John Gordon Ross

A Man for All Reasons

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Geekish

Anyone who works as a freelancer these days has to be at least a bit familiar with techie things. But it isn’t just that. When I was a kid and those vaguely SF puppet shows were on the television and all the other kids wanted to be Greg Gogetem or Steve Savetheuniverse, I wanted to be the guy in a white coat and glasses called Doc or Brains. Here are some technology-related feeds I find useful and/or entertaining.

Slashdot » Japan Plans To Merge Major Science Bodies

Wednesday 1 February 23:48:00 UTC 2012

ananyo writes "In its battle against a sluggish economy, Japan's government is gearing up to make cost savings through a root-and-branch reform of the country's science system, merging some of its most prominent research organizations. Plans approved by the government's cabinet would consolidate the RIKEN network of basic-research laboratories with the National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS), the Japan … [Link]

WIRED » Mark Zuckerberg's Letter to Investors: 'The Hacker Way'

Wednesday 1 February 23:35:00 UTC 2012

"Facebook was not originally created to be a company. It was built to accomplish a social mission ? to make the world more open and connected." [Link]

WIRED » Survive Deep Snow Immersion

Wednesday 1 February 23:28:00 UTC 2012

Fall into a deep snow pocket? AVALANCHE?! Here's how to get out of there before you suffocate. [Link]

New Scientist – News » 'Stirling' power for ultra-efficient space probes

Wednesday 1 February 23:15:45 UTC 2012

NASA uses plutonium to power its probes, but Cold War supplies are dwindling – a new twist on a 19th century technology could save the day [Link]

Slashdot » Pirate Bay Founders Lose Final Appeal

Wednesday 1 February 23:06:00 UTC 2012

therufus writes "Sweden's Supreme Court announced its decision not to grant leave to appeal in the long-running Pirate Bay criminal trial. This means that the previously determined jail sentences and fines handed out to Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm and Carl Lundström will stand." Read more of this story at Slashdot. [Link]

WIRED » 8 Wild Proposals to Relocate Endangered Species

Wednesday 1 February 23:04:00 UTC 2012

Moving big animals to places they don't already live is at once appealing and disturbing, a sort of adolescent environmental fantasy come to life: African lions in Nebraska! Komodo dragons in Australia! But at the beginning of the 21st century, moving species around is a controversial but legitimate option. [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » New technique lets scientists “hear” your thoughts

Wednesday 1 February 23:00:01 UTC 2012

Researchers at UC Berkeley have shown its possible to decipher the words that a brain is thinking about. That could theoretically make it possible for a patient in a coma to communicate, though that’s a long way off.The research follows previous studies into the physical effects of thought. It had already been shown that the pattern of blood flow in the … [Link]

WIRED » GRAIL Satellite's First Video of the Far Side of the Moon

Wednesday 1 February 22:54:00 UTC 2012

The band you're in may not start playing different tunes, but in this video you can see the dark side of the moon. [Link]

Slashdot » Crab Robot Helps Remove Stomach Cancer

Wednesday 1 February 22:23:00 UTC 2012

redletterdave writes "Singaporean researchers have created a miniature robot with a pincer and a hook that can remove early-stage stomach cancers without leaving any scars. Mounted on an endoscope, it enters the patient's gut through the mouth. It has a pincer to hold cancerous tissues, and a hook that slices them off and coagulates blood to stop bleeding. With … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » New technique lets scientists “hear” your thoughts

Wednesday 1 February 22:17:35 UTC 2012

Researchers at UC Berkeley have shown its possible to decipher the words that a brain is thinking about. That could theoretically make it possible for a patient in a coma to communicate, though that’s a long way off.The research follows previous studies into the physical effects of thought. It had already been shown that the pattern of blood flow in the … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Skyrim 2012 : Part Two [Video]

Wednesday 1 February 22:17:32 UTC 2012

The Grosjean brothers have just released the second part of their modern day Skyrim advendure. If you’ve missed part I, be sure to check it out right here.[GroBroPros]Related posts:Modern Day Skyrim: Belethor’s Shop 2012 [Video]Song of Skyrim [Video]Beautiful Skyrim Covers by Mimi Page: Secunda and Sons of Skyrim [Video] [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » 2012 Star Wars Super Bowl Ad [Video]

