SillyConCarbide writes "Every six months, the Materials Research Society holds a science as art competition. The winners from their most recent meeting are particularly breathtaking. Materials researchers may struggle for years with stubborn instruments, fragile crystals or difficult chemical reactions before obtaining a bit of precious data from the exotic substances they study. Now, the scrutiny of samples not only yields potentially important data, but also artistic inspiration. Polymer films, cerium oxide membranes, and tantalum oxide crystals can look beautiful in the right light — especially if that light is an electron beam."
As data moves into the cloud, storage companies are taking advantage of virtualization and adding more memory to the data center. Techniques such as storage virtualization can improve the usage of existing... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 26 Apr 2008 | 2:03 pm
The lobby for US-style copyrights in Canada has gone into overdrive, recruiting a powerful Member of Parliament and turning public forums on copyright into one-sided love-fests for restrictive copyright... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 26 Apr 2008 | 1:54 pm
The lobby for US-style copyrights in Canada has gone into overdrive, recruiting a powerful Member of Parliament and turning public forums on copyright into one-sided love-fests for restrictive copyright regimes that criminalize everyday Canadians.
Dan McTeague is the Liberal MP from Pickering-Scarborough East, and he's set to become the successor to Sam Bulte, the MP who lost her job for funding her campaign to get elected and appointed Heritage Minister by lining her pockets with massive donations from the very industries she would have ended up regulating. Reliable sources tell me that he's the guy who pushed for Canada signing onto the WIPO copyright treaty in its anti-counterfeiting report last year, and that any time anyone in committee mentions fair dealing and user rights, he has a complete melt-down and shouts them down.
At a recent copyright panel in Toronto, McTeague essentially read out a list of record industry talking points about Canada's supposed status as a pirate nation, characterizing infringement as theft and refusing to acknowledge user rights; saying that Canada's international reputation had been tarnished by its soft copyright laws (the World Economic Forum says that Canada's copyright system is more advanced than Japan's and the US's). and, incredibly, proposed that we should pass a law making it illegal to use the Internet to "threaten" Members of Parliament with negative publicity if we don't like their political positions.
The supposedly non-partisan Public Policy Forum is holding a major, one-sided IP symposium on Monday. Invited are the U.S. Ambassador to Canada, former head of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry Association, and other big-stick-swingers for American-style copyright disasters. But when copyright lobbyists discovered that noted copyright scholar Howard Knopf would appear on just one of the panels, they went berserk and pushed successfully to have Knopf removed, ensuring that dissenting voices would be minimized on the day.
For my book, I’ve been thinking about a few industries that I think are impervious to social, Google-age, web-2.0, VRM goodness; we are bound to hate them. Take insurance. I can’t see any way... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 26 Apr 2008 | 1:41 pm
By Andrew Liszewski Here's a great post from the people at Mightygodking.com who claimed to have found a genuine working-condition Atari 2600 at a garage sale, complete with a huge stack of classic games... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 26 Apr 2008 | 1:38 pm
By Andrew Liszewski It seems more people are getting tattoos these days to show loyalty to a particular brand or product than for traditional rebellious reasons. We've all seen our share of Nintendo, Apple... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 26 Apr 2008 | 1:19 pm
Bill sez "Curly, a blogger and photographer from South Shields (in NE England) was pursued by police after they received an emergency 999 call from someone who saw him taking photos in a funfair where... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 26 Apr 2008 | 1:14 pm
Bill sez "Curly, a blogger and photographer from South Shields (in NE England) was pursued by police after they received an emergency 999 call from someone who saw him taking photos in a funfair where children were present. He ended up showing his pics to a policeman in order to be allowed to leave."
“Is there something wrong with my car or my driving?”
“No, no sir, nothing like that at all, we are responding to an emergency call from someone in The Sundial who has reported you as taking pictures of children in the play park”
“Play park? I haven’t been near any play park! I’ve been on the beach and in the fairground, and I’ve never been anywhere near The Sundial either, surely you must have the wrong person?”
“Sorry sir, but we tracked you on the CCTV cameras, got your registration number and that’s why I need to talk to you, you are exactly as described”
SpaceAdmiral writes "An experiment on the Space Shuttle Columbia has been analyzing your ice cream sundae. Or, rather, it looked at the phenomenon of "shear thinning," which explains why whipped cream comes out of the can like a liquid, but sits atop your sundae like a solid. The experiment actually involved shear thinning of xenon, a substance used in ion rocket engines, but whipped cream tastes better." I'm not sure it was cost effective to fly Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass into low earth orbit either, but hey it's NASA, who am I to judge?
