JoGiles writes "Linux-watch is reporting that while The SCO Group may go on to pursue its plans with a $100 million buyout, it will do so without its longtime CEO Darl McBride. Buried in the proposed MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) between Unix vendor and Linux litigator SCO and SNCP (Stephen Norris & Co. Capital Partners) is the note that "upon the effective date of the Proposed Plan of Reorganization, the existing CEO of the Company, Darl McBride, will resign immediately.""
Much like the devastating Cola Wars and nearly as uninteresting as the Browser War, it would appear the “Format War” is over and the winner is Blu-Ray. Toshiba Corp (6502.T: Quote, Profile,... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 16 Feb 2008 | 3:03 pm
meteorit found a story about rumors of an Alienware phone based on Google's Android phone OS. As Dell has a history of bombing with handhelds, it would be interesting to try the Alienware brand instead. And I'm not exactly sure where they get off claiming that their drawings are the first pictures of the thing. Cheesy renderings designed explicitly for your website are not quite pictures of a product... they are artists impressions.
By Elizabeth Nash For years, Mediterranean beaches have been plagued by jellyfish. Now scientists are reporting that the problem is far worse than they had feared - and that a new generation of the poisonous creatures is poised to overwhelm the sea. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Feb 2008 | 2:00 pm
Our view: Mega master-plan process gives area a chance to make key decisions The mere prospect of a new development so gigantic it's been dubbed a "second city" taking root on Tucson's Southeast Side raises serious questions about our shared future. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Feb 2008 | 2:00 pm
By Mary Novakovich Think big with a view of the largest ocean in the world. Mary Novakovich picks the coast's hosts with the most Shutters on the Beach US Although it's a modern building, Shutters' 1920s style evokes the effortless elegance of that period. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Feb 2008 | 2:00 pm
By Suzanne Ulbrich, The Daily News, Jacksonville, N.C. Feb. 16--Sneads Ferry may have a site for a new library. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Feb 2008 | 2:00 pm
By IAN JOHNSTON ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT AN ARMY of voracious giant crabs is on the brink of invading the shallow seas off Antarctica, where an array of unique, almost prehistoric sealife has evolved for millions of years without any predators. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Feb 2008 | 2:00 pm
taxpayer watch Sahuarita resident Elemer Kovacs has complained for years about trash blowing into his yard from Anamax Park, located just south of his property. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Feb 2008 | 2:00 pm
By Greeley Tribune, Colo. Feb. 16--"Hairspray" is a tough thing to come by these days, it would seem. Tickets to the upcoming presentation of the Broadway musical "Hairspray" at the Union Colony Civic Center, 710 10th Ave. in Greeley, are sold out, according to a release. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Feb 2008 | 2:00 pm
By Greeley Tribune, Colo. Feb. 16--A plan to help manage wildlife at Rocky Mountain National Park continues to move forward. Aproval for the Final Elk and Vegetation Management Plan was signed Friday, according to a release. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Feb 2008 | 2:00 pm
By Linda Trischitta, South Florida Sun-Sentinel Feb. 16--The city of Pompano Beach has hired a new community redevelopment agency director. Robert P. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 16 Feb 2008 | 2:00 pm
Best Buy Co. Inc. says weak consumer spending has forced it to cut its profit and revenue forecasts for fiscal 2008. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Feb 2008 | 2:00 pm
By Steve Connor Science Editor Computer power will match the intelligence of human beings within the next 20 years because of the accelerating speed at which technology is advancing, according to a leading scientific "futurologist". Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Feb 2008 | 2:00 pm
By TIM ELLIS high-speed internet, phone service in exchange for antenna space Sahuarita school district officials have found a way to get free high-speed Internet and phone service, saving taxpayers about $1,200 a month. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Feb 2008 | 2:00 pm
By RHONDA BODFIELD BLOOM True or not, Web sites name lying spouses, drunks, even bad tippers Somewhere around Tucson, according to drivehonest.com, there's a driver of a black Dodge pickup whose aggressive language is matched only by aggressive driving. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Feb 2008 | 2:00 pm
By Brett Hoffman, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Texas Feb. 16--For more than three decades, Russ Weaver has preached the Christian gospel in a Stetson, jeans and cowboy boots. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Feb 2008 | 2:00 pm
By RHONDA BODFIELD BLOOM Adults left behind in new world In type that scrolls up the screen like the preface for Star Wars, a YouTube video reads, "For years, parents could not text message. They could not figure out how to record a voice mail. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Feb 2008 | 2:00 pm
By Michael Howie home affairs correspondent FRESH concerns have been raised over the emergence of so-called "suicide clusters" after two cousins became the latest young people from a Welsh town to take their lives. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Feb 2008 | 2:00 pm
By Bill Laitner, Detroit Free Press Feb. 16--Sherry Wells has three old televisions hooked up to an outdoor antenna. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 16 Feb 2008 | 2:00 pm
ethericalzen writes "An article this week at Cnet revealed that the White House doesn't necessarily hate everything about P2P. The Bush Administration apparently has called into question a law, known as the Federal Agency Data Protection Act, that would force all federal agencies to have plans guarding against the risks of P2P file sharing. In a Congressional hearing on IT security threats, the LimeWire founder was questioned about how his service warned users about the files and folders they are sharing. Karen Evans, the chief information officer for the federal government, stated that she was against singling out a particular technology when issuing computer security requirements. As it is the government already has a law which requires federal agencies to report on information security plans and risk assessments known as FISMA."
