41401529
submission
mbstone writes:
The Air Force has a problem: Its drones generate thousands of hours of video (I almost said "footage.") And most of it is miles of endless desert. USAF needs to distill the highlights, if you will, and nobody does it better than ESPN, the TV sports network. Air Force officials have asked ESPN for help in analyzing the 327,384 hours collected just this year.
What we really need in times like these is sportscaster Warner Wolf. 'Let's go to the videotape, pick it up right here, Taliban in the home black.'
40277339
submission
mbstone writes:
The Namib Desert Beetle generates water from water vapor via its shell, which has alternating hydrophilic and hydrophobic bumps which channel water droplets into its mouth. Scientists at MIT developed a self-filling water bottle using this technology, and have announced a contest for the best design of a countertop water-from-air generator.
40246967
submission
mbstone writes:
There's three quadrillion gallons of water vapor in the air, but will this still be true after mass production of the self-filling water bottle? The invention is based on the Namib Desert Beetle which gets its moisture (12% of its weight) from water vapor.
39936543
submission
mbstone writes:
3 Chicagoland teens were accused of huffing and driving after inhaling an aerosol product, familiar to every techie who cleans keyboards and other electronic assemblies, and causing at least two fatal auto accidents. Signs your kid might be huffing include 'sudden weight loss, changes in mood, changes in friendships, acting confused and rebellious.'
29524977
submission
mbstone writes:
Arvind Narayanan writes: What if authors can be identified based on nothing but a comparison of the content they publish to other web content they have previously authored? Naryanan has a new paper to be presented at the 33rd IEEE Symposium on Security & Privacy. Just as individual telegraphers could be identified by other telegraphers from their "fists," Naryanan posits that an author's habitual choices of words, such as, for example, the frequency with which the author uses "since" as opposed to "because," can be processed through an algorithm to identify the author's writing. Fortunately, and for now, manually altering one's writing style is effective as a countermeasure.
23521314
submission
mbstone writes:
In Bonn, Germany, prostitution is legal, but a working girl must now pay for the privilege of soliciting on the Immenburgstrasse. She does so by inserting 6 euros ($8.45) in a hooking-meter made by Siemens and receiving a slip of paper licensing her to practice her trade for the evening.
8867632
submission
mbstone writes:
You know those big, electromechanical displays that used to grace railroad stations and airports, the ones with the letters that would flip around and around until the correct message appeared? Sadly, none remain in service, but Cary Dunn has done it in ActionScript — how cool is that? — and I bet his emulation makes its way into real airports real soon now.
6996784
submission
mbstone writes:
Aside from ending painful daily fingerpricking for millions,the invention of the color-changing blood sugar tattoo should also reduce the vast amount spent on glucose test strips ($1/test). Next, I want to see artistic diabetic tattoos that morph according to the wearer's blood sugar.
