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Submission + - Porous Silicon Improves Sensitivity of Integrated Optical Sensors (gatech.edu)

Submitted by shalon13
shalon13 writes: Researchers in Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a new method to significantly improve silicon-based optical sensors for the detection of biochemicals and other molecules. This simplified approach reliably brings porous silicon to silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates, a widely used platform in the area of Silicon Photonics aiming for integrated optical devices with high performance and low cost.

Submission + - The woman who should have been the first female astronaut.

Submitted by StartsWithABang
StartsWithABang writes: We like to think of the Mercury 7 — the very first group of NASA astronauts — as the "best of the best," having been chosen from a pool of over 500 of the top military test pilots after three rounds of intense physical and mental tests. Yet when women were allowed to take the same tests, one of them clearly distinguished herself, outperforming practically all of the men. If NASA had really believed in merit, Jerrie Cobb would have been the first female in space, even before Valentina Tereshkova, more than 50 years ago. She still deserves to go.

Submission + - Speech driven keyboard drivers, why do they only exist in Android/iOS? 1

Submitted by ntrcessor
ntrcessor writes: I have several clients who are visually disabled, or have other disabilities the make typing a difficulty for them. I noticed that they still prefer to have something with tactile feedback. I also noticed that they liked the fact that on Android and iOS devices they could speak commands, and even type by speaking. Great.

Sans expensive 3rd party add-ons, none of the OS's for desktops seem to integrate this ability directly into the OS. Even with accessibility turned on, my experience across the board, is that one must speak into a "dictation" application, and some how paste that content into the desired app. Experience has also show that if disabled people were all obscenely rich, they could afford the 3rd party add-ons to make this a less cumbersome task.

The least expensive route I found for this doesn't work well, and that was Nuance combined with an iPhone for input. Assuming the user is starting from scratch, we have the cost of a new computer, the Nuance Software, and the iPhone, which pushes the cost easily over $1000, and it's still involves lots of training for the user. The one that didn't involve so much user training isn't directly available in the US, and costs $3000 for the middleman piece that combines the Nuance and another piece of software called Jaws. Between Nuance, and Jaws, that's $1000. The easy part is apparently just adding enough speech recognition to be able to launch a few commands. I have accomplished this in all 3 with minimal effort. But on the typing front, still no joy.

Why is it then, that while it is demonstrably possible to have a keyboard level input done by voice recognition, that none of the major desktop OS's support this out of the box? (Linux,Windows, MacOS). I'm asking because I'm trying to solve this on an affordable basis for the truly disabled, who need it. Unfortunately my skills in programming, are currently not near the level they would need to be to supply keyboard drivers for any platform. Let alone one that involved a speech API.

Feed Google News Sci Tech: NASA says 1934 Dust Bowl was worst drought in 1000 years: Here's what NASA ... - (google.com)

From feed by feedfeeder

Tech Times
NASA says 1934 Dust Bowl was worst drought in 1000 years: Here's what NASA ...
Tech Times
The Dust Bowl of 1934 was the worst dry period in 1,000 years, according to NASA. That doesn't reveal the human suffering it caused, or the art it helped to create. (Photo : Arthur Rothstein / Farm Security Administration)...
NASA and Tree Rings Confirm 1934 Drought Worst in Last 1000 YearsSavingAdvice.com
How the Dust Bowl Stacks Up Against Other DroughtsThe News Ledge
1934 drought worst in millenniumThe Hoops News
The Guardian-Capital Wired-Beta Wired
all 84 news articles

Submission + - If you're connected, Apple collects your data. No matter what. (github.com)

Submitted by fyngyrz
fyngyrz writes: It would seem that no matter how you configure Yosemite, Apple is listening. Keeping in mind that this is only what's been discovered so far, and given what's known to be going on, it's not unthinkable that more is as well. Should users just sit back and accept this as the new normal? It will be interesting to see if these discoveries result in an outcry, or not.

