deftmonkey - Slashdot User

UCLA Profs Banned From Posting Course Videos 134

Posted by kdawson on Friday February 05, 2010 @10:39AM from the film-professionals-of-tomorrow dept.

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "As of Winter Quarter 2010, UCLA professors will no longer be able to post videos on their course websites. Although they've long relied upon fair use protections for educational use, the Association for Information Media and Equipment has made claims that they're copyright infringers, even though the videos are only available on campus and the students are allowed to watch the videos in the Instructional Media Lab. Even though they believe their use of the materials to be fair, the UCLA has decided to back down rather than face litigation. Many professors have commented that this will hurt students, because they now have to watch all videos at the IML, which isn't open on weekends, forcing students to try to fit assigned videos between classes."

Scientists Create Artificial Meat 820

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday November 30, 2009 @05:46PM from the mmmmm-soggy-pork dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "The Telegraph reports that scientists have created the first artificial meat by extracting cells from the muscle of a live pig and putting them in a broth of other animal products where the cells then multiplied to create muscle tissue. Described as soggy pork, researchers believe that it can be turned into something like steak if they can find a way to 'exercise' the muscle and while no one has yet tasted the artificial meat, researchers believe the breakthrough could lead to sausages and other processed products being made from laboratory meat in as little as five years' time. '"What we have at the moment is rather like wasted muscle tissue. We need to find ways of improving it by training it and stretching it, but we will get there," says Mark Post, professor of physiology at Eindhoven University. "You could take the meat from one animal and create the volume of meat previously provided by a million animals." Animal rights group Peta has welcomed the laboratory-grown meat, announcing that "as far as we're concerned, if meat is no longer a piece of a dead animal there's no ethical objection while the Vegetarian Society remained skeptical. "The big question is how could you guarantee you were eating artificial flesh rather than flesh from an animal that had been slaughtered. It would be very difficult to label and identify in a way that people would trust.""

Crew For Final Scheduled Space Shuttle Mission Selected 108

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday September 19, 2009 @12:20PM from the make-it-memorable dept.

Toren Altair writes "NASA has assigned the crew for the last scheduled space shuttle mission, targeted to launch in September 2010. The flight to the International Space Station will carry a pressurized logistics module to the station. Veteran shuttle commander and retired Air Force Col. Steven W. Lindsey will command the eight-day mission, designated STS-133. Air Force Col. Eric A. Boe will serve as the pilot; it will be his second flight as a shuttle pilot. Mission Specialists are shuttle mission veteran Air Force Col. Benjamin Alvin Drew, Jr., and long-duration spaceflight veterans Michael R. Barratt, Army Col. Timothy L. Kopra and Nicole P. Stott." Reader Al points out other NASA news that the space agency's engineers have been testing a sleek new lunar rover that will be part of their eventual return to the moon. A video of the rover in action has been posted as well.

Comment Re:"only 12 states" (Score 2, Informative) 439

by deftmonkey on Thursday September 10, 2009 @03:29PM (#29381903) Attached to: 'Wiretapping' Charges May Be Oddest Ever Recorded

Yeah, and according to population estimates here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._states_and_territories_by_population those 12 states contain just under 40% of the U.S. population.

Comment Killer App (Score 1) 745

by deftmonkey on Monday August 24, 2009 @08:42PM (#29180403) Attached to: Why the Google Android Phone Isn't Taking Off

If developer friendliness or freedom is the primary advantage of android, then someone needs to prove it by developing and marketing a useful and exciting app that can't exist on other mobile platforms due to their developer restrictions. That someone has to be Google, because nobody else is going to take the risk of putting in the time and effort for a platform with such a small user base.

Why the Google Android Phone Isn't Taking Off 745

Posted by kdawson on Monday August 24, 2009 @07:59PM from the know-thine-enemy-and-drive-him-nuts dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "Farhad Manjoo writes in Slate that while the iPhone commands nearly 14 percent of smartphone sales and BlackBerry about 21 percent, Android has only 3 percent. And even though Android is far friendlier to developers, it has failed to attract anywhere near the number of apps now clogging the iPhone. Manjoo writes that Google went wrong by giving handset manufacturers and carriers too much control over the design and marketing of Android phones so there is no idealized 'Google phone' — instead, Android devices get names like the T-Mobile G1 or the myTouch 3G, and each is marketed separately and comes with its own distinct capabilities and shortcomings. 'Outside handset manufacturers lack ambition — -none of them even seems to be trying to match the capabilities of the iPhone, let alone to knock us down with features that far surpass those of Apple's device,' writes Manjoo. 'A smart handset manufacturer could build a top-of-the-line Android device that outshines Apple's phone in at least a few areas — better battery life, a much better Web browser, a brighter or bigger screen, faster or more functional controls... something that might help Android inspire gadget lust. But so far, that's not happening.' John Gruber echoes this advice and adds this advice to Android manufacturers: 'If Apple is BMW, you can be Porsche.'"

Slashdot Top Deals