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Censorship

Submission + - Student punished for spaghetti beliefs

Submitted by Logicalmoron
Logicalmoron writes: A student has been suspended from school in America for coming to class dressed as a pirate. But the disciplinary action has provoked controversy — because the student says that the ban violates his rights, as the pirate costume is part of his religion. Bryan Killian says that he follows the Pastafarian religion, and that as a crucial part of his faith, he must wear 'full pirate regalia' as prescribed in the holy texts of Pastafarianism. The school, however, say that his pirate garb was disruptive. The school, in North Buncombe, North Carolina, remains adamant that their decision to suspend Killian for a day has nothing to do with his religion, and quite a lot to do with his repeated refusal to heed warnings against wearing pirate outfits. Full Story: http://www.metro.co.uk/weird/article.html?in_artic le_id=43272&in_page_id=2
Biotech

Submission + - Single human gene gives mice tri-color vision

Submitted by
maynard
maynard writes: "Scientists from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Howard Hughes Medical Institute working in collaboration have published a study in the peer reviewed journal Science showing that mice transgenetically altered with a single human gene are then able to see in full tri-color vision. Mice without this alteration are normally colorblind. The scientists speculate that even mammalian brains from animals that have never evolved color vision are flexible enough to interpret new color sense information with just a simple addition of new photoreceptors. Such a result is also indicated by a dominant X chromosome mutation that allows for quad-color vision in some women. From the article:

The experiments were designed to determine whether the brains of the genetically altered mice could efficiently process sensory information from the new photoreceptors in their eyes. Among mammals, this more complex type of color vision has only been observed in primates, and therefore the brains of mice did not need to evolve to make these discriminations.


The new abilities of the genetically engineered mice indicate that the mammalian brain possesses a flexibility that permits a nearly instantaneous upgrade in the complexity of color vision, say the study's senior authors, Gerald Jacobs and Jeremy Nathans.
"
PlayStation (Games)

FFXIII Exclusivity Under Discussion 120

Posted by Zonk from the we-have-a-problem dept.
In an interview between a French-language newspaper and Sony Computer Entertainment France president Georges Fornay, he revealed that FFXIII's exclusivity is still under discussion. Gamespot reports, and attempted to check with Square-Enix about the reality of this situation. If the high-profile RPG's exclusivity is not a lock for the PS3, it could be a crushing blow for Sony's future plans. "The development costs of games have exploded, and it has become more difficult to have exclusives, outside of our own games. But we have for launch day [in France] 30 games, including MotorStorm, Resistance: Fall of Man, and Virtua Fighter 5. Moreover, we are expecting 200 games [for the PS3] by the end of 2007...As far as Final Fantasy XIII goes, I can tell you that the exclusivity is in discussion."
Wii

Submission + - How to Build a Solar-Powered Wii

Submitted by
RD
RD writes: "Can solar power run your video game consle? Tom's Hardware Guide built a mobile station for the Wii, complete with an HD monitor, that runs in part from a solar panel on the top of the cart. The solar panel doesn't provide all the energy needed for the station (it's attached to a deep cycle battery), but it does eliminate the need to plug the console into an outlet and also enables the station to recharge in the sunlight and provide around 8 hours of continuous play. Here's the article and video on how it was built."
Sci-Fi

Submission + - NASA can't pay for killer asteroid hunt

Submitted by
CGISecurity.com
CGISecurity.com writes: "NASA officials say the space agency is capable of finding nearly all the asteroids that might pose a devastating hit to Earth, but there isn't enough money to pay for the task so it won't get done. "We know what to do, we just don't have the money," said Simon "Pete" Worden, director of NASA's Ames Research Center.""
Music

Submission + - Major Broadcasters hit with $12M Payola Fine

Submitted by Gr8Apes
Gr8Apes writes: Listeners and Indies may rejoice according to a just breaking story. According to the AP story:

Four major broadcast companies would pay the government $12.5 million and provide 8,400 half-hour segments of free airtime for independent record labels and local artists, The Associated Press has learned.
Star Wars Prequels

Submission + - Kevin Smith joins the Empire! 501st Legion

Submitted by
HMTKSteve
HMTKSteve writes: "On February 23rd, 24th, and 25th, members of the 501st Legion's Connecticut Garrison made an appearance at the NYC Comic Con. While at the Con Kevin Smith (Clerks, Jay and Silent Bob) was inducted into the 501st Legion as an honorary member. Kevin was heard to say, upon receiving his plaque, "This plaque is nicer than a lot of the big awards I've received in the past!" Pictures an a video accompany the article 501st Legion Inducts Kevin Smith as "friend""
Mars

Submission + - Plugging the ozone hole cut global warming too

Submitted by
orkysoft
orkysoft writes: "This article talks about the effect of the ozone layer on global warming.

At the time, it was known that ozone-depleting halocarbons were also greenhouse gases and therefore were contributing to warming the atmosphere. What was not known was how much the cooling effect of phasing out these chemicals would add to the cooling effect of patching up the ozone hole in the stratosphere.
"
Patents

British Government Comes Out Against 'Pure' Software Patents 91

Posted by Zonk from the keeping-software-out-from-under-lock-and-key dept.
uglyduckling writes "The British Government has issued a response to a recent petition calling for 'the Prime Minister to make software patents clearly unenforcible'. The answer is reassuring but perhaps doesn't go far enough, and gives no specific promises to bring into line a patent office that grants software patents (according to the petition) 'against the letter and the spirit of the law'. The Gowers Review that it references gives detailed insight into the current British position on this debate, most interestingly recommending a policy of 'not extending patent rights beyond their present limits within the areas of software, business methods and genes.'"
Programming

Submission + - Syntax-aware searching?

Submitted by dpbsmith
dpbsmith writes: Today most code editing tools now offer syntax coloring...

...so why don't they also offer syntax-aware searching, such as the ability to exclude comments from searching (or to search comments only)?
Linux Business

Submission + - Linux Dells cost MORE than Windows Dells

Submitted by
EjayHire
EjayHire writes: "So this morning I hop over to Dell to configure up a shiny new Dell without Windows. I ran a D520 through the Dell configurator, but couldn't find the "No windows" option. Finally I found it via this page, but it doesn't include the free hard drive and DVD drive upgrades. So... For the privilege of not having windows installed, you pay $48 MORE than if you order it with XP home and format it. Thanks a lot Dell."
TurboLinux

Journal Journal: My two cents on "Avoiding the Word 'Evolution'" 6

Journal by Otter
I've been mostly avoiding the front page lately, as it's hit the point where it enrages far more than it informs. But since I slipped up and looked this morning, and since the "Avoiding the Word 'Evolution'" story hit Godwinism within the first posts, a few comments here:
  • The study shows that the use of the word "evolution" is heavier among evolution researchers than in medical fields (duh) and the authors think it would be politically advantageous for medical researchers to use it more,

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