acscherp - Slashdot User

Periodic Table Gets a New, Unnamed Element 461

Posted by CmdrTaco on Thursday June 11, 2009 @10:37AM from the so-many-ideas dept.

koavf writes "More than a decade after experiments first produced a single atom of 'super-heavy' element 112, a team of German scientists has been credited with its discovery, but it has yet to be named. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry has temporarily named the element ununbium, as 'ununbi' means 'one one two' in Latin; but the team now has the task of proposing its official name." Slashdotium? Taconium? Man, I shoulda gone into science so I could have named something sweet that kids have to memorize in classes.

New Display Keeps an Eye On the Viewer 61

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday June 06, 2009 @05:11AM from the apparently-it-watches-the-watchers dept.

Al writes "Researchers at Fraunhofer Institute for Photonic Microsystems (IPMS) have developed an OLED display that doubles as a camera. The idea is to use it in lightweight heads-up displays that track users' eye movements, affording some form of gaze-control. The researchers will demonstrate a prototype at the Society for Information Display conference in San Antonio this week. The current version has a simple monochromatic display: it is 1.25 centimeters on each side, with a resolution of 320 by 240 pixels. The team at Fraunhofer IPMS has also partnered with Novaled, an OLED company that manufactures high-quality white diodes, and plans to make color prototypes using the technology."

UPS Using Software To Eliminate Left Turns 511

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday December 12, 2007 @11:20AM from the you-can't-get-there-from-here dept.

cybermage writes "The NY Times has a story about UPS using software to dramatically reduce the number of left turns their drivers take. With a fleet of vehicles their size, the time and money saved by pre-planning routes that try to eliminate left turns means big savings." Some CS major probably figured this out instead of traveling salesman.

Microsoft Giving Away Vista Ultimate, With a Catch 495

Posted by kdawson on Wednesday December 12, 2007 @12:48AM from the no-free-lunch dept.

Opinari writes "In case you haven't heard, Microsoft is giving away copies of Windows Vista Ultimate (32-bit or 64-bit DVD), Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007, Microsoft Money Plus Premium, Microsoft Student with Encarta Premium 2008, or Microsoft Streets and Trips 2008 — you can choose any one. The caveat is that you have to let them monitor your use of the program."

ISP Inserting Content Into Users' Webpages 396

Posted by kdawson on Wednesday December 12, 2007 @12:48AM from the not-neutrality dept.

geekmansworld, among other readers, lets us know that the Canadian ISP Rogers is inserting data into the HTTP streams returned by the Web sites requested by its customers. According to a CBC article, Rogers admits to modifying customers' HTTP data, but says they are merely "trying different things" and testing the customer response.

Comment Internet TV (Score 1) 91

by acscherp on Sunday June 17, 2007 @02:22PM (#19542501) Attached to: The End of Broadcast TV as We Know It?

In 10 years, internet television is the major content source in the world. While projects like FreeVo and MythTV provide open DVR functionality, I think the future of television lies more in projects like Democracy (although it's a desktop app) and ToxTox, which aims to be an open internet television "browser". Just like Firefox did, I hope projects like these will open up the walled gardens of settop boxes.

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