th1nk - Slashdot User

Comment Re:Makes sense... (Score 1) 410

by th1nk on Friday August 19, 2011 @12:19PM (#37143748) Attached to: 13-Year-Old Uses Fibonacci Sequence For Solar Power Breakthrough

Oh for the love of god....THAT'S THE POINT ABOUT PRIOR ART! Where the fuck have you been??? That's the point about all these patent challenges, is their prior art. If so, then the patent is invalid. Get a fucking clue!

I couldn't help but read this while hearing the voice of Tom Smykowski...

"Well look, I already told you! I deal with the goddamn customers so the engineers don't have to! I have people skills! I am good at dealing with people! Can't you understand that? What the hell is wrong with you people?"

Hybrid Human-Animal DNA Experiments Raise Concerns 311

Posted by Soulskill on Friday July 22, 2011 @09:34AM from the wonder-what-al-gore-thinks-about-this dept.

Kevin Fishburne writes "British scientists are calling for a new agency to oversee the mixing of human and animal DNA, which is progressing at a rate most may not be aware of: 'Among experimentation that might spark concern are those where human brain cells might change animal brains, those that could lead to the fertilization of human eggs in animals and any modifications of animals that might create attributes considered uniquely human, like facial features, skin or speech. ... Some disagree. "We think some of these should be done, but they should be done in an open way to maintain public confidence," said Robin Lovell-Badge, head of stem cell biology and developmental genetics at Britain's Medical Research Council, one of the expert group members. He said experiments injecting human brain cells into the brains of rats might help develop new stroke treatments or that growing human skin on mice could further understanding of skin cancer.'"

Man Demonstrates His New Bionic Hand 124

Posted by Soulskill on Wednesday May 18, 2011 @01:33PM from the not-named-luke dept.

digitaldc writes with this excerpt from the BBC: "Last year, Patrick, a 24-year-old Austrian, decided to have his dysfunctional hand amputated and replaced with a bionic hand. He lost the use of his left hand after being electrocuted at work. Here he demonstrates the extra movement his new bionic hand has given him, opening a bottle and tying his shoelaces, and tests a prototype hand which will give him additional wrist movement."

Nintendo Announces Wii Successor for 2012 287

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday April 25, 2011 @11:49AM from the gimme-a-new-mario-please dept.

motang writes "Nintendo has officially announced the successor to the Wii. At its investors meeting, Nintendo said they have decided to launch the successor to the Wii in 2012 after the fiscal year, and will show it off and have a playable version at this year's E3."

Comment Re:Not really (Score 3, Funny) 327

by th1nk on Sunday April 10, 2011 @08:41AM (#35773246) Attached to: What Happens If You Get Sucked Out of a Plane?

You don't get bonus points for "but he survived to feel the impact" on your autopsy report.

No, but if you're already a goner you might as well have some fun with it.

I've decided that if I manage to survive the exit and the falling, I'm going to aim for someone's swimming pool and then yell CANNONBALL during my last few seconds. Hopefully someone is around to witness it.

Ski Lifts Can Could Help Get Cargo Traffic Off the Road 225

Posted by timothy on Monday January 31, 2011 @03:11AM from the you-either-like-this-or-have-no-soul dept.

An anonymous reader writes with this except from a beautifully illustrated, thought-provoking article: "These days, we use them almost exclusively to transport skiers and snowboarders up snow slopes, but before the 1940s, aerial ropeways were a common means of cargo transport, not only in mountainous regions but also on flat terrain. An electrically powered aerial ropeway is one of the cheapest and most efficient means of transportation available. Some generate excess energy that can be used to power nearby factories or data centers. An innovative system called RopeCon (not to be confused with a role-playing convention held annually in Finland) can move up to 10,000 tonnes of freight per hour."

Virginia Tech Students Build CHARLI, a Human-Sized Robot 82

Posted by CmdrTaco on Tuesday April 27, 2010 @12:06PM from the in-college-i-just-made-crappy-websites dept.

smackay writes "As CHARLI takes his first steps, anxious onlookers stand ready to catch him if he falls. His stride is short, but upright, as one foot is placed in front of the other in the basement of Virginia Tech's Randolph Hall. But CHARLI is no toddler. He is a 5-foot-tall humanoid robot. Video of this ground-breaking robot included."

Comment Re:What's the point? (Score 1) 853

by th1nk on Tuesday April 20, 2010 @12:52PM (#31912292) Attached to: Gizmodo Blows Whistle On 4G iPhone Loser

Even if all of that didn't happen, why didn't Apple or the guy try to call the phone rather than just remotely shutting it down?

