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Submission + - Catchy Names Get Kids to Eat Veggies

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: "How do you get kids to eat their carrots in the cafeteria? Don't call them carrots — call them "X-ray Vision Carrots." New research out of Cornell University finds that catchy names can prompt kids to eat more veggies.

The first part of the study involved 147 students, ages 8 to 11 years old, from five different schools. For three days in a row, carrots were added to the schools' lunch menu, but on the second day, the carrots were served as either "X-ray Vision Carrots" or "Food of the Day."

The different names did not change the amount of carrots the students put on their plates. But the kids ate 66 percent of the "X-ray vision carrots," compared with 32 percent of "Food of the Day" carrots and 35 percent of unnamed carrots, according to a statement from Cornell."

Submission + - The Hobbit pocket edition to celebrate its 75th anniversary (tolkienlibrary.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: To celebrate The Hobbit's 75th anniversary of publication, a pocket-sized hardback of J.R.R. Tolkien's timeless classic was released. I guess this will be the best selling edition for all people who want to have a copy of The Hobbit closeby or which to read the book well before the release of The Hobbit movies.
Programming

Submission + - Designers Criticize Apple's User Interface for OS X and iOS

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Austin Carr writes that a number of user interface designers have become increasingly critical of Apple’s approach to software user interface design with much of their censure directed against a trend called skeuomorphism, a term for when objects retain ornamental elements of past that are no longer necessary to the current objects’ functions such as calendars with faux leather-stitching, bookshelves with wood veneers, fake glass and paper and brushed chrome. "It’s visual masturbation," says one former senior UI designer at Apple who worked closely with Steve Jobs. "It’s like the designers are flexing their muscles to show you how good of a visual rendering they can do of a physical object. Who cares?" The issue is two-fold: first, that traditional visual metaphors no longer translate to modern users; and second, that excessive digital imitation of real-world objects creates confusion among users. "I’m old enough, sure, but some of the guys in my office have never seen a Rolodex in real life," says Designer Gadi Amit. "Our culture has changed. We don’t need translation of the digital medium in mechanical real-life terms. It’s an old-fashioned paradigm." One beneficiary could be Microsoft where the design of Windows 8 distances itself from skeuomorphism emphasizing a flat user interface that’s minimalist to the core with icons without embellishments: no bevel, no 3-D flourishes, no glossiness and no drop shadow. "It’s Microsoft’s stripped-down UI that many find appealing," writes Carr, "a welcome alternative to Apple’s approach to software design.""
Microsoft

Submission + - Kenya warned on ditching copyrighted software by Microsoft (standardmedia.co.ke) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Recently, the Kenyan government issued a warning that in would migrate over to Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). The move is expected to halve the IT cost for this third world country. Microsoft however chimed in with FUD comments about opensource. Here are some choicy bits:
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“We agree with the open standards but not the free and open source software strategy,” said Paul Roy Owino, technology advisor, Microsoft East and Southern Africa.

“The Government stands to lose to hackers, freedom to third party modification coming with Free and Open Source Software it plans to adopt increases chances of Internet attacks,” he said “I do not think the Government has competent expertise to handle the challenges that comes with the free and Open Source Software,” he said.
---
Iphone

Submission + - Is iPhone Battery Usefulness On The Decline? (itworld.com)

Submitted by
jfruh
jfruh writes: "Every time a company rolls out a new version of a product, it extols how much better it is than the previous version. Thus, Apple spent a part of its iPhone 5 rollout touting the staying power of the latest version of its battery. But have iPhone batteries really seen improvement since the original came out in '07? Kevin Purdy crunches the number and concludes that, whiile the 5's battery beats the 4S's, we still haven't returned to the capabilities of the original phone."
Censorship

Submission + - MP seeking to outlaw 'written accounts of child abuse' (bbc.co.uk)

Submitted by Anduril1986
Anduril1986 writes: A UK Conservative MP is seeking to expand censorship in another 'think of the children' debate. The plan this time is to make it illegal to possess written accounts of child abuse. According to Sir Paul Beresford, the MP for Mole Valley such writing "fuels the fantasies" of offenders and could lead to the physical abuse of children.

FYI Paul Beresford is the MP responsible for campaigning to make it illegal to forget your encryption keys..
Science

Submission + - Synthetic Materials Set New World Record for Greatest Amount of Surface Area (gizmag.com)

Submitted by Zothecula
Zothecula writes: Researchers at Northwestern University, Illinois, have broken a world record in the creation of two synthetic materials, named NU-109 and NU-110, which have the greatest amount of surface areas of any material to date. To put this into perspective: if one were able to take a crystal of NU-110 the size of a grain of salt, and somehow unfold it, the surface area would cover a desktop. Additionally, the internal surface area of just one gram of the new material would cover one-and-a-half football fields.

Submission + - What to do with found calculators 1

Submitted by
Covalent
Covalent writes: "I'm a science teacher and have, over the years, accumulated a number of lost graphing calculators (mostly TI-83s). After trying to locate the owners, I have given up and have been loaning them out to students as needed. I want to something more nerd-worthy with them, though. I would feel wrong for selling them. What is the best use for bunch of old calculators?"
Science

Submission + - "80% Functional" Includes Junk DNA After All

Submitted by
CTachyon
CTachyon writes: "Last week the ENCODE project published a suite of papers, which were announced to the press with a claim that 80% of the human genome is "functional". But according to Ars Technica's science editor John Timmer, himself a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology, most of what you read was wrong: in their papers, the ENCODE team redefined the word "functional" so that known junk DNA (such as dormant viruses and broken pseudogenes) would meet the definition; and what's more, Timmer accuses individual ENCODE scientists of fostering confusion, rather than clearly explaining the semantic bait-and-switch."
Wireless Networking

Submission + - Amazon Kindle Fire HD 4G Tablet Delayed By FCC (techweekeurope.co.uk)

Submitted by
judgecorp
judgecorp writes: "Us customers for the top-end Amazon Kindle Fire will have to wait for FCC approval of the tablet's 4G radio. Formal FCC approval guarantees a device will not interfere with other machines. Amazon has taken the very unusual step of selling the tablet with FCC approval still pending, so delivery dates are uncertain. Sales of the Wi-Fi only version and sales in countries with no 4G networks should be unaffected."
Censorship

Submission + - Reddit Receives Cease & Desist for Trademark Infringement over Gaymer Subred (reddit.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The owner of Gaymers.org has sent a cease and desist notice over the name subredit "Gaymers". Chris Vizzini trademarked the term, used to describe gay gamers, in 2007. The interesting thing is that the upcoming GaymerCon is not being targeted.

Moderator MisterGhost made the initial post explaining the situation to the roughly 16,000 members of the subreddit. Spladug, a reddit admin confirmed the C&D and said that at worst reddit would be renamed although they have never done something like that before.

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