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Power

Submission + - MIT Unveils Sun-Free Photovoltaics (mit.edu)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Researchers at MIT just unveiled a new solar power generator that doesn't need sunlight to function. The button-sized power generator can tap energy from heat, the sun’s rays, a hydrocarbon fuel, or a decaying radioisotope, and it can run three times longer than a lithium-ion battery of the same weight. It is hoped that the technology may one day be used to generate power for spacecraft on long-term missions where sunlight may not be available.
Technology

Submission + - Kentucky Man Invents Bourbon Whisky Powered Car (ispyce.com) 1

Submitted by
autospa
autospa writes: "With fuel prices rising like they are going crazy, a man from Kentucky probably came up with what is thought to be a solution to gas prices of today. A 62 year-old man, Mickey Nilsson, of Bardstown, Kentucky, made a bourbon-powered junk car. He got the idea from the movie Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. Nilsson said that his inspiration came from a character played by Dick Van Dyke in the classic Disney movie. The character in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang assembled a flying car from junk parts."
Linux

Submission + - Linux patent protection network lures Facebook, HP (networkworld.com)

Submitted by
jbrodkin
jbrodkin writes: "Facebook, HP, Rackspace, Juniper, Fujitsu and dozens of other organizations have joined a group building a defensive patent portfolio to protect Linux-using members from potential lawsuits. The Open Invention Network (OIN) — founded in 2005 by IBM, NEC, Novell, Phillips, Red Hat and Sony — has acquired 300 Linux-related patents and licenses to 2,000 in total in a bid to protect the Linux community from intellectual property lawsuits. The group added 74 new members this year and is giving a leadership role to Google, which is fighting lawsuits targeting Linux-based Android."
Games

Submission + - A 9V Battery to Your Brain can Improve Your Gaming (ispyce.com) 1

Submitted by autospa
autospa writes: Are you desperate to take your video game performance to the next level – and willing to indulge in some high-risk behavior? Hint: you’ll need a 9-volt battery and a wet sponge! Researchers in New Mexico claim that a faint electric massage to the brain improved the performances of volunteers playing the war simulator games. The electric current was produced by a device running on a 9-volt battery and delivered to the volunteers via a moistened sponge applied to their right temple.
Programming

Submission + - Sorting algorithms as dances (i-programmer.info)

Submitted by mikejuk
mikejuk writes: You may well have seen many simulations of sorting algorithms that aim to show how the algorithm works. However I guarantee that you have never seen anything quite in the same league as the videos made by Sapientia University — they are simply crazy but in the nicest possible way. They folk dance their way though bubble sort, shell sort, insertion sort and selection sort. Very, very weird but you find you can't but help checking that they are doing it right! Now anyone want to try quicksort?!?
Technology

Submission + - Multitasking And User Interface in 1982 (ispyce.com) 2

Submitted by autospa
autospa writes: Before 1982, one can only do one thing at a time on any computer. But then Rob Pike and Bart Locanthi in 1982 invented and developed the Blit Terminal. Blit Terminal was a first generation Windows environment where users could take advantage of the multitasking feature for the very first time. Initially Blit looked like an ordinary textual terminal but using UNIX host software one can see the display. The Blit technology was commercialized by AT&T and Teletype.
News

Submission + - Nokia - no more Symbian phones after 2012 (i-programmer.info) 1

Submitted by mikejuk
mikejuk writes: After the decision to go with Windows Phone 7 it has been obvious that the fate of the Symbian Phone — the phone that sold more than iPhone or Android — wasn't good. However where there is life there is hope and some developers and users clung to the hope that there might be more Symbian phones in the future. Perhaps they could coexist with Nokia Windows Phone 7 devices. Now, in a open letter to developers Nokia have made it clear that they will create no more Symbian phones after 2012 and they will just wait for the old phones to fade way while trying to sell Windows Phones to the existing users.
Facebook

Submission + - Facebook Bans 20,000 Kids a Day (ispyce.com)

Submitted by autospa
autospa writes: Although Facebook requires all users to be 13 or older, the social network bans 20,000 underage users a day, a spokeswoman said. "There are people who lie. There are people who are under 13 [accessing Facebook]," Mozelle Thompson, Facebook's chief privacy adviser, told the The Telegraph (Sydney, Australia). "Facebook removes 20,000 people a day, people who are underage."

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