Comment Why resist? Skynet loves us, what could possibly (Score 1) 410
go wrong?
Submission + - Boy of 15 fitted with robotic heart (geek.com)
An anonymous reader writes: What do you do when a 15-year-old boy is close to death and ineligible for a heart transplant? If you’re Dr Antonio Amodeo you turn to an artificial solution and transplant a robotic heart giving the boy another 20-25 years of life.
The Italian boy in question suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy which rapidly degenerates the muscles and eventually leads to death. Having such a disease renders the boy ineligible for a heart transplant meaning almost certain death without an alternative solution.
Dr Amodeo found such an alternative in the form of a 90 gram fully-robotic heart that took 10 hours to fit inside the boy’s left ventricle. It is a permanent solution offering as much as 25 years of life and is powered by a battery worn as a belt and connected to behind his left ear.
The Italian boy in question suffers from Duchenne muscular dystrophy which rapidly degenerates the muscles and eventually leads to death. Having such a disease renders the boy ineligible for a heart transplant meaning almost certain death without an alternative solution.
Dr Amodeo found such an alternative in the form of a 90 gram fully-robotic heart that took 10 hours to fit inside the boy’s left ventricle. It is a permanent solution offering as much as 25 years of life and is powered by a battery worn as a belt and connected to behind his left ear.
Submission + - Historic audio at risk, thanks to bad copyright la (arstechnica.com)
suraj.sun writes: Historic audio at risk, thanks to bad copyright laws
The Library of Congress has released a sobering new report ( http://www.clir.org/pubs/abstract/pub148abst.html ) on the state of digital audio preservation in the United States.
Older artifacts face the prospect of being lost to posterity because of our nation's copyright laws. So concludes The State of Recorded Sound Preservation in the United States: A National Legacy at Risk in the Digital Age (PDF; http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub148/pub148.pdf ).
The main problem is that for decades the intellectual property rights of most sound recordings were covered not by federal law, but by a complicated matrix of state statutes and judicial precedents. When Congress finally did extend federal authority over these works via its late twentieth century Copyright Acts, it put the annulment date for the earlier rules at 2067.
"Thus, a published US sound recording created in 1890 will not enter the public domain until 177 years after its creation," the study observes.
ARS Technica: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/10/report-copyright-laws-put-americas-sound-heritage-at-risk.ars
The Library of Congress has released a sobering new report ( http://www.clir.org/pubs/abstract/pub148abst.html ) on the state of digital audio preservation in the United States.
Older artifacts face the prospect of being lost to posterity because of our nation's copyright laws. So concludes The State of Recorded Sound Preservation in the United States: A National Legacy at Risk in the Digital Age (PDF; http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub148/pub148.pdf ).
The main problem is that for decades the intellectual property rights of most sound recordings were covered not by federal law, but by a complicated matrix of state statutes and judicial precedents. When Congress finally did extend federal authority over these works via its late twentieth century Copyright Acts, it put the annulment date for the earlier rules at 2067.
"Thus, a published US sound recording created in 1890 will not enter the public domain until 177 years after its creation," the study observes.
ARS Technica: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/10/report-copyright-laws-put-americas-sound-heritage-at-risk.ars
Submission + - With Android Apps Open Means Open, for Good or Bad (ostatic.com)
Thinkcloud writes: Ars Technica has made waves with a report on how some apps for the open source Android operating system have been identified as covertly sending GPS data to advertisers. Based on research from Duke University, Penn State University and Intel Labs, it notes that "a significant number" of Android apps transmit location data without informing users in any way. Granted, this is non-ideal, but it's also a by-product of a mobile ecosystem that is vastly more open than the one that Apple oversees. And openness remains a good thing.
Submission + - New CCTV site in UK pays people to watch
pyrosine writes: Have you ever felt like being paid for watching live CCTV footage?
The BBC are reporting CCTV site, "Internet Eyes" is doing exactly that. Offering up to £1000 to people who report suspicious activity, the scheme seems an easy way to make money.
Not everyone is pleased with the scheme though, the Information Commissioner's Office is worried it will lead to voyeurism or misuse, but what difference does it make when you can find said webcams with a simple google search?
The BBC are reporting CCTV site, "Internet Eyes" is doing exactly that. Offering up to £1000 to people who report suspicious activity, the scheme seems an easy way to make money.
Not everyone is pleased with the scheme though, the Information Commissioner's Office is worried it will lead to voyeurism or misuse, but what difference does it make when you can find said webcams with a simple google search?
