Slashdot

An anonymous reader writes "Gizmodo has a fascinating report and video tour inside the Lego factory, which is full of robots and controlled by a mainframe. 'This video shows something that very few people have had the opportunity to witness: the inside of the Lego factory, with no barriers or secrets. I filmed every step in the creation of the brick. From the raw granulate stored in massive silos to the molding machines to the gigantic storage cathedrals to the decoration and packaging warehouses, you will be able to see absolutely everything, including the most guarded secret of the company: the brick molds themselves.'"

donstenk72 writes "Firefox cannot be stopped: close to 25% of the Europeans use the open source browser, according to the Xiti monitor.

http://www.xitimonitor.com/en-us/browsers-baromete r/firefox-march-2007/index-1-2-3-77.html.

In Slovenia usage tops 40% whilst France, Germany and Finland show a percentage that is much higher than the world average.

Not really a surprise, many Europeans are open to alternatives, particularly when they work well!"

andrew cooke writes "Java 6 was recently released, but many programmers are still exploring the features introduced in Java 5 — probably the most significant changes in the language's twelve year history. Amongst those changes (enumerations, auto-boxing, foreach, varargs) generics was the most far-reaching, introducing generic programming in a simpler, safer way than C++ templates and, unlike generics in C#, maintaining backwards (and forwards) compatibility with existing Java code." Read on for the rest of Andrew's review.

PARENA writes "French researcher Xiti claims that Mozilla Firefox keeps winning terrain in Europe. Almost 25% of internet users in Europe uses Firefox. Slovenia (44.5%), Finland (41.3%), Croatia (36.5%) and Germany (36.2%) lead the way, followed by a group of mostly Eastern European countries. Remarkably, The Netherlands is only at 13.3%, right before Andorra. The rest of the world (except Oceania) is behind Europe, with 11.9% to 15.1%."

MarsGov writes "A group of automotive engineers recently tore down a Toyota Prius to dissect the design techniques and choices that went into the vehicle. The results are becoming available at AutomotiveDesignLine and at TechOnline's Under The Hood — search for "Prius" at both of these links — and will be also published as a paper supplement to the May 14th issue of EE Times. There's even a video."

ConcernedStudent writes "A violent gunman has apparently unleashed a deadly massacre on the famed science and tech campus, Virginia Polytechnic University (better known as Virginia Tech). The first reports of gunshots were received by police around 7:15 A.M. but shooting continued across the campus for hours longer. Over 25 people are now confirmed dead with many more injured. The shooter appears to have either killed himself or to have been killed by responding police officers. The New York Times has posted front page coverage, and the local Roanoke Times has been providing blog-style coverage, updated regularly. NYT Link — http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/16/us/16cnd-shootin g.html?hp Roanoke Times Link — http://www.roanoke.com/news/nrv/breaking/wb/113294 "

Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology have created a working prototype nanogenerator capable of generating as much as 4 watts per cubic centimeter of continuous direct current. The generators are green (to use), drawing power from natural motion in the surrounding environment. They are based on non-toxic chemicals and should be safe for use in biomechanical implants, but that's not their only potential use. From the article: "If you had a device like this in your shoes when you walked, you would be able to generate your own small current to power small electronics," Wang noted. "Anything that makes the nanowires move within the generator can be used for generating power. Very little force is required to move them."

gadgetopia writes "Wish you could restore the classic menus you're used to from earlier versions of Office with Office 2007? Microsoft didn't give us this functionality, but a third party software manufacturer has! http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/11259/532/"

kimberlyholmes113 writes "There's an interesting analysis of the EMI shift to DRM-free music, posted on Media 3.0. It's written by Shelly Palmer (a composer and media analyst), so it offers a somewhat unique perspective. He doesn't think DRM-free will give the industry any boost, since DRM-free already exists (via CD and file-sharing). What the industry needs, according to Palmer, is to find a new business model that embraces current (and future) user activity. This includes a new, easy-to-use licensing system that will allow users to pay a small licensing fee for using music in user-generated videos. The industry needs an iTunes for licensing: DRM-Free iTunes — Did We Miss the Memo?"

audiophile writes "Just because it's a PC doesn't mean it can't output good-sounding audio. In the same vein as specialty A/V products, you can find PC-based A/V systems with extensive audio processing and step-up performance specifications, including Signal-to-Noise ratio, which can make a significant difference when using the analog outputs. Media center manufacturer Niveus shares tips for getting high-quality audio from a PC."

According to the NY Times, guidelines for blogging are being drawn up by Tim O'Reilly and Jimmy Wales (of Wikipedia fame). On the list are getting rid of anonymous blogs, citing sources for gossip blogging and removing libelous comments. During the Miss America '07 pageant, my wife frequented different pageant blogs where almost 100% of the comments were posted anonymously and were highly crude/libelous as well. Are websites that follow O'Reilly and Wales' guidelines improving the internet or participating in censorship?

George Monbiot has posted his latest Guardian article on the censorship of the scientific consensus on Global Warming to his blog at www.monbiot.com. From the article: " The report released on Friday, for example, was shorn of the warning that 'North America is expected to experience locally severe economic damage, plus substantial ecosystem, social and cultural disruption from climate change related events'. This is the opposite of the story endlessly repeated in the right-wing press: that the IPCC, in collusion with governments, is conspiring to exaggerate the science. No one explains why governments should seek to amplify their own failures. In the wacky world of the climate conspiracists, no explanations are required. The world's most conservative scientific body has somehow been transformed into a cabal of screaming demagogues."

NASA scientists believe they have found a way to predict the color of plants on planets in other solar systems. Green, yellow or even red-dominant plants may live on extra-solar planets, according to scientists whose two scientific papers appear in the March issue of the journal, Astrobiology.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070411091753.htm

brunascle writes "A new theoretical design using nanowires could provide a way to cloak visible light. Advancing on last year's microwave-cloaking breakthrough, the new design is theoretically able to work in the upper end of the visible spectrum, at a wavelength of 632.8 nanometers — visible red light. The researches behind it are calling it the first practical design of its kind to work in the visible spectrum. At around 400 to 700nm, visible light has a much shorter wavelength than microwave, 1mm to 30cm. Because of this, using this technology in the visible spectrum requires components just 40 nanometers in size. The group is now working on an actual device using the theoretical design."

Researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology have created a working prototype nanogenerator capable of generating as much as 4 watts per cubic centimeter of continuous direct current. The generators are green (to use), drawing power from natural motion in the surrounding environment. They are based on non-toxic chemicals and should be safe for use in biomechanical implants, but that's not their only potential use. From the article:

"If you had a device like this in your shoes when you walked, you would be able to generate your own small current to power small electronics," Wang noted. "Anything that makes the nanowires move within the generator can be used for generating power. Very little force is required to move them."