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Malaysia blocks anti-government news Web site (AP)AP - Malaysia has blocked access to a popular news Web site that often runs afoul of authorities for its sensational political reporting, sparking complaints Thursday that the government has reneged on its pledge to keep cyberspace uncensored.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 28 Aug 2008 | 11:29 am Computer Virus In Space - Digitaltrends.com
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 28 Aug 2008 | 11:13 am Vimpelcom says to sell Apple iPhone in Russia (Reuters)Reuters - Vimpelcom , Russia's second-largest mobile phone operator, said on Thursday it had signed a distribution deal with Apple Inc. to sell iPhone 3G in Russia.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 28 Aug 2008 | 11:02 am Arctic ice 'is at tipping point' - BBC News
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 28 Aug 2008 | 10:45 am SpeedDate Scores $6 Million For Matchmaking In A HurryOnline dating site SpeedDate has raised $6 million in a Series B funding round led by Menlo Ventures. SpeedDate offers users a series of 3 minute mini-dates, during which they can converse through video,...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 Aug 2008 | 10:30 am Microsoft's IE8 Beta Sports - InternetNews.com
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 28 Aug 2008 | 10:06 am PROACT(TM) Logic Tree Knowledge Management Templates Now Available for Use in PROACT(R) for MeridiumROANOKE, Va., Aug. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Meridium Inc., the global leader in asset performance management software and consulting solutions, announced the availability of...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 Aug 2008 | 10:00 am Interactive Social Media Platform Used to Inspire Public Policy Debates at Both DNC and RNCLocaModa Partners with Outburst Tour for Series of Forums on Social Media and Politics Across Party Lines CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- LocaModa, a...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 Aug 2008 | 10:00 am RadioShack to Carry Sprint's Samsung Instinct NationwideExclusive 4-day pricing of $99.99 available starting August 29 at company-owned stores FORT WORTH, Texas, Aug. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- RadioShack Corporation...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 Aug 2008 | 10:00 am Broadcom Announces New Digital Television Solution Supporting Global ConnectivityNext Generation DTV System-on-a-Chip Solution Combines DVB Standards with Advanced Functionality for Premium Picture Quality and Worldwide Compatibility BERLIN, Aug. 28Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 Aug 2008 | 10:00 am Innovelis Announces Agreement with Pleiades System Designs to Distribute BudFits(TM) in JapanInnovative over-the-ear adapter secures iPhone and iPod earbuds for a comfortable fit. MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Innovelis proudly announces a strategic...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 Aug 2008 | 10:00 am Open source: What you should learn from the French (InfoWorld)InfoWorld - A decade ago, European countries leapt out of the gate to take the lead in the radical open source movement -- none more so than France -- and left U.S. developers in the proverbial dust. Through policies and high-profile projects, the French Republic for years has been advocating for all open source all the time, in government and education.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 28 Aug 2008 | 10:00 am VoIP-PAL Initiates Proactive Investor Online NewsletterSUN VALLEY, Calif., Aug. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VoIP-PAL.com, Inc. (Pink Sheets: VPLM), a leading provider of telecommunications products and services, announces...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 Aug 2008 | 10:00 am New Sony Cyber-shot Camera's Video Capture Goes High DefSAN DIEGO, Aug. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Sony is adding high-definition movie recording to its digital camera line with the introduction of the Cyber-shot(R) DSC-T500 model.Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 Aug 2008 | 10:00 am 'iPhone Girl' Finds Fame And Fear On The Production Line - Washington Post
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 28 Aug 2008 | 9:49 am What The Veoh Decision Means For YouTube And Others - TechCrunch
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 28 Aug 2008 | 9:38 am Wikileaks To Sell Hugo Chavez' EmailI Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "Wikileaks seems to be a bit hard-up for cash, so they're trying a little experiment. They plan to auction off an archive with three years worth of Hugo Chavez' email. The winner will get a period of embargoed access to break any stories they can find in the files, while Wikileaks will later publish the archive in full. Wikileaks plans to use the profits for their legal defense fund, but they may run into trouble because most reputable news outlets have policies against paying sources."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 28 Aug 2008 | 9:31 am Adaptec Agrees to Acquire Aristos LogicStrategic Acquisition Creates New OEM Opportunities Provides Critical Building Blocks in Adaptec I/O Strategy MILPITAS, Calif., Aug. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 Aug 2008 | 9:30 am What The Veoh Decision Means For YouTube And OthersAttorneys representing online video sites around the country are salivating today over the Veoh summary judgment decision (I know this because I've spoken to a few of them). In a nutshell, here's what...