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Biotech

Submission + - Scientists reverse old-age symptoms in mice (fiercebiotechresearch.com)

Submitted by hlovy
hlovy writes: It's not exactly the Fountain of Youth yet, but if you're a mouse--and the equivalent of 80 human years old--at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, you can thank a group of researchers for making you "young again." Never mind that you were genetically engineered to age prematurely. Your human handlers managed to reverse this and you went on to live a perfectly normal mouse lifespan.

The new research, which appears online in the journal Nature, represents the first time that age-related problems have been reversed in animals.

Submission + - Cinnamon + gold salts + water = Nontoxic nano (scienceblog.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Gold nanoparticles are used in electronics, healthcare products and as pharmaceuticals. Despite their positive uses, the process to make them requires toxic and potentially dangerous chemicals, leading some researchers to worry over the environmental impact of nanotechnology's growing presence. Now a University of Missouri research team has found a simpler, and non-toxic method to achieve the same end product: Use cinnamon instead of poisons. Better still, the resulting nanoparticles have an inherent anti-cancer property thanks to phytochemicals released by the spice in the production process.
Crime

Submission + - Fox Sues Woman for $15M for Hosting Leaked Scripts (hollywoodreporter.com)

Submitted by eldavojohn
eldavojohn writes: A number of sites are reporting that PJ McIlvaine is being sued by Fox for $15 million dollars. McIlvaine, a screenwriter herself, appeared to be collecting scripts available online and hosting them in a Media Fire repository for other screenwriters to learn from. Fox doesn't see it the same way and alleges that some of the scripts were for movies not yet out saying in the suit that McIlvaine did "interfere and trade off of the costly and carefully designed creative processes that produce finished works ready for public consumption. They harm the fans who do not want their enjoyment of a movie or television show to be spoiled by knowing the story ahead of actually being able to watch it." The Long Island woman did apparently host a script of Deadpool, an unreleased Fox comic book movie. According to the hefty amount, it appears that even sharing copyrighted scripts hurts movies in Fox's mind. Will lady justice agree?

Submission + - Copyright Lawsuit Factories Suing Each Other (techdirt.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: There have been various copyright lawsuit factories popping up all around the US lately, filing thousands upon thousands of lawsuits, identifying people and then sending them "pre-settlement" letters to get them to pay up. The most notable one in the US is the US Copyright Group, which is now involved in a legal spat with competitor Media Copyright Group. Media Copyright Group is in the same business... and US Copyright Group thinks its name is too similar, so it sent a cease and desist letter. Media Copyright Group struck back with a lawsuit asking for declaratory judgment that it does not infringe. Considering how much these companies copy each other already, it seems rather amusing to see them now going to court against each other as well.
Security

Submission + - IT Security Salaries Expected to Rise in 2011 (securityweek.com)

Submitted by wiredmikey
wiredmikey writes: IT security professionals in the United States can expect starting salaries to increase in 2011, according to a new salary report released today. The guide suggests larger increases in base compensation expected in high-demand segments including information security related positions. According to the report, companies are hiring security professionals to help foil fraud, prevent network breaches and comply with new regulations, to keep confidential information safe and secure.

The salary guide also notes that in addition to specific job-related skills and capabilities, businesses are looking for professionals with credentials such as CISSP, Check Point Security Administrator (CCSA) and Check Point Certified Security Expert (CCSE) — these certifications are often a ticket to a higher salary over standard experience and skills.
Space

Submission + - Recently Discovered Habitable World May Not Exist (sciencemag.org)

Submitted by sciencehabit
sciencehabit writes: Two weeks ago, U.S.-based astronomers announced the discovery of the first Goldilocks planet circling another star: just the right size and just the right temperature to harbor alien life. But yesterday at an exoplanet meeting in Turin, Italy, Switzerland-based astronomers announced that they could find no trace of the prized planet in their observations of the same planetary system.