Wednesday 1 February 22:17:31 UTC 2012

Not bad… but imho, the teaser was way more entertaining than this![Volkswagen]Related posts:The Geekiest Super Bowl Commercial EverThe Bark Side: The Most Awesome Super Bowl Ad Teaser of All Time [Video]Star Trek 2009 Super Bowl Trailer [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Star Trek: TNG Will Look AWESOME on Blu-Ray [Video]

Wednesday 1 February 22:17:30 UTC 2012

Don’t believe me? Check this out!One of the most popular series in the STAR TREK franchise, STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION® celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2012. It premiered in first-run syndication during the week of September 28, 1987 and ran through 1994.[Star Trek: The Next Generation – Next Level: A Taste of TNG in HD]Related posts:Amazon Deal of the … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Attack of the Clones: The Future of Medical Research

Wednesday 1 February 22:17:29 UTC 2012

The original clone Dolly, preserved forever at the National Museum of Scotland. Photo Credit: Shelley BernsteinI’m sure we all remember Dolly, the world’s first successfully cloned mammal, a lovely little sheep in Edinburgh 16 years ago. Well, from the makers of Dolly, comes a whole new epic: Brain Tissue.The cloning of Dolly spurred on the stem cell revolution, that led scientists … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Amazon Deal of the Day: 60% Off Kingston HyperX 120GB SATA III 2.5-Inch 6.0 Gb/s Solid State Drive – $129.99 + Free Shipping

Wednesday 1 February 22:17:28 UTC 2012

Looking for a cheap SSD drive for your system? Then you’ll definitely want to check this awesome deal I stumbled upon today. Amazon currently has a 120GB SATA III drive (Kingston HyperX) for just $129.99 (After post-purchase rebate) + free shipping! That’s 60% off the drive’s usual retail price of $319.99.Kingston’s HyperX SSD combines the latest SandForce controller technology with premium … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Amazing Time-Lapse Video Takes Fascinating Look at Very Large Array Radiotelescope

Wednesday 1 February 22:17:27 UTC 2012

Time-lapse footage taken at the Very Large Array (VLA) in Socorro, New Mexico; one of the largest Radio Astronomy Observatories in the world.[Douglas Koke]Related posts:Breathtaking Time-Lapse Video: The MountainAmazing Time-Lapse Video Burns Away One Year in 40 SecondsAMAZING: Time-Lapse Video Shows Earth Rotating Instead of Stars [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Man Arrested for Lightsaber Assault at Toys R Us

Wednesday 1 February 22:17:26 UTC 2012

As a massive Star Wars Geek, I cannot lie that when I walk into department stores with automatic doors, I have on occassion pretended that I had the Force and that by the power of my mind alone, these doors flew from my path like Gamorrean Guards.Now when I go into a Toys R Us, I do make a point of … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Comic Book Nerd Rage: The New DC Comics Logo

Wednesday 1 February 22:17:25 UTC 2012

You won’t like comic book fans when they’re angry. From the guys at Bleeding Cool, comes an inside look at how many reacted the day DC Comics logo died… and a new one rose from the ashes.I’m sorry but I just had to add a Marvel reference in there… because I’m such a terrible person.[Bleeding Cool]Related posts:How to Piss Off … [Link]

WIRED » Facebook's $5 Billion IPO: The Next Google? Or The Next Groupon?

Wednesday 1 February 22:00:00 UTC 2012

[Link]

WIRED » Video: Master Chief Faces Off Against Leonidas in Epic Rap Battle

Wednesday 1 February 21:47:00 UTC 2012

[Link]

WIRED » Kinect for Windows: How Gaming Tech Is Migrating to Business

Wednesday 1 February 21:45:00 UTC 2012

Today Microsoft announced the release of its Kinect for Windows commercial development package. It's not a product that you're going to place on top of your desktop PC to play Kinect-controlled computer games. But in due time, you could begin seeing Kinect-driven Windows applications in real-world business settings. [Link]

Slashdot » Google Begins Country-Specific Blog Censorship

Wednesday 1 February 21:41:00 UTC 2012

bonch writes "Google will begin redirecting blogs to country-specific URLs. Blog visitors will be redirected to a URL specific to their location, with content subject to their country's censorship laws. A support post on Blogger explains the change: 'Over the coming weeks you might notice that the URL of a blog you're reading has been redirected to a country-code … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Epic Rap Battles of History: Master Chief vs Leonidas [Video]

