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Cellphones

Microsoft Drops Price on Nokia's 41-Megapixel Phone 197

Posted by timothy from the that-is-a-lot-of-megapixel dept.
TechRadar reports today the first major public-facing move that Microsoft has made with its newly acquired Nokia devices business: "The headline-making Nokia Lumia 1020 smartphone-cum-camera is now available for $100 less in the United States, potentially a sign that Microsoft is already ringing the changes at Nokia. The Microsoft Store stateside is now selling the 41-megapixel Windows Phone 8 handset for $199 (around £127, AU$216) on a two-year contract, compared with Nokia's lofty $299 (around £191, AU$325) launch price. The price is being matched by the AT&T network, but Microsoft is going one better (for a limited time) and chucking in the camera grip accessory for everyone who picks up the device. Early indications are that the heavily-hyped Lumia 1020 hasn't been flying off the shelves, so perhaps this price cut can offer Microsoft a boost in the early stages of its Nokia stewardship."
China

400 Million Chinese Cannot Speak Mandarin 562

Posted by timothy from the they-didn't-go-with-the-english-only-option? dept.
dryriver writes with this excerpt from a thought-provoking report at the BBC: "China's Education Ministry says that about 400 million people — or 30% of the population — cannot speak the country's national language. Of the 70% of the population who can speak Mandarin, many do not do it well enough, a ministry spokeswoman told Xinhua news agency on Thursday. The admission from officials came as the government launched another push for linguistic unity in China. China is home to thousands of dialects and several minority languages. These include Cantonese and Hokkien, which enjoy strong regional support. Mandarin — formally called Putonghua in China, meaning 'common tongue' — is one of the most widely-spoken languages in the world. The Education Ministry spokeswoman said the push would be focusing on the countryside and areas with ethnic minorities."
Censorship

Indiana Man Gets 8 Months For Teaching How To Beat Polygraph Tests 356

Posted by timothy from the preserving-layers-of-lies dept.
A week ago, we posted news that federal prosecutors were seeking jail time for Chad Dixon, an Indiana man who made money teaching others how to pass polygraph examinations. Now, reader Frosty Piss writes that Dixon "was sentenced Friday to eight months in prison. Prosecutors described Chad Dixon as a 'master of deceit.' Prosecutors, who had asked for almost two years in prison, said Dixon crossed the line between free speech protected under the First Amendment and criminal conduct when he told some clients to conceal what he taught them while undergoing government polygraphs. Although Dixon appears to be the first charged publicly, others offering similar instruction say they fear they might be next. 'I've been worried about that, and the more this comes about, the more worried I am,' said Doug Williams, a former police polygraphist in Oklahoma who claims to be able to teach people to beat what he now considers a 'scam' test."
Science

Gut Bacteria In Slim People Extract More Nutrients 212

Posted by Soulskill from the starve-them-into-doing-what-you-want dept.
Beeftopia writes "Researchers discovered that inserting gut bacteria from obese people into mice without gut bacteria led to the mice becoming obese. Gut bacteria from slim people inserted into the same mice did not lead to mouse obesity. The researchers concluded (abstract) that gut bacteria from the slim people were more efficient at extracting nutrients from food than those of the obese."

Comment Re:Women must accept their place (Score 1) 478

by EmagGeek (#44756019) Attached to: Schneier: We Need To Relearn How To Accept Risk

I couldn't have said it better, except to say that Womens' Suffrage is a complete and abject failure and the 19th should be repealed as soon as possible.

I've long maintained that voting should be a privilege reserved for those learned in how a functional society works, because anything else is just mob rule, and we all know what happens when things are controlled by an unruly mob.

Comment KIWF (Score 1) 262

by EmagGeek (#44745329) Attached to: Chris Kraft Talks About The Decline of NASA

NASA is just another government handout program for well-connected contractors and campaign supporters. Kill it with fire already and let the private industry that has far surpassed its technical ability take over space exploration and utilization.
Crime

Russia Issues Travel Warning To Its Citizens About United States and Extradition 369

Posted by Unknown Lamer from the about-that-cold-war dept.
mendax writes "The New York Times reports that the Russian government is warning its citizens to not travel to countries that have an extradition treaty with the United States, noting that 'detentions of Russian citizens in various countries, at the request of American law enforcement, have become more frequent.' The article reports the Russian foreign ministry as saying,'Experience shows that the judicial proceedings against those who were in fact kidnapped and taken to the U.S. are of a biased character, based on shaky evidence, and clearly tilted toward conviction.'"

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