Submission + - Printing Space Stations - In Space (space.com)
backganon writes: Space.com is reporting about a start-up company promising hardware and software for printing space stations in orbit.
Comment Re:complete with tracking and statistics (Score 1) 244
Won't affect me - I never click on any shortened link. If I can't see if it goes to the site that I am intending to go to, I won't click it.
Unfortunately lots of people do click on these links and then wonder why they get virus and malware.
If google can make the links safer that would be good but I still plan to avoid them.
Comment Re:Chatter is a Salesforce product...shrug (Score 1) 82
We use salesforce all day long and yet none of us at work use "chatter". It's almost as if it's a clunky, superfluous facebook-alike shoehorned into what's otherwise a good CRM system.
Does anyone here on
First thing I did when it was enabled on my account was to find the settings to turn it off - have no desire to use it.
Dog Eats Man's Toe and Saves His Life 207
Have you ever been so drunk that you passed out and your dog ate your toe? I haven't either, but luckily for Michigander Jerry Douthett, he has. It turns out Jerry has type 2 diabetes and a wound on his toe had becoming dangerously infected. After a night of drinking Jerry passed out in his chair and the family dog Kiko decided to do a little doggy doctoring. From the article: "'The toe was gone,' said Douthett. 'He ate it. I mean, he must have eaten it, because we couldn't find it anywhere else in the house. I look down, there's blood all over, and my toe is gone.' [Douthett's wife] Rosee, 40, rushed her husband to the hospital where she's a gerontology nurse — Spectrum Health's Blodgett Campus. Kiko had gnawed to a point below the nail-line. When tests revealed an infection to the bone, doctors amputated what was left of the toe."
How High-Tech Gadget Trends Differ By US Region 51
Ant writes in with news of a study revealing differences in gadget preferences by US region. The survey is not rigorous, based as it was on 7,500 online questionnaires submitted to Retrevo, a website for tech shoppers. The company plans to run the survey annually. "...in the smartphone category, the state of Maryland came out on top with 48 percent more households owning at least one such handset than elsewhere in the country. ... In iPad use, the state of New York took top honors. According to the survey, 52 percent more households have at least one iPad in the Empire State. ... Massachusetts beat out the rest of the nation in e-reader adoption..."
Toshiba Intros Trilingual Translation App For Cellphones 44
MojoKid writes "Shortly after hearing of a simple, two-way Spanish-to-English translator for the iPhone, Toshiba has announced that it has developed a new language translation system that requires no server-side interaction. The app is designed to be operated independently on a smartphone, which will eliminate costly data roaming fees that are generally incurred using systems that require an internet connection to retrieve translations. The system is trilingual in nature and enables users to translate freely among Japanese, Chinese, and English."
Comment Re:Idiocy (Score 1) 676
The Japanese?
A lot of Koreans, Chinese and Brazilians have Japanese passports. Even a few 'westerners' do too.
Comment Re:Our body has a monitoring system built in (Score 2, Interesting) 330
You would be amazed how well many diabetics can tell their sugar level at any given moment. It doesn't take more than a month of measuring to learn that.
And you would also be amazed at how often people whose life depends on knowing their glucose levels get it wrong. I'm pretty good at estimating mine on the low (immediate danger) side, but not so good as estimating when my blood glucose is high (long term danger)side.
I'm surprised that the article doesn't mention continous blood glucose monitors which are already readily available - ok, you only implant them for 3-7 days at a time but that will get better. So instead of all the vapourware being mentioned in the article they could have talked about a product which is already here.
Comment Re:Home made thing. (Score 1) 240
If you're not very adventurous: Any computer. Any video conferencing software (such as Skype). VPN software (such as OpenVPN). VNC software (such as RealVNC). The best is if you get a computer where the screen and computer are in the same enclosure. You don't even hook up a keyboard or a rat. If something happens, you lgo on their desktop thru the VPN and VNC and click on Skype again or whatever.
This is pretty close to what we do. We have a mac mini hooked up to my inlaw's TV with a webcam on top. Skype and VNCServer is running on the mac (skype since we have a PC at our end). Whenever we want to talk we can VNC to the mac and start the conversation. My wife does it all the time and also uses it to show the inlaws photos from webalbums.
We also have a skype phone setup for those times that you just want to talk and can't be bother with the video link.
MIT Student Plans to Take on RIAA 169
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "MIT's online newspaper, The Tech, reports that a student named as a John Doe by the RIAA is planning to fight back against their questionable legal tactics. The anonymous student told The Tech that he is 'the victim of a fishing expedition by the RIAA,' and is 'disappointed that MIT isn't going to step up ... Other schools like Boston University and the University of Oregon have resisted RIAA subpoenas of student records more actively than MIT has, he said'. Maybe his attorneys will be able to get some assistance from some of the Harvard Law School students in Professor Nesson's 'Evidence' class, who have been assigned — as part of their coursework — the drafting of a motion to quash an RIAA subpoena."
Submission + - Australian Govt wants mandatory net censorship (techcrunch.com)
ghostcorps writes: Say hello to our shiny new Government. The more things change the more they stay the same."
"To be censored by the Australian Government is "pornography and inappropriate material." X rated pornography is illegal online in Australia, as are casino style internet gambling, certain forms of "hate" speech and R rated computer games.
