Comment Re:Split infinitives are perfectly legal (Score 1) 62
Otherwise... shut the fuck up.
Or, you could just ask them to fuckingly shut up.
Comment Re:Does it count... (Score 4, Funny) 310
You're neutering insects? You must have a decent microscope. Not to mention steady hands...
Comment Re:Isn't there extra radiation in space? (Score 1) 507
Well, you just said it, didn't you? Spider two can hide from sight. It didn't kill spider one; it's just using its new invisibility powers! The only one they're able to see in the box is the lame-o elastic spider. This doesn't bode well for humanity...
Comment Wait... (Score 1) 709
Oh, and the county clerks answer to the problem was: "Those who didn't get ballots can show up at your normal precinct and vote via provisional ballot." Not exactly easy from Afghanistan!
Your mother's basement is in Afghanistan? Harsh...
The Greatest Scientific Hoaxes? 496
Ponca City, We love you writes "The New Scientist has an amusing story about the seven greatest scientific hoaxes of all time. Of course, there have been serious cases of scientific fraud, such as the stem cell researchers recently found guilty of falsifying data, and the South Korean cloning fraud, but the hoaxes selected point more to human gullibility than malevolence and include the Piltdown Man (constructed from a medieval human cranium); a ten-foot "petrified man" dug up on a small farm in Cardiff; fossils 'found' in Wurzburg, Germany depicting comets, moons and suns, Alan Sokal's paper loaded with nonsensical jargon that was accepted by the journal Social Text; the claim of the Upas tree on the island of Java so poisonous that it killed everything within a 15-mile radius; and Johann Heinrich Cohausen's claim of an elixir produced by collecting the breath of young women in bottles that produced immortality. Our favorite: BBC's broadcast in 1957 about the spaghetti tree in Switzerland that showed a family harvesting pasta that hung from the branches of the tree. After watching the program, hundreds of people phoned in asking how they could grow their own tree but, alas, the program turned out to be an April Fools' Day joke." What massive scientific hoaxes/jokes have other people witnessed?
The Largest Recorded Tsunami Was 50 Years Ago 323
An anonymous reader writes "July marks the 50th anniversary of the world's largest tsunami — a 1,720-foot-tall wave in Lituya Bay, Alaska. It was triggered by a chain reaction of events that began with a magnitude 7.7 earthquake on the Fairweather Fault, which dislodged a rock fall of 40 million cubic yards, that fell 3,000 feet and splashed into the northwest end of Lituya Bay to generate the wave. This article includes survivor accounts, maps, a satellite image, and photos taken right after the event." To be fair, eyewitness accounts put the height of the wave as it came toward their boats at perhaps 100 feet. The tsunami scoured the land of vegetation and soil to a height of 1,720 feet above sea level, however.
Submission + - Opera Releases Dragonfly (opera.com)
gzipped_tar writes: "Opera released Dragonfly, the "foundations of Opera's upcoming Developer Tools". It can be used by Web developers to debug JavaScript or inspect CSS and the DOM, on the computer or other devices supporting Opera. It has now been integrated into the Opera brower version 9.5 beta 2.
Dragonflies are known to be good bug-hunters, hence the name of this new software.
The new release is still in alpha, and documentations are coming soon. Notably, it is released under the BSD license in contrast to Opera's main product, the browser, which is close-source."
Dragonflies are known to be good bug-hunters, hence the name of this new software.
The new release is still in alpha, and documentations are coming soon. Notably, it is released under the BSD license in contrast to Opera's main product, the browser, which is close-source."
Hackers Target MySpace and Facebook 93
Stony Stevenson writes "The security firm Fortify Software has warned against a series of attacks against Facebook and MySpace. Buffer overflows that enabled hackers to exploit the Aurigma ActiveX image uploading software used by social networking sites were at the heart of the assault. 'Criminal hackers now view social networking sites as their best target for attacks ... [partially because] such sites are designed to be usable by "unsophisticated" consumers, meaning that the barrier to entry for attacks is potentially lower as users are more likely to click on a link that leads to malware.'"
