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Canada

Free Radicals May Not Be Cause of Aging 371

Posted by timothy from the with-very-few-exceptions-not-a-human-being dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Researchers at McGill University in Montreal have uncovered strong new evidence that that wildly-accepted mitochondrial free radical theory of aging (MFRTA) is wrong. MFRTA suggests that free radicals cause oxidative damage, which in turn leads to the aging process. This new evidence shows that high levels of Reactive Oxidative species are rather a biological signal used to combat aging then the process itself. This goes against claims of major health benefits from consuming foods and particularly supplements that contain antioxidants."
Image

4chan Declares War On Snow Screenshot-sm 201

Posted by samzenpus from the common-enemy dept.
With all the recent hacktivism in the news, Anonymous has decided to take on a new and powerful enemy: snow. On Sunday the group announced that it will "do everything in its power to shut snow down by attacking the Weather Channel and North Face websites, boycotting outerwear, and voting for the sun as Time’s 2010 Person Of The Year." I'm sure there are a lot of people in Minneapolis right now that would wish them luck.

Comment sports... (Score 2) 385

by flynt (#34430408) Attached to: How much TV do you watch in a week, on average?

I've been able to stop watching almost all television, save live sports. One American football game or baseball game is about 3 hours including the breaks, so it's easy for the TV time to start adding up. I usually don't even care which team wins, I just enjoy the contest.

Living alone, I often just have the TV on while I do other things, like clean or cook.
Crime

Wikileaks DDoS Attacker Arrested, Equipment Seized 429

Posted by samzenpus from the I-feel-safer-already dept.
kaptink writes "The self proclaimed hacker that waged a DDoS attack on Wikileaks has been arrested and has had all his equipment seized. What is interesting is that local police conducted the raid and not a federal authority such as the FBI. The Jester (th3j35t3r) who has a reputation for attacking websites he disagrees with is said to be trying to raise $10,000 in expected lawyers fees. If anyone is going to be alight in the whole Wikileaks debacle, its going to be the lawyers. Personally I think anyone who spells their nick with numbers in an effort to look 'leet' deserves to have their computer confiscated."
Businesses

Stuxnet Virus Now Biggest Threat To Industry 254

Posted by CmdrTaco from the or-just-don't-click-attachments dept.
digitaldc writes "A malicious computer attack that appears to target Iran's nuclear plants can be modified to wreak havoc on industrial control systems around the world, and represents the most dire cyberthreat known to industry, government officials and experts said Wednesday. They warned that industries are becoming increasingly vulnerable to the so-called Stuxnet worm as they merge networks and computer systems to increase efficiency. The growing danger, said lawmakers, makes it imperative that Congress move on legislation that would expand government controls and set requirements to make systems safer."
Biotech

Lizard Previously Unknown To Science Found On Vietnam Menu 133

Posted by samzenpus from the try-the-bigfoot-burger dept.
eldavojohn writes "A lizard long served on the menu in the Mekong Delta has recently caught the attention of scientists when it was noted that all animals in the species appeared identical as well as female. The species appears to be a hybrid of two other species (like a mule or liger). But the curious thing is that this hybrid isn't sterile — it reproduces asexually. The species, known for some time in Vietnam, has now officially been named Leiolepis ngovantrii."
Encryption

Sophos Researcher Suggests Password 'Free' to Spur Wi-Fi Encryption 332

Posted by timothy from the has-some-drawbacks dept.
An anonymous reader writes "In the wake of concerns about FireSheep sniffing credentials from people using unencrypted public WiFi hotspots, a security researcher has proposed that the problem does not just lie with big websites like Facebook, but also with those who provide free wireless internet access. Chet Wisniewski, a researcher at security firm Sophos, proposes that all free WiFi hotspots should be encrypted — with the password 'free.' ''I propose standard adoption of WPA2 and a default password of "free." Whenever you wish to connect to complimentary WiFi, you select "Courtyard Marriott" or "Starbucks" like you always have, but you are then prompted for a password. Just type "free". It's not hard. In fact, operating system vendors could even program your PC to automatically try the password "free" before prompting you for a password on the assumption that you might be selecting a free service.'"
Businesses

