Submission + - Ted Kennedy Has Brain Tumor (nytimes.com)
Nurseman writes: "Im sure you have multiple posts. Ted Kennedy has a really bad form of brain cancer."
The X300 Could Usher in a New Generation of ThinkPads 132
An anonymous reader writes "The ThinkPad has long been a favorite of IT departments everywhere and is the preferred notebook for legions of no-nonsense users. As times have progressed the ThinkPad has improved but the X300 marks the most significant change in its design since the butterfly keyboard. While we've already discussed a few leaked specs, official news of big changes like LED-backlighting (the first on a ThinkPad) and a widescreen display accompany a number of important but smaller design tweaks. Current thinking is that these changes indicate that the X300 is the first step in a series of larger changes to the ThinkPad. The notebook has already received a number of favorable reviews, but the other changes - the ones that will ultimately trickle down to the rest of the ThinkPad line - are perhaps more interesting than this specific $2500+ notebook."
Why Is Less Than 99.9% Uptime Acceptable? 528
Ian Lamont writes "Telcos, ISPs, mobile phone companies and other communication service providers are known for their complex pricing plans and creative attempts to give less for more. But Larry Borsato asks why we as customers are willing to put up with anything less than 99.999% uptime? That's the gold standard, and one that we are used to thanks to regulated telephone service. When it comes to mobile phone service, cable TV, Internet access, service interruptions are the norm — and everyone seems willing to grin and bear it: 'We're so used cable and satellite television reception problems that we don't even notice them anymore. We know that many of our emails never reach their destination. Mobile phone companies compare who has the fewest dropped calls (after decades of mobile phones, why do we even still have dropped calls?) And the ubiquitous BlackBerry, which is a mission-critical device for millions, has experienced mass outages several times this month. All of these services are unregulated, which means there are no demands on reliability, other than what the marketplace demands.' So here's the question for you: Why does the marketplace demand so little when it comes to these services?"
Mozilla Hitting 'Brick Walls' Getting Firefox on Phones 228
meteorit writes "Mozilla has been working on a mobile version of Firefox since last year, and is now looking to repeat the success of Firefox on the PC. Although development seems not to have been completed, it is known that informal negotiations have already started with mobile network operators. Firefox Mobile is scheduled to be launched by the end of the year and the inaugural version will be compatible with the Linux and Windows Mobile operating systems. Work is already underway to determine what the browser's UI will look like. In the meantime those negotiations seem to be hitting 'brick walls', as cellphone operators resist the intrusion of the open web onto their platforms."
MSI Develops a Heat-Driven Cooler 173
V!NCENT tips us to a write-up about an addition to MSI's Ecolution motherboard which harvests heat from the chipset to power a fan. The device is based on a Stirling engine. The heat from the chipset expands a trapped gas, which pushes against a piston to generate power. The article contains a YouTube video of how the device works. According to MSI, the device has 70% efficiency.
Comment Re:Microsoft will not bleed ink (Score 1) 391
"It's funny you can download better operating systems for free than what the richest corporation on earth can sell you."
"Better" for whom ?
Isnt better the one that allows you to do what you want, and fits your needs ? I loved the idea of Linux when first exposed 5 years ago. I could finally run ONLY what I wanted, no hidden DLL's. But after dozens of installs, I gave up. I could and did install any distro. What I could not do was run what I wanted to. Two or three distros on the same machine, would all use different drivers for the same video card. Hours and Hours editing config files to try and get sound. Endless trips up the stairs to the kids computers to hop on IRC to try and find the right driver for eth0. Flash ? Forget it. MP3's, only if you manually install the codec, PDF's haha.. first you have to get a printer running. I'll admit, it's been about two years since I tried a distro (Got a PowerMac), and I know things have improved. But Linux will never get the home desktop. It is just too complicated, and most people care less about their OS that they do about their phone bill. They just want something that works.
