Comment: Re:Better not ask them... (Score 1) 67
That's not how they're made. See, you start with a blow-up doll...
Comment: We may have NO choice (Score 1) 67
If other countries start creating "tiger kids" en mass, then the USA may be forced to accept the idea in order to economically compete.
Resistance is fu......oh sh8t!
New Facebook Phone App Lets You Stalk Your Friends 53
Posted
by
samzenpus
from the I-won't-be-ignored dept.
from the I-won't-be-ignored dept.
Hugh Pickens DOT Com (2995471) writes "Iain Thomson reports that Facebook is adding a new application called 'Nearby Friends' that alerts smartphone users when their friends are nearby. 'If you turn on Nearby Friends, you'll occasionally be notified when friends are nearby, so you can get in touch with them and meet up,' says Facebook in a statement. 'For example, when you're headed to the movies, Nearby Friends will let you know if friends are nearby so you can see the movie together or meet up afterward.' The feature, which is opt-in, allows users to select which friends get a warning that you are in the area, and prepare a subset of people who might like to know when you're near, if they have the Nearby Friends activated as well. According to Josh Constine what makes 'Nearby Friends' different than competitors and could give it an advantage is that it's centered around broadcasting proximity, not location. 'If someone's close, you'll know, and can ping them about their precise location and meeting up. Broadcasting location is creepy so we're less likely to share it, and can cause awkward drop-ins where someone tries to come see you when you didn't want them to.'"
Lying Eyes: Cyborg Glasses Simulate Eye Expressions 54
Posted
by
samzenpus
from the all-the-better-to-see-you-with dept.
from the all-the-better-to-see-you-with dept.
Rambo Tribble (1273454) writes "A researcher in Japan has taken what is, perhaps, the next step after Google Glass: Glasses which produce animated images of the user's eyes to simulate emotional responses. They are intended to aid workers in emotionally-intensive environments. As the researcher explains, '... they allowed others to feel they were "cared" about ...'"
Plant Breeders Release 'Open Source Seeds' 111
Posted
by
samzenpus
from the people's-meadow dept.
from the people's-meadow dept.
mr crypto (229724) writes "A group of scientists and food activists are launching a campaign to change the rules that govern seeds. They're releasing 29 new varieties of crops under a new 'open source pledge' that's intended to safeguard the ability of farmers, gardeners and plant breeders to share those seeds freely."
Comment: Re:Oracle burning bridges (Score 1) 150
You mean the org resembles its leader?
Comment: Re:ALL the exchanges failed (Score 1) 150
was that the rollout was rushed for political reasons. If it were slowed down then the republicans might have had more success killing it before implementation.
That might be "political" reasons, but it's also practical reasons. If you want to get certain things done, you have to race against competition trying to kill it.
For about 100 years various presidents and lawmaking groups have tried to enact a medical insurance program of some sort, only to see it smashed down. With that kind of record you know you have to move quickly and take some risk to slip through the narrow cracks of opportunity that present themselves.
Like it or hate it, ACA is a monumental political endeavor with equally monumental forces pushing against it. The horse has to be big and ride fast to get something like this through, and that probably means inadvertently stepping on and squashing stuff along the way.
When Biden was caught on mike saying, "This is a big fucking deal!", it was no exaggeration.
Comment: Re:It's Not Really Oracle (Score 2) 150
It's that people think they can drop Oracle on top of a crappy design and that will somehow magically fix it.
That's probably what the sales-person told them.
"Just drop your leaky little app into our Oratron Fix-O-Matic 5000 and out will pop perfect shiny reports and data! You have my trustworthy word!"
However, seems they forgot to get it in writing.
Comment: Oracle burning bridges (Score 1) 150
Oracle should accept some losses and quietly make an amiable-as-possible exit. Why air dirty laundry about clients? Even if the State is partly to blame, being a loud asshole makes you less likely to get future gov't contracts.
Criminals Using Drones To Find Cannabis Farms and Steal Crops 228
Posted
by
samzenpus
from the red-eye-in-the-sky dept.
from the red-eye-in-the-sky dept.
schwit1 (797399) writes "There has been a huge surge in the number of hidden cannabis farms across Halesowen, Cradley Heath and Oldbury, towns on the outskirts of rural Shropshire some seven miles from central Birmingham. They require hydroponic lights for the marijuana plants to grow – and the huge amounts of excess heat given off make them easily spottable for a would-be criminal with a drone carrying infrared cameras. One such man says that after finding a property with a cannabis farm he and his crew either burgle or 'tax' the victim."
Oracle Deflects Blame For Troubled Oregon Health Care Site 150
Posted
by
samzenpus
from the who's-to-blame dept.
from the who's-to-blame dept.
itwbennett (1594911) writes "Oracle is gearing up for a fight with officials in Oregon over its role developing an expensive health insurance exchange website that still isn't fully operational. In a letter obtained by the Oregonian newspaper this week, Oracle co-president Safra Catz said that Oregon officials have provided the public with a 'false narrative' concerning who is to blame for Cover Oregon's woes. In the letter, Catz pointed out that Oregon's decision to act as their own systems integrator on the project, using Oracle consultants on a time-and-materials basis, was 'criticized frequently by many'. And as far as Oracle is concerned, 'Cover Oregon lacked the skills, knowledge or ability to be successful as the systems integrator on an undertaking of this scope and complexity,' she added."
Comment: Re:Not Evolution (Score 2) 89
This is the theory of abiogenesis, not evolution. Evolution is how life changes, not how it got started.
But life probably cannot start until evolution helps it along. Something that was half-alive probably had to be shaped further by evolution to become true life.
For example, an early molecule that was perhaps either too poor a replicator (sloppy & broken) or too accurate a replicator (exact clones) would have reached a dead end if evolution didn't start pruning the copies to find the Goldilocks range of imperfection level (mutation) in the replication process necessary for continuing life.
Comment: Where have I seen this design before? (Score 1) 200
Assume a large spherical radioactive cow...
NASA Proposes "Water World" Theory For Origin of Life 89
Posted
by
samzenpus
from the from-the-water dept.
from the from-the-water dept.
William Robinson (875390) writes "A new study from researchers at Nasa's Jet Propulsion Laboratory has proposed the "water world" theory as the answer to our evolution, which describes how electrical energy naturally produced at the sea floor might have given rise to life. While the scientists had already proposed this hypothesis called 'submarine alkaline hydrothermal emergence of life' the new report assembles decades of field, laboratory and theoretical research into a grand, unified picture."
In a Cloning First, Scientists Create Stem Cells From Adults 42
Posted
by
samzenpus
from the use-your-cells dept.
from the use-your-cells dept.
Trax3001BBS (2368736) writes in with news about a breakthrough in creating stem cells perfectly matched to a person's DNA. "...Lanza's group used caffeine to prevent the fused egg from dividing prematurely. Rather than leaving the egg with its newly introduced DNA for 30 minutes before activating the dividing stage, they let the eggs rest for about two hours. This gave the DNA enough time to acclimate to its new environment and interact with the egg's development factors, which erased each of the donor cell's existing history and reprogrammed it to act like a brand new cell in an embryo.'"