The Physics of Football 163
Ponca City, We Love You writes "There will be a program on applied physics and real time strategy that you might want to watch on television today. Conservation of momentum during elastic and inelastic collisions is one aspect on which to focus as players tackle their opponents. It is of critical importance that the Patriots bring down New York's huge and powerful running back, 6-foot-4, 265-pound Brandon Jacobs. An average-size NFL defensive back's mass combined with his speed — on average, 4.56 seconds for the 40-yard dash — can produce up to 1600 pounds of tackling force. A tackle with half a ton of force may sound like a crippling blow, but the body can handle twice that amount because the player's equipment spreads out the incoming energy, lessening its severity."
Nanotech specialists from Cornell have developed their own take on the "physics" of the Super Bowl by creating the world's smallest trophy, which will be awarded today to a contestant who best explains an aspect of football physics. Just some food for thought while you watch the game on your brand new HD television, though you'd better not be watching it in a church.
The Pirate Bay Tops 10 Million Users 300
An anonymous reader suggests we go over to Slyck for news that The Pirate Bay has cracked 10 million users. The publicity from the upcoming court case probably helped. "Today, The Pirate Bay asserts itself as the self-proclaimed 'World's Largest Tracker' by topping over 10 million peers, while managing over 1 million torrents. Peter Sunde of The Pirate Bay told Slyck, 'We're very happy to be part of all of this and we hope our users keep sharing those files!... And we're looking to break 20 million as well.'"
Ford Claims Ownership Of Your Pictures 739
Mike Rogers writes "In a move that can only be described as 'Copyright Insanity', Ford Motor Company now claims that they hold the rights to any image of a Ford vehicle, even if it's a picture you took of your own car. The Black Mustang Club wanted to put together a calendar featuring member's cars and print it through CafePress, but an attorney from Ford nixed the project, stating that the calendar pics and 'anything with one of (member's) cars in it infringes on Ford's trademarks which include the use of images of their vehicles.' Does Ford have the right to prevent you from printing images of a car you own?"
How Much Does a New Internet Cost? 446
wschalle writes "Given the recent flurry of articles concerning ISP over subscription, increasing bandwidth needs, and lack of infrastructure spending on the part of cable companies, I'm forced to wonder, what is the solution? How much would a properly upgraded internet backbone cost? How long would it take to make it happen? Will the cable companies step up before Verizon's FiOS becomes the face of broadband in America?"
Will Internet TV Crash the Internet? 267
Stony Stevenson writes "Analyst groups and Cisco have come out saying that the internet is heading for a crash unless it increases its bandwidth capabilities which are being strangled by the increased use of Web TV.
Stan Schatt, research director at ABI said: "Uploading bandwidth is going to have to increase, and the cable providers are going to get killed on bandwidth as HD programming becomes more commonplace." He added that the solution to the problem is to change to digital switching and move to IPTV. "They will be brought kicking and screaming into the 21st century," he said.
Cisco weighed into the argument, adding that it had found American video websites currently transmit more data per month than the entire amount of traffic sent over the internet in 2000."
Feed Editors' Notes: MacBook Pro knows the way to Santa Rosa (macworld.com)
Submission + - MacBook Pro line gets Santa Rosa chipset
frdmfghtr writes: TechNewsWorld is reporting that Apple has updated the MacBook Pro line with the Santa Rosa chipset from Intel. In addition, Apple is also introducing mercury-free displays with some models. FTA:
When Apple presented new editions of its MacBook line last month, the company excluded the latest Intel Centrino chips, dubbed "Santa Rosa," which had been released just days prior. The chips have found their way into Apple's new high-end MacBook Pro notebooks, which the company revealed Tuesday. Certain models use mercury-free displays, falling in line with the company's recent ecological promises.
