Comment [Bedivere, et al, 932 AD] (Score 1) 93
"And by that, my liege, is how we know the [Universe] to be banana-shaped..."
Comment I'm sold! (Score 1) 76
You had me at microSD slot.
Comment The Boy Who Cried Skynet (Score 2) 117
"In fact, it sounds a bit like Google Now on steroids—or like the smartphone precursor to SkyNet, the supercomputer from the Terminator movies that's so intelligent, it decides that the world would be better off if it ruled over humanity."
Oh, good, well, I'm glad we're not overstating it or anything
Comment Neanderthal Parallax indeed... (Score 1) 290
Suck it, Robert J. Sawyer!
Meat the Food of the Future 705
Hugh Pickens writes writes "BBC reports that rising food prices, the growing population, and environmental concerns are just a few issues that have food futurologists thinking about what we will eat in the future and how we will eat it. In the UK, meat prices are anticipated to have a huge impact on our diets as some in the food industry prognosticate meat prices could double in the next five to seven years, making meat a luxury item. 'In the West many of us have grown up with cheap, abundant meat,' says Morgaine Gaye. 'Rising prices mean we are now starting to see the return of meat as a luxury. As a result we are looking for new ways to fill the meat gap.' Insects will become a staple of our diet. They cost less to raise than cattle, consume less water and do not have much of a carbon footprint. Plus, there are an estimated 1,400 species that are edible to man. 'Things like crickets and grasshoppers will be ground down and used as an ingredient in things like burgers.' But insects will need an image overhaul if they are to become more palatable to the squeamish Europeans and North Americans, says Gaye. 'They will become popular when we get away from the word insects and use something like mini-livestock (PDF).' Another alternative would be lab grown meat as a recent study by Oxford University found growing meat in a lab rather than slaughtering animals would significantly reduce greenhouse gases, energy consumption and water use. Prof Mark Post, who led the Dutch team of scientists at Maastricht University that grew strips of muscle tissue using stem cells taken from cows, says he wants to make lab meat "indistinguishable" from the real stuff, but it could potentially look very different. Finally algae could provide a solution to some the world's most complex problems, including food shortages as some in the sustainable food industry predict algae farming could become the world's biggest cropping industry. Like insects, algae could be worked into our diet without us really knowing by using seaweed granules to replace salt in bread and processed foods. 'The great thing about seaweed is it grows at a phenomenal rate,' says Dr Craig Rose, executive director of the Seaweed Health Foundation. 'It's the fastest growing plant on earth.'"
Comment Re:Factory Showroom (Score 1) 92
(BTW, this was my post - I forgot to log in first)
German Researchers Show Off a Gesture-Based Interface 69
smitty777 writes "The folks at the Potsdam University have developed a user interface based completely on hand gestures. A small(ish) device worn around the neck is used to track the hand position, allowing the user to draw, type, or gesture in the air. You think it looks ridiculous when you can't tell that folks are talking on a cell phone? Imagine a bus full of people gesturing in thin air. Also, don't forget to turn this thing off, or it will look like your cat was walking on your keyboard." Update: 06/11 00:54 GMT by T : This informative comment (kudos!) adds links to a video demonstration and the researcher's own site.
Comment Re:If you play enough, you will ALWAYS lose. (Score 2, Insightful) 597
What it says is that everyone has a different idea of fun. The parent said nothing about addicts. Contrary to your belief, not everyone who goes to casinos is an addict. Some, yes, but not all. Most are there just to have a good time.
As for throwing money away, the parent made it pretty clear that he is spending money on an experience that he enjoys. It's pretty likely that there are people who consider the things you call fun to be a waste of money and time. It's all relative.
Radio-Controlled Cyborg Beetles Become Reality 150
holy_calamity writes "DARPA's plans to create brain chips for insects so they can be steered like an RC plane are bearing fruit. Videos show that a team at Berkeley can use radio signals to tell palm-sized African beetles to take off and land, and to lose altitude and steer left or right when in flight. They had to use the less-than-inconspicuous giant beetles because other species are too weak to take off with the weight of the necessary antenna and brain and muscle electrodes."
Comment Re:Spoiler alert (Score 1) 820
*Spoiler alert*
Yes, exactly. Nero wanted Spock to live with the pain of Vulcan's destruction so he left him on DV where he could watch helplessly and eventually get to safety. The real punishment was to allow Spock to live.
Comment Re:More Quotes from the Future (Score 1) 1813
However, I am afraid that Palin wants to force my wife to have a baby with cystic fibrosis, or even a brain dead one like Terry Shivo. I find that artificially keeping these babies alive with medical technology only to have die in teens, when they are fully aware of what is happening, to be no less barbaric than Nazi medical experiments.
I had a cousin who died of cystic fibrosis at the age of 15. When she died, it was tragic. The thing is, she did more living in those fifteen years than many people experience in six times that. She had a beautiful and meaningful life.
I consider myself pro-choice, but it gives me great pause when I hear people talk about aborting a fetus that has one condition or another, ostensibly to spare the child a life of suffering. It is not our place to decide what experiences or life circumstances will or will not lead to a meaningful and fulfilling life, albeit different from our own.
Abortion should absolutely remain legal, but it is not a decision to be made lightly.
Comment Re:Obligatory... (Score 1) 383
Score +1 for the retro reference!
LOL! :-)
The SSD drives are also now starting to take off. Just a matter of time until these are obsolete.
Student Arrested for Writing Essay 890
mcgrew writes "The Chicago Tribune reports that an eighteen year old straight-A High School student was arrested for writing an essay that 'disturbed' his teacher. Even though no threats were made to a specific person, 18 year-old Allen Lee's English teacher convened a panel to discuss the work. As a result of that discussion, the police were called in. 'The youth's father said his son was not suspended or expelled but was forced to attend classes elsewhere for now. Today, Cary-Grove students rallied behind the arrested teen by organizing a petition drive to let him back in their school. They posted on walls quotes from the English teacher in which she had encouraged students to express their emotions through writing.'"
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It appears that PL/I (and its dialects) is, or will be, the most widely used higher level language for systems programming. -- J. Sammet
