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Japan

Geminoid-F android gets first job as a dept. store-> 1

Submitted by
dk3nn3dy
dk3nn3dy writes "If you get a chance to go to the Takashimaya department store in Shinjuku, Tokyo, by Valentines Day, you will be able to see the Geminoid-F android casually sitting in a show window, looking as if it's waiting for a friend. This is the first time that the Geminoid-F has been used in a commercial setting.
This android was developed by Professor Ishiguro of Osaka University. He previously created the Android Theater, where androids and human actors perform together. Now, by using androids in show windows, he's studying how people react to them, and whether using them in this way is practical. Is this desirable, inevitable or both?"
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Robotics

The Ultra-Realistic Dental Training Robot->

Submitted by
dk3nn3dy
dk3nn3dy writes "Showa University has teamed up with robot maker Tmsuk and love doll maker Orient Industry (NSFW), to create an ultra-realistic dental training robot. The robot has a variety of autonomous actions, such as coughing, shaking its head, and getting tired of holding its mouth open, to create a realistic experience for dentists in training. The robot also features speech recognition, movement in ten degrees of freedom and a realistic silicone skin to make students experience "the same kind of tension they'd feel (if they were working on) a human patient"."
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Television

Sharp display world's first Ultra HD LCD Display->

Submitted by
dk3nn3dy
dk3nn3dy writes "On the 15th of May, Sharp, in collaboration with NHK, unveiled the world's first Ultra High Definition-capable LCD display.

This 85" LCD display has a resolution of 7,680 x 4,320 pixels, which is equivalent to 16 times the resolution of HDTV. In the past the only way to show the Ultra High Definition broadcast at full resolution was using a projector, but due to Sharp's UV^2A LCD technology, which allows for an unprecedented level of precision when controlling the alignment of liquid crystal molecules in an LCD structure, Sharp have been able to create a flawless 33 Megapixel display."
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Microsoft

Microsoft Close to Acquiring Skype, Says WSJ->

Submitted by terrymaster69
terrymaster69 writes "The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Microsoft is close to completing a nearly $8 billion acquisition of Skype. This would make it Microsoft's largest acquisition in its 36-year history. Will this spell the end of development for the Linux client? Perhaps a better question is what will Microsoft *do* with Skype? It seems a better fit for them than it was for eBay, but not by much."
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Comment: Special launch offer expires in Date() + 3 days (Score 3, Interesting) 294

by dk3nn3dy (#35287406) Attached to: Trying To Lure Suckers, Company Resells Open Source Blender

This part is awesome:

Your Dinky One-Time Investment Is Only $47!
(This is a special launch offer only, we're only opening this for the next 3 days only before the offer closes forever!)
Thats right. Your investment for the entire course is only $47 (this launch offer will closed anytime after February 26, 2011 )

Where February 26, 2011 is:
days = 3; // How many days to add to today
  d = new Date();
now = d.getTime(); // Add 10 days
d.setTime(now + days * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000);
document.getElementById("offerEnd1").innerHTML = formatDate(d);
function formatDate(d) {
var months = new Array("January", "February", "March", "April", "May", "June", "July", "August", "September", "October", "November", "December");
return months[d.getMonth()] + " " + d.getDate() + ", " + d.getFullYear();;

The Sahara Solar Breeder Project->

Submitted by dk3nn3dy
dk3nn3dy writes "The Sahara Solar Breeder Project, currently being developed by scientists from leading universities in Japan, will use the world's biggest desert, the Sahara, as an energy source.

This project differs from other solar energy harvesting projects in the past in three main respects; the 'breeder' process uses silica from the desert and electricity generated from solar cells to create more solar cells; it requires the development of high-temperature superconductors to aid the transfer of the electricity; and, "...rather than just bringing well-understood technology from developed countries to developing ones and teaching people how to use it, it's important to do R&D together, right from the start... our aim is to work together from the basic research stage, so we can discover and nurture talented scientists and engineers in Africa."

The project which is currently at the basic research stage, has the goal of providing 50% of the energy used by humanity in 2050 as electrical energy converted from sunlight."
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New Startup Analyzes 100,000 Web Pages With a Snap->

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes "Machine processing of large quantities of unstructured text, to discover media mentions, relationships between entities and sentiment analysis need not be priced out of the range of the everyday web lover or small business."
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Capacitive touchscreen usable with a stylus->

Submitted by dk3nn3dy
dk3nn3dy writes "Hitachi Displays have developed a capacitive touchscreen which converts input from a non-conductive object into electrostatic capacitance. This enables it to be used in a diverse range of ways, such as multi-touch using several fingers, with a plastic pen for finer input, and in cold places while wearing gloves. The display is currently under development for release in the second half of 2011."
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There is nothing more silly than a silly laugh. -- Gaius Valerius Catullus