DCowern - Slashdot User

Study: firstborns have higher IQ than siblings-> 0

Submitted by ghastlygray on Friday June 22 2007, @06:26AM

ghastlygray writes "The New York Times reports an extensive study which shows firstborns tend to have higher IQ than their siblings. The interesting point is that there's strong evidence this has nothing to do with biology, but rather with social conditioning and family dynamics: the researchers discovered that when the eldest child dies at infancy, the second child gets the high IQ. The article cites several competing explanations for this phenomenon."
Link to Original Source

History of Photoshop: The Mac's First Killer App

Submitted by Gammu on Saturday June 09 2007, @08:58AM

Gammu writes "For the past fifteen plus years, Photoshop has turned into the killer app for graphics designers on the Mac. It was originally written as a support app for a grad student's thesis and struggled to find wide commercial release. Eventually, Adobe licensed the app and has sold millions of copies. Read about its early history at SiliconUser."

Busting the MythBusters' Yawn Experiment

Submitted by

markmcb

on Sunday April 22 2007, @08:16PM

markmcb writes "Most everyone knows and loves the MythBusters, two guys who attempt to set the story straight on so many things people just take for granted. Well, everyone except Brandon Hansen, who has offered them a taste of their own medicine as he busts the MythBusters' improper use of statistics in their experiment to show yawning is contagious. While the article maintains it is still possible yawns are contagious, the author makes it clear that he's not giving the MythBusters any credit for proving such a claim, 'not with a correlation coefficient of .045835.'"

How the Internet is currently distributed

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Sunday April 22 2007, @06:05PM

An anonymous reader writes "A study has been published by IPligence.com on how the Internet is distributed across the entire world. The study reveals the differences between the most and least developed countries and compares the human populated world with the eye invisible Internet super structure giving a fantastic overview."

The Best and Worst Intenet Laws

Submitted by

Anonymous Coward

on Sunday April 22 2007, @05:32PM

Anonymous Coward writes "When a U.S. legislator describes the Internet as a "series of tubes" you just know that you're going to end up with some wacky laws on the books. Law professor Eric Goldman takes a look at the best and worst Internet laws in the U.S. Eric offers an analysis of the biggies such as the DMCA, but also shines a light on lesser known laws like the Dot Kids Implementation and Efficiency Act of 2002."

Bjork sponsors a music video contest

Submitted by STFS on Sunday April 22 2007, @05:00PM

STFS writes "A number of news sites have picked up on singer Björk's idea of having an open contest for making a music video to one of her latest songs titled Innocence.

The official contest page has more information about the contest along with some material (the song itself, the lyrics and some visual goodies) to get the ball rolling.

This may be the ultimate opportunity for those artistically inclined Slashdot readers to take a stab at world fame."

Wifi Health Danger

Submitted by

Zaffle

on Sunday April 22 2007, @03:55PM

Zaffle writes "Britain and New Zealand's top health-protection watchdog wants the wireless networks, which emits radiation, to be full investigated because of the concern for students' health. Several European provincial governments have already taken action to ban, or limit, Wi-Fi use in the classroom.

Recent research has linked radiation from mobiles to cancer and brain damage. And many studies have found disturbing symptoms in people near masts.

Professor Olle Johansson, of Sweden's Karolinska Institute, who is concerned about the spread of Wi-Fi, says "thousands" of articles in scientific literature demonstrate "adverse health effects" from Wi-Fi.

"Do we not know enough already to say, 'stop'?"

For the past 16 months, the provincial government of Salzburg in Austria has been advising schools not to install Wi-Fi, and is considering a ban."

Fruity cocktails may count as health food...

Submitted by

Ant

on Saturday April 21 2007, @12:02PM

Ant writes "Reuters report that A fruity cocktail may not only be fun to drink but may count as health food according to United States/U.S. and Thai researchers. Adding ethanol — the type of alcohol found in rum, vodka, tequila and other spirits — boosted the antioxidant nutrients in strawberries and blackberries, the researchers found. Any colored fruit might be made even more healthful with the addition of a splash of alcohol, they report in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. Seen on Blue's News."

Free fashion advice for geeks

Submitted by

Sanity

on Saturday April 21 2007, @11:57AM

Sanity writes "Wondering whether that T-shirt you got at DEFCON, and those jeans you have worn since high school are as flattering as they could be? Pocket Fashionista allows you to upload a photo of yourself and get friendly but honest feedback from fashion-minded experts. The site is simple, easy to use, and implemented in Ruby on Rails, so its definitely buzzword-compliant. Could this be the turning point for geek-fashion?"

Escort agency launches virgin service for geeks

Submitted by 6Yankee on Saturday April 21 2007, @11:35AM

6Yankee writes "A Dutch escort agency is offering a "virgin service" — and most of the customers work in IT. Says boss Zoe Vialet: "They are very sweet but are afraid of seeking contact with other people. They mean it very well but are very scared." In what might be considered a very cunning move, the three-hour-minimum appointment includes — a bath."