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 Aug 2008 | 9:24 am Radware to Present at INTERNET TELEPHONY(R) Conference & EXPO West 2008Executives Participate in Two Panels; Offering Insight on the Role Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and Security Play in Next-Generation Voice Networks MAHWAH, NewSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 Aug 2008 | 9:00 am ROFIN-SINAR and Manz Automation AG Enter into a Strategic AlliancePLYMOUTH, Mich. and Hamburg, Germany, Aug. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ROFIN-SINAR Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: RSTI), one of the world's leading developers and...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNewsTech | 28 Aug 2008 | 8:56 am Farm for the Needy Adds Beef to Its Vegetables / Woodstock Program Expands Venture That Feeds the HungryBy S A second Volunteer Farm to feed the hungry in Virginia is being established near Woodstock in the northern Shenandoah Valley. The original Volunteer Farm in Woodstock has used thousands of volunteers in the past five years to raise fresh vegetables for Virginia's poor.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am Arroyo Seco Project FinishedBy Dan Abendschein PASADENA - The city celebrated the completion of a $2.5 million project to restore the native environment of the Arroyo Seco stream on Wednesday.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am Green Clash Feared on BillBy Anonymous Lawyers have warned that key parts of the Planning Bill will fall foul of European environmental legislation and provoke legal challenges.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am Projects Improve Access to River / Group Leads Effort to Develop Parks, Trails and Spans Along AppomattoxPaddlers no longer are the only ones who can enjoy the scenic beauty of the Appomattox River. Thanks to a local group's efforts, new pathways are making the river accessible to almost everyone.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am Green Ideas at Free EventAN ENVIRONMENT extravaganza will be held tomorrow in Kenilworth. Eco-friendly firms and organisations from across Warwickshire will be on show at a Green Exhibition between 1pm and 8pm.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am Tropical Storm Fay Won't End DroughtThe creek that runs across the eighth hole at Countryside Golf Club in Roanoke was dry Monday evening. The remnants of Tropical Storm Fay might have provided some water to it temporarily, but recent rain will not end the drought that lingers over Southwest Virginia.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am Fact of the DayThe Associated Press reported in December 1985, in Eugene, Oregon, a 6-month-old kitten set a Christmas tree on fire while batting at the lighted bulbs. The heat of the fire cracked a nearby fishbowl, and water from the bowl doused some of the fire.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am Alberta Keeps Oil Sands' Environmental Impacts in CheckBy Poruban, Steven The burgeoning development of Alberta's vast oil sands resources and its effect on the province's land, water, and air is being closely and carefully monitored by government officials as well as other environmental research agencies to ensure its sustainability.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am Ambulance Plan Comes Out Next WeekBy Marcus, Samantha City and county officials say they'll release details of a municipally run ambulance service and related legislation Wednesday at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse campus. The public meeting is sched Wed for 6 p.m. Wednesday it Cartwright Center's Valhalla room.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am Get the Best Tech SupportWhen your computer's hiccups become unbearable, fight the temptation to immediately call the machine's manufacturer for tech support. You might find a simple answer to your problem with an Internet search or trip to a site such as techguy.org.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am Green Giants Take on E-WasteBy DiRamio, Denise Extended producer responsibility helps recover materials safely and promote cleaner design.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am Eee PC Models Grow UpWhen Taiwan's Asustek Computer Inc. brought out the Eee PC last year, it created a whole new category of tiny, cheap laptops. Despite its success, the computer had one confounding element: Its keyboard was really small - good for kids, maybe, but not for adults.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am Product Spotlight: Network SecurityBy Anonymous Mobile data protection IronKey Enterprise provides always-on mobile data protection and policy enforcement by combining a USB flash drive, remote management and security policy enforcement from a centralized administrative console.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am PTNA Piano Competition In JapanBy Anonymous Competitions The Piano Teachers' National Association of Japan (PTNA) will hold its 32nd Piano Competition in Tokyo. The preliminary rounds will take place in July 2008, beginning July 5-6, followed by a second round August 6-7 and the semi-finals August 21 .Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am OKI Establishes OKI NetworksOki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. (TOKYO:6703) today announced that the company's Board of Directors has approved the spin-off of its telecommunications business through an incorporation-type company split and the establishment of OKI Networks Co., Ltd., effective October 1, 2008.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am VASCO Launches Digipass Go 7 Strong User AuthenticationOAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill., and ZURICH, Switzerland, Aug. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- VASCO Data Security International, Inc. (http://www.vasco.com/), the leading software security company specializing in authentication products, today announces the launch of Digipass Go 7.