What's the Oracle Trial Against SAP Really About? 160

Posted by CmdrTaco from the all-about-the-benjamins dept.
Ponca City writes "Chris O'Brien writes in the Merucry News that Larry Ellison's lawsuit against bitter rival SAP gives Ellison the opportunity to deliver the final humiliation to his company's greatest foe of the past decade while sending a blunt message to Oracle's next great enemy, Hewlett-Packard: 'This is who you are fighting. This is how determined we are to win. Get ready.' O'Brien writes that it's a crafty bit of psychological warfare that is already having the desired effect. When Oracle decided to subpoena former SAP CEO Léo Apotheker after he was appointed president and CEO of HP, Apotheker decided to stay out of the country to avoid testifying so now we have the bizarre spectacle of the new CEO of the largest technology company in the world unable to show his face in Silicon Valley. Ellison loves to fight. In gaining control of PeopleSoft, Ellison demonstrated the love of combat and confrontation that has made him one of the wealthiest men on the planet. He waged an 18-month hostile takeover bid to acquire the company, and fought off an effort by the US Department of Justice to torpedo the deal. 'Oracle probably could have settled this case [with SAP],' writes O'Brien. 'But why pass up a glorious chance to subpoena Apotheker and send your new opponent running in circles?'"
Graphics

Doing Digital Art When You Can't Use Your Hand? 131

Posted by timothy from the down-all-the-days dept.
Sludge writes "A good friend of mine who is a digital artist was recently involved in a house fire in which he suffered third degree burns to his 'art hand' which have made him unable to handle a mouse or a stylus for the coming months. If you or anyone near you has lost the ability to do something you love due to a physical injury, you know how painful and frustrating it can be. I need help discovering alternative software and input devices he can use while he recovers the ability to use his hand. The programs he uses most are 3dsmax, Z-Brush and Photoshop and he is used to working with a Wacom stylus. What expressive art tools are available that deemphasize precision work with your coordinated hand?"

Comment Re:Emacs org-mode (Score 1) 366

by flynt (#34046002) Attached to: How Do You Manage the Information In Your Life?

Cool, I actually used TiddlyWiki before I found org-mode :). It wasn't at all bad, but since I do everything else in Emacs, org-mode makes sense.

Plus, I use it for more than just organizing information. Like writing reports and authoring HTML and PDF content with embedded R code for example, which obviously is not the point of TW.

Org-mode is essentially to organizers as Emacs is to text editors, i.e., slowly becoming a platform of its own.

Comment Re:OrgMode (Score 2, Informative) 366

by flynt (#34005870) Attached to: How Do You Manage the Information In Your Life?

Two org-mode posts at the exact same minute :). The uses of org-mode are too numerous to mention in one post, but just to give a little more context... Org is essentially an outliner, event planner, calendar, PDF and HTML authoring system, multi-language code-authoring environment (babel), time tracker, shopping list maintainer, contact database, ...

All this and it's Free Software, too. The mailing list and community is one of the most responsive out there. I've heard many people say that learning emacs is worth it just for org-mode alone.

Check out http://orgmode.org/worg/org-tutorials/index.php for more use cases and tutorials/talks. Incredible piece of software, cannot recommend it enough.
Patents

Who Invented the Linux-Based Wireless Router? 154

Posted by kdawson from the depends-on-the-definition-of-'who' dept.
mtaht writes "I've just had the interesting experience of being deposed to talk about one of the first embedded, Linux-based, wireless routers. Our (free!) 1998 publication of how to make one predates patent #7035281, filed September 13, 2000, by someone else. Their patent was recently granted and is now being disputed in court, in part using our how-to as an example of prior art. The lawsuit continues; the case goes before a judge shortly, and a jury trial if necessary is scheduled for the spring. I find myself plagued with the question: So... who invented the embedded Linux based wireless router? What relevance does 'who' have, when there is such an enormous confluence of ideas from thousands of people? What constitutes invention, anyway?"

Comment Re:Whatever Works For You (Score 1) 391

by flynt (#33856580) Attached to: Word Processors — One Writer's Further Retreat

You sound like you'd benefit highly from Emacs org-mode (http://orgmode.org), which functions not only as a day planner and TODO manager, but a plain text authoring system. You can export to many targets, including both LaTeX and HTML. If you haven't seen it yet, definitely check it out, the community is great and the project is growing daily. The latest big inclusion is the ability to embed executable source code for literate programming.

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