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Partial Lunar Eclipse to Fall SaturdayReady your telescope: A partial lunar eclipse will be visible across the world on Saturday.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 14 Aug 2008 | 2:40 pm Dell courts business nomads with new laptops - Computerworld
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 14 Aug 2008 | 1:59 pm SJ teacher arrested in Internet sex sting - San Francisco Chronicle
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 14 Aug 2008 | 1:58 pm Everyone Awaits The Evidence On Bigfoot - eFluxMedia
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 14 Aug 2008 | 1:57 pm Federal court hands open-source licenses a significant victory - CNET News
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 14 Aug 2008 | 1:37 pm Measuring the "Colbert Bump"An anonymous reader writes "Democratic politicians receive a 40% increase in contributions in the 30 days after appearing on the comedy cable show The Colbert Report. In contrast, their Republican counterparts essentially gain nothing. Moreover, even a cursory analysis demonstrates that despite being a comedy program The Colbert Report appears to exercise "disproportionate real world influence" — likely due to the "elite demographic" of its audience." In my home we refer to Stephen as "Loud Daddy" because my child would scream bloody murder when we paused him (and only him) on screen. Even at 8 months old the kid has strange taste.Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 14 Aug 2008 | 1:31 pm Motorcycles Designed to Run on AirTo clear the air, engineers build motorcycles that can run on it.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 14 Aug 2008 | 1:22 pm Open Source Advocates Hail Appeals Court Ruling (PC World)PC World -Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Aug 2008 | 1:20 pm Photosynth Team Does It AgainSTFS Found an update to the PhotoSynth stories that we already ran. You might remember the amazing photo tourism demos. Well this new version kicks things up several notches with paths and color correction to more smoothly transition between photos taken in different lighting conditions. As before, this stuff is worth your time. Check it out.Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 14 Aug 2008 | 12:48 pm British scientists test first arthritis vaccineLONDON (Reuters) - British scientists plan to start tests on a novel vaccine against rheumatoid arthritis, which could suppress the effects of the joint condition using patients' own blood...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 12:17 pm Video-editing software gets put to the test (USATODAY.com)USATODAY.com - Many cameras record video in a format that has become the new high-def standard, AVCHD, but it's not yet compatible with popular video-editing programs such as Adobe Premiere Elements, Windows Movie Maker or Roxio's Easy Media Creator 10. You probably can't even get the clips to play on your computer because Windows Media Player and QuickTime Player can't handle it, either. What to do?Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Aug 2008 | 12:17 pm Polo Ralph Lauren to launch shopping by cell phone (Reuters)Reuters - Is the tech-savvy fashionista ready to shop by mobile phone? Polo Ralph Lauren Corp hopes so.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Aug 2008 | 12:14 pm Polo Ralph Lauren to launch shopping by cell phoneNEW YORK (Reuters) - Is the tech-savvy fashionista ready to shop by mobile phone? Polo Ralph Lauren Corp hopes so.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 12:14 pm NetEase 2Q profit grows, beats analyst viewsNetEase.com Inc. reported second-quarter earnings growth ahead of analyst views late Wednesday, helped by strength in the Beijing-based company's online game services and advertising services businesses...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 12:07 pm Tropical depression may form near Puerto Rico - Reuters
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 14 Aug 2008 | 12:02 pm Apple lists different prices for same Dashbuster iPhone app!Okay, Apple, we know that you’ve had some trouble getting your act together since the iPhone 3G launch, but when you list two different prices in different areas of iTunes for the same app,...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 12:02 pm Keep It Simple: PhrazIt Offers 30 Character Long ReviewsThe web is teeming with user reviews on everything from movies to VC firms. But with so many detailed opinion pieces available, getting to the bottom line can be difficult. Today sees the launch of PhrazIt,...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 12:00 pm Rivet Xbox 360 streaming app adds Aperture support (Macworld.com)Macworld.com - Cynical Peak Software on Thursday announced the release of Rivet 1.2, an update to its application that helps Mac users stream content to an Xbox 360 video game console on the same network. A free update for registered users, Rivet 1.2 costs $18.95.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Aug 2008 | 12:00 pm US Failing To Prosecute Online CriminalsAshlynne9423 writes "A report by the Center for American Progress and the Center for Democracy and Technology has found there is too little action being taken against online criminals, despite rising consumer concern about online safety. The report found that state officials were spending only 40 per cent of case time investigating online fraudsters, preferring instead to concentrate on higher profile solicitation and pornography cases."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 14 Aug 2008 | 11:59 am Tropical depression may form near Puerto RicoNEW YORK (Reuters) - A low pressure system associated with a tropical wave is passing over the northern Leeward Islands and could become a tropical depression Thursday or Friday but...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 11:56 am Rich McDevitt Named Vice President of Brand Velocity, Inc.ATLANTA, Aug. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Rich McDevitt has joined Atlanta-based Brand Velocity, Inc. as Vice President. In this position McDevitt will play a key leadership roleSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 11:45 am Facebook Becomes "Most Popular" Social Network - AHN
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 14 Aug 2008 | 11:44 am Scientists "listen" to plants to find water pollutionTEL AVIV (Reuters) - Scientists in Israel have discovered a new way to test for water pollution by "listening" to what the plants growing in water have to say.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 11:43 am Intel PCs to wake up when they get phone calls - The Associated Press
