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Robotics

Submission + - SPAM: Humans and robots both adapt to "accessory"

Submitted by
destinyland
destinyland writes: "Experiments prove that our brain can incorporate "cyborg additions" into our body schema. (Even after using a mechanical grabber, test subjects still behaved as if their arms were longer.) "It turns out that the human body may adapt well to such Borg-like accessorization," notes this article — but now apparently robots can also learn to act human, since French researchers demonstrated the same adaptability in humanoid robots. (And Japanese researchers just debuted a $2 million walking robot at a fashion show in Tokyo. [video])"
Link to Original Source
Supercomputing

Submission + - Top 10 strangest characters in IT (pcauthority.com.au)

Submitted by Slatterz
Slatterz writes: This article about the strangest characters in technology includes some interesting trivia, including the story of 1980s software icon Charles Simonyi, who in addition to leaving Eastern Europe to attend college in California, ended up developing Microsoft Word and Excel, and then flew to the International Space Station. Then there's Seymour Cray, who spent the Second World War in Europe and supporting the Philippino Guerilla army in the Far East, and went on to design the Cray I and Cray II supercomputer; or Perry Barlow, who in addition to helping establish the Electronic Frontier Foundation, co-wrote Greatful Dead songs. Some of the people on this list are successful billionaires, Some Nobel prize winners or high-tech nomads.

Comment Re:Now,now, nothing to see here move along. (Score 1) 366

by hustlebird (#28103107) Attached to: Mac Clone Maker Psystar Files For Bankruptcy
So you expect them to just give up on the rather lucrative sales of OSX to all their old macs? I bought leopard for my 3 year old macbook along with a new hard drive. Thats $150.00 of almost pure profit for Apple, that they wouldnt have gotten from me otherwise, I had restore CD's, I could have used them, but I wanted expose and spaces and time machine.

I highly doubt they'd give up that second sale just to spite another company.

Comment Re:FInally someone has a clue (Score 2, Informative) 190

by hustlebird (#28077429) Attached to: Judge Says Boston Student's Laptop Was Seized Illegally

People aren't even compensated for time spent in a jail cell!

They typically are when it is longer periods due to a wrongful conviction.
A man in San Diego, CA awarded $100/day for the time he spent in a jailcell
A man in boston served 18 years, eligible for up to $500,000
An Australian man seeks 7.5 Million in damages from 12 years served, West AU offering 3.25

Not that I dont agree the lost time thing will ever work, just wanted to point out that people are infact compensated for jailtime they didnt deserve
United States

Journal Journal: Ethics Be Damned 6

Journal by mcgrew

It appears that the Federal Government is against campaign finance reform, and will punish any state that tries to outlaw "pay For Play" (i.e., donate if you want the contract). The following was posted in the Springfield State Journal-Register, who uses a Creative Commons license for most of its stuff. The original article can be found, for now as they don't keep the stories posted forever, h

Comment Re:65 hours... (Score 1) 386

by hustlebird (#25782975) Attached to: Second <em>World of Warcraft</em> Expansion Launched, Conquered
Thats exactly what happened in the first expansion.
You say insane key requirements for everything but the first couple 25 mans, then blizzard quickly dropped the second 2 raids key requirements, then a while later, they removed the keying requirements for the last 2, which was then followed with a content patch for the final raid dungeon of TBC.
Portables (Apple)

Submission + - Apple unviels the Macbook Air

Submitted by hustlebird
hustlebird writes: The "Worlds Thinnest" notebook (it's only 0.76 inch thick at its thickest part) is now available for preorder. The Macbook Air is now available on Apple's website. It is available with a 64GB solid-state drive option, as well as a traditional 80GB HD. You can get the specs for it straight off Apple's website here. While this laptop is certainly something amazing to look at, its novelty is obvious, and has recieved lackluster reviews, a few of which can be read here and here
Businesses

Submission + - Bill Gates & Steve Jobs Dual Interview

Submitted by
Dekortage
Dekortage writes: "What do you get when you put Bill Gates and Steve Jobs on the same stage at the D5 conference — to be questioned by Walt Mossberg? Aside from the expected musings on the future of technology and the Internet, you get some friendly jabs, some reminiscing, even some true emotion. Read the session transcript or watch the videos for the interesting reactions between them. (You can also download the video on iTunes for free.)"
Toys

Submission + - 5 THINGS YOU NEVER KNEW YOUR CELL PHONE,COULD DO (befit4free.com)

Submitted by
BeFit4Free.com
BeFit4Free.com writes: "5 THINGS YOU NEVER KNEW YOUR CELL PHONECOULD DO

There are a few things that can be done in times of grave emergencies.Your mobile phone can actually be a life saver or an emergency tool forsurvival. Check outthe things that you can do with it:

Emergency
The Emergency Number worldwide for Mobile is 112. If you find yourselfout of the coverage area of your mobile; network and there is anemergency,dial 112 andthe mobile will search any existing network to establish the emergencynumber for you, and interestingly this number 112 can be dialed even ifthe keypad is locked. Try it out.

