GrayArea - Slashdot User

Submission + - Why Upright Walking Evolved (msn.com)

Submitted by

InvisblePinkUnicorn

on Tuesday July 17, 2007 @10:07AM

InvisblePinkUnicorn writes: "There have been various explanations for the evolution of upright walking, such as the need to get above tall grass and look across longer distances. Now a study published in the PNAS points to a simpler explanation — efficiency. According to the study, humans walking on two legs consume only a quarter of the energy that chimpanzees use while 'knuckle-walking' on all fours. The energy saved by walking upright gave our ancient ancestors an evolutionary advantage over other apes by reducing the costs of foraging for food. The abstract is available from PNAS."

Submission + - Six-Stroke Gasoline/Steam Hybrid Engine (autoweek.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday July 17, 2007 @04:15AM

An anonymous reader writes: Bruce Crower has made a fascinating modification to traditional internal combustion engines: a fifth and sixth stroke. His six-stroke engine injects water into the hot cylinder to achieve a second power stroke with the expanding steam. The engine "burns" equal amounts of gasoline and water, thereby reducing fuel consumption by a whopping 40%. Could this technology the future of petroleum powered vehicles? More information is available on Wikipedia.

Submission + - Is Place-Shifting Fair Use?

Submitted by Nom du Keyboard on Wednesday May 30, 2007 @12:40PM

Nom du Keyboard writes: Major League Baseball seems to want to control where you can watch their televised games, and they've set their sights on Slingbox. While you may be allowed to watch an ad-supported, or paid cable channel, of your team in your own home, MLB (and others) don't feel that includes watching it remotely in another city through your local broadcast. Although they call this "illegal distribution" (reminds you of the RIAA lawsuits), Sling Media has taken steps to ensure that only you can watch your own content, wherever you might be. While no one has yet been bold enough to actually test this in court (losing would be a disaster), does the content industry have the right to decide not only what and when (i.e. shows that can't be recorded for later viewing) you'll watch something, but where you have to watch it as well?

Submission + - Apple Finally Opens iTunes Plus, iTunes U

Submitted by

jwisser

on Wednesday May 30, 2007 @12:06PM

jwisser writes: "Apple has finally started selling higher-quality, DRM-less music in a new service called iTunes Plus. The selection is currently limited, but as more small labels sign up for the service, the offerings will hopefully increase. iTunes has also opened iTunes U to the general public, enabling everyone running iTunes to download lectures from schools like Stanford and Berkeley. iTunes Plus requires the new iTunes 7.2 to use. Non-iTunes links to Apple's press releases are here (iTunes Plus) and here (iTunes U)."

Submission + - Why Your BlackBerry Causes Nearby Speakers to Buzz

Submitted by

AZA43

on Wednesday May 30, 2007 @11:37AM

AZA43 writes: "Ever wondered why your BlackBerry — or other mobile device — causes nearbly speakers and electronics to buzz like a swarm of disgruntled honey bees? Ever wondered what handset makers and cell phone carriers think about the buzzing and whether or not they're doing anything about it? Or why some phones seem to cause more buzzing than others? I did, and I asked Research In Motion (RIM) for information on the subject. Duncan Bradly, RIM's global intelligence director, let me in on where RIM stands on the issue, what they're doing about it and even offered up a few ways you can muffle the sound — though he cautions against them since they'll void warranties. Check it out."

Submission + - Michigan Man Charged for Using Free WiFi

Submitted by Nichole on Wednesday May 23, 2007 @10:55AM

Nichole writes: Sam Peterson II was charged with Unauthorized use of computer access for using a coffee shop's free WiFi. He faced a 5 year felony charge and a $10,000 fine but apparently got off lucky and received only a $400 fine and 40 hours of community service because he was a first time offender. The video shows the officer saying, "I had a feeling a law was being broken but I didn't know exactly what." so he let Peterson go and went back to look it up.

Submission + - Scientists create artificial 'plastic' blood

Submitted by on Friday May 11, 2007 @11:50AM

An anonymous reader writes: An artificial plastic blood has been developed that can substitute for real blood. The plastic molecules contain an iron atom to carry oxygen through the body. Its advantages include being easier to store and having a longer shelf-life.

Submission + - PC World Rehires Editor - His boss then moved up.

