NewsFactor - In the world of technology, success is linked to perceptions. Microsoft demonstrated its multi-touch technology in a Windows 7 demo at the D: All Things Digital conference this week, and the software giant may have hoped to overcome the perception that Apple owns touchscreen interfaces. Instead, some observers are wondering if Microsoft is making the same mistakes that now plague Windows Vista. Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 30 May 2008 | 3:02 pm
If you look at YouTube’s numbers, one thing is clear: It completely dominates online video. YouTube accounts for 37 percent of all videos watched on the Internet and attracts about half of the audience,... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 30 May 2008 | 2:40 pm
Update: As pointed out in the comments below, Symantec has since clarified their original worries about this being a zero-day exploit affecting current versions of Flash. However it still remains a problem... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 30 May 2008 | 2:35 pm
InfoWorld - Microsoft plans to demonstrate integration Friday between its new Silveright browser plug-in technology for rich Internet applications and the Ruby on Rails Web framework. Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 30 May 2008 | 2:35 pm
I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "You can't make stuff like this up. The EU is actually testing a prototype system of cameras in airplanes to monitor passengers' facial expressions in order to detect both terrorism and 'air rage.' The Security of Aircraft in the Future European Environment (SAFEE) project used an Airbus A380 fuselage with six wide-angle cameras to watch for people running or loitering near the cockpit door, as well as a camera in the back of every seat to watch for facecrime like sweating too much, or acting nervous. But that's okay, because the system won't alert anyone until it sees a 'combination of signs,' instead of just one stray expression, or they might accidentally catch a lot of people who are afraid of flying or of being watched."
GE Security, Inc., a business of GE Enterprise Solutions (NYSE:GE), today announced its Homeland Protection business has introduced StreetLab Mobile, its next generation, point-and-shoot handheld unknown substance identification system. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 30 May 2008 | 2:00 pm
Domestic news items from Xinhua -- May 29 BEIJING, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Following are domestic news items released by Xinhua on Thursday: Hong Kong's top anti-graft body arrests 29 for warrant scam 1st Ld-Writethru: Soldiers work non-stop to drain "quake lake" as thousands prepare to evacuate Chemical fire gas poisons four in China's quake-hit town, 800 evacuated 1st Ld-Writethru: China's top political advisor visits quake-hit region China highlights flood control as torrential rains hit the country's south Sichuan industrial enterprises lose more than 200 bln yuan in earthquake: official KMT chairman appeals for more cross-Strait economic,cultural exchanges ROK president visits eastern China Soldiers work non-stop to drain "quake lake" as thousands prepare to evacuate Visitor arrivals in Hong Kong up 11.2 pct in April China reiterates severe punishment for companies producing substandard building materials Facts and figures about China quake and relief 1st Ld-Writethru: Death toll from torrential rains rises to 57 in China China issues statute on fraud involving quake relief Overseas-funded companies donate 3.4 bln yuan in money, goods for quake victims China Focus: Massive China quake heavily mauls tourist paradise Roundup: Hong Kong stocks rebound as investors remain cautious HK Customs cracks down on sale of modified game consoles Macao's enterovirus cases rise to 283 Weather information for Asia Pacific cities -- May 29 Gold price edges modestly higher in Hong Kong -- May 29 China Enterprises Index gains 1.03 pct -- May 29 Cross-Strait charter flights set for Dragon Boat Festival Weather forecast for world cities -- May 29 Weather forecast for major Chinese cities -- May 29 Shanghai opens first direct flight to South America Innovation drives China software exports up 55 pct in Jan.-April Six Chinese pilots to pay nearly 10 mln yuan for resignation Top China legislator stresses epidemic prevention in quake zone China issues new land management statute, effective June 1 Hundreds of auditors in China quake zone to monitor resources China mobilizes 178,000 armed forces personnel for quake relief: senior officer China earmarks more funds to cope with threats of "quake lakes" China Exclusive: Search for blame in China school collapses centers on officials Taiwan stocks end 0.22 pct up -- May 29 Trading on Hong Kong Stock Exchange -- May 29 China urges relevant sides to keep contacts to promote six-party talks Offers of China quake relief help require consultation between respective defence ministries China's press watchdog recommends books to inspire children People's Daily: Focusing on work is strong help for quake zone China hopeful Nepal peace process will move ahead, says FM HK gets tents worth 3.7 mln for Sichuan China Focus: Public, private frugality drive to support quake relief 1st Ld-Writethru: China shares ease as investors weigh quake impact Fate of pandas in China's largest reserve unknown after quake Sharon Stone's quake "karma" apology doesn't mollify many Chinese 2nd-Ld-Writethru-China Focus: China earthquake death toll rises to 68,516 by mid-Thursday Indian foreign minister to visit China Hong Kong holds exercise to test communication for Equestrian Events Hong Kong stocks close 0.56 pct higher -- May 29 Foreign exchange rates in Hong Kong -- May 29 2 more patients treated in virus outbreak in Hong Kong 1st-Ld: China earthquake death toll rises to 68,516 by mid- Thursday Beijing lifts licenses of more than 1,300 drunk drivers China's top political advisor visits quake-hit region Senior Chinese legislator meets Ivy League student leaders delegation 219 aftershocks monitored in quake zone from Wednesday noon to Thursday noon China shares fall amid light trading Air quality of major Chinese cities -- May 29 Donations to China quake-hit areas exceed 37 bln yuan URGENT: China earthquake death toll rises to 68,516 by mid- Thursday Gov't relief fund for quake zone approaches 21 bln yuan FLASH: CHINA EARTHQUAKE DEATH TOLL RISES TO 68,516 BY THURSDAY NOON Hushen 300 index down -- May 29 Shanghai stock indices down -- May 29 Shenzhen stock indices down -- May 29 Second quake aid shipment from Belgium arrives in China Donations now best way to help earthquake relief work: HK gov't Taiwan foundation accepts invitation from mainland counterpart for talks Forum in Canada to explore HK's role in "Turning China into Opportunity" Hong Kong stocks finish higher at midday -- May 29 