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In Case of Emergency, Please Remove Your Bra 123

Posted by samzenpus from the breathing-easy dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Caught in a disaster with harmful airborne particles? You'd better hope you're wearing the Emergency Bra. Simply unsnap the bright red bra, separate the cups, and slip it over your head — one cup for you, and one for your friend. Dr. Elena Bodnar won an Ig Nobel Award for the invention last year, an annual tribute to scientific research that on the surface seems goofy but is often surprisingly practical. And now Bodnar has brought the eBra to the public; purchase one online for just $29.95."

Comment Re:SSD (Score 1) 611

by chriseh (#28751433) Attached to: Best Home Backup Strategy Now?

Wow, you really have no understanding of how this technology works. Even if a rapper were to have 3 second segments on an audio track, it sill has to be pressed in a linear fashion. Also, stop/start has no impact on the data of disks, since there is no physical contact with the data portion of the disk in any way. It's simply a laser that scans the surface.
Censorship

Submission + - SQL-Ledger Relicensed, Community Gagged

Submitted by
Ashley Gittins
Ashley Gittins writes: "Users of the popular accounting package SQL-Ledger are being kept in the dark about a recent license change. Two weeks ago a new version of the software was released but along with it came the silent change of license from GPLv2 to the "SQL-Ledger Open Source License" — presumably in an effort to prevent future forks like LedgerSMB. As it turns out, the author is making deliberate attempts to prevent the community from finding out about the license change. All posts to the SQL-Ledger mailing lists asking about the license change are being censored and direct questions to the author are going unanswered. This behaviour is not a first for this particular project, and is part of the reason for the original LedgerSMB fork. So, does a project maintainer have an ethical obligation to notify his or her community of a license change? What about a legal obligation?"
Books

Submission + - Linux to help the Library of Congress

Submitted by flakeman2
flakeman2 writes: http://www.linux.com/article.pl?sid=07/03/26/11572 12 "We're part of the 'open world' through and through — we use open source software, we generate open source software, we generate open content," says Kahle. "We're trying to take this open source idea to the next level, which is open content and open access to cultural materials, which means 'publicly downloadable in bulk.' I think we're really seeing the next level up of this whole movement — we had the open network, then open source software, now we're starting to see open source content."
Space

Submission + - Tatooine's Double-Sunset a Common Site

Submitted by anthemaniac
anthemaniac writes: Thirty years ago, Luke Skywalker saw what scientists are just now realizing, that double sunsets are likely common in the universe. Astronomers have long known that binary star systems are common. And models suggested that planets could form in these systems, even though there's a double-tug of gravity on the material that would have to form a planet. Observations from NASA's Spitzer telescope, show that binary systems are just as likely to be surrounded by planet-forming debris disks are are lone stars.
Music

Submission + - Why the RIAA doesn't want defendants exonerated

Submitted by RageAgainsttheBears
RageAgainsttheBears writes: The RIAA is slowly beginning to find itself in an awkward position when a few among its many, many lawsuits don't manage to follow through. Typically, when they decide a case isn't worth pursuing (due to targeting the wrong person or not having sufficient evidence), they simply move to drop the case and any counterclaims, and everyone goes separate ways. But recently, judges have been deciding to allow the RIAA to drop the case, but still allowing the counterclaim through. According to the Ars Technica article:

If Judge Miles-LaGrange issues a ruling exonerating Tallie Stubbs of infringement, it would be a worrisome trend for the RIAA. The music industry has become accustomed to having its way with those it accuses of file-sharing, quietly dropping cases it believes it can't win. It looks as though the courts may be ready to stop the record labels from just walking away from litigation when it doesn't like the direction it is taking and give defendants justice by fully exonerating them of any wrongdoing.
Software

Submission + - Russian school teacher 'pirate' case re-opened

Submitted by
newtley
newtley writes: "Russian school teacher Alexander Ponosov thought he was out from under after having been accused of "criminally" using Microsoft product. A Russian court threw the case out, calling it "trivial," and Russian president Vladimir Putin said those who make "pirate" goods should be targeted, not consumers, calling the trial "utter nonsense". Now the BBCA Russian court has ordered a retrial, "after pressure from the prosecution". However, Ponosovhas now launched a web site. It's in Russian."
Caldera

Submission + - Score: IBM - 700,000 / SCO - 326

Submitted by
The Peanut Gallery
The Peanut Gallery writes: "After years of litigation to discover what, exactly, SCO was suing about, IBM has finally discovered that SCO's "mountain of code" is only 326 scattered lines. Worse, most of what is allegedly infringing are comments and simple header files, like errno.h, which probably aren't copyrightable for being unoriginal and dictated by externalities, aren't owned by SCO in any event, and which IBM has at least five separate licenses for, including the GPL, even if SCO actually owned those lines of code. In contrast, IBM is able to point out 700,000 lines of code, which they have properly registered copyrights for, which SCO is infringing upon if the Court rules that it has, in fact, repudiated the GPL. If this were a game show, I suspect SCO would be complaining that their buzzer wasn't working right about now."

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