Comment All Hail Sosai X! (Score 1) 280
This reminds me of that episode of Gatchaman with the giant jellyfish lens monster that was created using polluted sea water.
Submission + - Students Take Pictures from Space on $150 Budget (ireport.com)
An anonymous reader writes: "Two MIT students have successfully photographed the earth from space on a strikingly low budget of $148. Perhaps more significantly, they managed to accomplish this feat using components available off-the-shelf to the average layperson, opening the doors for a new generation of amateur space enthusiasts. The pair plan to launch again soon and hope that their achievements will inspire teachers and students to pursue similar endeavors."
Journal Journal: Climate Warming Report
Decades were spent arguing the validity of Global Warming and billions of people face famine and drought as a result of little to no action on the matter. Is it to late to make a change now? What impact will this report by the IPCC Working Group II have on policy if any?
Feed H.P. Tries to Reinvent Its Masterpiece (nytimes.com)
The push is on at Hewlett-Packard to figure out a new way to get people to print more Web pages.
Feed Silicon Valley Moneymen Make a Play for Airwaves (nytimes.com)
An investment group is preparing to compete for the valuable radio spectrum that will be freed when broadcasters convert to digital signals.
Canadian University Students Taught To Protect IP 174
innocent_white_lamb writes "Graduate students at Carleton University (Ottawa) are taking steps to protect their intellectual property, at the same time are insuring that they are being properly recognized for their work. This is in response to the increased commercialization of research done at universities, and high-profile cases of copyright infringement by professors at the University of Toronto and Indiana University. 'The initiative will include workshops and a handbook outlining what would constitute an infraction of students' intellectual property rights, Howlett said. Examples include a student not receiving authorship on written work, or having a professor take credit for their work. "This isn't an indictment of profs at all," said Howlett. "It's just to ensure that students' rights are protected in the case that it does happen."'"
Dealing With Venom on the Web 326
theodp writes "In a world where nastiness online can erupt and go global overnight, BusinessWeek finds Corporate America woefully unprepared and offers suggestions for how to cope, including shelling out $10,000 to companies like ReputationDefender.com to promote the info you want and suppress the news you don't. And in what must be a sign of the Apocalypse, BW holds Slashdot's moderation system up as a model for maintaining civility in message boards."
Patti Santangelo v. RIAA May Be Over 138
newtley writes "Odds are that Patti Santangelo, the RIAA case defendant and New York mother who has made a determined stand against the Big 4, may have won her battle to clear her name. She and her lawyer, Jordan Glass, have signed and submitted a stipulation to dismiss with prejudice the case lodged against her by the RIAA. US federal district court judge Colleen McMahon's language had earlier seemed to indicate it was time to end the farce, and the court had the power to entertain a motion for legal fees. Unfortunately, her two children are still 'in the line of fire' in the court room."
Feed Boffins working on RFID super-shield (theregister.com)
Guarding the guards
A group of Dutch researchers at Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, led by PhD student Melanie Rieback, is building RFID Guardian, a personal RFID firewall to allow individuals to monitor and control access to RFID tags.
Google Faces Plagiarism Questions Over Chinese Software 187
yaohua2000 writes "Google's laboratory in China has launched its first product, a Pinyin Input Method Editor. The software allows the romanized characters to be translated to more traditional Chinese symbols , via entering on a QWERTY keyboard. Users soon discovered that the data Google used for the product was unusually similar to the data used by a Chinese rival, Sogou. Google has evaded the question about software similarities, reports PC World. 'The similarities, which included an error involving the name of a celebrity, were noted on a Google Labs discussion board about its Pinyin IME. Users noted that entering the Pinyin pinggong into the Google IME incorrectly produced the name of Feng Gong, an actor and comedian.'"
Feed Xbox 360 to get keyboard controller attachment (engadget.com)
Filed under: Gaming
That two year old rumor that the Xbox 360 was to get a qwerty keyboard attachment has been resurrected, with the appearance of another Gamespot article (leak?) referring to a 47 key keyboard which snaps onto the Xbox 360 controller and communicates through the headset jack. Gamespot says that the peripheral is to be used in conjunction with the cross-platform instant messaging capabilities to be added to the Spring dashboard update. Apparently it'll be available in the Summer for an as yet unnamed price. Bring on the tired thumbs.[Thanks, Jack W]
Update: Looks like Gamespot ganked the post. What could it mean?
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BOLD MOVES: THE FUTURE OF FORD A new documentary series. Be part of the transformation as it happens in real-time
Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!
Journal Journal: LedgerSMB 1.2 released, SQL-Ledger changes licenses
SQL-Ledger changed its license away from the GPL to a license that many of us feel meets neither the FSF's definition of Free Software nor the OSI's definition of Open Source. Perhaps the reason is that DWS is afraid of the competition.
Zero-60 in 3.1 Seconds, Batteries Included 230
FloatsomNJetsom writes "Popular Mechanics has a very cool video and report about test-driving Hybrid Technologies' L1X-75, a battery powered, 600-hp, carbon-fiber roadster that pulls zero-60 in about 3.1 seconds, and tops out at 175 mph. Of course, there are few creature comforts inside, but that's mainly because the car's 200 mile range is meant for the track, not the road. Nonetheless, Popular Mechanics takes the car for a spin up 10th Avenue in NYC. Oh, and the car recharges via a 110 outlet. They also test-drove Ford's HySeries Edge, a hydrogen fuel-cell powered, plug-in series hybrid that, unlike the L1X-75, is unfortunately at least 10 years away from production and nearly 100 mph slower."
The Real Reasons Phones Are Kept Off Planes 642
jcatcw writes "Mike Elgan argues that the the real reason that cell phones calls are not allowed is fear of crowd control problems if calls are allowed during flight. Also, the airlines like keeping passengers ignorant about ground conditions. The two public reasons, interference with other systems, could easily be tested, but neither the FAA nor the FCC manage to do such testing."
Comment Space Smells Like Burnt Cookies (Score 1) 67
One thing I found amusing about her blog. She describes space as smelling sorta like a "burnt almond cookie" or "cooking" after they docked with the ISS. I never knew that space "smelled" like anything. I wonder if there is a silly technobable answer as to why this is. Maybe this is just the little kid in me but that is so cool.