Kuomintang Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung arrives in Shanghai Agricultural Bank of China reports NPL ratio up Death toll from torrential rains rises to 55 in China Chinese vice premier visits aftershock-torn county China injects 500 mln yuan to help quake-hit Dongfang Electric Students in quake-hit county find no place to study KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung leaves Beijing for Shanghai Hong Kong stocks open higher -- May 29 Xinhua home news advisory -- May 29 Market exchange rates -- May 29 Feature: Survivors' never-give-up tales in Sichuan quake 1st Ld-Writethru: Mainland-based association invites Taiwan counterpart for talks URGENT: Mainland-based association invites Taiwan counterpart for talks 2nd Ld-Writethru: China makes great achievements in quake relief work, vice president says U.S., DPRK hold "positive" discussion on nuclear verification Domestic news items from Xinhua -- May 28 China dismisses rumors of multiple-entry visa stoppage to foreigners Deal inked on railway construction in China quake zone Fire razes major temple in north China, no casualties reported lst Ld-Writethru: China's top legislator inspects relief, epidemic prevention in quake-hit towns Facts and figures about China quake and relief Kuomintang official arrives in quake-hit Sichuan, pledging more help to quake victims (c) 2008 Xinhua News Agency - CEIS. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 30 May 2008 | 2:00 pm
NutriPure Beverages, Inc. (NUBV.PK) announced today that the final setup process for the manufacture and bottling of the Nu(2)O product line is now underway. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 30 May 2008 | 2:00 pm
Spain contributes 368,000 USD for Great Ape conservation in DRC NAIROBI, May 29 (Xinhua) -- The Spanish government has contributed 368,000 U.S. dollars to a UN Environment Program (UNEP) led initiative to help protect gorillas, chimpanzees and their habitats in the DRC. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 30 May 2008 | 2:00 pm
China earmarks more funds to cope with threats of "quake lakes" BEIJING, May 29 (Xinhua) -- China's Ministry of Finance said on Thursday it had earmarked another 1 billion yuan (about 144 million U.S. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 30 May 2008 | 2:00 pm
By Jared Page Deseret News Unity has been achieved. The Sorenson Unity Center officially opened its doors Thursday evening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house at the Glendale community center at 1383 S. 900 West. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 30 May 2008 | 2:00 pm
By DAMON TATUMDAMON TATEM BEACH, PIER AND BRIDGE FISHING Corolla to Coquina Beach Pier fishing should be very good along the northern beaches this week with a wide variety of fish decked. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 30 May 2008 | 2:00 pm
By John David Sutter, The Oklahoman May 30--LACEY -- A Kingfisher County resident filed a complaint with state environmental officials this week, saying a pig farm hit by a recent tornado now is dumping pig feces into a nearby creek. Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 30 May 2008 | 2:00 pm
Cisco and Orange Business Services announced today that the two companies have embarked on a major network upgrade project to improve and extend Orange Business Services' international Internet Protocol virtual private network (IP VPN). Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 30 May 2008 | 2:00 pm
Ocean Tomo Auctions today announced that it will offer for sale U.S. Patent 5,745,391 related to a user-friendly, modern system for turning on and shutting off a computing device while automatically saving and restoring its memory. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 30 May 2008 | 2:00 pm
OptionsNews, the daily news program on www.onn.tv, today reported on the following companies: Thursday's option volume for indexes and single stocks registered just over 12 million contracts, lower than the year to date average of 14 million contracts and much higher than Wednesday's volume of over 10 million contracts. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 30 May 2008 | 2:00 pm
Cognos, an IBM company and the world leader in business intelligence and performance management, has announced that Aon, the leading provider of global risk management and consulting services, has chosen to implement IBM Cognos 8 BI for Salesforce. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 30 May 2008 | 2:00 pm
Dell reports strong profit in first quarter NEW YORK, May 29 (Xinhua) -- Dell reported Thursday its profit and sales grew in its fiscal first quarter, due to strong growth in commercial and consumer products and lower operating costs. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 30 May 2008 | 2:00 pm
the news Rap star and music producer Timbaland's surprise visit to Salem High School last week included a $10,000 technology grant to the school. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 30 May 2008 | 2:00 pm
By Dave Philipps, The Gazette, Colorado Springs, Colo. May 30--With gas prices and a comatose economy nibbling away at adventure funds, it's time to let you in on a few secrets that will stretch your outdoor dollar. Check out these Web sites and sales, and never pay retail again. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 30 May 2008 | 2:00 pm
Dollar moves at mid-105 yen level in Tokyo TOKYO, May 30 (Xinhua) -- The U.S. dollar traded at the mid-105 yen level early Friday in Tokyo. At 9 a.m., the dollar was quoted at 105.55-58 yen, compared with 105.44-54 yen in New York and 104.98-105.01 yen in Tokyo at 5 p.m. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 30 May 2008 | 2:00 pm
By Stacey Kratz Deseret News The Downtown Philly makes cheesesteaks, and there's not a lot of fooling around with anything else. Sure, there's a burger -- topped with cheesesteak toppings. And you can get a few kinds of subs, hot or cold. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 30 May 2008 | 2:00 pm
FunkySexyCool, the global, mobile-based social dating community that bridges the gap between social communities and dating sites, announced that the company has been named a 2008 Red Herring 100 North America Award Winner. Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 30 May 2008 | 2:00 pm
Wednesday, at Google's I/O Event, the company demonstrated their Android prototype phone, a device which has been greatly improved since its last public outing at this year's CES and Mobile World conferences... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 30 May 2008 | 2:00 pm
Reuters - European wireless carriers have
sharply raised prices for making and receiving calls outside
the European Union to compensate for regulator-imposed lower
tariffs within the EU, a market research firm said.
