StressGuy - Slashdot User

Submission + - Modular robot adept at wriggling

Submitted by

MattSparkes

on Friday February 23, 2007 @07:33AM

MattSparkes writes: "A modular robot that transforms itself into different shapes in order to walk, crawl and clamber up inclines has been demonstrated in the US. Each "Superbot" module is effectively a robot in its own right. The modules can move independently, flip over and rotate like wheels, and have 3D accelerometers that let them know their precise orientation. The six sides of each module can dock with any other module. Once connected, the modules can communicate, coordinate shape changes and even transmit power."

Submission + - Interviewed by a genuine PHB

Submitted by

Golygydd Max

on Friday February 23, 2007 @05:43AM

Golygydd Max writes: "There are times when we wonder whether Dilbert's pointy-haired boss is perhaps a little too far-fetched. And then we read something like this. Although this tale of a techie's attempt to fathom the mind of a boss, who has read one management article too many, is from the UK, I suspect that it strikes a chord with interviewees everywhere."

Submission + - TopGear turns 3 wheeled car into a space shuttle

Submitted by

ahaveland

on Friday February 23, 2007 @02:32AM

ahaveland writes: "I found this to be one of the most Nerd-entertaining things I've ever seen, and thought that it deserves a wider audience. Of course, launching a real space shuttle takes huge resources as lives are at stake, but this mock-up of a space shuttle using an old car as the orbiter strapped to a booster rockets with over 8 tons of thrust really shows what one can do with a modest budget in the name of a bit of silliness, while also becoming the biggest non-commercial rocket launch in European history. The presenters of the program really know how to have fun, and entertain their audience!
Video clips may be found on youtube.com, search for "topgear shuttle". Whole program is about 20 minutes in duration.
Production notes are on the TopGear website, http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/show/production_notes /shuttle.shtml"

Submission + - Selling Homeowners a Solar Dream

Submitted by

slugo

on Thursday February 22, 2007 @11:30PM

slugo writes: "Instead of making you spring for $25,000 or more in gear, Citizenr says it will loan you a complete rooftop solar power system, install it for free and sell you back the power it generates at a fixed rate below what your utility charges. The company hopes to make back its investment with those monthly payments, augmented by federal tax credits and rebates."

Submission + - Inflatable mirrors may make solar power very cheap

Submitted by

rhettb

on Thursday February 22, 2007 @04:32PM

rhettb writes: "Inflatable mirrors for capturing sunlight could reduce the cost of solar power 90% by 2010, making sun energy cost competitive with traditional fossil fuels. CoolEarth Solar, based in Livermore, California, believes its technology could make solar farming economically competitive within three years by making solar cheaper than coal and allowing farmers to become net suppliers of electricity. The technology essentially uses a string of balloons to concentrate and capture the sun's energy without occupying valuable real estate or using large amounts of silicon."

Submission + - Homeless Murderer Blames Video Games

Submitted by

Brigade

on Thursday February 22, 2007 @03:56PM

Brigade writes: "CNN.com is covering a story about several teenagers that murdered a homeless man in Milwaukee earlier this week. One of the children blamed violent video games for act, and the press is jumping all over it.

However, his stepmother (a Penny-Arcade reader) sent Gabe an e-mail, offering a different perspective: He was just a disturbed boy."

Submission + - Liposuctioned fat stem cells to repair bodies

Submitted by

stemceller

on Thursday February 22, 2007 @03:53PM

stemceller writes: "Expanding waistlines, unsightly bulges: people will gladly remove excess body fat to improve their looks. But unwanted fat also contains stem cells with the potential to repair defects and heal injuries in the body. A team led by Philippe Collas at the University of Oslo in Norway has identified certain chemical marks that allow him to predict which, among the hundreds of millions of stem cells in liposuctioned fat, are best at regenerating tissue."

Submission + - Dell Considers Offering Linux on Laptops

Submitted by

s31523

on Thursday February 22, 2007 @03:26PM

s31523 writes: "Apparently a Dell sponsored blog has turned up a popular request: offer Linux as an option on laptops. According to the article the company is seriously considering the request and "plan to post a statement on the blog this week explaining how they will react"."