Submission + - Gigabit Cellular Networks Could Happen with 24GHz Spectrum

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A Notice of Inquiry was issued by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on Friday that focuses research on higher frequencies for sending gigabit streams of mobile data. The inquiry specifically states that its purpose is to determine "what frequency bands above 24 GHz would be most suitable for mobile services, and to begin developing a record on mobile service rules and a licensing framework for mobile services in those bands". Cellular networks currently use frequencies between 600 MHz to 3 GHz with the most desirable frequencies under 1 GHz being owned by AT&T and Verizon Wireless. The FCC feels, however, that new technology indicates the potential for utilizing higher frequency ranges not necessarily as a replacement but as the implementation necessary to finally usher in 5G wireless technology. The FCC anticipates the advent of 5G commercial offerings within six years.

Submission + - LTE Hotspot as the only cellular service? 1

Submitted by iamacat
iamacat writes: I am thinking of canceling my regular voice plan and using an LTE hotspot for all my voice and data needs. One big draw is ability to easily use multiple devices without expensive additional lines or constantly swapping SIMs. So I can have an ultra compact Android phone and an iPod touch and use one of them depending on which apps I fell like using. Or, if I anticipate needing more screen real estate, I can bring only a Nexus 7 or a laptop and still be able to make and receive VoIP calls. When I am home or at work, I would be within range of regular WiFi and not need to eat into the data plan or battery life of the hotspot.

Has anyone done something similar? Did the setup work well and which devices/VoIP services did you end up using? How about software for automatic WiFi handoffs between the hotspot and regular home/work networks?

Submission + - Internet trolls to face two years in jail for online abuse (theguardian.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Internet trolls who spread “venom” on social media could be jailed for up to two years, the justice secretary Chris Grayling has said as he announced plans to quadruple the maximum prison sentence.

Grayling, who spoke of a “baying cybermob”, said the changes will allow magistrates to pass on the most serious cases to crown courts.

The changes, which will be introduced as amendments to the criminal justice and courts bill, will mean the maximum custodial sentence of six months will be increased to 24 months.

Grayling told the Mail on Sunday: “These internet trolls are cowards who are poisoning our national life. No one would permit such venom in person, so there should be no place for it on social media. That is why we are determined to quadruple the six-month sentence.

Submission + - NASA cancels solar sail demonstration mission (Sunjammer) (spacenews.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Space News reports that NASA cancelled their solar sail demonstration mission (also known as Sunjammer) citing, "a lack of confidence in its contractor’s ability to deliver".

[Company president Nathan] Barnes said that in 2011 he reached out to several NASA centers and companies that he believed could build the spacecraft and leave L’Garde free to focus on the solar sail. None of those he approached — he only identified NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California — took him up on the offer. Rather than give up on the opportunity to land a NASA contract, L’Garde decided to bring the spacecraft development in house. It did not work out, and as of Oct. 17, the company had taken delivery of about $2 million worth of spacecraft hardware including a hydrazine tank from ATK Space Systems of Commerce, California, and four mono-propellant thrusters from Aerojet Rocketdyne of Sacramento, California.

Submission + - Soda pop damages your cells' telomeres

Submitted by BarbaraHudson
BarbaraHudson writes: Those free soft drinks at your last start-up may come with a huge hidden price tag. The Toronto Sun reports that researchers at the University of California — San Francisco found study participants who drank pop daily had shorter telomeres — the protective units of DNA that cap the ends of chromosomes in cells — in white blood cells. Short telomeres have been associated with chronic aging diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and some forms of cancer.

The researchers calculated daily consumption of a 20-ounce pop is associated with 4.6 years of additional biological aging. The effect on telomere length is comparable to that of smoking, they said.

"This finding held regardless of age, race, income and education level," researcher Elissa Epel said in a press release.

