34203503
submission
kodiaktau writes:
Film makers keep touting increased frame per second rate as improving viewing and cinema experience, however the number of theaters who actually support the equipment that can play the higher rate film. It makes me wonder if this is in the real interest of creating a better experience and art, or if it is a ploy by the media manufacturers to sell more expensive equipment and drive ticket prices up.
33620943
submission
kodiaktau writes:
Microsoft has announced a feature called SmartGlass that provides a new set of features when viewing media on mobile or PC devices. Sources say that it will provide context focused advertising/product placement as well as metadata about the media you are currently viewing. Additionally the interface allows you to store viewing data and share between your desktop and mobile devices to continue viewing content between devices.
32833939
submission
kodiaktau writes:
A long favorite Wolfenstein 3d is releasing as an in-browser game. I am certain that this will reduce tech productivity for days to come.
32441255
submission
kodiaktau writes:
Live video of SpaceX launch set for Monday May 7th. Following the test launch today engineers will look to make sure the launch can go live on Monday despite a number of recent delays and setbacks.
32115603
submission
kodiaktau writes:
Scientists have recently concluded a study that ties brain freezes to migraines. During the study researchers monitored blood flow to the brain and noticed that the anterior cerebral artery dilation occurred to bring more blood flow to the brain, maintaining temperature in the temperature sensitive organ. When the blood is trying clear the brain it is restricted causing a pressure imbalance in the brain and thus temporary pain.
Researchers are now looking to see if similar issues occur in migraine sufferers and looking toward pharmaceuticals that might reduce or stop the dilation of the blood vessels to prevent or curb migraines.
Interesting infographic on migraines
31589871
submission
kodiaktau writes:
In an interesting ruling the US Court of Appeals, 2nd Circut has found that Sergey Aleynikov did not violate the National Stolen Property Act because he didn't deprive Goldman Sachs from use of its source code. Additionally the court found that Sergey did not violate the corporate espionage act, because the systems were not place in and did not serve interstate or foreign commerce and the company had no intention of doing so.
In this instance the most important ruling was the rejection of the government assertion that the source code was physical property and covered under the NSPA. The court stopped short of making this a broad ruling that would alter existing legislation.
31102857
submission
kodiaktau writes:
Pattern Analysis of the MegaMillions Lottery numbers at OmniNerd provides some useful insight into the distribution of the random ball pulls for the MegaMillions Lottery. Although the trends are interesting they do not increase the odds of winning the lottery any better if the system is really random.
31099279
submission
kodiaktau writes:
In an interesting article from the BBC News Magazine, the author explores the reasons why most fantasy worlds use British as their primary accent. Citing specific examples from recent/upcoming shows/movies like Lord of The Rings/The Hobbit and Game of Thrones. The article states that the British accent is "sufficiently exotic", "comprehensible" and has a "splash of otherness".
It would be odd to think of a fantasy world having a New Jersey accent, or even a Mid-West accent, which tends to be the default for TV and movies in the USA, but how do UK viewers feel about having British as a default? More specifically, what about the range of UK accents, like Scottish, Welsh, Cockney
The International Dialects of English Archive shows at least 9 regional sounds, with dozens of sub regional pronunciations in England alone. In the USA there have always been many regional accents that might be used more interestingly film makers might consider looking at speech accents from other areas of the world to create more interesting combinations in speech.
31064909
submission
kodiaktau writes:
Salary.com profiles 14 questions that interviewers may or may not ask during the interview process such as the standards of age, gender and sexual orientation. They also profile several lesser known illegal or border line questions like height/weight, military background, country of origin and family status.
With the recent flap over companies asking potential employees for passwords during the interview process it is important to know and review your legal rights before entering the interview.
Have you been confronted with borderline or illegal interview questions in the past? How have you responded to those questions?
30785537
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kodiaktau writes:
17 year old Taylor Wilson discusses Nuclear Fusion and how it can impact our society at recent TED. Taylor was 14 when he completed the project
30728923
submission
kodiaktau writes:
The NSA is working on building the largest cyber-security project in the Utah desert. The highly classified center is said to be near Bluffdale, the location of the largest sect of polygamists in Utah. The center will be called the Utah Data Center and will be used to decipher, analyze and store data from the world's communications grid.
Wired mag was able to get a conceptual site plan from the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers showing the size and scope of the facilities. Additional information about the kinds of machines needed to support this operation is speculation, but it is assumed that based on Pentagon goals, the facility will become a library of current data that may not be able to be decrypted at this time and will store it until it can be further broken down and analyzed.
30689435
submission
kodiaktau writes:
The upcoming Olympic games are expected to stress the London data infrastructure with the primary offender being the BBC. The games will be broadcast by the BBC which expects to be broadcasting about 1TB of data per second or the equivalent of 1500 people downloading a full length DVD every minute.
30688421
submission
kodiaktau writes:
In a growing trend hiring managers are seeking to review social media connections of their job applicants. Interviewers may ask for your social media passwords to review private account information. ACLU experts continue to push back on this practice citing a violation of privacy. Other federal agencies such as the Department of Justice view these as violations of terms of service on the sites, but refuse to prosecute offending companies. In some instances hiring companies are asking job applicants to logon to their accounts so managers can review their social media accounts and in many cases are asking new hires to sign a non-disparaging agreement to ensure that new-hires do not say something offensive about their employers.
30024681
submission
kodiaktau writes:
Founder and long time cat herder Rob Malda joins the Washington Post per the announcement today. According to the press release he will be the Chief Strategist and Editor at Large working for WaPo labs.
29599859
submission
kodiaktau writes:
Hunt All reports today a reminder story about the history of the mouse as a breakthrough input device. Douglas Engelbart a war veteran sought to improve Human Computer Interaction through his studies and brought about not only the invention of the ubiquitous mouse, but also is said to be the one of the first to present multimedia demonstration via remote to in as early as 1968. He is also credited with the invention of windows technology, email and video conferencing
Engelbert's invention of the mouse in 1964 has led to many other breakthroughs in technology including enabling graphical user interfaces. At the time the patent was accepted in 1970, he was only awarded a $10,000 check, as Stanford owned the patent rights. Since then he has been awarded the Turing Award and has been inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame
More of Mr. Engelbart's work can be found here.
