Flickr user Ian Boyd posted this photo of an amusing garage door warning, noting "This was on the old Island 2000 Trust garage up along the Forest Road, sadly now demolished and gone forever." The message reads, "PLEASE DO NOT BLOCK THESE DOORS UNLESS WE SAY 'OH ALRIGHT JUST THIS ONCE THEN.'"
Link
(Thanks, David!)
Flickr user Ian Boyd posted this photo of an amusing garage door warning, noting "This was on the old Island 2000 Trust garage up along the Forest Road, sadly now demolished and gone forever." The message... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 10:58 am
A $200m (100m) robot at the international space station was today paralysed and waiting for a software fix to reanimate it Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 10:31 am
Controversial game Manhunt 2 - banned for being 'sadistic, brutal and bleak' - has finally won its fight for release in the UK Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 10:30 am
Scientists find ancient road and irrigation systems at fortress close to civilisation's capital, Cuzco Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 10:26 am
If you haven’t been keeping up with the noise, FriendFeed is the hot startup of the minute. The service launched to the public February 25 and announced $5 million in funding at the same time. The... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 9:37 am
Last week, I brought you the news that the BBC had inadvertently dropped the DRM from its controversial iPlayer service, a video-on-demand system. The BBC's beta iPhone project made unencrypted streams... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 9:12 am
Yesterday, the service stopped working, as the BBC took a countermeasure to stop non-iPhones from getting access to the unencumbered streams.
Today, it's back. It turns out that all it takes to get around the BBC's countermeasure is to structure the request header using the same quirks as an iPhone.
At this point, the BBC needs to confront the fact that by choosing DRM, it has set itself to war against the license paying public. After all, a British license-payer who records a digital video-stream from the Beeb's broadcast towers can store the recording forever, can watch it on any computer or TV, and can otherwise enjoy all the freedoms that we've had since the VCR was legalized.
But with the iPlayer, you can only watch shows on authorized devices (all these devices require a license from a non-British corporation to manufacture) and only according to a baroque set of rules that delete your recordings after a set period.
The law compels British TV owners to pay for the production of these programmes -- so it's natural that they'll want to go on enjoying the freedoms they've had in the pre-Internet era.
The BBC has declared war on the people who fund it. That's not a war it can win.
Link
(Thanks, Glyn!)
Richard Edson, of Sonic Youth, has a photography show called "Beyond the Valley of the Micro-Bops" on at the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, featuring gorgeous, precise and lush close-up photos of toys.
Richard Edson's pictures are close-ups of toys, shot with incredible attention to lighting, background, color, context, and focal points. The show will be running until April 5, so if you don't make the opening, you've still got time to check out the work.
Richard Edson, of Sonic Youth, has a photography show called "Beyond the Valley of the Micro-Bops" on at the Los Angeles Center for Digital Art, featuring gorgeous, precise and lush close-up photos of... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 9:06 am
sam1am points out a New York Times report on a recent paper published in Nature about the formation of planetary systems. A binary star system surrounded by a protoplanetary disc was observed over a period of six years by scientists at Wesleyan University. The orbit of the stars around each other caused changes in illumination from within the disc and allowed the researchers to learn a great deal about its composition. Some of the basic data is posted on the university's site. An animation of the system is also available. From the NYTimes: "'This is the first step in going from smoke particles to macroscopic things like planets and asteroids,' Dr. Herbst said in an interview, noting that these grains were about the same size as those found in many meteorites. Observing starlight reflected from these grains, he said, represented a rare opportunity to study the structure and chemical properties of material in the inner parts of another planetary system."