Submission + - Dell users demand Linux

Submitted by

narramissic

on Thursday February 22, 2007 @12:54PM

narramissic writes: "Thousands of Dell users voted favorably in response to an idea posted Friday on a company-hosted blog called Dell Idea Storm that calls for the option to purchase PCs with the Linux OS. Other popular threads include requests for consumer PCs that are not pre-loaded with unsolicited applications, requests for OpenOffice applications instead of Microsoft's Office suite, Firefox instead of Internet Explorer, and pleas for Dell to stop routing service calls to operators in overseas countries such as India. For its part, the company has said it will 'post a statement on the blog this week explaining how they will react.'"

Submission + - Science can regrow fingers like magic!

Submitted by

TurdTapper

on Thursday February 22, 2007 @12:50PM

TurdTapper writes: "From the article:

Researchers are trying to find ways to regrow fingers — and someday, even limbs — with tricks that sound like magic spells from a Harry Potter novel.
There's the guy who sliced off a fingertip but grew it back, after he treated the wound with an extract of pig bladder.

I wonder what it would take to increase the size of my manhood...perhaps shredded shark cartilage."

Journal Journal: The Earth was warming before global warming was cool. 4

Journal by Alien54 on Thursday February 22, 2007 @12:40PM

Sometimes it is useful to be a devil's advocate in discussing matters of scietific import. Thus we get this column from Pete du Pont in the WSJ

Submission + - Heroic Slashdotter Mistakes Pron for Rape

Submitted by ObiWanStevobi on Thursday February 22, 2007 @11:53AM

ObiWanStevobi writes: Ok, since this is considered an invasion case, I picked YRO. I also figured a sword qualifies as a handheld device.

A man who lives in his mother's basement, and has a sword collection, is being charged after breaking into his neighbor's house. He broke in after hearing what sounded like a woman being raped. He burst through the door weilding his sword with a +3 Dexterity adrenaline rush. The frightened wanker then proceeded to show him(James Van Iveren AKA Krunk the Slashdotter) that he was alone and just watching a porno. Van Iveren is now being charged on several counts such as trespassing and damage to property for breaking the door. LINK

PS Notice the URL, porn.sword.ap

Submission + - Junk Faxes

Submitted by olddoc on Thursday February 22, 2007 @11:31AM

olddoc writes: I am having a growing problem with junk faxes. Unlike email, it costs me money when I get a fax so junk faxes really tick me off. A while ago, I gave my number to a removal number and now I am getting more junk faxes than ever! Does anyone know how to make them pay? What devious methods can I use to get even? Can I sign up for a phone number that will drive up their costs when I call the toll free removal number? What have other readers done?

Colossal Squid Landed Intact In Antarctica 85

Posted by kdawson on Thursday February 22, 2007 @10:40AM from the bigger-than-giant dept.

zakkie writes "New Zealand fisherman have caught a massive 450-kg colossal squid in Antarctic waters. This is by far the biggest yet found, measuring over 10 meters in length and weighing 450 kg. It has been taken back to New Zealand for study." The NZ government's announcement page features a downloadable backgrounder on the colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) and a 1.1-MB popup portrait of the animal in the fishing boat's hold.

Submission + - Shock therpay used to cure internet addiction

Submitted by andy1307 on Thursday February 22, 2007 @10:31AM

andy1307 writes: According to this article in the Washington Post, Chinese teenagers deemed addicted to the internet are being treated in military run installation. Led by Tao Ran, a military researcher who built his career by treating heroin addicts, the clinic uses a tough-love approach that includes counseling, military discipline, drugs, hypnosis and mild electric shocks. The state run media blames internet addiction for for a murder over virtual property earned in an online game, for a string of suicides and for the failure of youths in their studies. Located on an army training base, the Internet-addiction clinic is distinct from the other buildings on campus because of the metal grates and padlocks on every door and the bars on every window.From the article "On the first level are 10 locked treatment rooms geared toward treating teen patients suffering from disturbed sleep, lack of motivation, aggression, depression and other problems. Unlike the rest of the building, which is painted in blues and grays and kept cold to keep the teens alert, these rooms are sunny and warm."

Slashdot Top Deals