Comment Re:I just summoned some 'memories' (Score 1) 381

by punkin1123 on Friday September 05, 2008 @01:36PM (#24890575) Attached to: Brain Cells Observed Summoning a Memory

This makes me wonder about the implications for Alzheimer's research-- the ability to reboot lost memories in different synapses and configurations to help save a person--their actual selves from that slow insidious decay, being able to accept the loss of storage space to the illness while still being able to maintain self....a long way off, but something to really think about....

Comment Run! (Score 1) 334

by quokkapox on Thursday July 10, 2008 @06:10PM (#24144251) Attached to: Spammers Announce World War III

I heard they've got heat rays and chemical weapons (and other weapons of mass destruction).

P2P BitTorrent Tool Could Replace Pirate Bay 413

Posted by kdawson on Friday May 23, 2008 @01:07PM from the move-along-no-database-here dept.

With the US and other G8 countries trying to outlaw The Pirate Bay and its ilk, an anonymous reader suggests that a solution may have emerged out of Cornell University. A new open-source project called Cubit is an Azureus plugin that provides decentralized approximate keyword search of torrents in the network.

Bookmark Pharyngula: EXPELLED! (scienceblogs.com)

by DeBeuk on Thursday March 20, 2008 @11:32PM

Giant Ice Shelf Snaps 529

Posted by Zonk on Friday December 29, 2006 @05:25PM from the as-long-as-the-movie-doesn't-feature-sandra-bullock dept.

Popo writes "Sattelite images have revealed that an ancient 66 square-kilometer ice shelf, the size of 11,000 football fields, has snapped off from an island in Canada's arctic. The Ayles Ice Shelf was one of 6 major shelves remaining in Canada's arctic and is estimated to be over 3000 years old. The collapse was so powerful that earthquake monitors 250 km away picked up tremors. Scientists say it is the largest event of its kind in 30 years and point their fingers at climate change as a major contributing factor."

UK Wants To Ban Computer-Generated Child Porn 544

Posted by kdawson on Thursday December 14, 2006 @11:28AM from the think-of-the-children dept.

An anonymous reader writes "UK Home Secretary John Reid has urged a ban on computer-generated images of child abuse, including cartoons. The Register asks if this would criminalize role-playing gamers, and what about Hentai? Currently, such images may be illegal to publish under the Obscene Publications Act, but they do not come under child pornography laws. The attempt to criminalize possession of virtual images mirrors the attempt to criminalize possession of 'extreme porn' which would also include fake images, as well as photos of simulated acts involving consenting adults (as discussed on Slashdot). A petition on the Government's new website urges an end to such plans."

Going Pink For October 352

Posted by kdawson on Sunday October 01, 2006 @06:27PM from the in-all-seriousness dept.

Matthew Oliphant is inviting anyone and everyone to turn their Web sites pink during October, which is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. Nearly 150 sites have done so as of this writing. And by the way, guys can get breast cancer too.

Walmart Tries to Emulate MySpace 345

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wednesday July 19, 2006 @03:22AM from the trying-way-to-hard dept.

mattsucks writes to tell us that according to AdAge, retail behemoth WalMart is trying desperately to target the MySpace demographic with a new, and highly sanitized, site designed to appeal to teens. From the article: "It's a quasi-social-networking site for teens designed to allow them to 'express their individuality,' yet it screens all content, tells parents their kids have joined and forbids users to e-mail one another. Oh, and it calls users 'hubsters' -- a twist on hipsters that proves just how painfully uncool it is to try to be cool."

Microsoft's Open XML Project A Short-Term Fix 94

Posted by Zonk on Friday July 07, 2006 @04:26PM from the patching-a-sinking-ship dept.

