By Graeme Hetherington A NORTH-EAST couple are facing the prospect of being extradited to the US charged with supplying banned drug-making chemicals over the internet.Brian Howes and Kerry Ann Shanks could be jailed for 20 years if they are convicted of selling two chemicals used in the production of the Class A drug methamphetamine, known as crystal meth.Mr Howes, 44, and Ms Shanks, 30, who were married earlier this week, were told at Edinburgh Sheriff Court that their case would now be decided by Scottish ministers within two months.The couple ran Lab Chemicals International from Bo'ness, in West Lothian, supplying 40 chemicals around the world.They were arrested by Central Scotland Police in January last year, following an investigation by the US Drug Enforcement Agency and officers from Cleveland Police.Officers raided their storage warehouse in Grangemouth, along with their home in Bridgeness Road, a funeral parlour and a motor museum in the town, in January last year.They spent seven months in prison on remand before being bailed in advance of their extradition hearing.It is claimed that their two daughters, aged five and one, will be taken into care along with Ms Shanks' two other daughters, aged ten and eight, if their parents are extradited.Mr Howes and Ms Shanks are facing 82 charges, alleging they used their internet company to supply red phosphorous and iodine to 400 customers in the US, most of whom were producing methamphetamine.Red phosphorous and iodine are legal in Britain, but strictly regulated in the US.Mr Howes admits selling chemicals over the internet, but denies knowing they were to be used to produce methamphetamine.He told the extradition hearing he ran a legitimate business supplying firework chemicals to amateur pyrotechnics and some medical chemicals.But US officials claim the evidence against the couple includes incriminating emails, false or misleading packaging, and the evidence of undercover agents who posed as customers, and supplied enough chemicals to make 635kg of crystal meth.Speaking outside the court, Mr Howes, originally from Middlesbrough, said: "Obviously, we believe it's the wrong decision. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Apr 2008 | 1:00 pm
By Elisabeth Rosenthal Depending on your point of view, Szczepan Master is either an incorrigible Luddite or a visionary. A small farmer, proud of his pure, high-quality products, he works his land the way Polish farmers have for centuries. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Apr 2008 | 1:00 pm
Canada urged to protect fresh water from U.S. OTTAWA, April 3 (Xinhua) -- A think-tank urged Canada Thursday to develop a better strategy to protect its fresh water from the United States, which will face severe shortages in the near future. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Apr 2008 | 1:00 pm
A man who held his girlfriend captive in their home by chaining her to an engine block has struck a plea deal with prosecutors. Fernando Orozco-Trevizo, 32, pleaded guilty to a single count of aggravated assault, a third-degree felony. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Apr 2008 | 1:00 pm
By Reid Magney, La Crosse Tribune, Wis. Apr. 4--As Congress tries to fix the Farm Bill so President Bush won't veto it, some members are pushing cuts to conservation programs. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Apr 2008 | 1:00 pm
Folks like Rob Alderman have been driving right up to the surf on the Outer Banks and casting a fishing line for so many decades that it's become as deeply ingrained in local culture as beach music and barbecue. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Apr 2008 | 1:00 pm
The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, a consumer lawn and garden company, has appointed Richard Shank as its chief environmental officer. Mr Shank will oversee the implementation of environmental stewardship and corresponding governmental affairs initiatives. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Apr 2008 | 1:00 pm
By Ashlee Clark, The Lexington Herald-Leader, Ky. Apr. 4--RICHMOND -- Plans to destroy 157 gallons of chemical agent stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot have fallen behind schedule. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Apr 2008 | 1:00 pm
China earmarks 427 mln U.S. dlrs for irrigation,water conservancy BEIJING, April 4 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Finance (MOF) and Ministry of Water Resources have jointly allocated 3 billion yuan (427.4 million U.S. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Apr 2008 | 1:00 pm
By DAN SORENSON A Tucson-based conservation group is suing to force a federal agency's decision on listing polar bears as an endangered species, an action that could lead to the first U.S. restrictions on greenhouse-gas emissions. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 4 Apr 2008 | 1:00 pm
Climate change denialists like to cite Danish scientist Henrik Svensmark's theory that global warming is caused by sunspots in excusing the ongoing de-terraforming of the Earth (Svensmark's work was the basis for a film called "The Great Global Warming Swindle"); but research from Lancaster University undermines Svensmark's conclusions.
