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SPAM: Maruti Cars in India

Submitted by manojmeena
manojmeena writes "India's major auto player, Maruti Suzuki India Limited has recently unveiled an limited edition of its largest selling sedan car, Maruti SX4 in the Indian market. The new special edition of SX4 is known as Maruti SX4 Royale. the recent effort of Maruti Suzuki, has been launched the special edition of Maruti SX4 which is available in Mumbai and Goa."
Link to Original Source
The Courts

Facebook Says It Owns 'Book' 483

Posted by samzenpus
from the first-book dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Facebook has sued a tiny start-up called Teachbook.com over the use of 'book' in its name. The start-up, which has two employees, aims to provide tools for teachers to manage their classrooms and share lesson plans and other resources. 'Effectively they're bombing a mosquito here, and we're not sure why they want to do that,' Teachbook.com co-director Greg Shrader told the Tribune. Facebook said its use of 'book' in its name is 'highly distinctive in the context of online communities and networking websites.' Facebook apparently is alleging that no other online 'network of people' can use the word 'book' in its name without violating its trademark."
Google

What Is Google's Stance On Software Patents? ->

Submitted by FlorianMueller
FlorianMueller writes "In a recent Slashdot discussion, a Linux evangelist from Google, Jeremy Allison, said that "Google submitted an anti-software patent brief in the Bilski case." He disclosed his affiliation and encouraged double-checking. I have performed a detailed analysis of Google's amicus curiae brief in re Bilski. While it cites some patent-critical literature, the document stops far short of advocating the abolition of software patents. The brief supports the idea that patent law should expand according to technological progress. It complains about some software patents being too abstract and others making only a "conventional" use of a computer, but under patent law, that doesn't mean that all software is conventional by definition. Google's own patents, such as the PageRank patent, are (at least intended to be) non-abstract and non-conventional. Is anyone aware of Google ever having spoken out against the patentability of all software, including the software Google itself patents every day?"
Link to Original Source
Hardware Hacking

Grad Student Invents Cheap Laser Cutter 137

Posted by samzenpus
from the frugal-cutting dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Peter Jansen, a PhD student and member of the RepRap community, has constructed a working prototype of an inexpensive table-top laser cutter built out of old CD/DVD drives as an offshoot of his efforts to design an under $200 open-source Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) 3D printer. Where traditional laser cutters use powerful, fixed-focus beams, this new technique dynamically adjusts the focal point of the laser using a reciprocating motion similar to a reciprocating saw, allowing a far less powerful and inexpensive laser diode to be used. The technique is currently limited to cutting black materials to a depth of only a few millimeters, but should still be useful and enabling for Makers and other crafters. The end-goal is to create a hybrid inexpensive 3D printer that can be easily reconfigured for 2D laser cutting, providing powerful making tools to the desktop."

Comment: Re:$578 Million for One School? (Score 1) 367

by Donovon (#33351568) Attached to: Los Angeles Unveils $578 Million Public School

Indeed. We watched funds get squandered in a Northern California district once. AFAIK they're still putting the same $20M bond request on the ballot and every year it's been shot down for maybe the last 10. People remember this sort of thing, and they don't let it happen again for a long time.

Comment: "Here's what NOT to do..." teaching (Score 1) 367

by Donovon (#33351538) Attached to: Los Angeles Unveils $578 Million Public School

So wait, you're in the hole

"... the district faces a $640 million shortfall and some schools persistently rank among the nation's lowest performing."

and you want to build

"With an eye-popping price tag of $578 million, it will mark the inauguration of the nation's most expensive public school ever."

to what... teach your students what NOT to do when you're out of money?

Biotech

Court Rules Against Stem Cell Policy 388

Posted by Soulskill
from the two-steps-forward,-two-steps-back dept.
An anonymous reader sends this quote from Reuters: "A US district court issued a preliminary injunction Monday stopping federal funding of human embryonic stem cell research, in a slap to the Obama administration's new guidelines on the sensitive issue. The court ruled in favor of a suit filed in June by researchers who said human embryonic stem cell research involves the destruction of human embryos. Judge Royce Lamberth granted the injunction after finding that the lawsuit would likely succeed because the guidelines violated law banning the use of federal funds to destroy human embryos. '(Embryonic stem cell) research is clearly research in which an embryo is destroyed,' Lamberth wrote in a 15-page ruling."
Earth

Permanent Undersea Homes Soon; Temporary Ones Now 122

Posted by timothy
from the meet-our-butcher-dexter dept.
MMBK writes "Dennis Chamberland is one of the world's preeminent aquanauts. He's worked with NASA to develop living habitats and underwater plant growth labs, among other cool things. His next goal is establishing the world's first permanent underwater colony. This video gets to the heart of his project, literally and figuratively, as most is shot in his underwater habitat, Atlantica, off the coast of Key Largo, FL. The coolest part might be the moon pool, the room you swim into underwater."

Facts are stubborn, but statistics are more pliable.