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Medicine

Scientists Turn Used LCDs Into Medicine 30

Posted by timothy from the waste-not-want-not dept.
schliz writes "Scientists from the University of York have come up with a new recycling technique that extracts PVA from used LCD panels to create a 'a bioactive sponge.' The technique could allow recovered PVA to be used in pills, wound dressings and tissue scaffolds that aid human tissue regeneration. It could also keep waste LCD screens from incineration or landfill altogether."
Graphics

Choosing Better-Quality JPEG Images With Software? 291

Posted by timothy from the on-the-tip-of-my-script dept.
kpoole55 writes "I've been googling for an answer to a question and I'm not making much progress. The problem is image collections, and finding the better of near-duplicate images. There are many programs, free and costly, CLI or GUI oriented, for finding visually similar images — but I'm looking for a next step in the process. It's known that saving the same source image in JPEG format at different quality levels produces different images, the one at the lower quality having more JPEG artifacts. I've been trying to find a method to compare two visually similar JPEG images and select the one with the fewest JPEG artifacts (or the one with the most JPEG artifacts, either will serve.) I also suspect that this is going to be one of those 'Well, of course, how else would you do it? It's so simple.' moments."

Comment Multiple Systems (Score 3, Insightful) 553

by woodchip (#28677227) Attached to: Strong Passwords Not As Good As You Think
An other hurdle to usability is when you have multiple systems at work place that require a rotating complex password where you can't remember what password belongs to what system. Where I use to work we would have a password for the NT/domain PC login, and a password for the UNIX terminal thing everyone had to log into do anything. And withing the software on the UNIX terminal they used, for certain subsystems there was "shared" passwords that never changed, while remembered, they was still semi-complex, e.g. real word that substitutes a couple numbers for letters. I counted once, I had to know 25 different passwords, two-personal, and two "shared" to do my job, and I wasn't even working in a IT or IT-like postion.
Image

Sperm Travels Faster Toward Attractive Females Screenshot-sm 347

Posted by samzenpus from the like-father-like-gamete dept.
A new study has shown that even sperm can be superficial. Researchers found that males of many animal species, including humans, can adjust the speed and effectiveness of their sperm by regulating the amount of seminal fluid they produce during copulation. The determining factor on that amount of fluid seems to be whether the male finds the female attractive.
Government

UK Police Told To Use Wikipedia When Preparing For Court 180

Posted by Soulskill from the citation-needed dept.
Half-pint HAL tips news of UK prosecution lawyers who are instructing police to study information on Wikipedia when preparing to give expert testimony in court. "Mike Finn, a weaponry specialist and expert witness in more than 100 cases, told industry magazine Police Review: 'There was one case in a Midlands force where police officers asked me to write a report about a martial art weapon. The material they gave me had been printed out from Wikipedia. The officer in charge told me he was advised by the CPS to use the website to find out about the weapon and he was about to present it in court. I looked at the information and some of it had substance and some of it was completely made up.' Mr. Finn, a former Metropolitan Police and City of London officer and Home Office adviser, added that he has heard of at least three other cases where officers from around the country have been advised by the CPS to look up evidence on Wikipedia."
Privacy

Swedish Court Says IP Numbers Privacy Protected 108

Posted by CmdrTaco from the then-how-can-i-ping-you dept.
oh2 writes "The highest applicable Swedish court, Regeringsrätten, has ruled that IP numbers are protected (in Swedish) since they can be traced to individuals. This means that only government agencies are allowed to track and store IP addresses, leaving 'anti-piracy' advocates with no legal way to find possible copyright infringers." Update: 06/18 14:42 GMT by KD : The original linked article had been pulled due to factual errors and a new article has been posted (link replaced above). Here is a Google translation. The new article makes clear that the ruling does not affect the anti-piracy efforts of rights-holders.
Update: 06/18 15:08 GMT by KD : Behind the link below is a summary in English of the article sent in by the submitter, oh2.
The Media

You're (Probably) Not Going To Be a Pro Blogger 120

Posted by timothy from the but-you-could-still-win-valuable-prizes dept.
ThousandStars writes "Contrary to what the specious Wall Street Journal article Early Transition to Blog Pro says, You're Not Going to be a Professional Blogger argues that not that many people can make money through web advertising. The WSJ article 'doesn't discuss how people actually use their blogs to make money, which is by selling ancillary services.'"
KDE

KDE 4.2.4 Released 153

Posted by timothy from the smoothing-a-smoothie dept.
An anonymous reader writes "KDE 4.2.4 has been released. See the release announcement for details." Barring a "security issue or another grave bug," this is the end of the KDE 4.2 line, which means for distros based on long-term support, it might be the thing to get used to for a while.
Sony

Sony Pictures CEO Thinks the Net Wasn't Worth It 562

Posted by timothy from the neither-was-coming-out-of-the-trees dept.
rossturk writes "Michael Lynton, CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment, said, 'I'm a guy who doesn't see anything good having come from the Internet, period.' Why? Because people 'feel entitled' to have what they want when they want it, and if they can't get it for free, 'they'll steal it.' It's become customary to expect a somewhat limited perspective on things from old-world entertainment companies, but his inability to acknowledge that the Internet has changed everything makes me think he's a very confused man. Is this when we all give up hope that companies like Sony Pictures can adapt? Will we look back on this as one of the defining moments when the industrialized entertainment industry lost touch for good?"

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