The idea is that variations in solar activity affect cosmic ray intensity.
But Lancaster University scientists found there has been no significant link between them in the last 20 years.
Presenting their findings in the Institute of Physics journal, Environmental Research Letters, the UK team explain that they used three different ways to search for a correlation, and found virtually none.
This is the latest piece of evidence which at the very least puts the cosmic ray theory, developed by Danish scientist Henrik Svensmark at the Danish National Space Center (DNSC), under very heavy pressure.
HighWizard notes that Adobe Systems has shared the first scrap of information about its next version of Photoshop, CS4, and it's a doozy: there will be a 64-bit version of the photo-editing software, but only for Windows Vista and not for Mac OS X. Ars explains the history of how this conundrum came to pass — blame Apple and/or Adobe as you will.
More than 160 nations agreed in Bangkok Friday to consider how to reduce rapidly growing greenhouse gas emissions from air and sea travel in the fight against climate change. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 12:31 pm
mudimba writes "Google has announced that they will be selling the search engine marketing branch of recently acquired company DoubleClick. Google's reason for the sale is that they do not want to appear to be giving preferential treatment in search rankings to DoubleClick customers. Tom Phillips, director of Google's integration with DoubleClick, said, 'Maintaining objectivity in both search and advertising is paramount to Google's mission and core to the trust we ask from our users.' Google was under scrutiny from the European Union and the FTC over their purchase of DoubleClick, but both eventually approved the deal."
NPR talked to scientists who say that the benefits of drinking tons of water are overrated, and that you don't need to carry a water bottle for a stroll around the park -- "Just drink when you're thirsty... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 12:10 pm
NPR talked to scientists who say that the benefits of drinking tons of water are overrated, and that you don't need to carry a water bottle for a stroll around the park -- "Just drink when you're thirsty."
Myth No. 1: Drink Eight Glasses Each Day
Scientists say there's no clear health benefit to chugging or even sipping water all day. So where does the standard advice of drinking eight glasses each day come from? "Nobody really knows," says Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, a kidney expert at the University of Pennsylvania.
Myth No. 2: Drinking Lots of Water Helps Clear Out Toxins
The kidneys filter toxins from our bloodstreams. Then the toxins clear through the urine. The question is, does drinking extra water each day improve the function of the kidneys?
"No," says Goldfarb. "In fact, drinking large amounts of water surprisingly tends to reduce the kidney's ability to function as a filter. It's a subtle decline, but definite."
During the recent wireless spectrum auctions that just brought the FCC $19.6 billion in license fees, there was a lot of speculation about what drove each of the different corporate bidders. But the bidders... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 11:54 am
The British government wants to ban convicted pedophiles from using social networking Web sites such as Facebook, the Home Office said Friday. The plan involves forcing sex offenders... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 11:50 am
Climate change denialists like to cite Danish scientist Henrik Svensmark's theory that global warming is caused by sunspots in excusing the ongoing de-terraforming of the Earth (Svensmark's work was the... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 11:50 am
Here's a short item about a Middlesex University study that concluded that players of violent video-games experience relaxation after they finish playing: The psychologists studied 292 male and female... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 11:50 am
Here's a short item about a Middlesex University study that concluded that players of violent video-games experience relaxation after they finish playing:
The psychologists studied 292 male and female online gamers playing World of Warcraft. They found that overall the gamers, aged between 12 and 83, were more likely to feel calm or tired after playing, although there were differences depending on sex, age and personality.
“There were actually higher levels of relaxation before and after playing the game as opposed to experiencing anger but this did very much depend on personality type,” said Middlesex University’s Jane Barnett, who is also an International Game Developers Association committee member.
