Comment: Powder (Score 4, Interesting) 283
Just get fucktons of caffeine more economically than the poll options.
Vermont Bans Fracking 278
Posted
by
samzenpus
from the no-more-gas-for-you dept.
from the no-more-gas-for-you dept.
eldavojohn writes "Vermont is the first state to ban fracking (hydraulic fracturing), a process that was to revolutionize the United States' position into a major producer of natural gas. New York currently has a moratorium on fracking but it is not yet a statewide ban. Video of the signing indicates the concern over drinking water as the motivation for Vermont's measures (PDF draft of legislation). Slashdot has frequently encountered news debating the safety of such practices."
Chemical Cocktail Turns Mice Clear 145
Posted
by
samzenpus
from the thank-you-science dept.
from the thank-you-science dept.
sciencehabit writes "Researchers have serendipitously discovered that a mixture of urea, glycerol, and soap makes membranes transparent. When they tried the mixture on a developing mouse fetus, they found that it removed all of the pigment from the cells, rendering the fetus completely transparent. The technique allowed scientists to see fluorescent neurons buried several millimeters in the brain."
Military Pressuring Vendors On IPv6 406
Posted
by
Soulskill
from the small-arms-fire-can-be-a-powerful-motivator dept.
from the small-arms-fire-can-be-a-powerful-motivator dept.
netbuzz writes "US military officials are threatening IT suppliers with the loss of military business if they don't use their own wares to start deploying IPv6 on their corporate networks and public-facing Web services immediately. 'We are pressing our vendors in any way we can,' says Ron Broersma, DREN Chief Engineer and a Network Security Manager for the Navy's Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command. 'We are competing one off against another. If they want to sell to us, we're asking them: Are you using IPv6 features in your own products on your corporate networks? Is your public Web site IPv6 enabled? We've been doing this to all of the vendors.'"
Comment: Re:Actually a good feature (Score 1) 130
I have just written a Greasemonkey script for that: http://userscripts.org/scripts/show/91959
Wikipedia Pages Now On Amazon — With Product Links 130
Posted
by
timothy
from the seems-like-a-cool-idea-to-me dept.
from the seems-like-a-cool-idea-to-me dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Last month, e-commerce marketplace Amazon.com launched a relatively unnoticed new feature that brings content from Wikipedia pages to its own servers in a shadowy new project that appears to be called 'Shopping Enabled Wikipedia Pages.' Hosted on the Amazon.com domain, they replicate Wikipedia's content but have added links to where a book can be purchased on Amazon. Amazon representative Anya Waring told CNET when asked via e-mail, 'As of November, we have rolled out in the books category, however [it] will be expanding to new categories in 2011.' If Average Joe scrapes Wikipedia and adds affiliate links to it, Google will remove and punish the domains with duplicate pages."
Meet NELL, the Computer That Learns From the Net 272
Posted
by
CmdrTaco
from the nell-like-lolcat-pew-pew dept.
from the nell-like-lolcat-pew-pew dept.
bossanovalithium writes "Carnegie Mellon University has taught a computer how to read and learn from the internet.
According to Dennis Baron at the Oxford University press blog, the computer is called NELL and it is reading the internet and learning from it in much the same way that humans learn language and acquire knowledge. Basically by soaking it all up and figuring it out.
NELL is short for Never Ending Language Learner and apparently it is getting brainier every day."
HP Sues Hurd For Joining Oracle 301
Posted
by
Soulskill
from the following-the-hurd dept.
from the following-the-hurd dept.
CWmike writes "Hewlett-Packard is reported to be suing former CEO Mark Hurd, who was named co-president of rival Oracle on Monday. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news, and has now posted the full text of the suit on Google Docs. Among other things, it says, 'In his new positions, Hurd will be in a situation in which he cannot perform his duties for Oracle without necessarily using and disclosing HP's trade secrets and confidential information to others.'"
Microsoft Kills the Kin 351
Posted
by
samzenpus
from the we-hardly-knew-you dept.
from the we-hardly-knew-you dept.
adeelarshad82 writes "The Microsoft Kin is dead, or at least it doesn't have a future as a standalone product. Microsoft released a statement suggesting that it's cutting bait on the Windows Phone 7 spinoff and folding the project's staff and technologies into the main body of Windows Phone 7. For now, it seems like Verizon Wireless will continue to sell Kin phones. But with the Kin team essentially disbanded, it's hard to see future updates and support for the line being a priority within Microsoft."
Cory Doctorow On For the Win, Gold Farming, and DRM 179
Posted
by
kdawson
from the my-computer-says-yes dept.
from the my-computer-says-yes dept.
adaviel passes along a New Scientist interview with Cory Doctorow, who has been touring for his new book For the Win. The SF author and technology activist talks about DRM, gold farming, and much else besides.
Comment: Re:Not to sound like an ass, but... (Score 1) 173
Moreover, the DoAndIfThenElse extension merely extends the "do" syntax with if/then/else clauses; it is syntactic sugar. Empty data declarations are essentially union types unioned over no labels and therefore can have no values except for the bottom value.
References:
http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/haskell-prime/wiki/DoAndIfThenElse
http://hackage.haskell.org/trac/haskell-prime/wiki/EmptyDataDecls
Iraq Swears By Dowsing Rod Bomb Detector 652
Posted
by
samzenpus
from the one-man's-junk-is-another-man's-junk-science dept.
from the one-man's-junk-is-another-man's-junk-science dept.
jggimi writes "According to the New York Times, more than fifteen hundred remote sensing devices have been sold to Iraq's Ministry of the Interior, at prices ranging from $16,500 to $60,000 each. The devices are used for bomb and weapon detection at checkpoints, and have no battery or other power source. Sounds great, but according to a retired United States Air Force officer, Lt. Col. Hal Bidlack, they work on the same principle as a Ouija board — the power of suggestion. He described the wand as nothing more than an explosives divining rod. Even though the device has been debunked by the US Military, the US Department of Justice, and even Sandia National Laboratories, the Iraqis are thrilled with the devices. 'Whether it's magic or scientific, what I care about is it detects bombs,' said Maj. Gen. Jehad al-Jabiri, head of the Ministry of the Interior's General Directorate for Combating Explosives."
Comment: Re:Actually the 47th (Score 1) 232
2^43112610-1 is definitely composite. 2^(2*m)-1 = (2^m-1)*(2^m+1)
So, 2^43112610-1 = (2^21556305-1)*(2^21556305+1)
Thawte Will End "Web of Trust" On November 16 127
Posted
by
kdawson
from the fencing-of-the-commons dept.
from the fencing-of-the-commons dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Thawte is ending their Web of Trust, including their free Personal Email Certificates, in less than 2 weeks' time. This hasn't been picked up by the media yet. Seems to me a lot of people, including myself, are hurt by this." Thawte is offering a 1-year free VeriSign cert to those holding valid Personal Email Certificates; after that you pay.
Comment: Re:Maths MUST be consistent.... (Score 1) 99
Transistors can not be accurately described by Newtonian physics.