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 14 Aug 2008 | 11:42 am Intel PCs to wake up when they get phone calls (AP)AP - Intel Corp. is unveiling new technology that will let computers wake up from their power-saving sleep state when they receive a phone call over the Internet.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Aug 2008 | 11:34 am Intel PCs to wake up when they get phone callsIntel Corp. is unveiling new technology that will let computers wake up from their power-saving sleep state when they receive a phone call over the Internet. Current computers have to beSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 11:34 am NBC sees new media habits form with Olympic games (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Aug 2008 | 11:33 am QSGI Reports Second Quarter Financial ResultsHIGHTSTOWN, N.J., and PALM BEACH, Fla., Aug. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- QSGI Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: QSGI), the most comprehensive provider of information technology...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 11:30 am Verizon Adds 21 New Channels to FiOS TV Lineup - Including 16 in HD - for Customers in Richmond, Virginia Beach AreasFirst in Series of Content Additions Offers Sports Programming, Including Big Ten Network, and Beats Comcast and Cox with More HD New FiOS TV Customers...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 11:30 am Want to learn astrobiology? Pick up the consoleSAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Take a group of scientists and a video game designer and what do you get? Spore, a game that can help teach players some evolutionary biology.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 11:12 am Improvised Polish Hot Water SetupThis picture of a jury-rigged hot water delivery system from Poland is pretty cool. I bet it works. (Ignore the label, it is meaningless, added by the website Fail Blog, where I found the picture. Thanks,...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 11:09 am Telanetix Reports Second Quarter 2008 Results- Grew total revenues to $8.0 million, up 4.5% from the first quarter 2008 - - Increased gross margin to 46.8% - BELLEVUE, Wash., Aug. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 11:08 am Yes, Fire Eagle's cool. It also freaks me out - CNET News
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 14 Aug 2008 | 11:02 am Bahrain: GPIC Sets Up Carbon Dioxide PlantAs part of a global co-operation to protect the environment, GPIC in co-operation with Technoment of Italy and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Company, Japan will set up a carbon dioxide recycling plant to be the first petrochemical company in the Middle East to use such environmentally friendly technology.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Aug 2008 | 11:00 am CNPC Brings New Hydrocracking Unit on Stream at Dalian Refining BaseThe China National Petroleum Corporation has started operations at the newest hydrocracking unit at its Dalian Petrochemical refining base, with the facility achieving full primary and secondary processing capacity of 20.5 million tons per annum.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Aug 2008 | 11:00 am GDF Suez-Led Consortium, Partners Complete Financing of Ras Laffan C ProjectGDF Suez Energy International, in a consortium with Mitsui, the Shikoku Electric Power Company, and the Chubu Electric Power Company, and its partners Qatar Petroleum and the Qatar Electricity and Water Company have completed the limited-recourse financing of the Ras Laffan C power and water desalination project.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Aug 2008 | 11:00 am VoIP-PAL Announces Joint VentureSUN VALLEY, Calif., Aug. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VoIP-PAL.com, Inc.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Aug 2008 | 11:00 am Bangladesh Court Grants Bail to 16 Politicians, BusinessmenText of unattributed report headlined "HC grants bail to 16 detained politicos, businessmen" by Bangladeshi newspaper The Daily Star website on 14 August The High Court (HC) yesterday granted ad-interim bail to 16 politicians and businessmen, who were arrested in the caretaker government's anti-graft drive.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Aug 2008 | 11:00 am Cathay Pacific Selects SITA to Provide Fully Managed Network InfrastructureSITA, a provider of IT communications solutions to the air transport industry, has announced a four-year multi-million agreement to provide Cathay Pacific Airways, with a fully managed network infrastructure, which will guarantee the airline network readiness for the introduction of new applications across the world.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Aug 2008 | 11:00 am A New Favourite for the World's Wi-Fi Network - the Doro Ip700wifiRegulatory News: Doro (STO:DOROA): The slim, modern design of the new Doro ip700wifi is the perfect VoIP telephone for people wanting to make simple calls at low cost over the existing broadband network.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Aug 2008 | 11:00 am Sabre to Provide Reservations System, E-Commerce Platform for Vietnam AirlinesVietnam Airlines has signed two multi-million dollar deals with Sabre Airline Solutions, including the implementation of the SabreSonic reservations system.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Aug 2008 | 11:00 am Net Optics Partner Ace Computers Addresses the Need for Compliance MonitoringNet Optics, Inc., an innovative leader of test access port devices, delivers on its commitment to provide a comprehensive performance, security, and forensic monitoring access platform (MAP).Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Aug 2008 | 11:00 am Teseda Taps New Engineering VP; Adds Silicon Valley OfficeTeseda Corporation, a leading provider of comprehensive diagnostic and debug solutions for semiconductor yield improvement, announced today that Mark Moore has joined the management team as Vice President of Engineering.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Aug 2008 | 11:00 am Telstra Selects Tektronix for Wireless Network MonitoringRICHARDSON, Texas, Aug.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Aug 2008 | 11:00 am Olympics Online Clicks With NBCBy Michael Hiestand Live sports coverage on the Internet, far from threatening TV networks, might let some lucky networks become sports giants bestriding the earth.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Aug 2008 | 11:00 am Covering conventions is an wasteUSA Today reports that the number of journalists covering the conventions this fall will remain at the same level as 2004 and 2000: 15,000 of them. What a waste. The outcome of the conventions is known...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 10:58 am Wuala Launches P2P Cloud Storage SolutionWuala puts a new twist on cloud storage. While typical cloud storage services move your data onto servers managed by the provider, Wuala also uses disk space on other members' computers. Files are encrypted...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 10:00 am Russian push into Georgia could knock Nasa off ISS - Register
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 14 Aug 2008 | 9:48 am Today on Boing Boing GadgetsToday on Boing Boing Gadgets, we looked at a company that sells Mac clones that just doesn't know how to play dead and philosophized on the science of zip ties. NVIDIA might have a company sinking FUBAR...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 9:32 am Today on Boing Boing Gadgets Today on Boing Boing Gadgets, we looked at a company that sells Mac clones that just doesn't know how to play dead and philosophized on the science of zip ties. NVIDIA might have a company sinking FUBAR on their hands, while Joel liked a Threadless shirt that installs cyborg plugs and ports all over your spinal column.
Brownlee shed a tear for some poor schlub who is being forced to sell his collection of every NES game ever made and wondered if you could build a Flux Capacitor from LEGO-like circuit board components. Joel dug a lamprey-like Logitech mouse and gave his thoughts on the resurrection of the Polaroid instant camera.