A UK court finally heard evidence about the bizarre liquid-explosive plot hatched in 2006 by some fairly unrealistic suicide bombers, the origin of the global ban on taking liquids through aviation security checkpoints. The plan? To mix Tang and peroxide in Lucozade bottles and make airplanes go boom. Ever since the plot first came to light, chemists and explosives experts have been highly skeptical of it working, and the TSA and UK authorities have blithely insisted that they believe it could come true.
Now, readers of Bruce Schneier's security blog are invited to weigh in on the feasibility of such a scheme, given the information that just emerged in court:
The court heard the bombers intended to use hydrogen peroxide and mix it with a product called Tang, used in soft drinks, to turn it into an explosive.
They intended to carry it on board disguised as 500ml bottles of Oasis or Lucozade by using food dye to recreate the drinks' distinctive colour.
The detonator would have been disguised as AA 1.5 batteries. The contents of the batteries would have been removed and an electric element such as a lightbulb or wiring would have been inserted.
A UK court finally heard evidence about the bizarre liquid-explosive plot hatched in 2006 by some fairly unrealistic suicide bombers, the origin of the global ban on taking liquids through aviation security... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 11:49 am
The Electronic Frontier Foundation's Fred von Lohmann sez, "Agreeing with EFF's amicus brief, a federal court in Boston in a 52-page ruling concludes that 'merely exposing music files to the internet is not copyright infringement.' The Boston court disagrees with a ruling in New York on the same day, which found that a mere 'offer to distribute' a song could violate copyright, even if no one took you up on it. Obviously, this is a fight that's not over yet."
EFF filed an amicus brief in this case (formerly known as Atlantic v. Does 1-21), and our arguments appear to have found a more receptive audience in Boston that they did in New York City (the judge thanks us for our participation on page 11). The 52-page ruling is the most extensive analysis yet of the recording industry's "making available" argument, which claims that you infringe copyright merely by having a song in your shared folder, even if no one ever downloads it.
As we discussed yesterday, a key issue is whether a mere "offer to distribute" is enough to infringe the distribution right, in light of the fact that a mere offer can be enough to constitute "publication." Unlike the court in Elektra v. Barker, the judge in London-Sire v. Doe concludes that "distribution" and "publication" are not identical -- "even a cursory examination of the statute suggests that the terms are not synonymous." If you are interested in the details, the court's analysis is highly illuminating (p. 24-27), touching on a number of earlier rulings, such as Hotaling v. Church of Jesus Christ of Letter-Day Saints and A&M v. Napster (copyright nerds will recognize those as pivotal decisions in this area).
The Electronic Frontier Foundation's Fred von Lohmann sez, "Agreeing with EFF's amicus brief, a federal court in Boston in a 52-page ruling concludes that 'merely exposing music files to the internet is... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 11:49 am
Air Canada continues its slide into self-parody with a new optional service for fliers: for a mere $25-$35 per trip, the airline will sell you its "On My Way" service. What's "On My Way" service? It's... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 11:49 am
Air Canada continues its slide into self-parody with a new optional service for fliers: for a mere $25-$35 per trip, the airline will sell you its "On My Way" service. What's "On My Way" service? It's a special number you can call that's staffed with people who aren't anaesthatized, script-reading drones, in the event that the airline loses your luggage, cancels your flight, or otherwise screws you over. This is the same airline that charges coach passengers two bucks for a "pillow" that's actually a ziploc bag you blow up and slip into a paper doily (business- and first-class passengers get their ziploc bags for free), so I guess it's all in keeping with business as usual at Canada's flagship air-carrier.
Air Canada said passengers who opt to pay an additional $25 one-way on short-haul flights and an extra $35 one-way on long-haul routes within North America will receive "speedy" access to "specially-trained" customer service agents who will help rebook flights on Air Canada or other airlines, as well as pay for hotel stays and meals, if necessary.
Air Canada said the program, which applies to any flight cancelled within 48 hours of the scheduled departure, goes beyond the industry practice of assisting customers affected by schedule changes deemed to be the airline's fault, such as mechanical problems with aircraft, scheduling glitches or crew members failing to show up for flights.