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am Back to School InformationROANOKE Back to school Tuesday Crystal Spring Elementary School Address: 2620 Carolina Ave. S.W., Roanoke, VA 24014 Phone: 853-2976 Web site: www.rcps.info Principal: David Merritt Fairview Elementary School Address: 648 Westwood Blvd.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am Beware the Cyber ThievesBy Daily Breezeial Business and the government are failing to provide a security net.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am Option Ships HSPA ExpressCard Designed Exclusively for VodafoneWorld's first 5.76 Mbps-capable HSUPA device supports 900 MHz frequency bands Leuven, Belgium - August 28, 2008 - Option N.V.Source: RedOrbit News - Technology | 28 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am Protein Links Metabolism to ClockBy Saey, Tina Hesman Work could lead to drugs for obesity, aging and jet lag Cue stomach rumbles SIRT1 sets internal clock To metabolism Timing is everything, especially when it comes to basic biological functions such as eating, sleeping and liver activity.Source: RedOrbit News - Science | 28 Aug 2008 | 8:00 am Bungee Labs In A FreefallBungee Labs, a well funded Utah based startup that left private beta only six months ago, laid off 15 employees today to give themselves more runway on their cash burn rate. The last we checked they had...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 Aug 2008 | 7:41 am UNICEF Unveils "Bee" for emergency connectivityThe first two prototypes of a system - called Bee - designed to provide connectivity in emergency situations has successfully tested by UNICEF that includes an FM radio station, WiFi and mobile messaging...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 Aug 2008 | 7:32 am Orange Admits To Capping iPhone 3G SpeedsMaybe its not all Apples fault after all. French wireless carrier Orange has admitted to capping 3G network speeds at 384Kbps for iPhone customers, Apple Insider reports via mocoNews.netSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 Aug 2008 | 7:28 am It's game over for popular 'Tetris' cloneThe No. 1 free download from Apple's App Store, a clever Tetris clone for the iPhone called Tris is no longer available. USA Today reports. "As of Wednesday, the puzzle game has been removed from the...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 Aug 2008 | 7:06 am the farmer's market["Edges 3". Part of "The Edges" Series. Click on image to enlarge etc.] Alpine, Texas. A lot of my friends in this town work in the construction business; a lot of former big-city people are moving into...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 Aug 2008 | 7:00 am Coming soon: 'Facebook: The Movie'?Is Aaron Sorkin getting his geek on?Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 28 Aug 2008 | 7:00 am Diabetes researchers convert pancreas cells to produce insulinThe Harvard study may ultimately shift treatment options away from stem cells for a variety of diseases. Injecting...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 28 Aug 2008 | 7:00 am Quebec Gov Sued For Ignoring Free SoftwareMathieu Lutfy writes "The CBC is reporting that 'Quebec's open-source software association is suing the provincial government, saying it is giving preferential treatment to Microsoft Corp. by buying the company's products rather than using free alternatives. ...Government buyers are using an exception in provincial law that allows them to buy directly from a proprietary vendor when there are no options available, but Facil said that loophole is being abused and goes against other legal requirements to buy locally.' The group also has a press release in English."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 28 Aug 2008 | 6:58 am New World Tableau: "Tres Seul" by Kee Llewellyn In [Rec]Though it may seem so at first glance, this is not a recently discovered Edward Hopper painting, but an untouched photo taken directly from Second Life. (Besides the addition of Kee's signature, that is...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 Aug 2008 | 6:48 am FYI, None Of Us Can Go To The Google/Vanity Fair PartyFrom: Vanity Fair / Google Date: August 27, 2008 9:06:32 PM PDT To: Michael Arrington Subject: IMPT: Google/Vanity Party Status Reply-To: demconventionparty@google.com Thank you for your interest in the...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 Aug 2008 | 6:35 am FYI, None Of Us Can Go To The Google/Vanity Fair Party TonightFrom: Vanity Fair / Google Date: August 27, 2008 9:06:32 PM PDT To: Michael Arrington Subject: IMPT: Google/Vanity Party Status Reply-To: demconventionparty@google.com Thank you for your interest in the...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNBlogTech | 28 Aug 2008 | 6:35 am Microsoft's newest browser may block ads (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 28 Aug 2008 | 6:13 am TiVo shows another profit, but outlook weakTiVo Inc. managed consecutive quarters of profitability for the first time ever despite eroding subscriptions, demonstrating that the pioneer in digital video recorders is on track in reducing marketing...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 28 Aug 2008 | 5:37 am TiVo shows another profit, but outlook weak (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 28 Aug 2008 | 5:34 am Security hole opens up password protected iPhones - CNET News
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 28 Aug 2008 | 5:17 am Palm Treo Pro and HP iPaq 910c Business Messenger: Battle of the ... - PC World
