Comment "Drift" (Score 1) 217
I would not be the least bit surprised to find out that the "drift" always happens in favor of the candidate(s) (or their party) who were bought by the company that built the machine.
Submission + - Body 2.0 - Continuous Monitoring Of The Human Body (singularityhub.com)
Singularity Hub writes: "Did you ever stop to think how silly and also how dangerous it is to live our lives with absolutely no monitoring of our body's medical status? Years from now people will look back and find it unbelievable that heart attacks, strokes, hormone imbalances, sugar levels, and hundreds of other bodily vital signs and malfunctions were not being continuously anticipated and monitored by medical implants. We can call this concept body 2.0, or the networked body, and we need it now! Singularity Hub reviews the concept of Body 2.0 and the companies that are making it a reality."
Comment Re:Welcome to California!!! (Score 1) 597
Who's dumber -- the politicians or the voters who (put them|allow them to remain) in office?
Submission + - Hitachi releases half-terabyte notebook drive (computerworld.com) 5
Lucas123 writes: "Hitachi has released its Travelstar 5K500 2.5-inch disk drive that has 500GB capacity and spins at 5,400 rpm with a 3Gbit/sec Serial Advanced Technology Attachment interface. At the same time, Asus announced a 1TB laptop that incorporates two 500GB drives. The Asus M70 will be launched at CES next week. It comes optionally equipped with a digital/analog TV tuner and video recording capability. The Hitachi will be available in February for about $350 for a 400GB version and about $400 for a 500GB version."
Submission + - Who is the baddest bad-ass character in Sci-Fi? 1
C3ntaur writes:
- Stargate SG1 : Teal'c
- The Matrix : Trinity
- Star Trek: The Next Generation : Worf
- Deep Space 9 : Captain Sisko
- Babylon 5 : Michael Garibaldi
- Andromeda : Andromeda Ascendant / "Romy"
- Farscape : Ka D'argo
Crime Reduction Linked To Lead-Free Gasoline 616
Hugh Pickens writes "Even low levels of lead can cause brain damage, increasing the likelihood of behavioral and cognitive traits such as impulsivity, aggressiveness, and low IQ that are strongly linked with criminal behavior. The NYTimes has a story on how the phasing out of leaded gasoline starting with the Clean Air Act in 1973 may have led to a 56% drop in violent crime in the US in the 1990s. An economics professor at Amherst College, Jessica Wolpaw Reyes, discovered the connection and wrote a paper comparing the reduction of lead from gasoline between states (PDF) and the reduction of violent crime. She constructed a table linking crime rates in every state to childhood lead exposure in that state 20 or 30 years earlier. If lead poisoning is a factor in the development of criminal behavior, then countries that didn't switch to unleaded fuel until the 1980s, like Britain and Australia, should soon see a dip in crime as the last lead-damaged children outgrow their most violent years."
Submission + - 7 Places Linux Needs Improvement
An anonymous reader writes: On the heels of the release of the 2.6.23 update of the Linux kernel, InfoWeek's Charlie Babcock proposes a list of 7 areas where Linux could get better. For starters, he picks on virtualization, repeating the claim that KVM isn't enterprise-ready. The list continues with real-time performance, quoting MontaVista founder Jim Ready as saying that the latest kernel shows "a little bit of regression" in this regard. Also cited as areas needing improvement are interrupt handling, security (more limiting of app access to the OS), file systems (adding ones like Reiser4 and ZFS), and power management. Is this stuff icing on the cake best left to specialty products or do you agree that these are deficiencies which need to be addressed?
Submission + - RIAA gets first victory in court
Azar writes: After testimony wrapped up earlier today a verdict was handed down. Jammie Thomas, 30, from Minnesota had damages of $220,000 levied against her today. In the first such lawsuit to go to trial, the record companies accused Jammie Thomas of downloading the songs without permission and offering them online through a Kazaa file-sharing account. The jury ordered Thomas to pay the six record companies that sued her $9,250 for each of 24 songs they focused on in the case. They had alleged she shared 1,702 songs in all.
During the three-day trial, the record companies presented evidence they said showed the copyrighted songs were offered by a Kazaa user under the name "tereastarr." Their witnesses, including officials from an Internet provider and a security firm, testified that the Internet address used by "tereastarr" belonged to Thomas.
Submission + - What to do with OOXML files?
An anonymous reader writes: I just received my first OOXML file. I can't open it because I have not shelled out for Office 2007 — and I had no plans to. OpenOffice is unable to open it and from what I've seen, the import filter is still a ways off.
I replied with a quick note to the sender that I can't open the file, but I'm not sure how my response will be met. After all, the sender paid good money for his shiny new Office 2007, and is not likely to downgrade nor to bother with saving in "inferior" formats. I'd like to put it to the community then: how do you plan to deal with the coming onslaught of OOXML files?
