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Comment Bladerunner Megapixels (Score 1) 596

Remember the scene in Bladerunner where Deckard scans a photo and then zooms in to find the ladies tatoo in a reflection from the bathroom mirror? Is detailed zooming like that a product of higher Megapixels? Would monumental increases in megapixel resolution allow for one to find small details in the background of photos that would be impossible to find today. Imagine taking a shot from the twenty-fifth floor of a building on Broadway, and being able to read the label on someones clothing sixty blocks away???

Or, pardon my ignorance, is this simply a factor of the lenses used? My thinking here is that with almost unlimited resolution you could just take distance shots and use the computer to zoom.
Music

Submission + - Bill Introduced to Save Net Radio

freshmayka writes: SomaFM, which has been extremely active in the fight against the Copyright Royalty Boards outrageous rate increase on net radio broadcasters, has posted news that a bill called "The Internet Radio Equality Act" has been written and now needs more senators co-sponsoring it. Here's the full scoop from SomaFM.

Essentially this bill would bring the royalty payments in line with satellite radio and be about 7.5% of total revenue for each station. If you want to make an impact on this issue SomaFM has made a "cheat sheet" for making it quick and easy to tell your congress creature your feelings on saving net radio.
PC Games (Games)

Submission + - EA: No patches, no support for a 5-month-old game

Xyston writes: It's been five months since the release of EA's Rise of the Witch-King, and fans who were hoping for a patch were let down again this month when the promised patch never materialized. The game, which has been plagued by bugs, cheats and imbalances since its late November release, has become the source of frustration for gamers at several fan communities. While EA programmers admit they've neglected the game in favor of Command & Conquer 3, their last official statement was that a patch "should" have been available weeks ago. Gamers are still waiting.
Sci-Fi

Submission + - British Developing Star Trek Shield Technology

freshmayka writes: From the article: "British scientists are planning to see whether a Star Trek-style deflector shield could be built to protect astronauts from radiation. They argue that magnetic shields could be deployed around spacecraft and on the surfaces of planets to deflect harmful energised particles."
First Person Shooters (Games)

Submission + - S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Devs Not Guilty of Texture Theft

freshmayka writes: For the last week rumors have been spreading around the net that GSC Gameworld stole textures from Valve and Id Software. Most sane people knew the truth would be something more like: "...the water textures used by both Valve and GSC GameWorld, the makers of STALKER, come from a texture pack sold by Marlin Studios. The chaps at Marlin make all kinds of exciting textures..." Story from The Inquirer

Feed Start-up thinks robots may be used to take on tough tasks (com.com)

Video: Start-up thinks robots may be used to take on tough tasks. In a March 21 interview, CNET News.com's Zamir Haider spoke with Trevor Blackwell, founder of Mountain View, Calif.-based Anybots, and saw humanoid robots that may one day be used to perform dangerous tasks. He got close to walking robot Dexter and his pneumatic limbs.

Linux Business

Submission + - Opensource community to sponsor Indy500 Linux car

Anonymous Coward writes: "A local Indianapolis consultant is raising money to sponsor a Linux car at this year's Indianapolis 500 race on Memorial Day weekend. The entire project hinges on the efforts and involvement of the Linux community including the design of the logo to be used on the car. All monies collected will go towards promoting Linux and the funds collection process will have complete transparency. Pimp My OS!"
Censorship

Submission + - MIT Professor of Meteorolgy Global Warming Views

detokaal writes: Small excerpt: "Judging from the media in recent months, the debate over global warming is now over. There has been a net warming of the earth over the last century and a half, and our greenhouse gas emissions are contributing at some level. Both of these statements are almost certainly true. What of it? Recently many people have said that the earth is facing a crisis requiring urgent action. This statement has nothing to do with science. There is no compelling evidence that the warming trend we've seen will amount to anything close to catastrophe. What most commentators — and many scientists — seem to miss is that the only thing we can say with certainly about climate is that it changes." http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17997788/site/newsweek /
Media

Submission + - U.S. to File Trade Cases Against Pirated Material

ecoshift writes: "RIAA driving US Trade policy....???

"The Bush administration announced today that it is filing two new trade cases against China to force the Asian giant to crack down on the distribution of pirated products and to drop barriers to the sale of American music, movies and books."

— washingtonpost.com

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/artic le/2007/04/09/AR2007040900574.html?nav=rss_email/c omponents"
Space

Submission + - Sunspots reach 1000 year peak

rlp writes: Researchers at the Institute for Astronomy in Zurich are reporting that solar sunspot activity is at a 1000 year peak. Records of sunspots have been kept since 1610. The period between 1645 and 1715 (known as the Maunder Minimum) was a period of very few sunspots. Researchers extended the record by measuring isotopes of beryllium (created by cosmic rays) in Greenland ice cores. Based on observations and ice core records, we are now at a sunspot peak exceeding solar activity for any time in the past thousand years.

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