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Robotics

Submission + - Robot Swarms invade Kentucky (moreintelligentlife.com) 2

Submitted by
PacoCheezdom
PacoCheezdom writes: "Intelligent Life has short summary of a demonstration by MIT professor James McLurkin of his new group-minded robots, which run an operating system called "Swarm OS." The robots are able to work together as a group not by communicating with all members of the group at once, but by talking only to their neighbors, and model other similar behaviors performed by bees and ants. I for one welcome our new robotic pseudo-insect overlords."

Feed Science Daily: Easy-to-use Anthrax Vaccine Produces Immunity With Nanoparticles, Not Needles (sciencedaily.com)

From feed by sdfeed
A vaccine against anthrax that is more effective and easier to administer than the present vaccine has proved highly effective in animal tests. The nasal emulsion could protect after a bioterror attack. The result could be a better anthrax vaccine that requires no shots, is effective with only one or two immunizations, needs no refrigeration and could be used effectively to boost immune response in exposed people.

Feed Science Daily: Cannabis May Help Alleviate Allergic Skin Disease (sciencedaily.com)

From feed by sdfeed
Administering a substance found in the cannabis plant can help the body's natural protective system alleviate an allergic skin disease (allergic contact dermatitis), an international group of researchers from Germany, Israel, Italy, Switzerland and the US has found. The results clearly show a protective role for the endocannabinoid system in contact allergy in the skin and suggest that development of cannabinoid compounds based on elements produced from the cannabis plant could enhance therapeutic treatment for humans.
Linux Business

Submission + - The impact of pirated software on free software (tlug.jp)

Submitted by
jmglov
jmglov writes: "Dave Gutteridge has an interesting take on why people are not interested in saving money by using a free-as-in-beer OS like Linux or *BSD: because Windows is free. At least, that is an all-too-common perception, thanks to bundling and piracy. Bundling is a well-known problem to the adoption of Open Source operating systems, so Dave takes a look at the piracy issue in depth. His title may offend you, but his well-written article will most likely get you thinking hard about the question, "how much *does* Windows cost?"."
Microsoft

Submission + - Cross-platform Microsoft (zdnet.com)

Submitted by
willdavid
willdavid writes: "By John Carroll (ZDNet Blogs): Microsoft, apparently, is helping the folks at Mono to port Silverlight to Linux. This is good news, as the primary fear I've heard from developers is that Silverlight will be locked to Microsoft platforms and products. Microsoft has already committed to supporting Silverlight cross-browser on Windows, and has a version that runs on Mac OS X (which is even available from the Apple web site). The last step is Linux, and Microsoft is working with Novell and Mono to make this happen. http://blogs.zdnet.com/carroll/?p=1737"
Businesses

Submission + - The Forbidden City of Terry Gou (wsj.com)

Submitted by
ElvaWSJ
ElvaWSJ writes: "Hon Hai churns out iPhones and Wiis, and provides a window into China's secretive world of outsourcing and manufacturing. With a work force of some 270,000 — about as big as the population of Newark, N.J. — the factory is a bustling testament to the ambition of Hon Hai's founder, Terry Gou. In an era when manufacturing has been defined by outsourcing, no one has done more to shift global electronics production to China. Little noticed by the wider world, Mr. Gou has turned his company into China's biggest exporter and the world's biggest contract manufacturer of electronics."

Comment Re:Let the Swiss sue J&J (Score 1) 739

by parrothead (#20169917) Attached to: American Red Cross Sued For Using a Red Cross
just a little more prior art (hope the lawyers at J&J read slashdot)
American Red Cross - Clara Barton, Founder, rode in US Army (Union) Ambulances (wagons) during American War between the States (1861 - 1865). Union Ambulances of the time bore a red cross on the them. Pretty sure that gives her a legitimate claim as well. All predating J&J.

Without doing any research, I am willing to bet there are more examples Armies around the world using the Red Cross as a symbol all before J&J came into being.

Oh yeah, can anyone say The Crusades? Think the Knights Hospitaller (white cross on Red field) and the Knights Templar (a red cross on a white field). They were just a wee bit before J&J's time.

I have to admit. I really like the idea of J&J making a donation to the Red Cross and writing it off as advertising or charitable expense. Seems like every one wins.

One more item. Note to J&J CEO, William Weldon, fire the lawyer that thought this one up and his boss for not squashing it.
Microsoft

Submission + - War on terror overblown, says Microsoft (apcmag.com)

Submitted by
SlinkySausage
SlinkySausage writes: "The endless security measures imposed on society as a result of the "war on terror" have become overblown and intrusive, according to Microsoft Redmond senior security analyst Steve Riley. (The same can be said for some security measures *cough*Vista UAC*cough*). He made the comments in a talk at day one of Tech.Ed Australia about software security.

Riley also fessed up that Microsoft cocked up XP from a security perspective. "We let you down with XP," he said.

Microsoft also showed a very interesting new desktop virtualisation technology called SoftGrid, which allows applications to be virtualised individually, rather than a whole OS. Think Virtual PC or VMware, but instead of virtualising an OS, just a single application is virtualised."
It's funny. Laugh.

Journal Journal: The Power of Weeding.... 10

Journal by Shadow Wrought
We've been doing a committed effort to clean up our house and yard. Inside we are de-cluttering and organizing, outside, we're pulling weeds, working on the yard, and putting a lot of effort into the plants. There's a corner of the house that over the years has been consistently skipped when it comes to weeding. Its a pain to get the weeds out and its not that noticeable. As part of our campaign though, it was time to rip them out.

Feed Engadget: iPhone's first sketchy battery replacement kit appears (engadget.com)

From feed by engfeed

Filed under: Cellphones

When the time came and your battery died, you were probably thinking you'd have to send your iPhone off to Apple as part of their expensive and complicated battery replacement program -- but now you've got a sketchy DIY option instead. Once again, a mysterious Chinese company has stepped in and "created" a "solution" to your problem with its iPhone battery replacement kit. For just $20, which is cheap enough to elicit genuine concern, you get a 1400mAh, 3.7V iPhone battery, some type of screwdriver-like tool, a strange plastic shiv, and an instruction manual (presumably in English, but you never know). All you have to do is crack open your $600 phone, de-solder your old battery and solder in the new one... and probably some other, more complicated stuff too. At this price, it seems unlikely that this battery won't explode, so buy at your own risk, and definitely try at your own risk.

[Via I4U, thanks Luigi]

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