At midday, an Apple R&D building dramatically burst into flames, possibly due to smoking around the company's new dancing oil structure. Motorola's releasing a new RAZR, Dell's selling laptops with 19 hours of battery life and the Wii gets DVD playback.
Finally, Brownlee's cell phone company calls him up to tell him that they sincerely hope he'll someday find a lover. In the meantime, he's got Joel.
LinkSource: Boing Boing | 14 Aug 2008 | 9:32 am Social networking: Twitter drops text message support in UKPopular microblogging system Twitter has dropped text message support in the UK, leaving British users stranded without full service.The site, which allows users to send messages to individuals or friends...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 9:24 am Gadget Or The Girl?By Jonathan Kimak I’m not surprised that there’s yet another new reality show in development, they spring up like Starbucks. I am a bit surprised about what it’s about though. Gadget...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 9:16 am Camera For The Blind, Not As Ridiculous As It SoundsBy Jonathan Kimak This news does seem a bit crazy when you hear about it, but once you read the details it actually sounds neat. The Touch Sight camera, designed by Chueh Lee at Samsung, is a camera that...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 8:55 am 12 Unit Testing Tips for Software EngineersUnit Testing is one of the pillars of Agile Software Development. First introduced by Kent Beck, unit testing has found its way into the hearts and systems of many organizations. Unit tests help engineers...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 8:45 am Apparently Gadget Makers Watch The Simpsons For IdeasBy Jonathan Kimak Once Jay Leno’s writers get a hold of this you can be sure to expect the standard “How fat is America getting when…” joke to make it into his monologue. This...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 8:25 am ECPI College of Technology Announces Career Education Expos to Be Held at All CampusesECPI College of Technology Mike Salerno, 757-671-9202 x55433 Logo: http://www.ecpi.edu ECPI College of Technology, with campus locations in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Online, is pleased to announce a Career Education Expo Open House.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 14 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am Man-Made Chemical Pollutants Found in Deep-Sea OctopodsBy Anonymous New evidence that chemical contaminants are finding their way into the deep-sea food web has been found in deep-sea squids and octopods, including the vampire squid. These species are food for many deep-diving toothed whales and other predators.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am Effect of Moisture Content and Soluble Level on the Physical, Chemical, and Flow Properties of Distillers Dried Grains With Solubles (DDGS)By Ganesan, V Muthukumarappan, K; Rosentrater, K A ABSTRACT Distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) is a bulk material that has been widely used as a protein source for ruminants and nonruminants for more than two decades.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am Effect of Socio-Economic and Agro-Ecological Factors on Structure and Ownership of Livestock: Evidence From RajasthanBy Suresh, A Gupta, D C; Mann, J S; Singh, V K I INTRODUCTION The importance of livestock in Indian agricultural economy is increasing with its contribution to agricultural gross domestic product rising to over 25 per cent in 2002-03 from 16 per cent in 1970-71 (Birthal and Taneja, 2006) an annual growth rate of 4.3 per cent, higher than the overall growth rate of 2.8 per cent in the agricultural sector as a whole.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am Livestock Sector Composition and Factors Affecting Its GrowthBy Chand, Ramesh Raju, S S I INTRODUCTION Livestock sector plays an important role in generating income and employment, augmenting income of marginal farmers and landless labourers and in meeting nutritional requirement.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am Farm in a Class of Its OwnSCHOOL staff from Coventry and Warwickshire have been swopping the classroom for the cattle yard to find out more about farming. Geography and science teachers were given a guided tour of Pleasance Farm, in Kenilworth, as part of a sustainable farming day.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am What's Going on Around HereLONG BEACH LBCC Senior Center offering bus tours The Long Beach City College Senior Center invites those 50 and older to join them on any mini-tour to local destinations this month through October. Tours cost $20 for the bus and an entry fee that varies. Aug.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am Franklin Co. Board Airs Wish ListBy Janelle Rucker janelle.rucker@roanoke.com 981-3159 The Franklin County Board of Supervisors heard proposed improvements from its department directors Tuesday during its annual planning retreat at The Phoebe Needles Center.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 14 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am Apple's Market Cap Exceeds GoogleLawrence Person writes "Mac Daily News was one of many Apple-followers to note that Apple Inc.'s market capitalization exceeded Google today. That means that the combined value of all Apple's outstanding shares of stock exceeded the combined value of all Google's outstanding shares of stock. Apple's stock is worth $157 billion and change vs. Google's $156 billion. Other companies Apple has surpassed in market cap include Cisco, HP, and Intel. Also, Apple is now worth 3 times the value of Dell Computer, despite Dell's founder and CEO declaring over a decade ago that if he ran Apple, he'd 'shut it down and give the money back to the shareholders.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 14 Aug 2008 | 7:45 am Wikipedia founder aims to break Google stranglehold (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Aug 2008 | 7:20 am After cutting 50 workers, Spot Runner says it will add 60The ad firm explains the moves will reduce redundancies and allow it to grow. Spot Runner Inc., a Los Angeles-based...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 7:00 am Best Buy deal to sell iPhone 3G may mean shortages are easingThe retailer, which starts offering the Apple devices nationwide Sept. 7, says it's not worried about running out. The pending arrival...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 7:00 am LinkedIn warns social networkers about dangers of 'frolleagues'Business networking website LinkedIn has published a series of guidelines to help prevent users damaging their careers by mixing professional contacts and friends online.LinkedIn claimed 47% of the UK's...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 6:11 am Intel readies new remote PC access function (CNET)CNET - Intel has developed technology that lets people remotely power up their computers and retrieve files across an Internet connection, according to a report on The Wall Street Journal site on Wednesday.