TV's big switch from analog to digital broadcasts will be complete in just one year, on Feb. 17, 2009, and many consumers are puzzling over how the shift will affect them: Do they need a new converter... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 16 Feb 2008 | 12:10 pm
TV's big switch from analog to digital broadcasts will be complete in just one year, on Feb. 17, 2009, and many consumers are puzzling over how the shift will affect them: Do they need a... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Feb 2008 | 12:08 pm
1. You don’t need to apologize for calling it Web 3.0. Of course the Web does not upgrade in one go like a company switching to Vista. But there is a definite phase transition from current technologies.... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 16 Feb 2008 | 11:46 am
Sometimes the best things on the internet are not intentional. Over the past several months, I've developed a song circle with a small group of friends on tumblr. They include Rach, Bijan, JoeLaz, Daryn,... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 16 Feb 2008 | 11:46 am
CR0WTR0B0T writes "The San Francisco Chronicle is running a story on viruses loaded into digital picture frames, similar to the ones we discussed at the end of last year. The difference is in the virus used: 'The authors of the new Trojan Horse are well-funded professionals whose malware has 'specific designs to capture something and not leave traces ... This would be a nuclear bomb of malware.' Apparently, a number of regular folks have hooked them up to their home computer and loaded the virus. And if you think you're too smart to be fooled, apparently the Anti-Virus software makers have not caught up to the threat quite yet."
New data released by Hitwise yesterday shows that the difference between those using Yahoo and Google can be shown by the wealth of each user. The graph right demonstrates “Online Representation”... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 16 Feb 2008 | 11:31 am
Apple Insider reports that Google on Wednesday said it has seen 50 times more search requests coming from Apple iPhones than any other mobile handset -- a revelation so astonishing that the company... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 16 Feb 2008 | 10:07 am
A new research study published by the Center for Global Development has looked at the impact of mobile phones on the prices of farm produce in the African country of Niger - which faced serious food... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 16 Feb 2008 | 9:55 am
Stanislav_J writes "In a very thought-provoking essay entitled 'Better Than Free' Kevin Kelly, Senior Maverick at Wired, probes the question of how thoughts, ideas and words that are so constantly, easily, and casually copied can still have economic value. 'If reproductions of our best efforts are free,' he asks, 'how can we keep going? To put it simply, how does one make money selling free copies?' He enumerates and explains eight qualities that can, indeed, make something financially viable — 'better than free.' A very timely article in light of the constant discussion of RIAA/piracy/copyright issues."
