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Earth

GPS Receiver Noise Can Be Used To Detect Snow Depth 51

Posted by timothy from the for-the-journal-of-sensors-and-transducers dept.
cremeglace writes "Scientists at the University of Colorado at Boulder have found a use for GPS besides finding restaurants or the occasional road-that-doesn't-exist: it can be used to measure snow depth. The new technique, which takes advantage of distortions of the GPS signal after it reflects off the snowpack, may potentially improve weather forecasts by allowing meteorologists to track snowfall patterns. ScienceNOW has the story, which one geophysicist describes as 'a classical case of one person's noise becoming another person's signal.'"
Censorship

Dam Burst Tool Disables China's Green Dam Censorware 40

Posted by timothy from the dam-you-anti-social-coders dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The infamous Green Dam censorship software has suffered yet another blow. As ZDNet explains, Dam Burst, a tool released by security researcher Jon Oberheide, allows unprivileged users to disable the censorware by removing the hooks that enable it to monitor and block user activity, effectively restoring running applications to their original uncensored state. While the Dam Burst software is currently available at Oberheide's website, community mirrors will undoubtedly be necessary to avoid blocking by the Great Firewall."
Government

FCC Backs Net Neutrality, Chairman's Full Speech Posted 270

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the but-can-they-be-trusted dept.
ArmyofGnomes writes "FCC chairman Julius Genachowski delivered Monday on President Obama's promise to back 'net neutrality' — but he went much further than merely seeking to expand rules that prohibit ISPs from filtering or blocking net traffic by proposing that they cover all broadband connections, including data connections for smartphones. Genachowski stated: 'I understand the Internet is a dynamic network and that technology continues to grow and evolve. I recognize that if we were to create unduly detailed rules that attempted to address every possible assault on openness, such rules would become outdated quickly. But the fact that the Internet is evolving rapidly does not mean we can, or should, abandon the underlying values fostered by an open network, or the important goal of setting rules of the road to protect the free and open Internet. ... In view of these challenges and opportunities, and because it is vital that the Internet continue to be an engine of innovation, economic growth, competition and democratic engagement, I believe the FCC must be a smart cop on the beat preserving a free and open Internet.'"

Comment Re:The case is least important (Score 1) 329

by Radish03 (#29456143) Attached to: Student Designs Cardboard Computer Case
It's the part that goes obsolete slowest, and several computers might occupy a case before it needs to be replaced.

That depends on the case. My parents gave me their old Gateway a few years ago, which I used as a media center PC. When I decided to upgrade it, I was frustrated to discover that instead of the standard rectangular hole with removable motherboard-specific rear panel cover, the back was a solid piece of steel with holes machined out specifically for that computer's motherboard's port arrangement. That pretty much rendered the case as obsolete as the motherboard that went with it.

Other than that, it was a solid, mostly tool-free case that I would have liked to keep using.
Science

Creating a Quantum Superposition of Living Things 321

Posted by kdawson from the wanted-dead-and-alive dept.
KentuckyFC writes "Having created quantum superpositions of photons, atoms, and even molecules, scientists are currently preparing to do the same for larger objects — namely viruses. The technique will involve storing a virus in a vacuum and then cooling it to its quantum-mechanical ground state in a microcavity. Zapping the virus with a laser then leaves it in a superposition of its ground state and an excited one. That's no easy task, however. The virus will have to survive the vacuum, behave like a dielectric, and appear transparent to the laser light, which would otherwise tear it apart. Now a group of researchers has worked out that several viruses look capable of surviving the superposition process, including the common flu virus and the tobacco mosaic virus. They point out that after creating the superposition, scientists will be able to perform the Schrodinger's Cat experiment for the first time, which should be fun (but less so for the virus)."

Comment Re:How is this worth it? (Score 2, Insightful) 242

by Radish03 (#27082205) Attached to: Amazon.com To Accept Game Trade-Ins
In addition to the hassle of listing items and hoping for buyers that other posters mention, there is also the fact that Amazon takes a 15% commission, $0.99 per transaction fee, and $1.35 closing fee (source). That $38 sale price translates into $29.96 for the seller (plus a small amount to cover shipping). $3.46 for a sure thing sale doesn't sound quite so bad.

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I've noticed several design suggestions in your code.

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