Comment You having one? (Score 1) 830
I was going to ask if I could crash someone's launch party, but I'm pretty sure it'll crash itself.
Comment Matias (Score 1) 519
I've always been fond of the clicky keyboard -- the old IBM PC keyboards with the mechanically switched keys allowed me to type significantly faster than the newer stuff.
I found the Matias Tactile for my Mac a few years ago, and was willing to shell out the $100 for it. Have never regretted it, either.
I found the Matias Tactile for my Mac a few years ago, and was willing to shell out the $100 for it. Have never regretted it, either.
Comment Uh. Wait. (Score 1) 521
"The researchers plan to connect several chips to create a circuit with a billion neurons and 10^13 synapses (about a tenth of the complexity of the human brain)."
Does anyone else think that it's a particularly bad idea to build George W. Bush out of hardware?
Does anyone else think that it's a particularly bad idea to build George W. Bush out of hardware?
NY Bill Proposes Tax Credit for Open Source Developers 111
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "Assemblymen Jonathan Bing and Micah Kellner, along with a number of co-sponsors, have introduced proposed legislation in New York State which would grant a tax credit to individuals acting as volunteers who develop open source programs. The idea of the credit is to ensure that volunteer developers, who could not otherwise deduct their expenses because they are not part of a 'business,' should nevertheless be able to receive a tax benefit for their contribution. The credit would be for 20% of the expenses incurred, up to $200. The preamble to the bill notes that the New York State Assembly itself currently uses 'Open Source programs such as Mozilla for email, Firefox for web browsing, and WebCal for electronic calendars,' and that these programs have led to significant cost savings to taxpayers. The preamble also cited a 2006 report authored by John Irons and Carl Malamud from the Center for American Progress detailing how Open Source software enhances a broader dissemination of knowledge and ideas."
Submission + - Mathematical formula killed Wall Street?
Amigan writes: "Entitled Quants gone Wild , the financial meltdown of Wall Street was caused by a single math formula (Gaussian copula function).
From the article: "For five years, Li's formula, known as a Gaussian copula function, looked like an unambiguously positive breakthrough, a piece of financial technology that allowed hugely complex risks to be modeled with more ease and accuracy than ever before. With his brilliant spark of mathematical legerdemain, Li made it possible for traders to sell vast quantities of new securities, expanding financial markets to unimaginable levels.""
Submission + - A New Generation of Mirrors (metro.co.uk)
LDCT writes: "Dr. Andrew Hicks of Drexel University has developed mirrors that direct rays of light in such a way that mirrors reflect "correctly", that is, flipped images via directing light displaying an image as if it were seen via third person. Reflected text can be read correctly when read in the mirror. In addition, his mirrors have been implemented to create distortion-free wide-angled images. The process has been developed using numerical methods to solve complicated partial differential equations."
Submission + - A Universal Flu Vaccine May Be On The Way 1
Plasmoid writes: TechReview reports that scientists have starting developing what could turn out to be a "universal flu vaccine". They created antibody proteins that can neutralize different strains of the influenza virus, including the deadly H5N1 bird flu, the virus behind the 1918 epidemic, and common seasonal strains. These new antibodies target part of the virus that is shared between different strains and thus appears to be broadly effective. However, some experts question whether a universal vaccine of this kind is even possible, since the human body has been unable to come up with an antibody solution. A Nature paper describing the work can also be found here.
Submission + - Combining BitTorrent with darknets for P2P privacy (washington.edu) 3
CSEMike writes: "Currently popular peer-to-peer networks suffer from a lack of privacy. For applications like BitTorrent or Gnutella, sharing a file means exposing your behavior to anyone interested in monitoring it. OneSwarm is a new file sharing application developed by researchers at the University of Washington that improves privacy in peer-to-peer networks. Instead of communicating directly, sharing in OneSwarm is friend-to-friend; senders and receivers exchange data using multiple intermediaries in an overlay mesh. OneSwarm is built on (and backwards compatible with) BitTorrent, but includes numerous extensions to improve privacy while providing good performance: point-to-point encryption using SSL, source-address rewriting, and multi-path and multi-source downloading. Clients and source are available for Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows."
Submission + - ISS Node 3 Naming Poll Hacked 1
jeroen94704 writes: NASA recently opened up a poll to let the public decide what name the Node 3 module scheduled to be added to the ISS in late 2009. Voters can choose between one of four NASA provided alternatives (With "Serenity" a clear leader), or enter their own suggestion. Now it seems a Pokemon fan decided to hack the contest, as the top voter-provided suggestion is currently "MUDKIP". Since entering a suggestion requires CAPTCHA authentication, this is yet more evidence that all but the most advanced CAPTCHA implementations have been broken, and are nothing but an inconvenience for those wanting to circumvent it.
Submission + - Diamond no longer the hardest substance (physorg.com)
pranavpeshwe writes: "Scientists have found out that, a material called lonsdaleite (aka hexagonal diamond, since it's made of carbon and is similar to diamond), is 58 percent stronger than diamond, setting a new record."
Lego MMO Delayed 32
LEGO Universe, the MMOG currently under development by NetDevil, will not be coming out this year, as was previously expected. Mark Hansen, a LEGO Group exec, would not specify a new time frame, and attributed the delay to avoiding competition between some of their other upcoming products. Hansen did comment on the possibility of a console version of the game, claiming that they're just waiting for the right time. IGN did a related piece on the past and future of console MMOGs, exploring where early attempts failed and what needs to be done for them to succeed. Many game developers and publishers are still hesitant due to the massive financial investment required to get such a game up and running in a market that has yet to prove itself.
Comment Ciamillo's History (Score 1) 103
If Ciamillo's design work with bicycle parts is any indicator of his talent as an engineer, they'll pull this one off.
I'm fortunate enough to have a pair of his Zero Gravity (0G-Ti) brakes on my road bike, and they're insanely light (the pair weighs less than a Dura-Ace front caliper) and have been pleasant to work on, and require very little maintenance.
I'm fortunate enough to have a pair of his Zero Gravity (0G-Ti) brakes on my road bike, and they're insanely light (the pair weighs less than a Dura-Ace front caliper) and have been pleasant to work on, and require very little maintenance.
Submission + - Possible manipulation around OOXML process in Pola (polishlinux.org)
michuk writes: "This is a follow-up post to my recent report on OOXML process in Poland (also covered by Groklaw). It looks like things are going bad this time. At least as bad as in October. IBM representative for KT182 accused commitee's chairman, Andrukiewicz of intentionally manipulating the process."
Journal SPAM: Spooks Looking for Terrorists in MMRPG 1
In another bogglingly absurd and potentially abusive reach of surveillance by military and intelligence agencies, it appears that US spies believe that Osama Bin Laden may have fled caves in Tora Bora, to a secret base in World of Warcraft. After the US Congress mandated the Director of National Intelligence to submit a public re
Submission + - Reggie: DS Users To Download Full Games Thru Wii (xuecast.com)
XueCast writes: "http://www.xuecast.com/?p=432, Nintendo Of America's President and Chief Operating Officer, Reginald Fils-Aime in a recent interview with NY Times said that they are planning to further integrate Nintendo DS to Wii by offering full version game titles for Nintendo DS that can be downloaded to the portable video game console through it's bigger brother, Nintendo Wii."
