Comment Re:It's Takoma Park, folks (Score 1) 227
Having spent my teenage years there, I can verify everything this poster says is true. Takoma Park is a joke to the rest of the state, and results will sadly be ignored by state government.
More "Miles Per Acre" From Bioelectricity Than Ethanol 223
CarnegieScience writes "Scientist calculate that, compared to ethanol used for internal combustion engines, bioelectricity used for battery-powered vehicles would deliver an average of 80% more miles of transportation per acre of crops, while also providing double the greenhouse gas offsets to mitigate climate change."
Submission + - Google reinvents Wikipedia (blogspot.com) 1
teslatug writes: Google appears to be reinventing Wikipedia with their new product that they call knol (not yet publicly available). In an attempt to gather human knowledge, Google will accept articles from users who will be credited with the article by name. If they want, they can allow ads to appear alongside the content and they will be getting a share of the profits if that's the case. Other users will be allowed to rate, edit or comment on the articles. The content does not have to be exclusive to Google but no mention is made on any license for it. Is this a better model for free information gathering?
Submission + - Former Wikipedia COO had criminal record
Goobergunch writes: The Register is reporting that Carolyn Doran, Chief Operating Officer of the Wikimedia Foundation from January to July of this year, was a convicted felon, with a criminal record in four states. Wikipedia general counsel Mike Godwin said that he had "no direct knowledge" of her record. Responsibilities of the Chief Operating Officer included ensuring effective audit trails and approval of Foundation expenditures.
Submission + - The Real-Life Colossal Cave (textfiles.com)
Jason Scott writes: "While working on my documentary on text adventure games, I had the pleasure of interviewing Dennis Jerz, who has dedicated part of his scholarly studies to Colossal Cave/ADVENT, the original text adventure. This game is based on an actual cave system in Kentucky (part of the Mammoth Cave system) and Jerz actually traveled to this cave, took photos, and worked on a great paper discussing not only the similarities of the cave system, but the differences in approach to the game between the original creator of Adventure (Will Crowther) who was a caver, and Don Woods, who was not. The paper just got published online and is a great read. It turns out you can't just "xyzzy" your way in..."
Submission + - Put the Amiga Demoscene in your DVD Player
Jason Scott writes: "Four years ago, the crew at Hornet put out a collection of PC demos spanning 10 years on a DVD, and called it "Mindcandy". Everyone asked when they'd come out with a DVD of demos for other platforms, and just four short years later, they've announced MindCandy 2: Amiga Demos. It's got 30 Amiga demos rendered on the original hardware, a documentary about how a demoparty is run, and even 5.1 surround remixes of all the music. Additionally, they're sponsoring a rare US demoparty this April called Blockparty. It's a great year for demos!"
Submission + - Wii sells 600,000 in 1 week! 75 percent get Zelda
Wowzer writes: "Nintendo today announced the Wii sold through more than 600,000 units in the Americas in just its first eight days of availability. That's a rate of nearly one per second continuously since the November 19 launch! From the article: "Including just first-party software and accessory sales, Wii instantly has become a $190 million business in the Americas. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, a favorite of avid gamers, already has achieved sales of more than 454,000 units in the Americas." What games did you get?"
Submission + - Thousands of Gadgets Left in Taxis
An anonymous reader writes: A global survey of 2000 taxi drivers from eleven major cities around the world shows thousands of valuable mobile phones, handhelds, laptops and USB Sticks are forgotten in taxis every day. In the last six months alone, Londoners have forgotten a staggering 54,874 mobile phones, 4,718 handhelds, 3,179 laptops and 923 USB sticks at the back of licensed taxi cabs and that's just the ones that have been reported as lost!
Submission + - Thailand government cancels OLPC participation
patiwat writes: "Thailand's new junta-appointed Education Minister has cancelled Thailand's participation in the One Laptop Per Child project and scrapped a plan to give a 2B1 laptop to every primary school student. He has also cancelled plans to roll out computers and a broadband connection to every single school in Thailand. The cancellation of half a million scholarships for needy students is being studied. He cited the lack of readiness of teachers and the need to focus on basic education standards. "We will not focus too much on technology and materials. We will focus on substance," he said. This comes on the heels of the cancellation of the Thai government's open source policy. How important is high tech for education in developing countries?"
Submission + - RIAA Subpoenas Son's Computer & Calls His Empl
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: "To those who might think that I might be exaggerating when I describe the RIAA's litigation campaign as a "reign of terror", how's this one: in UMG v. Lindor, the RIAA not only subpoenaed the computer of Ms. Lindor's son, who lives 4 miles away, but had their lawyer telephone the son's employer. See page 2, footnote 1."
Submission + - Obivous test for patents questioned
Submission + - 16 Year old forms pro-animal testing campaign
MattSparkes writes: "Animal testing is an extremely controversial issue, but any rational person must condemn violence towards humans — which is what many animal rights protesters commit. There have been bombings, threats, vandalism and bribery perpetrated by protesters, and despite this a 16 year old boy has founded a pro-animal testing campaign. Whether or not you agree with testing, you have to admire this bravery. The truth is that many people have had their lives improved or saved by science developed during animal tests."
Submission + - PS3 Hacking contest
Verunks writes: Shimpinomori.net is hosting a hacking contest designed to test the security of the PlayStation 3 and the special version of Linux created for it, has opened and will run until January 2007.
From the website: Hack the PS3 this site is running on, and you will earn:
Visit the site for more details
From the website: Hack the PS3 this site is running on, and you will earn:
- The PS3 with all its default accessories (note: the hard disk was replaced with a 160 GB hard disk!)
- An HDMI cable
- Linux (Fedora core 5 PPC + PS3 add-on) preinstalled, of course
- The game "Resistance — the fall of Man"
Visit the site for more details
