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Submission + - Man vs. Machine (youtube.com)

Submitted by GhostX9
GhostX9 writes: A video of a surgeon using a $2M surgical robot to make a tiny paper airplane has been making its way around the blog-o-sphere. The demonstration is impressive until you see this video response which replicates the experience with an iPhone and a pair of disposable forceps. The surgeon in the second video happens to be a gamer/journalist whose technology and computer security articles have been featured on Slashdot in the past.
Security

Submission + - StunRay Incapacitates with a Flash of Light

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "Scientific American reports that a newly patented method of non-lethal incapacitation can render an assailant helpless for several minutes by overloading the neural networks connected to the retina with a brief flash of high-intensity light. “It’s the inverse of blindness—the technical term is a loss of contrast sensitivity,” says Todd Eisenberg, the engineer who invented the device. “The typical response is for the person to freeze. Law enforcement can easily walk up and apprehend [the suspect].” The device consists of a 75-watt lamp, combined with optics that collect and focus the visible light into a targeted beam, which can be aimed like a flashlight to project a controlled beam of white light more than 10 times more intense than an aircraft landing light with a range as far away as 150 feet. Recovery time ranges from “seconds to 20 minutes,” says Eisenberg. “It’s very analogous to walking from a very bright room into a very dark room.”"

Submission + - Veteran MS Insiders Criticize Top Management (winbeta.org) 1

Submitted by
Arneh
Arneh writes: "Microsoft's problem lies in its management and organizational culture. At least, that's the opinion of several veteran ex-Microsoft employees who could spend hours talking about Microsoft's issues."

Submission + - Sugar Is Sugar TV ad (bloggernews.net) 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The industry sponsored Corn Refiners Association have started a series of of TV adverts to stem the growing movement away from HFCS (High Corn Fructose Syrup). This might be an uphill battle based on the mounting scientific evidence. Even Hunts, part of Conagra, have switched sides on HFCS. Clearly the CRA have an issue. The Youtube copy of the advert posted by the CRA has a 95% disapproval rating.
Japan

Submission + - China detects 10 cases of radiation, 2 in Hospital (alexanderhiggins.com)

Submitted by Jeremiah Cornelius
Jeremiah Cornelius writes: China has detected 10 cases of radioactive contamination among passengers, aircraft, ships and containers arriving from Japan since March 16, quarantine authorities said on Saturday.

On Wednesday, radiation exceeding permitted levels was detected on two ships from the Japanese port of Chiba, near Tokyo, in the ports of Nantong and Zhangjiagang, Li Yuanping, spokesman of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said on its website.

Similar radiation was measured on four vessels that arrived from Japan at various ports over the next two days.

Submission + - EU Order Allowing Increase Of Radiation In Food (alexanderhiggins.com)

Submitted by Jeremiah Cornelius
Jeremiah Cornelius writes: Xander News and other non-English news agencies are reporting that the EU implemented a secret “emergency” order without informing the public which increases the amount of radiation in food by up to 20 times previous food standards.

According to EU bylaws radiation limits may be raised during a nuclear emergency to prevent food shortages.

But there is anger across Europe because this emergency order was issued while officials say there is no threat to the food.

Foodwatch is quoted “These rules now to bring into force is absurd, because in Europe there are no nuclear emergency, and certainly no shortage of food.”
Firefox

Submission + - Firefox 5 Details: Sharing, Home Tab, PDF Viewer (conceivablytech.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Firefox 4 may be still new, but Firefox 5 is already being prepared by Mozilla. At least the UI features have been laid out by the Mozilla team — there are nine new features in total. There are some features that are replicating Chrome functionality (tab multi-select or an integrated PDF viewer that will also extend to other file formats), but there are completely new features such as tab web apps, an identity manager a home tab that replaces the home button as well as a social sharing feature that is integrated in the URL bar and enables users to post directly to their Facebook and Twitter pages.
Government

Submission + - US Government Domain Seizures Failing Miserably (torrentfreak.com)

Submitted by
ktetch-pirate
ktetch-pirate writes: "Operation In Our Sites, a US Government led domain seizure action to deal with piracy, is pretty much a failure. TorrentFreak has examined a significant number of sites that have gone on pretty much unhindered, despite the seizures. Already some questions have been asked about the constitutionality of the seizures, and the evidence used as justification, but it seems the end results weren't as good as boasted either."
Technology

Submission + - Multitasking And User Interface in 1982 (ispyce.com) 2

Submitted by autospa
autospa writes: Before 1982, one can only do one thing at a time on any computer. But then Rob Pike and Bart Locanthi in 1982 invented and developed the Blit Terminal. Blit Terminal was a first generation Windows environment where users could take advantage of the multitasking feature for the very first time. Initially Blit looked like an ordinary textual terminal but using UNIX host software one can see the display. The Blit technology was commercialized by AT&T and Teletype.
Apple

Submission + - Apple patent eyes Mac OS X tablet (theregister.co.uk)

Submitted by N!NJA
N!NJA writes: A patent application published on Thursday reveals how far Apple has progressed on melding iOS's multi-touch interface with Mac OS X, and hints that the Mac operating system's multiple-workspace feature, Spaces, may find its way onto the iPad.

Rather than manipulating Spaces using your keyboard or mouse as Mac OS X now requires, however, the filing envisions using multi-touch, multi-finger gestures to summon the Spaces view, move windows from workspace to workspace, and select which one to fill the display.

"Why bother?" you might ask. Well, according to Apple, using a mouse or keyboard to manage Spaces is "cumbersome and inefficient", requiring "selecting an icon or other small graphical user interface object with a cursor," or "remembering unintuitive keyboard shortcuts". Such actions are not only "tedious and create a significant cognitive burden", they also "wast[e] energy" which is "particularly important in battery-operated devices".

Submission + - New Dinosaur Species Found In China (telegraph.co.uk) 1

Submitted by
jones_supa
jones_supa writes: "A previously unknown dinosaur has been identified from fossils dug up in China and has been nicknamed as "T-Rex's cousin". The gigantic creature roamed North America and east Asia between about 65 million and 99 million years ago. Named in honour of Zhucheng as Zhuchentyrannus magnus, this animal was about 11 metres long, 4 metres tall and it weighed about 6 tonnes. The research team was led by Dr. David Hone, from University College Dublin school of biology and environmental science."

Submission + - Scientists Develop New Method to Improve Passwords (arxiv.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Scientists at Max-Planck-Institute for Physics of Complex Systems in Dresden, Germany have developed a novel method to improve password security. A strong long password is split in two parts. The first part is memorized by a human. The second part is stored as a CAPTCHA-like image of a chaotic lattice system.
Microsoft

Submission + - Windows 8 To Get The Metro UI From Windows Phone 7 (digitizor.com)

Submitted by dkd903
dkd903 writes: Some screenshots of the successor to Windows 7 — Windows 8 — has been leaked earlier this week. According to the leaked screen shots, it looks the welcome screen has been heavily inflienced by Metro UI, which first made an appearance in Windows Phone 7.
Microsoft

Submission + - Windows 8 Welcome Screen Looks Very Metro (ispyce.com)

Submitted by autospa
autospa writes: Microsoft is apparently using some recent design innovations from Windows Phone 7 and Office in early test versions of Windows 8, including aspects of its mobile Metro user interface and Office’s Ribbon. The early design changes tell us that Microsoft will likely be looking for further inspiration for Windows 8 from its mobile and office software — and perhaps elsewhere as well. Windows 7, for the most part, looks like a more polished version of the much reviled Vista. Now it seems like Microsoft may be aiming for a fresh start in Windows 8.

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