AOL, a company that is supposedly on the block themselves, seems to be on somewhat of an acquisition bender lately. In addition to a number of smaller purchases like Yedda and Goowy, and not a day after... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 8:52 am
By Evan Ackerman If you spend an inordinate of time obliviously chatting away on your cellphone in public (you know who you are), everyone else in the world would love it if you could teach yourself how... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 8:45 am
Virgin Mobile Canada knows how frustrated people can get with the lack of personalized service these days. Faster than Eliot Spitzer could say, "Um, oops," the company came out with a print ad that... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 8:32 am
During this year's annual full sessions of the National People's Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, mobile phones have played a role in promoting... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 8:18 am
Japanese scientists have invented a pair of intelligent glasses that remembers where people last saw their keys, handbag, iPod or mobile phone, reports The Daily Mail. "The spectacles - which come with... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 8:12 am
MyBlogLog founder Eric Marcoullier sold his company to Yahoo in January 2007 for an estimated $10 million. He left Yahoo in July 2007. Eric is now preparing to launch a new startup, Gnip. Details are scarce... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 8:01 am
By Paige Phelps, The Dallas Morning News Mar. 14--If you think you've got skills with the grill, it's just about time to put them on display. But before you head out back, check out the latest and greatest for outdoor entertaining. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Mar 2008 | 8:00 am
Increasing herbicide use has created a jungle of at least 48 "super-weeds" that are resistant to chemicals. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Mar 2008 | 8:00 am
A DRUG normally used to treat Parkinson's may also be effective against cancer. Synthetic dopamine is an artificial version of a chemical that allows messages to pass between motor neurons in the brain. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Mar 2008 | 8:00 am
By Janet Patton, The Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky. Mar. 14--FRANKFORT -- Kentucky farmers, still suffering the effects of last year's bad weather, will get $8.15 million in help under a new state program. Gov. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Mar 2008 | 8:00 am
LONG BEACH Walkers to stroll through La Linda The Bixby Knolls Strollers walking club is taking a special "Ides of March" stroll this Saturday morning through the gated community of La Linda and the Bixby Mansion. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Mar 2008 | 8:00 am
Don't use voters' own money to try to fool them in an election campaign. Voters are used to big-spending campaigns aimed at swaying their decisions at election time, but they shouldn't have their own money used against them. That's what seems to be happening on the issue of eminent domain. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Mar 2008 | 8:00 am
By Al Rudis review MAGIC LAMP Where: 5020 E. Second St., Long Beach; (562) 987-3080; entire menu served Sunday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Atmosphere: Lebanese informal. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Mar 2008 | 8:00 am
By Brent D. Wistrom, The Wichita Eagle, Kan. Mar. 14--If Sedgwick County residents and businesses don't change their habits now, their health and pocketbooks may soon pay the price. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Mar 2008 | 8:00 am
Removal Site Evaluation Report Engineering Evaluation/ Cost Analysis for the Disposition of Water in the 105-P Disassembly Basin at the Savannah River Site The U.S. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Mar 2008 | 8:00 am
By KJ Lang, La Crosse Tribune, Wis. Mar. 14--A bill to provide additional student financial aid under the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse's Growth, Quality and Access plan failed to reach a Senate vote by Thursday, the last day of the legislative session. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Mar 2008 | 8:00 am
On October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union cold-cocked a smug and complacent United States by firing a large ball with four jutting antennae into space, where the contraption began orbiting the earth as the first radio satellite. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Mar 2008 | 8:00 am
PinStack.com, the web's largest BlackBerry community with more than 300,000 users, today announced that it has chosen LinkedIn for Groups to facilitate professional networking for its members. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Mar 2008 | 8:00 am
By STEVE LAWSON MILLIONS of computers in the UK are being dumped rather than being recycled. Research, sponsored by Fujitsu Siemens, has found that 12.5 million old PCs and laptops have not been reused or recycled. That's shamefully wasteful. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Mar 2008 | 8:00 am