Submission + - The Largest Ship in the World is Being Built in Korea

Submitted by HughPickens.com
HughPickens.com writes: Alastair Philip Wiper writes that at at 194 feet wide and 1,312 feet long, the Matz Maersk Triple E is the largest ship ever built capable of carrying 18,000 20-foot containers. Its propellers weigh 70 tons apiece and it is too big for the Panama Canal, though it can shimmy through the Suez. A U-shaped hull design allows more room below deck, providing capacity for 18,000 shipping containers arranged in 23 rows – enough space to transport 864 million bananas. The Triple-E is constructed from 425 pre-fabricated segments, making up 21 giant “megablock” cross sections. Most of the 955,250 litres of paint used on each ship is in the form of an anti- corrosive epoxy, pre-applied to each block. Finally, a polyurethane topcoat of the proprietary Maersk brand colour, “Hardtop AS-Blue 504”, is sprayed on.

Twenty Triple-E class container ships have been commissioned by Danish shipping company Maersk Lines for delivery by 2015. The ships are being built at the Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering factory in the South Korean port of Opko. The shipyard, about an hour from Busan in the south of the country, employs about 46,000 people, and "could reasonably be described as the worlds biggest Legoland," writes Wiper. "Smiling workers cycle around the huge shipyard as massive, abstractly over proportioned chunks of ships are craned around and set into place." The Triple E is just one small part of the output of the shipyard, as around 100 other vessels including oil rigs are in various stages of completion at the any time.” The vessels will serve ports along the northern-Europe-to-Asia route, many of which have had to expand to cope with the ships’ size. “You don’t feel like you’re inside a boat, it’s more like a cathedral,” Wiper says. “Imagine this space being full of consumer goods, and think about how many there are on just one ship. Then think about how many are sailing round the world every day. It’s like trying to think about infinity.”

Submission + - 100 year old rifle being phased out by Canada's Rangers (metronews.ca)

Submitted by ControlsGeek
ControlsGeek writes: The Lee-Enfield .303 Rifle is being phased out for use by Canada's Rangers. A Northern aboriginal branch of the Armed Forces. The rifle has been in service with the Canadian military for 100 years and is still being used by the Rangers for it's unfailing reliability in Arctic conditions. If only the Hardware that we use in Computers could have such a track record.

Submission + - Be True to Your CS School: Best Colleges for Programmers?

Submitted by theodp
theodp writes: With apologies to The Beach Boys: "When some loud braggart tries to put me down / And says his CS school is great / I tell him right away / 'Now what's the matter buddy / Ain't you heard of my CS school / It's number one in the LinkedIn University Rankings'." The Motely Fool reports that the Data Scientists at LinkedIn have been playing with their Big Data, ranking schools based on how successful recent grads have been at landing desirable software development jobs. Here's their Top 25: CMU, Caltech, Cornell, MIT, Princeton, Berkeley, Univ. of Washington, Duke, Michigan, Stanford, UCLA, Illinois, UT Austin, Brown, UCSD, Harvard, Rice, Penn, Univ. of Arizona, Harvey Mudd, UT Dallas, San Jose State, USC, Washington University, RIT. There's also a shorter list for the best schools for software developers at startups, which draws a dozen schools from the previously mentioned schools, and adds Columbia, Univ. of Virginia, and Univ. of Maryland College Park.

Feed Google News Sci Tech: Apple SIM: Not Quite A Revolution - InformationWeek (google.com)

From feed by feedfeeder

InformationWeek
Apple SIM: Not Quite A Revolution
InformationWeek
The Apple iPad Air 2's inclusion of a SIM card that lets users choose among cellular data plans won't change the mobile industry all that much. Here's why. 10 Robots Changing The World. (Click image for larger view and slideshow.) When Apple introduced...
SIM card in new iPads gives rise to phone-carrier speculationMarketWatch
New iPad Lets Users Swap Data PlansNASDAQ
Apple SIM has great potential, but widespread changes will take timeInfoWorld
Economic Times
all 73 news articles

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