Applied Materials Inc. , which makes equipment for producing solar modules, said Friday it will sell at least three production lines to Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 30 May 2008 | 1:48 pm
kickassweb writes "If you think your ISP is sniffing packets, or worse yet, sending reset packets to stop torrents, there's now a beta Network Measurement Tool to detect them, courtesy of Lauren Weinstein of the Net Neutrality Squad. It's released under the LGPL and runs under Win2K, XP, and Vista. Quoting: 'While the reset packet detection system included in this release is of interest, NNSquad views this package as more important in the long run as a development base for a broad range of network measurement functionalities and associated communications and analysis efforts.'"
Imaging and networking technology company Peerless Systems Corp. said Friday it ended an asset purchase agreement with Prism Software Corp. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 30 May 2008 | 1:33 pm
Never go into venture capital if you want a peaceful life. Keep on financing concrete that doesn't move, that doesn't call you at 2am in the morningOf course this is true about entrepreneurship, even more... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 30 May 2008 | 1:31 pm
Dell's best expectation in the first quarter based on growth in Asia and a 43 per cent increase in notebook sales from Q1 last year, sending shares up. But shareholders will have to determine if this is evidence that Michael Dell's turnaround strategy is working -- or if this is just a one-time wonder.
The other day Hank Williams called for:all comment systems to provide a mechanism to clearly indicate to users what rights they have and what rights they are giving out when they write a commentSo the... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 30 May 2008 | 1:13 pm
"Thinspo" and "Pro-Ana" are terms associated with a deeply disturbing Internet-based subculture that promotes anorexia as a lifestyle. (For "thin positive" and "pro-anorexic", respectively.) The mortal... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 30 May 2008 | 1:00 pm
Macworld.com - Hamrick Software on Thursday announced the release of VueScan 8.4.73, the latest version of its scanning software for Mac OS X and Windows. It comes in Standard and Professional editions for $39.95 and $79.95 respectively. Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 30 May 2008 | 1:00 pm
Signs of a turnaround at Dell Inc. sent the computer maker's shares higher in premarket trading Friday after reporting its profit and sales grew in its fiscal first quarter, beating Wall Street expectations... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 30 May 2008 | 12:57 pm
Fallen Andy notes that Comcast, one of the largest US ISPs, lost control of its domain name to what appeared to be juvenile social engineers of the old school — i.e. not in it for the money. The intruders got into Comcast's registrar account at Network Solutions and repointed the domain's DNS records. A blog entry at SANS points out how trivially easy this can be. Reader ElvenKnight points out an insightful interview up at Wired with the two young guys who perpetrated the hack.
Microsoft Corp., in its effort to woo telecoms has come up with yet another project, Echoes, a services platform that will likely to be sold to telecom carriers. It combines Microsoft’s Live Messenger,... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 30 May 2008 | 12:40 pm
Well, damn, my beloved Silverjet is grounded. Great idea, great service, terrible timing, what with record oil prices, a credit drought, a recession, and a sucky dollar. There goes the last hope of an... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 30 May 2008 | 12:30 pm
ruphus13 takes us to ZDNet for an analysis of comments by Microsoft's Chief Software Architect, Ray Ozzie, about how open source is "much more potentially disruptive" to Microsoft's business strategy than Google. Ozzie also spoke about the future of Microsoft's search technology, which will develop with or without Yahoo. There is a related interview at OStatic with several Microsoft employees about how they view and interact with the open source community. The head of Microsoft's global open source and Linux team is quoted saying: "The other thing I think is missing is implementation of a basic principle of economic fairness. Thousands of developers have put very hard work into building software used by millions of people and companies, yet only a fraction of these developers are rewarded financially. Currently there are perfectly good projects that have been abandoned by their developers despite being used by large corporations. Subsequently the projects fall out of use. This is unnecessary waste that would often be prevented by making it easy for companies to pay the developers directly. I think it's important to solve this so that the sustainability of open source projects is improved."
A recent commenter suggested that I blog about the post-MBA experience I had when I got into the venture capital business. This is my version of the story and I'll make it as brief as I can. There are... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 30 May 2008 | 11:55 am
Among the more unique and subtly powerful features of Second Life is the ability to detach your point of view from your avatar. This lets you move the camera position of what you're seeing on your monitor... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 30 May 2008 | 11:35 am
They have developed a computer model that can identify the words a subject is thinking from an MRI brain scan Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 30 May 2008 | 11:16 am
Over on the always-excellent Architectures of Control in Design blog, Dan Lockton takes special note of an ugly little bit of anti-kid-ism brewing in Sutton, Surrey: the local council, in the name of "cater[ing] for all sections of the local community," is planning to revise a set of steps where kids gather to, you know, sit and talk to each other and hang out in public. The ensuing discussion is, as Dan notes, "a microcosm of the attitudes, assumptions, prejudices and paranoia that define modern Britain’s schizophrenic attitude to its ‘young people’."
