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Math

Submission + - Aztecs Used Base-20 Number System

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "Just as modern governments require careful land surveys and records of value for taxation, Aztec administrators were diligent book keepers when it came to landholdings and real estate. But rather than using a decimal system, Aztecs used a "base 20" system requiring 20 individual numerals. "They didn't have a decimal system, they used base twenty number system based on fingers and toes," says Prof Jorge y Jorge, who calls this "Acolhua Congruence Arithmetic." Although the Spanish wiped out most of Aztec culture after their conquest, two ancient manuscripts of Aztec origin from the 16th-century, the codex Vergara and the Santa María Asunción codex, carry key details of land ownership. From the field areas, scientists could glimpse the arithmetic used by the Acolhua-Aztecs and were sure they were correct because they could compute the exact areas recorded in the case of 287 fields (pdf). The Aztecs did not use fractions as we understand them so rather than thinking of half a land unit they used an an arrow or a heart instead and would do the same mental calculation as we do today when converting minutes into hours, hours into days, inches into feet, and so forth. "For example, using the above proportions, five times an arrow, will be two land rods plus one arrow, eight times a heart will be two land rods plus three hearts and six times a hand will be three land rods plus a hand.""
Biotech

Submission + - Bdelloids Survive 100 million years without Sex

Submitted by
Pioneer Woman
Pioneer Woman writes: "Life without sex is conjectured to lead to extinction because of the way DNA naturally accumulates mutations so asexual species, lacking such a means of DNA repair, are thought to accrue harmful mutations over time that can help bring an end to a species. However, asexual bdelloids have proven quite prolific diversifying into at least 400 species. To see how bdelloids might have prospered without sex and its DNA repair mechanisms, scientists zapped them with gamma rays to shatter their DNA into many pieces but even at five times the levels of radiation that all other animals are known to endure, bdelloids were able to continue reproducing. Scientists believe that at some point the entire genome of the first bdelloid got duplicated giving it four copies of each chromosome and thus of each gene. The bdelloids kept most of its extra genes over time, and "we believe they have kept most of their duplicate genes because they are serving as templates for DNA repair," says evolutionary biologist David Mark Welch. A better understanding of how bdelloids live without sex could shed light on how sex evolved in the first place."
Privacy

Administration Claimed Immunity To 4th Amendment 703

Posted by kdawson from the unreasonable-searches-and-seizures dept.
mrogers writes "The EFF has uncovered a troubling footnote in a newly declassified Bush Administration memo, which asserts that 'our Office recently [in 2001] concluded that the Fourth Amendment had no application to domestic military operations.' This could mean that the Administration believes the NSA's warrantless wiretapping and data mining programs are not governed by the Constitution, which would cast Administration claims that the programs did not violate the Fourth Amendment in a whole new light — after all, you can't violate a law that doesn't apply. The claimed immunity would also cover other DoD agencies, such as CIFA, which carry out offline surveillance of political groups within the United States."
The Internet

Submission + - SPAM: Feds swear they'll meet key IPv6 deadline in June

Submitted by alphadogg
alphadogg writes: U.S. federal government officials are confident they will meet a June 30 deadline to support IPv6 on their backbone networks, but they see challenges ahead in moving their production networks to this long-anticipated upgrade to the Internet's main communications protocol. Challenges cited by federal IPv6 leaders include the lack of IPv6-enabled security devices and software applications available in the commercial marketplace, as well as budgetary constraints and training hurdles.
Link to Original Source
Intel

Submission + - Intel's Centrino Atom Platform Unveiled (hothardware.com)

Submitted by
MojoKid
MojoKid writes: "Intel is officially launching their new platform for MIDs today, code-named Menlow. Menlow is the processor and chipset combination you'll find in next-gen navigation devices, tablets, video players, and gaming handhelds. You won't hear Intel calling the platform by its internal name, though. The official brand is Centrino Atom. A complete Centrino Atom configuration consists of the Atom processor, Poulsbo, its single-component chipset, a wireless device, a battery, and a small form-factor enclosure. The first round of Atom processors will launch at clock frequencies between 800 MHz and 1.86 GHz. All models include 512KB of L2 cache on the same sub-25 square millimeter die. As you'd expect, power consumption rises as you ascend the family's hierarchy, so OEMs will have to continue weighing thermal performance against the size of their devices. Though it would be very interesting to hear of an iPhone product with this technology, that'll have to wait at least another year or two when Intel launches its next-generation platform."
Software