Saigant Technologies Inc., a software and technology company, today announced that it will be demonstrating Difron™ at the Digital Living Room conference in San Francisco in front of leaders in the fields of venture financing, entertainment, telecom, broadcast and major electronic companies. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Mar 2008 | 8:00 am
By Alasdair Northrop Editor of Insider Magazine AOL yesterday said they would pay pounds 430million for friendship website Bebo. It would give the struggling internet company a foothold in an expanding business. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Mar 2008 | 8:00 am
A MAN has been arrested in connection with an alleged shooting of a parking warden as he dished out tickets in Edinburgh. Lothian and Borders Police say they have charged the 21-year-old following the incident in the city's York Lane last Thursdsay. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Mar 2008 | 8:00 am
Actelis Networks®, a leading global supplier of Carrier Ethernet over Copper™ solutions, today announced that Cyberlink has deployed Actelis' ML2300, the company's flagship Ethernet in the First Mile (EFM) aggregation platform that enables telecom service providers and private enterprise to deliver symmetrical Ethernet services up to 100Mbps per customer over multiple voice-grade copper pairs. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Mar 2008 | 8:00 am
AOL stepped up its bid to boost traffic and advertising opportunities worldwide as the struggling Internet company agreed Thursday to pay $850 million for the online hangout Bebo and a foothold in the growing arena of social media. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Mar 2008 | 8:00 am
I've just posted the first installment of a podcast reading of a new novella that I co-wrote with Hugo- and Nebula-nominee Benjamin Rosenbaum. The story's a big, 32,000-word piece called "True Names" (in homage to Vernor Vinge's famous story of the same name), and it involves the galactic wars between vast, post-Singularity intelligences that are competing to corner the universe's supply of computation before the heat-death of the universe.
Ben and I will be reading the story in weekly installments, taking turns as our schedules allow. The reading is Creative Commons licensed -- Attribution-ShareAlike-NonCommercial -- and the story itself will be published this fall in Fast Forward 2, Lou Anders' followup to his knockout 2007 anthology, Fast Forward (regular Boing Boing readers will remember Paul Di Filippo's Wikiworld story from that volume). Lou's given us permission to post the story's text simultaneous with the book's publication, under the same Creative Commons license.
I had a nearly illegal amount of fun working on this story with Ben, who is a gonzo comp-sci geek with a real flair for phrasing, and I hope you'll enjoy hearing it as much as we enjoyed writing it!
Link, Podcast feed
He's the focus of an online game, 'Barack, Paper, Scissors.' Can the candidate outwit Clinton, Bush or Ahmadinejad? ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 7:00 am
Malcolm C. McKenna, who led the American Museum of Natural History's paleontology division for four decades and who played a key role in reopening the fossil-rich Gobi Desert to western scientists, died... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 7:00 am
The purchase of the social networking site would strengthen the struggling Internet pioneer's transformation into an online advertising contender. ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 7:00 am
Joseph Weizenbaum, a computer programmer who invented the natural-language-understanding program known as ELIZA and later grew skeptical of artificial intelligence, has died, his family said Thursday... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 7:00 am
A drug normally used to treat Parkinson's may also be effective against cancer, scientists have found. Synthetic dopamine is an artificial version of a chemical that... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 6:22 am
Crocodiles and alligators behave like sophisticated submarines to dive, surface or roll sideways without flippers or fins, researchers have discovered. Biologists in... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 6:22 am
wazza brings us a story about the Philippine government's weather service (PAGASA), which has recently used an eight-PC Debian cluster to replace an SGI supercomputer. The system processes data from local sources and the Global Telecommunication System, and it has reduced monthly operational costs by a factor of 20. Quoting: "'We tried several Linux flavours, including Red Hat, Mandrake, Fedora etc,' said Alan Pineda, head of ICT and flood forecasting at PAGASA. 'It doesn't make a dent in our budget; it's very negligible.' Pineda said PAGASA also wanted to implement a system which is very scalable. All of the equipment used for PICWIN's data gathering comes off-the-shelf, including laptops and mobile phones to transmit weather data such as temperature, humidity, rainfall, cloud formation and atmospheric pressure from field stations via SMS into PAGASA's central database."