Wildlife rangers in Bangladesh said Saturday they have stopped tracking Royal Bengal tigers due to the mystery death of two of the critically endangered big cats who were fitted with radio... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Feb 2008 | 9:38 am
Thousands of young people have been sent fake scam text messages by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to warn them about con-artists. The BBC reports. "The campaign saw 25,000 mobile phone users... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 16 Feb 2008 | 9:27 am
Singapore based Comiqs gives users the ability to create their own comics with a rich web based editing suite. Sites and services that provide comic generation aren’t new. Comic Life from Plasq (makers... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 16 Feb 2008 | 9:14 am
Stockholm based Kiwok turns any mobile phone handset into a mobile ECG (electro-cardiogram). Software installed on your handset monitors your heart rate. It can automatically phone a doctor,... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 16 Feb 2008 | 9:02 am
With their outdoor work completed, the astronauts aboard the orbiting shuttle-station complex focused all their attention on the inside of the new Columbus lab. The 10 space travelers... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Feb 2008 | 8:35 am
With their outdoor work completed, the astronauts aboard the orbiting shuttle-station complex focused all their attention on the inside of the new Columbus lab. The 10 space travelers... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Feb 2008 | 8:27 am
Corrects paragraph 14 to say the Moon's far side is permanently turned away from earth, not permanently dark Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Feb 2008 | 8:06 am
Abnormal antibodies in maternal blood that bind to fetal brain cells may contribute to the development of autism, according to two studies from the UC Davis MIND Institute. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 16 Feb 2008 | 8:00 am
Humans' journey into the New World occurred in three stages, DNA shows, thanks to some big glaciers that got in their way. ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 16 Feb 2008 | 8:00 am
Officials say there's no evidence of identity theft so far, but many workers and retirees are angry that the utility outsourced sensitive data to a contractor. ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 16 Feb 2008 | 8:00 am
UCLA researchers develop a substance that could capture the gas in smokestacks and tailpipes to help stem climate change. ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 16 Feb 2008 | 8:00 am
KublaiKhan writes "According to an article on Reuters, the Chinese censors have decided that horror movies are verboten. 'Offending content included "wronged spirits and violent ghosts, monsters, demons, and other inhuman portrayals, strange and supernatural storytelling for the sole purpose of seeking terror and horror," the administration said. This is apparently a sort of Chinese version of the Jack Thompson effect, as the "mental health of adolescents" is cited as one of the reasons for the ban. Presumably, this ban — much like the spitting ban — is intended to improve China's image in the rest of the world before the Olympics open; but given the Streisand effect, would this ban perhaps unintentionally spur a surge of horror movie popularity in China?" Blizzard has had trouble with skeletons in World of Warcraft , and I imagine this decision stems from similar objections.
REGINA - There was no access for thousands of Access Communications customers in Regina after a fire melted a critical fibre optic cable for Internet, cable TV and digital phones. The... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Feb 2008 | 5:26 am
BotnetZombie writes "Wired has up an article/gallery with very impressive images from the nanoworlds around us, and little stories for each picture. Besides giving an inspiring insight into the world of very little things, images of this kind can help scientists in many fields get a better handle on their subjects."
BEIJING, Feb. 16 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Perfect World Co., Ltd. (Nasdaq: PWRD) ("Perfect World" or the "Company"), a leading online game ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Feb 2008 | 4:26 am
Dean Garfield writes "An article at TorrentFreak notes that several BitTorrent developers have proposed a new protocol extension with the ability to bypass the BitTorrent interfering techniques used by Comcast and other ISPs. 'This new form of encryption will be implemented in BitTorrent clients including uTorrent, so Comcast subscribers are free to share again. The goal of this new type of encryption (or obfuscation) is to prevent ISPs from blocking or disrupting BitTorrent traffic connections that span between the receiver of a tracker response and any peer IP-port appearing in that tracker response, according to the proposal.'"
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. The women gathered in the airy living room, wine poured and pleasantries exchanged. In no time, the conversation turned lively not about the literary merits of Geraldine Brooks or... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 16 Feb 2008 | 3:36 am
The International Energy Agency on Friday called on the United States to do more to curb energy use and fight global warming, saying pricing was the best way to curb demand. ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Feb 2008 | 2:44 am
A Seoul-based company says it has received the worlds first commercial order to clone a pet dog, from a California woman who wants to recreate Booger, her dead pit bull terrier. The cloning will be conducted... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 16 Feb 2008 | 2:37 am
Several companies lost access to their own files when Amazon.com Inc.'s pay-as-you-go data storage system went down Friday morning. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 16 Feb 2008 | 1:40 am
Several companies lost access to their own files when Amazon.com Inc.'s pay-as-you-go data storage system went down Friday morning. Amazon said computers that power its Simple Storage... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 16 Feb 2008 | 1:37 am
Riding with Robots writes "The never-say-die robotic geologist Opportunity continues its extended explorations in Victoria Crater on Mars. The latest findings from the mission suggest that while plenty of water did exist in this location, it was so salty that life would have a very hard time gaining a foothold. 'Not all water is fit to drink,' said Andrew Knoll, a member of the rover science team. 'At first, we focused on acidity, because the environment would have been very acidic. Now, we also appreciate the high salinity of the water when it left behind the minerals Opportunity found. This tightens the noose on the possibility of life.'"