Berkeley Gets Willow Garage Robot To Fold Towels 99

Posted by Soulskill on Friday April 02, 2010 @04:16PM from the thanks-rosie dept.

kkleiner writes "Researchers at UC Berkeley used Willow Garage's PR2 robot to fold towels. The UCB programming used some innovative visual scanning techniques, allowing the PR2 to pick up a towel, find its corners, and fold it on a table perfectly. According to the paper presented at the 2010 ICRA (PDF), the robot successfully completed 50 out of 50 attempts to fold a single towel, and also folded 5 out of 5 towels when they were presented in a group. Is watching a robot do laundry really that exciting? Hell yes — wait until you see the video! UC Berkeley used a Willow Garage robot to develop their own sophisticated robotics program. That validates the whole premise of the PR2 — faster development by letting researchers use a common platform. Score one for open source robotics!"

First Collisions At the LHC 256

Posted by CmdrTaco on Tuesday March 30, 2010 @08:39AM from the make-sure-the-world-is-still-here dept.

An anonymous reader writes "At 1:06 p.m. Central European Summer Time (CEST) today, the first protons collided at 7 TeV in the Large Hadron Collider. These first collisions, recorded by the LHC experiments, mark the start of the LHC's research program."

Beware the King of the Patent Trolls 286

Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday March 25, 2010 @02:11PM from the lotta-fresh-air-under-the-bridge dept.

superapecommando writes "If you haven't heard of Intellectual Ventures, you may want to check this out. Set up by ex-Microsoftie Nathan Myhrvold, with investments from Microsoft among others, it is basically a patenting machine – filing and buying them in huge quantities. Note that it doesn't actually use these patents – except to threaten people with. In other words, Intellectual Ventures is a patent troll – or, rather the King of the Patent Trolls. So I was interested to come across this extremely positive blog post on the company. That it is so positive is hardly surprising, since the blog is called 'Tangible IP,' and subtitled 'ipVA's blog on adding value through intellectual property.' Nonetheless, it provides valuable insights into the mindset of fans of intellectual monopolies. Here's what it says about Intellectual Ventures: 'They are an invention house, and have adopted and reinvented leading edge patent strategies to create a portfolio of their own IP which, in its own, would be of high high worth.' They don't invent anything in the proper, deep sense of the word; they merely file and buy patents – with no intent of ever making stuff or solving real-life problems."

Comment Re:0.9KM (Score 1) 465

by th1nk on Thursday February 18, 2010 @12:56PM (#31186282) Attached to: Distance, in multiples of my height, from my birthplace:

I think the parent interpreted it (correctly) as distance from where you are now to your birthplace. He's at work.

Google and NSA Teaming Up 125

Posted by samzenpus on Thursday February 04, 2010 @10:28AM from the meet-my-big-brother dept.

i_frame writes "The Washington Post reports that 'Under an agreement that is still being finalized, the National Security Agency would help Google analyze a major corporate espionage attack that the firm said originated in China and targeted its computer networks, according to cybersecurity experts familiar with the matter. The objective is to better defend Google — and its users — from future attack.'"

China Is Winning Global Race To Make Clean Energy 346

Posted by timothy on Monday February 01, 2010 @06:50AM from the comparative-advantage-oh-noes dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "The NY Times reports that China vaulted past competitors in Denmark, Germany, Spain and the United States last year to become the world's largest maker of wind turbines, has leapfrogged the West in the last two years to emerge as the world's largest manufacturer of solar panels, and is pushing equally hard to build nuclear reactors and the most efficient types of coal power plants. These efforts to dominate renewable energy technologies raise the prospect that the West may someday trade its dependence on oil from the Mideast for a reliance on solar panels, wind turbines and other gear manufactured in China."

Universal, Pay Those EFFing Lawyers 335

Posted by CmdrTaco on Monday January 25, 2010 @12:15PM from the they-can-afford-it dept.

Slashdot frequent contributor Bennett Haselton writes "The EFF is seeking over $400,000 in attorney's fees from Universal Music Group after Universal sent a DMCA takedown notice to YouTube, demanding the removal of a video posted by user Stephanie Lenz. Lenz had posted a video of her toddler dancing to a 30-second clip of the Prince song "Let's Go Crazy"; after Universal sent the takedown notice, the EFF sent YouTube a counter-notice on behalf of Lenz arguing that the video was fair use, and YouTube restored it. Now the EFF is asking the judge to award them attorney's fees for their work." Use your magical clicking device below to read many more words.

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