Explaining the need for the changes, St Helier Councillor David Callaghan said: “At the moment the steps are like ready-made seats so changes will be made to make the area less attractive to young people...
[Adrian Short responds:] One thing young people and older people have in common is a desire to be left alone to do their own thing, provided that they are not causing trouble to others. People like Emma and her friends are not. They do not want to be told that they can go to one place but not another. They do not want to be cajoled, corralled and organised by the state — they get enough of that at school. They certainly do not want to be disadvantaged as a group because those in charge — you — are unable to deal appropriately with a tiny minority of troublemakers in their midst.
Shares of Dell Inc. may be trade actively Friday, after it said profit and sales rose in the first quarter. Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 30 May 2008 | 10:42 am
AP - When Tina Meier's 13-year-old daughter committed suicide after being bullied on the Internet, her grief was so encompassing she felt at times she couldn't breathe. She had trouble being around loved ones who reminded her of her child. Even today, recollections of those first holidays after Megan's death are foggy at best.
European airlines are prototyping a Panopticon-in-the-sky: cameras trained on every passenger in flight, married to some kind of snake-oil "terrorism detection" software that will be able to tell if the guy in 11J is planning to rush the cockpit.
.
The European Union's Security of Aircraft in the Future European Environment (SAFEE) project uses a camera in every passenger's seat, with six wide-angle cameras to survey the aisles. Software then analyses the footage to detect developing terrorist activity or "air-rage" incidents, by tracking passengers' facial expressions...
"It looks for running in the cabin, standing near the cockpit for long periods of time, and other predetermined indicators that suggest a developing threat," says James Ferryman of the University of Reading, UK, one of the system's developers.
Other behaviours could include a person nervously touching their face, or sweating excessively. One such behaviour won't trigger the system to alert the crew, only certain combinations of them.
Ferryman is not ready to reveal specifically which behaviours were most likely to trigger the system. Much of the computer's ability to detect threats relies on sensitive information gleaned from security analysts in the intelligence community, he tells New Scientist.
Ah yes, that mainstay of great academic research: "I can't tell you why I believe this works, it's a secret." A proud tradition stretching all the way back to such proven systems of knowledge as, um, well, alchemy. Someone get that guy tenure.
Link
(Thanks, Peter!)
erikaaboe notes that the US Department of Energy has announced a competition to develop efficient solid-state lighting technology. The "L Prize" program will allocate as much as $20 million in cash prizes for innovations to replace the common light bulb. Further details are available at the L Prize website. From the press release: "Lighting products meeting the competition requirements would consume just 17% of the energy used by most incandescent lamps in use today. The plan also includes a rigorous evaluation process, including testing of proposed products by independent laboratories (conducted through DOE's CALiPER test program), as well as field evaluations by DOE and utility partners to assess products in real world conditions. Four major California utilities ... have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with DOE, agreeing to work cooperatively to promote high-efficiency solid-state lighting technologies."
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., May 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Interoperable PDK Libraries (IPL) Alliance announced today that Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 30 May 2008 | 9:00 am
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., May 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS), a world leader in software and IP for semiconductor design and manufacturing, is... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 30 May 2008 | 9:00 am
SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NVIDIA today announced that Commander Eileen Collins, former test pilot, astronaut, and space shuttle commander,... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 30 May 2008 | 9:00 am
REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., May 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- -- Students from 13 countries took top honors in this year's ThinkQuest International 2008... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 30 May 2008 | 9:00 am
MACAO, PRC, May 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nam Tai Electronics, Inc. ("Nam Tai" or the "Company") (NYSE Symbol: NTE) today announced that its ... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 30 May 2008 | 9:00 am
ITHACA, N.Y., May 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Wireless announced today it has expanded BroadbandAccess, its wireless broadband service, in Tompkins and Schuyler Counties,... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 30 May 2008 | 9:00 am
FAIRFIELD, Iowa, May 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Human Factors International (HFI), the global user-experience design leader headquartered in Fairfield, IA, today announces that... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 30 May 2008 | 9:00 am
SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- NVIDIA Corporation (Nasdaq: NVDA) will conduct a Web cast with analysts and investors to discuss its new multimedia... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 30 May 2008 | 9:00 am
PC World - Asustek plans to equip its laptop PCs with Linux software that allows fast access to the Internet and multimedia files. Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 30 May 2008 | 8:40 am
AFP - An Internet fantasy universe teeming with faux worlds devoted to socializing and video games is expanding to include virtual classrooms and universities.
NEW YORK, May 30 /Xinhua-PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- American Nano Silicon Technologies, Inc. (Pink Sheets: ANNO) today announced the signing of a sales contract with... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 30 May 2008 | 8:31 am
LOS ANGELES, May 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Conspiracy Entertainment Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board: CPYE), a developer, publisher and marketer of interactive... Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 30 May 2008 | 8:30 am
For years, Bruce Sterling has been blogging about political sex scandals around the world, calling them "centipedes" -- today, he's defined the term in a little essay explaining why they're so darned interesting, speaking sociopoliticotechnically.
Centipedes are new phenomena because the barriers-to-entry in media have crashed. This means that subversive efforts formerly isolated and punished as libel, slander and whispering campaigns can swiftly take on avalanche proportions.
While pretending to be about spontaneous indignation and moral values, centipedes are coolly calculated and all about power.
