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Submission + - WHO Bit Tax on the Internet? (foxnews.com)

Submitted by gsgriffin
gsgriffin writes: The World Health Organization has a novel idea. As a global organization in need of funding, why not be the first to tax everyone on the Internet with a "Bit" tax. Page #9 of a released Executive Summary from Dec, 2009 suggests that this is a brilliant way to distribute the burden of financing for their research and development. Who knows, if this somehow gets accepted and catches on, more and more global organizations may be able to jump on this bandwagon and find a novel way to generate funds. Their cause may be noble, but is there means of funding justified?
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - Open source Russian vacuum fluorescent tube clock (ladyada.net)

Submitted by
ptorrone
ptorrone writes: "Hacker hacker extraordinaire Ladyada has just published a complete how-to and design document on making your own open source Russian vacuum fluorescent clock. Unlike Nixie tubes the vacuum fluorescent aren't as dangerous (high voltage) and there seems to be more of them available in the world. If you're not interested in building a clock from scratch you can also pick up a kit version. All the schematics, source code and files are located on the project's page which you can also learn about onboard open-loop boost converters, using microcontroller PWM pins to generate 60VDC light VF tunes. Another is code for a microcontroller-only low-power RTC that runs at only 50uA without the need of an external RTC (real time clock) chip."
Earth

Submission + - Threatened Languages Digitally Archived for Future

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "The Telegraph reports that of the world's 6,000 natural languages, half will probably not survive for another generation so experts are encouraging native people and anthropologists to capture myths, folk songs chants and poems in their dying languages through a collected oral literature compiled into a digital archive that can be accessed on demand and will make the "nuts and bolts" of lost cultures readily available. "When a language becomes endangered so too does a cultural world view," says Dr Mark Turin of Cambridge University's Department of Social Anthropology. ""We want to engage with indigenous people trying to document their myths and folklore." The first batch of archives material includes a recording of folk music of the Lo Monthang region, Nepal, and ceremonial chanting in the Vaupés Region of Colombia. The World Oral Literature Project has already handed out around 10 grants to tribes from Mongolia to Nigeria — and the researchers admitted traditional British languages such as Cornish and Gaelic are also at risk. ""People often think it's often only tribal cultures that are under threat," says Turin. "But all over Europe there are pockets of traditional communities and speech forms that have become extinct.""
Power

Submission + - Discovery could lead to computer revolution 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Researchers from the Universities of Cambridge and Birmingham have shown that the electron can be divided into other particles.

http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/news/dp/2009073101

From the article published 31 July 2009;

"The electron is a fundamental building block of nature and is indivisible in isolation, yet a new experiment has shown that electrons, if crowded into narrow wires, are seen to split apart."

The new particles are called the Spinon and Holon.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spinon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holon_(physics)
Transportation

Submission + - Solar Plane Could Fly for Five Years Straight (inhabitat.com)

Submitted by Mike
Mike writes: Signaling big things for the future of solar-powered travel, Aurora Flight Sciences has unveiled the Odysseus, a solar-powered concept plane that will be capable of staying aloft for five years without touching the earth. The plane consists of three wing shaped structures that are capable of automatically arranging themselves into a variety of shapes to maximize sun exposure. Researchers are currently exploring different ways the plane could store power when the sun isn't shining-possible methods include flywheels, fuel cells or even batteries.
OS X

Submission + - Apple to Ship Mac OS X Snow Leopard on August 28

Submitted by okapi
okapi writes: Apple® today announced that Mac OS® X v10.6 Snow Leopard(TM) will go on sale Friday, August 28 at Apple's retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers, and that Apple's online store is now accepting pre-orders.
Cellphones

Submission + - Why the Google Phone Isn't Taking Off 2

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "Farhad Manjoo writes in Slate that while the iPhone commands nearly 14 percent of smartphone sales and BlackBerry about 21 percent. Android has only 3 percent and that even though it's far friendlier to developers, Android has failed to attract anywhere near the number of apps now clogging the iPhone. Manjoo writes that Google went wrong by giving handset manufacturers and carriers a great deal of control over the design and marketing of Android phones so there is no idealized "Google phone"--instead, Android devices get names like the T-Mobile G1 or the myTouch 3G, and each is marketed separately and comes with its own distinct capabilities and shortcomings. "Outside handset manufacturers lack ambition--none of them even seems to be trying to match the capabilities of the iPhone, let alone to knock us down with features that far surpass those of Apple's device," writes Manjoo. "A smart handset manufacturer could build a top-of-the-line Android device that outshines Apple's phone in at least a few areas--better battery life, a much better Web browser, a brighter or bigger screen, faster or more functional controls ... something that might help Android inspire gadget lust. But so far, that's not happening." John Gruber adds that the goal should be to make a phone that is better than the iPhone. "Carefully select a handful of areas where you can beat the iPhone, and then promote the hell out of these features," writes Gruber. "If your hope is to gain a strong foothold in the market with a sub-par device, you are mistaken. If Apple is BMW, you can be Porsche.""
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Rescued Banks Sought Foreign Help During Meltdown