As recently as the week prior to the election, Labor Party candidates were telling those concerned about the proposed law that the censorship wouldn't be compulsory, and that the "clean feed" would be opt-in, not opt-out. Today's announcement by Telecommunications Minister Stephen Conroy states that the censorship regime will be mandatory, although people will be able to opt-out of it. The problem of course then becomes if you opt-out questions will be asked as to why you want out, which in itself may lead to Government monitoring.
"To be censored by the Australian Government is "pornography and inappropriate material." X rated pornography is illegal online in Australia, as are casino style internet gambling, certain forms of "hate" speech and R rated computer games.
As recently as the week prior to the election, Labor Party candidates were telling those concerned about the proposed law that the censorship wouldn't be compulsory, and that the "clean feed" would be opt-in, not opt-out. Today's announcement by Telecommunications Minister Stephen Conroy states that the censorship regime will be mandatory, although people will be able to opt-out of it. The problem of course then becomes if you opt-out questions will be asked as to why you want out, which in itself may lead to Government monitoring.
Submission + - Limewire On One-Third Of All PCs WorldWide (fastsilicon.com)
mrneutron2003 writes: "Though not exactly a new story, eMediaWire put out a press release earlier this month on a survey conducted by Digital Music News and BigChampagne regarding the market penetration of the big kahuna of p2p applications, Limewire. From a survey sample of 1.66 million desktops worldwide they found Limewire present on 36.4% of all PC's in the survey.
It's an impressive statistic when you think about it. This is higher per-seat penetration than Firefox, Windows Vista, or a host of other big name applications that get alot more attention from the press and industry.
The report noted that market penetration this year compared to last year however only grew by a scant 2.3%. Whether this is due to market saturation issues, or the legal climate of late is hard to discern. Still with numbers like that, it's no wonder the RIAA is hounding Limewire LLC like there's no tomorrow. That is one heck of a "captive market" they don't want competition from.
It is becoming increasingly clear however that the industry is beginning to wake up to the futility here, what with EMI and a few other labels beginning to distance themselves financially from the RIAA and the IFPI, Warner's DRM free deal with Amazon, so on and so forth. We doubt the RIAA has the support of it's label partners to the extent of being able to sue a third of the earths PC users. The labels are slowly beginning to see how fruitless that tactic is, and we doubt they'll support pouring what's left of their dwindling margins into that money pit.
The fact that an estimated third of the pc connected human race is technically breaking the law is the big statistical "WOO HOO!" here, but hardly the real issue being dealt with. The real battle is about who's in charge. And it's safe to say that individuals using Limewire, and Limewire LLC itself, are the ones holding the cards that count.
http://www.fastsilicon.com/off-the-wall/limewire-on-one-third-of-all-pcs-worldwide.html"
It's an impressive statistic when you think about it. This is higher per-seat penetration than Firefox, Windows Vista, or a host of other big name applications that get alot more attention from the press and industry.
The report noted that market penetration this year compared to last year however only grew by a scant 2.3%. Whether this is due to market saturation issues, or the legal climate of late is hard to discern. Still with numbers like that, it's no wonder the RIAA is hounding Limewire LLC like there's no tomorrow. That is one heck of a "captive market" they don't want competition from.
It is becoming increasingly clear however that the industry is beginning to wake up to the futility here, what with EMI and a few other labels beginning to distance themselves financially from the RIAA and the IFPI, Warner's DRM free deal with Amazon, so on and so forth. We doubt the RIAA has the support of it's label partners to the extent of being able to sue a third of the earths PC users. The labels are slowly beginning to see how fruitless that tactic is, and we doubt they'll support pouring what's left of their dwindling margins into that money pit.
The fact that an estimated third of the pc connected human race is technically breaking the law is the big statistical "WOO HOO!" here, but hardly the real issue being dealt with. The real battle is about who's in charge. And it's safe to say that individuals using Limewire, and Limewire LLC itself, are the ones holding the cards that count.
http://www.fastsilicon.com/off-the-wall/limewire-on-one-third-of-all-pcs-worldwide.html"
Submission + - Final Windows Vista SP1 Changelog (microsoft.com)
Ant writes: "BetaNews shares the final Windows Vista Service Pack/SP1 changelog that shows improved startup repair tool, media throttling, etc."
Submission + - Cisco's biggest acquisitions of 2007 (networkworld.com)
whitehartstag writes: Cisco made 11 acquisitions this year culminating in 126 purchases since Cisco's birth. It made three more acquisitions than it did last year, when it spent a measly $256 million buying ho-hum technologies. This year was different, not only in the sheer dollar size of some acquisitions, but also because of the breadth of technologies it acquired. From social networks to broadband wireless, Network World takes a look at Cisco's top-six acquisitions of 2007, and discusses what Cisco should have bought and what Cisco may be looking to buy in 2008.
Submission + - "Open source" MP3 player requires propriet (makezine.com)
nil0lab writes: Make Magazine's store is offering a so-called "Open Source MP3 Player" that upon further inspection turns out to require a proprietary compiler- the "More info & specs here" page offers "The hex files, if you can't afford to buy the compiler."
I normally like Make Magazine, and O'Reilly, their publishers, but I think here they are taking a bit of a liberty with the term "open source".
I normally like Make Magazine, and O'Reilly, their publishers, but I think here they are taking a bit of a liberty with the term "open source".