Submission + - SPAM: Software engineering: a Defense Department bugaboo

Submitted by
coondoggie
coondoggie writes: "When it comes to developing the complex and costly software to control the snazziest new weapons and communications systems, the Department of Defense clearly needs some help. The Government Accountability Offiice said today that about half of the DoD's weapons and communications programs had at least have had at least a 25% growth in their expected lines of code since system software development started. That fact translates into millions of dollars in cost overruns and project delays, the GAO said. The GAO highlighted one program in particular, the Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) communications program where the number of lines of software code has nearly tripled since development of the system began. Software has in part caused the program's costs to hit over $128 million in 2006 from $88 million in 2003 a 46% increase, the GAO said. [spam URL stripped]"
Link to Original Source
Graphics

Submission + - NVIDIA Launches New High-End GeForce 9800 GTX (hothardware.com)

Submitted by
MojoKid
MojoKid writes: "NVIDIA's GeForce 8800 GTX was introduced in November of 2006 and it still sits unrivaled at the top of the 3D graphics food chain. However, today NVIDIA has taken the wraps off their new generation of high-end 3D Graphics cards that will be the successor to the potent GeForce 8800 line. The new GeForce 9800 GTX is NVIDIA's fastest single GPU card, based on their new G92 core GPU architecture. The card has a core processor clock of 675MHz and 512MB of 2.2GHz GDDR3 memory on board. And it definitely lights up the benchmarks, proving itself to be the fastest single GPU card currently, second only to the GeForce 9800 GX2 dual-GPU card from NVIDIA in this round-up look at performance from three different manufacturers."
Music

Why the RIAA Really Hates Downloads 289

Posted by kdawson from the how-to-spell-irrelevant dept.
wtansill recommends the saga of Jeff Price, who traveled from successful small record label owner to successful Internet-era music distributor. His piece describes clearly what the major record labels used to be good for and why they are now good for nothing but getting in the way. "Allowing all music creators 'in' is both exciting and frightening. Some argue that we need subjective gatekeepers as filters. No matter which way you feel about it, there are a few indisputable facts -- control has been taken away from the 'four major labels' and the traditional media outlets. We, the 'masses,' now have access to create, distribute, discover, promote, share and listen to any music. Hopefully access to all of this new music will inspire us, make us think and open doors and minds to new experiences we choose, not what a corporation or media outlet decides we should want."
Security

Submission + - SPAM: 11-year-old takes school network by the horns

Submitted by alphadogg
alphadogg writes: When Victory Baptist School, a small private school in Millbrook, Ala., was struggling to keep its computer network together last year, an 11-year-old student named Jon Penn stepped in as network manager. For Jon — who says his favorite reading material is computer trade magazines — it's been the experience of a lifetime, even getting to select and install a gateway security appliance largely by himself. "This is kind of a small school, and I'm known as the computer whiz," the sixth grader says
Link to Original Source
Businesses

Submission + - SPAM: Burj Dubai officially the new World's Tallest Stru

Submitted by
twickline
twickline writes: "The Burj Dubai is now officially the World's Tallest free standing Structure, the current height of the newly installed columns is 630.5 meters. The top of the three new columns are 1.7 meters taller than the KVLY-TV Mast. And the current floor count is 160:mezz 2, so officially Tier 18 has now started.

Below is a photo of the first column just after it was installed, this is the one that broke the record! also I have posted two more photos of the Burj Dubai and the city of Dubai. lastly is a diagram showing the current status of progress on the mighty Burj Dubai. Upon completion the Burj is rumored to be a staggering 819 meters in height.

