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Sci-Fi

Submission + - Deckard is a Replicant

Submitted by
MufasaZX
MufasaZX writes: "While endless debate over weather Rick Deckard in Blade Runner is himself a replicant may be entertaining, on today's Fresh Air on NPR a new interview with Ridley Scott was aired, and the second question out of Terry Gross's mouth was 'is Deckard a replicant?' which RS replied with an absolute affirmative. There, done, end of debate. The audio stream of the interview is already online here."
Music

Submission + - Congress considers bill to make radio "pay to (arstechnica.com)

Submitted by
devjj
devjj writes: "Ars Technica is reporting that Congress is considering two bills that will remove the exemption terrestrial radio broadcasters currently enjoy that allows them to broadcast music without compensating the artists or labels for it. Songwriters are paid, but that is it. The National Association of Broadcasters is furious at the RIAA, a vocal supporter of repealing the exemptions, and has responded by agreeing that artists need better compensation. As a result, it is pointing its collective finger at the labels, asking Congress to investigate modern recording contracts.

What do you think? With the NAB up against the RIAA, what do consumers stand to gain or lose?"
Data Storage

Submission + - Top six hard drives for speed and capacity (computerworld.com) 1

Submitted by
Lucas123
Lucas123 writes: "Computerworld has reviewed the latest in six hard disk drives, from the solid state models to terabyte-size spinning disks. Samsung comes in as the fastest with a 64GB flash drive with a read speed of 100MB/sec and write speed of 80 MB/sec, compared to 59MB/sec and 60MB/sec for a traditional 2.5" hard drive. Seagate's 1TB Barracuda drive had a 85.5MB/sec average read speed, while for power consumption, Western Digital's 1TB RE2-GP use of only 7.4 watts, makes it between 22% and 33% more efficient than its three primary traditional hard drive competitors, but it still can't beat SSD."
Space

Submission + - Does Active SETI Put Earth in Danger? 3

Submitted by
Ponca City, We Love You
Ponca City, We Love You writes: "There is an interesting story in Seed Magazine on active SETI — sending out signals to try to contact other civilizations in nearby star systems. Alexander Zaitsev, Chief Scientist at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute of Radio Engineering and Electronics, has access to one of the most powerful radio transmitters on Earth and has already sent several messages to nearby, sun-like stars. But some scientists think that Zaitsev is not only acting out of turn by independently speaking for everyone on the entire planet but believe there are possible dangers we may unleash by announcing ourselves to the unknown darkness. "We're talking about initiating communication with other civilizations, but we know nothing of their goals, capabilities, or intent," says SETI researcher John Billingham. This ground has been explored before in countless works of science fiction most notably "The Killing Star," a 1995 novel that paints a frightening picture of interstellar civilizations exterminating their neighbors with relativistic bombardments, not from malice, but simply because it is the most logical action. Billingham urges a broad, interdisciplinary discussion of Active SETI. "At the very least we ought to talk about it first, and not just SETI people. We have a responsibility to the future well-being and survival of humankind.""
Communications

Submission + - Why wireless in the U.S. isn't wide open

Submitted by Geoffery B
Geoffery B writes: Even as the wireless industry chants a new gospel about opening mobile phone networks to outside devices and applications, some of the biggest U.S. carriers are quietly blocking new services that would compete with their own. Would-be mobile-service providers, ranging from startups to major banks to eBay's PayPal have encountered these roadblocks, erected by the likes of AT&T and Verizon Wireless. In some cases, cellular carriers have backed down, but only after inflicting costly delays on the new services.
Media

Submission + - A&E beaming adverts directly into your head. 2

Submitted by Fantastic Lad
Fantastic Lad writes: Hear Voices? It May Be an Ad. New Yorker Alison Wilson was walking down Prince Street in SoHo last week when she heard a woman's voice right in her ear asking, "Who's there? Who's there?" She looked around to find no one in her immediate surroundings. Then the voice said, "It's not your imagination." Indeed it isn't. It's an ad for "Paranormal State," a ghost-themed series premiering on A&E this week. The billboard uses technology manufactured by Holosonic that transmits an "audio spotlight" from a rooftop speaker so that the sound is contained within your cranium.
The Military

Submission + - Pain Beam: Break, Enter, Burn. 11

Submitted by
king_cipher
king_cipher writes: "Wired is hosting an article on the "Pain Beam" which is currently being considered by Dept. of Homeland Security. The Air Force previously tested the Active Denial System (ADS) and claims nobody can tolerate the non-lethal weapon for more than 5 seconds before they tuck tail and run away with the feeling that their face is melting off. A scenario from the wired article: Burglars break into an apartment, hoping to pick up some expensive electronics or jewelry. But they're out again, empty-handed, within seconds, howling with pain and surprise. They've been driven back by waves of intolerable heat: Entering the apartment is like stepping into a furnace. It's the Active Denial System, or ADS, at work, the ultimate in home protection ... among other uses."
The Internet

Submission + - Internet to reach capacity by 2010 story overblown (computerworld.com.au) 1