Wednesday 1 February 21:30:45 UTC 2012

Yep geeks, Nice Peter is back with a new episode of Epic Rap Battles of History, and this time, he decided to pitch King Leonidas against the one and only Master Chief. Check it out![ERB]Related posts:Epic Rap Battles of History: Gandalf vs Dumbledore [Video]Life-Size Master Chief Wire Statue [Pic]Wearable LEGO Master Chief Armor [Link]

WIRED » Video: SpaceX Tests New 'Super' Rocket Engines

Wednesday 1 February 21:10:00 UTC 2012

The SoCal startup SpaceX fires up its "SuperDraco" rockets, which company boss Elon Musk promises "represent the best of cutting-edge technology." [Link]

Slashdot » NASA Studying Solar Powered "Space Tugboat"

Wednesday 1 February 20:57:00 UTC 2012

Zothecula writes "Last year, NASA announced it was seeking proposals for mission concept studies of a high-power solar electric propulsion (SEP) system that could be used in a 'space tugboat.' Such a ship would be used ferry payloads in low Earth orbit (LEO) into higher energy orbits, including geosynchronous Earth orbit (GEO) and Lagrange point one (L1) — saving … [Link]

Slashdot » Firefox 10 Released

Wednesday 1 February 20:34:00 UTC 2012

Taco Cowboy writes "It's time to upgrade again. Firefox 10 is out and here's a list of bugs fixed in the new version." Read more of this story at Slashdot. [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Underwater Fishing [Video]

Wednesday 1 February 20:30:42 UTC 2012

These guys have gone through quite a decent effort to film what I’d call a pretty freaking awesome video. Kudos.No wheelbarrows were hurt in the making of this video.Related posts:Twenty Awesome Video Game ControllersGlowing Life in an Underwater WorldUnderwater Pop: Whales Dig New Tunes [Link]

Slashdot » Microsoft Releases Kinect For Windows

Wednesday 1 February 20:14:00 UTC 2012

nk497 writes "Microsoft has released Kinect for Windows, featuring a new "near mode" that lets the gesture control tech be used as close as 40cm. The Kinect for Windows hardware will retail at $249 — well above the price of the version for Xbox 360 consoles. Microsoft defended the price difference, saying sales of games and Xbox Live subscriptions … [Link]

Slashdot » Facebook Reportedly Filing $5 Billion IPO Today

Wednesday 1 February 19:33:00 UTC 2012

hypnosec writes "Today is the day when Facebook may be submitting all required paperwork to regulators for its $5 billion initial public offering. According to the source close to the deal, Facebook has selected Morgan Stanley along with four others — Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Barclay's Capital to handle this IPO. Morgan Stanley … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Skyrim 2012 : Part Two [Video]

Wednesday 1 February 19:30:32 UTC 2012

The Grosjean brothers have just released the second part of their modern day Skyrim advendure. If you’ve missed part I, be sure to check it out right here.[GroBroPros]Related posts:Modern Day Skyrim: Belethor’s Shop 2012 [Video]Song of Skyrim [Video]Beautiful Skyrim Covers by Mimi Page: Secunda and Sons of Skyrim [Video] [Link]

WIRED » Copyright: To the Batmobile!

Wednesday 1 February 18:57:07 UTC 2012

[Link]

WIRED » Spider Silk Is Strong Because It's Smart

Wednesday 1 February 18:51:00 UTC 2012

Spider silk is well known for some spectacular properties. It is stronger than steel and tougher than Kevlar yet flexible enough to be spun into a wide variety of shapes. New research shows that the material is not only strong but also smart. [Link]

Slashdot » DC Comics Announces "Before Watchmen"

Wednesday 1 February 18:48:00 UTC 2012

eldavojohn writes "Currently DC Comics' site has a banner announcing a new series called "Before Watchmen." Unfortunately the blog pages for this new series appear to be experiencing high traffic and are unreachable. But a number of sites are breaking down these new endeavors that will be giving backstories to the seven characters and who will be creating each … [Link]

Slashdot » Early Plants May Have Caused Massive Glaciation

Wednesday 1 February 18:22:00 UTC 2012

sciencehabit writes with this excerpt from Science: "The first plants to colonize land didn't merely supply a dash of green to a drab landscape. They dramatically accelerated the natural breakdown of exposed rocks, according to a new study, drawing so much planet-warming carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere that they sent Earth's climate spiraling into a major ice age." … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » 2012 Star Wars Super Bowl Ad [Video]