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Aug 2008 | 5:50 am Matryomin: a matrioshke with a theremin insideThe Matryomin is artist Masami Takeuchi's theremin built into a matrioshke doll. They're bulk-produced and offered for sale.Matryomin (via Red Ferret) Source: Boing Boing | 14 Aug 2008 | 5:41 am Man whose US immigration notice was sent to the wrong address is detained with untreated spinal cancer until he dies, denied access to his wife and childrenA Hong Kong computer programmer who had legally resided in the US for 15 years (since he was 17) and fathered two American children went for his final green card interview and was locked up, detained until he died of cancer that the DHS refused to treat him for. He had overstayed a visa (the DHS sent a key notice to the wrong address), and this prompted the DHS to lock him away and demand that he waive all right to immigration appeal and be immediately deported. In detention, his complaints of excruciating back pain were treated as fakery, and he was dragged around in shackles after he lost the ability to walk, taken on long, bumpy drives while official demanded that he drop his immigration appeals. The jailers who caused his death were private contractors with fat deals with the DHS to lock up immigration detainees.As he lay dying, his family -- wife and two children, aged 1 and 3 -- were denied access to him while the warden considered their request to visit. "Give us your poor, your tired, your huddled masses..." But his condition continued to deteriorate. Once a robust man who stood nearly six feet and weighed 200 pounds, his relatives said, Mr. Ng looked like a shrunken and jaundiced 80-year-old.Ill and in Pain, Detainee Dies in U.S. Hands Source: Boing Boing | 14 Aug 2008 | 5:39 am Intel PCs to wake up when they get phone callsIntel Corp. is unveiling new technology that will let computers wake up from their power-saving sleep state when they receive a phone call over the Internet.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 5:39 am TSA adds 16,500 people to terror watchlist for forgetting ID, then reconsidersThe TSA maintains a list of "suspicious" fliers who do things like forget to take their sewing scissors out of their knitting bags before boarding a flight. To this list, they have added 16,500 fliers who forgot to bring ID to the airport, though they say that forgetting your ID will no longer brand you forever as a potential terrorist. Forgetting your sewing scissors will still go down on your permanent record, though.The TSA began storing the information in late June, tracking many people who said they had forgotten their driver's license or passport at home. The database has 16,500 records of such people and is open to law enforcement agencies, according to the TSA.Fliers without ID placed on TSA list (Thanks, Loren!) Source: Boing Boing | 14 Aug 2008 | 5:28 am Wuala Makes Online Storage Social (PC Magazine)PC Magazine - Enter Wuala, a new service that pairs online storage with social networking, with a little bit of Java and grid computing mixed in.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Aug 2008 | 5:00 am What May Be Behind the iPhone 3G Glitches - BusinessWeek
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 14 Aug 2008 | 4:49 am 'Slow' Light To Speed Up the NetJPawlak writes "Researchers believe that it may be possible to increase the speed of the Internet by slowing down certain parts of it by using metamaterials. Metamaterials could be used to replace the bulky and slow electronics that route Internet information, allowing for faster Internet speeds. As data nears its destination, the frequencies must be separated. The light must then be converted into electrical signals, which are stored, routed, and converted back into optical signals. The conversion not only adds significant cost and complexity to the process, but slows down the transmission as well. However, if the light signals could be slowed during the switching process, they would not need to be converted into an electrical signal. 'The ability to slow the light could be a tremendous force for telecoms that is sure to enhance speed and efficiency,' says University of California professor Xiang Zhang."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 14 Aug 2008 | 4:11 am 'True Dungeon' Lures Would-Be Dragon SlayersThis week, in a hotel ballroom in Indianapolis, hundreds will die. They'll come from all walks of life -- wizards and warriors, rogues and rangers. Some will be brought down by insidious traps, others will succumb to deadly spells. A few will merely be beaten to death. It all depends on how they face up to the imagination of Jeff Martin, the creator of a real-life role-playing adventure called True Dungeon. Each year at Gen Con Indy, a massive gaming convention held in Indianapolis, Martin and a cadre of volunteers assemble a life-size dungeon, complete with traps, monsters and treasure. More than 3,000 people -- some dressed for the part -- take on the role of a fantasy adventurer and travel through the dungeon each year, attempting to avoid traps, defeat monsters and claim treasure. From the 6,000 hand-carved stones that make up the walls to True Dungeon's immersive sound effects, Martin strives to provide the ambiance of a classic fantasy dungeon. Some monsters are portrayed by volunteers in makeup, while others are sculpted creations or animatronic puppets. Martin adds more detail and complexity each year, within the limits of the space available. "Right now we're in a 22,000-square-foot ballroom," says Martin. "The largest ballroom in Indiana actually, and we're squished." True Dungeon is the closest that most Dungeons and Dragons fans will get to a real-life dungeon-crawling campaign, and in the five years since it first thrilled Gen Con attendees, the walk-through game has become the single most popular event at one of the biggest gaming conventions in the world. It all started in the late '90s when Martin dreamed up a private event that he put on in a tiny hotel room. "I was having a weekend get-together with some friends once a year, and I wanted to make it something really cool and special," says Martin. "Eventually it got to the point where I started building whole fake rooms inside of a hotel suite just to increase the fun for my friends." In time, Gen Con CEO Peter Adkinson made the guest list. "I was introduced by a mutual friend," says Adkinson. "He said, 'You've got to check out what this guy's done.' It was amazing." Adkinson was so impressed that he helped Martin bring his creation to the gaming convention in 2003. Gen Con veteran Cate Hirschbiel has gone through True Dungeon three times and has tickets for a fourth run. "It's unlike any other event at Gen Con," says Hirschbiel. "It's such a rush when you play. I'm just pumped up for hours afterwards." While waiting to enter True Dungeon, players can relax in the starting area, a fantasy tavern complete with cash bar and simulated brawls. Once their turn comes up, players are given a chance to practice the particular roles of their character type. Rogues, for instance, have to manipulate a metal bar through a touch-sensitive maze to disable traps, while wizards must memorize the locations of various otherworldly planes of power. Combat is handled not with swords and shields, but with a game of skill similar to shuffleboard, sliding discs toward a target to see whether they hit the enemy and how much damage they do. Other challenges involve props, such as a spider web that traps adventurers or monsters that menace players. "We wanted to make it as visceral and real as we could, while still keeping it safe," says Martin. "We try to make everything a real-world challenge instead of rolling dice for combat." In one past challenge, adventurers entered a room and saw the shadow of an obviously female form behind a curtain. Those who were too busy looking below the neck to notice the snakes in her hair had a chance to be turned to stone when the occupant was revealed to be a Medusa. The adventurers aren't the only ones enjoying the experience. Lydia Laurenson, a True Dungeon volunteer, played a dark elf priestess in a past dungeon. "It's the best thing ever," she says. "There was lots of role-playing involved, and I played it to the hilt. I got to be vicious and bitchy but also have fun with it." For many players, the experience goes beyond the event itself. Players earn treasure tokens that they can keep and bring back next time. They also earn experience points that add to their in-game power in subsequent years. For those who have acquired enough personal power to make the standard dungeon too easy, Martin provides "nightmare mode," a stepped-up version of the dungeon with fewer clues and more treacherous battles. Chris Bradley, who played for the first time last year and is coming back for more, sums up True Dungeon's appeal. "It's awesome," says Bradley. "It's like life-sized D&D." Gen Con Indy runs Thursday through Sunday at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis. 
Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Aug 2008 | 4:00 am Aug. 14, 1888: I Sing the Meter Electric1888: Oliver B. Shallenberger receives a patent for the electric meter. There's no free lunch. You'll get an electric bill. When Thomas Edison started selling electricity for illumination in 1882, he charged per lamp. He soon replaced that with a complicated chemical ampere-hour meter. It was an electrolytic jar with two zinc plates immersed in a zinc-sulfate solution. Electricity flowing through the jar dissolved zinc off the positive plate and deposited it on the negative plate. Workers had to remove the electrodes every month and weigh them to see how much zinc had been transferred from one plate to the other. It was messy, it was inefficient, and it wasn't very accurate. Even though Edison also developed a motor-type meter, his interest in chemistry caused him to prefer the chemical version. Blind spot. Electrical polymath Elihu Thomson devised a walking-beam meter in 1888. It was a complicated, Rube Goldberg-type apparatus. A heating element in the circuit warmed a small alcohol-filled bottle on a seesaw lever. The alcohol warmed, evaporated and flowed into a matching bottle on the other side. When there was more alcohol in the opposite bottle, it would sink and up start heating up to reverse the process. Each time the bottles rocked, they ticked off a notch on the meter. Not exactly a robust design. Shallenberger was an Annapolis graduate who left the Navy in 1884 to join the Westinghouse company. He was working on a new arc lamp one day in 1888, when a spring fell out and landed on a ledge inside the lamp. Before an assistant could reach in to replace it, the ever-observant Shallenberger noticed the spring had rotated. He soon determined that the lamp's rotating electric fields had caused the spring to turn. Shallenberger realized he could use the effect to turn wheels in a meter to measure electrical charge. Not only could he use it, he did ... and built an alternating-current ampere-hour meter in just three weeks. The Shallenberger meter was a key part of George Westinghouse's AC electrical system. (Nikola Tesla later pointed out to Shallenberger that the induction meter was a type of AC motor.) The meter went into commercial use within months, selling 120,000 units in 10 years. The ampere is a measure of current, and the ampere-hour a measure of charge. So power companies that used these meters charged by the charge. Thomson invented a commutator watt-hour meter (that measured the energy consumed), also in 1888, and brought it to market the following year. It worked on both alternating- and direct-current systems, but fell by the wayside in the late 1890s when the induction watt-hour meter came into general use, where it remains to this day. Source: Dave's Old Watthour Meter Webpage
Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Aug 2008 | 4:00 am The Evolving Release Dates of Spore ... SighThe most hotly anticipated game of the year. And last year. And the year before that.... March 2005
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Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Aug 2008 | 4:00 am Pentagon puts hold on USAF cyber effort (AP)AP - The Pentagon this week delayed and may kill the Air Force's nascent Cyberspace Command, according to a memo obtained by The Associated Press. This comes as Russia used a major computer network attack to begin its assault on Georgia.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 14 Aug 2008 | 3:11 am Game Developer's Response To Piratescliffski writes "A few days ago, indie PC games developer Positech publicly called for people pirating their games to explain why, in an open and honest attempt to see what the causes of gaming piracy were. Hundreds of blog posts, hundreds more emails and several server-reboots later, the developer's reply is up on their site. The pirates had a lot to say, on subjects such as price, DRM, demos and the overall quality of PC games, and Positech owner Cliffski explains how this developer at least will be changing their approach to selling PC games as a result. Is this the start of a change for the wider industry? Or is this the only developer actively listening to the pirates point of view?"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 14 Aug 2008 | 2:08 am TECHNOLOGY: Brain-powered video games rely on light wavesBy Alex Pham A Drexel University researcher presented a game that lets players control the action on the screen merely by concentrating.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 1:12 am Defense contractor CACI boosts earnings 13 percentDefense and homeland security contractor CACI International Inc. reported Wednesday that profit for its fourth quarter rose more than 13 percent on increased defense and intelligence business.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 1:00 am Gallery: Measuring the History of Electricity : Photo: mtowber/flickrThe invention of the electric meter made it possible to bill customers for electricity, creating the incentive to build out the nation's first network for moving electrons. The Grid, the system of dumb, buzzing wires that allows power to move across the country, is so important, it topped the National Academy of Engineering's top 20 triumphs of the 20th century. This gallery tours the history -- and future -- of making you pay for juice. Some time within the next few years, you're likely to get a new type of so-called "smart meter" that will mark the first real upgrade to electrical billing since your grandparents were born. Until the 1870s, electrical power wasn't used for much aside from telegraphs and telephones. But after the Edison's improvement of the incandescent light bulb, power was suddenly much more useful. The problem was, the few metering systems that tinkerers had built up until that time didn't actually work. So Edison resorted to a low-tech method: He charged for electricity on a per-lamp basis. In modern business model terms, Edison was giving away the blades to sell the razor. He would not have received venture capital for that idea.  : Photo: Great Beyond/FlickrThroughout the 1880s, various inventors thought hard about the problem of how to measure the flow of electrons through time. Edison himself tried a two-electrode chemical system in which your charge was determined by how much zinc moved from one electrode to another. Workers actually had to weigh the electrodes to determine the price you paid. Elihu Thomson developed a walking-beam meter that functioned quite like toy dunking birds (left). The heating and cooling of alcohol inside a pair of bottles caused a periodic liquid exchange that caused the bottles to rock back and forth. And that mechanical motion is what the meter measured. It was an excellent hack, but it couldn't scale.  : Iimage: Library of CongressBy 1888, a major, long-lasting dispute within the power industry was on the verge of getting settled. Edison had been promoting the use of direct-current power, despite the difficulty that the technology encountered transmitting electricity over long distances and changing the voltage. Both problems limited the uses of electricity. George Westinghouse, meanwhile, purchased a patent for a transformer that could increase the voltage of alternating-current power. With a working transformer, his company, Westinghouse Electric, was able to send power over long distances, allowing for larger, centralized power-generating stations. These stations could power factories as well as your great-grandfather's school reading lamp. But they needed to bill for it. And that's where Westinghouse employee Oliver Shallenberger came in. His design (left) paved the way for Westinghouse to purchase a patent from Nikola Tesla for an improved AC system. The modern electrical grid was about to take root.  : Photo: Library of CongressWith early success fueling investment in the electrical sector, a variety of new technologies began to converge to create the standard model for electrical generation and distribution in the United States. Through the 1890s, various iterations of the induction watt-hour meter were becoming standard technology. These meters measure the number of rotations that a metal disk makes in response to magnetic flux within the meter. The amount of power is proportional to the speed of the disk's revolution, so the meter can accurately measure a range of energy usage levels. In most places, this is still how your company knows how much power your home or business is drawing. Meanwhile, transmission-line technologists were steadily upping the voltage of the power lines running from ever-large power plants, like this one, to increasingly large cities filled with more and more electricity users. The higher the voltage, the better the quality of transmission over distance. By the 1920s, the percentage of two-thirds of American homes had electricity, and three-quarters of factories used electricity to power their motors.  : Image: Edison Electric Institute During the Great Depression, the government began to regulate private utilities and push for getting electricity to rural areas far from urban centers through agencies like the Rural Electrification Administration and Tennessee Valley Authority. The Edison Electric Institute Bulletin had a special issue in 1942 on "entering the seventh decade of electric power." By this time, almost all Americans had access to cheap and reliable electric power, but many could remember a time when they didn't. The horsepower available to factory workers had increased from about 3 in 1914 to 6.5 in 1942, with most of the increase coming from purchased electrical power. As one professor chillingly put it, engineering advances had made 6 billion "manpower" available to the country, "equivalent to 50 slaves for each man, woman, and child."  : Photo: Library of CongressWith most of the metering and transmission infrastructure in place, all electrical companies had to do was make as much power as cheaply as possible. And that's all they did. Innovation in transmission and metering largely stopped. This 1940s meter technician would probably understand most meters in use today. Most capital investment went to building power plants that could exploit the nation's ready source of cheap energy: coal. In 1949, only 84 million tons of coal wer used for electrical power production. By 1970, coal consumption by the power industry had nearly quadrupled to 320 million tons per year. Last year, American utilities burned about 1.05 billion tons of coal to make electricity.  : Photo: Slightlynorth/flickrThe golden age of cheap power came to an end some time in the last decade. Coal, which made electricity cheap and abundant, also happens to generate massive amounts of carbon dioxide, which is the greenhouse gas responsible for climate change. It's widely expected that the next president will sign a law that will tax carbon dioxide emissions, as is already the case in many places around the world. The specter of energy regulation and rising natural gas, coal and petroleum prices has raised interest in new emission-free technologies like wind turbines and solar power. But the adoption of these technologies isn't as simple as it sounds. Both wind and solar -- which are abundant and clean -- will require substantial changes to the nation's transmission and billing systems. Wind and solar, unlike coal, do not produce power at the same rate at all times. If they are adopted at scale, the grid infrastructure and the meters like this one will have to be much more flexible than what we built 100 years ago. Power generation has been centralized since the very early days of the industry, but now, wind and solar open the possibility to generate power right on or near your home. But to make economic sense, we need meters and grid tie-ins that can easily accomplish this type of "reverse billing".  : Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.comSo, we find ourselves in a new era of electric meter innovation. A host of companies is trying to find just the right mix of features that will satisfy utilities and provide consumers with more flexibility in how they make, buy and use power. Like everything else in the internet age, electricity-billing systems are about to make the transition from a centralized, one-way mode of operation to two-way systems that are connected to the internet. In addition to the back-end differences, the next generation of meters has received a facelift that will let consumers see their energy usage in near real-time. Of course, people have been talking about "smart meters" for years. But after years of delayed rollouts, utilities finally appear ready to scale them up. This electronic meter from Tendril is slated for a massive rollout with five major utilities that the company says will reach 2 million homes.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Aug 2008 | 1:00 am Photronics swings to loss in fiscal 3QPhotronics Inc. swung to a loss for its fiscal 2008 third quarter, missing Wall Street's estimates for both revenue and net earnings.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 14 Aug 2008 | 12:46 am Get Started With Firebug, Firefox's 'Killer App' for Web DevelopersOn the surface, the Firebug extension for the Firefox browser is a simple page inspector. But lift the the hood and you'll find a powerful code debugger and a variety of site-testing tools. Best of all, Firebug is just as extensible as the browser it plugs in to. Web developers can start cleaning up their code by following Webmonkey's introductory guide to all things Firebug.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 14 Aug 2008 | 12:30 am Password Resets Worse Than Reusing Old passwordnarramissic writes "We all know well the perils of password reuse. But what about the information used to reset passwords? Many sites use a standard set of questions — your mother's maiden name, the name of your best friend, what city you grew up in, or what brand your first car was. And you probably have a standard set of responses, making them easy to remember but not very secure. 'The city you grew up in and your mother's maiden name can be derived from public records. Facebook might unwittingly tell the name of your best friend. And, until quite recently, Ford with its 25% market share had a pretty good chance of being the brand of your first car,' says security researcher Markus Jakobsson. But 'password reset does not have to be a weak link,' says Jakobsson. 'Psychologists know that people's preferences are stable — often more so than long term memory. And very few preferences are recorded in public databases.