Comment Re:Welcome back. (Score 2, Funny) 142
Comcast has been throttling his posts... This is the first to get through ;)
Submission + - Apples first iPhone (1983, never seen pictures)
Gary writes: "The famous Apple-designer Hartmut Esslinger who designed Apple IIc, shows partly never before seen Apple-Designs of the early 80s. Among them is the first ever iPhone designed way back in 1983."
Submission + - MS strikes GPLv3 from Linspire deal
rs232 writes: ""Microsoft says software that's licensed under GPLv3 isn't covered by the patent protection deal it recently signed with desktop Linux distributor Linspire"
http://www.informationweek.com/windows/showArticle .jhtml?articleID=201001836
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Did the original patent deal with Linspire explicidly mention GPLv3 and if not can they retrospectivly rewrite the terms of the license. If so what good is it?
http://www.groklaw.net/articlebasic.php?story=2007 0614085735536"
http://www.informationweek.com/windows/showArticl
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Did the original patent deal with Linspire explicidly mention GPLv3 and if not can they retrospectivly rewrite the terms of the license. If so what good is it?
http://www.groklaw.net/articlebasic.php?story=200
Submission + - Does Comcast hate Firefox? (blorge.com)
destinyland writes: "Comcast is the largest ISP in America. And they're requiring Internet Explorer for installations — even if you're using a Mac. The Comcast homepage even species that the page is optimized for IE 5.5 (which was released in 2000), and "is not optimized for Firefox browsers and Macs." With 13 million subscribers, you'd think they could spring for a web developer who could handle multiple browsers. (From the last line of the article: "I'm afraid to ask how Comcast handles Linux...""
Submission + - Patent Lawsuit - Providing Photos via a Network
An anonymous reader writes: from http://www.setexasrecord.com/news/196764-recent-pa tentcopyright-infringement-cases-filed-in-u.s.-dis trict-court
Plaintiff Peter Wolf claims he owns the rights to U.S. Patent No. 7,047,214 for "Process for Providing Event Photographs for Inspection and Distribution Via a Computer Network." The process allows photo proofs to be viewed and ordered online. He is suing Brightroom, Island Photography, Bird's Eye View, Digilabs, Printroom, SmugMug and Master Photos for infringement on the patented process.
Edward Goldstein of Houston is representing Wolf.
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge David Folsom
Case No. 2:07-cv-00238-DF
Plaintiff Peter Wolf claims he owns the rights to U.S. Patent No. 7,047,214 for "Process for Providing Event Photographs for Inspection and Distribution Via a Computer Network." The process allows photo proofs to be viewed and ordered online. He is suing Brightroom, Island Photography, Bird's Eye View, Digilabs, Printroom, SmugMug and Master Photos for infringement on the patented process.
Edward Goldstein of Houston is representing Wolf.
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge David Folsom
Case No. 2:07-cv-00238-DF
Submission + - Google Checkout Party Canceled Due to eBay Pressur
andyteleco writes: Here's a little episode from the money-makes-the-world-go-round department. Google on Monday announced an alternative Google Checkout party with free food & massages at the side of an eBay event — likely to lure away sellers (Checkout is a competitor to eBay-owned PayPal):
Are you an online seller attending eBay Live! in Boston this week? If so, join us for a celebration of user choice at the Google Checkout Freedom Party on Thursday night
This didn't bode so well with eBay, who, according to Valleywag, reacted by withdrawing AdWords ads on Google. And now, in a new blog post Google says that after "speaking with officials at eBay, we ... agreed that it was better for us not to feature this event." (The post doesn't elaborate on the reasons, except that Google "did not want to detract from" the eBay Live event — as often with official company blogs, they hide more than they reveal when it comes to sensitive issues.)
