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Submission + - Brainwave-reading patents spike on increase in commercial mind-reading apps

Submitted by smaxp
smaxp writes: Consumer market researcher Nielsen leads the pack, with patents describing ways to detect brain activity with EEG and translate it into what someone truly thinks about, say, a new product, advertising, or packaging. Microsoft Corp. holds patents that assess mental states, with the goal of determining the most effective way to present information.
Facebook

Sex Drugs and Texting 287

Posted by samzenpus from the busy-hands-are-happy-hands dept.
statesman writes "The Associated Press reports that teens who text frequently are three and a half times more likely to have sex. A survey of 4,200 public high school students in the Cleveland area found that one in five students sent more than 120 text messages a day or spent more than 3 hours a day on Facebook. Students in this group were much more likely to have sex. Alcohol and drug use also correlate with frequent texting and heavy Facebook use."
Math

Recovering Data From Noise 206

Posted by kdawson from the sparse-world-after-all dept.
An anonymous reader tips an account up at Wired of a hot new field of mathematics and applied algorithm research called "compressed sensing" that takes advantage of the mathematical concept of sparsity to recreate images or other datasets from noisy, incomplete inputs. "[The inventor of CS, Emmanuel] Candès can envision a long list of applications based on what he and his colleagues have accomplished. He sees, for example, a future in which the technique is used in more than MRI machines. Digital cameras, he explains, gather huge amounts of information and then compress the images. But compression, at least if CS is available, is a gigantic waste. If your camera is going to record a vast amount of data only to throw away 90 percent of it when you compress, why not just save battery power and memory and record 90 percent less data in the first place? ... The ability to gather meaningful data from tiny samples of information is also enticing to the military."
Space

Submission + - Saturn moon could be hospitable to life

Submitted by shmG
shmG writes: New detailed images of Saturn's icy moon released this week provide the latest evidence that the surface may be hospitable to life. NASA said on Tuesday that a flyby of planet's Enceladus moon showed jets of water spewing from the southern hemisphere, while infrared mapping of the surface revealed temperatures warmer than previously expected.

"And if true, this makes Enceladus' organic-rich, liquid sub-surface environment the most accessible extraterrestrial watery zone known in the solar system," said Carolyn Porco another NASA specialist.

Submission + - Hungarian electric car splits into 2 smaller cars (wired.co.uk)

Submitted by Lanxon
Lanxon writes: Hungary's Antro, which is developing a car that splits into two smaller cars, and plans to take it/them to market by 2012, assuming the Mayan phophecies fall through, reports Wired. Futuristic looking in itself, the grander plan for the car is much more audacious: Antro intends to allow users to be able to connect two Antro Solos to form a six-passenger Antro Duo. Or perhaps more interesting still, owners of a Duo could split the car into two smaller Solos should Mom have different weekend plans to Dad. Or if they divorce.
Government

Submission + - Use open source? Then you're a pirate! (computerworlduk.com) 4

Submitted by superapecommando
superapecommando writes: There's a fantastic little story in the Guardian today that says a US lobby group is trying to get the US government to consider open source as the equivalent to piracy.
The International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), an umbrella group for American publishing, software, film, television and music associations, has asked with the US Trade Representative (USTR) to consider countries like Indonesia, Brazil and India for its "Special 301 watchlist" because they encourage the use of open source software.
A Special 301, according to Guardian's Bobbie Johnson is: "a report that examines the 'adequacy and effectiveness of intellectual property rights' around the planet — effectively the list of countries that the US government considers enemies of capitalism. It often gets wheeled out as a form of trading pressure — often around pharmaceuticals and counterfeited goods — to try and force governments to change their behaviours."
Read more: http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=2811&blogid=10

Submission + - Virtual Autopsy on a Multitouch Table Surface (visualiseringscenter.se)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Engadget writes about one of the best ways to use a multitouch table surface \link{http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/07/virtual-autopsy-table-brings-multitouch-to-the-morgue/} ever. "Researchers at "NorrkÃping Visualization Centre" and the "Center for Medical Image Science and Visualization" in Sweden have fitted a multitouch table surface \link(http://multitouch.fi/) with stunning volume rendered visualizations of high resolution MRI data. Ever wonder what the insides of a human being really look like but lacked the grit or credentials to watch an autopsy in the flesh, check this video \link{http://www.visualiseringscenter.se/1/1.0.1.0/230/1/}!
Earth

