5204265
submission
Anonymous Meoward writes:
The Grant Building in (my home town area of) Pittsburgh has had, for eight years, a red beacon that should be flashing the name of the city in Morse Code. While most Pittsburghers are unaware of this (probably since they're still nursing hangovers from celebrating the fortunes of the Steelers and Penguins), alert CMU grad student Tom Stepleton noticed that the system controlling the beacon's output is producing some interesting errors. The controller hardware dates at least from the 1930s, but Stepleton claims the errors ("Pitetsbkrrh", "Tpebtsaurgh") have cropped up only in the past two years. It's amazing that the controller has been running as well and as long as it has IMO; as folks from my area would say, that's "nawt too shabby".
646154
submission
Anonymous Meoward writes:
Hans Reiser of ReiserFS fame was today found guilty of first degree murder in Oakland, California. Quoth the source article: "In a murder case with no body, no crime scene, no reliable eyewitness and virtually no physical evidence, the prosecution began the trial last November with a daunting task ahead...
The turning point in the trial came when Reiser took the stand in his own defense March 3." Whether he really did it or not, Hans basically just didn't know when to shut up.
522566
submission
Anonymous Meoward writes:
SCO will live to fight another day, thanks to an injection of $100M of private equity. The suckers, I mean, buyers are Stephen Norris Capital Partners and "its partners from the Middle East". SNCP will take the company private, get it out of Chapter 11, and reorganize it to deliver on future product offerings (whatever those may be). No word on whether Darl McBride and friends will be shown the door.
179915
submission
Anonymous Meoward writes:
El Reg has a story about the opening of the long-awaited Creation Museum. The museum boasts a replica of Noah's Ark complete with dinosaur passengers, "proof" (including "scientific validation") of the Genesis story of creation, and plenty of verbal ammunition for those who dare question the veracity of the Bible in scientific affairs.
151597
submission
Anonymous Meoward writes:
Science Daily has a report on the further refinements to artificial "noses" — that is, devices with olfactory capability — and how the accuracy of these devices has been enhanced by simulating the mucous membranes of the nose. Can artificial boogers be far behind?