The Democratic Party's pick for presidential candidate may be decided by 795 party members with no obligation to respect the views of rank-and-file voters. Now thanks to collaborative software and lots of volunteers, voters can find out who they are, and how they plan to vote.
A balloon artist visits a nursing home, shapes crazy hats and bracelets and geegaws out of balloons, and makes a lot of elderly people very happy for a while. That's it. No catch, no irony. Video link. (thanks, nirvan)
Update: From the comments thread, nirvan adds:
The balloon artist is Addi Somekh. All of Addi's YouTube videos are pretty amazing. The music is by The Evangenitals.
A 14-day-old Samoan infant died in DHS detention at Honolulu airport earlier this week, and American Samoa's delegate to Congress is calling for an investigation:
The baby had been flown to Honolulu for emergency heart surgery. He died while detained inside a customs' room at the Honolulu airport with his mother and a nurse.
There are few card games in Vegas with better odds than blackjack, but just knowing how to play the game isn't enough to gain a significant advantage. To really clean up, you need to learn how to count cards. Follow this simple guide from Wired's How-To Wiki.
BioShock may have been conceived as a study in nuance, a place for gamers to discover and explore at their own pace, but its dip into the ethical morass of Ayn Rand's objectivist philosophies has brought her beliefs back into the mainstream spotlight and even piqued the interest of the Ayn Rand Institute's president, Yaron Brook.
Brook, a former member of the Israeli Army military intelligence and award-winning finance professor at Santa Clara University, first took notice of the game when he discovered his 18-year-old son playing it. It's a fact that didn't bother Brook despite his son's objectivist beliefs and the game's not so positive take on the philosophy.
"My son has to find his own way in life," he said. "There are certain games I wouldn't want him to play, like Grand Theft Auto, games that celebrate criminality. But a game that might lead him to think and have him challenge his ideas, I'm fine with. "Luckily for me he doesn't agree with the game, he still seems to believe in objectivism."
eldavojohn writes "Remember the investigation ICANN did in domain name front running? Well, it turns out that there was no wrong doing going on at all. What went wrong? Domain name 'tasting', which involves a free five day trial of a domain name, was the big culprit. From the article: 'In some cases ... the committee found that a separate practice of domain name tasting may be causing problems. That refers to someone testing the financial viability of a name for up to five days and then returning it for a full refund, using a loophole in registration policies. Domain tasting can tie up millions of Internet addresses, including ones someone checks but does not buy.' If you check for availability of a website and someone sees you do it and they reserve it before you, it's fair play."
Amazon's virtual storage service, S3, suffered a 2.5-hour service failure Friday morning, causing outages and other problems at a wide range of web businesses. Most customers remained unconcerned, however.
The weapon that the Pentagon wants to use to shoot down a failing satellite is well-tested. But its one weakness could pose a problem, as the military tries to take that satellite out.
The Rinspeed sQuba is an amphibious electric vehicle inspired by the submersible Lotus Esprit that Q gave to James Bond in The Spy Who Loved Me. There's only one sQuba in existence and it cost more than $1.5 million to engineer and build.
"For safety reasons, we have built the vehicle as an open car so that the occupants can get out quickly in an emergency," said (Rinspeed CEO Frank) Rinderknecht, 52.
Passengers will be able to keep breathing underwater through an integrated tank of compressed air similar to what is used in scuba diving.
The sQuba's top speed on land is about 77 mph, but it slows down to 3 mph on the surface of the water, and 1.8 mph underwater....
"We always want to do cars that are outrageous, which nobody has done before. So we thought, 'Let's make a car dive,"' said Rinderknecht, whose innovative company has made transparent, flying and voice-activated cars in previous attention-grabbing displays at the Geneva Auto Show.