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 14 Aug 2008 | 12:26 am Police Secretly Planting GPS Devices On Carsbfwebster writes "The Washington Post has a long investigative article on how more and more police departments are secretly planting GPS tracking devices on the cars of people they are investigating — usually without a warrant. After-the-fact court challenges on this technique have largely upheld such use of a GPS device, though the Washington State Supreme Court has ruled that a warrant is required."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 13 Aug 2008 | 11:15 pm Telecoms: Jajah deal with Intel will boost PC telephoningCalifornian internet telephony specialist Jajah has clinched an important deal with computer chip designer Intel which will put its cheap-rate telephone service in easy reach of consumers and potentially...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 13 Aug 2008 | 11:09 pm Crows stealing coins from car wash? My favorite TED talk of 2008 was given by Joshua Klein, who built a vending machine that crows can deposit coins into in exchange for peanuts. (Here's the video of his talk.) Today, Phil Torrone posted news about a gang of thieving crows that are stealing coins from car wash vending machines. Bill is the owner of a company that manufactures and installs car wash systems. Bill installed one of these systems in in Frederick, MD. The issue arose when the buyer complained he was losing significant amounts of money each day. He even accused Bill and his employees of ripping him off.Phil muses, "So many questions, who is giving them peanuts, is this based off Josh's work or the other way around, a fake?" I'll bet Rupert Sheldrake would be interested in this. :) Crows stealing coins from car wash (Make Blog)Source: Boing Boing | 13 Aug 2008 | 11:06 pm UK Gov't Proposes Massive Internet Snooping, Data StorageBarence writes "Big Brother Britain moved a step further today with the news that the Government will store 'a billion incidents of data exchange a day' as details of every text, email and browsing session in the UK are recorded. Under new proposals published yesterday, the information will be made available to police forces in order to crack down on serious crime, but will also be accessible by local councils, health authorities and even Ofsted and the Post Office. The Conservatives have criticised the idea, with the Shadow Home Secretary saying, 'yet again the Government has proved itself unable to resist the temptation to take a power quite properly designed to combat terrorism to snoop on the lives of ordinary people in everyday circumstances.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 13 Aug 2008 | 10:16 pm Mechanical Reasoners Battle It Out In Sydney TodayStephan Schulz writes "Today, the CADE ATP System Competition will pit about 20 of the worlds most powerful mechanical mathematicians against each other — and for the first time they can win not only honour, but a monetary prize. The systems will reason against the clock on tasks ranging from undergraduate math problems and Cluedo-like puzzles to figuring out the possible responsibility for terrorist attacks from giant knowledge bases. If you think that is not impressive enough, they are doing it at a rate of 12 problems per hour, all day long. The competition starts at 10 a.m. in Sydney, Australia, which is midnight UTC. Live results will be available at the competition page. For added geek appeal, most of the contenders are available under open source licenses, so if you are weak in logic you can hack up your own brain extension and run it on an iPhone."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 13 Aug 2008 | 9:24 pm Go From A2B on an Electric Bike, Praying the Battery Doesn't DieUltra Motor joins the e-bike peloton with a 73-pounder that goes 20 miles on a charge and costs $2,500.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 13 Aug 2008 | 9:16 pm Stream Your Music Library to a Stereo with SqueezeboxIn the old days, the closest you would get to streaming your music from one room to another would be to turn the volume all the way to 11. These days, we have devices like Squeezebox to network your music collection and make it accessible to any stereo in the house.Source: Wired: Gadgets | 13 Aug 2008 | 9:00 pm Stream Your Music Library to a Stereo with SqueezeboxIn the old days, the closest you would get to streaming your music from one room to another would be to turn the volume all the way to 11. These days, we have devices like Squeezebox to network your music collection and make it accessible to any stereo in the house.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 13 Aug 2008 | 9:00 pm 'Frankenrobot' Has Biological BrainMeet Gordon the robot: mechanical body, biological brain. Is this the future of A.I.?Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 13 Aug 2008 | 8:18 pm Venomous Lionfish Prowls Fragile Caribbean WatersInvasive lionfish are wreaking ecological havoc in delicate Caribbean waters.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 13 Aug 2008 | 8:18 pm Free copyright license upheld Fed Circuit Court of AppealsFrom Larry Lessig's blog, a major victory for open licenses:I am very proud to report today that the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (THE "IP" court in the US) has upheld a free (ok, they call them "open source") copyright license, explicitly pointing to the work of Creative Commons and others. (The specific license at issue was the Artistic License.) This is a very important victory, and I am very very happy that the Stanford Center for Internet and Society played a key role in securing it. Congratulations especially to Chris Ridder and Anthony Falzone at the Center.huge and important news: free licenses upheld Source: Boing Boing | 13 Aug 2008 | 8:10 pm Rock-n-roll yoga tees I'm pretty tickled by these rock-n-roll yoga tees -- yoga's been doing wonders for my general health, flexibility and back pain (not to mention my state of mind), but I do get a little tired of the sheer hippietrippiness of it all. A little AC/DC homage is just what the guru ordered. Yoga T-Shirt (Thanks, Fipi Lele!) Source: Boing Boing | 13 Aug 2008 | 8:09 pm Could official Beijing 2008 Olympics screensavers contain malware? (update) (UPDATE: In two words, probably not. It appears that the files currently being served from the Olympics 2008 website likely do not contain malware. However, one aspect of the testimonial below still can't quite be explained. Detailed findings at the end of this post, from a security researcher who kindly looked into this for us. -- XJ)
Continuing in the thread of China/Tibet/malware-related posts, Boing Boing reader Bruce tells us: I'm a Systems Administrator at a large university and I think I may of found something important, but not sure, but I think it is worth reporting. One of my friends said that it would be a good idea maybe to post this information somewhere that is popular, like boing boing.Regarding the broader trend of malware and trojans which are attached in some way to politically-charged memes or spoofed origins, Infowar Monitor editor Greg Walton (whose related account I just blogged here) adds: Such tactics are not only political weapons. The start of the Beijing Olympics last week kicked off a slew of malicious internet activity. Some are relatively indiscriminate – using malicious software embedded in innocent websites, often of news organisations with audience numbers boosted by their sports coverage, which then infects the visitor's computer. Some are more sophisticated. Related: Update on China/Tibet cyberattacks (and Russia/Georgia), and call for testimonials.
