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Duggeek (1015705)

Duggeek
  <moc.liamg ... <keeggud>
http://dehweb.home.comcast.net/
Semi-native Coloradoan, Denver denizen and generalist geek. I believe in America, even when I can't believe in her leaders.

Duggeek (1015705)

  Your Rights Online: Geek Wins Copyright Lawsuit Against Corporation 2008-02-25 00:07

Posted by kdawson on Monday February 25, @12:07AM
from the david-1-goliath-0 dept.
Chris Gregerson writes "I work as a stock photographer/web developer. I saw a photo of mine used in Vilana Financial's full-page phone book ad. They wouldn't pay the licensing fee, and I wrote about it online (mirror). They sued me for defamation, producing a sales agreement signed by one ' Michael Zubitskiy' (who they said took the photo and sold the rights to them). I sued them for copyright infringement, and they added claims against me for trademark infringement, deceptive trade practices, and tortuous interference. There was a trial I'll long remember on the 5th of November, and the judge recently issued her verdict (PDF; mirror). She ruled Vilana Financial forged the sales agreement and willfully infringed my photos, and awarded me $19,462. All claims against me were denied. I represented myself during the litigation."
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 [+] story, yro, court, copywrong, congratulations, w00t, !geek

  No. It's not a broken muffler 2008-02-14 18:32

Journal by Duggeek on Thursday February 14 2008, @06:32PM

Just today, I found one of those headlines that I was just curious about. It's a bit more than curiosity that fuels my interest now. An earlier story broke on NewsNetFive.com back in December. Other reports have come from irregular times during the past year, but now it's an alarming increase.

Tuesday, MSNBC published a consumer-interest article about a new trend in car theft/vandalism.
Why take the whole car when the catalytic converter alone is worth a mint?

From the MSNBC article:

Catalytic converters have only small traces of the metals -- platinum, palladium and rhodium -- but there's enough in them for a thief to resell stolen units for up to $200 apiece. Rhodium is among the most expensive metals on Earth, commanding as much as $6,000 an ounce on the open market.

I did my own checking on the going rate of rhodium, it's now over $8,000 USD per troy ounce!

The soaring price for precious metals is the clear motivator for this phenomenon, and gives whole new meaning to “cut and run”.

What else do we own that we should be protecting? (or- well... selling for scrap?) For that matter, what's the reason behind the skyrocketing price? Does the mining slowdown in South Africa explain this, or could it also be something else?

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 [+] journal, money
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  25% of all Americans are Confused 2007-06-08 19:37 jd

Submitted by jd on Friday June 08 2007, @07:37PM
jd writes "A recent survey has shown that 25% of Americans simultaneously believe in literal Creationism and Evolution. Whilst it comes as no surprise that Americans are divided on the issue of Biblical or Darwinian origins, it is seriously perplexing as to how so many can believe completely and passionately in two mutually contradictory theories."
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 [+] submission, science, humor
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  Truth Behind the Great Pyramids[->] 2007-06-04 15:13 cbroglie

Submitted by cbroglie on Monday June 04 2007, @03:13PM
cbroglie writes "Ever feel like less of a man because the ancient Egyptians could lift heavier things than you? You can rest easy now that professor Michel Barsoum from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Drexel has discovered that the great pyramids were actually made from a primitive cement."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20070522/sc_livescience/thesurprisingtruthbehindtheconstructionofthegreatpyramids;_ylt=AmnutcdQiTvzhqYTYL4O0owbr7sF
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 [+] submission, science, enlightenment
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  Plasma arc recycling[->] 2007-06-04 09:56 Scooby12

Submitted by Scooby12 on Monday June 04 2007, @09:56AM
Scooby12 writes "FORT PIERCE, Fla. (AP) — A Florida county has grand plans to ditch its dump, generate electricity and help build roads — all by vaporizing garbage at temperatures hotter than the sun. The $425 million facility expected to be built in St. Lucie County will use lightning-like plasma arcs to turn trash into gas and rock-like material. It will be the first such plant in the nation operating on such a massive scale and the largest in the world."
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-09-09-fla-county-trash_x.htm
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 [+] submission, science, power
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  Shuttle Workers Vote to Strike[->] 2007-06-02 22:21 stoolpigeon

Submitted by stoolpigeon on Saturday June 02 2007, @10:21PM
stoolpigeon writes "A union representing 570 space shuttle program workers at the Kennedy Space Center voted to strike Saturday, less than a week before the planned launch of the shuttle Atlantis. The International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers, which represents the United Space Alliance employees, rejected the company's contract offer Saturday morning, Florida Today reported. The union could strike as early as June 9, a day after NASA officials plan to launch Atlantis. It was unclear Saturday whether the vote to strike could affect the launch schedule."
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/custom/space/orl-bk-shuttlestrike060207,0,3300061.story?coll=orl-home-headlines
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 [+] submission, science, nasa
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  Seawater as fuel 2007-05-30 08:12 wsawyer

