Comment Also bird brains (Score 4, Interesting) 202
Seems also birds are afraid of snakes. I place rubber snakes on places like boat decks and balconies, they are very effective and birds stay away.
Comment Last repairman? (Score 5, Insightful) 201
Are there repair persons anymore? Seems stuff is so shoddy nowadays it is not expected to last more than one or two years. Even if I want to have my machines repaired, they are either impossible to repair or it is cheaper to purchase a new one.
Comment Are they safe? (Score 4, Insightful) 233
What happens when flying cars collide with buildings or other infrastructure?
Submission + - The Coming Internet Video Crash (infoworld.com)
snydeq writes: "First, it was data caps on cellular, and now caps on wired broadband — welcome to the end of the rich Internet, writes Galen Gruman. 'People are still getting used to the notion that unlimited data plans are dead and gone for their smartphones. The option wasn't even offered for tablets. Now, we're beginning to see the eradication of the unlimited data plan in our broadband lines, such as cable and DSL connections. It's a dangerous trend that will threaten the budding Internet-based video business — whether from Netflix, Hulu, iTunes, Windows Store, or Google Play — then jeopardize Internet services of all sorts. It's a complex issue, and though the villains are obvious — the telecom carriers and cable providers — the solutions are not. The result will be a metered Internet that discourages use of the services so valuable for work and play.'"
Submission + - Unusual New Species of Dinosaur Identified (nytimes.com)
cervesaebraciator writes: A new species of heterodontosaur, called Pegomastax, has been identified. Paul Sereno, a University of Chicago paleontologist, published a description of this species in a recent issue of ZooKeys. Although this diminutive (60 cm or less) species was herbivorous, it also possessed a set of sharp, stabbing canines in its parrot-shaped beak. Dr. Sereno holds that these canines where likely "for nipping and defending themselves, not for eating meat.” Perhaps the most imaginatively intriguing aspect of all, the body of the Pegomastix might have been covered in porcupine-like quills, making for perhaps the least attractive dinosaur of all time. You can almost hear Dieter Stark screaming 'Helvetes jävlar!'
Submission + - 570-Megapixel Camera to Shed Light on Dark Matter
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Either 75% of the universe exists in an exotic form, now called dark energy, that exhibits a gravitational force opposite to the attractive gravity of ordinary matter, or Einstein's General Relativity must be replaced by a new theory of gravity on cosmic scales. Now Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan reports that an international team of 120 scientists has unveiled the world’s most powerful digital camera, 10 years in the making, that may shed light on dark energy: the 570-megapixel Dark Energy Camera, capable of recording light from galaxies 8 billion light years away. Over the next 525 nights of observation, the camera, containing 74 CCDs constructed specifically to be sensitive to the redshifted light from distant galaxies and stars, will capture a detailed 3-D map over 300 million galaxies as part of a massive international effort to explain the universe’s acceleration, called the Dark Energy Survey. Installed on a hilltop observatory in the Chilean Andes, where atmospheric conditions are ideal, the camera will be studying four types of phenomena: galaxy clusters, supernovae, the large-scale clumping of galaxies, and weak gravitational lensing. Each of those have been studied on their own, but for the first time, scientists will be able to cross-reference each type of element against the others, rendering a more precise understanding of their behaviors. "The results of this survey will bring us closer to understanding the mystery of dark energy (PDF)," says James Siegrist, associate director at the US Department of Energy. "And what it means for the universe.”"
Submission + - Most SSDs now under a dollar per gigabyte (techreport.com)
crookedvulture writes: "SSD prices continue plummeting. In just the past quarter, street prices have fallen by double-digit percentages for most models, with some slashed by 30% or more. We've reached the point where the majority of drives cost less than a dollar per gigabyte, and that's without the special coupon codes and mail-in rebates usually attached to weekly deals. Lower-capacity drives seem more resistant to deep price cuts, making 120-256GB offerings the best values right now. It's nice to see a new class of devices go from prohibitively expensive to eminently affordable in such a relatively short amount of time."
Comment Backup all files with BackupPC (Score 1) 440
BackupPC does deduplication. So if You take a backup from all your filesystems with BackupPC, You have identical files stored only once. BackupPC uses hard links to do the deduplication, so another copy of a file only takes a directory entry. You can then discard you current backups, if need be.
