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Google

Submission + - Will Google lose its trademark? 1

Submitted by 140Mandak262Jamuna
140Mandak262Jamuna writes: Once upon a time, Google was the new kid on the block in the search engine arena. Then it became the big kahuna of that area. There was a time when using google as a verb would have brought a smile. But now every body and his brother and even the prim and proper, stiff upper lip and what not types like the Deputy Attorney General Ronald Smetana are using it as a verb. The quotes have been dropped, the capitalization still persists as some vestigial token acknowledging it as a neologism.

Already a number of dictionaries define google as a plain English word. If OED or some such big name dictionary includes it, would Google lose its trademark? Does Google have lawyers who assiduously take steps to protect its trademark and not allow it to become a generic word to mean "search the internet"? Didn't Xerox lose its trademark or came close to losing it? Imagine a world where Microsoft Live could be branded as "Microsoft Live Google"!
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - How to make submarines invisible to sonar

Submitted by holy_calamity
holy_calamity writes: Chinese researchers have figured out how to make objects invisible to sound. All you need is a "a periodic array of rubber-coated gold spheres along with spheres of water containing air bubbles, all embedded within an epoxy resin." Acoustic metamaterials are the sound-wave version of the much-hyped 'invisibility cloak' [slashdot.org], and are probably already on the US Navy's shopping list.
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - China says one-child policy helps protect climate

Submitted by
mernil
mernil writes: "Reuters reports: China says its one-child policy has helped the fight against global warming by avoiding 300 million births, the equivalent of the population of the United States. But delegates at U.N. climate change talks in Vienna said on Thursday birth control is unlikely to find favour as a major policy theme, partly because of opposition by the Catholic Church and some developing nations trying to increase their population."
Television

Submission + - DIRECTV freaks out and blocks everything (typepad.com) 1

Submitted by eagl
eagl writes: It seems as if DIRECTV has jumped on the DRM bandwagon in a big way. Wil Wheaton finds himself with 57 channels (plus or minus a few hundred) and nothing on, quite literally. Is the inevitable result of forcing restrictive standards that do not benefit consumers?
Censorship

Submission + - Tool shows sophomoric edits to Wikipedia by CIA (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by
Itninja
Itninja writes: "The BBC recently published accounts of the CIA (among others) making juvenile edits to various Wikipedia entries. Among them, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams, and Rush Limbaugh.

From the article: "On the profile of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the tool indicates that a worker on the CIA network reportedly added the exclamation "Wahhhhhh!" before a section on the leader's plans for his presidency.""
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Ref admits in court NBA is fixed (cnn.com) 1

Submitted by LoveMe2Times
LoveMe2Times writes: Former NBA referee Tim Donoughy pleaded guilty to charges related to his gambling on NBA games, including those he officiated. While many suspected him of fixing games or altering the outcome of games he officiated, the real story — that the mainstream media only mentions in passing — is that he didn't need to fix games. As a ref, he had access to "non-public" information about the games, including the real nature of injuries, who would ref the game, and the extent to which those refs favored the players. This inside information was enough for him — and presumably any NBA insider — to pick winners with enough accuracy to get paid $5000 for correct picks. In other words, referee bias is statistically significant enough for those in the know to make lots of money betting on it. In essence, the referees decide the game more than the players in a known, predictable way; hence, the game is fixed by choice of refs for a game.
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - Turbo SIM Totally Unlocks iPhone (gizmodo.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Hackers are claiming that you now can 100%-unlock the iPhone using a Turbo SIM card, without depending on the version of your current carrier card. Testers say it will give you full calling, SMS and GPRS data capabilities with any network and no extra hardware needed, since it only requires you to modify the $80 blank SIM using your own iPhone.
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Being Unhealthy Could Cost You -- Money (yahoo.com)

Submitted by
Joe The Dragon
Joe The Dragon writes: "http://biz.yahoo.com/bizwk/070802/aug2007db2007081 804238.html?.v=1&.pf=insurance
By Jena McGregor

For employees at Clarian Health, feeling the burn of trying to lose weight will take on new meaning.

In late June, the Indianapolis-based hospital system announced that starting in 2009, it will fine employees $10 per paycheck if their body mass index (BMI, a ratio of height to weight that measures body fat) is over 30. If their cholesterol, blood pressure, and glucose levels are too high, they'll be charged $5 for each standard they don't meet. Ditto if they smoke: Starting next year, they'll be charged another $5 in each check.

Clarian has been making headlines for its aggressive and unusual approach to covering escalating health-care costs. Rather than taking the more common step of giving employees incentives for merely participating in its wellness programs, such as joining a smoking cessation group or using a health coach, Clarian is actually measuring outcomes. And unlike most employers, it is penalizing workers for poor health instead of rewarding them for taking healthy steps.
— - —

This is yet another way that employers try to mistreat there works and some times the work environment can lead to people gaining weight like making them work 80/H + week with fast food working lunches + hours that don't give the works time to participate in wellness programs. In cases like that it is very unfair to change employees for poor health that sometimes comes from a poor working environment."

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