Comment Re:csh syntax mode? (Score 1, Informative) 459
WHOOOSH
Comment Re:bets? (Score 2, Funny) 101
"If someone gives you 10,000 to 1 on anything, you take it. If John Mellencamp ever wins an Oscar, I am going to be a very rich dude." ~ Kevin, The Office
Submission + - Airport profilers learn to read facial expressions 2
nldavepc writes: Cory Doctorow at boingboing.net comments on a rather scary development in airport security. Airport profilers are watching people's facial expressions for clues of terrorist intent.
Corry's comments can be read here:http://www.boingboing.net/2008/01/01/tsa-to-punish-fliers.html
And here is a link to the original article: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/344868_airportprofiler26.html
DS Games To Be Downloadable to the Wii 151
In a New York Times article generally discussing Nintendo's gangbuster success with the Wii and DS, Reggie Fils-Aimie reveals that in the future the DS will more tightly integrate with the console. Full games will be downloadable to the Wii platform, and then transferable via wireless to the handheld. "In Japan, the DS's functionality extends beyond its game-playing ability. There the device is used to give information during museum tours, and to download content from the Wii. Some of those features will eventually be introduced into the North American market as well. 'To aggressively drive DS business we need to provide other forms of entertainment to excite the consumer,' said Mr. Fils-Amie."
Submission + - Sperm could power nanobots (msn.com)
Lucas123 writes: "According to MSNBC, scientists are experimenting with using a sperm's flagellum or tail to overcome the problem of supplying energy to nanobots that could be implanted in the body as smart probes that would release disease-fighting drugs, monitor enzymes and perform other medical roles within a patient's body. Powered by a compound called adenosine triphosphate or ATP (produced by mitochondria), a sperm's flagellum can propel it at about 7 inches an hour. Energy from ATP could also power the pumps charged with dispensing the medication at a certain rate from the nanobots."
Submission + - Dreams Are Virtual Reality Threat Simulation
Time Slows Down writes: "Psychology Today has an interesting story on a new theory of why we dream. Finnish psychologist Antti Revonsuo believes that dreams are a sort of nighttime theater in which our brains screen realistic scenarios simulating emergency situations and providing an arena for safe training. "The primary function of negative dreams is rehearsal for similar real events, so that threat recognition and avoidance happens faster and more automatically in comparable real situations," he says. We have 300 to 1,000 threat dreams per year — one to four per night and just under half are aggressive encounters: physical aggression such as fistfights, and nonphysical aggression such as verbal arguments. Faced with actual life-or-death situations — traffic accidents, terrorist attacks, street assaults — people report entering a mode of calm, rapid response, reacting automatically, almost without thinking. Afterward, they often say the episode felt unreal, as if it were all a dream. "Dreaming is a sensitive system that tries to pay much attention to the threatening cues in our environment," Revonsuo says. "Their function is to protect and prepare us.""
Submission + - AOL ends Netscape development (aol.com)
destinyland writes: "AOL announced they'll end Netscape development in February. "We feel it's the right time to end development of Netscape branded browsers, hand the reigns fully to Mozilla and encourage Netscape users to adopt Firefox." Tech Crunch notes that
Netscape's market share is now just 0.6%, compared to 16.01% for Fierfox (and 77.35% for Internet Explorer). To celebrate, I tried accessing Netscape's home page with AOL 3.0, and AOL immediately gave me a series of JavaScript errors. But while AOL is surrendering the browser they spent $4.2 billion to acquire,
"In a sense, Netscape lives on," Tech Crunch notes, "through the open-source efforts of Mozilla and Firefox.""
Submission + - Jack Thompson: Games Industry Colluding With DoD (wired.com)
NexFlamma writes: "In a press release sent out yesterday, controversial Miami lawyer Jack Thompson claims to have found evidence of an "unholy alliance" between the gaming industry and the United States Department of Defense. When contacted for further information on the subject, Wired's Game|Life was sent a link to the supposed "evidence." The page G|L was directed to not only doesn't serve as evidence of his claims, but after reading through the 10-page link, G|L writer Earnest Cavalli demonstrates how the information presented directly contradicts Jack's statement."
Submission + - Rare DNA mutations link unrelated families
An anonymous reader writes: Report in today's NYT: Newly available DNA tests that use microarray analysis to scan all of an individual's 46 chromosomes for tiny defects are tracing the symptoms of thousands of individuals lumped together as "autistic" or "developmentally delayed" to one of dozens of distinct deletions or duplications of DNA. The story is about the impact of the technology on the families whose kids are being given these genetic diagnoses of incredibly rare disorders. Apparently alot of them are trying to find each other, but when you're one of only six in the world, that can be tough. The story looks at three for whom "a genetic mutation has become a new form of kinship.''
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/28/health/research/28dna.html
Submission + - Penny-sized flash module holds 16GB (linuxdevices.com) 1
nerdyH writes: Intel describes its new 2GB to 16GB SSDs (solid state disks) as "smaller than a penny, and weighing less than a drop of water." The parts are "400 times smaller in volume than a 1.8-inch hard drive," Intel boasts, "and at 0.6 grams, 75 times lighter." Sampling now, with mass production set for Q1, the Z-P140 is described as an "optional" part of Intel's Menlow chipset, built in turn as part of Intel's vision for Linux-based Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs).