Submitted by
theodp
theodp writes: "Major U.S. banks sought permission to bring thousands of foreign workers into the country even as the system was melting down and Americans were getting laid off, according to an AP review of visa applications. The dozen banks now receiving the biggest rescue packages, totaling $150+ billion, requested visas for more than 21,800 foreign workers over the past six years. The American Bankers Association blamed the U.S. talent pool for forcing the move, saying there were not enough Americans capable of handling sales, lending and bank administration. The AP has turned to a FOIA filing to force the U.S. Customs and Immigration Service to disclose further details on the bailed-out banks' foreign hires."
Microsoft

Submission + - Does Bill Ayers Owe Bill Gates an I-Told-You-So?

Submitted by
theodp
theodp writes: "Three years ago, Sarah-Palin-bogeyman William Ayers published a paper (pdf) questioning the direction the small school movement was taking with the involvement of would-be education reformers like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. And now, after $2 billion in grants, Bill Gates concedes that in most cases his foundation's efforts in that area fell short. 'Many of the small schools that we invested in did not improve students' achievement in any significant way,' said Gates. Bill does cite High Tech High as one of the few success stories, but even there has to limit his atta-boys to the San Diego branch — the Gates-backed Silicon Valley High Tech High closed its doors abruptly due to financial woes (concerns about the sustainability of Gates-initiated small schools were voiced in 2005). Not surprisingly, some parents are upset about the capital school districts wasted following Bill's lead."
Privacy

Yale Students' Lawsuit Unmasks Anonymous Trolls 668

Posted by timothy from the hate-is-such-an-ugly-word dept.
palegray.net writes "Two female Yale law school students have used the courts to ascertain the identities of otherwise anonymous posters to an Internet forum, with the intent of prosecuting them for hateful remarks left on the boards. At a minimum, the posters' future legal careers are certainly jeopardized by these events. While I'm not certainly not supporting or encouraging hateful speech online, these controversial actions hold potentially far-reaching consequences for Internet privacy policy and free speech." According to the linked Wired Law article, "The women themselves have gone silent, and their lawyers — two of whom are now themselves being sued — are not talking to the press."
Mozilla

Ogg Theora In Firefox, With Wikimedia Support 339

Posted by timothy from the cause-for-optimism dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Ogg Theora support for the HTML5 <video> tag is in the Firefox 3.1 nightlies. Theora is the only video format allowed on Wikimedia Commons, so Wikimedia people are pushing Wikipedia readers to download a nightly and try it out. Break it, crash it, report bugs, get it into good shape and nullify Apple and Nokia's FUD the best way possible. They may have gotten the words 'Vorbis' and 'Theora' removed from the HTML5 spec, but the market will tell them when their browsers are sucking."
The Internet

Adobe Makes Flash Crawlable 232

Posted by CmdrTaco from the what-about-cut-and-paste dept.
nickull wrote in his journal that "Today Adobe systems made an announcement that it has provided technology and information to Google and Yahoo! to help the two search engine rivals index Shockwave Flash (SWF) file formats. According to the company, this will provide more relevant search rankings of the millions pieces of Flash content. Until now, developers had to implement workarounds for exposing text content used in Flash to search-engine spiders and other bots such as using XHTML data providers. While the Flash content is exposed, it is not yet clear how it will be utilized by the search engines, as they have not revealed their algorithms. The SWF specification is openly published."
Networking

Submission + - FireWire spec to boost data speeds to 3.2 Gbps 1

Submitted by Stony Stevenson
Stony Stevenson writes: A new set of specs for data transfer technology will quadruple top speeds to 3.2 Gbps. Formally known as IEEE 1394, the technology is called FireWire by Apple and i.LINK by Sony. The new version is called S3200 and builds on the earlier specification approved by the IEEE, according to the trade association that is preparing to unveil the details this week. The technology will be able to use existing FireWire 800 cables and connectors while delivering a major boost in performance. "It will probably go into storage products first," said 1394 Trade Association spokesman Richard Davies in an e-mail Wednesday. "It should turn up in set-top boxes and maybe Blue-ray devices, too. It's too soon to tell how fast consumer electronics makers might adopt it."
Google

Submission + - Google's 10th year brings key strategic challenges (networkworld.com)

Submitted by
jbrodkin
jbrodkin writes: "In a single decade, Google has emerged from humble beginnings as a Stanford University research project to become one of the most recognized brands in the world and a competitor to technology giant Microsoft. But the company faces key strategic challenges in 2008 that could determine its future success. Google's top priority is to diversify its revenue source by solidifying claims to the online video and mobile advertising markets. Despite these major challenges, don't expect Google to shy away from side projects, such as building a repository of personal health information, and expanding its presence in China, even if it means bowing to censorship requirements of the Chinese government."

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