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+ - Photorealism on an iPad

Submitted by Rambo Tribble
Rambo Tribble writes "For some artists, overcoming the limitations of technology is an art form in itself. Consider Kyle Lambert's lifelike images, purportedly created on an iPad, as detailed on Gizmodo."

Comment: Creativity ... (Score 2) 416

by Rambo Tribble (#45594433) Attached to: The Desktop Is Dead, Long Live the Desktop!
... cannot and will not be confined to a 7-inch screen. Nor can the range of artistic inputs be entirely duplicated by a touch screen. In time holographic displays and other technologies will displace some of the current hardware requirements to run, say, multiple displays, but we aren't there yet.

+ - Plastic Waste Threatens Marine Diversity->

Submitted by Rambo Tribble
Rambo Tribble writes "An article in Current Biology (abstract) details the finding that minute particles of plastic waste are affecting marine worms, potentially having grave impacts on marine biodiversity and leading to the accumulation of toxins in marine animals. Unfortunately, policymakers have routinely treated such wastes as benign. The BBC provides more approachable coverage of the findings."
Link to Original Source

+ - The Brains of Men and Women "Wired Differently"->

Submitted by Rambo Tribble
Rambo Tribble writes "Research out of the University of Philadelphia concludes there are major differences in the neural pathways in the brains of men and women. Men, they say, are wired more front-to-back, women more side-to-side. They propose this may explain why women have been found to be better multitaskers. Of course, this may also have ramifications for what skill and career proclivities each sex exhibits."
Link to Original Source

+ - Urban German Herbin'->

Submitted by Rambo Tribble
Rambo Tribble writes "The long-running struggles of Western society to reconcile official pogroms against recreational drug use with the popular and wide-spread practice of such pursuits, has turned a new page in Berlin. There, the city council has voted to legalize opening a cannabis cafe, apparently justified by a somewhat tortured interpretation of German law."
Link to Original Source

+ - U. S. Military Settles for Software Piracy->

Submitted by Rambo Tribble
Rambo Tribble writes "The BBC reports that the U. S. government has agreed to pay software maker Apptricity $50 million to settle claims that the U. S. Army pirated thousands of copies of the firm's provisioning software. The report indicates 500 licensed copies were sold, but it came to light an army official had mentioned that "thousands" of devices were running the software."
Link to Original Source

+ - Online Shopping: Hazardous to Junk Food's Health->

Submitted by Rambo Tribble
Rambo Tribble writes "Reuters is reporting that the trend toward online shopping is reducing the sales of impulse-purchase items, most notably candy and snacks often displayed at the checkout counter. As even grocery shopping shifts online, junk food producers are feeling the squeeze."
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+ - From Images, Common Sense->

Submitted by Rambo Tribble
Rambo Tribble writes "The BBC is reporting on an effort at Carnegie Mellon University to teach a computer common sense through image analysis. The Never Ending Image Learner (NEIL) is using two clusters of computers that include 200 processing cores to analyze millions of images and form thousands of associations. The pearls of wisdom derived include such as: "Airbus_330" can be a kind of / look similar to "airplane", or "Leaning_tower" can be found in "Pisa". Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Department of Defense is funding the effort."
Link to Original Source

+ - Lethal Injection: Compounding the Problem-> 1

Submitted by Rambo Tribble
Rambo Tribble writes "The Economist reports on the increasingly difficult time states are having obtaining drugs to implement lethal-injection executions. Many of the larger pharmaceutical houses will not or cannot provide the requisite drugs when destined for that purpose. As an alternative, the states are turning to compounding pharmacies. A shadowy marketplace is evolving, with attempts being made to hide the drugs' origins. Of course, lawsuits and legal maneuvers are flying thick and fast."
Link to Original Source

+ - Amazon: A Crazy Place to Work->

Submitted by Rambo Tribble
Rambo Tribble writes "The BBC is reporting that an investigation into a UK-based Amazon facility has uncovered conditions that experts believe foster mental illness. At the root of the problem seems to be unreasonable performance expectations combined with a fundamentally dehumanizing environment."
Link to Original Source

Comment: I call them "neo-feudalists" ... (Score 4, Insightful) 730

by Rambo Tribble (#45514807) Attached to: Geeks For Monarchy: The Rise of the Neoreactionaries

... and they have been with us since before the U. S. Constitution was signed. They had a defining influence on that document, leading to a significant disconnect between it and the principles found in the Declaration of Independence.

It was these individuals who invited the King of Prussia to reign over the new United States and it was they who opposed the Bill of Rights. Bear in mind that no small number of the wealthy who came to American shores did so to establish themselves as the new plutocratic aristocracy. Often, they had in their pockets grants of land and privileges from the crown.

It is simply a symptom of the times that they are coming out of the closet now, though their influence has always been with us. Take for instance, Leo Strauss' embrace of the Platonic "noble lie", which was a touchstone for legitimizing nobility's grip on power long before there was a United States of America.

+ - Intel Opens Doors to Rivals, Maybe->

Submitted by Rambo Tribble
Rambo Tribble writes "In what appears to be a major reversal of policy, Intel's new president, Renee James, has indicated that Intel will be open to manufacturing chips based on rivals' designs. While the language is a bit tentative, this appears to open an opportunity for such as ARM to benefit from Intel's manufacturing expertise and technology."
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"Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra and then suddenly it flips over, pinning you underneath. At night, the ice weasels come." --Matt Groening

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