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Government

Submission + - Doc wants brain scans of presidential candidates

Submitted by Fantastic Lad
Fantastic Lad writes: Candidates vying for the presidency already face intense scrutiny from voters, the media and political rivals' crack opposition research operations — but that's not enough for one doctor: he demands brain scans. In an interview with MSNBC's Tucker Carlson, Dr. Daniel Amen, a neuropsychiatrist and brain-imaging expert, says that the technology could be used to effectively vet future presidents. "For years, what I have thought about, talked about, is we should be scanning the brains of presidential candidates," said Amen. "Because a president with a bad brain can ruin life on earth...I'm sort of tired of presidents who've had a bad brain that are not leading the country in a good direction."
Google

Submission + - Privacy group accuses Google of smear campaign

Submitted by
Anonymous Coward
Anonymous Coward writes: "One day after slapping Google with the lowest possible privacy ranking among 23 major Internet companies, non-profit Privacy International is accusing the company of launching a smear campaign to undermine the report, according to InfoWorld.

"London-based Privacy International (PI) has publicly accused the search behemoth of attempting to undermine the non-profit's report, saying Google suggested to the media that PI has a "conflict of interest regarding Microsoft." That conflict: a member of the PI advisory board works at Microsoft. PI maintains that it's still an objective group, that it has gone after MS and other companies in the past, and that Google is just chewing on sour grapes. (Also notable: Microsoft doesn't score all that well in the privacy ranking either.)"
Graphics

Submission + - AI behind 'Virtual Van Gogh'

Submitted by
Roland Piquepaille
Roland Piquepaille writes: "Jason Green, CTO of Florida-based Medical Development International (MDI), has applied artificial intelligence to produce fine art. 'Using highly sophisticated programming, Green has programmed his computer with the ability to produce original, three-dimensional paintings rivaling present-day masters.' It's hard to know if it's art, but it sure is high-tech: the images are generated with an extremely high resolution of 7,500 by 5,000 pixels. But is the story true? Decide by yourself by looking at more details and a painting by Virtual Van Gogh's, Polyester Candy."
Television

Submission + - CBS Orders 7 More Episodes of Jericho (cbs.com)

Submitted by Anssi
Anssi writes: CBS has announced that they have ordered 7 more episodes of Jericho, the show which was canceled after the first season. The fan campaign involving sending nuts to CBS seems to have been successful, and if the ratings will be good, more episodes will be ordered. Quoting the message from CBS: "On behalf of everyone at CBS, thank you for expressing your support of Jericho in such an extraordinary manner. Your protest was creative, sustained and very thoughtful and respectful in tone. You made a difference."
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - The sewers of London

Submitted by IamTheRealMike
IamTheRealMike writes: Rose George has written a fascinating tour of the sewers of London — rarely seen yet essential to life. But the sewers are in decline, with the last of the flushermen who know their inner workings about to retire. Although some of the work is now done by robots and contractors, can anything replace the experience of the men who roam the tunnels by night destroying fat blockages, searching for leaks and repairing the underground labryrinths below our cities?
Power

Submission + - Saudi oil production in trouble

Submitted by IamTheRealMike
IamTheRealMike writes: As one of the worlds most prolific producers of oil, Saudi Arabian production is of vital importance to maintaining our standard of living in the west. A new analysis from Stuart Staniford appears to show large, fast declines in production throughout 2006 that are uncorrelated with price, world events or OPECs own announced production cuts (in fact, no evidence for those cuts occurring is found at all). Given that the apparent steep decline (8%/year) matches the rates seen in other areas where horizontal drilling and water injection were used, and high prices give the Kingdom every incentive to produce, is this the beginning of the end for Saudi oil?
Microsoft

Submission + - Microsoft Charging Businesses $4K for DST Fix

Submitted by
eldavojohn
eldavojohn writes: "Microsoft has slashed the price it's going to charge users on the day light savings time fixes. As you know, the federal law that moves the date for DST goes into effect this month. Although this is 1/10 of the original estimate Microsoft made, it seems a bit pricey for a patch to a product you've already paid for. From the article, "Among the titles in that extended support category are Windows 2000, Exchange Server 2000 and Outlook 2000, the e-mail and calendar client included with Office 2000. For users running that software, Microsoft charges $4,000 per product for DST fixes. For that amount, customers can apply the patches to all systems in their organizations, including branch offices and affiliates, said Sweatt. "All they can't do is redistribute them," he said.""
Power

Submission + - Saudi Oil Output Down 8%: Choice or Need?

Submitted by
Prof. Goose
Prof. Goose writes: "The author concludes, after an extensive analysis of a lot of data/charts/graphs that:

* Saudi Arabian oil production is now in decline.
* The decline rate during the first year is very high (8%), akin to decline rates in other places developed with modern horizontal drilling techniques such as the North Sea.
* Declines are rather unlikely to be arrested, and may well accelerate.
* Matt Simmons appears to be right in Twilight in the Desert, but the warning did not come until after declines had actually begun.

I suggest that this is likely to place severe political strains on Saudi Arabia within a year or two at most.
Big (and bad) news. http://www.theoildrum.com/node/2325"
Intel

Submission + - Is your software ready for 80-core chip?

Submitted by
prostoalex
prostoalex writes: "Dr. Dobbs' Journal is reporting on Intel getting ready to demo an 80-core chip: "That's right: Not an 8-core; this is an 80-core chip. The microprocessor manufacturer has jumped way ahead of the expected progression from dual-core to quad-core to 8-core, etc., to delve into different ways to make something as complicated as an 80-core chip actually work.""
The Internet

Submission + - Microsoft, Google agree to NGO code of conduct

Submitted by
Aditi.Tuteja
Aditi.Tuteja writes: "Technology companies have come under fire for providing equipment or software that permits governments to censor information or monitor the online or offline activities of their citizens. For example, last year, Google's approach to the China market was criticized over its creation of a censored, local version of its search engine.

Microsoft, Google, and two other technology companies will develop a code of conduct with a coalition of nongovernmental organizations (NGO) to promote freedom of expression and privacy rights, they announced Friday.

The two companies along with Yahoo, and Vodafone Group said the new guidelines are the result of talks with Business for Social Responsibility (BSR) and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School."

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