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Submission + - High Fructose Corn Syrup Might Get A Makeover (time.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: With its sweetener linked to obesity, some cancers and diabetes, the Corn Refiners Association (CRA) doesn’t want you to think “fructose” when you see high fructose corn syrup in your soda, ketchup or pickles. Instead, the AP reports, the CRA submitted an application to the FDA today, hoping to change the name of their top-selling product to “corn sugar.”
Ubuntu

Submission + - Shuttleworth answers Ubuntu Linux's critics (itworld.com)

Submitted by
climenole
climenole writes: "Technoromancer wrote: "Mark Shuttleworth, Ubuntu Linux's founder, maintains that he and Ubuntu are doing right by the Linux community and the even larger open-source community. In recent weeks, Ubuntu has been criticized for not giving Linux enough support. Specifically, the complains have been that Canonical, the company behind Ubuntu, doesn't do enough for producing Linux source code.""

Submission + - Stuxnet Attacks Used 4 Windows Zero-Day Exploits

Submitted by abadnog
abadnog writes: The attackers behind the recent Stuxnet worm attack used four different zero-day security vulnerabilities to burrow into — and spread around — Microsoft’s Windows operating system, according to a startling disclosure from Microsoft. Two of the four vulnerabilities are still unpatched. Microsoft said the attackers initially targeted the old MS08-067 vulnerability (used in the Conficker attack), a new LNK (Windows Shortcut) flaw to launch exploit code on vulnerable Windows systems and a zero-day bug in the Print Spooler Service that makes it possible for malicious code to be passed to, and then executed on, a remote machine. The malware also exploited two different elevation of privilege holes to gain complete control over the affected system.
Image

Why You Never Ask the Designers For a Favor 238

Posted by samzenpus from the no-reward dept.
Usually there is nothing funny about a missing pet, but the tale of Missy the lost cat is hilarious. It serves as an example of just how clueless your fellow employees can be, and why you should never ask the designers to drop what they're doing, and help with a personal matter.
Image

San Francisco Made of Gelatin 1

Posted by samzenpus from the because-you-can dept.
An anonymous reader writes "In the pictures you will see the beautiful city of San Francisco made of nothing but jelly. This is the brain child of Liz Haycock and you cannot but be impressed by the myriad of colors and the pain that must have gone into this huge project."
Image

Darth Vader Robs Long Island Bank 190

Posted by samzenpus from the I-find-our-lack-of-funds-disturbing dept.
Apparently the destruction of the second Death Star has stretched the Galactic Empire's coffers so thin that Lord Vader himself is robbing banks. From the article: "Impotent Rebel Alliance security forces tell Newsday (paywall) that Vader marched into a Chase bank in Setauket around 11:30 a.m. today. Brandishing a completely unnecessary handgun — as he had the power to choke the oxygen out every teller's throat — the fallen Jedi demanded cash."
Toys

Submission + - Microfluidic Chips made with Shrinky Dinks

Submitted by
SoyChemist
SoyChemist writes: "When she started her job as a new professor at UC Merced, Michelle Khine was stuck without a clean room or semiconductor fabrication equipment, so she went MacGyver and started making Lab-on-a-Chip devices in her kitchen with Shrinky Dinks, a laser printer, and a toaster oven. She would print a negative image of the channels onto the polystyrene sheets and then make them smaller with heat. The miniaturized pattern served as a perfect mould for forming rounded, narrow channels in PDMS — a clear, synthetic rubber."
Wireless Networking

Submission + - BBC rules that Wi-Fi radiation findings were wrong 1

Submitted by Stony Stevenson
Stony Stevenson writes: A Panorama programme claiming that Wi-Fi creates three times as much radiation as mobile phone masts was "misleading", an official BBC complaints ruling has found. The team involved in the research came under fire from the school where the "investigations" were held for scaremongering, but now the BBC has come out with an official ruling.

"The programme included only one contributor (Professor Repacholi) who disagreed with Sir William, compared with three scientists and a number of other speakers (one of whom was introduced as a former cancer specialist) who seconded his concerns," the ruling said. "This gave a misleading impression of the state of scientific opinion on the issue." Stewart claimed in the programme to have found evidence that low-level radiation from devices such as mobile phones and Wi-Fi could damage health, and called for a review. The claims prompted a council body in north London to call for Wi-Fi use to be suspended in schools until an investigation had been carried out.

EA Says 'Next-Gen' Is 'Now-Gen' 181

Posted by Zonk from the didn't-know-they-were-the-official-scorekeepers dept.
Via GamesRadar, a Reuters report noting that the 'next generation' consoles are now more-or-less broken in. Sales for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii have transitioned to the point where software sales are going to be well worth the effort for development houses. "'[Black] Friday marked one of those points where you can say something's changed," [EA CEO Riccitiello] said. 'Around the world, based on the data I've got, it was pretty clear that the transition is now over. Key to that was Sony Corp's recent price cut for its PlayStation 3, which should ensure the struggling console hits the company's fiscal-year sales target of 11 million units.'"
Portables

Submission + - Fix that gadget or send it to the landfill? 3

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: There seems to be more attention being paid to fixing gadgets instead of sending them to the landfill. It may be because 10gb in your iPod is more than enough for any normal person, it may be a deep, abiding love for the environment or it may just be the price. The article mentions new sites like FixYa and old standbys like Macintouch . Practically every gadget has their own website devoted to helping owners help each other deal with problems that arise. I personally like AVS Forum for my living room needs.
Power

Submission + - Monitor draws zero power in standby

Submitted by
fifthace
fifthace writes: "A new range of Fujitsu Siemens monitors don't draw power during standby. The technology uses capacitors and relays to avoid drawing power when no video signal is present.

With political parties all over Europe calling for a ban on standby, this small development could end up as one of the most significant advances in recent times. The British Government estimates eight percent of all domestic electricity is consumed by devices in standby."
Robotics

Submission + - Robot becomes one of the kids in classroom study

Submitted by
An anonymous reader writes: Researchers have found that toddlers treat a small robot as a peer rather than a toy. A team from the University of California, San Diego, placed Sony's QRIO in a classroom of kids aged 18 months to 2 years and watched them interact. Over time the children grew to treat the robot as one of them — playing games with the robot, hugging it, and covering it up with a blanket when its batteries ran down. AWww..
Privacy

Submission + - AntiSocial Response to OpenSocial (beskerming.com)

Submitted by
SkiifGeek
SkiifGeek writes: "Microsoft employees have already openly criticised Google's OpenSocial initiative (covered here), and now there's news that one of the first OpenSocial applications, emote — by Plaxo, was hacked within 45 minutes of appearing on the net (it was subsequently pulled while Plaxo looked into fixing the holes). Although coding errors can happen to anyone, leaving evidence of lax programming discipline when all it takes to view your code is 'View Source' is poor form.

It seems that the battle lines have been drawn between Microsoft and Google through their social networking proxies, with Facebook getting ready to fire the next salvo in the social networking battle."

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