From: http://blog.outer-court.com/archive/2007-06-13.htm l#n11
Submission + - Invisible Dark Matter Galaxy Detected
gchat writes: A very interesting story from Universetoday states:
An international team of astronomers have conclusive new evidence that a recently discovered "dark galaxy" is, in fact, an object the size of a galaxy, made entirely of dark matter. Although the object, named VIRGOHI21, has been observed since 2000, astronomers have been slowly ruling out every alternative explanation. In a new research paper, entitled 21-cm synthesis observations of VIRGOHI 21 — a possible dark galaxy in the Virgo Cluster, a possible dark galaxy in the Virgo Cluster/URL>, researchers provide updated evidence about this mysterious galaxy. They have now performed a high resolution observations of VIRGOHI21 using the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT), to better pin down the quantities of neutral hydrogen gas. They also did followup observations with the Hubble Space Telescope, looking for any evidence of stars. Astronomers first suspected there was an invisible galaxy out there when they spied galaxy NGC 4254. This unusual-looking galaxy appears to be one partner in a cosmic collision. All the normal evidence is there: gas is being siphoned away into a tenuous stream, and one of its spiral arms is being stretched out. But the other partner in this collision is nowhere to be seen. The researchers' calculated that an object with 100 billion solar masses must have careened past NGC 4254 within the last 100 million years, creating the gas stream, and tearing at one of its arms. This was the clue that an invisible dark matter galaxy might be lurking nearby. A detailed search turned up a mysterious object called VIRGOHI21, located about 50 million light-years from Earth. Were it a normal galaxy, you would be able to see it in a powerful amateur telescope. But there's nothing there. Even in the Hubble Space Telescope, not a single star is shining from this massive region of space. It was only visible in radio telescopes, which could detect the radio emissions from neutral hydrogen gas located in the cloud. When they first published their research a few years ago, the astronomy community was understandably skeptical, and proposed several alternative theories to explain the mysterious object. For example, there could be additional mass associated with VIRGOHI21, and not just dark matter. The discovery of red giant stars in the region would give some indication that this was a more normal interaction. But Hubble turned up nothing. Dr. Robert Minchin, lead researcher from the Arecibo Observatory, said, "not even the power of Hubble has been able to see any stars in it." It's possible that VIRGOHI21 has always been this way, formed from primordial dark matter and neutral hydrogen after the Big Bang. It's been cruising the Universe ever since, disrupting galaxies as it goes. However, there do seem to be ways that galaxies and their dark matter can be separated. Only a few months ago, a ring of dark matter was found surrounding a group of colliding galaxy clusters by the Hubble Space Telescope. Perhaps VIRGOHI21 is the wreckage from one of these cluster collisions; a shred of dark matter hurled out into space. It could be that there are many of these dark galaxies out there. A new sky survey, carried out with the 305-metre (1000-foot) Aricebo radio telescope in Puerto Rico should tease out more of these objects in the future. The survey is called the Arecibo Galaxy Environment Survey (AGES). This most recent paper has been accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal.
An international team of astronomers have conclusive new evidence that a recently discovered "dark galaxy" is, in fact, an object the size of a galaxy, made entirely of dark matter. Although the object, named VIRGOHI21, has been observed since 2000, astronomers have been slowly ruling out every alternative explanation. In a new research paper, entitled 21-cm synthesis observations of VIRGOHI 21 — a possible dark galaxy in the Virgo Cluster, a possible dark galaxy in the Virgo Cluster/URL>, researchers provide updated evidence about this mysterious galaxy. They have now performed a high resolution observations of VIRGOHI21 using the Westerbork Synthesis Radio Telescope (WSRT), to better pin down the quantities of neutral hydrogen gas. They also did followup observations with the Hubble Space Telescope, looking for any evidence of stars. Astronomers first suspected there was an invisible galaxy out there when they spied galaxy NGC 4254. This unusual-looking galaxy appears to be one partner in a cosmic collision. All the normal evidence is there: gas is being siphoned away into a tenuous stream, and one of its spiral arms is being stretched out. But the other partner in this collision is nowhere to be seen. The researchers' calculated that an object with 100 billion solar masses must have careened past NGC 4254 within the last 100 million years, creating the gas stream, and tearing at one of its arms. This was the clue that an invisible dark matter galaxy might be lurking nearby. A detailed search turned up a mysterious object called VIRGOHI21, located about 50 million light-years from Earth. Were it a normal galaxy, you would be able to see it in a powerful amateur telescope. But there's nothing there. Even in the Hubble Space Telescope, not a single star is shining from this massive region of space. It was only visible in radio telescopes, which could detect the radio emissions from neutral hydrogen gas located in the cloud. When they first published their research a few years ago, the astronomy community was understandably skeptical, and proposed several alternative theories to explain the mysterious object. For example, there could be additional mass associated with VIRGOHI21, and not just dark matter. The discovery of red giant stars in the region would give some indication that this was a more normal interaction. But Hubble turned up nothing. Dr. Robert Minchin, lead researcher from the Arecibo Observatory, said, "not even the power of Hubble has been able to see any stars in it." It's possible that VIRGOHI21 has always been this way, formed from primordial dark matter and neutral hydrogen after the Big Bang. It's been cruising the Universe ever since, disrupting galaxies as it goes. However, there do seem to be ways that galaxies and their dark matter can be separated. Only a few months ago, a ring of dark matter was found surrounding a group of colliding galaxy clusters by the Hubble Space Telescope. Perhaps VIRGOHI21 is the wreckage from one of these cluster collisions; a shred of dark matter hurled out into space. It could be that there are many of these dark galaxies out there. A new sky survey, carried out with the 305-metre (1000-foot) Aricebo radio telescope in Puerto Rico should tease out more of these objects in the future. The survey is called the Arecibo Galaxy Environment Survey (AGES). This most recent paper has been accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal.
Submission + - Amazing Cancer Drug Found; Scientist Annoyed.
sporkme writes: "A scientist was frustrated when the compound she was working with destroyed her sample of cancer cells. Further research revealed that the substance was surprisingly well suited as a cancer treatment. From the article:
Lab test results on hapless mice have resulted in the destruction of colon tumors without making the mice sick. The PPAR-gamma compound is expected to be especially useful in combating treatment-resistant types of cancer.""I made a calculation error and used a lot more than I should have. And my cells died," Schaefer said. A colleague overheard her complaining. "The co-author on my paper said,' Did I hear you say you killed some cancer?' I said 'Oh', and took a closer look." They ran several tests and found the compound killed "pretty much every epithelial tumor cell lines we have seen."
