Submission + - A decade-long mystery has been solved
justelite writes: "A decade-long mystery has been solved using data from ESA's X-ray observatory XMM-Newton. The brightest member of the so-called 'magnificent seven' has been found to pulsate with a period of seven seconds.
The discovery casts some doubt on the recent interpretation that this object is a highly exotic celestial object known as a quark star."
Submission + - Asimov's 3 laws? Ethical dilemmas of robotics
penguin_dance writes: "This week, experts in South Korea said they were drawing up an ethical code to prevent humans abusing robots, and vice versa. And, a group of leading roboticists called the European Robotics Network (Euron) has even started lobbying governments for legislation.
Of course this brings important delimas to mind: What happens to the Rockem' Sockem Robots (or is it all staged anyway)? Will it be a hate crime to eliminate a robot?"
Of course this brings important delimas to mind: What happens to the Rockem' Sockem Robots (or is it all staged anyway)? Will it be a hate crime to eliminate a robot?"
Submission + - Turkey Repeals YouTube Ban
Phooey42 writes: "Just days after Turkey censored YouTube, the Boston Herald is reporting that Turkey has already lifted the ban. From the article, "The Istanbul court that ordered the site blocked on Wednesday had said it would lift the ban as soon as it ascertained that videos insulting Turkey's founding father, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, were removed." The reason the ban was listed has not yet been given, but presumably the video was removed or they gave in to the immense pressure from the press."
Spielberg Working on Wii Exclusive 36
GameDaily is reporting on comments made to them by EA Los Angeles General Manager Neil Young, stating that Steven Spielberg is working on a Wii title. Spielberg's relationship to the games giant is well known; we discussed it last year during E3. The site promises a more thorough interview next week, but for now just offers the promise of a Wii title with Spielberg's storytelling magic. "The first one, what I can tell you is what you'd expect, sort of, from a Steven Spielberg production. Steven's stories are intimate stories that take place around huge, world-changing events... sort of, big stories shown through the eyes of a small group. Doug Church is producing it... The second project is something Lou Castle is producing, one of the great producers in this industry, and that's one of the products we're building for the Wii. Very exciting and interesting..."
Submission + - Google Maps SuperZoom.
micronicos writes: "Philipp Lenssen of Google Blogoscoped has details showing how it's possible to zoom-in beyond the normal limit for the satellite views of certain areas in Google Maps.
http://blog.outer-court.com/archive/2007-03-07-n12 .html
Looks like Google (and others) are seeing more of us than we thought!"
Submission + - Prototype telescope completes key test
Matthew Sparkes writes: "Two prototype antennas for the world's largest array of millimetre-wave telescopes have passed a key test, working to track and image Saturn for more than an hour. Ultimately, ALMA (Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array) is expected to resolve details 10 times finer than the Hubble Space Telescope when it is completed in 2012."
Journal Journal: Feburary 16th, 2005
Feburary 16th, 2005 (13:08)
It's snowing outside. The snow is not as heavy as earlier this morning, but it still continues. A thin layer of snow has already accumulated on the ground, and the rice fields, resting from the previous year's excertion, rests silently beneath the feathery white duvet.
Journal Journal: Feburary 15th, 2005
Feburary 15th, 2005 (4:33pm)
It seems like fate always somehow catches up with you.
The forgotten speed ticket I have gotten from a million years ago (actually, about 10 monthes prior, to be precise) has finally entered its final stages of development. Kumagaya police contacted me in the past few days about getting me over there to decide on the actual amount of punishment.
Journal Journal: Feburary 14th, 2005
Feburary 14th, 2005 (9:56am)
Lots of things had happened. Obviously lots of things tend to happen with the welcoming of a new year. Today is my first day back in Japan after a relatively long assignment in the US, which was followed closely by a trip in China for Chinese New Years.
The most interesting of recent happenings was that I got my results from the Japanese Language testing board. I was Goukaku with 300 points out of 400 (actually not such great score at all).
Comment Still... I think america wins on this one (Score 1) 776
Thise Europeans know how to do big engineering projects.
look up "Spruce Goose," buddy. It is and remains to be the largest aircraft ever built (american, btw), and it was built in the 40s! wingspan is just shy of 100 metres, and most of the entire thing is built with _WOOD_. It's a true wonder that if actually FLEW. Hughes is a maniac and a genius.
p.s. the said aircraft takes off / lands on water, so there was the tiny detail of transporting it (in parts) from the hanger to the bay where it was final assembled. If you want to marvel at engineering miracles, at least marvel at ones worht marveling at.
Journal Journal: December 26, 2004
December 26th, 2004 (7:47pm)
I'm sitting on a little stool in my kitchenette, waiting for some cold pasta to heat up in the microwave.
Journal Journal: December 17, 2004
December 17th, 2004 (9:47am Pacific Time)
I have been in the US for about 10 days now, but it actually feels a lot longer. I think the concept of time for people is generally associated with the amount of different things one experienced rather than the actual amount of time passed. Isn't this why adults always feel that their life slips by their fingers at a tremendous speed compared to childhood? I suppose that for a child, everything is new. I cannot imagie how horribly would a life
Journal Journal: December 3rd, 2004 1
December 3rd, 2004 (4:35pm)
This is the last day I will work here until middle of Feburary next year. I cleaned up my cubicle and even took the time to wipe tea stains off the table surface, all the while feeling irony dripping from every pore of my body: why is it human nature to clean something when it's _not_ going to be used?
Journal Journal: November 30th, 2004
November 30th, 2004 (4:16pm)
In a few days I will embark on a very long business trip to the US to support one of our larger (erm, largest) customers. I will be there from the beginning of December all the way till the beginning of Feburary, living out of a suitcase and eating things that are probably not the healthiest for me.
