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Submission + - On the language and psychology of 1890 telegraph. (sundaymagazine.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In 1890, professional telegraph operators used their downtime to chat with each other across the country. They used shorthand similar to modern text messages, built makeshift mechanical chat bots, and could identify the operator on the other end's gender based on how he or she tapped out morse code. They could even identify an individual person by their tapping style if they've heard it enough. Fascinating article.

Submission + - Roller Coaster Superconductivity Discovered

Submitted by CarnegieScience
CarnegieScience writes: Superconductors are more efficient at carrying electricity than copper wires. But these materials have to be cooled below an extremely low, so-called transition temperature for electrical resistance to disappear. Researchers at the Carnegie’s Geophysical Laboratory, have unexpectedly found that the transition temperature can be induced under two different intense pressures in a three-layered bismuth oxide crystal. They believe this unusual two-step phenomena comes from competition of electronic behavior in different layers. http://carnegiescience.edu/news/roller_coaster_superconductivity_discovered

Feed Engadget: Pogoplug Wireless Adapter enables cord-free access, comes free to existing owner (engadget.com)

From feed by feedfeeder
Oftentimes in this business, loyal customers simply get left in the dust when the latest and greatest hits the scene. Not so with Pogoplug, which just busted out an impossible-to-resist new offer concerning an impossible-to-resist new device. The simply titled Pogoplug Wireless Adapter is a USB dongle that plays nice with 802.11b/g/n networks, and for all intents and purposes, finally lets you place your Pogoplug somewhere other than next door to your router. Just plug this guy in, and your Pogoplug is instantly WiFi-enabled. The device is available for pre-order now at $29 (ships in "3 to 4 weeks"), but in a glaring act of awesomeness, the company's handing 'em out for free to existing Pogoplug owners. Details of the offer are parked in the source link, and if you're looking to buy in for the first time, the Pogoplug unit itself has been reduced $30 to just $99. Try beating that with a stick... we dare you.

Pogoplug Wireless Adapter enables cord-free access, comes free to existing owners originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Aug 2010 12:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

PermalinkCrunchgear | Facebook, Pogoplug |Email this|Comments
Supercomputing

Submission + - Supercomputing: There's an App for That (utexas.edu)

Submitted by aarondubrow
aarondubrow writes: Researchers at MIT have created an experimental system for smart phones that allows engineers to leverage the power of supercomputers for instant computation and anaylsis. The team performed a series of expensive high-fidelity simulations on the Ranger supercomputer to generate a small “reduced model” which was transferred to a Google Android smart phone. They were then able to solve engineering and fluid flow problems on the phone and visualize the results interactively. The project proved the potential for reduced order methods to perform real-time and reliable simulations for complicated problems on handheld devices. [Watch the awesome demo to see the full potential of the system.]

Submission + - Oracle Sues Google Over Android Patent Infringemen (pcmag.com)

Submitted by quantumplacet
quantumplacet writes: The terse, two-paragraph press release contained the following quote from Oracle spokeswoman Karen Tillman:

"In developing Android, Google knowingly, directly and repeatedly infringed Oracle's Java-related intellectual property. This lawsuit seeks appropriate remedies for their infringement."
Oracle has asked the court to enjoin Google from further acts of infringement, which would possibly bar Google from shipping its Android operating system. "Sun released their 'free java' source code under the GPLv2 to both win the free software crowd and capture peripheral innovation and bug fixing from the community," writes Stefano Mazzocchi, an application catalyst at Metaweb. "For the java standard edition (aka 'the cat is out of the bag') there is an exception to the GPLv2 that makes it "reciprocal" only for the Java platform code itself but not for the user code running on it (or most people wouldn't even dare touching it with a pole). "But such exception to the GPLv2 is not there for the mobile edition (aka 'where the money is'),"Mazzocchi added. "This brilliant move allows Sun to play 'free software paladin' on one hand and still enjoy complete control of the licensing and income creation for the Java ME platform on mobile and embedded devices on the other (because cell phone makers would rather pay than being forced to release all their code that runs on the phone under the GPLv2 or, in many cases, they can't even if they wanted to as they don't own the entire software stack),"

Submission + - Fatal Flaws in Deolalikar’s P !=NP Proof?

