20232148
submission
JustOK writes:
Warner Bros has apparently given a childrens' summer camp in Alberta, Canada a kick in the pants, and "requested" that the camp stop using the name "Rivendell" for the summer refugee for kids.
From the CBC: "The camp formerly known as Rivendell is now called Camp in the Creek. Instead of "dwarves, hobbits and elves," kids will be grouped as "squirrels, bobcats and grizzlies""
18388942
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JustOK writes:
Amateur astronomer Kathryn Aurora Gray, a 10 year old girl from Fredericton, NB, Canada has been credited as being the youngest person ever to discover a new supernova. As confirmed in International Astronomical Union (IAU) Electronic Telegram # 2618, the supernova has been designated: Supernova 2010lt in UGC 3378.
The image was captured this past New Year's Eve and the supernova was discovered on Sunday, January 2, 2011. It is located 20" west and 10" north of the center of UGC 3378 in the constellation of Camelopardalis
8353336
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JustOK writes:
According to the The Register, CEO and co-founder of Norwegian browser maker Opera, Jon von Tetzchner, has stepped down from his role at the company and will be replaced by Lars Boilesen as Opera's new boss.
4941517
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JustOK writes:
According to a story from a local paper found here, the new owner of astrophysicist James A. Van Allen's childhood home in Mt Pleasant, IA plans to demolish it. The house had been used as a museum for the past 11 years, and was built 147 years ago. It currently requires extensive repairs. The new owner purchased the house at a recent auction for $40,500. From the report, "Longtime neighbor Lee Pennebaker bought the house for $40,500 at an auction last week. She plans to demolish the house and sell the land, hopefully to a business." ...if not, perhaps the Vogons might be interested.
3655961
submission
JustOK writes:
With the rise of social/political/news commentary sites such as Digg, StumbleUpon, our beloved Slashdot and others, comes another step towards a profit plateau. Mormons, Marines and Koreans are apparently paying for popularity, according to a LA Times report. USocial offers to draw serious traffic to your site. "Clients pay $105 to $200 to kick-start a Digg submission, ensuring 100 to 250 votes. Digg is by far the top target, attracting about 60% of purchases, uSocial says. StumbleUpon gets 35% and Propeller (the least trafficked but cheapest option) gets 5%."
The people at TechDirt question the value of such popularity, they say "Over the past few years we've been on Digg's front page a bunch of times and it certainly drives a nice stream of traffic, but never more than a few thousand visitors (sometimes significantly less)."
As always, trolling is provided for free.
810529
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500392
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JustOK writes:
WHDH in Boston recently investigated a security hole with the check in kiosks used by United Airlines at Boston Logan airport. Using the credit card of someone who does not have a ticket, the kiosk will display a list of similar names when an exact match is not found. Although the investigators did not actually print a boarding pass, they were able to get additional information and track down the valid passengers. It appeared they would also be able to get info for people on departed flights. United Airlines responded to WHDH's questions by saying: - "...we have not seen any intentional mis-use of these popular machines."
- that safety is "...our number one priority..."
- "...several security layers that would respond to any attempted mis-use."
Kiosks for other airlines were not vulnerable to this threat.
69672
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JustOK writes:
With the first mission scheduled for 2020, NASA plans, among other things, to use "metric units for all operations on the lunar surface"
"NASA's lunar plan also encourages participation by other nations, as well as non-governmental organizations and commercial groups." NASA has nearly 60 space and Earth science projects currently, with about half having some type of international cooperation. North and South lunar poles are being looked at as locations for moon bases. Lunar stays of up to 180 days are being planned.
The project will see "A string of robot spacecraft will shoot for the Moon within the next two years, departing from Japan, China, India, as well as the United States."
According to a report via Yahoo! by Space.com staff, NASA has had informal discussions on using Internet protocols for lunar communications.
22993
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JustOK writes:
British papers and Fox News are that Stephen Hawking and his wife, Elaine, have filed divorce papers at Cambridge County Court. This is Hawking's second marriage. He divorced from his first wife, Jane, in 1991. He has three children with Jane. Hawking is perhaps best known for his appearances on The Simpsons and Futurama and is set to star in a movie. He has also done some physics stuff.