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 28 Aug 2008 | 5:12 am Matchmaking mobiles ring in weddings in India (Reuters)Reuters - Looking for a partner? For millions of Indians, taking the first step towards getting married could be as easy as picking up a cellphone.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 28 Aug 2008 | 4:20 am Changing Customers Password Without Consentrisinganger writes "BBC News is reporting that a customer had his password changed without his knowledge. After some less than satisfactory service the customer in question changed his password to 'Llyods is pants'. At some point after that a member of staff changed the password to 'no it's not'. Requests to change it back to 'Llyods is pants', 'Barclays is better' or censorship were met with refusal. Personally I found the original change funny, like the customer did. After all, god forbid a sense of humour rears its ugly head in business. What isn't acceptable is the refusal to change it per the customer's requests after that."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 28 Aug 2008 | 4:09 am Q&A: Philippe Starck on Bioplastics, Virgin Galactic, and His Impossible ChairPhilippe Starck's latest creation — a plastic chair — earned its name on the first sketch: Mr. Impossible. The French designer said it simply couldn't be made. The challenge? The weld. Polycarbonate chairs are typically formed using a single mold, but Starck's translucent design required two: one for the legs, one for the seat. Fusing the parts using existing methods would mean an unsightly seam, so the engineers at Italian furniture maker Kartell had to forge a new technique. The key was a very big laser. Trained at specially formulated polycarbonate, it left a seam smooth enough to create the illusion Starck had imagined: a chair that appears to levitate. We reached across the ether to elicit the designer's thoughts. Like Starck's design, our conversation seemed to float on air. Wired: What was the inspiration for Mr. Impossible? Starck: The speed of evolution of our civilization and the dematerialization that rules all our production. Take the computer: It was the size of a room, then a briefcase. Now it's a credit card. You cannot dematerialize a chair completely, because you must continue to sit on it. But you can make it invisible. That's why I made the Mr. Impossible with a double shell — it's basically made of air. Wired: Recently, you have begun to look at the environmental impact of your designs. How does a plastic chair fit in? Starck: The stupidity of the ecological movement is that people kill trees for wood. It's ridiculous. The best ecological strategy is to make products of a very high creative quality, so you can keep them for three generations. I prefer to make a very good chair in the best polycarbonate than make any shit in wood that will be in the trash one year later. Wired: Why not use recycled plastic? Starck: It's a little joke of a material. You can do almost nothing with it. And I also refuse bioplastic, which comes from something that people can eat. Scientists agree that we have a real food problem, a famine approaching. It's a crime against humanity to take something you can eat and make a chair — or use it as gas for your SUV. Wired: How do you reconcile those principles with your position as creative director for Virgin Galactic? Starck: Every project should fit the big image of evolution. You can consider Virgin Galactic as something only for rich people, but you can also analyze the incredible help that it will give us. The exploration of space is a vital part of our evolution. We don't have any future if we don't go into space. This world will explode in 4 billion years. We have time, but not so much. 
Source: Wired Top Stories | 28 Aug 2008 | 4:00 am Aug. 28, 1963: Road to Redmond Walks on Water1963: The world's longest floating bridge, the Evergreen Point bridge, opens. It connects Seattle with communities on the east side of Lake Washington. Pontoon bridges have been around since ancient times. Lash some boats together side-by-side in a stream or river, put some planks across them, and you've got a serviceable bridge. Armies love 'em because they can be deployed quickly so troops and equipment can be deployed quickly. For a large, permanent bridge, the concept is scalable, but not easily. However, if you need to bridge a deep body of water that has a soft bed, a more conventional design might not be feasible. That's what faced Washington state engineers who set out to bridge Lake Washington. And they'd done it before, with the shorter Lake Washington Floating Bridge, opened in 1940. (A few miles south of the Evergreen Point bridge, it now carries the eastbound lanes of I-90.) Starting in August 1960, construction crews ashore built 33 hollow, concrete boxes, each 15- or 16-feet high and about the length of a football field. These huge pontoons were floated and then towed into position, where they were linked by thick steel cables to anchors to hold them in place. The 62 anchors, buried deep in the lake bed, weigh about 77 tons each. Building the bridge cost a relatively modest $21 million ($154 million in today's money). The bridge has a retractable drawspan in the middle that is raised to protect the structure from strong winds. But at 7,578 feet, the floating portion is essentially a 1.42-mile barge with a road on top of it. That road is state Route 520, which links Seattle with Bellevue and Redmond, where a somewhat well-known software company later made its headquarters. Seattle's growth, of which the tech boom is no small part, has put a huge load on the bridge. Designed to carry 65,000 vehicles a day, it now carries 115,000. That wear and tear, coupled with storm damage, has led to costly repairs. Crews have patched more than 30,000 linear feet of cracks in the concrete pontoons since a huge storm on the day President Clinton was inaugurated in 1993. The drawbridge section got stuck in the open position for a while in March 1999. The Washington State Department of Transportation says if the bridge were to sink, the average commute between Seattle and Redmond would increase from its current 33 minutes to 55. WSDOT has determined that retrofitting the Evergreen Point Bridge to current seismic and safety standards would be more expensive than building a new one. So, it plans to construct a new floating bridge just north of the current one, starting next year. The new Evergreen Point bridge would have six lanes (plus a bike and pedestrian path) instead of four, cost about $4 billion, and open in 2014. Perhaps they'll call it Evergreen 2.0, or Evergreen 2-Pont-0. Source: Various
