Comment Stratasys just bought Objet (Score 1) 289
It was finalised yesterday:
http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000803148
I guess that means they'll have to get another printer in a few days.
The iPhone Is a Nightmare For Carriers 438
New submitter HungryMonkey writes "According to the latest EBITDA numbers from AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon, the subsidies they have to pay Apple in order to carry the iPhone are drastically reducing their profits. From the Article: '"A logical conclusion is that the iPhone is not good for wireless carriers," says Mike McCormack, an analyst at Nomura Securities. "When we look at the direct and indirect economics that Apple has managed to extract from the carriers, the carrier-level value destruction is quite evident."' So one money sucking leech has attached itself to another money sucking leech?"
MRI Powered Pill-Sized Robot Swims Through Intestines 98
kkleiner writes "Researchers from Tel Aviv University in Israel and Brigham & Women's Hospital in Boston have collaborated to create a robot that can swim through the intestines. The size of a large pill, the 'microswimmer' is powered by the strong magnetic fields generated by an MRI machine. A tail measuring 20mm x 5mm made of copper and flexible polymer vibrates due to the magnets and propels the little microrobot through the gut."
Comment Re:Run to the USA to fund the murder of the purps? (Score 4, Interesting) 422
US FMF grants to Israel in 2011, divided by the population of Israel in 2011, ends up as $384 per capita. The 2011 US budget, divided by the population of the US in 2011, ends up as $11,897 per capita. That's ignoring the fact that Israel has to spend the FMF money in the USA, in effect subsidising the American military-industrial complex.
Protip: Don't post bullshit pseudo-statistics to Slashdot - we guys love our calculators.
Comment A link to the paper (Score 1) 44
Comment The Mossad's web site is unclassified (Score 1) 152
It's just a front end for their recruiting staff. They post wanted ads there - and then advertise the same ads in Israeli newspapers.
Better Copyright Through Fair Use and Ponies 169
Balinares writes "With even harmless parody sites like Peanutweeter now getting shut down by twitchy lawyers in the name of brand dilution concerns, the situation with fair use has become bleak. Yet some companies are learning at last. Variery reports that when parodies of their latest production started popping up online, Hasbro not only allowed it to happen, but started contributing some of their own. Now their My Little Pony reboot has gained a huge following and reached cult status. Fair use does make everything better. That, or it's the ponies."
Pastafarian Wins Right To Wear Colander In License Photo 689
gregmon writes "An Austrian follower of the Flying Spaghetti Monster has finally won the right to don the religious headgear of his choosing (a spaghetti strainer) in his driving license photo. After a three year battle with the un-enlightened Austrian authorities, Niko Aim can now wear his colander in all official photos."
Star Wars Landspeeders Are Here 112
smitty777 writes "All you Jedis can stop building fake landspeeders in your driveway now — the real deal is finally here. Wired is reporting on an Israeli company that has been testing one for use as an ambulance called the AirMule. Watch out, Womp Rats."
Comment Re:nothing ironic about it (Score 1) 609
The obvious thing would be for Israel to pay for the entire trip, including the trip to the Palestinian territories. That would be the obvious, right and peaceful thing to do. Apparently, Israel isn't interested in that.
I hope Israel will turn around and do the right thing.
http://hamakor.org.il/pipermail/discussions/2011-May/003030.html
Upscaling Retro 8-Bit Pixel Art To Vector Graphics 325
An anonymous reader writes "Two researchers — Johannes Kopf from Microsoft, and Dani Lischinski from The Hebrew University — have successfully created an algorithm that depixelizes and upscales low-resolution 8-bit 'pixel art' into lush vector graphics. The algorithm identifies pixel-level details (original paper — PDF) to accurately shade the new image — but more importantly, the algorithm can create smooth, curved contour lines from only-connected-on-the-diagonal single pixels. At long last, we might be able to play Super Mario Bros. on a big screen without stretching our beloved plumber's pixels to breaking point. You really must look at the sample images." Scroll down in the paper to see how their technique stacks up against some others, including Adobe's Live Trace.
Comment Article seems slightly inaccurate (Score 1) 89
The article talks about R2010b, which isn't out yet. R2010a (which *is* out), supports parallel processing pretty well (I use it constantly), but not exactly "natively" - you have to pay extra for an option called the "Parallel Computing Toolbox" which also gives you sweet stuff like multicore, HPC and so on.
Berners-Lee: Web Access Is a 'Human Right' 480
jbrodkin writes "Two decades after creating the World Wide Web, Tim Berners-Lee says humans have become so reliant on it that access to the Web should now be considered a basic right. In a speech at an MIT symposium, Berners-Lee compared access to the Web with access to water. 'Access to the Web is now a human right,' he said. 'It's possible to live without the Web. It's not possible to live without water. But if you've got water, then the difference between somebody who is connected to the Web and is part of the information society, and someone who (is not) is growing bigger and bigger.'"
Phony Web Certs Issued For Google, Yahoo, Skype 151
Gunkerty Jeb writes "A major issuer of secure socket layer (SSL) certificates acknowledged on Wednesday that it had issued 9 fraudulent SSL certificates to seven Web domains, including those for Google.com, Yahoo.com and Skype.com following a security compromise at an affiliate firm. The attack originated from an IP address in Iran, according to a statement from Comodo Inc."
Facebook Acquires Feature Phone App Maker Snaptu 62
Krystalo writes "Facebook has agreed to acquire Snaptu, an Israeli startup that makes Java-based feature phone apps, for an estimated $70 million. The acquisition, for which neither company would reveal financial details, is expected to close within a few weeks. Earlier this year, Facebook worked with the mobile development firm to build a feature phone app that is accessible free of data charges in various overseas markets. The company says the Facebook for Feature Phones app currently works on more than 2,500 devices."
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