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Government

US Open Government Initiative Enters Phase Three 572

Posted by kdawson
from the madisonian-moment dept.
circletimessquare writes "The Obama administration opened a discussion forum in January of this year which has become an electronic suggestion box. It is now entering stage three, following brainstorm and discussion phases: the draft phase, in which the top subject matter is codified into suggestions for the government. 'Ultimately, the visitors advanced more than 3,900 ideas, which in turn spawned 11,000 comments that received 210,000 thumb votes. The result? Three of the top 10 most popular ideas called for legalizing marijuana, and two featured conspiracy theories about Mr. Obama's true place of birth.'"
Sci-Fi

Futurama Returns! 226

Posted by Zonk
from the teach-me-to-love-you-squishy-poet-from-beyond-the-stars dept.
Random BedHead Ed writes "Good news everyone! After a five year vanishing act the sci-fi spoof Futurama returned this week with a direct-to-DVD feature. Wired has an article about its return, including the story of the show's origins, a behind the scenes gallery, interviews with creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, and some interesting trivia. For example, did you know the ship has an overbite like a Simpson's character? Or that the show's title is taken from an exhibition at the 1939 Worlds Fair?." We just talked about this a bit the other day, too, in reference to a great interview on TVSquad.
Biotech

Patient bleeds dark green blood

Submitted by anonymous zero
anonymous zero writes "A team of Canadian surgeons got a shock when the patient they were operating on began shedding dark greenish-black blood. The man had needed urgent surgery because he had developed a dangerous condition in his legs after falling asleep in a sitting position. In this case, the unusual colour of the 42-year-old's blood was down to the migraine medication he was taking."

Long Beach cops use Segway to nab thieves->

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Transportation

We certainly can't say that we'd voluntarily place ourselves on a Segway in order to patrol Long Beach, but officer Jose Miguez managed to utilize the breakneck (ahem) speed available on the two-wheeled Personal Transporter to arrest a horrifically embarrassed 13-year old carjacker. Notably, the Segway was no match for the Mercedes-Benz's engine at first, but after the obviously unlicensed driver and his partners in crime leaped from the car just before it slammed into a utility pole, their worn legs were no match for the potent battery-powered engine. Sure, it doesn't sound like the most exciting police chase ever witnessed or anything, but it's not everyday you see a Segway extending the long arm of the law.

[Via Wired]

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Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!


Link to Original Source

New Contributor To Aggressive Cancers Found->

From feed by sdfeed
Mutations in the cell adhesion molecule known as integrin alpha 7 (integrin á7) lead to unchecked tumor cell proliferation and a significantly higher incidence in cancer spread, or metastasis, in several cancer cell lines, report researchers. These findings suggest that integrin á7 represents an important new target for cancer therapy and prevention.
Link to Original Source
It's funny. Laugh.

Creator of MS Word banned from casinos and WSOP

Submitted by
L. VeGas
L. VeGas writes "Richard Brodie, Microsoft employee number 77, creator of Microsoft Word 1.0 and professional poker player, was banned from all Harrah's casinos yesterday for winning at video poker, a game both impossible to cheat and impossible to overcome the house advantage. Since the World Series of Poker is held at the Rio, a Harrah's property, this meant he would be unable to play in the upcoming tournament. Thanks to massive public support, they have relented, and now Brodie will be playing, and I can once again live vicariously throught him."
Classic Games (Games)

The Final Commercial Dreamcast Game

Submitted by
Joan Cross
Joan Cross writes "The curtain has come down on the Dreamcast, the release of Milestones Karous another shooter for the console that refuses to die is the last commercial release for Sega`s last hardware. The closing of GDRom production effectively kills off the chance of any new commercial releases. A few weeks ago the release of Trigger Heart Exelica got into the top 10 sales in Japan."

