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Comment Re:An appropriate quote seems to be... (Score 1) 775

by J3TP4CKKN1GHT5 (#32819486) Attached to: Microsoft Out of Favor With Young, Hip Developers

First they ignore you. Then they ridicule you. Then they fight you. Then you win.

-- Ghandi.

The Ghandi quote, when applied to Microsoft, appears to be backwards. They once seemed to be winning, then open source brought the fight to them. Open source has been ridiculing them for some time now, and as per the article, it is time to sit back and ignore them. Or am I getting your intention backwards, with Microsoft being "they" and open source being "you"? In that case, I'd say Microsoft is thinking step 3, when we're actually already at step 4.

Comment Re:Science or Engineering, huh? (Score 2, Informative) 434

by J3TP4CKKN1GHT5 (#32302768) Attached to: Most Useful OS For High-School Science Education?
The question is asking about a high school district, meaning 1) most of these students, no matter how gifted, are not doing the same thing now as they will be doing, and 2) we are talking about a significant number of students, with at least some variation. So it doesn't matter specifically what kind of science and engineering, we're looking for the best general answer. As someone who took the science route, I will let the engineers debate the IT side. But I can say that my lab uses a mix of XP, Windows 7 and OS 10.6, and that either OS can be used effectively to teach. The main difference will be applications, so the best bet would be to choose the option that allowed the students access to the best and most varied access to applications
Image

Scientists Implant Biofuel Cells Into Rats 164

Posted by samzenpus from the welcome-to-the-matrix dept.
RedmondChris writes "A team of scientists from Joseph Fourier University in France have successfully implanted biofuel cells into rats, generating 6.5 microwatts by harnessing the power of glucose. From the article: 'The device uses enzymes to harvest energy from glucose and oxygen found naturally in the body. Past attempts at using such a device in animals have failed because the enzymes have required acidic conditions or were inhibited by charged particles in the fluid surrounding cells. But Philippe Cinquin and his team from Joseph Fourier University in Grenoble, France, overcame these obstacles by confining selected enzymes inside graphite discs that were placed into dialysis bags. Glucose and oxygen flowed into the device, but enzymes stayed in place and catalyzed the oxidation of glucose to generate electrical energy.'"
Canada

Cheap Cancer Drug Finally Tested In Humans 363

Posted by timothy from the good-enough-for-the-likes-of-you dept.
John Bayko writes "Mentioned on Slashdot a couple of years ago, the drug dichloroacetate (DCA) has finally finished its first clinical trial against brain tumors in humans. Drug companies weren't willing to test a drug they could not patent, so money was raised in the community through donations, auctions, and finally government support, but the study was still limited to five patients. It showed extremely positive results in four of them. This episode raises the question of what happens to all the money donated to Canadian and other cancer societies, and especially the billions spent buying merchandise with little pink ribbons on it, if not to actual cancer research like this."
Wikipedia

Wikipedia Is Not Amused By Entry For xkcd-Coined Word 553

Posted by timothy from the didn't-confuse-me-for-one-frobnitzjibber dept.
ObsessiveMathsFreak writes "Today's xkcd comic introduced an unusual word — malamanteau — by giving its supposed definition on Wikipedia. The only trouble is that the word (as well as its supposed wiki page) did not in fact exist. Naturally, much ado ensued at the supposed wiki page, which was swiftly created in response to the comic. This article has more on how the comic and the confusion it caused have put the Net in a tizzy. It turns out that a malamanteau is a portmanteau of portmanteau and malapropism, but also a malapropism of portmanteau. All this puts Wikipedia in the confusing position of not allowing a page for an undefined word whose meaning is defined via the Wikipedia page for that word — and now I have to lie down for a moment."
Image

Recession Cuts Operation That Uses Hair To Clean Up Oil 119

Posted by samzenpus from the hair-today-gone-tomorrow dept.
Matter of Trust, a nonprofit that uses human hair scraps to make mats to clean up oil spills, finds itself with 18,000 pounds of hair and nobody to process it. Lisa Gautier, who runs the organization, says that the recession has closed many of the textile makers that produced the mats and the warehouse that stored them. Unfortunately for Lisa the hair keeps piling up. From the article: "Hair is good at soaking up oil because, up close, the strands are shaped like a palm tree with scalelike cuticles. Drops of oil naturally cling inside those cuticles, says Blair Blacker, chief executive of the World Response Group. A pound of hair can pick up one quart of oil in a minute, and it can be wrung out and reused up to 100 times, Mrs. Gautier says."
Earth

Japanese Researchers Make Plastic Out of Water 117

Posted by timothy from the what's-kanji-for-boffin? dept.
greenrainbow writes with this excerpt from Inhabit: "The material shown in the picture above is just ice, right? Look again. Elastic water, a new substance invented by researchers at Tokyo University, is a jelly-like substance made up of 95% water along with two grams of clay and a small amount of organic materials. As is, the all-natural substance is perfect for medical procedures, because it's made of water, poses no harm to people, and is perfect for mending tissue. And, if the research team can increase the density of this exciting new substance, it could be used in place of our current oil-based plastics for a host of other things."