Submission + - Who gets your Twitter account when you die? (badlanguage.net)
mstibbe writes: Death is inevitable but the law decides what happens to our goods when we go. The new question is: what happens to our virtual identity and our online assets? The law says nothing about our ‘digital legacy’. What can we do about it? Do you need a sort of digital will? Also, a link to a detailed legal analysis and summary of several companies' policies.
Comment mini gold reclaimer (Score 1) 482
I hope someone makes wall-mount mini gold refineries soon. You chuck in your old mobile phones, computer gear, company watch, stolen jewellery, teeth of your vanquished foes etc, into a nice mercury bath. Then the machine does a nice agitate cycle, boils the Hg off (or whatever, something about arsenic/cynanide) and spits out your reclaimed gold in handy billets. It would be, like, a bullion times cooler than Mobile Muster, where they ask you to just fork over your old tech booty for nought. The fumes from the mini-refineries would be pretty bad though....
Pop Nerd Quiz:how many gold mullions are in a billion bullions?
Comment All true (Score 1) 254
Your points are all sound. I concur that the 'no max yield' call is outrageous abuse of language and scientific charlatanism. Akin to "continous improvement".
Positive feed back loops that lead to bio-accumulation(sic) are still cool though. (like the pacific island mentioned that is now collecting water and sun and birdshite much faster that 20 years ago....)
Comment Movement and flashing lights (Score 1) 417
It sounds like you want to engage your kid with something universally appealling - colour and movement -
Any tuff tech would do... an old portable phone, a torch, an LED bike light. If you are really keen you could make a box with some on/off switches and some lights that go on and off.
Remember, this is mostly about you, and your child is responding you what you are giving attention to (your laptop) and if you give attention to other stuff they will follow that too.
Don't be embarrased to admit child raising is (partly) selfish activity.
Any tuff tech would do... an old portable phone, a torch, an LED bike light. If you are really keen you could make a box with some on/off switches and some lights that go on and off.
Remember, this is mostly about you, and your child is responding you what you are giving attention to (your laptop) and if you give attention to other stuff they will follow that too.
Don't be embarrased to admit child raising is (partly) selfish activity.
Comment Re:This is not new, it's called 'Permaculture' (Score 1) 254
I think (and am not claiming to be an expert) essentially the concept is that if you create positive localised ecological feedback loops that allow bio-accumulation from sun, animal action, and remove/harvest less than the rate of accumulation (as harvest or yield)) then the whole system can increase with no THEORETICAL limit. but of course there are practical limits like oxygen diffusion, heat penetration, soil slippage etc. also the theory assumes a small finite 'open' system that is not lossy.
eg, if you only eat from your garden, and all your compost, human waste, etc goes back to the garden and you encourage material to accumulate in a way that does not cost you more energy than it is 'worth', your garden yield will get better and better.
Comment This is not new, it's called 'Permaculture' (Score 2, Interesting) 254
And the first recorded modern practice of permaculture as a systematic method was by Austrian farmer Sepp Holzer in the 1960s.
PermacultureEssentially one designs systems that run using existing natural ecologies using paths of least resistance and capturing energy/matter.
Interestingly enough natural agriculture systems designed using these principle have no theoretical maximum yield.
PermacultureEssentially one designs systems that run using existing natural ecologies using paths of least resistance and capturing energy/matter.
Interestingly enough natural agriculture systems designed using these principle have no theoretical maximum yield.
Comment I guess someone needs to update Wikipedia... (Score 1) 324
The list, by cause does not mention virus, trojan, hacking or any thing similar as a cause for an airline crash, although it reads like a contributing factor in the article, rather than a primary cause.
(Damn pilot error.... how long till the AI's can fly planes? oh wait, they can).
Comment Awesome, Google Window View in 5,4,3....... (Score 4, Interesting) 81
This is cool, I love that the science fiction future is so present in our world right now, and the power of 'it is possible, so we did it this way' I am quite amused by the quote" You don’t have to join too many dots for potential misuse." and I look forward to outrageous innovative uses by paparazzi, peeping toms, pervs, police, pyromaniacs, pilferers, pidgeon racers......
Comment Cephalapod fetish hacker scooped in police dragnet (Score 4, Funny) 105
Everything was going swimmingly until he got hooked, line and sinker by the police who smelt something fishy. I wonder if he was acting on behalf of Sid The Squida thieving octopus who was released early last year from NZ.
Submission + - poll-based party in Oz senate, policy is polling (senatoronline.org.au)
qwerty8ytrewq writes: Australian political party Senator On Line claims to have no policies, but to put every senate bill in the hands of the people through online polling. I am very amused to note that there is nowhere on the site that people can vote for them to continue activities or disband. Is this hypocritical?
