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Submission + - Commercial drones less than 2kg may be set free ( DJI Phantom, SenseFly eBee) (suasnews.com)

Submitted by garymortimer
garymortimer writes: The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is establishing an aviation rulemaking committee with industry stakeholders to develop recommendations for a regulatory framework that would allow certain UAS to be operated over people who are not directly involved in the operation of the aircraft. The FAA is taking this action to provide a more flexible, performance-based approach for these operations than what was considered for Micro UAS. The committee will begin its work in March and issue its final report to the FAA on April 1.
Science

Submission + - High school student launches a trash bag aircraft. (projecttbac.org)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: A high school student at Advanced Technologies Academy in Las Vegas, Nevada managed to launch an aircraft using trash bags. The trash bag aircraft traveled for hundreds of miles and rose to thousands of feet while capturing thousands of images of the Earth. In addition, the trash bag consisted of household equipment and only cost $50.
Businesses

Submission + - Retailers Dread Phone-Wielding Shoppers (wsj.com)

Submitted by
Ponca City
Ponca City writes: "The WSJ reports that until recently, retailers could reasonably assume that if they just lured shoppers to stores with enticing specials, the customers could be coaxed into buying more profitable stuff too, but now marketers must contend with shoppers who can use their smartphones inside stores to check whether the specials are really so special. "The retailer's advantage has been eroded," says Greg Girard adding that that roughly 45% of customers with smartphones had used them to perform due diligence on a store's prices. "The four walls of the store have become porous." Although store executives publicly welcome a price-transparent world, retail experts don't expect all chains to measure up to the harsh judgment of mobile price comparisons and some will need to find new ways to survive. "Only a couple of retailers can play the lowest-price game," says Noam Paransky. "This is going to accelerate the demise of retailers who do not have either competitive pricing" or a standout store experience."
Robotics

Robot Drawn Caricatures Screenshot-sm 29

Posted by samzenpus from the vincent-van-gort dept.
ptresset writes "From Singularity Hub: 'Artists and programmers in the UK have decided to improve upon the male and female symbols outside many toilet facilities. They’ve developed a set of robotic arms that take pictures of people entering into a bathroom and then use that image to create a unique drawing to place outside the door. It then wipes away this art to make room for the next person’s caricature.'"
Advertising

Submission + - Did Google Go Instant Just to Show More Ads? (technologyreview.com) 1

Submitted by eldavojohn
eldavojohn writes: Google, already the largest search engine in the United States, went instant a few weeks ago. It's a new feature that none of the competitors have and uses an extra five to fifty kilobytes per search. MIT's tech review asks why Google went instant and is skeptical that users actually look at search results before they finish typing their query. Othar Hansson, Google's lead on the initiative, informs them otherwise and claims that Google's traffic monitors didn't even blink at the extra data being sent across — primarily because of its insignificance next to streaming one video on YouTube. Hansson also reveals that Google's search engine is no longer stateless and therefore takes up a little more memory in their server hives. The Tech Review claims that 'sources at the company say Google Instant's impact on ad sales was a primary focus in testing the service. Google only gets paid for an advertisement, or sponsored link, when a user clicks on the ad, and ads are targeted to specific searches. By displaying a search's ads onscreen a couple of seconds sooner, the frequency of users clicking on those ads could only go up.' So money seemed to be the prime motivator and the article also coyly notes that the average length of time a user spends between typing in any two characters is 300 milliseconds — much too fast for old JavaScript engines. So of course you might recall Google's efforts to change all that with JavaScript speed wars. Do you find Google instant to be useful in anyway or does it strike you as just more ad gravity for your mouse?
Linux

Submission + - Swiss Region Solothurn stops Migration to Linux

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The swiss canton Solothurn has put a stop to their ongoing migration to Linux. The project started in 2001, and has been under harsh public criticism evver since. The responsible CIO resigned this summer. Solothurn plans to convert all desktop Computers to Windows 7 in 2011. http://www.heise.de/open/artikel/Die-Woche-Bruchlandung-fuer-den-Pinguin-1080686.html (Artikel in German).
The Internet

Submission + - Woman Trademarks Name; Threatens Sites Using It (techdirt.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Be careful mentioning Dr. Ann De Wees Allen. She's made it clear that she's trademarked her name and using it is "illegal... without prior written permission." She even lists out the names of offenders and shows you the cease-and-desist letter she sends them. And, especially don't copy any of the text on her website, because she's using a bit of javascript that will warn you "Copyright Protect!" if you right click on a link.

Submission + - India's $35 Android 7-in Tablet to Hit in Jan '11 (tomshardware.com) 2

Submitted by indogiree
indogiree writes: Link: http://www.tomshardware.com/news/india-android-tablet-35-indiapad,11255.html

"Engadget reports that India has just awarded the manufacturing contract to HCL Technologies. The first shipment will supposedly only contain the 7-inch model and is set to arrive on January 10. It's unclear if the $35 price has stuck or whether India's been successful in plans to eventually drive the price down to $10 with the help of large orders and government subsidies."

Additional Info: http://nexus404.com/Blog/2010/09/11/sakshat-tablet-from-india-gets-a-release-date-the-cheap-tablet-from-india-will-be-officially-out-by-january-10-2011/

"HCL Technologies plans to initially produce 100,000 units. Among the key features of this India-based tablet include 2GB of RAM, web-conferencing, PDF reader unzip, WiFi, camera and USB connectivity.

The Sakshat tablet will be available in an array of screen sizes. It will come out in 5, 7 and 9 screen sizes."
Space

SpaceX Completes Dragon Parachute Test 83

Posted by timothy from the here-be-drougeans dept.
mattclar writes "SpaceX just released footage and pictures of last week's Dragon parachute drop test. Using an Erickson Air-Crane, the Dragon capsule was carried to 14,000 feet, then released. After a few seconds of freefall, the drouge chutes appeared, followed by the main chutes. The test concluded with a gentle touchdown within the target area to conclude a test described by SpaceX as '100% successful.'"
NASA

NASA Set To Launch Solar NanoSail Into Space 104

Posted by timothy from the solar-powers-activate dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Earlier this year the Japanese space agency successfully deployed and used a solar sail to propel its spacecraft Ikaros, and now NASA announced plans this week for its own solar sail mission. This fall it will launch the NanoSail-D into orbit 400 miles up with a Minotaur IV rocket. Once deployed, it will orbit for 17 weeks, proving the technology and allowing astronomers to snap lots of photos."

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