Submitted by Gustoman
Gustoman writes: The co-author of a report that received global media coverage claiming the Internet will reach capacity by 2010 says the study was blown way out of proportion. Headlines such as "Internet facing meltdown" and "Internet blackouts predicted by 2010" are way off course, said the report's co-author Johna Till Johnson, president and senior founding partner of Nermertes Research. According to her, all the study concluded is that a mismatch between demand and access capacity will be reached in three to five years that will have to be met by billions of dollars in spending by carriers. It estimates access providers will have to spend between US$42 billion and US$55 billion to close that gap, which could be 70 per cent more than they plan to invest. Otherwise, the next YouTube may be throttled because the Internet will be hard to access. Johnson goes on to explain the merits of the report, including the bandwidth consumption models used and interviews with vendors, enterprises, service providers and investment companies the research firm conducted to arrive at its findings. "We explicitly are not saying the Internet's going to break," she said.
Music

Submission + - EMI may cut funding to IFPI, RIAA (arstechnica.com) 1

Submitted by Teen Bainwolf
Teen Bainwolf writes: Big Four record label EMI is reportedly considering a big cut in its funding for the IFPI and RIAA. Each of the labels reportedly contributed over $130 million per year to fund industry trade groups, and EMI apparently believes that money could be better spent elsewhere. 'One of the chief activities of the RIAA is coordinating the Big Four labels' legal campaign, and those thousands of lawsuits have done nothing but generate ill will from record fans, while costing the labels millions of dollars and doing little (if anything) to actually reduce the amount of file-sharing going on. In fact, the RIAA freely admits that the legal campaign is a real money pit, and EMI's new ownership may be very leery of continuing to pour money down that particular rat hole.
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - Celebrity Star Wars

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: I'm almost embarrassed to submit this as even as an AC. However, there are a few entries at this Celebrity Star Wars (photoshop) contest which were actually pretty amusing. From the contest page: 'The rules of the game are thus: Change a celebrity into a Star Wars character. Do NOT use an actor who actually was in Star Wars. Feel free to change the celebrity into any of the weird and wacky supporting Star Wars characters.' Sigh.
Space

Submission + - Obama to cut NASA budget for education

Submitted by mknewman
mknewman writes: MSN is reporting Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's education policy is causing a stir ... but not all in a good way. Advocates for space exploration are noting with dismay that he'd take billions of dollars from NASA to pay for the educational programs he'd like to expand.

The shift from exploration to education came last week when Obama talked up his $18 billion education plan during a New Hampshire campaign swing. Actually, the reference to NASA comes at the end of a 15-page document laying out the details behind the plan (PDF file):

"The early education plan will be paid for by delaying the NASA Constellation Program for five years, using purchase cards and the negotiating power of the government to reduce costs of standardized procurement, auctioning surplus federal property, and reducing the erroneous payments identified by the Government Accountability Office, and closing the CEO pay deductibility loophole. ..." http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/11/26/481595.aspx
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - What Geeky Things Must Be Done? 2

Submitted by John
John writes: A few weeks ago, my friends were discussing "The Princess Bride", and most of the references went completely over my head — I've not seen it all the way through, nor read the book. Naturally, revealing this fact made these people look at me as if I'd just moved into town from under some rock. This led into a discussion of the things that most general geeks should be expected to know; for example, reciting the inscription on the One Ring, or (apparently) quoting "Princess Bride" on-demand. The suggestions we came up with ranged from personal things, like having one's movie/game library in an online database, to big, world-scoped things like contributing to an open-source project of your choosing. I'm curious to know what the general consensus is on the most obvious or biggest geek/nerd things that should be seen, done, or read/watched/heard.
Microsoft

Submission + - CNet rates Vista one of "history's worst produ (cnet.co.uk)

Submitted by DrNick
DrNick writes: It could be one of the most controversial decisions in recent times online, but CNet UK has rated Windows Vista as one of the worst tech products in history.

From the article: "Its incompatibility with hardware, its obsessive requirement of human interaction to clear security dialogue box warnings and its abusive use of hated DRM, not to mention its general pointlessness as an upgrade, are just some examples of why this expensive operating system earns the final place in our terrible tech list.
The Courts

Submission + - RIAA ordered to divulge expenses-per-download

Submitted by NewYorkCountryLawyer
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes: The Court has ordered UMG Recordings, Warner Bros. Records, Interscope Records, Motown, and SONY BMG to disclose their expenses-per-download to the defendant's lawyers, in UMG v. Lindor, a case pending in Brooklyn. The Court held that the expense figures are relevant to the issue of whether the RIAA's attempt to recover damages of $750 or more per 99-cent song file, is an unconstitutional violation of due process.
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - The Taxman Barely Cometh

Submitted by
theodp
theodp writes: "While Congress is considering lowering the 35% federal tax rate, a lot of companies don't need help from Washington. They've been finding legal ways to shrink their tax bill for years, with 'cross-border tax arbitrage' — getting profits out of the U.S. if taxes are lower offshore — emerging as one of the hottest tax-avoidance strategies. A list compiled by BusinessWeek of the S&P 500 companies sending in the smallest checks sports a number of high-tech household names, including Amazon and Yahoo, who respectively sent Uncle Sam 2.8% and 2.9% of their earnings before income taxes over the past five years, and Apple, which paid a whopping $0 in cash taxes last year."

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