Source: Wired Top Stories | 28 Aug 2008 | 4:00 am In Hot, Flat, and Crowded, Thomas Friedman Calls for a Green Energy RevolutionThomas Friedman is about to dive into the green-tech fray. In his latest book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded, the multi-Pulitzer-winning journalist says everyone needs to accept that oil will never be cheap again and that wasteful, polluting technologies cannot be tolerated. The last big innovation in energy production, he observes, was nuclear power half a century ago; since then the field has stagnated. "Do you know any industry in this country whose last major breakthrough was in 1955?" Friedman asks. According to the book, US pet food companies spent more on R&D last year than US utilities did. "The Stone Age didn't end because we ran out of stone," he says. Likewise, the climate-destroying fossil-fuel age will end only if we invent our way out of it. But he's not suggesting a new Manhattan Project. "Twelve guys and gals going off to Los Alamos won't solve this problem," Friedman says. "We need 100,000 people in 100,000 garages trying 100,000 things — in the hope that five of them break through." Our current efforts are not only inadequate, they're hopelessly haphazard and piecemeal. Friedman argues it'll take a coordinated, top-to-bottom approach, from the White House to corporations to consumers. "Without a systems approach, what do you end up with?" he asks. "Corn ethanol in Iowa." The New York Times columnist, who keeps up a punishing travel schedule, is just back from the Middle East and London. "If you don't go, you don't know," he says. Such wanderings provided the material for his 2005 best seller, The World Is Flat. Now he has added two new terms to his diagnosis of global ills: the intertwined problems of climate change and population growth — "too many carbon copies," as he puts it. In this new world, governments and companies that take the lead will find themselves with the single most valuable competitive advantage of our time. To illustrate, Friedman tells the story of a Marine Corps general in Iraq who requested solar panels to power his bases. Asked why, he explained that he wanted to win his region by "out-greening al Qaeda." Instead of trucking in gas from Kuwait at $20 a gallon — money that fuels oppressive petro-dictatorships — in convoys that are vulnerable to roadside bombs, why not beat the insurgents by taking away their targets and their funding? Coming out months before the presidential election, Crowded is sure to bigfoot its way into the campaign. "McCain and Obama come from the right side of this debate," Friedman says. "They have the right instincts, but neither is quite there yet. They haven't yet thought it through fully." The battle over "green," he believes, will define the early 21st century just as the battle over "red" (Communism) defined the last half of the 20th.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 28 Aug 2008 | 4:00 am New Nikon Holds a Secret - New York Times
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 28 Aug 2008 | 2:34 am New Map From Fermi Gamma-Ray Space TelescopeI Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "NASA has received interesting results from the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope, originally known as GLAST, which has allowed them to create new map of the gamma-ray sky. The secret to its ability to resolve gamma-rays is that they use layers of tungsten interleaved with silicon detectors. When a gamma-ray strikes tungsten, it produces an electron/positron pair due to the photoelectric effect, which cascades as it goes through further layers of tungsten. Meanwhile, they record which silicon detectors had electrons or positrons pass through them to determine the direction of the source and they also record the total energy of the electron/positron pairs to calculate the wavelength of the gamma-ray using Planck's Law. The data gathered in just its first few hours of operation is reportedly comparable to the data from the Energetic Gamma-Ray Experiment Telescope, which gathered data for nine years back in the 1990's and there are hopes that it could detect dark matter in the form of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs)."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 28 Aug 2008 | 2:02 am How do DNC Dems spread the word: Twitter, text, or telephone? (CNET)CNET - When Barack Obama announced he was going to release the name of his vice presidential pick via text message, he affirmed that this method of communication is no longer relegated to teenagers, but has penetrated the mainstream. According to Nielsen research, 2.9 million people received the text, even though the mainstream media announced Joe Biden's name well before it was even sent.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 28 Aug 2008 | 1:52 am Time lapse video of slime mold and mushroomsTime lapse video of unusual looking molds and mushrooms erupting. Be sure to check out the related mushroom videos, too. (Via Grow-A-Brain) Source: Boing Boing | 28 Aug 2008 | 12:37 am Love and Rockets: New Stories, Vol 1 National treasures Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez have relaunched Love and Rockets with a new format and a new approach. I can hardly wait. Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 reboots the beloved ongoing "Love and Rockets" comic into a fat, all-new annual graphic novel length package.Love and Rockets: New Stories #1 Source: Boing Boing | 28 Aug 2008 | 12:29 am Small gallery of old comic book ads Datajunkie has a small galley of choice comic book ads from the days of yore. If you like these, you should get a copy of Hey Skinny! Great Advertisements from the Golden Age of Comic Books. Old comic book ads Source: Boing Boing | 28 Aug 2008 | 12:20 am The Eyes Have It At Nvidia's NVISION Event - CRN