Submission + - New Quantum Information Processing Technique Revealed (itproportal.com)
hypnosec writes: Scientists at the Georgia Institute of Technology Research have demonstrated a new technique for creating single photons for usage in optical quantum information processing. Researchers used a laser to excite a single atom in a cloud of ultra-cold rubidium gas. Atoms which have one or more electrons excited to a condition of near-ionization known as the Rydberg state have highly exaggerated electromagnetic properties, interacting strongly with one another. One Rydberg atom can stop the formation of further excited atoms within an area of 10 to 20 microns — which is known as the Rydberg blockade. The scientists found that if they confined the rubidium gas to an area covered by the blockade, they could ensure only one Rydberg atom would form when the laser hit the cloud. In other words, they could reliably create a single photon with well-known properties, which is important in a number of areas of research, including quantum information processing.
Submission + - 30 Years of the TRS-80 Model 100 (thepowerbase.com)
An anonymous reader writes: An interview with John R Hogerhuis, one of the key players in the still suprisingly active community for the TRS-80 Model 100 portable computer.
As the Model 100 approaches its 30th birthday, John talks about what has kept the machine popular for so long, current software and hardware work that is keeping it relevant, and what modern developers could learn from spending some on a computer from 1983.
As the Model 100 approaches its 30th birthday, John talks about what has kept the machine popular for so long, current software and hardware work that is keeping it relevant, and what modern developers could learn from spending some on a computer from 1983.
Submission + - US charges twins over $1.2m 'stock robot' fraud (bbc.co.uk)
peetm writes: Twin brothers from England face US civil charges for allegedly defrauding investors out of $1.2m (£745,000) through a bogus stock-picking robot.
The twins; Alexander and Thomas Hunter; were just 16 years old when they devised the scam which fooled around 75,000 people, according to US officials.
The twins; Alexander and Thomas Hunter; were just 16 years old when they devised the scam which fooled around 75,000 people, according to US officials.
Submission + - Megaupload Trial May Never Happen, Judge Says
Turbine2k5 writes: A US judge has put a bomb under the Megaupload case by informing the FBI that a trial in the United States may never happen. The cyberlocker was never formally served with the appropriate paperwork by the US authorities, as it is impossible to serve a foreign company with criminal charges.
Submission + - Whistleblower: NSA has all of your email (democracynow.org)
mspohr writes: From DemocracyNow!
National Security Agency whistleblower William Binney reveals he believes domestic surveillance has become more expansive under President Obama than President George W. Bush. He estimates the NSA has assembled 20 trillion "transactions" — phone calls, emails and other forms of data — from Americans. This likely includes copies of almost all of the emails sent and received from most people living in the United States. Binney talks about Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act and challenges NSA Director Keith Alexander’s assertion that the NSA is not intercepting information about U.S. citizens.
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/4/20/whistleblower_the_nsa_is_lying_us
National Security Agency whistleblower William Binney reveals he believes domestic surveillance has become more expansive under President Obama than President George W. Bush. He estimates the NSA has assembled 20 trillion "transactions" — phone calls, emails and other forms of data — from Americans. This likely includes copies of almost all of the emails sent and received from most people living in the United States. Binney talks about Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act and challenges NSA Director Keith Alexander’s assertion that the NSA is not intercepting information about U.S. citizens.
http://www.democracynow.org/2012/4/20/whistleblower_the_nsa_is_lying_us
Submission + - Computer game designed to treat depression as effective as traditional treatment (news24.com)
sirlark writes: Researchers at the University of Auckland tested an interactive 3D fantasy game called Sparx on a 94 youngsters diagnosed with depression whose average age was 15 and a half. Sparx invites a user to take on a series of seven challenges over four to seven weeks in which an avatar has to learn to deal with anger and hurt feelings and swap negative thoughts for helpful ones. Used for three months, Sparx was at least as effective as face-to-face conventional counselling, according to several depression rating scales. In addition, 44% of the Sparx group who carried out at least four of the seven challenges recovered completely. In the conventional treatment group, only 26% recovered fully.
One has to wonder if it Sparx specifically, or gaming in general that provides the most benefit. Given that most of the symptoms of depression relate to a feeling of being unable to influence one's environment (powerlessness, helplessness, ennui, etc) and games are specifically designed to make one feel powerful but challenged (if they hit the sweet spot).
Submission + - Rick Perry's Facebook Page – Another politician gets "sarcasm bombed" (afmediagroup.org)
An anonymous reader writes: Take note, male politicians who can’t help but impede reproductive health care for women: if you make highly controversial decisions by trying to police the ladies’ lady parts, then you might as well go ahead and just start posting targets on your public Facebook page. You may have the support of your local constituents who elected you to office, but that support isn’t likely to be duplicated across the entirety of the online constituency. Just ask Sam Brownback and Rick Perry.