Submission + - IRS servers down during crucial week (skunkpost.com)

Submitted by crimeandpunishment
crimeandpunishment writes: A planned server outage turned into an unplanned glitch for the Internal Revenue Service, and it comes at a very bad time. The IRS planned the server outage for the holiday weekend....but today they couldn't get the system back into operation. This week is the deadline for filing 2009 tax returns for taxpayers who got extensions. So far it's not having a huge impact since the shutdown only involves the updated version of the e-filing system, and most programs used by large tax companies like H&R Block will default to the older version. There's no estimate on when the system will be back up.
Cellphones

Submission + - Microsoft's WP7 Gamble -- Are Apps All That? (computerworld.com)

Submitted by CWmike
CWmike writes: Microsoft's design and strategy for Windows Phone 7 is about as different from the iPhone and Android phones as it gets. In an app-happy world, Windows Phone 7 is app-light. And rather than luring you in with all the amazing things you can do on your phone, Microsoft lauds the ability of Windows Phone 7 phones to have you spend less time using your phone, not more. It's a big gamble — and it just might pay off, argues Preston Gralla.

Submission + - How are businesses using Facebook et al?

Submitted by futuristic
futuristic writes: How are businesses (particularly software services) using Facebook and similar social media? Is it changing anything? How does the Facebook presence mesh with the corporate web site? Have any companies tried, and bailed on their social media presence? What companies have the most effective Facebook site? Are customers looking for, and depending on companies having a Facebook presence? What do consumers/customers expect in a business Facebook presence?

(slashdot editors — thank you for considering my question and if accepted, please feel free to massage into a sensible request. I search over the past few months for a similar question with no luck....I'd appreciate the link if the question has been presented. Thanks. )
Linux Business

Submission + - linux use in u.s. government

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A Network Appliance Platform for Linux Applications at the US Department of Defense U.S. military requirements for network devices are growing more and more demanding, making a flexible Linux-based platform the foundation of choice. the scoop
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - Pray at the Western Wall Via Webcam

Submitted by
Carl Bialik from WSJ
Carl Bialik from WSJ writes: "A Tel Aviv-based startup called Pray Over IP is using Webcams to transmit prayers to and from holy sites such as the Western Wall — for a fee. But some religious leaders believe the technology has no business near such holy places, the Wall Street Journal reports. From the article: 'The 40-year-old Mr. Neumann [Avshalom Neumann, POIP's co-founder and CEO,], who has worked for several high-tech start-ups in Israel and admits he rarely goes to synagogue, says he got the idea for the company visiting the Western Wall about 18 months ago. He noticed people dialing their cellphones after praying, then holding their cellphones up to the Wall for the people on the line to pray. To begin spreading word of the company, Mr. Neumann in September traveled through the Bible Belt in the southern part of the U.S., meeting with various heads of megachurches. He wants his cards placed in their gift stores, next to the piles of CDs, books and other religious materials. Now, they can be found at 7-Eleven convenience stores around the region.'"
Music

Canada's Music Lobby Buys Government Access 158

Posted by Zonk from the they-know-who-you've-been-seeing dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Copyfighting law professor Michael Geist, who previously uncovered financial links between recording industry lobbyists and Canada's Minister of Canadian Heritage Bev Oda (who is responsible for copyright policy), has now identified what big cash donations will get you. He reports that Oda met with the President of the Canadian Recording Industry Association on a monthly basis last year just as the government was preparing copyright reform legislation and Canadian artists were calling for an end to P2P lawsuits. Is it any wonder that Canadians seem likely to lose their fair use rights?"
The Internet

Submission + - How Digg Combats Cheaters

Submitted by
Aryabhata
Aryabhata writes: "This article disucsses how Digg uses visualization tools to identify illegitimate use of the system, especially people who are try "game" the system to try to increase a story's chance of getting into the main page. Certain data-visualization tools can be used to detect suspicious activity easier. "By representing user activity graphically, we can start to see patterns that wouldn't be normally apparent by other means," says Eric Rodenbeck, founder of Stamen, the design firm that provides visualization tools for Digg Labs."
Intel

Vendor COM Express CPU module embeds Core2 Duo

Submitted by OSTG Marketing Dept.
The ET900 is a new low-power COM express CPU from IBase. The ET900 has an extremely small form factor, using the Mobile Intel 945GM Express chipset and the latest Intel Core2 Duo processors. "The ET900 offers the flexibility and high levels of processing performance needed for industrial automation, test and measurement, medical imaging, digital signage and automotive applications. 'Supporting Intel's new Core Microarchitecture

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