Theres no doubt that the forthcoming Windows Mobile Treo 800w (see first image) is one of the most anticipated new smartphones waiting to be released in the coming months. According to rumours it will... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 26 Apr 2008 | 1:07 pm
By Andrew Liszewski If you're an avid cyclist who's always been frustrated that your local lakes, rivers and ponds are off limits to your bike, then Hammacher Schlemmer has the solution for you. The Performance... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 26 Apr 2008 | 12:55 pm
Voluminous is a subscription-based public domain book delivery program. Once you buy the app, it'll let you know whenever likely books are scanned and put online; they also keep a bookmarkable library for you.
There are literally tens of thousands of books. Voluminous makes it faster and easier to find the ones you want. Would you rather waste your time hunting around for them, or have Voluminous do it for you?
Voluminous also:
* Will tell you when new books are available
* Keeps automatic bookmarks for each book in your personal library. If you read a book on a webpage, your web browser will only bookmark that web page (typically, the start of the book), not where you've read to.
* Tracks which books you're currently reading, for quick access
* Takes "plain text" and turns it into a beautifully laid-out book in the style you choose
* Offers full-screen mode for distraction-free reading
* Has tools to share interesting books with friends
These are just some of the advantages of using Voluminous.
Voluminous is a subscription-based public domain book delivery program. Once you buy the app, it'll let you know whenever likely books are scanned and put online; they also keep a bookmarkable library... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 26 Apr 2008 | 12:23 pm
betaville points out comments AT&T filed with the FCC in which they denied throttling traffic by resetting P2P file-sharing connections. Earlier this week, a study published by the Vuze team found AT&T to have the 25th highest (13th highest if extra Comcast networks are excluded) median reset rate among the sampled networks. In the past, AT&T has defended Comcast's throttling practices, and said it wants to monitor its network traffic for IP violations. "AT&T vice president of Internet and network systems research Charles Kalmanek, in a letter addressed to Vuze CEO Gilles BianRosa, said that peer-to-peer resets can arise from numerous local network events, including outages, attacks, reconfigurations or overall trends in Internet usage. 'AT&T does not use "false reset messages" to manage its network,' Kalmanek said in the letter. Kalmanek noted that Vuze's analysis said the test 'cannot conclude definitively that any particular network operator is engaging in artificial or false [reset] packet behavior.'"
Science painter Cornelia Hesse-Honegger collects and paints mutant bugs in the vicinity of irradiated wastelands like Chernorbyl, around nuclear plants, and nuclear refining sites. This handsome, lopsided li'l fella came from nearby the reactor at Gysinge, Sweden.
Link
(via Neatorama)
Science painter Cornelia Hesse-Honegger collects and paints mutant bugs in the vicinity of irradiated wastelands like Chernorbyl, around nuclear plants, and nuclear refining sites. This handsome, lopsided... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 26 Apr 2008 | 12:10 pm
By Brittany Lane, The Kansas City Star, Mo. Apr. 26--The Lee's Summit School District's Web site is proving a popular destination for Internet users across the world. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 26 Apr 2008 | 11:00 am
By Shane Anthony, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Apr. 26--St. Charles police are looking for a 24-year-old woman who was last seen at her home on April 18. Amanda Nicole Zufall left after an argument with her aunt without her medication, identification or cell phone, police said. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 26 Apr 2008 | 11:00 am
By The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson Apr. 26--Qwest Communications has introduced broadband Internet service with faster download speeds in 23 major markets, including Tucson and Phoenix. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 26 Apr 2008 | 11:00 am
The Canadian indy band The Western Investor (formerly Feisty) have released their rare, out of print first EP as a remixable Creative Commons download (it's the band's tenth anniversary and they're celebrating). I've been listening to it for the past 20 minutes and there's plenty there to like -- some of these tracks appeared in the movie "Better Than Chocolate."
Link
(Thanks, Chris!)
Roland Piquepaille writes "As you can guess, hardwired computer systems are much faster than general-purpose ones because they are designed to do a single task. But when they fail, they need to be totally reconfigured. This can be just a costly problem in a lab on Earth, but it can be vital in space. This is why a University of Arizona (UA) team is working with NASA to design self-healing computer systems for spacecraft. The UA engineers are working on hybrid hardware/software systems using Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) to develop these reconfigurable processing systems. As said the lead researcher, 'Our objective is to go beyond predicting a fault to using a self-healing system to fix the predicted fault before it occurs.'"
