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Earth

The Story of My As-Yet-Unverified Impact Crater 250

Posted by Soulskill from the dent-in-the-world dept.
tetrahedrassface writes "When I was very young, my dad took me on a trip to his parents' farm. He wanted to show me 'The Crater.' We walked a long way through second generation hardwoods and finally stood on the rim of a hole that has no equal in this area. As I grew up, I became more interested in The Crater, and would always tell friends about it. It is roughly 1,200 feet across and 120 feet deep, and has a strange vibe about it. When you walk up to it, you feel like something really big happened here. Either the mother of all caves is down there, or a large object smashed into this place a long, long time ago. I bought aerial photos when I was twelve and later sent images from GIS to a geologist at a local university. He pretty much laughed me out of his office, saying that it was a sinkhole. He did wish me luck, however. It may be sinkhole. Who knows? Last week I borrowed a metal detector and went poking around, and have found the strangest shrapnel pieces I have ever seen. They are composed of a metal that reacts strongly to acids. The largest piece so far reacted with tap water and dish-washing detergent. My second trip today yielded lots of strange new pieces of metal, and hopefully, one day the truth will be known. Backyard science is so much fun. And who knows; if it is indeed a cave, maybe Cerberus resides there."
Image

Criminal Photoshops Himself Into Charity Photos In Bid For Leniency 108

Posted by samzenpus from the shopping-daryl-in-a-crowded-theater dept.
38-year-old Daryl Simon decided it would be a good idea to submit fake pictures of himself at charity events, and forged letters of support from various charitable organizations to the court before he was sentenced for credit card fraud. Unfortunately for Daryl, he is as good at Photoshop as he is at credit card scams, and Judge Stephen Robinson was not amused. Simon was sentenced to 285-months in prison — 50 months more than the maximum under sentencing guidelines. From the article: "Daryl Simon's bald-faced move included sticking a picture of himself into a shot with a physical-therapy patient, then flipping the image and placing it next to a teen student. 'Evidence that his image was inserted and flipped can be seen by examining the single detail on his shirt above his fingers — that detail appears on the left side of the shirt in the top photograph, and on the right side of the shirt in the bottom photograph,' prosecutors wrote."
Image

Massive EU Program To Study Three-legged Dogs 85

Posted by samzenpus from the all-I-really-need-to-know-I-learned-from-a-three-legged-dog dept.
DMandPenfold writes "A multi-billion dollar European Union IT research fund will help study the behavior of three-legged dogs, it has been revealed. The fund will support extensive studies into how three-legged dogs move. There is a particular focus on how the dogs balance and function, given their missing limb."
Toys

Man Repairs Crumbling Walls With Legos 106

Posted by samzenpus from the one-block-at-a-time dept.
Lanxon writes "German-born artist Jan Vormann, 27, has spent the past three years traveling the world repairing crumbling walls and monuments with Lego, reports Wired. His "Dispatchwork" began in 2007 in the small village of Bocchignano, Italy, as part of the contemporary art festival 20 Eventi. Developing the work in situ, he became intrigued by the makeshift repairs that had been made to the crumbling walls. The approach favored function over appearance, reminding Vormann of the haphazard Lego designs created by children."
Image

Prince Says Internet Is Over 450

Posted by samzenpus from the it-was-fun-while-it-lasted dept.
the_arrow writes "According to the artist currently known as Prince, 'The internet's completely over.' At least that what he says in an interview with the British newspaper Mirror. Quoting Prince: 'The internet's like MTV. At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you.'"
Image

Verizon Charged Marine's Widow an Early Termination Fee 489

Posted by samzenpus from the literal-charges dept.
In a decision that was reversed as soon as someone with half a brain in their PR department learned about it, Verizon charged a widow a $350 early termination fee. After the death of her marine husband, Michaela Brummund decided to move back to her home town to be with her family. Verizon doesn't offer any coverage in the small town so Michaela tried to cancel her contract, only to be hit with an early termination fee. From the article: "'I called them to cancel. I told them the situation with my husband. I even said I would provide a death certificate,' Michaela said."

Comment Re:Interesting but non-conclusive (Score 1) 133

by JJTJR (#32677184) Attached to: Nintendo 3DS GPU Revealed

I meant notionally, but that's very interesting. I didn't realize the top screen was doing 800*240 all the time regardless of whether it was in 3D mode or not. So this means the parallax barrier can be turned on/off? That's cool, do you have a link that talks about that?

