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Sci-Fi

Submission + - Robert Anton Wilson has passed away

Submitted by
romkey
romkey writes: "Robert Anton Wilson died at 4:50AM Pacific time on 01/11/07. Wilson was the co-author of Illuminatus!, the author of The Schrodinger's Cat trilogy, the Historical Illuminatus Chronicles, the Cosmic Trigger Series, Wilhelm Reich in Hell, and many other books. An appeal for help to support him in his last days appeared on Slashdot back in October and over $80,000 was raised. His passing was reported on his blog, RAW Data."
Google

Journal Journal: Is Google Falsely Flagging Harmless Sites?

Journal by dare567k
Some Web site operators are complaining that Google is flagging their sites as containing malicious software when they believe their sites are harmless. At issue is an interstitial page that Google presents when a user clicks on a search result link to a site that Google believes contains malware. The page cautions users with the words "Warning - visiting this web site may harm your computer!" Google does not block access to the site, but a user must manually type in the Web site address to con
The Internet

Submission + - Mozilla: Apple's Safari could come to Windows

Submitted by mrbigsocks
mrbigsocks writes: Will Apple release a version of its Safari browser for Windows? The Mozilla Foundation seems to believe such a move is a distinct possibility. Buried in the wiki information the Mozilla Foundation posted this week about its future plans for Firefox is a statement under the "Observations & Assumptions" section that reads: "Apple may have Safari on Windows with likely ties to iTunes & .Mac"
Television

Submission + - Senator to FCC: no broadcast flag for you!

Submitted by Flag waver
Flag waver writes: Senator John Sununu (R-NH) will introduce legislation that will prevent the FCC from creating technology mandates for the consumer electronics industry. As a result, the FCC would be hamstrung in its efforts to revive the broadcast flag. '"The FCC seems to be under the belief that it should occasionally impose technology mandates," Sununu said in a statement. "These misguided requirements distort the marketplace by forcing industry to adopt agency-blessed solutions rather than allow innovative and competitive approaches to develop."' Sen. Sununu previously tried without success to remove the broadcast flag provisions from the massive telecommunications bill that died before reaching the Senate floor during the last Congress.
Wireless Networking

Submission + - Is it dangerous to share my 802.11b/g?

Submitted by
oiarbovnb
oiarbovnb writes: "I recently moved into a new house and it took me a while to get my internet connected. For the first couple of weeks, I connected to an unsecured network one of my neighbors provided (they changed the name of the network, so I think they knew what they were doing, but left it open anyway). Now that I have my own internet (cable-modem), what are the problems with sharing this? I already know that they can read any non-encrypted information, but they cannot view information that is sent via https. I also know that I should install a software firewall and have anti-virus going and all that jazz. I named my network "Free!!! Be Nice!" in the hopes that if my neighbors do use my network, they don't try to hose my system. Karma-security I guess you could call it..."
Bug

Submission + - Fox News Censorship

Submitted by
crhylove
crhylove writes: "I was watching Fox news between 7 and 7:30 this morning, and they were talking about the proposed new 20,000 troops being sent to Iraq. They asked a reporter what he thought, and it seemed like he was trying to say that 20,000 extra troops would not help at all. There was a brief bit of fuzz, he was suddenly gone, and the main talking head said "we're having some satellite trouble.." then a different Fox reporter came on talking about what a great idea 20,000 new troops would be. Did any body else see that this morning? I'm in California, and the channel I was watching was Fox channel 6 (San Diego). Anybody got it Tivo-ed? Was this some non-Fox person pirating them for 5 seconds? Was this one of their own reporters not following the company line and getting shut off? What the hell was that?"
Announcements

Submission + - Dracula's Castle for sale in Romania: price $77m

Submitted by galaad2
galaad2 writes: Want to own the real castle that was the source of all the vampire stories? Want to have your very own vampire castle? Here's your chance!

The Transylvanian castle of Vlad the Impaler, the inspiration for Bram Stoker's Count Dracula, is on sale for £40 million [timesonline.co.uk] (around 77 million dollars).