Submission + - Green Cement Absorbs Carbon

Submitted by
Peace Corps Online
Peace Corps Online writes: "Concrete accounts for more than 5 percent of human-caused carbon-dioxide emissions annually, mostly because cement, the active ingredient in concrete, is made by baking limestone and clay powders under intense heat that is generally produced by the burning of fossil fuels. Now Scientific American reports that British start-up company Novacem has developed a "carbon-negative" cement that absorbs more carbon dioxide over its life cycle than it emits. The trick is to make cement from magnesium silicates rather than calcium carbonate, or limestone, since this material does not emit CO2 in manufacture and absorbs the greenhouse gas as it ages. "The building and construction industry knows it has got to do radical things to reduce its carbon footprint and cement companies understand there is not a lot they can do without a technology breakthrough," says Novacem Chairman Stuart Evans. Novacem estimates that for every ton of Portland cement replaced by its product, around three-quarters of a ton of CO2 is saved, turning the cement industry into a big emitter to a big absorber of carbon. Major cement makers have been working hard to reduce CO2 emissions by investing in modern kilns and using as little carbon-heavy fuel as possible, but reductions to date have been limited. Novacem has raised $1.7 M to start a pilot plant that should be up and running in northern England in 2011."
The Media

Submission + - Music Labels Working on Digital Album Format

Submitted by Nerdfest
Nerdfest writes: The Guardian is reporting that the major music labels are working on an 'album' format that contains music, lyrics, artwork, etc, called CMX. Apple had also been invited, but is working on it's own format called 'Cocktail'. No word here on whether or not the format supports DRM. Here's hoping an open standard is the result of this.
Cellphones

Blizzard Going After WoW Related iPhone Apps 87

Posted by Soulskill from the anything-you-can-app-we-can-app-better-in-a-few-years dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Apparently Blizzard is going after developers making iPhone apps for World of Warcraft (free and otherwise) by giving them cease-and-desist orders. As Mike Schramm says 'Blizzard may be planning to do more with the iPhone,' but 'It would be a real shame if Blizzard legal was simply going after fans who have invested a lot of time and effort into these apps even when there's no clear reason for them to do so.'" It's interesting that they're doing so around the same time a video for a (rumored, alleged, unconfirmed — take your pick) iPhone client for World of Warcraft has been floating around.
Businesses

Submission + - Disney-Hulu Deal is Ominous for YouTube 1

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "Dow Jones reports that Hulu scored a big victory when Disney agreed to take a nearly 30% stake in Hulu and put full episodes of its ABC TV shows on the site, enabling users to see shows like Lost, Scrubs, Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives for free. Disney views the move as a way to reach a new audience that isn't coming to the network's own website. Although the ABC.com website has attracted regular viewers of its shows, Hulu offers the opportunity to tap into a new group of viewers. Now Google is under mounting pressure to add more professional content to YouTube in order to attract more advertisers. According to Dow Jones' Scott Morrisson the equity structure of the Disney-Hulu deal suggests that content creators want greater involvement in online distribution than Google has offered with YouTube. "Content providers don't want to give (YouTube) content because the advertisers aren't there yet," said Edward Jones analyst Andy Miedler. The Wall Street Journal reported that It wasn't immediately clear why Disney opted for Hulu, but a person familiar with the situation said Google and Disney had also been in talks to put long-form content on YouTube and noted that Google was not be willing to offer any content provider an equity stake in YouTube. "I don't think (YouTube) can get into the premium space with revenue-share only," says Forrester Research analyst Bobby Tulsiani. "They are going to have to make upfront payments or equity deals.""
Businesses

Submission + - Unpaid Contributors Provide Corporate Tech Support

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens
Hugh Pickens writes: "The NY Times reports that Justin McMurry spends up to 20 unpaid hours per week helping Verizon customers with high-speed fiber optic Internet, television and telephone service. McMurry is part of an emerging corps of Web-savvy helpers that large corporations, start-up companies and venture capitalists are betting will transform the field of customer service. Such enthusiasts are known as lead users, or super-users, and their role in contributing innovations to product development and improvement — often selflessly — has been closely researched in recent years. These unpaid contributors, it seems, are motivated mainly by a payoff in enjoyment and respect among their peers. "You have to make an environment that attracts the Justin McMurrys of the world, because that's where the magic happens," says Mark Studness, director of e-commerce at Verizon. The mentality of super-users in online customer-service communities is similar to that of devout gamers, according to Lyle Fong, co-founder of Lithium Technologies whose web site advertises that a "vibrant community can easily save a company millions of dollars per year in deflected support calls" and whose current roster of 125 clients includes AT&T, BT, iRobot, Linksys, Best Buy and Nintendo. Lithium's customer service sites for companies offer elaborate rating systems for contributors, with ranks, badges and kudos counts. "That alone is addictive," says Fong. "They are revered by their peers." Meanwhile McMurry, who is 68 and a retired software engineer, continues supplying answers by the bushel, all at no pay. "People seem to like most of what I say online, and I like doing it.""

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