Wednesday 1 February 18:20:12 UTC 2012

Not bad… but imho, the teaser was way more entertaining than this![Volkswagen]Related posts:The Geekiest Super Bowl Commercial EverThe Bark Side: The Most Awesome Super Bowl Ad Teaser of All Time [Video]Star Trek 2009 Super Bowl Trailer [Link]

New Scientist – News » First land plants plunged Earth into ice age

Wednesday 1 February 18:15:00 UTC 2012

When the first simple mosses colonised the land, they unleashed vast ice sheets and triggered a mass extinction [Link]

Slashdot » New BBC Sports Website Makes Heavy Use of RDF

Wednesday 1 February 18:05:00 UTC 2012

New submitter whyloginwhysubscribe writes "A technical blog post describes how the BBC has rolled out the latest changes to its sports website in anticipation of the Summer Olympics in London. The innovative content management system extends the already available dynamic semantic publishing, which enables their journalists 'to spend more time creating great content and less time managing that content.' … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Star Trek: TNG Will Look AWESOME on Blu-Ray [Video]

Wednesday 1 February 18:00:10 UTC 2012

Don’t believe me? Check this out!One of the most popular series in the STAR TREK franchise, STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION® celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2012. It premiered in first-run syndication during the week of September 28, 1987 and ran through 1994.[Star Trek: The Next Generation – Next Level: A Taste of TNG in HD]Related posts:Amazon Deal of the … [Link]

New Scientist – News » Today on New Scientist: 1 February 2012

Wednesday 1 February 18:00:00 UTC 2012

All today's stories on newscientist.com, including: animals get arty, the yuck factor explained and Earth in for bumpy ride as solar storms hit [Link]

New Scientist – News » Volcanoes may give a 100-year warning

Wednesday 1 February 18:00:00 UTC 2012

Enormous volcanic eruptions build up for a century before finally going off, potentially giving societies decades to prepare [Link]

New Scientist – News » Earth in for bumpy ride as solar storms hit

Wednesday 1 February 18:00:00 UTC 2012

Technology makes our planet more vulnerable to solar outbursts than ever before. What are the risks to Earthlings as the sun gears up for peak activity? [Link]

New Scientist – News » Parking sensors to take pain out of finding a space

Wednesday 1 February 18:00:00 UTC 2012

A "parking patch" could bring together wireless sensors and mobile apps to steer drivers towards vacant spots, and lead traffic wardens to parking offenders [Link]

New Scientist – News » I think we should let elephants loose in Australia

Wednesday 1 February 18:00:00 UTC 2012

Australia has a long history of ecological disaster from alien species – so why is ecologist David Bowman proposing adding yet another? [Link]

New Scientist – News » Groundhogs! Forget weather, a science career awaits

Wednesday 1 February 17:56:02 UTC 2012

2 February is Groundhog Day in the US and Canada, but these beasts are not just unreliable weather forecasters [Link]

New Scientist – News » Big trees in trouble: How the mighty are falling

Wednesday 1 February 17:38:00 UTC 2012

From the kings of the jungle to the boreal giants, the world's greatest trees are at risk from climate change, deforestation and invasive species (full text available to subscribers) [Link]

Slashdot » EFF Seeking Information of Legal Users of Megaupload

Wednesday 1 February 17:23:00 UTC 2012

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, with the assistance of Carpathia Hosting, has issued a a call for information on users who lost legitimate data as part of the Megaupload takedown. No promises are made at this point, but Carpathia at least notes: "We have no immediate plans to reprovision some or all of the Megaupload servers. This means that there … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Attack of the Clones: The Future of Medical Research

Wednesday 1 February 17:00:14 UTC 2012

The original clone Dolly, preserved forever at the National Museum of Scotland. Photo Credit: Shelley BernsteinI’m sure we all remember Dolly, the world’s first successfully cloned mammal, a lovely little sheep in Edinburgh 16 years ago. Well, from the makers of Dolly, comes a whole new epic: Brain Tissue.The cloning of Dolly spurred on the stem cell revolution, that led scientists … [Link]

