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Comment Re:Because.... (Score 1) 2288

It's frustrating for us though when you [USA] air your documentaries in Canada, and are quoting ounces, Fahrenheit, yards, etc.... it would be a nice gesture for us if you could at least subtitle the imperial measurements in metric ...

I've watched a fair number of the "How It's Made" series, an import from Canada to the US. The narration is apparently redone for the US market using Imperial measures, but the close captioning is original and keeps the metric units. It's amusing to hear the narrator say, "the stock is cut about every two inches" while the CC reads, "the stock is every 5cm".

Comment Re:wget (Score 1) 368

As for myself, I only ever post to facebook via twitter (which also crossposts to buzz and livejournal).

Maybe that works for your friends, but I find tweets posted to FB and LJ are just irritating. Seeing the same tweets in both places is even worse.

Television

How High-Tech Gadget Trends Differ By US Region 51

Ant writes in with news of a study revealing differences in gadget preferences by US region. The survey is not rigorous, based as it was on 7,500 online questionnaires submitted to Retrevo, a website for tech shoppers. The company plans to run the survey annually. "...in the smartphone category, the state of Maryland came out on top with 48 percent more households owning at least one such handset than elsewhere in the country. ... In iPad use, the state of New York took top honors. According to the survey, 52 percent more households have at least one iPad in the Empire State. ... Massachusetts beat out the rest of the nation in e-reader adoption..."

Comment Great White migration not that surprising (Score 3, Informative) 105

Actually shark researchers have been observing Great Whites returning to the Farallon Islands about 35 miles west of the Golden Gate for over 20 years. This website doesn't talk about migration and return, but Susan Casey's book The Devil's Teeth does discuss how the researchers on the island saw many of the same sharks returning year after year.

The surprising things in the research (as opposed to the article) are the genetic distinction of the Hawaii-California sharks versus sharks in the Western Pacific, and to a lesser extent the fact that sharks habitually come close to shore but rarely interact with humans.

Books

Submission + - Royal Society Best 6 Science Books of the Year

hywel_ap_ieuan writes: The short list for the Royal Society Prize for Science Books has been released. The BBC runs down the nominees. The list includes: Homo britannicus, by Chris Stringer, In Search of Memory, by Eric R Kandel; Lonesome George, by Henry Nicholls; One in Three, by Adam Wishart; Stumbling on Happiness, by Daniel Gilbert; and The Rough Guide to Climate Change, by Robert Henson.
Mandriva

Mandriva Linux pre-installed on Intel's Classmate 93

boklm writes "Mandriva announced it will have a version of its Mandriva Linux 2007 pre-installed on Intel's new low-end laptop for students in developing countries, the Classmate PC. This laptop comes with 256MB of RAM, 1 or 2GB of flash memory, 802.11b/g WiFi, 10/100Mbps ethernet, 2 USB ports, a 7-inch LCD display and 4 hours battery. Produced in Brazil, shipping is expected to begin in the second quarter of this year, and will be available to Mexico, India, and developing countries."
Music

Submission + - EMI to offer DRM-free music in iTunes

beat.bolli writes: "According to the press release, EMI music and Apple have agreed to sell music sans DRM. Not without a catch: The DRM-less music will be $1.29 but have "twice the sound quality of existing downloads", which are still available for $0.99."
Sci-Fi

Submission + - Regrowing lost body parts coming in the future

[TheBORG] writes: "There are two stories on Yahoo! News about regrowing lost body parts. One is about regrowing lost fingers & limbs and the other one is about regrowing teeth. The story about regrowing lost fingers and limbs talks about the experimental use of powdered pig bladder to regrow fingers and eventually lost limbs for soldiers and others in need from information that Pentagon-funded scientists hopefully learn from studying the salamander. The story about regrowing teeth talks about how Japanese scientists used primitive cells (not quite as early as stem cells) and injected them into a framework of collagen (the material that holds the body together). Once grown to a certain point, scientists implanted the growths into mice where the teeth developed normally."
Internet Explorer

Submission + - IE7 and Firefox could be target of hackers

Vinit writes: "Michal Zalewski, a security researcher has found flaws in IE7 and Firefox which could be the next target of hackers. The flaws will lead users to malicious websites controlled by hackers, thus allowing them to grab files from your hard drive. Microsoft has already confirmed the flaw and said, "the company is taking appropriate action." In addition to the above mentioned flaw, Firefox is vulnerable to another severe flaw which allow hackers to alter cookies stored on a computer. It indicates that display of some sites could be tempered. Firefox has already come up with a fix which will be released soon. http://www.pclaunches.com/software/ie7_and_firefox _could_be_target_of_hackers_who_can_play_with_your _hard_drive.php"
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - A Keyboard on the Edge

An anonymous reader writes: One of the fastest growing trends in consumer electronics is what some people have started to call tech luxury. These are goods that are all about style and performance and don't really concern themselves with the price. One of the best examples of this is Logitech's new diNovo Edge keyboard. It's looks great, has a big price tag, and has lots of innovative features, but has no mouse or numberpad. From the article, "Keyboards don't have to be boring. They don't have to be blocky, beige tools that are tethered to the back of your computer. Companies like Logitech have made it so that keyboards can be comfortable, wireless, stylish, interesting, and, maybe even cool."
Censorship

Submission + - Journalist arrested for taking photo of CT Governo

reub2000 writes: Journalist Ken Krayeske was arrested for taking a photograph of Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell during a parade. Krayeske a pacifist, was on a list of "potential troublemakers" and his photo had been sent to cops on the parade route.
Businesses

Submission + - The 1 million pound laptop

An anonymous reader writes: The UK Financial Services Authority (FSA) has imposed a fine of nearly £1m on the Nationwide — the largest building society in the country — because of poor controls over data on a laptop that was stolen from an employee's home. The laptop contained data on 11 million customers, but the Nationwide didn't take any action for 3 weeks. There is no evidence that the confidential data was actually used to disadvantage customers.

According to the FSA, the Nationwide: failed adequately to assess the risks in relation to the security of customer information; had procedures in relation to information security which failed adequately and effectively to manage the risks it faced; failed to implement adequate training and monitoring to ensure that its information security procedures were disseminated and understood by staff; and failed to implement adequate controls to mitigate information security risks, to ensure that employees followed its procedures, and to ensure that it provided an appropriate level of information security.

How many other businesses meet the standards of information security excellence demanded by the FSA?
Programming

Submission + - P = NP Finally Proved?

Yosi writes: Ashay Dharwadker claims to have proved that P = NP. In a paper he publishes on his website he claims to have found a polynomial algorithm for finding maximal independent sets in a graph and provides actual source code implementation of the proposed algorithm. If this is indeed true, I guess a lot of professors will start looking for a new job.

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