Submitted by wsawyer on Wednesday May 30 2007, @08:12AM
wsawyer writes "Fla. Man Invents Machine To Turn Water Into Fire. A Florida man may have accidentally invented a machine that could solve the gasoline and energy crisis plaguing the U.S. John Kanzius is a former broadcast executive from Pennsylvania who wondered if his background in physics and radio could come in handy in treating the disease from which he suffers: cancer. Kanzius, 63, invented a machine that emits radio waves in an attempt to kill cancerous cells while leaving normal cells intact. While testing his machine, he noticed that his invention had other unexpected abilities. Filling a test tube with salt water from a canal in his back yard, Kanzius placed the tube and a paper towel in the machine and turned it on. Suddenly, the paper towel ignited, lighting up the tube like it was a wax candle. "Pretty neat, huh?" Kanzius asked. Check out the story at http://www.wpbf.com/news/13383827/detail.html"
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 [+] submission, science, power
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  Google launches Street Level Views for Maps 2007-05-29 12:27 geekfactory

Submitted by geekfactory on Tuesday May 29 2007, @12:27PM
geekfactory writes "This morning at Where 2.0 in San Jose, Google announced Street Level maps utilizing a 360 degree view of local streets (so you can "fly from satellite to street level") using immersive 360 degree video from Immersive Media. I'm imagining getting directions, then stopping halfway through to zoom down and look at a 360 degree view of the street to find a restaurant, or a mall, or a gas station. Immersive Media has some cool demos of what they're doing for Google here: http://demos.immersivemedia.com/onlinecities/"
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 [+] submission, science, google
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  Volkswagon develops car that gets 282 MPG 2007-05-29 11:45 maddmike

Submitted by maddmike on Tuesday May 29 2007, @11:45AM
maddmike writes "Engineers at Volkswagen have developed a car that can get only use 1 litre/100km or 282mpg. The new car has Cameras and LCD screens instead of mirrors to reduce drag, a magnesium frame and a carbon fiber body. So why can't US car makers build cars that can get 50 mpg?"
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 [+] submission, science, media
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  Scientists create new form of matter 2007-05-19 02:28 amigoro

Submitted by amigoro on Saturday May 19 2007, @02:28AM
amigoro writes "Physicists at the University of Pittsburgh have created a new form of matter that melds the characteristics of lasers with those of superconductors, according research published on Science. The new state is a solid filled with a collection of energy particles known as polaritons that have been trapped and slowed. Using specially designed optical structures with nanometer-thick layers — which allow polaritons to move freely inside the solid the researchers captured the polaritons in the form of a superfluid. In the new state of matter demonstrated at Pitt — which can be called a polariton superfluid — the wave behavior leads to a pure light beam similar to that from a laser but is much more energy efficient.

Unlike traditional superfluids and superconductors that require extremely low temperatures, the polariton superfluid is more stable at higher temperatures, and may be capable of being demonstrated at room temperature in the near future. Applied to technology, this technique could provide new ways of controlled transfer of optical signals through solid matter."
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 [+] submission, science, announcement
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  Biodiesel from wood = $1.50/gallon fuel? 2007-05-19 01:29 Anonymous Coward

Submitted by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 19 2007, @01:29AM
An anonymous reader writes "Researchers from the University of Georgia claim to have found a way to generate biofuel from low-quality biomass such as wood pellets that is much easier and cheaper to produce than corn-based bio-fuel. What makes this development interesting is that it apparently is the first time that oils extracted from wood (or grasses) have enough density to be used for conventional engines. According to this TG Daily article, low-quality biomass could cover 30% of the fuel demand in the U.S. and could be sold for less than $1.50 per gallon. It's not quite market ready yet, but it is good to see that there is progress in the search of alternative and renewable energy sources."
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 [+] submission, science, announcement
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  The Benefits of Herpes 2007-05-17 13:17 anthemaniac

Submitted by anthemaniac on Thursday May 17 2007, @01:17PM
anthemaniac writes "Rarely if ever seen in a good light, herpes does have its advantages, at least in mice. The virus can protect against the bubonic plague and other bacterial contagions. Says immunologist Skip Virgin at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis: "There may be symbiotic advantages to chronic infections with these viruses." More research is needed to see if the effect holds in humans. Yes, you should wait for that research before changing your habits."
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 [+] submission, science, quickies
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  Hydrogen Economy Part Deux 2007-05-17 10:24 sycodon

Submitted by sycodon on Thursday May 17 2007, @10:24AM
sycodon writes "In the latest on the "It Will Never Work" Hydrogen front, Purdue has discover a process whereby "Water added to aluminum mixed with Gallium can produce hydrogen on demand. As a catalyst, the Gallium is not consumed. The oxidized aluminum can be recycled. The process is close to being cost competitive with petrol." Read about it here: http://pesn.com/2007/05/17/9500471_Hydrogen_via_Al uminum_Gallium/"
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 [+] submission, science, enlightenment
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  Unprecedented Region of Antarctica Melted in 2005 2007-05-17 09:05 eldavojohn

Submitted by eldavojohn on Thursday May 17 2007, @09:05AM
eldavojohn writes "There's a lot of news surrounding a recent study that has determined in 2005 a large piece of Antarctica (the size of California) melted. According to satellite data, these melts took place further inland than expected. Thankfully, however, "The warm spell did not last long enough for the meltwater to flow into the ocean.""
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 [+] submission, science, education
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