Bran Castle [telegraph.co.uk], near the historic city of Brasov, in central Romania, is one of the country's most popular tourist destinations because of its association with 15th-century Prince Vlad Tepes III, also known as the Impaler for his favoured method of executing opponents.

The local town council has preemption rights, they have 30 days to review the offer, and then the property will be put on the market.

Extra info: wikipedia article about Bran Castle
Television

Submission + - PBS asking viewers to choose new Science show

Submitted by chinmay7
chinmay7 writes: PBS has posted three different pilots for a new science show, that they want viewers to weigh in on and help choose one as a regular science show. All three pilots are viewable as vodcasts.
Wired Science aired on January 3rd. The pilot certainly is polished as expected from Wired Magazine, and deals with interesting topics: "Meet rocket-belt inventors, stem cell explorers and meteorite hunters."
Science Investigators (Air date: January 10) seems to be the most 'science' show: "The investigators examine 30,000-year-old Neanderthal DNA, vanishing frogs, mind-boggling baseball pitches and more."
22nd Century (Air date: January 17) is pretty gimmicky and loud (for my tastes, at least) but delivers interesting content — "In the coming decades will all our brains be wired together like networked computers?"

So watch and vote. Choose our new public TV science show.
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - MacTablet Announced

Submitted by goombah99
goombah99 writes: While it seems certain Apple will not be announcing a full sized tablet notebook today, a third party vendor has promised to reveal just that tommorrow. Based on a modified macbook embedded in an aluminum case, the device will accept pen-based input on the screen. It also boasts a built-in GPS suggesting it's target market might less for meeting notetakers and more for people like plant engineers or field scientists. Though I could see that geolocating by classroom might also be handing for finding the notes from a given lecture.
Software

TiVoToGo for Mac Announced 118

Posted by Hemos from the maybe-finally dept.
An anonymous reader writes "After much anticipation, some backpedaling, a bite of hope, and a delayed release date, TiVoToGo Mac Edition is here. While there have been some unofficial hacks, those solutions have not been ideal for everyone. With support for transferring shows and burning to DVD/iPod, TiVoToGo is bundled as a part of Roxio's Toast Titanium software that will be announced tomorrow at Macworld."
NASA

NASA May Have Killed The Martians 238

Posted by Zonk from the that's-a-big-oopsie dept.
Sneakernets writes "CNN reports that NASA may have found life on Mars via the Viking space probes in 1976-77, but failed to recognize it and killed it by accident. Dirk Schulze-Makuch, a geology professor at Washington State University, says that Mars microbes that the space probes had found were possibly drowned and baked by accident. Other experts said the new concept is plausible, but more work is needed before they are convinced. From the article: 'A new NASA Mars mission called Phoenix is set for launch this summer, and one of the scientists involved said he is eager to test the new theory about life on Mars. However, scientists must come up with a way to do that using the mission's existing scientific instruments, said NASA astrobiologist and Phoenix co-investigator Chris McKay.'"
Space

Submission + - Did NASA Accidentally Kill Martian Life?

Submitted by
no reason to be here
no reason to be here writes: "CNN.com is currently running an article about the possibility that Martian life does exist, but that it is so very different from what scientists on earth expect that the very experiments used to detect Martian life might have inadvertently destroyed that life. Dirk Schulze-Makuch, a geology professor at Washington State University, has hypothesized that life on Mars may have evolved to use a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water in the same way that earth-based life uses salt walter; such life forms could survive the Martian environment, but would have been drowned and burned by the tests performed by the Viking probes."
Space

Submission + - NASA May have inadvertently killed Martian life

Submitted by
Nezer
Nezer writes: "CNN is reporting that NASA may have killed, Martian microbes. From the article, "The Viking space probes of 1976-77 were looking for the wrong kind of life, so they didn't recognize it, a geology professor at Washington State University said." Could this be the beginnings of War of the Worlds?"

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