The asymmetrical advantage that enables a "centipede" is that the conspirators themselves are never outed. They plot, they find a sexual weakness, they accumulate data about it, they launch a scandal from out of the woodwork, and while exposing private deeds to the public glare, the conspirators themselves remain unseen.
My blog lists a host of these political events that have recently taken place in societies all over the world: India, Greece, Poland, Indonesia, South Africa, Britain, USA. (((And Canada.))) I named them "centipedes" because they are segmented, covert, and poisonous. They seem to have a remarkable commonality as a species.
Creative Commons is spinning off its awesome remix community thing, ccMixter, into a standalone project, and they're entertaining proposals from the public at large from anyone who thinks they're qualified to run it.
Today we’re announcing a Request For Proposals from entities interested in taking over the site. Please read the entire RFP. Proposals are due within 60 days (July 29) to ccmixter-rfp@creativecommons.org. Inquiries before submitting a proposal are most welcome, to the same address. Please use this address for all inquiries rather than contacting CC or ccMixter personnel directly.
New York's Hackers on Planet Earth (HOPE) conference has announced its summer lineup of keynote speakers for the conference, which runs July 18-20 in NYC:
The very first of the speaker slots for The Last HOPE have been announced with many more to come next week. We have had more submissions than ever and will need to add an additional track in order to accommodate the best of them. What follows are some of the highlights to date.
Steven Levy, author of Hackers: Heroes of the American Revolution and chief technology writer and a senior editor for Newsweek.
Adam Savage, co-host of the popular TV show Mythbusters and "a maker of things."
Kevin Mitnick, "the world's most dangerous hacker" in the eyes of the government and mass media, imprisoned for over five years, and now a successful computer security consultant.
Jello Biafra, a tradition at the HOPE conferences, former lead singer of The Dead Kennedys and one of America's most interesting social activists.
Steven Rambam, private eye extraordinaire, who can find out anything about anybody and has always been willing to share his knowledge of privacy with the hacker community. (The FBI prevented his 2006 talk from being given by swooping in and arresting him moments earlier. The case against him was later found to have no merit.)
Barry Ritholtz sez, "It turns out that for the past three decades, we've had a George
Costanza energy policy -- every decision we have made as a
country has worked to drive energy prices higher.
Had we made the opposite decisions, crude oil prices would be
much lower than they are today ($130.17 as I type this).
What follows is a list of energy-related policies of the
United States. On many of these, I have no opinion -- but I
wanted to list as many as I could to demonstrate why oil is
where it is.
Just about every one of these policies (or non policies) has
contributed to oil prices skyrocketing from $8 to $130 since
2000."
Link
(Thanks, Barry!)
Klaus Pierre, a French/German actor-waiter-whatever, aspires against all odds to become America's next great action hero. In today's episode, he faces fearsome beautification trials that would surely deter lesser men, and happens upon a chance encounter with his idol: Keanu Reeves.
FeatherBoa points out that the New Democratic Party in Canada has introduced legislation to limit the amount of control Canadian ISPs can exert over their subscribers. The bill would amend the Telecommunications Act to "prohibit network operators from engaging in network management practices that favour, degrade or prioritize any content, application or service transmitted over a broadband network based on its source, ownership or destination, subject to certain exceptions." Support for net neutrality in Canada has been building for quite a while now. Quoting CBC News: "'This bill is about fairness to consumers,' said Charlie Angus, the NDP's digital spokesman. It also looks to prohibit 'network operators from preventing a user from attaching any device to their network and requires network operators to make information about the user's access to the internet available to the user.' The proposed bill makes exception for ISPs to manage traffic in reasonable cases, Angus said, such as providing stable speeds for applications such as gaming or video conferencing."
coondoggie brings us a Networkworld report detailing NASA's selection of six mission proposals for further study by the Small Explorer (SMEX) Program. The goal of the program is to develop cheap, tightly focused science missions (PDF). Among the selected proposals are a satellite telescope bank for use in detecting exoplanets, and a solar coronograph which will study solar wind and coronal ejections. Networkworld provided links with more detailed information on most of the projects.
Bernie Krause listens to nature for a living. The 69-year-old is a field recording scientist: He heads into the wilderness to document the noises made by native fauna — crickets chirping in the Amazon rain forest, frogs croaking in the Australian outback.
But Krause has noticed something alarming. The natural sound of the world is vanishing. He'll be deep inside the Amazon, recording that cricket, but when he listens carefully he also hears machinery: The distant howl of a 747 or the dull roar of a Hummer miles way.
Krause has a word for the pristine acoustics of nature: biophony. It's what the world sounds like in the absence of humans. But in 40 percent of the locations where Krause has recorded over the past 40 years, human-generated noise has infiltrated the wilderness. "It's getting harder and harder to find places that aren't contaminated," he says.
This isn't just a matter of aesthetics. The contamination of biophony may soon become a serious environmental issue — Krause says that man-made sounds are already wreaking havoc with animal communication. We worry about the carbon emissions from SUVs and airplanes; maybe we should be equally concerned about the racket they cause.
Krause's argument is simple. In a biophony, animals divide up the acoustic spectrum so they don't interfere with one another's voices. He shows me a spectrogram of a wilderness recording, in which all the component noises are mapped according to pitch. It looks like the musical score for an orchestra, with each instrument in its place. No two species are using the same frequency. "That's part of how they coexist so well," Krause says. When they issue mating calls or all-important warning cries, they aren't masked by the noises of other animals.