By Dininny, Paulette Not an animatronic creature in sight, nor shoulder-to-shoulder high-rise condos, nor amusement parks, nor movie studios, and yet it's Florida. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 26 Apr 2008 | 8:00 am
By La Crosse Tribune Staff, La Crosse Tribune, Wis. Apr. 26--In a new survey of scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency, more than half of those who responded said they had experienced political interference in their work. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 26 Apr 2008 | 8:00 am
By Hicks, Robin JAKARTA Environmentalists are considering targeting advertising agencies as part of a move to prevent 'environmental criminals' from launching green marketing campaigns, otherwise known as'greenwashing'. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 26 Apr 2008 | 8:00 am
By BILL GEROUX A state panel on climate change watched computer graphics yesterday of a future in which the rising sea swirled among downtown Norfolk's high-rises and clawed at the edges of historic Fort Monroe. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 26 Apr 2008 | 8:00 am
By Reid Magney, La Crosse Tribune, Wis. Apr. 26--COON VALLEY, Wis. -- Seventy-five years ago, local farmers and soil conservation experts got together and started a revolution in American agriculture. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 26 Apr 2008 | 8:00 am
By La Crosse Tribune, Wis. Apr. 26--Winged Wonders was the theme Friday of the 21st annual Environmental Awareness Day at Trempealeau (Wis.) Elementary School. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 26 Apr 2008 | 8:00 am
THE rogue trader accused of losing French bank Societe Generale pounds 3.5billion has found a new job. Jerome Kerviel started work last week as a computer consultant at a software firm near Paris. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 26 Apr 2008 | 8:00 am
By Zerillo, Nicole Lenovo's global communications team works together to create a worldwide brand identity through focused messaging. By Nicole Zerillo The sun never sets on the global communications team of PC maker Lenovo Group Limited. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 26 Apr 2008 | 8:00 am
By Steven Rosenberg Did you hear the story about Steven Levy, the Newsweek writer who lost the MacBook Air that Apple loaned him? It's so small and thin, he thinks it got thrown out with the trash. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 26 Apr 2008 | 8:00 am
By Marshall, Jeffrey PRIVATE COMPANIES Consultants constantly warn about the impact of potential family involvement or conflicts of interest involving the sale of private companies. One key admonition is getting a fairness opinion on the price of the transaction. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 26 Apr 2008 | 8:00 am
By La Crosse Tribune, Wis. Apr. 26--The following people were confirmed on Sunday, April 20, at North Presbyterian Church, 1327 N. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 26 Apr 2008 | 8:00 am
By Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Apr. 26--Bus riders have a new way to map out their route -- courtesy of Google. The company has added the Milwaukee County Transit System to its 2-year-old Google Transit service. There is a link at www.ridemcts.com. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 26 Apr 2008 | 8:00 am
By Tom Heinen, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Apr. 26--Several churches in the Pewaukee area will join about 300 churches across the United States this weekend in holding Faith in Action events, during which members leave church buildings and do volunteer work in their communities. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 26 Apr 2008 | 8:00 am
Human beings may have had a brush with extinction 70,000 years ago, an extensive genetic study suggests. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 26 Apr 2008 | 7:00 am
The state will search its database for relatives of unidentified suspects in hopes of developing leads. Critics voice privacy concerns. ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 26 Apr 2008 | 7:00 am
A study of murals in the Bamiyan caves in Afghanistan shows that oil-based paint was used perhaps 800 years before it appeared in Europe in the 15th century. ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 26 Apr 2008 | 7:00 am
The experimental device, which utilizes living cells, can reduce deaths from acute kidney failure by 50%, Michigan researchers report. ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 26 Apr 2008 | 7:00 am
A study of murals in Afghanistan caves shows that the painting technique was used 800 years before they appeared in Europe in the 15th century. ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 26 Apr 2008 | 7:00 am
Lucas123 writes "A vehicle used by an off-site archive company to transport patient data was broken into on March 17. The University of Miami just made the theft public last week, saying the thieves removed a transport case carrying the school's six computer backup tapes. On those tapes were more than 2 million medical records. In fact, the archive company waited 48 hours before notifying the university itself. A University spokeswoman said the school has stopped shipping backup tapes off-site for now."