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 28 Aug 2008 | 12:18 am 45th Known Mersenne Prime Found?An anonymous reader writes "The Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS) has apparently discovered a new world-record prime number. A GIMPS client computer reported the number on August 23rd, and verification is currently under way. The verification could take up to two weeks to complete. The last Mersenne prime discovered was over 9.8 million digits long, strongly suggesting that the new value may break the 10 million digit barrier — qualifying for the EFF's $100000 prize!"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 28 Aug 2008 | 12:18 am Immersion Paying Microsoft $21 Million - 1UP.com
Source: Google News - Sci/Tech | 27 Aug 2008 | 11:57 pm Computer virus infects orbiting space stationAs far as space monsters go it is less menacing than Daleks or Klingons, but an unwanted intruder has made its way aboard the international space station. Gammima.AG, a malicious password-swiping computer...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 27 Aug 2008 | 11:53 pm Nervous New Orleans Braces for Tropical Storm GustavDays before Katrina's third anniversary, Gustav is threatening the Gulf Coast.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 27 Aug 2008 | 11:53 pm BLOG: Why Gustav Could Spell TroubleWhen tropical cyclones cross the Gulf of Mexico, it's cause for serious concern.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 27 Aug 2008 | 11:53 pm How to create a super shiny pencil icon in Photoshop Eren Göksel wrote a tutorial that anyone can follow to create a drawing of a pencil in Photoshop. The Pencil is one of the visual metaphors most used to express creativity. In this tutorial, I'll show you how to draw a pencil icon. We'll have a look at gradients, selection tools, and basic transform operations. Let's have some fun with this.I'd love to see Boing Boing readers' variations on this. If you create one, please link to it in the comments section. How to create a super shiny pencil icon in Photoshop Source: Boing Boing | 27 Aug 2008 | 11:23 pm Obituary: Paul TessierObituary: Pioneering surgeon who corrected facial disfigurementSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 27 Aug 2008 | 11:09 pm From papyrus to the web: photographs of Dead Sea Scrolls to go onlineHi-tech project could take five years and cost millions of dollarsSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 27 Aug 2008 | 11:09 pm The Power Grid Can't Handle Wind FarmsDesScorp writes "The Times reports on the problems of adding wind farms to the power grid. Because of the grid's old design, it can't handle the various spikes that wind farms sometimes have, and there's no efficient way to currently move massive amounts of that power from one section of the country to the other. Further complicating things is the fact that under current laws, power grid regulation is a state matter, and the Federal government has comparatively little authority over it right now. Critics are calling for federal authority over the grid, and massive new construction of "superhighways" to share the wind power wealth nationally. Quoting the article, 'The dirty secret of clean energy is that while generating it is getting easier, moving it to market is not.'"Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 27 Aug 2008 | 11:09 pm Peta Bee reports on the hazards of buying herbal remedies on the internetPeta Bee: What has changed so dramatically is the ease with which consumers can now obtain these dangerously toxic concoctionsSource: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 27 Aug 2008 | 11:08 pm Researchers develop custom software for disabled usersTechnology is designed for people to use. The only trouble is that computer interfaces on all types of devices from the home to the car can frustrate many users. But most software interfaces have been...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 27 Aug 2008 | 11:07 pm Game review: Mercenaries 2: World in FlamesPerhaps the greatest tribute paid by the games world to the skill, attention to detail and single-minded focus in Grand Theft Auto is exemplified by the small number of games that blatantly try to rip...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 27 Aug 2008 | 11:07 pm Game review: The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon EmperorThe PlayStation 2 hit UK shelves roughly the same time as The Mummy and both seem to be living on borrowed time. This version of the disappointing third movie looks good enough, but looks alone don't make...Source: Infocious RSS raw feed - channel BNPaperTech | 27 Aug 2008 | 11:07 pm Tropical Storm Gustav Takes Aim at U.S. Energy InfrastructureThree days before the three-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall, the Gulf of Mexico braces for another storm that could hit the energy industry particularly hard. Kinetic Analysis Corporation, a disaster risk-management company, estimates that there is a one-in-three chance that Gustav will hit with sufficient force to shut down 10 percent or more of total U.S. oil production this year.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 Aug 2008 | 11:00 pm Computer virus goes into orbit (AFP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 27 Aug 2008 | 10:22 pm Digital Storage To Survive a 25-Year Dirt Nap?AlHunt writes "I've been tasked with finding a way to bury digitally stored photographs in a small underground time capsule to be opened in 25 years. It looks like we'll be using a steel vessel, welded closed. I've thought of CDs, DVDs, a hard drive, or a thumb drive — but they all have drawbacks, not the least of which is outdated technology 25 years from now. Maybe I'll put a CD and a CD-ROM drive in the capsule and hope that the IDE interface is still around in 25 years? Ideas and feedback will be appreciated."