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The Courts

Submission + - IL Governor's Crusade Against Game Costs Taxpayers

Submitted by
Nick Place
Nick Place writes: "Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich has spent almost $1 million in taxpayer money paying for legal fees in a losing battle over a game bill's legality. The bill, which would have prevent sales of mature video games to minors, was ruled unconstitutional back in 2005. However, Blagojevich's under-the-table payment method, which involved taking money from state welfare and public health to pay for his failed crusade against video games, has only recently come to light.

http://www.gwn.com/news/story.php/id/12822/Unconst itutional_Game_Bill_Costs_Illinois_Taxpayers_a_Coo l_Million.html""
Sony

Submission + - Sony develops 0.3 mm display

Submitted by
prostoalex
prostoalex writes: "Sony demoed a new display technology that's bendable and only 0.3 millimeters thick. "Tatsuo Mori, an engineering and computer science professor at Nagoya University, said some hurdles remained, including making the display bigger, ensuring durability and cutting costs," USA Today says."
It's funny. Laugh.

MacGyver Physics 165

Posted by Zonk from the hard-not-to-like-that-fellow dept.
counterfriction writes "This month's issue of Symmetry, a magazine jointly published by SLAC and Fermilab, is featuring an article that points out the sometimes extemporaneous and unconventional solutions physicists have come up with in (and out of) the laboratory. From the article: 'Leon Lederman ... used a pocket knife, tape, and items on anyone's grocery list to confirm that interactions involving the weak force do now show perfect mirror symmetry, or parity, as scientists had long assumed.'"
Announcements

Submission + - Mars - holes in surface discovered

Submitted by
tqft
tqft writes: "http://www.universetoday.com/2007/05/25/dark-caver ns-discovered-on-mars/
"
See that dark spot in the middle of the picture? It seems to be a hole, in an otherwise smooth landscape of lava. It isn't an impact crater because it lacks a raised rim or ejecta. Light from the Sun must be getting down there, but it's so deep that none of it is bouncing back out. It's just a dark hole."

Pic:http://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/upload s/2007/05/2007-0525cavern.thumbnail.jpg

More here:
http://planetary.org/blog/article/00000984

Entrance to Podkayne's Bar & Grill? Collapse in a lava tunnel? Missile Bay door opened?"
User Journal

Journal Journal: Lack of Patience (or time to turn evil) 2

Journal by Marxist Hacker 42
In The Lucifer Effect, Prof. Zimbardo states that the time needed for good people to go evil in his experiments on prisoner/guard relations was a mere 36 hours; and in the invasion/occupation simulation was a mere 48 hours. I have to wonder if Reagan's military invasions, which were relatively successfull compared to the

Feed Virus FUD Spreads To iPods (techdirt.com)

From feed by techdirtfeed
Well-known anti-virus firm Kaspersky is no stranger to mobile malware FUD. While it usually is talking about mobile phones, the iPod is its latest target, as a post on its site proclaims "Kaspersky Lab discovers the first virus for iPod". That's a juicy headline, but the details really don't live up to the hype. The virus, called Podloso, only affects iPods whose owners have gone to the trouble of installing Linux on them, while the user also has to launch the virus themselves. Kaspersky admits it's nothing more than a proof of concept, and poses no real threat, so the headline might be technically accurate, but its awfully sensationalistic. How long before Kaspersky or another vendor starts selling firewalls and AV software for iPods?
Movies

Computer Interaction in Science Fiction Movies 232

Posted by Zonk from the there-is-no-spoon dept.
MidVicious writes "From futuristic 'Punch Cards' to Voice Recognition HoloDeck Interfaces, human/computer interactions have always mirrored the base concepts of our emerging technologies. An article from a Saarland University CS Seminar highlights Hollywood history with UI, ranging from the moderately feasible (Total Recall's television/scenery display wall) to the often ridiculous (Swordfish's 6-flat screen monitor setup complete with 3-D virus-hacking environment). An interesting read, especially considering some of the technology is on its way to becoming a reality."

Feed iPod takes bullet for soldier (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Portable Audio

Kevin Garrad of the 3rd Infantry Division looks to have gotten a little assistance from an unexpected source while on a street patrol in Iraq recently, when the iPod in his pocket got in the path of a bullet fired at close range, slowing it down enough that it didn't pierce his body armor. As if that wasn't a rare enough occurrence, as you can see above, the iPod in question was an HP iPod -- imagine the odds!

[Via Digg]

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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
The Internet

Submission + - Woman has house robbed after fake Craigslist post

Submitted by flanksteak
flanksteak writes: The Seattle Times is reporting that a woman in nearby Tacoma had her rental property stripped of almost everything after someone posted a fake craigslist announcement that everything in the house could be hauled away no questions asked. When contacted, craigslist said they would release data about the poster if they were issued a subpoena.
Microsoft

Microsoft Mulling Portable Data Centers 137

Posted by Zonk from the call-me-when-they-make-them-luggable dept.
1sockchuck writes "An architect of the Windows Live team has published a presentation advocating portable container-based data centers as the future of data center infrastructure. James Hamilton, who previously was GM of Microsoft Exchange Hosted Services, contends that a distributed network of unmanned modular units 'transforms data centers from static and costly behemoths into inexpensive and portable lightweights. ... Multiple smaller data centers, regionally located, could prove to be a competitive advantage.' Both Sun and Rackable have rolled out prototypes of container-based 'data center in a box' products, and Hamilton notes that large generators are also available in trailers."
Security

Submission + - Proof of concept virus for iPods running Linux

Submitted by
Anonymous Coward
Anonymous Coward writes: "Altought AntiVirus companies will probably create a hype saying that iPods are prone to infections, virus called "Podloso" is a newly found virus that is just a proof of concept code that can infect iPods running Linux. Once launched, the virus scans the device's hard disk and infects all executable .elf format files. Any attempt to launch these files will cause the virus to display a message on the screen which says "You are infected with Oslo the first iPodLinux Virus"."

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The only possible interpretation of any research whatever in the `social sciences' is: some do, some don't. -- Ernest Rutherford

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