But while Air Canada is touting the program as an industry-first, at least one observer said it was once common for big North American carriers to go out of their way to help inconvenienced or stranded customers – free.
Popline is the world's largest health-information search engine, run by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with funding from the US government. They have just changed their database so that queries for "abortion" show no results, even though the system has access to more than 25,000 documents on the subject. They say they've done this because they believe it's a requirement of their federal funding.
The massive database indexes a broad range of reproductive health literature, including titles like "Previous abortion and the risk of low birth weight and preterm births," and "Abortion in the United States: Incidence and access to services, 2005."
But on Thursday, a search on "abortion" was producing only the message "No records found by latest query..."
A librarian at the University of California at San Francisco noticed the new censorship on Monday, while carrying out a routine research request on behalf of academics and researchers at the university. The search term had functioned properly as of January.
Puzzled, she contacted the manager of the database, Johns Hopkins' Debbie Dickson, who replied in an April 1st e-mail that the university had recently begun blocking the search term because the database received federal funding.
"We recently made all abortion terms stop words," Dickson wrote in a note to Gloria Won, the UCSF medical center librarian making the inquiry. "As a federally funded project, we decided this was best for now."
There was no notice of the change on the site.
Dickson suggested other kinds of more obscure search strategies and alternative words to get around the keyword blocking.
"In addition to the terms you're already using, you could try using 'Fertility Control, Postconception'. This is the broader term to our 'abortion' terms and most records have both in the keyword fields," she wrote.
She also suggested using a euphemistic search strategy of "unwanted w/2 pregnancy." But the workarounds don't satisfy critics of the censorship.
Popline is the world's largest health-information search engine, run by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health with funding from the US government. They have just changed their database so... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 11:48 am
The launch of Vietnam's first satellite has been delayed by a week, the Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) said Friday. The Visanat, originally scheduled for... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 11:30 am
A lawsuit accuses Apple of false marketing and advertising over one of the latest versions of its iMac desktop computer, saying that it is wrongly claiming that the screen can display "millions of colours". Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Apr 2008 | 11:00 am
IBM announced that it has completed the acquisition of Swedish application development and enterprise architecture modeling firm Telelogic. IBM paid around $845m for Telelogic's shares. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Apr 2008 | 11:00 am
By Frank Davies WASHINGTON -- Evidence abounds this presidential election year that the Internet is increasingly competing with TV, newspapers and other traditional media outlets -- and sometimes beating them -- as a primary source of political news. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Apr 2008 | 11:00 am
Google's CIO, Douglas Merrill, has resigned from Google to become the president of digital business at EMI Music where he will oversee the company's digital strategy, innovation, business development, supply chain, and global technology activities. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Apr 2008 | 11:00 am
ARCADIA -- Police announced Thursday they have made an arrest in connection with the shooting death of a man Sunday afternoon. Brandon Michael Landreth, 30, of Monrovia was arrested in Pasadena last night in connection with the killing. He is being held in Twin Towers without bail. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Apr 2008 | 11:00 am
By Tony Batt By TONY BATT stephens washington bureau WASHINGTON - Federal regulators on Wednesday acknowledged they are struggling to find ways to enforce a ban on Internet gambling. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Apr 2008 | 11:00 am
By David Lieberman NEW YORK -- You don't need a pan and a stream in California to join the next gold rush. A video camera, computer and high-speed Internet connection will do. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Apr 2008 | 11:00 am
By Jayne O'Donnell For budget-minded shoppers, few feelings are more deflating than noticing a sale going on -- and realizing that they're missing out on it. Happily, consumers who shop online stand to benefit from websites that list coupon or promotion codes for the taking. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Apr 2008 | 11:00 am