P.S....... There isnt a topic for architecture, so i selected business feel free to edit the topic."
Link to Original Source
NASA

Submission + - NASA Science Chief Alan Stern Resigns

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "Alan Stern stepped down as head of science programs at NASA. A NASA spokesman says that no immediate reason was given for Stern's sudden departure, which has shocked the space-science community. Immediate speculation was that Stern's departure could have resulted from fallout associated with a struggle with the Mars program. Stern had cut the Mars program to help pay for a future mission to the outer planets, and said that the program would be held accountable for hundreds of millions of dollars in cost overruns for its flagship Mars Science Laboratory mission, which is due to launch in 2009. Stephen Mackwell, director of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas, says that the episode seems to reflect some strong influence from the Mars community. "One has the distinct feeling that someone pushed pretty hard on Alan and he said, 'No, I won't be pushed'.""
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - Rick Astley Discovers the Rickroll 1

Submitted by
Pickens
Pickens writes: "Over the last year or so, Rick Astley has watched with puzzled amazement as "Never Gonna Give You Up" has been mocked, celebrated, remixed and reprised, its original music video viewed millions of times on YouTube, all by a generation that could barely swallow its Gerber carrots when the song first topped the pop charts. "If this had happened around some kind of rock song, with a lyric that really meant something — a Bruce Springsteen, "God bless America" ... or an anti-something kind of song, I could kind of understand that," Astley said. "But for something as, and I don't mean to belittle it, because I still think it's a great pop song, but it's a pop song; do you know what I mean? It doesn't have any kind of weight behind it, as such. But maybe that's the irony of it." Astley, who will be touring the U.K. in May with a group of other '80's acts, including Bananarama, and Nick Heyward, Heaven 17, Paul Young and ABC, sums up his thoughts on his unexpected virtual fame with characteristic good humor: "Listen, I just think it's bizarre and funny. My main consideration is that my daughter doesn't get embarrassed about it.""
The Media

Submission + - Ignorance Can Be Influential Researchers Find

Submitted by
Narrative Fallacy
Narrative Fallacy writes: "In the classic economic model of information manipulation knowing more than anybody else is the key to influence, but researchers have recently presented a situation — commonly observed in real life — in which all parties have access to the same information, but one party still manages to control public opinion. "Optimally, you want to provide enough information so the other party reaches a certain level of confidence, but stop once you reach that level," explained researcher Isabelle Brocas . "Otherwise, it may be the case that more information causes the confidence level to go down." The head of a council may terminate discussion and introduction of new evidence about, say, whether to continue searching for weapons of mass destruction. Calling for a vote when sentiment seems biased in a certain direction effectively curtails how much all members, including the chairperson, know about the issue at stake. "Our result suggests that the chairperson, the President and media can bias the decision of the committee, electorate and public by strategically restricting the flow of information," says the report. Competition, supported by media diversity and public sources of research funding, not only induces outlets to release more information but also causes the "influence through ignorance" effect to diminish — and under certain circumstances to vanish — the researchers found."
Businesses

Submission + - How the Mainframe Survives

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "In 1991, Stewart Alsop, the editor of InfoWorld predicted that the last mainframe computer would be unplugged by 1996 yet last month, IBM introduced the latest version of its mainframe and mainframe technology remains a large and lucrative business for IBM providing the back-office engines behind the world's financial markets and much of global commerce The mainframe stands as a telling case in the larger story of survivor technologies and markets where old technology may lose ground to the insurgent, as mainframes did to the personal computer but the old technology or business often finds a sustainable, profitable life. In the 1990s IBM. overhauled the insides of the mainframe, using low-cost microprocessors as the computing engine and the company invested and updated the mainframe software. "The mainframe survived its near-death experience and continues to thrive because customers didn't care about the underlying technology," said Irving Wladawsky-Berger, who led the technical transformation of the mainframe. "Customers just wanted the mainframe to do its job at a lower cost, and IBM made the investments to make that happen.""
The Military

Submission + - SPAM: Diamonds are jet engines' best friends

Submitted by
Roland Piquepaille
Roland Piquepaille writes: "You certainly know that birds are enemies of jet engine turbine blades. But these jet engines have another nasty foe: sand. Even if the turbine blades are protected with thin layers of thermal barrier coatings (TBCs), they operate at very high temperatures. When a sand storm hits a blade, grains of sand melt and turn into glass. And this can have devastating effects on the duration of the blades. Now, engineers from Ohio State University (OSU) have developed a new coating made of 'fake diamonds to help jet engines take the heat.' The researchers have used zirconium dioxide — commonly called zirconia, also known as synthetic diamonds — to combat high-temperature corrosion. Even if the research results look promising, many years will pass before this technology might be widely adopted by the airline industry and the military. But read more for additional details and references, including pictures showing the efficiency of these new diamond-like coatings."

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If the aborigine drafted an IQ test, all of Western civilization would presumably flunk it. -- Stanley Garn

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