But what happens when man-made noise — anthrophony, as Krause dubs it — intrudes on the natural symphony? Maybe it's the low rumble of nearby construction or the high whine of a turboprop. Either way, it interferes with a segment of the spectrum already in use, and suddenly some animal can't make itself heard. The information flow in the jungle is compromised.
Krause has heard this happen all over the world. For example, the population of spadefoot toads in the Yosemite region of the Sierras is declining rapidly, and Krause thinks it's because of low-flying military training missions in the area. The toad calls lose their synchronicity, and coyotes and owls home in on individual frogs trying to rejoin the chorus.
And as Krause has discovered, it doesn't take much to disrupt a soundscape. California's Lincoln Meadow, for example, has undergone only a tiny bit of logging, but the acoustic imprint of the region has completely changed in tandem with the landscape, and some species seem to have been displaced. The area looks the same as ever, "but if you listen to it, the density and diversity of sound is diminished," Krause says. "It has a weird feeling."
Biologists were initially skeptical of Krause's theory, but he's slowly gaining converts. Now even bigwigs like Harvard's E. O. Wilson have gone on record in support.
So how do you quiet an increasingly cacophonous world? Perhaps we should be developing not just clean tech but "quiet" tech, industrial machinery designed to run as silently as possible. More regulations could help, too. Cities have long had noise ordinances; wilderness areas could benefit from tighter protections as well.
Some of this is just about educating ourselves. We all recognize ecological tragedies by sight — when we see pictures of clear-cut areas, say, or melting Arctic ice shelves. Now we need to learn to listen to the earth, too.
Last year, Krause brought biophony to the masses by creating an extraordinarily cool add-on for Google Earth. Download it from his WildSanctuary.com site and you can click on dozens of locations worldwide to hear snippets of their soundscape.
I select the Amazon rain forest and my office is suddenly filled with a mesmerizing mix of hoots, cries, and rustling. It's spooky — like nothing I've ever heard before.
And like nothing I'll ever hear again, if we don't watch out. "Earth has a voice," Krause says. "We can't let it go silent."
As technology makes the world smaller, it's also helping more countries escape to the heavens. (Ground control to Major Olawale!) But don't start daydreaming of UN meetings on Mars and space walks for peace: These space programs are all about blasting surveillance tech, comet chasers, super telescopes, and celestial probes into the (increasingly crowded) cosmos.
Nigeria Program Founded: 1998
Budget: $93 million (initial funding)
Yes, Nigeria actually has its own space agency. The organization sent up its first satellite, a weather unit, back in 2003. In May 2007, China assisted in the launch of NigComSat-1, which helps provide Internet access to rural areas of the country.
Algeria Program Founded: 2002
Budget: Unknown
France helped establish a constellation of desert launch sites more than 60 years ago. In 2002, the newly formed Agence Spatiale Algerienne blasted up Alsat-1, a 200-pound cube that has beamed back more than 1,000 photos as well as intel for disaster relief.
Israel Program Founded: 1983
Budget: $50 million (est.)
Israel's Shavit launch vehicle is used primarily for communications, imaging, and research satellites — always over the Mediterranean to avoid flying above hostile neighbors. The first Israeli astronaut, Ilan Ramon, died aboard the NASA shuttle Columbia.
India Program Founded: 1972
Budget: $1 billion
India's space agency is racing to be the sixth program to reach the moon (after Russia, the US, Europe, Japan, and China) with Chandrayaan-1 — an $83 million lunar orbiter carrying NASA and ESA instruments. India aims to send up its own manned lunar mission by 2020.
Iran Program Founded: 2003
Budget: $100 million
In October 2005, Iran launched its first satellite, Sina-1, aboard a Russian rocket. Earlier this year, the country fired its own rocket, Kavoshgar-1, designed to scout future orbital paths. By 2010, Tehran expects to deploy four additional satellites.
Brazil Program Founded: 1994
Budget: $125 million
In 2003, an explosion on the launch pad took 21 lives. But Brazil rebounded the next year, when a VSB-30 rocket reached an altitude of 160 miles. In 2006, Marcos Pontes became the first Brazilian in space, floating aboard the International Space Station for eight days.
Japan Program Founded: 2003
Budget: $2.5 billion
Japan has yet to build a spacecraft fit for humans. But it did send the first journalist into space: 18 years ago, Toyohiro Akiyama spent a week on the Russian space station Mir. The Japanese are eyeing a lunar landing in 2020 and hoping to build a base on the moon by 2030.
China Program Founded: 1993
Budget: $2 billion (est.)
From the Gobi Desert, China sent its first human into orbit in 2003 — becoming the fourth agency to do so. Today, manned missions are taking off on a regular basis. Officials are planning China's first space walk this fall and expect to launch a moon rover by 2012.
European Space Agency Program Founded: 1975
Budget: $5 billion
On the ESA's plate: launching the James Webb Space Telescope (with NASA and Canada) in 2013. The following year, its Rosetta spacecraft will meet up with 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko for the first long-term analysis of a comet.
Russia Program Founded: 1920s
Budget: $1.5 billion
Russia helps fund its space program by licensing its rocket tech and assisting other countries' initiatives. (South Korea paid $25 million to send up its first citizen.) A joint effort with China aims to launch a soil-collecting satellite to the Martian moon Phobos in 2009.
* Wired apologizes to those countries funding space exploration that we did not mention, such as Argentina, Australia, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, Kazakhstan, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Turkey, the UAE, the UK, and, likely, North Korea and Iraq.
1898: Two British researchers discover the element krypton. It's real, but it would inspire fantastic fiction.