Comment Re:Is it actually environmentally friendly? (Score 1) 206

by J3TP4CKKN1GHT5 (#32051188) Attached to: Purple Pokeberries Yield Cheap Solar Power
I was attempting to point out a flaw in the article, not complain about the development/innovation. These articles often fluff up the green aspect without addressing any of the negatives. That, and I was also curious about PV impact, but I should've made that more clear. Oh, and what alternatives are you talking about that are less environmentally friendly than lead coated in a mercury/innocent blood mixture? Cause, well, that seems pretty bad to me.

Comment Is it actually environmentally friendly? (Score 1) 206

by J3TP4CKKN1GHT5 (#32046206) Attached to: Purple Pokeberries Yield Cheap Solar Power
While this sounds like a win-win, environmentally speaking (renewable energy using renewable plant materials) and TFA uses the term "environmentally friendly," it doesn't address whether the fiber based cells are using traditional photovoltaic material. If they are, there's still going to be a significant initial environmental negative, because AFAIK, photovoltaics are still pretty messy to produce. Though, if the new cells are cheaper and more efficient as the article says, it's still an improvement, albeit not a perfectly green one.
Robotics

Lego Robot Solves Bigger and Harder Rubik's Cubes 63

Posted by samzenpus from the version-2.0 dept.
kkleiner writes "It was only two months ago that we saw Mike Dobson's Cube Stormer Lego robot that could solve any 3x3 Rubik's cube in less than 12 seconds. You would think that there was only one person in the world crazy enough and talented enough to pull this off, but now we have found someone else that is just as amazing. The latest Rubik's cube-solving Lego monstrosity is called the MultiCuber, and although it's constructed out of nothing but Mindstorms components and a laptop, it can solve 2×2, 3×3, 4×4, and 5×5 cubes all in the same build! As if that weren't enough, a larger version solves the dreaded 6×6 Rubik's. We discovered the MultiCuber when its creator, David Gilday (IAssemble), wrote us an email to brag about its puzzle-solving might. Consider us impressed, sir."
Earth

Government Approves First US Offshore Wind Farm 432

Posted by samzenpus from the blow-baby-blow dept.
RobotRunAmok writes "In a groundbreaking decision that some say will usher in a new era of clean energy, US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said today he was approving the nation's first offshore wind farm, the controversial Cape Wind project off of Cape Cod. The project has undergone years of environmental review and political maneuvering, including opposition from the late Senator Edward M. Kennedy, whose home overlooks Nantucket Sound, and from Wampanoag Indian tribes who complained that the 130 turbines, which would stand more than 400 feet above the ocean surface, would disturb spiritual sun greetings and possibly ancestral artifacts and burial grounds on the seabed. But George Bachrach, president of the Environmental League of Massachusetts, hailed the decision, saying it was 'a critical step toward ending our reliance on foreign oil and achieving energy independence.'"
Cellphones

Submission + - Biggest study on cellphone health effects launched (itnews.com.au)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The biggest study to date into the effects of cellphone usage on long-term health was launched today, aiming to track at least a quarter of a million of people in five European countries for up to 30 years. The Cohort Study on Mobile Communications (COSMOS) differs from previous attempts to examine links between mobile phone use and diseases such as cancer and neurological disorders in that it will follow users' behaviour in real time. Most other large-scale studies have centred around asking people already suffering from cancer or other diseases about their previous cellphone use. Researchers said long-term monitoring will provide more time for diseases to develop, since many cancers take 10 or 15 years for symptoms to appear.
Input Devices

World's Fastest Robot Versus the Wiimote 92

Posted by timothy from the skynet-will-remember-your-taunting dept.
kkleiner writes "Adept's Quattro, a placement and sorting arm, took the title of fastest robot last year, but it was only recently during National Robotics Week that it met its most gruesome opponents: nerds with Wiimotes. Visitors tried to keep the Quattro from placing and sorting on a small mechanized platform by moving it using the Nintendo video controller. The bottom line is that when it comes to simplified and repetitive tasks there's really no beating robotic prowess."
Robotics

Submission + - World’s Fastest Robot Versus The Wiimote (singularityhub.com)

Submitted by kkleiner
kkleiner writes: Adept’s Quattro, a placement and sorting arm, took the title of fastest robot last year, but it was only recently during National Robotics Week that it met its most gruesome opponents: nerds with Wiimotes. Visitors tried to keep the Quattro from placing and sorting on a small mechanized platform by moving it using the Nintendo video controller. The bottom line is that when it comes to simplified and repetitive tasks there’s really no beating robotic prowess.
Education

3rd Grader Accused of Hacking Schools' Computer System 344

Posted by samzenpus from the give-that-kid-a-gold-star dept.
Gud writes "According to The Washington Post a 9-year-old was able to hack into his county's school computer network and change such things as passwords, course work, and enrollment info. From the article: 'Police say a 9-year-old McLean boy hacked into the Blackboard Learning System used by the county school system to change teachers' and staff members' passwords, change or delete course content, and change course enrollment. One of the victims was Fairfax Superintendent Jack D. Dale, according to an affidavit filed by a Fairfax detective in Fairfax Circuit Court this week. But police and school officials decided no harm, no foul. The boy did not intend to do any serious damage, and didn't, so the police withdrew and are allowing the school district to handle the half-grown hacker.'"

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