PMC-Sierra (Nasdaq:PMCS): WHO: PMC-Sierra (Nasdaq:PMCS) WHAT: PMC-Sierra Principal Engineer Niels Reimers will present Encrypting Data at Rest in an Enterprise System at Storage Networking World Spring on Thursday, April 10, 2008, 11:15 a.m. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Apr 2008 | 11:00 am
One of Britain’s largest Internet Service Providers have refused to disconnect users who ignore requests to stop sharing music, telling the music industry it’s not their job to police the internet.The British Phonographic Industry (BPI), the trade body for UK music, asked ISPs to disconnect Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 4 Apr 2008 | 10:18 am
Riverbed Technology Inc.'s lower first-quarter outlook may send shares of the data services company lower on Friday. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 10:13 am
Government data released Friday is forecast to show the nation's unemployment rate in March is back at the recession fear-fueling level reached in December. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 10:13 am
By Evan Ackerman On BotJunkie this week, we started things off with a video of a robotic chair that you control by pointing where you want it to go, heard with a raised eyebrow or two that WowWee's Robosapien... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 9:36 am
MrShaggy tips us to news that the debate over Net Neutrality in Canada is coming to the forefront following the recent discovery that Bell Canada was throttling P2P traffic on the access it had sold to wholesalers. Michael Geist's blog notes a video recording of comments from a member of the Canadian government, as well as coverage from Canadian media. From Ars Technica: "The Canadian government has in the past pushed the CRTC to deregulate the telecom industry, an approach still backed by Minister of Industry Jim Prentice. Prentice also wants to stay out of the current net neutrality debate, which would seem to be a de facto vote against the idea. He was asked in the House of Commons this week whether his government would do anything about the current Bell/Rogers traffic-shaping controversy. According to the Globe & Mail, Prentice said only that "we will continue to leave the matter between consumers on the one hand and Internet service providers on the other."
On Day Two of the Next Web conference, we are once again streaming it live from Amsterdam (click more). Kicking things off is Robert Scoble, who is talking about the new digital divide: People with friends... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 8:59 am
A new bullet-proof hoodie to protect against street violence will go on sale later this month. The 300 "Defender" hoodie makes the wearer's upper body invincible to... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 8:46 am
GALION, Ohio, April 4, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- PECO II, Inc. (Nasdaq: PIII), a full-service provider of engineering and installation on- site services and a... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 8:39 am
DETROIT, April 4, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Helm Incorporated, the Highland Park-based specialty fulfillment company, recently enhanced its digital print center by adding a... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 8:31 am
DALLAS, April 4, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Community Newspapers Inc. (AMEX: ANE) ("ACN") today announced that Daniel J. Wilson has resigned from... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 8:30 am
MONROE, La., April 4, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CenturyTel, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) announced today that it was the successful bidder for 69 licenses in the Federal... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 8:15 am
NORCO, Calif., April 4, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly everyone has a pet or knows someone that has a pet. Today, iWalkMyDog.com introduces a revolutionary dog harness that Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 8:10 am
Psychopathic monster Charlie Manson has released a new album, "One Mind," under a Creative Commons license. I am not entirely delighted by this news.
Link
(Thanks, Mike!)
Some days, the U.S. government truly astounds. At Public.Resource.Org, we released 50 years of decisions of the U.S. Courts of Appeals. Knowing that the U.S. Courts have to pay big bucks to West Law and Lexis/Nexis to access their own archives, we though they might be interested in having their very own copy.
So, we asked how we could maybe get a phone call to discuss making a donation of case law. Instead of a phone call, the general counsel of the courts (how's that for a meta position!) sent me a letter saying that while this would be great for the public he saw no benefit to the judiciary and our gift offer was hereby declined.
(Not only does the Judiciary spend big bucks on legal information services, this is the same group that runs the billion-dollar IT boondoggle called PACER, which mandates that the public pay $0.08/page for court documents even though they have $146.6 million in unspent funds in their computer account they can't even figure out what to do with.)
