanted "rogue" Flash tracking cookies. The group referred to collectively as "Clearspring Flash Cookie Affiliates" are accused of spying on users, including kids, by intercepting online transmissions with tracking code, that even if the user deleted, would be used to "re-spawn" Flash cookies.
Idle

Submission + - Scientists Find a Better Way to Pour Champagne (physicscentral.com)

Submitted by BuzzSkyline
BuzzSkyline writes: It's better to pour Champagne the way a good bartender draws a beer, by running it down the inside surface of the glass. The revelation, which appears in July 2010 issue of the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, flies in the face of age-old French traditions, which require the bubbly to be poured in a stream that free-falls straight down the center of a champagne flute. By using infrared thermography to image the carbon dioxide that escapes over the rim of a Champagne glass for various style pours, the researchers proved that the gentler, beer-like technique allows the wine to retain more of the dissolved gas that is critical to the whole Champagne experience.
Transportation

Submission + - U.S. high-speed railway: a matter of economics

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: The federal government has committed at least $8-billion (and counting) for the development of a nationwide high-speed intercity passenger railway system in almost three-dozen states. Rail advocates have long dreamed of an extensive railway grid that will provide clean, speedy, energy-efficient travel. The high-speed rail program is also expected to create thousands of desperately needed jobs, while reducing the nation's dependence on foreign oil and easing gridlocked highways and congested air-space. However, this noble, ambitious, multi-year plan faces a multitude of obstacles -- including costs that will no doubt escalate as the years pass by; and an American public that may be reluctant to relinquish the independence and convenience of their beloved automobiles for a train.

Submission + - On the language and psychology of 1890 telegraph. (sundaymagazine.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In 1890, professional telegraph operators used their downtime to chat with each other across the country. They used shorthand similar to modern text messages, built makeshift mechanical chat bots, and could identify the operator on the other end's gender based on how he or she tapped out morse code. They could even identify an individual person by their tapping style if they've heard it enough. Fascinating article.

Submission + - Roller Coaster Superconductivity Discovered

Submitted by CarnegieScience
CarnegieScience writes: Superconductors are more efficient at carrying electricity than copper wires. But these materials have to be cooled below an extremely low, so-called transition temperature for electrical resistance to disappear. Researchers at the Carnegie’s Geophysical Laboratory, have unexpectedly found that the transition temperature can be induced under two different intense pressures in a three-layered bismuth oxide crystal. They believe this unusual two-step phenomena comes from competition of electronic behavior in different layers. http://carnegiescience.edu/news/roller_coaster_superconductivity_discovered

Feed Engadget: Pogoplug Wireless Adapter enables cord-free access, comes free to existing owner (engadget.com)

From feed by feedfeeder
Oftentimes in this business, loyal customers simply get left in the dust when the latest and greatest hits the scene. Not so with Pogoplug, which just busted out an impossible-to-resist new offer concerning an impossible-to-resist new device. The simply titled Pogoplug Wireless Adapter is a USB dongle that plays nice with 802.11b/g/n networks, and for all intents and purposes, finally lets you place your Pogoplug somewhere other than next door to your router. Just plug this guy in, and your Pogoplug is instantly WiFi-enabled. The device is available for pre-order now at $29 (ships in "3 to 4 weeks"), but in a glaring act of awesomeness, the company's handing 'em out for free to existing Pogoplug owners. Details of the offer are parked in the source link, and if you're looking to buy in for the first time, the Pogoplug unit itself has been reduced $30 to just $99. Try beating that with a stick... we dare you.

Pogoplug Wireless Adapter enables cord-free access, comes free to existing owners originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Aug 2010 12:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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