TechPro writes "In an interview with eWeek the managing director of the ODF Alliance (Marino Marcich) was pretty dismissive of Microsoft's Open XML Translator project. While the move was a recognition of the ODF Format's acceptance by government's around the world, the installable software plug-ins that would be created under the project were really 'only a bridge, a stopgap measure that will probably not be acceptable to government's around the world over the long term. Plug-ins simply don't give the benefits of open file formats and standards,' he said."

Cell Phone Radiation Excites the Brain 115

Posted by Hemos on Monday June 26, 2006 @08:40AM from the if-i-only-had-a-brane dept.

frostilicus2 writes "The Register is reporting that Italian researchers have shown that radiation from mobile phones can excite the brain's cortex. A region that is "responsible for many higher faculties". They even claim that such an effect could be beneficial to some conditions."

The End of Native Code? 1173

Posted by Cliff on Monday June 12, 2006 @08:15PM from the maybe-not-JITs-yet dept.

psycln asks: "An average PC nowadays holds enough power to run complex software programmed in an interpreted language which is handled by runtime virtual machines, or just-in-time compiled. Particular to Windows programmers, the announcement of MS-Windows Vista's system requirements means that future Windows boxes will laugh at the memory/processor requirements of current interpreted/JIT compiled languages (e.g. .NET, Java , Python, and others). Regardless of the negligible performance hit compared to native code, major software houses, as well as a lot of open-source developers, prefer native code for major projects even though interpreted languages are easier to port cross-platform, often have a shorter development time, and are just as powerful as languages that generate native code. What does the Slashdot community think of the current state of interpreted/JIT compiled languages? Is it time to jump in the boat of interpreted/JIT compiled languages? Do programmers feel that they are losing - an arguably needed low-level - control when they do interpreted languages? What would we be losing besides more gray hair?"

U.S. Pressures ISPs on Data Retention 221

Posted by Zonk on Saturday May 27, 2006 @06:40AM from the because-they-needed-more-to-do dept.

packetmon writes "According to Wired's Declan McCullagh 'In a private meeting with industry representatives, Gonzales, Mueller and other senior members of the Justice Department said Internet service providers should retain subscriber information and network data for two years ... A more extensive mandate would require companies to keep track of e-mail messages sent, Web pages visited and perhaps even instant-messaging correspondents.'"

Wal-Mart Trying to Trademark the Smiley Face 317

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday May 08, 2006 @11:41PM from the :)-prior-art dept.

Ellis D. Tripp writes to tell us BBC News is reporting that mega-retailer, Wal-Mart, is now fighting it out with a man who claims to have invented the 'smiley face' logo, and has been marketing it since the '70s. From the article: "Until now the smiley face had been considered in the public domain in the US, and therefore free for anyone to use. Wal-Mart spokesman John Simley told the Los Angeles Times that it had not moved to register the trademark until Mr Loufrani had threatened to do so."

Scientists Probe the Use of the Tongue 207

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday April 24, 2006 @02:14PM from the tongue-warriors-of-the-future dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Yahoo! News is reporting that in the military's continuing search for better sensory input they have started looking at the tongue as a 'superior transmitter'. From the article: 'A narrow strip of red plastic connects the Brain Port to the tongue where 144 microelectrodes transmit information through nerve fibers to the brain. Instead of holding and looking at compasses and bluky-hand-held sonar devices, the divers can processes the information through their tongues, said Dr. Anil Raj, the project's lead scientist.'"

Claria Leaves Adware Business 149

Posted by CowboyNeal on Saturday March 25, 2006 @01:07PM from the bowing-out dept.

Alex Stern writes "In an attempt to clean up its tarnished name, Claria has hired Deutsche Bank to help them sell off the software tools that were previously supported by their adware. Claria says they are unwilling to sell the software for the GAIN ad network, or the data they have collected from their users. Claria is also holding on to their eWallet software that manages passwords. On July 1, Claria will shutdown the GAIN network and inform their users they can either uninstall their software or pay for it. Claria's new business model is 'a new platform designed to provide consumers with a personalized Internet experience.'"

Slashdot Top Deals