A three-decade study 'cracks the code' of symbols in registries indicating a complex land survey system. It has... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 7:00 am
DNA from fossilized feces in Oregon provides evidence that humans inhabited the area 1,200 years sooner than theorized. ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 7:00 am
The company says use of the symbol for New York's 'GreeNYC' initiative would diminish the value of its brand. ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 7:00 am
The digital download store overtakes Wal-Mart as the biggest U.S. music seller. Apple Inc. has surpassed Wal-Mart... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 7:00 am
eldavojohn writes "While the number of cases dropped, the amount of money lost to internet fraud reached an all-time high in 2007, a new government report states. 'According to the 2007 Internet Crime Report, the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) received 206,884 complaints of crimes perpetrated over the Internet during 2007. Of the complaints received, more than 90,000 were referred to law enforcement around the nation, amounting to nearly $240 million in reported losses. This represents a $40 million increase in reported losses from complaints referred to law enforcement in 2006.' The top ruses used by the fraudsters involved pets, romance and secret shoppers. The original report[Large PDF] is available online, and it contains some interesting graphs. One indicates that the two largest types of fraud are Auction Fraud and Non-delivery, which combine for over 60% of all cases. As Computerworld notes, men are more likely to fall for scams than women, and over 30% of losses are between $1,000 and $5,000. The report also contains data about the location of the perpetrators (Nigeria only accounts for 5.7%), age demographics, and contact methods."
AT&T Inc. sought unrestricted portions of wireless spectrum in the recent auction by the Federal Communications Commission because they better complimented the company's existing holdings, executives... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 5:37 am
Pickens points out a story at The Guardian about the development of neuromarketing, the method by which advertisers track signals inside the brain to roughly extrapolate how a consumer reacts to products and advertisements. We've discussed this technique in the past, but now consulting firms are appearing who have begun to use this research to increase the effectiveness of their marketing practices. The author also notes a paper which elaborates on the scientific details (PDF). "At McLean Hospital, a prestigious psychiatric institution run by Harvard University, an advertising agency recently sponsored an experiment in which the brains of half-a-dozen young whiskey drinkers were scanned. The goal, according to a report in Business Week, was 'to gauge the emotional power of various images, including college kids drinking cocktails on spring break, twentysomethings with flasks around a campfire, and older guys at a swanky bar'. The results were used to fine-tune an ad campaign for the maker of Jack Daniels."
Beleaguered cell phone maker Motorola Inc. said Thursday that it is laying off another 2,600 workers, bringing the company's total employee cuts to more than 10,000 since last year. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 1:59 am
Europes new Jules Verne cargo ship made a nearly flawless first docking at the International Space Station on Thursday, carrying tons of needed supplies and expanding Europes role in space. The robotic... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 1:35 am
WASHINGTON A vibration problem with a rocket that is to launch Orion, NASAs next generation of manned spacecraft, is less severe than previously believed, officials of the agency said Thursday. Fuller... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 4 Apr 2008 | 1:35 am
The New York Times reports on a deal between MySpace and three of the four major music labels to develop a new music website. Users will be able to stream songs for free, purchase downloadable tracks, and (possibly) pay a flat monthly fee for unlimited access. From the Times: "Exact terms of the deal and details about the new site, like prices for downloaded music tracks, were not disclosed. But MySpace did say the site would offer songs free of digital rights management software or D.R.M., which is used to prevent illicit copying but can create technical hurdles for buyers. The songs would be playable on any portable music device, including Apple's iPod. For the music industry, the deal is partly born of desperation. In the face of widespread, escalating online piracy, music sales dropped to $11.5 billion in 2006 from a peak in 1999 of nearly $15 billion."
"Skin jobs," resurrections and a Jesus complex: New questions arise (and precious few answers materialize) as the gritty sci-fi show makes its return to airwaves. Get a sneak peek at the first show of the final season.
For some biologists, Darwinian evolution doesn't go nearly far enough: They want to apply evolutionary principles to populations, ecosystems and even the entire universe.