A pair of spacewalking astronauts started putting together a robot outside the international space station early on Friday despite a problem getting power to the giant... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 5:25 am
By MARK WILSON, Courier & Press staff writer 4646-7417 or wilsonm@courierpress.com The winners of the 59th annual Pott Foundation Tri-State Science & Engineering Fair were announced at an awards ceremony and reception Wednesday night at the University of Southern Indiana. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Mar 2008 | 5:00 am
Experience Easter morning with an 1830s flavor at the non- denominational Sunrise service to be held Sunday, March 23 at 7 a.m. at Apple River Fort State Historic Site in Elizabeth. The event is free and open to the public. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Mar 2008 | 5:00 am
ROLLE, Switzerland - Yahoo Inc. said Thursday it is moving its European headquarters to Switzerland from London. The Internet pioneer from California said it will move to a site on ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 4:33 am
Sprint Nextel Corp.'s plummeting stock price and the expected exodus of millions of subscribers this year have yielded a fresh round of speculation about the company's future. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 4:15 am
Sprint Nextel Corp.'s plummeting stock price and the expected exodus of millions of subscribers this year have yielded a fresh round of speculation about the company's future. But... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 4:11 am
A pair of spacewalking astronauts started putting together a robot outside the international space station early Friday despite a problem getting power to the giant machine. The... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 4:09 am
Peer-to-peer file sharing, the primary vehicle for online piracy, has been as unpopular with Internet service providers as it has been popular with users. Providers have banned,... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 4:06 am
Nimey brings word that for the first time in 25 years, the US House of Representatives will use a closed-door session to discuss proposed wiretapping legislation. The old legislation expired last month when government officials could not agree on retroactive immunity for the telecommunications providers who assisted with the wiretaps. The most recent version of the bill, proposed by House democrats, does not include telecom immunity. Because of that, President Bush has stated his willingness to veto the bill. The Yahoo article notes, "The closed-door debate was scheduled for late Thursday night, after the House chamber could be cleared and swept by security personnel to make sure there are no listening devices."
The international Cassini spacecraft collected science data on mysterious geysers spewing from Saturn's moon Enceladus and recorded new images of its surface during a close flyby, NASA's... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 2:53 am
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A software malfunction prevented a key piece of equipment on the Cassini spacecraft from recording data as it flew through the plume from a geyser shooting off a moon Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 2:41 am
HOUSTON (Reuters) -- Two U.S. astronauts floated out into open space on Thursday to get a section of Japan's elaborate research laboratory ready for installation on the International Space... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Mar 2008 | 2:40 am
Image: a snapshot I took in 2006 of ethnic Tibetan nuns praying in a temple in Lhasa, Tibet. This small temple is very close to the site of large protests taking place this week. Some of the women in this temple told me that fellow nuns had been jailed, tortured, or "disappeared" for expressing spiritual allegiance to the Dalai Lama, and to the notion of Tibetan sovereignty.
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The Chinese government this week dispatched military troops and police to important monasteries in Tibet to crack down on the largest protests by ethnic Tibetan Buddhist monks in the Himalayan region in 20 years. Witnesses are reporting that trucks full of troops have surrounded Drepung monastery in Lhasa, as police surround nearby Sera monastery. Snip from the Independent:
These two sites have strong symbolic significance, as they were the training grounds for the monks who led Tibet before the People's Liberation Army came in 1950 and ousted the Dalai Lama.
Protests began on Monday as monks marked the 49th anniversary of the failed uprising against Chinese rule that culminated in the Dalai Lama's exile. The protests are the biggest since the late 1980s, when riots led to martial law. Back then, China's current President, Hu Jintao, was the Communist Party chief in Tibet.
Signs of defiance in Tibet come just five months before the Olympic Games in Beijing, when the eyes of the world will be on China. Tibetan activists are expected to use the extra attention to highlight their cause.
Among the many reports today, this sad and symbolic story: two of the protesting monks from Drepung are in critical condition after stabbing their wrists and chests as a form of protest.