Comment: That's just like your opinion...man. (Score 2, Insightful) 48

by BrickM (#18187994) Attached to: Casual Play on 360 Live Arcade
Obviously both consoles have fun, short/small downloadable games for cheap prices. In the end, the article is more about personal preferences in games, than any sort of comparable quality. Especially since the 360 has an entire year head start over the Wii.

Personally, I'd rather play Super Mario world and Legend of Zelda than most of the games on Live Arcade. One of the reasons is that they're known quantities, whereas many of the Live ports have been very dubious in quality (anyone who made the mistake of getting Contra knows what I'm talking about here). Everything from Nintendo has been incredibly well emulated, with the added bonus of being able to have a "save state" that means you can pause the game, turn off the console and come back to play later. Man, I wish my NES and SNES had that years ago.

So while I'd come down on the side of the Wii in this debate, in the end it's totally personal preference on the games - just like it always is with this console debates.
Businesses

Where are the semi-technical jobs?

Submitted by
crashlanding
crashlanding writes "Where are the available jobs for the semi-technically inclined? After many semesters (and switched majors), I have a good general grasp of small business functions, computer hardware repair, software knowledge (with some Java classes), web design (with HCI and info arch), digital photography (including Photoshop), and writing skills. Here in Hawaii, our State tax credits for technolgocial development has brought in a lot of Hollywood action film crews along with some very specialized whizz bang tech companies. But whenever I go to job fairs the offerings usually require EE degrees or expert-level Java programming expertise, then swing down to network cable installers, and really nothing much in-between! Realistically, you'd think that the many small businesses would welcome a "Jack of all technical trades" but the standard offerings are hardly such. So I appeal to the Slashdot readership: "Where and how do the 'up and coming' tech guru's get a leg up the job search ladder?""
Education

College Freshmen Struggle With Tech Literacy 298

Posted by Zonk
from the gotta-grow-up-nerd-to-get-ahead dept.
snow_man writes to mention an article on the E-Commerce News site about techno-literacy problems with incoming college freshmen. Some schools, like CSU, are planning on including a technology comprehension test alongside their English and Math evaluations for new students. From the article: "Not all of Generation M can synthesize the loads of information they're accessing, educators say. 'They're geeky, but they don't know what to do with their geekdom,' said Barbara O'Connor, a Sacramento State communications studies professor involved in a nationwide effort to hone students' computer-research skills. On a recent nationwide test to measure their technological 'literacy' -- their ability to use the Internet to complete class assignments -- only 49 percent of the test-takers correctly evaluated a set of Web sites for objectivity, authority and timeliness. Only 35 percent could correctly narrow an overly broad Internet search."
Google

Google Reaches Second-Most Visited Site Status 191

Posted by Zonk
from the frequent-googing dept.
Another anonymous reader has written to mention a story carried by Bloomberg, which has the news that Google is the second-most visited site on the internet. This puts it out in front of Yahoo!, which previously held the position. Google is now just behind Microsoft which, as the submitter pointed out, is the site that IE defaults to. From the article: "Visitors to Google's sites rose 9.1 percent to 475.7 million in November from a year earlier, while those to Yahoo sites rose 5.2 percent to 475.3 million, ComScore Networks Inc. said today. Both sites trail Microsoft, which had 501.7 million visitors, ComScore said. It is the first time that Mountain View, California-based Google attracted more visitors than Yahoo, reflecting Google's growing popularity outside the U.S."
Hardware Hacking

Look out Batman, the Jetman has arrived!

Submitted by Colin Smith
Colin Smith writes "A Swiss fellow named Yves Rossy has invented a jetpack. It is made of 3m carbon fibre wings and powered by four small gas turbine jet engines typically used by the radio controlled model fraternity. Crucially, the pilot can ascend and fly level at up to 200kph as well as descend. Control of the jetpack is achieved through small body movements much like a bird.

The next version of the jetpack is planned to have take off, longer flight time and aerobatic capabilities."

I B M U B M We all B M For I B M!!!! -- H.A.R.L.I.E.