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In less than a week after Vinay Deolalikar from HP Labs claimed a proof that P != NP, two possibles fatal flaws as been found in the finite model part of the proof by Neil Immerman, an experts on Finite Model Theory.

It seems that the most damaging statement of this letter is: "Thus, your restriction to only have successor and to restrict to monadic fixed points is fundamental. In this domain—only monadic fixed points and successor—FO(LFP) does not express all of P! "

There is also a longer discussion of this and related issues with his proof at the wiki page.
Science

Submission + - Bacterium hosts remnant of life's distant past (sciencedaily.com) 1

Submitted by alexandre_ganso
alexandre_ganso writes: Within a dangerous stomach bacterium, Yale University researchers have discovered an ancient but functioning genetic remnant from a time before DNA existed, they report in the August 13 issue of the journal Science.

"What these cells are doing is using ancient RNA technology to control modern gene expression," said Ron Breaker, the Henry Ford II Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at Yale, investigator for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and senior author of the study.
Apple

Submission + - Apple deny that iTV is similar to ITV (mirror.co.uk) 1

Submitted by ewrong
ewrong writes: The Daily MIrror reports that an Apple spokesperson denies that the proposed iTV set top box's name is too similar to that of the British broadcaster ITV. Law suit to follow.

Obviously Apples previous in being so flexible about such similarities to their own product names in the past, will stand them in good stead for this one.

Submission + - Greenland May Disappear in 10 Years (guardian.co.uk)

Submitted by Finerva
Finerva writes: The entire ice mass of Greenland will disappear from the world map if temperatures rise by as little as 2C, with severe consequences for the rest of the world, a panel of scientists told Congress today.

Greenland shed its largest chunk of ice in nearly half a century last week, and faces an even grimmer future, according to Richard Alley, a geosciences professor at Pennsylvania State University
Science

Submission + - First Spintronics Memory Successfully Trialled (thinq.co.uk)

Submitted by Stoobalou
Stoobalou writes: The traditional semiconductors that currently rule nearly every area of our digital lives could be replaced in the future by spintronics devices, which read and write data via the "spin" of electrons, rather than switching transistors.

Spintronics has been a common buzzword in predictions for the future of computing, and the process was recently photographed by physicists at the University of Hamburg. However, researchers at Ohio State University have now taken the technology from theory to practice, creating a working spintronics-based memory device.
Privacy

Submission + - Obama Wants Allies To Go After Wikileaks (thedailybeast.com) 1

Submitted by krou
krou writes: Coming on the back of human rights groups criticising Wikileaks, American officials are saying that the Obama administration is pressuring allies such as Australia, Britain, and Germany to open criminal investigations against Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, and to try limit his ability to travel. 'It’s not just our troops that are put in jeopardy by this leaking. It’s U.K. troops, it’s German troops, it’s Australian troops—all of the NATO troops and foreign forces working together in Afghanistan,' said one American diplomatic official, who added that other governments should 'review whether the actions of WikiLeaks could constitute crimes under their own national-security laws.'
Science

Submission + - False memories easily implanted (australiangeographic.com.au)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Something like in the movie Inception, detail from another person's version of events can easily be absorbed into our own memories, researchers find.

Submission + - Green laser pointers may be dangerous (nist.gov) 1

Submitted by maxwell demon
maxwell demon writes: Researchers at NIST have found out that cheap green laser pointers can emit dangerously intense infrared light. Since you cannot see infrared light, you'll normally not notice it, however it's dangerous for your eye. The article also describes how to test laser pointers with consumer equipment. Of course, while doing that, do not look into laser with remaining eye.

Submission + - Taser bid to quash report sqaushed (reuters.com)

Submitted by mevets
mevets writes: The inquiry report characterizes the stun guns as lethal weapons, in contrast to Taser Internationals claims. Tasers bid to have the inquiry quashed was deemed to have no merit.

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