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Science

Possible 25 Million Year Old Frog Found 151

dispatch writes "A small frog, found preserved in amber, has been found by researchers in Mexico City. The frog, according to the scientists, may be some 25 million years old! According to the article: 'The chunk of amber containing the 0.4-inch frog was uncovered by a miner in southern Chiapas states in 2005 and was bought by a private collector, who lent it to scientists for study.' Unfortunately, it doesn't seem as though the scientists will be allowed to drill into the rock, at the owner's request."
Media

Submission + - Blender 2.43 released

pixelmass writes: Blender is a free, open source 3D content creation suite, available for all major operating systems under the GNU General Public License. It offers software that allows you to model, shade, animate, render, composite and create interactive 3D environments for presentations, games, or other purposes yet to be imagined. A fine piece of work realized by a fantastic and talented group of developers and a wonderful support community. The latest release (2.43) may be found here:

http://www.blender.org/

It features an impressive collection of new and improved feature sets for professional users. Well worth a look.
Programming

Submission + - Did D-Wave really demonstrate a quantum computer?

Qubert writes: Was D-Wave's quantum computer demo last week the real thing? Ars Technica takes a look inside the cold, black box and concludes that whatever was in there, it probably wasn't a 'pure' quantum computer: 'Jumping off the fence, we will say that we think D-Wave demonstrated a real device; however, we think their device is going to set off a debate in the physics community over where the boundary between classical and quantum computation is. At present, quantum computers are "globally phase coherent," which means that every qubit's state is entangled (and therefore correlated) with every other qubit... The D-wave system, however, is certainly not globally phase coherent, which raises the question of whether it is a quantum computer.'
Windows

Submission + - Cheapest way to UK Vista is through WGA

An anonymous reader writes: Details of Windows Vista's UK prices can be found here http://www.techworld.com/applications/news/index.c fm?newsid=7668 According to techworld Vista Prices are significantly marked up in the UK compared to the US, as much as 80% for some versions. Ironically in the UK apart from buying abroad, and hoping customs doesnt add VAT to your order... the cheapest way to get a legal copy of Vista in the UK is to first get WGA to flag your copy of XP as illegal. Then UK users can purchase legitimate copies of XP for about £53 for the XP Home version and £92 for the XP Pro version. http://www.itweek.co.uk/itweek/news/2154729/micros oft-increases-checks From Here they can download the form for an upgrade for only £10 http://download.microsoft.com/download/A/D/1/AD102 E9D-2DCF-4552-ADE3-68C02F0938E8/unitedkingdom.pdf That means the total for Vista Home Basic = £63 Vista Bussiness = £102 Still expensive by US standards but cheaper than buying from a UK retailer.
Hardware Hacking

Submission + - A Keyboard on the Edge

An anonymous reader writes: One of the fastest growing trends in consumer electronics is what some people have started to call tech luxury. These are goods that are all about style and performance and don't really concern themselves with the price. One of the best examples of this is Logitech's new diNovo Edge keyboard. It's looks great, has a big price tag, and has lots of innovative features, but has no mouse or numberpad. From the article, "Keyboards don't have to be boring. They don't have to be blocky, beige tools that are tethered to the back of your computer. Companies like Logitech have made it so that keyboards can be comfortable, wireless, stylish, interesting, and, maybe even cool."
Software

The Future of Packaging Software in Linux 595

michuk writes "There are currently at least five popular ways of installing software in GNU/Linux. None of them are widely accepted throughout the popular distributions. This situation is not a problem for experienced users — they can make decisions for themselves. However, for a newcomer in the GNU/Linux world, installing new software is always pretty confusing. The article tries to sum up some of the recent efforts to fix this problem and examine the possible future of packaging software in GNU/Linux."
Businesses

Submission + - CompUSA Gives Customer 4+ Month Run-around

Andy writes: "I've had an ongoing...adventure...with CompUSA's repair and customer service departments for the last four months, the short version of which is that — two years in a row — they damaged my laptop while repairing it (this second time more than once!) and are dragging their feet in responding to me and replacing the computer their service center damaged. I've tried to handle it privately for four months, but at this point, I'm running out of options and hope that Slashdot can help bring some attention to my troubles and turn the heat up on CompUSA a bit so they'll do the right thing!

In October 2005 I brought my Sony laptop to them for service, and it came back with all the case screws in the wrong places, causing physical damage to the case and a big loose gap in the front edge. Then, a year later, they again returned my laptop to me with incorrect screws, and with a wad of tape wedged between the keyboard and the cooling fan!

That started a saga, still ongoing, with more missing screws, a heat-related video problem, a damaged hinge cover, missing protective covers for the LCD's screws, and four months of broken promises, abysmal customer disservice, and lack of returned calls on all levels from the local store's tech services manager, operations manager, and GM up to the corporate manager of customer service and chief of escalation.

I've posted my story on my blog at http://www.onefromtheroad.com/index.php?cat=11 (posts are in reverse order, since it's a blog!)

Please help me spread my story, and hold CompUSA responsible for mistreating their customers like this!

— Andy

P.S.-For futher episodes of CompUSA being involved in grossly mishandling repairs, see http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=28004 5"
Censorship

Submission + - Journalist arrested for taking photo of CT Governo

reub2000 writes: Journalist Ken Krayeske was arrested for taking a photograph of Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell during a parade. Krayeske a pacifist, was on a list of "potential troublemakers" and his photo had been sent to cops on the parade route.
Science

World's Largest Tropical Glacier Vanishing 462

Socguy wrote with a link to a CBC article about the rapidly disappearing Peruvian glacier known as the Quelccaya ice cap. The world's largest tropical glacier was a hot topic this past Thursday at the meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Glaciologist Lonnie Thompson, and a team of Ohio state scientists, produced the stunning news that Quelccaya and similar formations are melting at a rate of some 60 metres per year. While polar ice caps have commanded attention in the discussion of global warming to date, these tropical caps are crucial to the well-being of ecosystems relying on an influx of mountain stream fresh water.
Television

Submission + - Robert Adler, co-inventor of TV remote, dead at 93

yroJJory writes: "Hit the mute button for a moment of silence: The co-inventor of the TV remote, Robert Adler, has died. Adler, who won an Emmy Award along with fellow engineer Eugene Polley for the device that made the couch potato possible, died Thursday of heart failure at a Boise nursing home at 93, Zenith Electronics Corp. said Friday.

In his six-decade career with Zenith, Adler was a prolific inventor, earning more than 180 U.S. patents. He was best known for his 1956 Zenith Space Command remote control, which helped make TV a truly sedentary pastime.

In a May 2004 interview with The Associated Press, Adler recalled being among two dozen engineers at Zenith given the mission to find a new way for television viewers to change channels without getting out of their chairs or tripping over a cable.

Adler also was considered a pioneer in SAW technology, or surface acoustic waves, in color television sets and touch screens. The technology has also been used in cellular telephones.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published his most recent patent application, for advances in touch screen technology, on Feb. 1."

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