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 27 Aug 2008 | 10:12 pm Cisco Suddenly Lagging Juniper In Some Router Technology (Investor's Business Daily)Investor's Business Daily - Networking king Cisco Systems this month reported results that buoyed Wall Street but raised questions about one of its key products.Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 27 Aug 2008 | 9:58 pm How to Build a 3-D Theater3-D films have been around since 1890, but unless you like watching your TV with red and blue glasses, the technology hasn't progressed much. Thankfully, Sean Hellfritsch and Isaiah Saxon of Encyclopedia Pictura have teamed together to show you how to create a DIY home 3-D theater rivaling the 3-D technology you'll find at your local Imax.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 Aug 2008 | 9:30 pm How to Build a 3-D Theater3-D films have been around since 1890, but unless you like watching your TV with red and blue glasses, the technology hasn't progressed much. Thankfully, Sean Hellfritsch and Isaiah Saxon of Encyclopedia Pictura have teamed together to show you how to create a DIY home 3-D theater rivaling the 3-D technology you'll find at your local Imax.Source: Wired: Gadgets | 27 Aug 2008 | 9:30 pm One small hitch for FAA, one giant mess for fliers (AP)
Source: Yahoo! News: Technology News | 27 Aug 2008 | 9:26 pm Andy Hertzfeld Shares His Thoughts on 25 Years of the Macblackbearnh writes "It may make you feel very, very old, but the Macintosh will be turning 25 in January. As we approach this momentous anniversary, O'Reilly News had a talk with Andy Hertzfeld, one of the original Macintosh designers, about the long and storied history of the Mac. Hertzfeld, who tells the story of the Mac in his book A Revolution in the Valley, shares his thoughts about how the Mac has aged over time, how life might have been different if Steve Jobs had stayed on at Apple, and the differences between working for Apple, and for Google (his current employer.)" Read on below for a bit of what Hertzfeld had to say.Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 27 Aug 2008 | 9:16 pm Photographing the science museum
Photographer Meera Sethi has written a nice essay about taking photos in science museums. Sethi is part of Utata, a collective of photographers who met via Flickr. Indeed, be sure to check out Sethi's "Muse" science museum photo set on Flickr. (Seen here, "Together Forever," taken at the Harvard Museum of Natural History.) From "Photographing the Science Museum": Is there anyone who doesn't feel a certain frisson of excitement when they see something organic preserved in a glass jar? I don't know exactly what it is, but I suspect it might have something to do with certain cultural associations we all carry around in our heads, some strange common currency that comes from years of watching mad scientist movies late at night.That might be me in there, I find myself thinking. If some other intellectually curious species with opposable thumbs and access to the secrets of chemistry had come to dominate the planet instead of my own, that might be my shriveled body all scrunched up in there—my brain at whose familiar whorls some creature with a purple exoskeleton would now be leering through the glass, wondering how on earth it could be so very...grey.Photographing the Science Museum (Utata, via Eastern Blot) Source: Boing Boing | 27 Aug 2008 | 8:53 pm Full Immersion Cooling Comes To Desktop PCsmr_sifter writes "After three years of research and around £100,000 of R&D costs, UK-based Armari has unveiled its XCP prototype. It's a full immersion liquid cooled PC which supports standard ATX components. Unlike conventional liquid cooled PCs, the components are all easy to swap in and out as they're swimming in liquid, rather than under waterblocks. It also looks amazing, pumping around 70KG of electrically inert cooling fluid (salvaged from an old Cray) around its military grade perspex shell."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 27 Aug 2008 | 8:28 pm A quick and dirty Japanese humor tutorialJapanese humor is slowly but surely infiltrating mainstream media in the US. Fake Japanese game shows on ABC, human Tetris on Fox, the YouTube video of the guy that shoots out of a toilet stall into a ski slope... as someone who grew up in Tokyo watching Japanese variety shows every night, though, I have to say that the US adaptations don't really get it. Previously, I explained why I thought I Survived a Japanese Game Show doesn't work on my blog. I also wrote this little blurb explaining why: The host of a real Japanese game show is a politically incorrect, sarcastic man who revels in mild forms of torture and isn't afraid to smack a woman on the head. (The feminist in me battles the light-hearted Japanese humoree every time I watch one.) The contestants are stoic, and driven by the determination not to make a fool of themselves and the desire to win money and/or fame. The show's creators are constantly upping the ante, forcing contestants into grueling, sometimes life-threatening situations. A panel of yappy celebrity commentators and on-screen subtitles emphasize LOL moments and onomatopoeia. And, perhaps most importantly, the show can't be overproduced—it's the barebones "variety"-style set-up that has allowed the Japanese game show to survive and thrive for decades. In a nutshell, a real funny Japanese TV show will have you thinking, over and over: This is embarrassing to watch.This is so wrong. I'm so glad that's not me. This is f-ing hilarious. The above clip is from one of iconic 80s comedian Ken Shimura's many variety shows. Every Japanese person over the age of 25 probably knows it. ( Lisa Katayama is a guest blogger.)