Slashdot » Linux Game Publishing CEO Resigns

Wednesday 1 February 17:00:00 UTC 2012

An anonymous reader writes "The CEO of the once fledging Linux Game Publishing, Michael Simms, has announced his resignation. Simms attributes his resignation from the Linux game porting company he founded more than a decade ago to being burned out and having little success as of late in his work." In his place, Clive Crouse will be taking the … [Link]

WIRED » Firefox 10 Arrives With New Dev Tools and Full-Screen API

Wednesday 1 February 16:57:00 UTC 2012

Mozilla has released Firefox 10, which features new and improved tools for web developers as well as more support for emerging web standards. [Link]

Slashdot » Cystic Fibrosis Gene Correction Drug Approved by the FDA

Wednesday 1 February 16:41:00 UTC 2012

tguyton writes "The good news: the FDA just approved the distribution of the first drug to treat the underlying cause of Cystic Fibrosis, called Kalydeco by Vertex Pharmaceuticals. The bad news: this drug will only affect 4% of patients with the disease in the U.S. From the article: '[Affected patients] with the so-called G551D mutation have a defective protein … [Link]

WIRED » Supreme Court of Sweden Upholds Pirate Bay Prison Sentences

Wednesday 1 February 16:35:00 UTC 2012

Sweden?s Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the prison sentences of the four founders of The Pirate Bay, the notorious file-sharing service on Hollywood?s and the recording industry?s most-hated list. [Link]

New Scientist – News » Earphones that know when they're in the wrong ear

Wednesday 1 February 16:34:05 UTC 2012

The prototype earphones detect which ear they are in and switch to the correct audio channel. They can also tell when you listen with a friend [Link]

Slashdot » Unicode 6.1 Released

Wednesday 1 February 16:19:00 UTC 2012

An anonymous reader writes "The latest version of the Unicode standard (v. 6.1.0) was officially released January 31. The latest version includes 732 new characters, including seven brand new scripts. It also adds support for distinguishing emoji-style and text-style symbols and emoticons with variation selectors, updates to the line-breaking algorithm to more accurately reflect Japanese and Hebrew texts, and … [Link]

New Scientist – News » Baby pulsars spawn universe's most energetic particles

Wednesday 1 February 16:09:00 UTC 2012

Ultra-high-energy cosmic rays occasionally slam into Earth, but their source had been a mystery [Link]

Slashdot » ITC Throws Out B&N Antitrust Claims Against MS

Wednesday 1 February 16:00:00 UTC 2012

N!NJA writes with an excerpt from a post by Florian Mueller: "Barnes & Noble's primary line of defense against Microsoft's allegations of patent infringement by the bookseller's Android-based devices has collapsed in its entirety. An Administrative Law Judge at the ITC today granted a Microsoft motion to dismiss, even ahead of the evidentiary trial that will start next Monday … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Amazon Deal of the Day: 60% Off Kingston HyperX 120GB SATA III 2.5-Inch 6.0 Gb/s Solid State Drive – $129.99 + Free Shipping

Wednesday 1 February 15:46:11 UTC 2012

Looking for a cheap SSD drive for your system? Then you’ll definitely want to check this awesome deal I stumbled upon today. Amazon currently has a 120GB SATA III drive (Kingston HyperX) for just $129.99 (After post-purchase rebate) + free shipping! That’s 60% off the drive’s usual retail price of $319.99.Kingston’s HyperX SSD combines the latest SandForce controller technology with premium … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Amazing Time-Lapse Video Takes Fascinating Look at Very Large Array Radiotelescope

Wednesday 1 February 15:46:10 UTC 2012

Time-lapse footage taken at the Very Large Array (VLA) in Socorro, New Mexico; one of the largest Radio Astronomy Observatories in the world.[Douglas Koke]Related posts:Breathtaking Time-Lapse Video: The MountainAmazing Time-Lapse Video Burns Away One Year in 40 SecondsAMAZING: Time-Lapse Video Shows Earth Rotating Instead of Stars [Link]

New Scientist – News » Weak will comes from tired mental muscles

Wednesday 1 February 15:35:12 UTC 2012

Self-controlled people have better lives – but for the rest, lack of willpower is more like physical fatigue than moral failure, says Roy F. Baumeister (full text available to subscribers) [Link]

