Goatz - Slashdot User

iTunes Account Required for iPhone Users->

Submitted by boxer2600 on Wednesday June 13 2007, @12:28AM

boxer2600 writes "According to an email sent by Apple to consumers interested in the iPhone, the iPhone will require the user to have an iTunes account. What does this mean for users of "alternative OSes" (i.e. Linux)? To what extent is iTunes needed to "set up" the iPhone?"
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New Scientist Retracts "Puddles on Mars" s->

Submitted by

Geoffrey.landis

on Tuesday June 12 2007, @11:26PM

Geoffrey.landis writes "New Scientist magazine retracted a story stating that scientists analyzing MER rover images found evidence of "puddles" of standing water at the Opportunity rover site in Meridiani crater on Mars.

The researchers quoted by the magazine were apparently unfamiliar with MER rover images, and were unaware that the "puddles" they reported were sloped at an angle of nearly 30 degrees. New Scientist had not gotten comments on the story from scientists on the MER mission before publishing because calls from the reporter "were not immediately returned" over the weekend.

New Scientist reports: "In the end, it was savvy readers who first pointed the error out to us over the weekend, sending in panoramic images pinpointing the location of the purported puddles. Though it seemed clear from those images that the terrain was sloped, I found it hard to believe that the researchers themselves could have missed such an obvious — and crucial — detail. But apparently they had, analysing just the smaller images without understanding the larger context of their surroundings — missing the forest for the trees. "I want to retract the claim in the paper that the smooth area we discussed was "standing liquid water"', Levin acknowledged on Tuesday." Earlier Slashdot story"
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IBM Visualization Tool Shows Earmark Disparity->

Submitted by

Gabriela Schneider

on Tuesday June 12 2007, @05:10PM

Gabriela Schneider writes "Find out how much money Congress gave to big companies via earmarks using the Sunlight Foundation's new Many Eyes data visualization tools. The seven companies that landed more then $100 million in earmarks are some of the biggest players in Washington — the sort of firms that spend millions each year lobbying on everything from taxes and trade policy to health care to appropriations issues.

The visualizations show how Congress awarded earmarks in 2005 by agency, state and organization. Sunlight is also offering its standardized data for download, a searchable database and an analysis of the current state of earmark reform (which hasn't exactly been working in practice.)"
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Mutant Chernobyl fungi consume radiation

Submitted by

dmitriy

on Tuesday June 12 2007, @03:37PM

dmitriy writes "Sounds like a joke, but it is not. There is an article on PLoS ONE describing microorganisms metabolizing radiation using melanin."