The two monks were identified as Kalsang and Damchoe, both originally from Kirti monastery in Sichuan province and now resident at Drepung monastery. Sources said the men had stabbed themselves in the chest, hands, and wrists. Both refused to be moved to hospital but were taken instead to the monastery clinic, the sources said.
"There are many other monks who hurt themselves in desperation, and protests are going on inside the monastery as of March 12 and 13," one source said. Another source described the two monks' condition as critical and said they were not expected to survive.
The era of the rigid airship dawns at the threshold of the 20th century, and the zeppelin, or dirigible, remains a major force in aviation right up to the beginning of World War II.
Unbeknownst to most viewers, YouTube recently began serving up higher-quality versions of many of its videos. They're ready for streaming, but you have to know where to look. We show you how to find and embed the high-quality clips.
sneakyimp writes "Both Wired and Ars Technica have reports on Jim Griffin's proposal that ISPs charge each broadband customer $5 per month to subsidize the ailing music industry. The resulting fund would ostensibly 'compensate songwriters, performers, publishers and music labels.' Although no specific version of the proposal has been referenced, a number of controversies are inherent to the plan: How is the money really divided? What happens when the MPAA, the Business Software Alliance, and various other industry groups want their own surcharge added? What about the supposed majority of broadband customers who never download illegal music? Griffin discussed the plan further at SXSW . We've previously discussed a similar proposal from the Songwriters Association of Canada.
Scott Brown, creator of the "Paris Power Ballad", blogger and video star tells us his take on accidental celebrity, his whereabouts and what he's up to now.
In English, "The heroes are tired," by a photographer on flickr whose name, in turn, translates to "heart of latex." There's also a blog (which contains adults-only material). (thanks, Susannah Breslin)
In addition to the standard fare, Sen. Barack Obama's legislative earmarks, which were released today, include money for laser development and the conversion of military equipment to fuel cells and hybrid power.
Several readers have pointed out recent articles discussing the development and features of Google Android. Silicon.com has what is essentially an FAQ for Android, providing the relevant basic information about it. Apcmag questions whether Google can meet the high expectations most enthusiasts have for the platform, and The Register discusses Google's claims that it will be competitive with Apple and worth the wait. We discussed a preview of Android last month. Quoting The Register: "Google mobile platforms guru Rich Miner acknowledged that for the moment, Apple may have an advantage. After all, Steve Jobs and company have actually shipped a piece of hardware, while the first Android handset won't arrive until 'the second half of this year.' But Miner also told the crowd that Stevo hasn't treated developers as well as they deserve. 'There are certain apps you just can't build on an iPhone,' Miner said. 'Apple doesn't let you do multiprocessing. They don't let your app run in the background after you switch to another. And they don't let you have interpretive language in your iPhone apps.'"
After attempting to negotiate with Take-Two management in a $2 billion buyout offer, Electronic Arts goes directly to shareholders in a bid to buy the Grand Theft Auto maker.
When casting his upcoming film Paranoid Park, filmmaker Gus Van Sant turned to MySpace. Like Van Sant, many directors and film students are finding the internet is a powerful casting tool.
A new report from Congress' investigative arm says that the FCC doesn't have an adequate system to track complaints against the telecommunications industry.
Two of the biggest names in blog publishing software are currently engaged in a debate about performance, stability and open-source principles. Of course, they are hashing it out in public blog posts, blog comments and on Twitter.
holy_calamity writes "A US government program is in the works to design small nuclear reactors for use by developing countries. The work continues despite fears about security and nuclear proliferation. Plans include having reactors supplied with fuel by the US and other trusted nations, or to build reactors with their whole lifetime of fuel packaged securely inside — like a giant non-user replaceable radioactive battery.' '"
Here's Raphael's "Lady with a Unicorn," for those who were grossed out by the zit popping art film. It looks to me like the unicorn watched the video and the lady is peeved that her pet had been subjected to such trauma.