New Scientist – News » Scientists suing the FDA after covert surveillance

Wednesday 1 February 15:35:11 UTC 2012

US Food and Drug Administration alleged to have spied on scientists and doctors after they reported problems with approval of medical devices [Link]

Slashdot » Wikipedia Chooses Lua As Its New Template Language

Wednesday 1 February 15:33:00 UTC 2012

bonch writes "In an attempt to tackle the inefficient complexity of its current template system, Wikipedia will be adopting the Lua scripting language. Known most for its use in videogame scripting, particularly World of Warcraft, Lua is lightweight and designed for easy integration into existing applications. The transition is expected to begin after the release of MediaWiki 1.19, possibly … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Man Arrested for Lightsaber Assault at Toys R Us

Wednesday 1 February 15:30:35 UTC 2012

As a massive Star Wars Geek, I cannot lie that when I walk into department stores with automatic doors, I have on occassion pretended that I had the Force and that by the power of my mind alone, these doors flew from my path like Gamorrean Guards.Now when I go into a Toys R Us, I do make a point of … [Link]

Slashdot » Kazuo Hirai To Assume CEO Position At Sony

Wednesday 1 February 15:17:00 UTC 2012

thomst writes "Cnet's Stephen Shankland breaks the news that Sony will replace the lamentable Howard Stringer with Kazuo Hirai, the (now former) head of its electronics division. Better yet, the changeover will take place on April Fool's Day. Stringer, who was appointed CEO of Sony in 2005, will become Chairman of its board, and Hirai will become a board … [Link]

WIRED » HP Paid Intel $690 Million To Keep Itanium On Life Support

Wednesday 1 February 15:12:56 UTC 2012

[Link]

Slashdot » Greg KH Leaves SUSE For Linux Foundation

Wednesday 1 February 14:35:00 UTC 2012

New submitter udas writes "Greg Kroah-Hartman, maintainer of the Linux kernel's stable branch, has left his job with SUSE Linux. He is now a fellow at the Linux Foundation. 'There were no direct conflicts working for SUSE, as the people there understand how important the individual developer, and their voice, is in the Linux community,' Kroah-Hartman told Ars this … [Link]

New Scientist – News » Animals get arty

Wednesday 1 February 14:31:13 UTC 2012

Paintings by apes and elephants make for an unusual exhibition. But can the works truly be considered art? [Link]

New Scientist – News » The yuck factor explained

Wednesday 1 February 13:55:10 UTC 2012

Psychologist Rachel Herz explores the spectrum from self-preservation to morality in That's Disgusting: Unraveling the mysteries of repulsion [Link]

Slashdot » Swedish Supreme Court Refuses Appeal In Pirate Bay Case

Wednesday 1 February 13:53:00 UTC 2012

concertina226 writes with sad news for Swedish pirates. Quoting the article: "The Swedish Supreme Court will not hear an appeal from the founders of The Pirate Bay against prison sentences and fines imposed by the Swedish Court of Appeals, the court said on Wednesday. Over a year ago, the Court of Appeals sentenced Fredrik Neij, Peter Sunde, and Carl … [Link]

Slashdot » Mitt Romney, Robotics, and the Uncanny Valley

Wednesday 1 February 13:14:00 UTC 2012

Hugh Pickens writes "Brian Fung writes in the Atlantic that one of Romney's electoral problems is that he occupies a kind of uncanny valley for politicians, inexplicably turning voters off despite looking like the textbook image of an American president. Just as people who interact with lifelike robots often develop a strange feeling due to something they can't quite … [Link]

New Scientist – News » $785 million to fight neglected tropical diseases

Wednesday 1 February 13:00:00 UTC 2012

A collaboration of governments, big pharma and charities has pledged to provide 14 billion treatments for 10 neglected tropical diseases [Link]

New Scientist – News » Drone could soar through Titan's skies for years

Wednesday 1 February 12:48:28 UTC 2012

Titan's low gravity and dense atmosphere mean that a new radioactive-powered plane could soar across its skies for a whole year [Link]

New Scientist – News » Ivory traders may be benefitting from Arab Spring

Wednesday 1 February 12:12:00 UTC 2012

Egypt's illegal trade in ivory is not dropping as fast as it should – political upheaval and Chinese tourism look like key factors [Link]

O'Reilly News and Commentary » #Ebook Deal/Day: Google Script: Enterprise Application Essentials – $11.99 (Save 50%)

