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Education

Correcting Misperceptions About Evolution 838

Beagle writes "The science of evolution is often misunderstood by the public and a session at the recent AAAS meeting in Boston covered three frequently misapprehended topics in evolutionary history, the Cambrian explosion, origin of tetrapods, and evolution of human ancestors, as well as the origin of life. The final speaker, Martin Storksdieck of the Institute for Learning Innovation, covered how to communicate the data to a public that 'has such a hard time accepting what science is discovering.' His view: 'while most of the attention has focused on childhood education, we really should be going after the parents. Everyone is a lifelong learner, Storksdieck said, but once people leave school, that learning becomes a voluntary matter that's largely driven by individual taste.'"
Biotech

Pope Denounces Some Biotech as Affront to 'Human Dignity' 1158

eldavojohn writes "Today in a speech the pope denounced human cloning, embryonic stem cell research and artificial insemination, citing them as a violation of 'human dignity.' That said, the pope did 'appreciate and encourage' research on stem cells from non-embryonic cells in the human body. The pope encouraged the Vatican to be a leading voice in the philosophy and discussion of bioethics. 'Church teaching certainly cannot and must not weigh in on every novelty of science, but it has the task to reiterate the great values which are on the line and to propose to faithful and all men of good will ethical-moral principles and direction for new, important questions,' Benedict said."
United States

Maryland Scraps Diebold Voting System 209

beadfulthings writes "After eight years and some $65 million, the state of Maryland is taking its first steps to return to an accountable, paper-ballot based voting system. Governor Martin O'Malley has announced an initial outlay of $6.5 million towards the $20 million cost of an optical system which will scan and tally the votes while the paper ballots are retained as a backup. The new (or old) system is expected to be in place by 2010 — or four years before the state finishes paying off the bill for the touch-screen system."
Cellphones

Mobile Phone Projectors "Will Launch This Year" 168

An anonymous reader writes "Mobile phones with built-in mini projectors will launch later this year, according to 3M, which gave PC Pro a hands-on demonstration of the technology at CES 2008. The projector has a brightness of around 8-10 lumens, and is capable of displaying an image of up to 50 in., although 3M's spokesperson Greg Roberts told us that, with perfect lighting conditions, it's possible to squeeze a 60-in. screen out of the projector."
It's funny.  Laugh.

Dvorak's gPhone Comments Mark Him As 'Out of Touch'?

An anonymous reader writes "You may recall Dvorak's recent, dire predictions of doom and gloom for the Google Phone. It's no surprise that a lot of people disagreed, but one reviewer has gone so far as to claim that the man's predictions are so out of touch and off base that they prove he is no longer fit for technology writing. From the article: 'John C. Dvorak, a long time main stay of technology magazines, has proven that he is so absolutely out of touch with modern technology and its uses that his future opinions are all now cast into doubt ... I'm really not sure where Dvorak is getting his ideas, but I think it is clear from his column that he has grown dangerously out of touch with modern technology.' The article goes on to highlight many of Google's successful features which have already debuted on all mobile phones (and which many people are still unaware of), for free, and how this is likely to fit into their plan for the future. There is also a good discussion on the future of the mobile phone industry, and how new technologies are likely to change the way we view the role of mobile communication devices."
User Journal

Journal Journal: Ugliest Websites 2

For whatever reason tonight I found myself trying to find the ugliest websites on the internet - I imagine others have done the same in a fit of boredom. The worst I could find is this: http://www.mikeschuster.com/ I'm sure there's worse, though.
Windows

Journal Journal: Question for the Windows/IIS Know-somethings

Ok, I've been banging my head against a wall for a day or so trying to understand why this happens. Hopefully it's something stupid and simple and I can go on with my life. Forgive me if I refer to something incorrectly, I'll try to make sense and not embarrass myself.

Scenario:
Domain: MYDOMAIN (mydomain.com) (2003 Active Dir. in 2000 compat mode)
servera - 172.18.2.10 - Windows 2000 server, IIS 5
websitea - 172.18.100.30 - DNS A record for intranet website on servera
GameCube (Games)

Journal Journal: Resident Evil 4

So I think Reisdent Evil 4 might be the best game I've ever played. It's not my favorite (at least not yet), but it is definitely one of the highest quality and most entertaining games I've seen. Warning: there's probably spoiler like material below this sentence:

Jaw-dropping graphics/animation/sound/voice acting - plus (so far) a perfect camera

Virtually no load times (this has become a mysteriously important attribute to me)

Good controls

Upgrades

Journal Journal: Question for Inuyasha Fans 1

I kinda got sucked into this show after leaving Adult Swim on TV at night. My question is - why is Kagome's family so OK with her jumping down a well into a demon filled feudal era 500 years in the past? Not to mention rarely going to school? Is it just progressive parenting? Is there some sort of history in the family and the well? I don't know why this is such a sticking point for me, yet here I am. Is there any good way to see backstory to all the stuff that's currently on AS?
PlayStation (Games)

Journal Journal: A PS2 Related Public Service Announcement 1

If anyone gets a 2004 Holiday Demo Disc in the mail from Sony, be careful. The Viewtiful Joe 2 demo can (and apparently will) wipe out whatever memory card is in your PS2. I received this email from them about it:

Dear PlayStation(R) Underground Member,

Sun Microsystems

Journal Journal: 4 Post Racks 1

Where would a person go to find a reasonably priced 4 post, open frame rack (in the range of 18U to 24Uish)? Every single racks-are-our-business.com site seems a little fishy to me; I need the insight of someone who has looked for this before.

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It seems that more and more mathematicians are using a new, high level language named "research student".

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