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Poll: Preferred Failure Mode of Ares I

Submitted by Agenor
Agenor writes "The Ares I test launch is scheduled for Oct 27th. Given NASA's history with new rockets, how do you think this one will fail?

1) Nothing, it works fine.
2) Flies three feet; ejects tower.
3) Explodes on pad
4) Dynamic instability at Mach 2
5) SRB jackhammers
6) Cowboy Neal rides it to the MOON!"
Networking

Hulu encoding HTML with JS to protect content->

Submitted by N!NJA
N!NJA writes "I have come across an interesting development with Hulu this morning. They have started encoding the html that they send to people's browsers, and then decoding it using javascript before rendering it. [...] They then run the character stream through a series of javascript functions to convert it back in to plain text before pushing it in to your browser using DHTML. That's quite a lot of effort just for fun, so I assume that is to stop screen scrapers from parsing content."
Link to Original Source
Biotech

Ice Agers Stopped Off at Beringia for 20,000 Years

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes "Research analyzing DNA sequences from Native American, New World and Asian populations shows a gradual migration and expansion of people from Asia through Siberia and into Beringia, a once-habitable region that today lies submerged under the icy waters of the Bering Strait, starting about 40,000 years ago; a long waiting period in Beringia where the population size remained relatively stable; and finally a rapid expansion into North America through Alaska or Canada about 15,000 years ago. "If you think about it, these people didn't know they were going to a new world. They were moving out of Asia and finally reached a landmass that was exposed because of lower sea levels during the last glacial maximum, but two major glaciers blocked their progress into the New World. So they basically stayed put for about 20,000 years, says Connie Mulligan, Ph.D. "It wasn't paradise, but they survived. When the North American ice sheets started to melt and a passage into the New World opened, we think they left Beringia to go to a better place." Researchers believe that their synthesis of a large number of different approaches into a unified theory will create a platform for scientists to further analyze genomic and non-genetic data as they become available. The original paper is published open-access on PLOS."
Math

Should Wikipedia Allow Mathematical Proofs?-> 4

Submitted by
Beetle B.
Beetle B. writes "An argument has arisen over whether Wikipedia should allow pages that provide proofs for mathematical theorems (such as this one).

On the one hand, Wikipedia is a useful source of information and people can benefit from these proofs. On the other hand, how does one choose which proofs to include and which not to? Should Wikipedia just become a textbook that teaches mathematics? Should it just state the bare results of theorems and not provide proofs (except as external links)? Or should they take an intermediate approach and formulate a criterion for which proofs to include and which to exclude?"
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Digital

What to do with your old computer? 1

Submitted by
nilstar
nilstar writes "Just like many of you, I have way too many PCs cluttering my house. Some of them have pretty "reasonable" specs (e.g., Athlon XP 2200+). I've tried my hand at selling them on craigslist, ebay and kijiji. But it seems nobody wants them? I even looked at donating them. Charities accepting donated PCs are few and far between in Canada. I found one where I have to drive 100 clicks to their depot because they don't pickup.

What can I do with my old PC hardware?"
Television

PBS tells the story of the Ron Paul Revolution->

Submitted by
clamothe
clamothe writes "Despite lacking major media coverage, the Ron Paul presidential campaign has gained attention of many Americans. It's supporters have attracted more supporters for it, primarily using various new-media on the internet. This friday PBS will be the first major old-media network to feature a comprehensive, fair & balanced account of the Ron Paul "Revolution"."
Link to Original Source
KDE

KDE 4 uses 40% less memory despite 3D eye-candy

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes "Pro-Linux reports that KDE 4, scheduled to be released in January 2008, consumes almost 40% less memory than KDE 3.5, despite the fact that version 4 of the Free and Open Source desktop system includes a composited window manager and a revamped menu and applet interface. KDE developer Will Stephenson showcased KDE 4's 3D eye-candy on a 256Mb laptop with 1Ghz CPU and run-of-the-mill integrated graphics, pointing out that mini-optimizations haven't even yet been started. Will this combination of resource efficiency and consumer appeal make KDE 4 the leader in the booming Linux-based ultra mobile laptop and energy efficient desktop markets?"

"Tell the truth and run." -- Yugoslav proverb