Wednesday 1 February 12:01:55 UTC 2012

Get "Google Script: Enterprise Application Essentials" today and save 50%!This sale ends at 2:00 AM 2012-02-02 (PDT, GMT-8:00). [Link]

WIRED » Apple Store Photos Lifted, Now Subject of New Art Exhibit

Wednesday 1 February 11:57:47 UTC 2012

[Link]

WIRED » Feb. 1, 2003: Second Shuttle Lost

Wednesday 1 February 11:57:46 UTC 2012

NASA knows Columbia sustained damage on liftoff. But engineers' concerns get swept aside by mission control, at the cost of seven lives. [Link]

WIRED » Crowdfunding: Kickstarter Brings Risky Game Ideas To Life

Wednesday 1 February 11:57:45 UTC 2012

[Link]

WIRED » Steve Jobs Didn't Believe in Macs for Business. But Here They Are

Wednesday 1 February 11:57:44 UTC 2012

Fifteen years after he left Apple, Dale Fuller finds his effort to push Apple machines onto big businesses is no longer at odds the Jobsian vision — or least, not entirely. [Link]

WIRED » Exclusive: Ozymandias Cover for Dreaded Watchmen Prequel

Wednesday 1 February 11:57:43 UTC 2012

[Link]

Slashdot » NASA Finds Interstellar Matter From Beyond Our Solar System

Wednesday 1 February 11:32:00 UTC 2012

An anonymous reader writes "For the very first time, a NASA spacecraft has detected matter from outside our solar system — material that came from elsewhere in the galaxy. This so-called interstellar material was spotted by NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX), a spacecraft that is studying the edge of the solar system from its orbit about 200,000 miles (322,000 … [Link]

New Scientist – News » Orchid children: How bad-news genes came good

Wednesday 1 February 11:11:00 UTC 2012

The set of genes that help create our most grievous frailties may also underlie our greatest strengths – and sometimes the choice is settled in childhood (full text available to subscribers) [Link]

New Scientist – News » Wages up, jobs down – the latest graduate rollercoaster

Wednesday 1 February 11:00:23 UTC 2012

Soon-to-be-graduate Rebecca Campbell gives her take on the latest results from those taking the temperature of the graduate job market [Link]

Slashdot » Science Panel Recommends Censoring Bird Flu Papers

Wednesday 1 February 10:12:00 UTC 2012

Morty writes "The National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB) has recommended that details of two research papers involving Avian Flu not be published because of security concerns. At least one of the research groups says that their work should be logically reproducible. The NSABB's censorship recommendations do not (currently) have the force of law, but Science and Nature … [Link]

Slashdot » Angry Birds Boss Credits Piracy For Popularity Boost

Wednesday 1 February 7:08:00 UTC 2012

An anonymous reader writes "Mikael Hed is the CEO of Rovio Mobile, the company behind popular mobile puzzle game Angry Birds. At the Midem conference Monday, Hed had some interesting things to say about how piracy has affected the gaming industry, and Rovio's games in particular: '"We could learn a lot from the music industry, and the rather terrible … [Link]

WIRED » A Google-a-Day Puzzle for Feb. 1

Wednesday 1 February 6:31:00 UTC 2012

Google's daily brainteaser helps hone your search skills. [Link]

WIRED » Sun on the Run: 4 Portable Solar Chargers Tested

Wednesday 1 February 6:30:00 UTC 2012

Thanks to the ubiquity of USB connections on mobile devices, getting power from a portable solar charger is just as easy as plugging into the wall. [Link]

Slashdot » Ask Slashdot: Transitioning From 'Hacker' To 'Engineer'?

Wednesday 1 February 5:10:00 UTC 2012

antifoidulus writes "I'm about to get my masters in Computer Science and start out (again) in the 'real world.' I already have a job lined up, but there is one thing that is really nagging me. Since my academic work has focused almost solely on computer science and not software engineering per se, I'm really still a 'hacker,' meaning … [Link]

The Joy of Tech » JoT 1647: Signs you may be working on a fake Apple project.