By Christopher Boyce, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Apr. 25--A gas leak Thursday at MEMC Electronic Materials Inc.'s facility near Houston sent 18 people to nearby hospitals for evaluation and treatment. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 26 Apr 2008 | 5:00 am
I was delighted when I got home today and saw Mark's post about the injured turtle outfitted with a set of wheels (top right). I had just visited the amazing headquarters of designer toy firm STRANGEco where I scored a wonderful Turtlecamper figure (top left) by Jeremy Fish. Coincidence? Some might think so. Link(Thanks, Gregory Blum!)
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA) and other lawmakers are pushing legislation to limit the power of the state secrets doctrine in blocking lawsuits. The doctrine has been used as a 'get out of jail free' card in cases like the EFF's warrantless wiretapping lawsuit. This new legislation would make it harder for the administration to invoke the doctrine, and provide new allowances, such as using attorneys with security clearances to enable the lawsuits to go forward even when the issue is appropriately raised."
Tenet Healthcare Corp. , Fannie Mae , and PerkinElmer Inc. rose on Friday and helped send the Standard & Poor's 500 to a higher close, as Wall Street posted a moderate advance. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 26 Apr 2008 | 3:26 am
The agency will launch a national study to determine whether the small percentage of complications -- some of them serious -- could be avoided. ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 26 Apr 2008 | 3:25 am
Pietro Arosio's many-drawered chests come with small numbers on each drawer. The effect is curiously pleasing, and, one supposes, very handy.
Link
(via Cribcandy)
Vint Cerf, an heroic pioneer of the Internet, tells Esquire what he's learned:
It may seem like sort of a waste of time to play World of Warcraft with your son. But you're actually interacting with each other. You're solving problems. They may seem like simple problems, but you're solving them. You're posed with challenges that you have to overcome. You're on a quest to gain certain capabilities. I haven't spent a lot of time playing World of Warcraft, because my impression is that it takes a serious amount of time to play it well...
In Silicon Valley, failure is experience. Now, if you fail at everything, that's different. But a failure is a mark of experience more than anything else...
The closer you look at something, the more complex it seems to be.
This week's installment of The Command Line podcast is a recording from a panel on Secure Computing Environments with Vernor Vinge, held last weekend at Penguicon, the free software/science fiction convention in Novi Troy, MI. The panel's really fascinating and far-ranging, covering the nitty-gritty of how trusted computing is -- and might be -- implemented, to the policy, surveillance, and activist possibilities opened up by a universally available secure computing platform.
Link
The efforts of Internet service providers to keep track of what their customers do online poses an interesting question for the makers of anti-spyware software: Should they find a way to help users block... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 26 Apr 2008 | 1:35 am
E-Trade Financial Corp. is continuing, with the chief financial officer's and general counsel's departures announced Friday as the company grapples with massive losses stemming from its... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 26 Apr 2008 | 1:32 am
The New York Times is running a story about Stern Pinball Inc., which they say is the last pinball factory left worldwide. The story describes working there as a "game geek's fantasy job." The company president, Gary Stern, acknowledges the lack of demand, but he plans on sticking around. He also expects the industry to rebound within the next 10 years. We've previously discussed a slightly smaller version of pinball. "Corner shops, pubs, arcades and bowling alleys stopped stocking pinball machines. A younger audience turned to video games. Men of a certain age, said [Pinball Hall of Fame operator Tim Arnold], who is 52, became the reliable audience. ("Chicks," he announced, "don't get it.") And so for Mr. Stern, the pinball buyer is shifting. In the United States, Mr. Stern said, half of his new machines, which cost about $5,000 and are bought through distributors, now go directly into people's homes and not a corner arcade."
Fisker Automotive says it is smart enough to build a plug-in hybrid without stealing the design from Tesla Motors, and Tesla's lawsuit to the contrary is "nonsense."
An executive exodus from troubled online brokerage E-Trade Financial Corp. is continuing, with the chief financial officer's and general counsel's departures announced Friday as the... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 26 Apr 2008 | 12:38 am
Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell said in an internal interview that the reason why shares have taken such a beating is fairly simple: Uncertainty surrounding Yahoo has dragged the stock down.
Citing the dire nature of internet security, government agencies in the United States say they need to be inside the net to prevent cyber-crime, child porn and cyber-terrorism. So which government agency should you choose to protect your home computer? Help decide with our interactive poll.