William Ramsay, a Scot, and his student Morris Travers, an Englishman, were searching for gases in the helium family. They boiled a sample of liquefied air until they got rid of the water, oxygen, nitrogen, helium and argon. Then they placed the residue in a Plücker tube connected to an induction coil. It produced a spectrum with bright yellow and green lines.
Because they had suspected its presence, but had to look for it by removing all that other stuff, Ramsay and Travers gave the element with atomic number 36 the name krypton, from the Greek kryptos for hidden (think cryptography or encryption).
Within weeks, the scientifically dynamic duo had detected a duet of other noble gases: neon and xenon. Ramsay was already responsible for discovering helium (with Lord Rayleigh) in 1894 and argon in 1895, giving him ownership of nearly an entire column of the periodic table. (The noble gases used to be called the inert gases, but they have been found to be slightly reactive, forming compounds such as krypton difluoride and xenon tetroxide.)
King Edward VII made Ramsay a Knight Commander of the Order of Bath in 1902. Ramsay received the 1904 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Krypton has a variety of uses today: in flashes for high-speed photography, in fluorescent lights in combination with argon, and to make so-called neon signs that have a greenish-yellow light. (Neon itself glows red.) Between 1960 and 1983, the meter was defined as 1,650,763.73 wavelengths in a vacuum of the orange-red radiation of the krypton 86 isotope.
When Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster created Superman in Action Comics No. 1 (published June 1938), they named their superhero's home planet after the chemical element discovered 40 years earlier. Retellings of Superman's origins place his arrival on Earth around the time of World War I, a mere 20 years after Ramsay and Traver's discovery of krypton.
Siegel and Shuster may have been inspired by the element's cryptic name, its ghastly glow or perhaps just its sound, like George Eastman favoring the strength of the letter K.
Regardless, Superman and his legion of fans have made the fictional planet Krypton far better known than the real element. The fictional mineral kryptonite, which threatens Superman's strength and vitality, even has a real-life counterpart, almost.
Mining researchers in Jadar, Serbia, in 2007 unearthed some sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide and learned that's what's written on a case of rock containing kryptonite in the film Superman Returns. "The new mineral does not contain fluorine," a mineralogist told the BBC, "and is white rather than green but, in all other respects, the chemistry matches that for the rock containing kryptonite."
But the miners named it jadarite, because the mineral does not contain the element krypton, and internationally accepted rules of nomenclature thus prevented it from being named kryptonite.
Spoilsports.
Then again, doesn't Jadar sound like the name of one of Superman's cousins or something on the planet Krypton?
French explorer and adventurer Xavier Rosset is about to embark on a 300 day trip to live alone on a remote tropical island in the South Pacific. His adventures will be filmed and used for a 52 minute documentary.
Xavier’s only luggage will be a Swiss army knife, machete video camera and a solar panel for charging the camera. He will spend 10 months alone on an island to develop another way of life through an exciting adventure, a return to the elemental sources. Xavier will survive alone on an island without human interference and without polluting emissions.
The ambition of this documentary is to make a reflection on our lifestyle, our current system and our relationship to nature. And the most important thing is to put the dream and emotion at the heart of adventure natural.
He will find timber to build a shelter, feed on the rudimentary fishing, plants and the harvesting of rainwater to survive.
Reminds me a bit of one of my favorite books, An Island to Oneself, about a man who lived off and on for years on a tiny South Pacific island.
Joshua Glenn of the Boston Globe says: "[I]s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull really an anticommunist movie? Does Ford's character oppose the theory of a classless, stateless society based on common ownership of the means of production? Or is he instead merely an anti-Communist, i.e., opposed to a single-party regime devoted to the implementation of communist policies in, for example, the USSR? Or is Indy actually a pinko? Sounds crazy, but a couple of clues in the movie point at this possibility..."
Writing at the Globe's Movie Nation blog, recently, film critic Wesley Morris noted that when Jones is placed on leave, the head of his department asks him what he plans to do: "First, Indy says, he's going to London, then there's a job offer from the University of Leipzig he might well take. Leipzig is in what was then East Germany. Indy wants to defect!"
As if that weren't suspicious enough, Alex Golub, an adjunct assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Hawai'i Manoa, points out at Savage Mind, an anthropological blog, that in one early scene, Jones tells a student to read V. Gordon Childe. (Childe was an eminent British prehistorian whose Marxism got him into hot water in his native Australia; during the early cold war, he maintained contact with archaeologists in the Soviet Union.) "Would a die-hard anticommunist really recommend a Marxist archaeologist to a student?" demands Golub.
John Ptak says: "In the world of found book objects, few I think are as deeply removed and as deeply obscure as the work by Otto F. Fleiss called White Art in the Meat Food Business. A Practical Handbook for Butcher, Pork Stores, Restaurants, Hotels and Delicatessens on How to Make Lasting and Transferable White Art Decorations out of Bacon Fat Back for Window Displays, Ornaments on Meat Food Cold Buffets and for Exhibits and Advertising Purposes." Link
NewYorkCountryLawyer writes "The RIAA just can't get enough of going after University of Maine students, but it appears that the judges in Portland, Maine, may be getting wise to the industry's lawyers' antics. RIAA counsel submitted yet another ex parte discovery order to the Court ('ex parte' meaning 'without notice'), in BMG v. Does 1-11, but this time the judge refused to sign, pointing out that there is no emergency since there is no evidence that records are about to be destroyed [PDF]. This is the same judge who has previously suggested the imposition of Rule 11 sanctions against the RIAA lawyers, accusing them of gamesmanship."