Wednesday 1 February 3:37:50 UTC 2012

JoT thumbAwww, the fake ones are always the best ones! Click here to visit the comic. [Link]

Slashdot » White House Refuses To Comment On Petition To Investigate Chris Dodd

Wednesday 1 February 3:03:00 UTC 2012

malraid writes "The White House has issued a statement in which they refuse to comment on the petition to investigate Chris Dodd for bribery from the MPAA to pass legislation. The reason given: 'because it requests a specific law enforcement action.'" Read more of this story at Slashdot. [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » The City Dark: A Search for Night on a Planet that Never Sleeps [Video]

Wednesday 1 February 2:39:24 UTC 2012

THE CITY DARK chronicles the disappearance of darkness. When filmmaker Ian Cheney moves to New York City and discovers skies almost completely devoid of stars, a simple question — what do we lose, when we lost the night? — spawns a journey to America’s brightest and darkest corners. Astronomers, cancer researchers, ecologists and philosophers provide glimpses of what is lost … [Link]

Slashdot » AMD's New Radeon HD 7950 Tested

Wednesday 1 February 2:03:00 UTC 2012

MojoKid writes "When AMD announced the high-end Radeon HD 7970, a lower cost Radeon HD 7950 based on the same GPU was planned to arrive a few weeks later. The GPU, which is based on AMD's new architecture dubbed Graphics Core Next, is manufactured using TSMC's 28nm process and features a whopping 4.31 billion transistors. In its full configuration, … [Link]

WIRED » Carder Forced Gang Members to Have Sex to Weed Out Undercover Feds

Wednesday 1 February 1:37:31 UTC 2012

The mastermind of a carding gang in Georgia devised a novel way for weeding out undercover Feds from his operation — he forced members to have group sex, according to a local police detective who helped bust the ring. [Link]

WIRED » Retrieve Your Legal Data From Megaupload.com

Wednesday 1 February 1:37:24 UTC 2012

Millions of users may lose their legally-stored data due to the Megaupload.com takedown. Here's how to retrieve your data. [Link]

WIRED » Time in Space May Alter Astronauts' Genes

Wednesday 1 February 1:33:00 UTC 2012

Spending long periods at low gravity may alter genes, suggests a new experiment involving a magnet-powered trick used on Earth to simulate weightlessness in space. [Link]

WIRED » Imperial Teen Guitarist Will Schwartz Talks Feel the Sound, Lost Songs

Wednesday 1 February 1:20:00 UTC 2012

[Link]

WIRED » Kindling the Fire: Will Amazon's Bet On Revenue Growth Pay Off?

Wednesday 1 February 1:10:00 UTC 2012

Every screen that you can turn into a place to enjoy content is a screen that you can transform into a buying machine ? and Amazon is otherwise totally agnostic about whether it's a digital or physical product that you buy. [Link]

Slashdot » Computer Program Reconstructs Heard Words From Brain Scans

Wednesday 1 February 1:05:00 UTC 2012

sciencehabit writes "In a new study, neuroscientists connected a network of electrodes to the hearing centers of 15 patients' brains and recorded the brain activity while they listened to words like 'jazz' or 'Waldo.' They saw that each word generated its own unique pattern in the brain. So they developed two different computer programs that could reconstruct the words … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Comic Book Nerd Rage: The New DC Comics Logo

Wednesday 1 February 1:00:46 UTC 2012

You won’t like comic book fans when they’re angry. From the guys at Bleeding Cool, comes an inside look at how many reacted the day DC Comics logo died… and a new one rose from the ashes.I’m sorry but I just had to add a Marvel reference in there… because I’m such a terrible person.[Bleeding Cool]Related posts:How to Piss Off … [Link]

Slashdot » Apple Forcing IT Shops To 'Adapt Or Die'

Wednesday 1 February 0:22:00 UTC 2012

alphadogg writes "Many IT departments are struggling with Apple's 'take it or leave it' attitude, based on discussions last week at MacIT, which is Macworld|iWorld's companion conference for IT professionals. Much of the questioning following technical presentations wasn't about Apple technology or products. It was about the complexities and confusions of trying to sort out for the enterprise Apple's … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » The Simpsons Theme – A Capella Style [Video]

Wednesday 1 February 0:00:11 UTC 2012

This is my tribute to Matt Groening and my favorite TV show! The recording is 100% vocals and 100% my own voice. In order to perform this song, I actually had to write out the entire orchestration from a recording and perform every part, which ended up being over 30! The violin runs were the most fun to record :)[Via … [Link]

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