Submission + - Algorithm to improve speed of DSL 100 times
the_harlequin writes: Dr John Papandriopoulos, a researcher at an Australian university has discovered a way to improve the speed of DSL connections 100 times. It is accomplished using a complex mathematical model that reduce the interference along the copper wires. The original story can be found here http://uninews.unimelb.edu.au/articleid_4705.html
MIT Offers City Car for the Masses 290
MIT's stackable electric car, a project to improve urban transportation will make its debut this week in Milan. "The City Car, a design project under way at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, is envisioned as a two-seater electric vehicle powered by lithium-ion batteries. It would weigh between 1,000 and 1,200 pounds and could collapse, then stack like a shopping cart with six to eight fitting into a typical parking space. It isn't just a car, but is designed as a system of shared cars with kiosks at locations around a city or small community."
Submission + - Decentral privacy-rallies in 40 german cities (netzpolitik.org)
netzpolitik writes: "The german parliament will decide on the data-retention at the end of the week. The german "working group on data-retention" (AK-Vorratsdatenspeicherung), a huge network of more than 50 organizations and thousands of privacy-activists is organizing decentral rallies all over germany. There will be events tomorrow between 5pm and 7pm in more than 40 cities. Check out the link for more informations about rallies and actions in a city close to you."
Former Intel CEO Rips Medical Research 484
Himuanam writes "Former Intel CEO Grove rips on the medical research community, contrasting their lack of progress with the tech industry's juggernaut of breakthroughs over the past half-century or so. 'On Sunday afternoon, Grove is unleashing a scathing critique of the nation's biomedical establishment. In a speech at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, he challenges big pharma companies, many of which haven't had an important new compound approved in ages, and academic researchers who are content with getting NIH grants and publishing research papers with little regard to whether their work leads to something that can alleviate disease, to change their ways.'"
Nintendo's Iwata Says Old Console Cycle Dead 245
1up is reporting on comments from Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata, who has offered up the opinion that the four-year console cycle is a thing of the past. Instead, he says, companies should look to iterate on their hardware when an opportunity presents itself. "Launches should depend on when it can signify a major shift in entertainment, or when they have done everything possible with the current hardware. He also says that scheduling the successor to current hardware on a 4-year life cycle without paying attention to changes in the market 'appears to be too inflexible an approach to us.' This isn't to say that the company doesn't have eyes on the future. 'We need to forecast what the future will be like with the expected evolution of new technologies which are available at any given time, and try to identify the so-called 'sweet spot' of technology over the next few years,' he said."
Submission + - Linux Kernel Developers Sabotage Reiser4 (150m.com)
Teran McKinney writes: "Hans Reiser's trial is coming up, so this really makes things really interesting. This article covers some Linux kernel developers "sabotaging" and breaking Namesys's Reiser4 code. This article shows two examples of where it strongly appears that the Reiser4 code was modified to introduce problems. A good explanation is definately needed for this."
Dell Buys IPO-Bound EqualLogic for $1.4 Billion 54
alphadogg writes "Dell is stretching further behind PCs and servers and boosting its storage business with a $1.4 billion buyout of EqualLogic, a storage company that filed to go public in August. CEO Michael Dell had hinted just last week that Dell could be on the prowl for some big game."
Submission + - Google Launches Mobile Platform (bbc.co.uk)
Placid writes: "The BBC website has an article detailing Google's release of their mobile/cell phone 'software stack'. The platform is designed to "speed up the process of making mobile services.". From the article:
"The firm is working with four mobile manufacturers — Samsung, HTC, Motorola and LG — but a Google branded phone was not announced.
[...]
Google's system will be based on computer code that can be openly distributed among programmers, allowing them to build new applications.
A development tool kit for working on the new platform will be released next week
Feed Science Daily: Aggression In Adolescents Is Influenced By Siblings (sciencedaily.com)
Sibling order and gender have effects on children's and adolescents' aggression. Having a brother or highly aggressive sibling of either gender was linked to greater increases in aggression over time. Older siblings with younger brothers had fairly stable aggression levels over time. In addition to age differences, the researchers considered parenting styles and family economics in their analysis. The research suggests that interventions related to aggression should include both siblings and parents.