I replied with a quick note to the sender that I can't open the file, but I'm not sure how my response will be met. After all, the sender paid good money for his shiny new Office 2007, and is not likely to downgrade nor to bother with saving in "inferior" formats. I'd like to put it to the community then: how do you plan to deal with the coming onslaught of OOXML files?
Submission + - How to turn lots of small machines into storage? 1
cyber-dragon.net writes: I am trying to build a storage system which will accommodate the throughput of running about 400 VMWare ESX images without the cost of a SAN or NAS. I know... insert comments about PHBs and budgets.
What I DO have access to is LOTS of appliance level machines which are Linux capable that are small enough I can put two per 1U. They have 80Gb drives or thereabouts and Celeron processors as well as gigabit nics. As I researched storage I kept running across articles about how Google uses tons of small machines for fast access and thought there was a chance this could work for me . Yes I know their requirements are different and that style of array is not what I need but something using the same concepts might work.
The main problems to overcome:
What I DO have access to is LOTS of appliance level machines which are Linux capable that are small enough I can put two per 1U. They have 80Gb drives or thereabouts and Celeron processors as well as gigabit nics. As I researched storage I kept running across articles about how Google uses tons of small machines for fast access and thought there was a chance this could work for me . Yes I know their requirements are different and that style of array is not what I need but something using the same concepts might work.
The main problems to overcome:
- Data redundancy... if I loose one box I want to be able to just plug another one in
- Access speed... needs to be fast enough to support 400 running virtual machines so would likely have to span the data across several since each individual HD is not fast enough to support more than one.
Data point on this... a pair of 10k RPM SCSI drives in RAID 0 runs 12 of these just fine. - Adding space... would love to be able to just plug another one in and get more space
Submission + - Why Myths Persist
lottameez writes: There's a very interesting article (registration required) in the Washington Post about recent research into the persistence of myths. From the story:
The conventional response to myths and urban legends is to counter bad information with accurate information. But the new psychological studies show that denials and clarifications, for all their intuitive appeal, can paradoxically contribute to the resiliency of popular myths.
This phenomenon may help explain why large numbers of Americans incorrectly think that Saddam Hussein was directly involved in planning the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, and that most of the Sept. 11 hijackers were Iraqi. While these beliefs likely arose because Bush administration officials have repeatedly tried to connect Iraq with Sept. 11, the experiments suggest that intelligence reports and other efforts to debunk this account may in fact help keep it alive.
The research is painting a broad new understanding of how the mind works. Contrary to the conventional notion that people absorb information in a deliberate manner, the studies show that the brain uses subconscious "rules of thumb" that can bias it into thinking that false information is true. Clever manipulators can take advantage of this tendency.
Submission + - Rails Creator on Java and Other 'Junk' (itworld.com)
narramissic writes: "David Heinemeier Hansson was a 23-year-old student at Copenhagen Business School when he began work on Ruby on Rails a little over four years ago. His goal was to write a simple Web application framework that would free developers from the misery of repetitive coding that he sees as inherent in widely used platforms like Java and .Net. By most accounts he succeeded. In this interview, Hansson discusses the upcoming Ruby on Rails user conference and what the future may hold."
Submission + - Sun to change ticker symbol to JAVA
C3ntaur writes:
Sun Microsystems today announced that it will change its Nasdaq stock ticker symbol from SUNW to JAVA, the ubiquitous technology and brand it created in 1995. The stock ticker change will go into effect for the trading community on Monday, August 27, 2007.
"The Java brand and technology have evolved to be among the most pervasive on the internet, yielding extraordinary awareness for Sun and opportunity for the community that leverages it," said Jonathan Schwartz, president and CEO of Sun. "More than a billion people across the globe, representing nearly every demographic, market and industry, rely upon Java's security, innovation and value to connect them with opportunity. That awareness positions Sun, and now our investor base, for the future."
Submission + - Microsoft seeks patent that lets your TV watch you (tvsquad.com) 1
C3ntaur writes: Your favorite evil empire might be coming to a living room near you. TV Squad has an interesting little story about the latest idea from our friends in Redmond, WA.
Most television programs are supported by advertisers. But advertisers these days aren't sure how much money it's worth spending on your eyeballs. After all, you might have a PVR that you use to fast forward past commercials. Microsoft thinks they may have the answer.
The company has applied for a patent that would use cameras, biometric sensors, and other tools to determine if you're sitting in front of the TV. Or if your wife, or kid, or other identifiable person is.
Submission + - Possible Treatment for "Barely Conscious"
the phantom writes: "According to an article in Nature, it may be possible to treat patients who are in a "Barely Conscious" state, using an electrical implant.
Wednesday's All Things Considered on NPR goes into a bit more detail (click the "Listen" link)."The new report, appearing in the Thursday issue of the journal Nature, provides the first rigorous evidence that any procedure can initiate and sustain recovery in such a severely disabled person, years after the injury occurred. An estimated 100,000 to 300,000 Americans subsist in states of partial consciousness, and most are written off as beyond help.
