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Power

Submission + - Seawater as fuel

wsawyer writes: "Fla. Man Invents Machine To Turn Water Into Fire. A Florida man may have accidentally invented a machine that could solve the gasoline and energy crisis plaguing the U.S. John Kanzius is a former broadcast executive from Pennsylvania who wondered if his background in physics and radio could come in handy in treating the disease from which he suffers: cancer. Kanzius, 63, invented a machine that emits radio waves in an attempt to kill cancerous cells while leaving normal cells intact. While testing his machine, he noticed that his invention had other unexpected abilities. Filling a test tube with salt water from a canal in his back yard, Kanzius placed the tube and a paper towel in the machine and turned it on. Suddenly, the paper towel ignited, lighting up the tube like it was a wax candle. "Pretty neat, huh?" Kanzius asked. Check out the story at http://www.wpbf.com/news/13383827/detail.html"
GUI

Multiple Desktop Users on a Single Machine? 106

_Sharp'r_ asks: "I'm trying to design the least expensive way to make OpenOffice, email, and a web browser available to students in a new charter elementary school. In my past experience working with charitable computer donations, I can usually get three to four working computers out of five donated 'broken' computer systems, usually with plenty of monitors, keyboards and mice left over. I'd like to use one computer for multiple students by attaching multiple monitors, USB keyboards and mice. What drivers/OS versions support multiple local input devices and monitors that can be attached to a specific login session? Will this require virtualization? Is there a config I haven't found that you can use to assign these devices to specific ttys? Have you done this before?"

Feed Sky+ Anytime, but not last time (theregister.com)

Upgrade deletes recorded shows from some Sky+ boxes

A software upgrade sent out to Sky+ boxes to support the new Sky Anytime service has left some punters bereft of all their recorded TV programmes.


Education

Submission + - MIT dean resigns over misrepresented credentials -

thejynxed writes: http://www.cnn.com/2007/EDUCATION/04/26/mit.dean.a p/index.html?eref=rss_latest

To stressed-out parents and students, MIT admissions dean Marilee Jones was a rare voice of reason in the high-pressure world of college admissions. With colleges demanding kids who play sports, run student government and take the heaviest course load they can, Jones shouted back the opposite: daydream, stay healthy, and don't worry so much about building a resume just to impress an elite college. Yet it turns out that Jones was susceptible to pressure herself. She falsely bolstered her credentials to get a job with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and over the course of her career claimed to have earned degrees from three schools. MIT officials say now they have no evidence she ever graduated from college at all. The school announced Thursday that Jones had resigned after acknowledging she had misrepresented her education when she started working at the university 28 years ago, and declined to correct multiple incorrect claims since then. A senior MIT official said that by claiming degrees she had never earned, Jones could no longer lead an admissions office that occasionally rescinds the acceptance letters sent to applicants who are untruthful about their own accomplishments. "We have to uphold the integrity of the institution, because that's what we've been trying to sell and she's our chief spokesperson on that," MIT Chancellor Phil Clay said. It's "regrettable, ironic, sad, but that's where we are."
A poseur is still a poseur. She lied on her resume, and continued to lie, and didn't bother fixing her lie. Now she got caught out, and is gone. Kudos to MIT for finally fixing their error, but I have to ask: "What took them so long to confirm the credentials of a Dean?" Is it normal for corporations and schools to screw up this badly, especially in a day and age when confirming you are who you say you are is rather important? (28 years??? Yeesh)
Microsoft

Submission + - Review: Ubuntu Linux Versus Vista

An anonymous reader writes: InformationWeek pits Ubuntu Linux versus Windows Vista in a detailed comparison. The results are unusual for this type of review because it straddles the fence. The verdict is: "a tie, but only because both platforms fall short in some ways. Vista's roster of backup features aren't available in every SKU of the product; Ubuntu doesn't have anything like Vista's shadow copy system and its user-friendly backup tools are pretty rudimentary." Do you agree?
Software

Submission + - New Pidgin pixmaps

An anonymous reader writes: Well, these days the Pidgin (former Gaim) team has come up with some new images to represent the IM app we all know and love. My anonymous opinion is that they suck... badly. What does the slashdot crowd think? Is it to late to help the Pidgin developers with some cool and web twooish ideas?

Feed 'Traffic Taliban' moots speed cameras in cats' eyes (theregister.com)

Richard Brunstrom's latest cunning plan

North Wales Police's anti-speeding campaigner Richard Brunstrom - aka the "Traffic Taliban" to those who oppose his zero-tolerance approach to excess velocity - has suggested the possibility of deploying miniature speed cameras in cats' eyes, the BBC reports.


Sci-Fi

Submission + - DARPA developing defensive plasma shield

galactic_grub writes: According to this article at New Scientist, DARPA is developing a plasma shield that would allow troops to stun and disorientate enemies. The system will use a technology known as dynamic pulse detonation (DPD), which involves producing a ball of plasma with an intense laser pulse creates, and then a supersonic shockwave within the plasma using another pulse. The result is a gigantic flash and a loud bang in a the air.

Feed Malaysia To Set Up Government Agency To Respond To Blogs (techdirt.com)

Over the last few weeks we've been following the hubbub in Malaysia, where some government officials were quite upset with some bloggers leading to at least two bloggers being sued and the possibility of forcing bloggers to register with the government -- a plan that was later rejected. However, now the government has come up with a new plan to deal with what it still calls "lies" being spread online: it will create a special government unit to monitor and respond to what various internet sites are saying. Assuming they identify themselves as working for the government, this sounds like a pretty good idea. Rather than trying to intimidate or force critics offline, take them on with facts. If sites are not telling the truth or even being misleading, respond and explain why. That's the great thing about the internet. You can always counter whatever is being said about you, and it doesn't require the use of any lawyers or lawsuits.
Robotics

Submission + - Robotis Bioloid Robot Kit Gives you the option to

techtakeaway writes: "The Bioloid robotics kits from Korean company Robotis are commonly described as 'Edutainment' robots. The Bioloid kits look like a great introduction to robotics, the whole package from the parts to the software looks very user friendly, easy to build the robots and understand what is going on.

Bioloid has had little coverage in Western media, what few articles there are about humanoid kit robots mainly concentrate on Robonova-1 and other Robo-One class robots.

http://www.techtakeaway.com/articles_bioloid.php"

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