Comment "Your Rights Online"? (Score 2, Insightful) 70
Why is this filed under "Your Rights Online"?
Because it involves cops...?
Because it involves cops...?
2012 Mayan Calendar 'Doomsday' Date Might Be Wrong 144
astroengine writes "A UC Santa Barbara associate professor is disputing the accuracy of the mesoamerican 'Long Count' calendar after highlighting several astronomical flaws in a correlation factor used to synchronize the ancient Mayan calendar with our modern Gregorian calendar. If proven to be correct, Gerardo Aldana may have nudged the infamous December 21, 2012 'End of the World' date out by at least 60 days. Unfortunately, even if the apocalypse is rescheduled, doomsday theorists will unlikely take note."
Deodorant Sought to Save New Zealand's Native Birds
102
New Zealand researchers have received a NZ$600,000 grant to develop a deodorant for native birds whose strong odors make them easy targets for introduced predators. Since the birds evolved without any mammal predators they emit a very strong odor compared to birds in other parts of the world. Canterbury University researcher Jim Briskie says kiwis smell like mushrooms or ammonia, while kakapo parrots have a hint of "musty violin case."
Comment Seconded -- I was there too (Score 1) 171
I was at the show too, and I assert the parent AC's post was accurate regarding the Blago-booing. They made three different announcements regarding the start of his signing, and every one of them was greeted by a steady hum of boos on the floor.
Comment Where's the list? (Score 1) 427
Where's the list of Senators? I want to send a letter of my own. Why doesn't the linked story include it? Fail, Declan.
Comment Alternate solutions (Score 1) 403
These aren't suggestions for your question, but rather for your situation. (I'm betting you're going to get a lot of these; so I apologize.)
1) When the designer notices the HD slowdown, why doesn't he just go offline for a while? After doing that 5 or 15 times maybe that clown will get the idea.
2) Can the designers make the shared files read-only?
With New SDK, VoIP Over 3G Apps Now Working On iPhone 171
silverpig writes "Yesterday marked the announcement of the Apple iPad device, and with it came a new version of the SDK. In this new version, Apple has lifted the VoIP over 3G restrictions that limited VoIP traffic to wifi only. This morning, Fring announced that its iPhone app is 3G-capable starting immediately. No update is needed as apparently the app had 3G capability all along, but a server-side block prevented its use. Furthermore, apparently a 3G-capable version of Skype has been ready for some time now, and has been waiting for this restriction to be lifted."
Comment I'm glad they did the NES lock-out chip (Score 1) 520
The Atari 2600 crashed because anyone and his brother could create shitty games, which ended up flooding the market and leaving stores with tons of unsold inventory.
Nintendo's licensing policy that limited publishers to 5 games per year was a wonderful thing, and the lock-out chip was a necessary evil to make that happen. Did crap still come out? Yes, but much less of it.
Sure, Nintendo's done some dirty stuff (the Game Genie litigation was definitely uncool), but the lockout chip is not something I can hold against them given the era and circumstances.
Nintendo's licensing policy that limited publishers to 5 games per year was a wonderful thing, and the lock-out chip was a necessary evil to make that happen. Did crap still come out? Yes, but much less of it.
Sure, Nintendo's done some dirty stuff (the Game Genie litigation was definitely uncool), but the lockout chip is not something I can hold against them given the era and circumstances.
Comment Re:Batman and Porky Pig (Score 1) 423
DC Comics is part of Time Warner. So is Porky Pig.
Yeah, since 40 years ago. WB/DC is a known quantity, and citing that relationship to say something about Marvel/Disney is not necessarily germane.
Comment I didn't think the first one was funny... (Score 1) 410
HHGTTG has always been what I thought was my biggest disconnect from geek culture. I read it in college (in '00, probably), and was pretty solidly bored throughout. To me, it was nothing more than a collection of absurdities and non-sequiturs strung into a ungripping narrative. I'd describe it as a trite version of Vonnegut or Heller, but without any of the soul.
I've never really understood the appeal. I won't assert that it sucks, but it sure isn't on my wavelength.
That said, I can't believe they would actually try giving this to another writer. This fanbase is too... fickle? smart? discerning?
I've never really understood the appeal. I won't assert that it sucks, but it sure isn't on my wavelength.
That said, I can't believe they would actually try giving this to another writer. This fanbase is too... fickle? smart? discerning?
Scientists Learn To Fabricate DNA Evidence 256
Hugh Pickens writes "The NY Times reports that it is possible to fabricate blood and saliva samples containing DNA from a person other than the donor, and even to construct a sample of DNA to match someone's profile without obtaining any tissue from that person — if you have access to their DNA profile in a database. This undermines the credibility of what has been considered the gold standard of proof in criminal cases. 'You can just engineer a crime scene,' said Dan Frumkin, lead author of the paper. 'Any biology undergraduate could perform this.' The scientists fabricated DNA samples in two ways. One requires a real, if tiny, DNA sample, perhaps from a strand of hair or a drinking cup. They amplified the tiny sample into a large quantity of DNA using a standard technique called whole genome amplification. The other technique relies on DNA profiles, stored in law enforcement databases as a series of numbers and letters corresponding to variations at 13 spots in a person's genome. The scientists cloned tiny DNA snippets representing the common variants at each spot, creating a library of such snippets. To prepare a phony DNA sample matching any profile, they just mixed the proper snippets together. Tania Simoncelli, science adviser to the American Civil Liberties Union, says the findings were worrisome. 'DNA is a lot easier to plant at a crime scene than fingerprints,' says Simoncelli. 'We're creating a criminal justice system that is increasingly relying on this technology.'"
Comment Space Taxi? (Score 1) 136
Did someone say... Space Taxi?
Comment Z2 Systems (Score 1) 186
I did a contracting stint with Z2 Systems (z2systems.com), who have a web-based product called NEON.
It's a small startup with a growing customer base. The company targets small-to-mid-sized nonprofits.
Even though I no longer work there and do not get any kickbacks, tell 'em Grant sent you.
It's a small startup with a growing customer base. The company targets small-to-mid-sized nonprofits.
Even though I no longer work there and do not get any kickbacks, tell 'em Grant sent you.
Freshman Representative Opposes "TSA Porn" 620
An anonymous reader writes "Not content to simply follow the 'anything to protect American lives' mantra, freshman Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) has introduced a bill to prohibit mandatory full body scans at airports. Chaffetz states, 'The images offer a disturbingly accurate view of a person's body underneath clothing ... Americans should not be required to expose their bodies in this manner in order to fly.' He goes on to note that the ACLU has expressed support for the bill. Maybe we don't need tin-foil sports coats to go with our tin-foil hats. For reference, the Daily Herald has a story featuring images from the millimeter wavelength imager, and we've talked about the scanners before."
Comment Can someone fix these links? (Score 1) 136
The links to the articles do not go to the first page in each article. The first two links both link to page 2.
Please fix.
Please fix.
