Feed Tokyo, Living Lab of Possible Futures (wired.com)
Feed Scientists Gear Up For Mercury Mission Flyby Of Venus (sciencedaily.com)
Researchers will scan Venus during a spacecraft flyby this week using an $8.7 million instrument they designed and built for NASA's MESSENGER Mission, launched in 2004 and speeding toward Mercury.
Feed Few Families Report Safe Firearm Storage, According To Survey (sciencedaily.com)
Few families store their firearms safely, according to a pediatric researchers. They noted that over 70 percent of the families surveyed reported not storing their firearms safely in their residence.
Feed The Loneliest Black Holes In The Universe (sciencedaily.com)
Actively growing supermassive black holes in centers of galaxies are common even in cosmic voids, the most rarefied and empty regions of the universe. In a study of more than 1,000 void galaxies, using data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-II), astronomers from Drexel and Widener Universities announced that the growth of these monster black holes -- with masses millions to hundreds of millions times that of our sun -- are found where galaxies are sparse and interact very little with each other. The researchers also found that the accretion of matter onto these void black holes is slower than in denser galactic environments.
Submission + - Beer Bubbles and Mathematics
An anonymous reader writes: Ever look into a glass a beer and wonder if it held the secret to some profound question? Mathematicians have unraveled a mystery involving those beautiful bubbles that float in the amber nectar which may help metallurgist. Check out:
http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/science/s tories/2007/05/29/sci_beerfoam.ART_ART_05-29-07_B5 _F76R11Q.html
Submission + - Forest officials use cell phones to catch leopard
satyakam writes: Forest officials in the state of Gujrat in India are using cellphone ringtones with rooster calls to lure leopards. Although live roosters are kept as bait, the cellphones provide an easy way to make the rooster call whenever the leopard is seen near the cage.
MySpace Age Verification - for Parents 391
unlametheweak writes "North Carolina is thinking of the children by passing a law requiring parents to verify they are parents before letting their children onto social networking sites. Notwithstanding the whole concept of an Internet ID for people in general; children are now being tracked by cellular phones with GPS, spied upon with Parent Controls (MS Vista has built-in parental spyware), and also strategically placed Nanny Cams, keyboard loggers, etc. 'Few of the proposals we've seen so far seem like good ways to [protect children], but North Carolina's approach at least has the virtue of novelty--unlike most video game legislation, which relies on similar rhetoric but has been almost universally struck down by the courts, sometimes at great cost to the states.' Is the zoo-like Minority Report world in which children are growing up in today doing more harm than good? How will this affect a 14 year old, much less a 17 year old "child"?"
Submission + - The first war in cyberspace.
An anonymous reader writes: The New York Times has an interesting article on the digital war on Estonia following the removal of a Russian war memorial.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/technology/29est onia.html?pagewanted=1&th&emc=th
Russia is blamed for launching the war and there are even tracks to Putin.
Interesting description of the attacks and countermeasures that the Estonians took which appear to have been fairly sophisticated. Now that Russia is back in the war business, I think we can expect to see more of this... welcome to the future.
Russia is blamed for launching the war and there are even tracks to Putin.
Interesting description of the attacks and countermeasures that the Estonians took which appear to have been fairly sophisticated. Now that Russia is back in the war business, I think we can expect to see more of this... welcome to the future.
Submission + - Microsoft cancels major developers' conference
Kurtz'sKompund writes: "Microsoft has cancelled its autumn Professional Developers Conference, citing bad timing in light of the launch of important infrastructure and platform products.
http://www.computerworlduk.com/technology/developm ent/software/news/index.cfm?RSS"
Submission + - MySpace Age Verification for Parents
unlametheweak writes: North Carolina thinks of the children by passing a law http://www.ncga.state.nc.us/Sessions/2007/Bills/Se nate/HTML/S132v3.html requiring parents to verify they are parents before letting their children onto social networking sites http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070528-mysp ace-age-verification-for-parents.html.
Notwithstanding the whole concept of an Internet ID for people in general; children are now being tracked by cellular phones with GPS, spied upon with Parent Controls (MS Vista has built-in parental spyware), and also strategically placed Nanny Cams, keyboard loggers, etc. Is the zoo-like Minority Report world in which children are growing up in today doing more harm than good? How will this affect a 14 year old, much less a 17 year old "child"?
Feed Bloggers risk the sack, says survey (theregister.com)
Employers should act to minimise risk
More than a third of employees who keep personal blogs are posting information about their employer, workplace, or colleagues and risk dismissal, according to new research.
Submission + - US Gives Mexico Money for Phone/Email Taps
MedicinalMan writes: According to an LA Times piece from Thursday, the US government gave money to Mexico for phone/email tapping. The political implications in Mexico involve the historical relationship of the US and Mexico, and loosening of the Mexican constitution. The implications for Americans however involve potentially skirting 4th Amendment issues by using interception of American/Mexican communication as a basis for warrants issued by American courts. The Supreme Court has ruled that the 4th Amendment only applies to people in the U.S. and the NSA currently has the power (both technologically and legally through FISA) to intercept foreign traffic, but that usually involves national security issues, not "common" prosecution of crimes. With small outlays of $3 million, it seems that it will be relatively simple to monitor Americans from the outside without constitutional protection.
Submission + - "The Sims" to move from PC screen to silve
TheCybernator writes: "SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) — Maybe they can call it "The Sims: The Movie." Electronic Arts Inc. has sold the movie rights for "The Sims," the best-selling computer game, of all time to 20th Century Fox, Variety said on Friday.
"The Sims" is one of EA's biggest franchises and, including sequels and expansions such as "The Sims: House Party" and "The Sims: Vacation," has sold nearly 85 million copies since it debuted seven years ago.
Oft-described as a "virtual dollhouse," the game puts players in charge of simulated people, helping them make friends, find satisfying jobs and buy household items in order to stay happy.
"The Sims has done an interactive version of an old story, which is what it's like to have infinite power and how do you deal with it," the Hollywood industry paper quoted Rod Humble, head of The Sims Studio at EA, as saying.
"The Sims" was created by legendary game designer Will Wright, known for his quirky titles that eschew linear storylines in favor of letting players create and explore their own worlds.
Variety did not mention financial terms of the deal. Spokesmen for EA and Fox could not immediately be reached for comment. Fox is owned by News Corp..
http://uk.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idUKN 2519868120070526"
Submission + - Musicians Can Upload & Sell Music And Take .65
Silent Thunder writes: "A new service allow musicians to upload and sell their non-DRM songs on any web site, blog or social network and keep .65 cents per song/download. Seems too generous for the company to make a profit but what the hell, musicians make as little as 4 1/2 cents on iTunes. It does not look like burn lounge's ponzi scheme. If it's real it will rock ~ http://music.goodstorm.com/"