The brain has a lot of work to do, but most of its signals get distorted by transmission errors. Luckily, it knows how to compensate. Commentary by Carl Zimmer.
coondoggie brings us a NetworkWorld story about IBM's efforts to use complex algorithms to manage responses to natural disasters. Researchers are making use of recent increases in processor speed and algorithm efficiency to develop a scalable, flexible model capable of handling the complicated planning involved in reacting to a crisis. Quoting: "'We are creating a set of intellectual properties and software assets that can be employed to gauge and improve levels of preparedness to tackle unforeseen natural disasters,' says Dr. Gyana Parija. 'Most real-world problems involve uncertainty, and this has been the inspiration for us to tackle challenges in natural disaster management.' In the case of flooding, for example, the stochastic programming model would use various flood scenarios, resource supply capabilities at different dispatch locations, and fixed and variable costs associated with deployment of various flood-management resources to manage various risk measures. By assigning probabilities to the factors driving outcomes, the model outlines how limited resources can meet tomorrow's unknown demands or liabilities. In this way, the risks and rewards of various tradeoffs can be explored, IBM said."
Your cheap digital camera is capable of a lot more than the user manual lets on. By using the free CHDK firmware package, you can take amazing high-speed photos, shoot better low-light pics and add support for high-definition formats. In Wired.com's How-To Wiki.
Your cheap digital camera is capable of a lot more than the user manual lets on. By using the free CHDK firmware package, you can take amazing high-speed photos, shoot better low-light pics and add support for high-definition formats. In Wired.com's How-To Wiki.
Ian Lamont writes "Microsoft says it will extend the sales of Windows XP Home to OEMs by several years, but it's not in response to the SaveXP petition. Microsoft is supposedly making the move in part to ensure that Linux doesn't dominate the market for certain types of 'ultra-low-cost' laptops. XP will be available for OEMs until June 30, 2010, or one year after the availability of the next client version of Windows, whichever date comes later. This greatly extends the earlier XP deadline of June 30 of this year (which was an extension itself), and means XP will potentially be installed on new computers nearly a decade after its original release. The author of the article suggests that the post-June 2008 release of Atom-based laptops encouraged Microsoft to extend XP, even though Intel says Atom can support Vista. Intel also claims that 'Moblin' Linux will be available on Atom-equipped mobile devices starting this summer."
Anonymongoose writes "A researcher at Brookhaven National Lab reckons it could be just a few years before computers can pass through the uncanny valley. The article refers to this as a 'Graphics Turing Test': 'a computer can be considered intelligent if it can create an artificial world capable of fooling a person into believing it is the real thing.' Michael McGuigan has been performing some interesting experiments using Brookhaven's Blue Gene/L supercomputer and has shown that it can produce realistic lighting effects in real time. McGuigan's original research paper (pdf) is available online."
Popline, the world's largest database on reproductive health, suddenly produces no search results for the word "abortion," apparently out of fear of Bush administration reprisal.
ConfusedVorlon writes "The BBC reports on the sad case of Simon Bunce. Mr. Bunce had his identity stolen, and credit cards were made to capitalize on the theft. Some of those cards were used at sites offering child pornography, and as a result Mr. Bunce was swept up in Operation Ore. The poor man was prosecuted for his 'crime', and was eventually found innocent, but in the meantime he lost his job. It took him six months to find another at a quarter of the salary. 'The police's computer technicians take several months to examine [his computers and records], and Mr Bunce could not afford to wait to repair the damage done to his reputation. "I knew there'd been a fundamental mistake made and so I had to investigate it." Recent surveys suggest that as many as one in four Britons have been affected by it. In 2007 more than 185,000 cases of identity theft were identified by Cifas, the UK's fraud prevention service, an increase of almost 8% on 2006.'"
Handset manufacturers are starting to replace their products' obscure, alphanumeric names with more memorable monikers, like "Alias," "Soul" and "Xperia."
Browse this week's Wired.com gadget reviews for a powerful Blu-ray player/receiver combo, an ugly cellphone that takes a beating, a promising audio streamer and more of the latest tech.
The chipmaker stokes its rivalry with the One Laptop per Child organization, and shows off new features of its low-cost school laptops. Slated to go on sale in April for $300 to $500, the model is part of Intel's push for mobile "netbooks," aimed at millions of new consumers coming online in developing countries, as well as U.S. kids.
