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NASA

Launching Frequently Key To NASA Success 145

teeks99 writes "Even NASA could benefit from the 'Launch Often' idea that is frequently referred to in the software development community. However, in NASA's case, the 'launch' is a bit more literal. Edward Lu, writing in the New York Times, points out that by lowering the consequences of launch failure, and making frequent launches available to engineers, NASA could open up a new wave of innovation in space exploration. If there were weekly launches of a rocket, there would be many opportunities for new ideas to be tried out in communications, remote sensing, orbital debris mitigation, robotic exploration, and even in developing technology for human spaceflight. Another benefit would be that the rockets would be well understood, which would improve reliability."
Christmas Cheer

Networked Christmas Tree Controlled By Twitter 38

An anonymous reader writes "What's Twitter good for? How about crowd sourcing control of your Christmas tree. Dangerous Prototypes built an open source, networked Christmas tree that you can control from Twitter. Send a color or hexadecimal color code to @tweet_tree, then watch the color change on the live video stream. This project is based on an updated version of the open source business card size web server covered previously."
Handhelds

Submission + - Diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating for gadgets

An anonymous reader writes: Nokia has developed a diamond-like coating material made from coal. The coating is very tough, but also smooth to the touch. It's also conductive and therefore antistatic, so it does not attract dirt easily.

To make the material electric current is fed through coal graphite. This creates plasma, which is directed towards a plastic casing by high-voltage electrodes. The coal ions penetrate the surface and bond to form an amorphous, diamond-like coating less than 100 nanometres thick. The process works at room temperature, meaning even cheap plastics can be coated this way. Here's the patent application.
Security

Submission + - Zone-H Defaced By Saudi Hackers

Pro-SEO writes: "In a story which could be described as delicious irony, the repository of defaced websites, Zone-H, Has been defaced by a group of Saudi hackers.

zone-h is a website which collects and collates information on what sites have been defaced, who defaced them and their motives. So it shouldn't have come as much of a surprise that they were on someones hit list themselves. The hackers, Devil Hacker & Unix Web, Struck at sometime on the 27/1/07 (uk) and replaced the zone-h homepage with a classic defacement suggesting zone-h "see more security next time"."
OS X

Submission + - Mac OS X on non-Apple hardware?

Lank writes: According to an article on CNN Money, Parallels and VMware can not only run Windows on Macs, but also allow OS X on non-Apple computers! Serguei Beloussov, the CEO of SWsoft, parent company to Parallels, insists that this ability is not deliberate but rather a byproduct Intel's built-in virtualization technology. "I wonder what Steve Jobs is going to do, because there is so much pressure to run Mac OS on non-Macs. There's no technical reason not to do it. He's so proprietary about everything, yet it could be a very strategic move for him to make," CEO of VMware Diane Greene said. But I feel the decision still belongs to Jobs.
Google

Submission + - Google Auto-Suggests Social Security Number

Dotnaught writes: "In a story about Google's recent security lapse with its anti-phishing blacklist, InformationWeek reports some odd behavior from the Google Toolbar. "Entering two keywords related to Social Security numbers — call them 'x' and 'y' so as not to compound the problem — into the Google Toolbar will produce a keyword search suggestion in the form 'x y John Doe.' Selecting the suggested search terms and name, as might be expected, generates a search results page with the named person's Social Security number. A spokesperson for Google said the company's engineers didn't have an immediate explanation for the auto-generated suggestion, that it was probably an aberration and that the suggestion would likely be removed.""
HP

Submission + - Pretexting Now Illegal

Investigative Lead writes: "Pretexting, better known as lying, is now illegal thanks to a law signed by President Bush last week. While the new law doesn't address many of the other times private investigators may lie in order to gather private information, it at least stops them from gathering telephone records under false pretenses. The bill itself was introduced late last year, but only finally got the necessary support after the HP spying scandal broke, where they used PIs on their own board members in order to identify press leaks. Anyone trying some of those techniques now could end up with a maximum of 10 years in prison."
Space

Submission + - Comet McNaught Visible in Broad Daylight

AbsoluteXyro writes: As the amateur astronomers among us already know, Comet McNaught has been gracing the early morning and late evening skies... as it approaches the Sun, some estimate it has the potential to become 40 times brighter than Venus, or a magnitude of -8.8! In fact, it has recently been reported at SpaceWeather.com that Comet McNaught is now visible in broad daylight! From the article: "It's fantastic," reports Wayne Winch of Bishop, California. "I put the sun behind a neighbor's house to block the glare and the comet popped right into view. You can even see the tail."
Upgrades

Submission + - In Soviet Russia, Underwear Cleans You

mikeinvt writes: Finally, the fabric technology we've all been waiting for. Sponsored by the U.S. Air Force, a group has fabricated t-shirts and underwear that don't need to be washed for weeks on end. Quoting the article, which quotes Jeff Owens, one of the scientists who made the fabric:
"During Desert Storm, most casualties were from bacterial infections — not accidents or friendly fire. We treated underwear for soldiers who tested them for several weeks and found they remained hygienic. They also helped clear up some skin complaints."

Nanoparticles are bonded to the fabric that repel water, oils and bacteria. Suddenly, the laundry services at Google are less appealing.

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