Comment Re:Interesting but non-conclusive (Score 1) 133

by JJTJR (#32676352) Attached to: Nintendo 3DS GPU Revealed

Just to clarify, when you say 'twice' the resolution, you are talking the difference between 320x240 and 452x340 not the difference between 320x240 and 640x480 because that would actually require four times the computation since there would be four times the pixels. So not that this is the point but seems to me like you get more band for your buck going to 3D than going to the slightly higher 2D resolution for the same pixel fill rate.

Comment Re:Just as much right? (Score 1) 402

by JJTJR (#32617792) Attached to: Tornado Scientists Butt Heads With Storm Chasers

I somewhat agree but I do believe asshattery is not against the law. In which case, the scientists are really just complaining that people looking for excitement are getting in the way of science. If this is a legitimate safety problem then the scientists should be lobbying the relevant lawmakers to make it a punishable crime to drive towards a tornado unless you have a permit for scientific purposes. Then they should apply for and get said permits and then they would have ever right in the world to complain. Media stories of them complaining may set the ground work for this I guess but it comes off as a little whiny.

Comment How does this relate to the recent court ruling? (Score 2, Interesting) 323

by JJTJR (#32606480) Attached to: FCC Vote Marks Effort To Take Greater Control of the Web

The implications of this for net neutrality are important so I'm wondering how this effects the recent court ruling that stated the FCC didn't have the power to regulate them http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_15160454 Does this coming out of committee start the process that will allow a new law which will make the court ruling moot? If so, then hooray!

Comment Valid way to learn piano? (Score 1) 107

by JJTJR (#32604758) Attached to: <em>Rock Band 3</em> To Include MIDI Keyboard

So I've played piano for many years and what I find myself wondering is, does anyone learn to play piano in this manner, where the actual key to press is the visual cue instead of musical notes? There are many techniques/methods for learning piano and I cannot make up my mind if this is an approach that may translate into useful, valid, musical skills. Thoughts?
Crime

Geologists Might Be Charged For Not Predicting Quake 375

Posted by timothy from the google-will-no-doubt-be-found-at-fault dept.
mmmscience writes "In 2009, a series of small earthquakes shook the region of L'Aquila, Italy. Seismologists investigated the tremors, but concluded that there was no direct indication of a big quake on the horizon. Less than a month later, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake killed more than 300 people. Now, the chief prosecutor of L'Aquila is looking to charge the scientists with gross negligent manslaughter for not predicting the quake."
Image

The White House Listed On Real Estate Website 123

Posted by samzenpus from the been-for-sale-for-years dept.
Forget visiting the White House, if you have $10 million you can own it. At least that is the price for the president's home on the real estate website Redfin. From the article: "Obviously this is an error. It looks like Redfin software pulled an example listing from the website Owners.com by mistake. That example listing was the White House. We have e-mailed Redfin for comment." I know it's historic but it still looks a bit on the high side according to the comparables in the area.
Music

Rock Band 3 To Include MIDI Keyboard 107

Posted by Soulskill from the hey-guys-let's-get-some-of-that-innovation-in-here dept.
xbeefsupreme writes with news that Harmonix has officially demonstrated Rock Band 3's 25-key MIDI keyboard. From USA Today: "During the game, green, red, blue, yellow or orange keys flow on a 'stream' representing the notes to be played on five corresponding keyboard keys. In a new authentic Pro mode meant to help players segue to actual instruments, all 25 keys are used; the streams shifts left and right to cover the correct keys. The keyboard also works as a MIDI keyboard that can be connected to a computer. 'This is a real instrument and a real device,' says senior designer Sylvain Dubrofsky." The game will also support more advanced "real" guitar controllers, which have six actual strings you can strum. Hit the link below to see the keyboard in use.
Cellphones

Why Overheard Cell Phone Chats Are Annoying 344

Posted by timothy from the they-drown-out-the-bark-of-my-gun dept.
__roo writes "American researchers think they have found the answer to the question of why overhearing cell phone chats are annoying. According to scientists at Cornell University, when only half of the conversation is overheard, it drains more attention and concentration than when overhearing two people talking. According to one researcher, 'We have less control to move away our attention from half a conversation (or halfalogue) than when listening to a dialogue. Since halfalogues really are more distracting and you can't tune them out, this could explain why people are irritated.' Their study will be published in the journal Psychological Science."

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