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Submission + - What's new in Facebook - All you need to know (pureinfotech.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: If you signed in to Facebook this morning, you may have noticed that it looks a little bit different. The top bar now is fixed to the top, inline photos are a little bit bigger, an improved news feed, and the news ticker now is located in the upper-right corner for real-time updates. Too many changes in one day? Don’t sweat it, let’s do a walk through.
Hardware

Submission + - Carnivorous plant inspires self-cleaning material (extremetech.com)

Submitted by
MrSeb
MrSeb writes: "Researchers from Harvard University have devised a material that is both superhydrophobic and superlipophobic. In other words, it repels water and oil, the bases of almost every commonly-occurring liquid including the smears on touchscreens caused by our fatty fingers! The new material, which is called SLIPS (Slippery Liquid-Infused Porous Surface — yes, really), is inspired by the leaves of the carnivorous pitcher plant which must be slippery enough to send sticky, oily-footed insects tumbling to their doom. To do this, SLIPS is made from a nano-structured material (like Teflon) and 3M's Fluorinert is added. The Fluroinert seeps into all the gaps and creates a thin, super-repellant layer that is just a few nanometers thick. Then, when almost anything comes into contact with SLIPS... it slips right off.

Needless to say, SLIPS could revolutionize oil transport (low-friction pipelines!), medicine (self-cleaning implements), houses (self-cleaning windows), and computers (smear-proof smartphones!)"

Submission + - First billion dollar open source software vendor (yahoo.com) 1

Submitted by
head_dunce
head_dunce writes: "Red Hat is coming out way on top in this economy. Total revenue and subscription revenue for this quarter is up 28% year-over-year. Jim Whitehurst, President and Chief Executive Officer of Red Hat said, "Based on the strong first half results, we believe Red Hat remains well positioned to finish fiscal 2012 as the first billion dollar open source software vendor.”"

Submission + - US Has Weakest Labor Protections of Rich Nations (aflcio.org)

Submitted by
NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "Small wonder that our middle class is shrinking, and our industry fading. We have the weakest labor protection in the industrial world. The policies, begun during the New Deal, which led to the rise of our middle class, were reversed 30 or more years ago, and that reversal has led to the pitiful state in which we presently find ourselves. The ongoing decimation of our public school system in order to make money for privatizers isn't helping either."
Idle

Submission + - Award-winning Photographer Really Photoshop Artist (theepochtimes.com)

Submitted by jebaneer34
jebaneer34 writes: Award-winning wildlife photographer Terje Helleso has become one of this week’s least popular people in Sweden since it was discovered that he faked hundreds of photos over the course of several years ... Helleso, who is famous not only for his art, but also for being a strong advocate of keeping digital photography real and speaking out against manipulation or theft of material, denied everything initially. The fraud was exposed first on http://flashback.org/
Crime

Submission + - Two People Killed For Social Media Use in Mexico (cnn.com)

Submitted by nonprofiteer
nonprofiteer writes: A man and a woman in Mexico were tortured — the man's arm nearly severed, the woman disemboweled — and hung from a bridge in Nuevo Laredo. From CNN: "Signs left near the bodies declared the pair, both apparently in their early 20s, were killed for posting denouncements of drug cartel activities on a social network.

"This is going to happen to all of those posting funny things on the Internet," one sign said. "You better (expletive) pay attention. I'm about to get you.""

Awful. And preceded by a story of two Mexicans being threatened with 30-year-sentences for tweeting a rumor about an attack on a school: http://articles.latimes.com/2011/sep/05/world/la-fg-mexico-tweeters-20110906
Google

Submission + - Be Careful Talking About Your Google Results (forbes.com)

Submitted by nonprofiteer
nonprofiteer writes: Personalized search results means you might spill private information about yourself by talking about yours. Piece has an anecdote from a conference session: "One of the speakers was talking about a racial bias he had noticed in Google search: when he searched for “black women” or “black girls,” Google suggested a series of porn-related pages. But it did not offer up XXX-content when he searched for “white women” or “white girls.”

An interesting anecdote! But when my friend ran the search on her own computer, she didn’t get the same explicit results. When she told the speaker about not getting too porn with those particular search words, he was surprised (and perhaps embarrassed). It appeared Google had personalized content for him, without him realizing."
Iphone

Submission + - Smartphones Becoming Sole Computer of Choice (smartertechnology.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The build-out of 3G networks in developing coutries, plus ultra-low prices from the likes of Samsung, will make the smartphone the sole compuuter of millions of citizens worldwide. And by 2016, 97 percent of smartphones will use touchscreens. Now don't get me wrong--I carry an iPad and an iPod Touch in my backpack and love touchscreens--but I still like a phone that fits in my pocket. However I'm going to be in the minority because apparently in five years the majority of wireless communicators will be smartphones.
Businesses

Submission + - Netflix To Lose 1 Million Subscribers (tekgoblin.com)

Submitted by
tekgoblin
tekgoblin writes: "In light of the recent price increase at Netflix, it made quite a few subscribers mad. Netflix expects to lose around 1 million total subscribers in the short term after the price changes. Price changes that split the streaming and DVD costs separately when they were combined previously which inevitably increase the subscription prices. On top of the price increase Netflix will lose their contract with Starz in February which will cost them around 1,000 total streaming titles from their collection."
Iphone

Submission + - iPhone 5 to have radical new design, images show (bgr.com)

Submitted by zacharye
zacharye writes: The iPhone 5 hasn’t been announced yet, but that has not stopped accessory makers from posting upcoming cases for the highly anticipated handset. Case-Mate has published a page on its website with six different case designs for the new iPhone 5, and we’re loving the radical new body shown in the images. We’ve heard tons of speculation that the iPhone 5 will be thinner and lighter than the current model and these cases suggest it will have tapered edges and a slim profile as well...
Input Devices

Submission + - Synaptics working on more advanced touch for smart (techworld.com.au)

Submitted by
angry tapir
angry tapir writes: "Touch specialist Synaptics is working on technologies that will allow touchscreens to mimic the feel of a physical keypad, in order to make smartphones easier to use, according to company technology strategist Andrew Hsu. The goal is to build a touchscreen with the tactile feedback of a keypad. Users should be able run their fingers over virtual keys and get the same sensation as a mechanical keypad gives, allowing them to feel where the buttons are, and then activate them by pushing down a little bit harder, according to Hsu."
Robotics

Submission + - Libyan Rebels Are Flying Their Own Mini-Drone (wired.com)

Submitted by suasfan22
suasfan22 writes: The Libyan revolutionaries are more of a band of enthusiastic amateurs than experienced soldiers. But it turns out the rebels have the kind of weaponry usually possessed by advanced militaries: their very own drone.

Aeryon Labs, a Canadian defense firm, revealed on Tuesday that it had quietly provided the rebel forces with a teeny, tiny surveillance drone, called the Aeryon Scout. Small enough to fit into a backpack, the three-pound, four-rotor robot gave Libyan forces eyes in the sky independent of the Predators, Fire Scout surveillance copters and manned spy planes that NATO flew overhead. Don't worry, it's not armed.

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