17216860
submission
steveha writes:
The New Bern, NC Sun Journal newspaper reports that some local voters have seen the e-voting machine record the exact opposite of the voter's request. There is a button to vote a straight Republican ticket, and when pushed, it voted a straight Democrat ticket. A local voter observed this behavior four times in a row; the fifth time, the button worked correctly. If ATMs were this unreliable, no bank would use them. Why is this level of failure acceptable in voting machines?
15531666
submission
steveha writes:
From the article: "The technology involves first using a transparent, electrically sensitive material deposited on glass or a transparent plastic sheet covering the panels. Sensors monitor the levels of deposited dust on the panel. When the dust levels get too high, a charge is applied to the coating and the dust is physically move across the panel via the charge and dumped off the edges.
The procedure uses a minimal amount of energy, making it a viable cleaning solution. It removes 90 percent of dust, greatly improving power output. And best of all, the technology has already been stress tested by NASA space probes and rovers under the harsh Martian climate."
6560757
submission
steveha writes:
Microsoft announced a deal offered by Best Buy: a bundle with a desktop computer, a laptop, and a netbook, all with Windows 7 pre-installed, for $1199... the same price as Apple's least-expensive iMac. It was surprisingly hard to find the actual deal on the Best Buy web site, but with some digging I found: http://www.bestbuy.com/windows7pc and click on "PC Home Makeover".
604834
submission
steveha writes:
We've seen stories about bogus Craig's List postings. It happened again and this time, it was an attempt by burglars to cover their tracks. A police officer said "Other Craigslist hoaxes we've seen were malicious..." which begs the question: how often does this sort of thing happen? Is this new, or has anyone ever pulled this sort of stunt with, say, a classified ad in a newspaper? Are people more inclined to believe one of these hoaxes if they read it on the Intarweb?
176657
submission
steveha writes:
The Floyd Landis arbitration hearing has just wrapped up. I have been following the story at Trust But Verify and it has been fascinating. At times the science was overshadowed by drama but in the end, it is the science that will decide Floyd Landis's fate. Did LNDD prove that there was exogenous testosterone in Floyd Landis's urine, or did they make enough mistakes to cause a false positive result?
85732
submission
steveha writes:
Scott Adams lost his ability to speak normally, and then got it back again. A few weeks later, he caught a cold, and regressed. His blog tells the story of how he tried an unconventional treatment and how well the treament worked for him, with lots more details on Spasmodic Dysphonia and how to treat it. Extremely interesting reading.
