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Biotech

Attractive Women Make Men Temporarily Stupid 652

Posted by kdawson from the irreproducible-results dept.
Ponca City, We love you writes "The Telegraph reports that men who spend even a few minutes in the company of an attractive woman perform less well in tests designed to measure brain function than those who chat to someone they do not find attractive. This leads to speculation that men use up so much of their brain function or 'cognitive resources' trying to impress beautiful women, they have little left for other tasks. Psychologists at Radboud University in The Netherlands carried out the study after one of them was so struck on impressing an attractive woman he had never met before, that he could not remember his address when she asked him where he lived. Researchers recruited 40 male heterosexual students and had each one perform a standard memory test. The volunteers then spent seven minutes chatting to male or female members of the research team before repeating the test. The results showed that men were slower and less accurate after trying to impress the women. The more they fancied them, the worse their score."
Medicine

Depression May Provide Cognitive Advantages 512

Posted by CmdrTaco from the see-it's-an-advantage dept.
Hugh Pickens writes "Paul W. Andrews and J. Anderson Thomson, Jr. argue in Scientific American that although depression is considered a mental disorder, depression may in fact be a mental adaptation which provides real benefits. This is not to say that depression is not a problem. Depressed people often have trouble performing everyday activities, they can't concentrate on their work, they tend to socially isolate themselves, they are lethargic, and they often lose the ability to take pleasure from such activities such as eating and sex. So what could be so useful about depression? 'Depressed people often think intensely about their problems,' write the authors. 'These thoughts are called ruminations; they are persistent and depressed people have difficulty thinking about anything else. Numerous studies have also shown that this thinking style is often highly analytical. They dwell on a complex problem, breaking it down into smaller components, which are considered one at a time.' Various studies have found that people in depressed mood states are better at solving social dilemmas and there is evidence that people who get more depressed while they are working on complex problems in an intelligence test tend to score higher on the test (PDF). 'When one considers all the evidence, depression seems less like a disorder where the brain is operating in a haphazard way, or malfunctioning. Instead, depression seems more like the vertebrate eye — an intricate, highly organized piece of machinery that performs a specific function.'"

Comment why isn't this the default during user setup? (Score 5, Insightful) 500

by Raleel (#29038079) Attached to: Encryption? What Encryption?

I've often wondered why when you are setting up your user account on a box, and it gets to the part with setting up email, it didn't give you a chance to generate or import public/private keys right there and them upload the public to a server. Particularly on linux boxes, this seems like a completely feasible option.

One might also envision having a secret key storage mechanism, either by local external media or via remote storage where it could go look.
Businesses

OnLive and Gaikai — How To Stop a Gaming Revolution 125

Posted by Soulskill from the and-in-this-corner dept.
happierr writes "The gaming industry has been struggling in the last few months, and it is about to struggle even more when OnLive and Gaikai launch later this year. The new services are both a step in the right direction to counter piracy and provide easily-accessible gaming to people with low-end PCs. They might even do for PC gaming what the Wii did for casual gaming; greatly expand the market and draw interest from people who would not ordinarily play games. The services are a real threat for the Big Three video game companies (Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo). How will they combat these revolutionary services? There are a few steps that the Big Three are taking to combat the New Two, such as an increased reliance on peripherals and vision cameras, exclusivity deals, and more online multiplayer features, which OnLive and Gaikai will have a hard time matching."

Comment simple things can be done... (Score 2, Informative) 63

by Raleel (#28836565) Attached to: Shrinking Budgets Tie Hands of Security Pros

I have seen a lot of places that insist on buying a "solution" to the problem, when in fact the solution barely touches the problem. it works around a lot of things, but never really hits right on it. So you've spent a lot of money on something that doesn't really do the job of a person in that role.

The funny part about security is that for all it's sex appeal, real security is actually pretty boring. Oh the hotness of configuration management using tools that are already available on the windows or linux box. How your endorphins get moving at the sight of a patched on patch day. Or the sheer porn of being able to look at your log files and know that all is good.

We all love honeypots and whatnot, but those things need to come well after patching, configuration management, removing/pruning user administrative permissions, and controlling which software you allow, and strong authentication enforcement. This doesn't have to cost a lot of money.

Comment the money line that I'm sure we can pick apart (Score 1) 345

by Raleel (#28247041) Attached to: Analysis Says Planes Might Be Greener Than Trains

from TFA:

Cars emitted more than any other form of transport with the notable exception of off-peak buses, which often carry few passengers. Passengers on the Boston light rail, an electric commuter train, were found to emit as much or marginally more than those on mid-size and large aircraft. This is because 82 per cent of electricity in Massachusetts is generated by burning fossil fuels.

So, if you are burning lots of fossil fuels to run your light rail, then yes, it is like a coal fired plane :)

TFA also talks about building trains into major population centers to eliminate the need for infrastructure for cars to _get_ to the train. It also talks about how trains have a different power problem than air/car/bus, and one that, honestly, I think we're a lot closer to solving.
Music

LEGO Rock Band Confirmed 98

Posted by Soulskill from the how-does-that-even-work dept.
SailorSpork writes to tell us that the rumored LEGO Rock Band has been confirmed, and it's set to be released later this year. The game is being developed for the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and DS. The press release lists the first five songs selected for the game, and says players will "work their way through local venues, stadiums and fantasy locations on Earth and beyond, that mimic the imaginative settings that the LEGO world offers. Also continuing the LEGO 'build-and-play' gaming experience, players will be able to create their own LEGO Rock Band style as they customize their minifigure avatars, band and entourage, including roadies, managers and crew." A new page on the Xbox website provides more (slightly odd) details: "Play killer riffs to destroy a giant robot, summon a storm, and demolish a skyscraper using the power of rock!"

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