UPDATE: Security researcher Maarten Van Horenbeeck, who is based in Belgium, looked at the file and website in question for us, and says: Actually, after a Flash is converted with FlashForge, it is turned into a regular binary with SCR extension, so it's not really Flash anymore. Source: Boing Boing | 13 Aug 2008 | 8:01 pm Experts Accuse Bush Administration of Foot-Dragging on DNS Security HoleThe internet remains vulnerable to a spoofing attack recently discovered by security expert Dan Kaminsky. The only real solution is to digitally sign the DNS root zone, but security experts say politics in the Department of Commerce are slowing the effort and endangering the trustworthiness of the net.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 13 Aug 2008 | 7:45 pm The Military Wants to Control Your MindThe military is studying ways to use neuroscience to gain an advantage, including mind reading, mind control and brain enhancement.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 13 Aug 2008 | 7:16 pm Disqus Poised to Rule the World of Blog CommentsThe blog-commenting system Disqus, which merges the worlds of web publishing and social networking, is quickly gaining kudos in the blogosphere. A new version released Tuesday adds some attractive new features, like tighter integration with WordPress and the ability for commenters to track replies or follow friends.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 13 Aug 2008 | 7:00 pm Experiment on Craigslist: "I found some cash. Did you lose it?" Rob Cockerham of cockeyed.com is a sociologist provocateur that we've featured quite a few times here on Boing Boing. His experiments never fail to delight and illuminate. Recently Rob found $60 in parking lot and when he reported it on Craigslist he received three replies. Intrigued, he posted another (this time, ersatz) announcement that he'd found money and wanted to return it to its rightful owner. Look how four "different" people replied to his annoucement: Catherine: I was shopping at the Mervyns on camp wisdom and three hundred dollard fell out of my wallett it was twenties and one hundreds. It was my kids back to school money and have been loosing my mind. Not sure if you found all of it or part. but please email me back either way. Thank you, Catherine (Fri. 4:36pm)Cockeyed.com presents: You Found my Money! Source: Boing Boing | 13 Aug 2008 | 6:52 pm Octopuses Don't Have Eight LegsClose examination of octopuses suggest they have a mix of arms and legs.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 13 Aug 2008 | 6:18 pm Cute snout robot on roof of the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts Here's a neat video of a funny robot on the roof of the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts. The robot was made by Golan Levin with Lawrence Hayhurst, Steven Benders and Fannie White. "Double-Taker (Snout)" (interactive installation, 2008) deals in a whimsical manner with the themes of trans-species eye contact, gestural choreography, subjecthood, and autonomous surveillance. The project consists of an eight-foot (2.5m) long industrial robot arm, costumed to resemble an enormous inchworm or elephant's trunk, which responds in unexpected ways to the presence and movements of people in its vicinity. Sited on a low roof above a museum entrance, and governed by a real-time machine vision algorithm, Double-Taker (Snout) orients itself towards passers-by, tracking their bodies and suggesting an intelligent awareness of their activities. The goal of this kinetic system is to perform convincing "double-takes" at its visitors, in which the sculpture appears to be continually surprised by the presence of its own viewers — communicating, without words, that there is something uniquely surprising about each of us.Double-Taker (Snout) Source: Boing Boing | 13 Aug 2008 | 6:13 pm Alienware Gaming PC — I Want to Believe It Doesn't Cost So MuchGamers want blazing performance and flashy looks in a fragging rig. The Area-51 m15x does both but also comes at a cost. At nearly $5,000, the rig provides the latest in gaming tech but also deals a tremendous blow to a bank account ... or trust fund.Source: Wired: Gadgets | 13 Aug 2008 | 5:30 pm What's Wrong With the 3G in iPhone G3?Complaints about the iPhone 3G's spotty performance increase as the phone routinely switches from its 3G network to EDGE without warning ... unless it's losing its data signal altogether.Source: Wired: Gadgets | 13 Aug 2008 | 5:00 pm BLOG: Human Ancestor Olympic Hall of FameIf Neanderthals had a shot at the shot put, they would be medal contenders for sure.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 13 Aug 2008 | 4:11 pm 'Sputnik' Virus Orbits, Hijacks Other VirusesA tiny virus that makes a living off the work of other viruses is the first of its kind.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 13 Aug 2008 | 2:11 pm 'Sugar Coating' Used to Waterproof PaperScientists use sugarcane to make completely recyclable waterproof paper.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 13 Aug 2008 | 1:11 pm The World's Weirdest Vending MachinesFrom fresh eggs to marijuana, it seems there's nothing you can't get from an automatic vending machine somewhere in the world. Wired.com's Gadget Lab brings you five of the oddest.Source: Wired: Gadgets | 13 Aug 2008 | 12:52 pm
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