Source: Boing Boing | 27 Aug 2008 | 8:11 pm Mozilla Labs' "Ubiquity" Helps Automate Web InteractionsMartin writes "Mozilla Labs have released a prototype version of the Firefox add-on Ubiquity. It is basically Launchy (the application launcher) for Firefox with the difference that Ubiquity makes use of web APIs and the Firefox browser. The official website contains examples, a command list, information about creating your own commands and of course the Ubiquity extension that is compatible with Firefox 3.x. Ubiquity can pull and send data to various services like Twitter, display, find and embed Google Maps, perform searches, write emails, add entries to the calendar, digg stories and more."Read more of this story at Slashdot. Source: Slashdot | 27 Aug 2008 | 7:40 pm 'True Blood' Vampires Dig Sex, Gore and Wild AbandonThe seedy bloodsucker lifestyle surfaces in HBO's upcoming show based on Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse books.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 Aug 2008 | 7:21 pm IE8 Catches Up, Shows Improvements With Beta 2Microsoft released the latest beta version of its next browser Wednesday. IE8 Beta 2 shows off some new features -- some of which feel oddly familiar -- as well as some innovations that make the browser easier to use for everyday surfers.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 Aug 2008 | 6:30 pm Bell Labs Kills Fundamental Physics ResearchBell Labs' fundamental physics research lab, a Nobel Prize magnet for its countless contributions to computer science and technology, is shut down as its parent company shifts from basic science research to more marketable areas such as networking and nanotechnology.Source: Wired: Gadgets | 27 Aug 2008 | 6:29 pm Bell Labs Kills Fundamental Physics ResearchBell Labs' fundamental physics research lab, a Nobel Prize magnet for its countless contributions to computer science and technology, is shut down as its parent company shifts from basic science research to more marketable areas such as networking and nanotechnology.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 Aug 2008 | 6:29 pm Human waste as fertilizer and irrigation in developing regionsAccording to a new report, 200 million farmers use human shit as fertilizer for 49 million acres of land. The study, published by the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), details how ten percent of the population, mostly in developing nations, eat grains and vegetables harvested from fields irrigated and fertilized with raw sewage. Traditional fertilizer and clean water is too expensive or simply unavailable in many places. From National Geographic:The report focused on poor urban areas, where farms in or near cities supply relatively inexpensive food. Most of these operations draw irrigation water from local rivers or lakes. Unlike developed cities, however, these areas lack advanced water-treatment facilities, and rivers effectively become sewers. When this water is used for agricultural irrigation, farmers risk absorbing disease-causing bacteria, as do consumers who eat the produce raw and unwashed. Nearly 2.2 million people die each year because of diarrhea-related diseases, including cholera, according to WHO statistics. More than 80 percent of those cases can be attributed to contact with contaminated water and a lack of proper sanitation. But Pay Drechsel, an IWMI environmental scientist, argues that the social and economic benefits of using untreated human waste to grow food outweigh the health risks....Human Waste Used By 200 Million Farmers (National Geographic) Source: Boing Boing | 27 Aug 2008 | 6:22 pm Latest Wikileaks Prize for Sale to the Highest BidderThe net's most infamous document-leaking site has thousands of e-mails about the Venezuelan government, but this time, the site isn't publishing them for the world to see. Instead, they are being auctioned -- an experiment that's raising ethical questions.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 Aug 2008 | 6:15 pm Sea urchin-inspired art made from pencils
Sculptress Jennifer Maestre makes colorful abstract and plant-like pieces using colored pencils. She turns each colored pencil into beads by cutting them into inch-long sections and then drilling a hole in the base, then sharpens and sews hundreds of them together using the peyote stitch. She loves prickly things like sea urchins—they're what inspired her to work in this unusual medium in the first place.
( Lisa Katayama is a guest blogger.) Source: Boing Boing | 27 Aug 2008 | 6:14 pm Reprogrammed Cells Make Insulin From ScratchCells transformed inside a diabetic mouse become successful insulin-producers.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 27 Aug 2008 | 6:10 pm Can TiVo Stop Bleeding Subscribers?Lots of people are leaving TiVo, and the total subscriber base is now down to 3.6 million.
Source: Wired Top Stories | 27 Aug 2008 | 6:00 pm Desalination Closer to Reality in CaliforniaA plan to desalinate ocean water gets approval, but opposition continues.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 27 Aug 2008 | 5:53 pm Comic bio of Jack Parsons, rocket scientist and magician
Jack Parsons (1914-1952) was a pioneering rocket scientist and co-founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). He was also a deep devotee of Aleister Crowley and worked some heavy duty occult rituals with none-other than L. Run Hubbard. Parsons had an amazingly strange life that writer Richard Carbonneau and artist Robin Simon are now translating into comic form. "The Marvel: A Biography of Jack Parsons" is now online as a serialized Web comic. I hope it eventually gets published as a graphic novel! The Marvel: A Biography of Jack Parsons (Webcomics Nation via Damn Data) Previously on BB: • Book review: Strange Angel, a Jack Parsons biography Source: Boing Boing | 27 Aug 2008 | 5:41 pm Guitar Praise: Christianized Guitar Hero Guitar Praise is an, er, Christian knock-off of Guitar Hero. "Grab the guitar and play along with top Christian bands! Shred those riffs or blast the bass…you add a unique sound to the solid Christian rock." Seriously. Brownlee has more over at Boing Boing Gadgets. Guitar Praise: Guitar Hero for Christians (BB Gadgets) Source: Boing Boing | 27 Aug 2008 | 5:27 pm Mars Rover Hi-Tails It Out of CraterA year after climbing into Victoria Crater, Opportunity will drive itself out on all six wheels. Hopefully.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 27 Aug 2008 | 5:10 pm South America's Top Predatory Dino Had HornsA stubby-faced dinosaur was once top predator in South America, fossils show.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 27 Aug 2008 | 3:10 pm Both Conventions Touted as 'Green' EventsBuses at the Dem's convention run on beer waste, while Republicans plan to use old furniture.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 27 Aug 2008 | 1:10 pm Arctic Sea Ice Drops to Record LevelsLater this summer, Arctic sea ice may diminish below the record low set last year.Source: Discovery News Top Stories : Discovery Channel | 27 Aug 2008 | 1:00 pm Massive iPhone Security Flaw Exposes All Private DataA simple, two-step workaround makes it easy to bypass the iPhone 3G's passcode lock, if you're using version 2.0.2 of the iPhone operating system.Source: Wired: Gadgets | 27 Aug 2008 | 12:59 pm
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