Nik Mercer says: I thought you BB guys would like this Q&A I -- along with another Anthem Online writer -- did with [Love and Rockets co-creator] Jaime Hernandez.
How do you feel about the characters you’ve created? Is there anything you wish you had done differently with them?
I think I would have had some of them settle down and create families at an earlier stage in their lives. It sounds corny, but that’s what a lot of people do eventually, even the deranged ones.
Aside from Maggie and Hopey, what character or characters are you most proud of? Which ones are the easiest to work with and why?
I really love two of my newer characters, Angel of Tarzana (above) and Vivian the Frogmouth. Vivian I can write blindfolded. Her sassy, spontaneous, obnoxious, difficult, sort of loser type of character has nothing to lose and those are always the easiest and funnest to write. Angel is easy to write as well, but on a different level. In her case, I needed someone more agreeable and supportive. Sort of like a Maggie that is more physically able.
museumpeace writes "In the NYTimes book review blog, David Itzkoff takes a look at a new book devoted to predicting which 'science fiction' technologies may really fly some day. The author is Michio Kaku, one of the inventors of string theory, so he bears a hearing. His picks include light sabers, invisibility and force fields." Which sci-fi tech do you think needs to get invented over the weekend?
christo writes "In what appears to be a first, the US House of Representatives now has a Congressman with coding skills. Democratic Representative Bill Foster won a special election this past Saturday in the 14th Congressional District of Illinois. Foster is a physicist who worked at Fermilab for 22 years designing data analysis software for the lab's high energy particle collision detector. In an interview with CNET today, Foster's campaign manager confirmed that the Congressman can write assembly, Fortran and Visual Basic. Will having a tech-savvy congressman change the game at all? Can we expect more rational tech-policy? Already on his first day, Foster provided a tie-breaking vote to pass a major ethics reform bill."
Viruses aren't just for computers anymore. Now, pre-installed viruses are turning up in all sorts of gadgets, particularly those made in China where quality control can be lax.
Stony Stevenson passed us an ITnews article about the newest scam in online crime. Some 10,000 web pages have been rigged by IT-minded criminals, with the aim of hijacking unsuspecting PCs. The site reports that the users are redirected through a maze of malware, all with the goal of gaining access to personal user information. "The reprogrammed web pages are probably victims of an automated attack that included scanning the internet for unsecured servers and planting a piece of JavaScript code that redirects to a site in China to serve up the malware. The malware cocktail attempts to exploit vulnerabilities in Windows, RealPlayer and other applications to break into the PC. A back door also allows the subsequent installation of additional malicious programs. McAfee Avert Labs first spotted the attack on 12 March. 'Of the 10,000 pages that were compromised a number have already been cleaned up,' the firm stated."
An anonymous reader writes "Passing the Turing test is the holy grail of artificial intelligence (AI) and now researchers claim it may be possible using the world's fastest supercomputer (IBM's Blue Gene). This version of the Turing test pits a human conversing with a synthetic character powered by Rascals software crafted at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. RPI is aiming to pass AI's final exam this fall, by pairing the most powerful university-based supercomputing system in the world with its new multimedia group which is designing a holodeck, a la Star Trek."
Despite a spate of lithium-ion battery fires over the past two years, makers of the batteries haven't fundamentally changed the quality-assurance testing they do.
Flickr user Ian Boyd posted this photo of an amusing garage door warning, noting "This was on the old Island 2000 Trust garage up along the Forest Road, sadly now demolished and gone forever." The message reads, "PLEASE DO NOT BLOCK THESE DOORS UNLESS WE SAY 'OH ALRIGHT JUST THIS ONCE THEN.'"
Link
(Thanks, David!)
Here's Raphael's "Lady with a Unicorn," for those who were grossed out by the zit popping art film. It looks to me like the unicorn watched the video and the lady is peeved that her pet had been subjected to such trauma.
