Comment Mmmm (Score 1) 114
I love the smell of underpayment in the morning!
Man Demonstrates His New Bionic Hand 124
digitaldc writes with this excerpt from the BBC:
"Last year, Patrick, a 24-year-old Austrian, decided to have his dysfunctional hand amputated and replaced with a bionic hand. He lost the use of his left hand after being electrocuted at work. Here he demonstrates the extra movement his new bionic hand has given him, opening a bottle and tying his shoelaces, and tests a prototype hand which will give him additional wrist movement."
Comment Let them?! (Score 5, Interesting) 989
I still can't get over that he said "We let them teach evolution to our children..." as though this is some sort of compromise with liberals or something...
Comment Re:Remote, But Not Remotest (Score 1) 98
Actually no, I don't see how that's possible.
Comment Re:Remote, But Not Remotest (Score 4, Insightful) 98
Yes but last I checked there was no data center there... The article says the most remote data center on Earth, not the most remote spot. Plus I might put the bottom of certain parts of the ocean at even more remote than the Himalayas, as there are spots down there no one's ever reached.
DARPA To Turn Humans Into Batteries 183
DARPA is working on a project that will convert energy from the human body to power a variety of military gadgets. From the article: "Obviously, our bodies generate heat — thermal energy. They also produce vibrations when we move — kinetic energy. Both forms of energy can be converted into electricity. Anantha Chandrakasan, an MIT electrical engineering professor, who is working on the problem with a former student named Yogesh Ramadass, says the challenge is to harvest adequate amounts of power from the body and then efficiently direct it to the device that needs it." If I remember the movie correctly, this didn't turn out so well for the humans.
iOS 4 Releases Today 702
tekgoblin writes "Today Apple releases the much anticipated iOS 4 for iPhones and iPod Touches. No word on when we will see this update on the iPad." Can't wait to see all the neat new stuff that won't run on my stale phone.
Comment Re:Way to lower the credibility of Boy Scouts... (Score 5, Insightful) 366
This is Cub Scouts, not Boy Scouts, the distinction may be small, but Cub Scouts works with kids in 1st through 5th grade or so. A big big part of Cub Scouts is working with kids on being grounded and responsible. With video games becoming such a large part of our society, having something that helps kids approach them responsibly, which if you read the requirements it has more to do with understanding game ratings (also good for parents) and making sure that you don't play too much than anything else. I say good job to Scouting for keeping up with the times. Also, this isn't the first time badge to deal with this, Boy Scouts already have merit badges dealing with computer's and other more technical activities as well.
Comment Re:Google (Score 4, Insightful) 363
I hope they'll take this a step further and offer up this sort of connection to corporate customers. I work from a company with a 20 Mbit connection and probably pay a lot more than what this connection is going to be offered for. Granted I'd still be fine paying more than a home user to guarantee uptime etc, but really, hopefully this will be a shot in the arm to other providers to wake up and not nickel and dime people for services that can't meet demand. It seems like Google is doing what they can to keep the US from falling behind the rest of the world.
Newton's Apple Story Goes Online 114
Hugh Pickens writes "Although many historians are skeptical of the story, Rev. William Stukeley, a physician, cleric, and prominent antiquarian, wrote that he was once enjoying afternoon tea with Sir Isaac Newton amid the Woolsthorpe apple trees when the mathematician reminisced that he was just in the same situation as when the notion of gravitation came into his mind. It was occasioned by the fall of an apple, as he sat in contemplative mood. The original version of the story of Sir Isaac Newton and the falling apple first appeared in Stukeley's 1752 biography, Memoirs of Sir Isaac Newton's Life. Now BBC reports that UK's Royal Society has converted the fragile manuscript into an electronic book, which anybody with internet access will now be able to read and decide for themselves. 'The story of Newton and the apple, which had gradually become debunked over the years. It is now clear, it is based on a conversation between Newton and Stukeley,' says Martin Kemp, emeritus professor of the history of art at Oxford University's Trinity College. 'We needn't believe that the apple hit his head, but sitting in the orchard and seeing the apple fall triggered that work. It was a chance event that got him engaged with something he might have otherwise have shelved.'"
Comment Not all managers are oblivious (Score 1) 211
Thankfully I work for a company, that while it wants to cut costs all the time, they aren't ignorant of what needs to happen to make things run. Both my immediate supervisor and the manager one level up feel that there might be some staffing issues, and are taking the time to get a full data center assessment to both identify areas we are lacking, help with a road map, and most importantly put it all in a language the higher ups can understand and appreciate.
Comment Why is this necessarily a bad thing? (Score 3, Interesting) 211
While I'm against snooping without cause, something of this in a collaborative model isn't necessarily a bad thing, though it does open up for potential abuse. There are lots of times when I call up buddies ask them what sort of IT issues they're having with security, spam, etc, and this just seems to formalize it a bit, and get the circle of trust a little bigger. Companies too often seek to distrust the authorities for crimes because it will make their companies look weak. As such criminal will get away with things solely because no one reports them. This doesn't look like a secret "Stone Cutter" type group, just a way to get to know some local colleagues and keep more ears to more ground looking for potential threats.
Comment STUPID (Score 3, Insightful) 264
Whether or not the issue will be forced, the problem is that for most of the developing world they already are either running out or pretty damn close. Because of this, if the US doesn't jump on the band wagon we will continue to be outpaced by countries like China that are already neck deep in rolling out IPv6. This isn't a matter of when, just if, and really ought to be done gradually, but quickly, rather than wait till a moment to be forced. I encourage anyone that can to move as quick as they can towards this rather than sit and wait and watch the world pass them by.
Comment Re:Not a Great Analogy (Score 1) 456
You might have missed where it said it could take years to bring the other world sources back online, and the fact that they won't be able to produce enough to meet demand. Yes this very well could be about China helping to grow its own economy, but it is more likely about them thinking long term, great for them, bad for everyone else that needs these resources. The analogy is pretty spot on that this is going to put a crunch on things the same way the gas crisis of the 70's did, especially if fuel efficient cars double in price effectively making them worthless from a cost perspective. Even if the US mine is able to meet our demand, because it will take so long to get up and running there will be a huge crunch in the interim that could set the US and the rest of the world behind in developing new more efficient technologies. Just some food for thought...
Comment Great idea! (Score 1) 1345
Seriously, no sarcasm there. As long as there is some sort of underpinning to the whole thing ensuring that kids are in fact learning what they need to, this sort of structure can be really good. I know I had tons more fun, and probably learned more building houses with lego, putting together erector sets, going out camping, not to mention trips to the library and the local museum than I did most days in school. In fact, even as far as college is concerned I learned more in my internships than I ever did in a lab environment. So long as kids are doing, and there again is some guidance I think this is a great idea.
