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Submission + - Clouded Leopard Declared new Species

Submitted by
Anonymous Coward
Anonymous Coward writes: "Scientists have discovered that the clouded leopard found on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra is an entirely new species of cat. The secretive rainforest animal was originally thought to be the same species as the one found in mainland Southeast Asia. Read More"
NASA

NASA Confirms Solar Storm Near 2012 344

Posted by CmdrTaco from the get-out-your-foil-hats dept.
An anonymous reader writes "`This week researchers announced that a storm is coming — the most intense solar maximum in fifty years. The prediction comes from a team led by Mausumi Dikpati of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). "The next sunspot cycle will be 30% to 50% stronger than the previous one," she says. If correct, the years ahead could produce a burst of solar activity second only to the historic Solar Max of 1958.`

`Dikpati's forecast puts Solar Max at 2012. Hathaway believes it will arrive sooner, in 2010 or 2011.`

Anyone familiar with the Mayan Calendar? December 21, 2012 (13.0.0.0.0 in the Mayan Calendar) Coincidence?"
Music

Finding an Innovation SSI 2001 Soundcard? 105

Posted by Cliff from the a-piece-of-computer-audio-history dept.
Yvan256 asks: "I've been looking for over 15 years for the Innovation SSI 2001 soundcard. It's a very old and extremely rare ISA card, based on the SID 6581 chip of the Commodore 64. Yes, I am aware of the HardSID (I've got one), but it's not hardware compatible with the SSI 2001 (different method of accessing the SID registers). The SSI 2001 is about the only card missing from my soundcards collection. I am aware of the IBM Music Feature, I have one. It's just not on the webpage yet. Please note, this collection is about the different technologies that came out at the beginning of the soundcards era, not the thousands of SoundBlaster clones that were available (including the Pro Audio Spectrum series). So, if anyone has an Innovation SSI 2001, or know where I could get one, please tell me."
Music

RIAA Announces New Campus Lawsuit Strategy 299

Posted by samzenpus from the tell-us-everything dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The RIAA is once again revising their lawsuit strategy, and will now be sending college students and others "pre-lawsuit letters." People will now be able to settle for a discount. How nice."
Communications

Submission + - New Clues to E-Mail Misbehavior

Submitted by
Ant
Ant writes: "The New York Times (should not require a log in) says there are several psychological factors that lead to online disinhibition: the anonymity of a Web pseudonym; invisibility to others; the time lag between sending an e-mail message and getting feedback; the exaggerated sense of self from being alone; and the lack of any online authority figure. Dr. Suler notes that disinhibition can be either benign — when a shy person feels free to open up online — or toxic, as in flaming. The emerging field of social neuroscience, the study of what goes on in the brains and bodies of two interacting people, offers clues into the neural mechanics behind flaming... Seen on Blue's News."
Power

Submission + - Trends in power generation

Submitted by
mdsolar
mdsolar writes: "With wind power already cheaper than many other forms of power generation http://www.awea.org/pubs/factsheets/Cost2001.PDF, will solar power surpass it as the cheapest? The article http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/m oney/2007/02/19/ccview19.xml suggests it might and soon. Banking interests rather than securites markets may end up having the best shot at profiting from this since the return on investment is on a timescale that fits long-term investment which generally makes up a much smaller portion of other energy companies' portfolios. From the article:


The tipping point in Germany and Japan came once households twigged that they could undercut their unloved utilities. Credit Lyonnais believes the rest of the world will soon join the stampede.

Mike Splinter, chief executive of the US semiconductor group Applied Materials, told me his company is two years away from a solar product that reaches the magic level of $1 a watt.

Cell conversion efficiency and economies of scale are galloping ahead so fast that the cost will be down to 70 US cents by 2010, with a target of 30 or 40 cents in a decade.

So, a question for the veterans of the dotcom boom: Should energy be controlled by the conservative money?"
Censorship

Submission + - History According to Jesus Taught in NJ

Submitted by
fistfullast33l
fistfullast33l writes: "A fight is brewing in Kearny, New Jersey a 16 year old student and his school district over the teachings of the student's history teacher. According to the NY Times, the student did not think the teacher's lectures in class were relevant to the subject matter, so he started recording the teacher in class. On the tapes, "Mr. Paszkiewicz is heard telling the class that there were dinosaurs aboard Noah's ark and that there is no scientific basis for evolution or the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe." Matthew LaClair, the student, was reprimanded by the school for turning the tapes in (apparently students aren't allowed to secretly record lectures) and has been harassed by students. He has threatened to sue the school district. According to WNBC in NY, the teacher claims "he was merely answering a question posed to him in a question-and-answer session, according to Demetrios Stratis, a Fair Lawn lawyer who said he represented the teacher.""
Space

Submission + - We are all going to die! (but not until 2036)

Submitted by
TurdTapper
TurdTapper writes: "April 13th, 2036 to be precise.

An asteroid, named Apophis, has a 1 in 45,000 chance of striking the earth in 2036. And a group of astronauts, engineers and scientists said the U.N. should assume responsibility for saving us from asteroids.

With a name like Apophis, shouldn't we be looking to SG-1 instead of the U.N.?"
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Wii Tops January Sales

Submitted by haddieman
haddieman writes: Nintendo's Wii topped January sales numbers by a large margin according to Seattle P-I.

From the article:

Sales of the Nintendo console came in at 436,000 units, followed by Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 at 294,000 units, and Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 at 244,000 units, according to preliminary NPD Group data cited by Microsoft. Sony's seven-year-old PlayStation 2 remained a formidable competitor, selling slightly less than 300,000 units in the U.S., according to the data.
News

Earth's Constant Hum Explained 336

Posted by CowboyNeal from the global-tinnitus dept.
MattSparkes writes "It has been known for some time that there is a constant hum that emanates from the Earth, which can be heard near 10 millihertz on a seismometer. The problem was that nobody knew what caused it. It has now been shown that it is caused by waves on the bottom of the sea, and more specifically 'by the combination of two waves of the same frequency travelling in opposite directions.'"
Portables

Dell Laptops Have Shocking New Problem 475

Posted by CmdrTaco from the jolt-of-reality dept.
dapsychous writes "A friend of one of my coworkers has noticed a problem in Dell notebook computers (also covered in this engadget article about a problem that has been popping up lately in Dell 17" notebook computers). It seems that these computers are putting out between 19 and 139 (65 according to article, 139 according to him) volts of AC power as measured from any chassis screw vs. earth ground. This has led to several problems including fried ram, blown video circuits, and a stout zap on his left hand. According to him, Dell has tried to keep him quiet about the problem and has even gone so far as to have him banned from a few websites, and threatened him with legal action if he tells people about the problem."
Security

MySpace Worm Creator Sentenced 387

Posted by CmdrTaco from the wear-the-hat-and-sit-in-the-corner dept.
Aidan Steele writes "Remember Samy? The creator of the infamous worm was unfortunate enough to be the the target in MySpace's latest litigation. As was said in the earlier story, the script was "written for fun" and caused no damage. The source and technical explanation for the "attack" was not even released until after MySpace had patched the vulnerability. Apparently this was enough to get the 20 year old (19 at the time of writing the worm) three years of probation, three months of community service, pay restitution to MySpace and is also banned from the Internet. Clearly, disclosing security vulnerabilities doesn't pay."

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