A scientific committee that advises Canada's government on endangered species said Friday that climate change is a threat to the survival of the polar bear, but the species does not face... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 26 Apr 2008 | 12:14 am
When it comes to becoming a force in social networks, Google and Yahoo have tried and largely failed. To be sure, Google has Orkut, which is popular in Brazil and the Philippines, but not the United States... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 25 Apr 2008 | 11:36 pm
BEIJING For the Chinese police agency boss who thought he had everything, the police equipment trade show here was a chance to scrutinize the latest offerings from manufacturers around the world for secretly... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 25 Apr 2008 | 11:36 pm
esocid alerts us to news out of the University of Michigan, where physics researchers have found a way to focus microwaves to a point 20 times smaller than their wavelength using a new 'superlens'. Such resolution was thought to be impossible until recent years, and it could bring about the capability to transfer power wirelessly. "No matter how powerful a conventional lens, it cannot focus light down to more than about half its wavelength, the 'diffraction limit'. This limits the amount of data that can be stored on a CD, and the size of features on computer chips. The new lens is a 127-micrometer-thick plate of teflon and ceramic with a copper topping. 'The beauty of these is that they're planar,' Grbic says, 'they're easy to fabricate.' The lenses can be made through a single step of photolithography, the process used to etch computer chips."
Do you know anyone who drinks the water in airplane lavatories? We don't either. But that isn't stopping the federal government from proposing rules for testing the stuff.
haxot writes "I'm the technologist at a local library. In our lab, I've managed to get some recognition for tools such as GIMP and Open Office, and even such toys as Bomberman and BZFlag. Now I'm turning towards the children's computers, which are mostly filled with ancient, buggy, rather boring games that try to be interactive TV shows rather than something entertaining. I'm looking for good OSS games and education suites (preferably multi-platform — I want to be ready for an OS switch to Linux). I'm not picky about the license; I'd just like the software to actually have that 'neat' appeal. Some examples I've found already are Gcompris and Tux Paint. My focus is the 2-year old to 8-year old range, but I'm happy to hear teen-oriented suggestions too. Since it's a public library, however, I can't have any software on the computers that is risqué, gory, or violent."
Nina Paley's colorful, full-length feature blends an ancient Hindu story, playful modern animation and tunes by a 1920s jazz singer. But perhaps the most amazing part of this unlikely mashup is that she created it alone in her home office.
A scientific panel Friday urged Canada to act to safeguard the Canadian polar bear, which it deemed "a species of special concern" but not imminently threatened with extinction. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 25 Apr 2008 | 9:45 pm
jackieduvall writes "Medical gauze has received its first upgrade since World War I. Chemists have infused it with nanoparticles derived from kaolin clay, which somehow give it an amazing ability to stop severe bleeding. It was developed when the Navy approached a team of inorganic chemists at the University of California Santa Barbara to solve a problem with QuikClot, a zeolite-based hemostatic agent that became way too hot and caused burns when it came in contact with water or blood. While performing blood clotting tests, they realized that kaolin clay, which has been used as a control for clotting experiments since the 1950's, could also be used as a first aid product." There is a video demonstration alongside the article. It shows the gauze halting the bleeding from a pig's aorta. The blood isn't excessive, but if you're bothered by that sort of thing, you may want to skip the video.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Whole Foods Market said on Friday that Securities and Exchange Commission staffers have concluded a probe into its chief executive's anonymous Web chat room... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 25 Apr 2008 | 9:36 pm
With Microsoft no closer to acquiring its longtime rival than it was three months ago, the Redmond brain trust feels the pressure to act. What it will do, however, remains unclear.
Microsoft Corp. is no closer to buying Yahoo Inc. than when it made its $44.6 billion bid nearly three months ago, leaving the software maker in a quandary over whether the deal is still... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 25 Apr 2008 | 8:55 pm
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Beatings, carjackings, drive-by shootings, drunk driving and hookers. For video game fans, it can only mean one thing: "Grand Theft Auto 4" is here, with all the... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 25 Apr 2008 | 8:41 pm
The prices of personal navigation devices continues falling and Europe's biggest GPS manufacturer is worried as analysts say the market may be saturated.
The prices of personal navigation devices continues falling and Europe's biggest GPS manufacturer is worried as analysts say the market may be saturated.
The LG enV2 may be an updated version of the enV1 but it's wrought with problems. A terrible UI, teensy keypad and horrid pricing structure scream "stay away!" to would-be buyers.
Science painter Cornelia Hesse-Honegger collects and paints mutant bugs in the vicinity of irradiated wastelands like Chernorbyl, around nuclear plants, and nuclear refining sites. This handsome, lopsided li'l fella came from nearby the reactor at Gysinge, Sweden.
Link
(via Neatorama)
