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Biotech

Chemical Cocktail Can Keep a Heart Viable 10 Days, Outside the Body 97

nj_peeps writes "Harvard professor Hemant Thatte has developed a cocktail of 21 chemical compounds that he calls Somah, derived from the Sanskrit for 'ambrosia of rejuvenation.' Using Somah, Thatte and his team have accomplished some amazing feats with pig hearts. They can keep the organ viable for transplant up to 10 days after harvest — far longer than the four-hour limit seen in hospitals today. Not only that, but using low temperatures and Somah, they were able to take a pig heart that was removed post mortem and get it to beat 24 hours later in the lab."
Portables

WePad Tablet Will Use Linux To Rival the iPad 536

cypherdtraitor writes with news of an iPad rival being prepped in Germany for a June launch. "A German company, Neofonie GmbH, has set out to provide an alternative to the iPad, according to Neofonie's founder, Helmut Hoffer von Ankershoffen. The WePad will boast a Linux-based OS, USB ports, webcam, and Wi-Fi, as well as other features. The 16GB edition will cost €449 ($610), and the 32GB €569 ($773). A more expensive model will include a 3G modem. This PDF compares WePad specs with the iPad. There are also hints of cheap, available software. For example, OpenOffice.org will be the primary office suite, and you may use 'any application that pleases you' to play music and video, a clear edge over Apple's limitation to iTunes." The WePad will also run Flash.
Image

Son Sues Mother Over Facebook Posts 428

Most kids hate having their parents join in on a discussion on Facebook, but one 16-year-old in Arkansas hates it so much he has filed suit against his mother, charging her with harassment. From the article: "An Arkadelphia mother is charged with harassment for making entries on her son's Facebook page. Denise New's 16-year-old son filed charges against her last month and requested a no-contact order after he claims she posted slanderous entries about him on the social networking site. New says she was just trying to monitor what he was posting." Seems like he could just unfriend her.
Australia

Google Gives the US Government Access To Gmail 445

schliz writes "Google condemns the Chinese Government for censoring its results, and Australia for planning to do the same. Meanwhile, its lawyers and security experts have told employees to 'be intentionally vague about whether or not we've given access to end-user accounts,' according to engineer James Tarquin, hinting that Google may be sharing its data with the US government. Perhaps Australia's most hated communications minister, Steven Conroy, could be right in his criticism of Google's privacy record after all."
Yahoo!

Submission + - Yahoo on Congressional Hot Seat (nytimes.com)

Richard Silverstein writes: "Congress put Yahoo's Jerry Yang on the hot seat for the company's complicity in the arrest and imprisonment of Chinese pro-democracy journalist, Shi Tao, currently serving 10 years in prison:

"While technologically and financially you are giants, morally you are pygmies," Tom Lantos, Democrat of California and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said angrily after hearing from the two executives, Jerry Yang, the chief executive, and Michael J. Callahan, the general counsel... Mr. Lantos angrily urged the two men to apologize to the journalist's mother, who was sitting directly behind them. Mr. Yang and Mr. Callahan turned around from the witness table and bowed from their seats to Mr. Shi's mother, Gao Qinsheng, who bowed in return and then began to weep.
Yahoo responded to a Chinese supeona by providing identifying information allowing Chinese authorities to track down Mr. Shi."

Republicans

Submission + - Liberty Candidate Shatters Fund Raising Record 4

gebbeth writes: "The 2008 presidential candidate and author of the American Freedom Agenda Act of 2007 (that aims to restore many of our civil liberties) shattered the GOP fund-raising record on the 5th of November (remember remember the 5th of November...) by raising roughly 4.2 million dollars in 24 hours, mostly in on-line donations. This is despite negative treatment by the Mainstream Media and poor showing in "scientific" polls. The positive publicity that he is able to gather is almost entirely from citizen journalism on youtube and various blogs. Are the traditional media outlets obsolete and dying under their own weight and lack of relevance? Is citizen journalism once again the future?"
OS X

Submission + - Darwin 9.0 Code Released (macnn.com)

mr100percent writes: MacNN reports that Apple has released the source code to Darwin 9.0, the backbone of OS X 10.5 Leopard. x86 and PPC versions are available. According to Apple's developer mailing list, some key drivers are missing however.
Privacy

Submission + - RFID Chips In School Uniforms

blurker writes: According to this Information Week article, a school in the UK is testing a student-tracking system based on RFID chips implanted in their uniforms: Ten schoolchildren in the United Kingdom are being tracked by RFID chips in their school uniforms as part of a pilot program. If the program proves successful as a way to hasten registration, simplify data entry for the school's behavioral reporting system, and ensure attendance, Trevor Darnborough, whose company, Darnbro, filed for a patent on securing RFID tags to clothing, hopes other schools will be interested, according to the Doncaster Free Press.
Google

Submission + - Cyber-Squatter Demands Job at Google (smh.com.au)

Kugrian writes: "A German network administrator who cyber-squatted at least eight Google-related domain names, has demanded a job at Google in exchange for handing over ownership of the domains. Sebastian Klein, 27, has posted an open letter to Google in 10 languages on each of the sites saying that he would relinquish the domain addresses for free if he got a job offer in return. In a letter, he said "Hi Google, I would not like to keep these domains, earn also no money with it. I return it to you immediately free of charge. All I seek for is a job at Google.""
Media

Submission + - P2P File Sharing Increases CD Sales (www.cbc.ca)

Foddz writes: A new study by the University of London researchers Birgitte Andersen and Marion Frenz, for Industry Canada has found a positive correlation between P2P file sharing and increased spending on audio CDs.

From the article:
"The report found that for every track downloaded using peer-to-peer (P2P) software, file sharers purchased 0.44 more CDs a year than those who did not use the software.

"There is a strong positive relationship between P2P file-sharing and CD purchasing," the report said. "That is, among Canadians actually engaged in it, P2P file-sharing increases CD purchasing.""

Television

Submission + - Colbert enters the Presidential Race

zstlaw writes: "As red, white and blue balloons fell around him, Stephen Colbert announced his candidacy for president on 'The Colbert Report'. He went on to claim he will only run in South Carolina where he has roots. In a typical Colbert fashion he claimed he would run as Democrat and Republican so that he could lose twice.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hFzxF7XLwi7Il2DVEE6la0NVo — gD8SB07VO0

While the candidacy appears to be tongue-in-cheek, with Colbert's sizable audience even a tongue in cheek candidacy could pull a large number of young voters whom are unsatisfied with other candidates. How do you think this may effect the already crowded field?"

Comment Re:I do what I can to the phishers (Score 2, Insightful) 425

Otherwise, I could print a book of checks for your account and write checks, and it'd be your fault for giving me the info to make that possible (even though a check is sufficient info).
This analogy would be better if you said that you printed a book of checks and then fooled the customer to sign them all. If you sign the check, you are liable. When you give a phisher your ssn, user name, password, ect. you are essentially signing the check. No one went through your mail, found you account number and forged your signature. You were conned into giving the criminal a signed, blank check. While I feel sorry for everyone that has been through this ordeal (and I worked for a bank for five years and saw plenty of them), I don't think that the bank should be liable.

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