Check out our exclusive screenshots of Android, Google's nascent operating system for next-generation mobile phones. When it's released later this year, it's sure to give the iPhone a run for its money.
An anonymous reader writes "I'm a fairly new physics professor at a well-ranked undergraduate university. When I arrived, I was surprised to discover there were no computer programming requirements for our majors. This has led to a series of fairly animated faculty curriculum conversations, driven by the question: to what extent should computer programming be a part of an undergraduate science education (in particular, physics)? This is a surprising line of questioning to me because in my career (dominated by research), I've never seriously even questioned the need. If you are a physics major, you learn to program. The exact language isn't so important as is flow control, file handling, basic methods/technique, basic resource management, and troubleshooting. The methods learned in any language can then be ported over to just about any numerical or scientific computational problem. Read on for the rest of the reader's questions and his experiences dealing with faculty who have their own ideas.
A San Diego start-up says it's using algae to create "green crude" that is chemically identical to petroleum and can be refined into renewable, carbon-neutral gasoline. Energy experts say it might be on to something big.
Forget to turn the lights off? Want to warm up the hot tub while you're still on the slopes? Use free software and inexpensive wiring components to control your home appliances from afar. In Wired's How-To Wiki.
Forget to turn the lights off? Want to warm up the hot tub while you're still on the slopes? Use free software and inexpensive wiring components to control your home appliances from afar. In Wired's How-To Wiki.
longacre writes "With the gaming industry now spending more to develop user interfaces than the Pentagon, the Army has begun putting all that R&D to good use in weaponry and training. Reversing the traditional role of games attempting to simulate real life killing machines, it is now the weapons makers using gaming technology to make their products more effective. Popular Mechanics notes, 'Already, [Mark Bigham, director of business development for Raytheon Tactical Intelligence Systems] says that Raytheon has been experimenting with Wii controllers to explore the possibilities for training simulators and other applications that require physical movement. Just think, one day, the R&D that Nintendo put into Wii bowling could end up influencing basic training.'"
With summer coming up, it's time to take a look at the best -- and worst -- waterproof gadgets. We've got a handful of the highlights, from the Sony Walkman to waterproof flash media cards.
With summer coming up, it's time to take a look at the best -- and worst -- waterproof gadgets. We've got a handful of the highlights, from the Sony Walkman to waterproof flash media cards.
Inventor Dean Kamen shows a video of the robotic, mind-controlled prosthetic arm he's working on at the D6 conference in Carlsbad, California today. The video shows an arm with an impressive range of motion, and enough sensitivity that it can pick up a grape without crushing it.
Inventor Dean Kamen shows a video of the robotic, mind-controlled prosthetic arm he's working on at the D6 conference in Carlsbad, California today. The video shows an arm with an impressive range of motion, and enough sensitivity that it can pick up a grape without crushing it.
Up to 4,000 more bomb-handling robots could be headed to Iraq and Afghanistan in a new, unmanned surge. It's part of a $400 million deal that's the biggest military contract of its kind, ever.
AP - If you're traveling overseas, try to leave your computer at home. If you must have it, put only a few files on it and leave as many as possible behind. Encrypt the files you do bring. Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 29 May 2008 | 9:57 pm
AP - Hackers took over Comcast Corp.'s Web portal for several hours overnight, denying 14.1 million subscribers access to the cable company's site for e-mail, news and technical support. Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 29 May 2008 | 9:30 pm
NewsFactor - Google Gears --the search giant's open-source system for allowing offline access to Web applications -- celebrated its one-year anniversary Wednesday with an announcement by MySpace. The social-networking site, owned by News Corp., will use Gears to search and sort user messages. This is the largest implementation of the Gears technology. Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 29 May 2008 | 8:47 pm
We asked boutique PC-maker Puget to build us its best gaming PC. $9,600 later they delivered. But the greatest cost isn't the price tag; it's the blow-dryer-loud sound the cooling system makes.
Don't put off that Mac software update: There's a new icon Mac OS X 10.5.3 that may reveal the form factor of the new iPhone, which nobody has confirmed is coming out in 11 days. If you believe your eyes it's a big squarer and narrower, like the iPod Touch. Hmmmm ...
The Via Nano processor starts shipping today. Why do you care? Imagine running Photoshop on your ultraportable without a hiccup. Or playing Blu-ray without a snag. Yes, size does matter -- but power even more.
Reuters - European wireless carriers have
sharply raised prices for making and receiving calls outside
the European Union to compensate for regulator-imposed lower
tariffs within the EU, a market research firm said.
AP - When Tina Meier's 13-year-old daughter committed suicide after being bullied on the Internet, her grief was so encompassing she felt at times she couldn't breathe. She had trouble being around loved ones who reminded her of her child. Even today, recollections of those first holidays after Megan's death are foggy at best.
AFP - An Internet fantasy universe teeming with faux worlds devoted to socializing and video games is expanding to include virtual classrooms and universities.The very first of the speaker slots for The Last HOPE have been announced with many more to come next week. We have had more submissions than ever and will need to add an additional track in order to accommodate the best of them. What follows are some of the highlights to date.
John Ptak says: "In the world of found book objects, few I think are as deeply removed and as deeply obscure as the work by Otto F. Fleiss called White Art in the Meat Food Business. A Practical Handbook for Butcher, Pork Stores, Restaurants, Hotels and Delicatessens on How to Make Lasting and Transferable White Art Decorations out of Bacon Fat Back for Window Displays, Ornaments on Meat Food Cold Buffets and for Exhibits and Advertising Purposes." Link
