Comment EyeWriter (Score 1) 552
I just sat in on a lecture last week by the inventor of this low-cost communications device for people suffering from similar conditions. It looks like it might be what you're looking for:
Comment Re:Demanding "safe" vaccines (Score 1) 588
This article neatly describes why there are "unsafe" ingredients in vaccines:
Skeptoid.com: Vaccine ingredients
Skeptoid.com: Vaccine ingredients
Comment Helping out people who lack healthy skepticism (Score 1) 386
What have you found is the most effective way to deal with friends, loved ones, or co-workers that latch on to something that is obviously pseudo-scientific nonsense? For example, my boss is obsessed with the healing properties of his high-priced alkaline water filter, while a cousin is certain that vaccines are the source of all health problems. Confronting them seems mean, and could damage the relationship, while leaving them to fall prey to hucksters also seems wrong. What can a kind-but-rational person do?
Comment Re:If true, low-level warplanes just became obsole (Score 1) 338
It wouldn't do much against artillery shells or naval gunfire.
Actually, it's already been done....
On November 4, 2002, THEL shot down an incoming artillery shell. A mobile version completed successful testing. During a test conducted on August 24, 2004 the system successfully shot down multiple mortar rounds. The test represented actual mortar threat scenarios. Targets were intercepted by the THEL testbed and destroyed. Both single mortar rounds and salvo were tested.
Comment Use what most of the world's militaries use (Score 1) 126
A Pelican case, and you're protected from just about anything that you could survive.
http://www.pelicancases.com/1055CC-p/1055cc.htm
Comment Re:Because they'll explode in their faces (Score 1) 381
I have had an E engine explode right after ignition, however, 1) no one was hurt, since the rocket is constructed of lightweight materials, and b) it was a great lesson in why solid propellents should be handled carefully to avoid cracking. Failure is often an important part of learning, and shouldn't be seen as an unacceptable outcome (at least in hobby activities).
Journal Journal: Reminiscing. 1
I spent some time today visiting some old haunts. Obviously,
setiathome.berkeley.edu/
www.userfriendly.org/
www.cnet.com
www.sfgate.com/
www.thinkgeek.com/
I miss Leo and Kate... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Screen_Savers
And the never aging: Ensign Wesley Crusher...
www.wilwheaton.net/ (http://wilwheaton.typepad.com/)
Yeah, I guess some where along the way I got busy and forgot my geeks roots...
Submission + - U.S. gov't sides against Microsoft in patent case (networkworld.com) 1
Julie188 writes: "In the ongoing patent infringement case between i4i and Microsoft, i4i has won a powerful ally: the U.S. government itself. The U.S. solicitor general, which represents the federal government in the Supreme Court, on Friday filed an amicus brief in support of i4i, saying that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office should not be second-guessed by a jury. i4i, which won a $290 million patent judgment against Microsoft, has now accrued 22 amicus briefs in its corner, representing more than 100 companies, organizations and individuals, including venture capitalists, individuals from the military and now, The U.S. government. Meanwhile, Microsoft has so far lined up 20 amicus briefs, representing about 60 companies and individuals, including Google, Apple, Cisco, Intel, Red Hat, the Electronic Frontier Foundation and 37 law and economics professors. At issue is how much evidence is required to invalidate a patent."
Submission + - Willis Tower to Become Vertical Solar Farm (inhabitat.com)
An anonymous reader writes: The tallest tower in the United States is set to become a soaring vertical solar farm as Pythagoras Solar just launched a project to emblazon the building's glass façade with transparent photovoltaic panels. The new windows, dubbed high power density photovoltaic glass units (PVGU), are a clever hybrid technology that lays typical monocrystalline silicon solar cell horizontally between two layers of glass to form an individual tile. An internal plastic reflective prism directs angled sunlight onto the solar cells but allows diffuse daylight and horizontal light through. The high-profile project will begin on the south side of the 56th floor and could grow up to 2 MW in size — which is comparable to a 10 acre field of solar panels.
Submission + - Best Seller Refuses $500k; Self-Publishes Instead (techdirt.com) 1
An anonymous reader writes: Barry Eisler, a NY Times best-selling author of various thriller novels, has just turned down a $500,000 book contract in order to self-publish his latest work. In a conversation with self-publishing afficianado Joe Konrath, Eisler talks about why this makes sense and how the publishing industry is responding in all the wrong ways to the rise of ebooks. He also explains the math by which it makes a lot more sense to retain 70% of your earnings on ebooks priced cheaply, rather than 14.9% on expensive books put out by publishers.
Comment Netlogo (Score 1) 709
Since no one else seems to have mentioned it, I'd like to add a vote for the Netlogo agent-based simulation system as an excellent tool for teaching kids programming. It's not open source, but is free and available for most platforms, has excellent graphics, an easy UI builder, and can be extended with Java code if more advanced functionality is required. I use it off and on to prototype simulations for work, and have found it excellent for many purposes. Last summer, my son expressed an interest in learning programming, so I pointed him to the Netlogo site. Soon he was happily working through the hundreds of examples included with the package, and has since developed some pretty fancy simulations for his school science classes. Netlogo encourages such experimentation, and unlike more powerful languages, allows kids to quickly build useful programs that include fancy stuff like graphical displays, charts and graphs, and complex GUIs without having to do a lot of low-level programming. Take a look....this is NOT the simple logo we all remember from decades ago.
Mobile Medical Lab — the $10 Phone Microscope 54
kkleiner writes "Aydogan Ozcan of UCLA has developed a microscope attachment for a cell phone – turning the device into a sort of mobile medical lab. It's both lightweight (~38g or 1.5 oz) and cheap (parts cost around $10). The cellphone microscope can analyze blood and saliva samples for microparticles, red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and water borne parasites. Ozcan and his team have recently won three prestigious awards for the device: a Grand Challenges award from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (worth $100,000), the National Geographic Emerging Explorer award (worth $10,000), and the CAREER award from the National Science Foundation ($400,000). With these funds, Ozcan plans on starting case studies in Africa to see how the microscope can help revolutionize global medicine."
Apple Orders 10 Million Tablets? 221
Arvisp writes "According to a blog post by former Google China president Kai-Fu Lee, Apple plans to produce nearly 10 million tablets in the still-unannounced product's first year. If Lee's blog post is to be believed, Apple plans to sell nearly twice as many tablets as it did iPhones in the product's first year."
PhD Candidate Talks About the Physics of Space Battles 361
darthvader100 writes "Gizmodo has run an article with some predictions on what future space battles will be like. The author brings up several theories on propulsion (and orbits), weapons (explosives, kinetic and laser), and design. Sounds like the ideal shape for spaceships will be spherical, like the one in the Hitchhiker's Guide movie."
Hand Written Clock 86
a3buster writes "This clock does not actually have a man inside, but a flatscreen that plays a 24-hour loop of this video by the artist watching his own clock somewhere and painstakingly erasing and re-writing each minute. This video was taken at Design Miami during Art Basel Miami Beach 2009."