Link to CNN, Link to Rinspeed (Thanks, Lindsay Tiemeyer!)
The Pentagon says it has to shoot down a malfunctioning spy satellite because of the threat of a toxic gas cloud. Space security experts are calling the rationale "comedic gold."
In the wake of Thursday's shootings at Northern Illinois University, several memorials dedicated to the victims of the tragedy have sprung up on social networking site Facebook and YouTube.
The Cambridge University Library's tower has long been rumored to be packed with vintage pornography books from the Victorian era. Now, a million dollar grant is funding the online cataloging of the 170,000 publications in the 17 floor tower. Turns out, the closest thing to erotica up there are titles like "A Golden Guide To Matrimony" and "Flirting Made Easy." They're mixed in with the likes of "How to mesmerize" and "Wasps have stings; or, beware of tight-lacing." (Shhhh... I heard they moved the real hardcore stuff to the library's sub-basement.) From The Telegraph:
Students of pornography can take heart, however, because more recent erotica is kept there thanks to its copyright library status.
(Vanessa Lacey, the manager of the Cambridge University Library Tower Project,) said: "There's plenty of pornography in the library which is more recent.
"People can come and have a look at it - for their research. But there's nothing terribly racy from the 19th century. What we found is the Mills and Boon of the era."
I've been enjoying Julian Cope's highly-recommended new book on Japanese 60's/70's freak/psych/noise rock very much, and I'm just beginning the process of tracking down some of the music therein (and so far, it is just as crazy and interesting as described!) For someone with a 20-year+ music addiction, it is a great thrill to be turned on to a whole chunk of great stuff that you previously knew nothing about.
Anyway, I just noticed that Mr. Cope has a companion website, with a full A-Z encyclopedia of artists and albums. If the sight of all those crazy LPs doesn't whet your appetite, you deserve to listen to the new Britney Spears CD instead!
Link to Japrocksampler blog, Link to buy Japrocksampler book
Scientific American's JR Minkel interviewed CalTech physicist H. Jeff Kimble about quantum teleportation. In the article, Kimble explains in simple terms why recent experiments in quantum teleportation have nothing to do with the Star Trek transporter. As Minkel sums it up, the phenomenon "turns out to be more relevant to computing than to commuiting." From the interview:
Scientific American: What's the biggest misconception about teleportation?
Jeff Kimble: That the object itself is being sent. We're not sending around material stuff. If I wanted to send you a Boeing 757, I could send you all the parts, or I could send you a blueprint showing all the parts, and it's much easier to send a blueprint. Teleportation is a protocol about how to send a quantum state—a wave function—from one place to another.
Researchers confirm a link between mitochondrial defects and heart disease in mice -- a discovery that could eventually help prevent heart disease in humans.
In the discussion following Xeni's post about Yoko Ono yesterday, Shawn Wolfereferenced having just bought one of Worn Free's "Yoko Ono" t-shirts, just like John Lennon used to wear. I checked out Worn Free and they have a very cool business idea. They recreate obscure vintage t-shirts famously worn by rockers, like Lennon's "Working Class Hero" tee, Iggy Pop's "I Wiped Out The 60's" tee, Debbie Harry's "Punk" tee, Frank Zappa's "Rental" tee, Joey Ramone's "Capitol Theatre" tee, and a slew of others. My favorite is the "Yoko Ono" and Joey Ramone's "Punk Magazine" tee. Link
"For safety reasons, we have built the vehicle as an open car so that the occupants can get out quickly in an emergency," said (Rinspeed CEO Frank) Rinderknecht, 52. Passengers will be able to keep breathing underwater through an integrated tank of compressed air similar to what is used in scuba diving. The sQuba's top speed on land is about 77 mph, but it slows down to 3 mph on the surface of the water, and 1.8 mph underwater....
I've been enjoying Julian Cope's highly-recommended new book on Japanese 60's/70's freak/psych/noise rock very much, and I'm just beginning the process of tracking down some of the music therein (and so far, it is just as crazy and interesting as described!) For someone with a 20-year+ music addiction, it is a great thrill to be turned on to a whole chunk of great stuff that you previously knew nothing about.