Have you locked your keys in the car?
Does your car have remote k ey less entry? This may come in handy someday.Good reason to own a cell phone: If you lock your keys in the car and thespare keys are at home, call someone at home on their cell phone from yourcell phone. Hold your cell phone about a foot from your car door and havethe person at your home press the unlock button, holding it near themobilephone on their end. Your car will unlock. Saves someone from having todrive your keys to you.Distance is no object. You couldbe hundreds of miles away, and if you can reach someone who has the other"remote" for your car, you can unlock the doors (or the trunk).Editor's Note: It works fine! We tried it out and it unlocked our car overa cell phone!"

Hidden Battery Power
Imagine your cell battery is very low. To activate, press the keys *3370#Your cell will restart with this reserve and the instrument will show a50% increase in battery. This reserve will get charged when yo u chargeyour cell next time.

How to disable a STOLEN mobile phone?
To check your Mobile phone's serial number, key in the following digitson your phone: *# 0 6 # A 15 digit code will appear on the screen. This number is uniqueto your handset. Write it down and keep it somewhere safe. When your phoneget stolen, you can phone your service provider and give them this code.They will then be able to blockyour handset so even if the thief changes the SIM card, your phone willbe totally useless. You probably won't get your phone back, but at leastyou know that whoever stole it can't use/sell it either. If everybody doesthis, there would be no point in people stealing mobile phones.And Finally....

Free Directory Service for Cells
Cell phone companies are charging us $1.00 to $1.75 or more for 411informationcalls when they don't have to. Most of us do not carry a telephonedirectoryin o ur vehicle,which makes this situation even more of a problem. When you need to usethe 411 information option, simply dial: (800) FREE 411, or (800) 373-3411without incurring any charge at all. Program this into your cell phonenow.This is the kind of information people don't mind receiving, so pass iton to your family and friends."
Education

Submission + - CS professor named new Harvard Dean (thecrimson.com)

Submitted by
mclove
mclove writes: "Michael D. Smith, a computer hardware professor, was just named Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Sciences at Harvard, in charge of the college and the non-professional graduate schools. A bit suspicious that this is happening the same week Bill Gates is getting an honorary degree, but a great sign for the future of CS in academia."
The Courts

Journal Journal: Fox Charges Man with Felony for Uploading "24" Episode

Journal by eldavojohn
In response to Fox's subpoenas against YouTube users, Jorge Romero has been charged with a felony for obtaining episodes of the television series "24" and uploading them to LiveDigital.com more than a week before their debut date. Romero faces up to three years in prison. It makes sense that the time at which these episodes are uploaded directly affect Fox's viewership,
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - ICT Patch for Withdrawal Symptoms on Shutdown Day

Submitted by
Moonaire
Moonaire writes: "Shutdown Day (March 24) is the day to see if one can survive for 24 hours without the computer/internet. This task is near impossible for uber geeks who'll get withdrawal symptoms and convulsions within the first hour. So, Moonaire has written down the 7 most important things any geek needs to prepare, in order to survive Shutdown Day. Item #1 is the ICT Patch. Just like how the nicotine patch helps to keep smokers off smoking, the ICT Patch is a small sticker of your favourite website that you stick on yourself, so you don't get withdrawal symptoms. Read at http://www.thecreativityclub.com/events/7-things-t o-prepare-for-shutdown-day/"
Censorship

Submission + - Copyright law used to shut down anti-coal site

Submitted by driptray
driptray writes: The Sydney Morning Herald reports that an Australian mining industry group has used copyright laws to close a website that parodied a coal industry ad campaign. A group known as Rising Tide created the website using the slogan "Rising sea levels: brought to you by mining" in response to the mining industry's slogan of "Life: brought to you by mining". The mining industry claimed that the "content and layout" of the parody site infringed copyright, but when Rising Tide removed the copyrighted photos and changed the layout, the mining industry still lodged a complaint. Is this a misuse of copyright law in order to stifle dissent?

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