Submitted by

bricko

on Thursday May 10, 2007 @02:26PM

bricko writes: "Seems PC World has rehired their former editor that resigned after being told to go easy on the mags advertisers products. Then his boss is promoted up out of the way so as not to be in any productive persons road. http://blog.wired.com/business/2007/05/pc_world_br ings.html"

Submission + - Scientists offer new way to read online text

Submitted by on Thursday May 10, 2007 @12:58PM

An anonymous reader writes: Scientists at a small startup called Walker Reading Technologies in Minnesota have determined that the human brain is not wired properly to read block text. They have found that our eyes view text as if they're peering through a straw. Not only does your brain see the text on the line you're reading, but it's also uploading superfluous information from the two lines above and the two lines below. This causes your brain to engage in a tug of war as it fights to filter and ignore the noise. The result is slower reading speeds and decreased comprehension. The company has developed a product that automatically re-formats text in a way that your brain can more easily comprehend. This article in VentureBeat — http://venturebeat.com/2007/05/10/live-ink-offers- better-way-to-read-text-online/#more-10459 — explains.

Submission + - Scientists claim 'major leap' in engine design

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Thursday May 10, 2007 @12:13PM

An anonymous reader writes: Purdue researchers say they have made a major advance in the design of the internal combustion engine, one that could seriously boost fuel efficiency and cut emmissions. A key portion involves building intake and exhaust valves that are no longer driven by mechanisms connected to the pistons, a departure from the way car engines have worked since they were commercialized more than a century ago.

Submission + - Mobile DX10 Graphics Announced, NVIDIA GeForce 8M

Submitted by Spinnerbait on Wednesday May 09, 2007 @01:55PM

Spinnerbait writes: NVIDIA announced their next generation Notebook GPU today, dubbed the GeForce 8M. GeForce 8M GPUs differ from their desktop-bound 8800 series brethren in one significant way, per-clock shader performance has been tweaked and greatly improved. In the GeForce 8800, each stream processor can calculate four texture addresses and perform eight filtering operations per clock, while each stream processor in the GeForce 8M series GPUs can calculate eight texture addresses and perform eight filtering operations per clock. This allows a greater number of unique texture locations to be sampled.

Submission + - Jobs to Labels: Lose the DRM & We'll Talk Pric

Submitted by

eldavojohn

on Monday May 07, 2007 @08:06AM

eldavojohn writes: "Apple CEO Steve Jobs has been talking smack about DRM and has recently issued a verbal offer to major music lables stating that if they are willing to loose the DRM, he'd be willing to raise his 99 cent price for those iTunes songs. These tracks (such as the recent EMI deal) would also have better sound quality & cost about 30 cents more."

Submission + - The Spider Car

Submitted by

Jack Schitt

on Monday May 07, 2007 @05:06AM

Jack Schitt writes: "$15,000 and 9 months of designing/building get you your very own Spider Car.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=4f5_1177816318"

Submission + - Can Apple Last Without Steve Jobs?

Submitted by

nobody

on Monday May 07, 2007 @04:28AM

nobody writes: "This article is pretty on the point. It's scary to think how Apple and Steve Jobs are synonymous with each other. "What's so scary about Apple's continued success is the intermingling of Apple and Steve Jobs as interconnected brands that need each other to define the other's existence. It goes without saying that Jobs has done an exceptional job at leading Apple, and the company is out of control. It's the new Google of consumer electronics that has and will continue to take a lot of other companies by surprise; however, you have to wonder how long the success will last. To be more precise, you have to wonder how long will Apple keep up its success factor without Jobs."

Student Arrested for Writing Essay 890

Posted by Zonk on Friday April 27, 2007 @01:10PM from the thinkofthechildren-tag-is-appropriate-here dept.

mcgrew writes "The Chicago Tribune reports that an eighteen year old straight-A High School student was arrested for writing an essay that 'disturbed' his teacher. Even though no threats were made to a specific person, 18 year-old Allen Lee's English teacher convened a panel to discuss the work. As a result of that discussion, the police were called in. 'The youth's father said his son was not suspended or expelled but was forced to attend classes elsewhere for now. Today, Cary-Grove students rallied behind the arrested teen by organizing a petition drive to let him back in their school. They posted on walls quotes from the English teacher in which she had encouraged students to express their emotions through writing.'"

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