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.

New Scientist – News » Bird flu research to be published in full

Friday 17 February 23:50:00 UTC 2012

Flu experts say the benefits to public health of publishing what makes the H5N1 virus transmissible outweigh the risks of bioterrorism [Link]

Slashdot » Kentucky Telephone Companies Pushing For Option To End Basic Service

Friday 17 February 23:39:00 UTC 2012

An anonymous reader writes "There is a bill pending in the Kentucky State Senate that would eliminate almost all Public Service Commission oversight over local phone companies. Written by AT&T lobbyists, SB135 is being pushed by the phone companies as a 'modernization' of rules. It would keep the PSC from investigating phone service on its own and eliminate rules … [Link]

WIRED » Tiny Robotic Bee Assembles Itself Like Pop-Up Book

Friday 17 February 23:37:00 UTC 2012

[Link]

ProgrammableWeb.com » Today in APIs: Facebook, Pinterest and 12 New APIs

Friday 17 February 23:30:50 UTC 2012

FacebookYou may remember about how Facebook took credit for Pinterest’s growth. Now the social network has a mini-case study on the hot app. Also: are open APIs the new open source, do you know what API is backwards and 12 new APIs. Facebook’s Pinterest Spotlight Facebook is looking to show Pinterest as an example for developers. Here’s what the social network … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » CPR: How NOT to do it [Pic]

Friday 17 February 23:07:14 UTC 2012

[Source: PJ]Related posts:Computer 6.5 gig Prosser For Sale [Pic]You Can Do Anything! Except… [Pic]The Darth Knight [Pic] [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Supergirl Catching Some Rays [Pic]

Friday 17 February 23:07:10 UTC 2012

[Source: Eurobeat Kasumi Photography | Cosplayer: McKayla]Related posts:Prettiest Supergirl Ever V. 2.0Prettiest Supergirl Ever [Pic]Supergirl’s Dilemma [PIC] [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Apple gets more triumphant

Friday 17 February 23:07:09 UTC 2012

Yesterday we reported several Apple policy changes that appeared to show the company on the back foot. But today the company has had some good news from both analysts and courts.After CEO Tim Cook made an address this week that referred to the rapid take-up of devices such as the iPhone in comparison to Apple’s more traditional computers, Horace Dediu of … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Old School Gaming Kickstarter Hits Pledge in 8 Hours!

Friday 17 February 23:07:08 UTC 2012

Just over a week ago I posted about the masterminds behind the now classic Maniac Mansion and Day of the Tentacle games. They recently made a plea to the public,(via Kickstarter ) hoping to fund an old school text click adventure puzzle game. They gambled that if they brought their idea for a game of this style to a major publisher … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Om Nom Nom Nom: Edible Helium Balloon [Video]

Friday 17 February 23:07:07 UTC 2012

The chefs at Chicago’s Alinea Restaurant have created this somewhat unconventional helium filled “delicacy” to please their client’s palates. Unfortunately, there’s no indication on how much they charge for these balloons in the video, but I’m pretty sure they must be fairly expensive considering the nature of the dessert.[Via Neatorama]Related posts:Science is Cool: The Two Balloon SurpriseNewtonian Physics of a … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » The Phantom Menace According to Binksy [Pic]

Friday 17 February 23:07:06 UTC 2012

The Phantom Menace according to UK-based street artist Binksy.[Via /Film]Related posts:Mario is a MenaceThe Frogger Menace: OMG There’s Another One! [Video]Phantom Flex Camcorder: 2,800fps at 1080p [Video] [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Amazon Deal of the Day: 32% Off Star Wars Moleskine Notebooks (From $10.17 to $13.57)

Friday 17 February 23:07:05 UTC 2012

For today’s edition of Deal of the Day, Amazon has some great deals on Moleskine’s Star Wars-themed series of notebooks. Each awesome notebook is priced between $10.17 and $13.57 (32% Off) and features a black hard cover with silk screen printed and debossed Star Wars illustrations and logo and some exclusive artwork from the original 1977 film.Moleskine Limited Edition Star Wars … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » NEVER let George R.R. Martin read Bedtime Stories to your Kids! [Video]

Friday 17 February 23:07:04 UTC 2012

After watching this, I realized that letting George R.R. Martin (A Song of Fire and Ice) read bedtime stories to your kids might not be the best idea in the world.[Via The Mary Sue]Related posts:George Lucas Shot First [Video]George C. Scott Watches Star Wars On Blu-Ray [Video]George Takei Should Be The Next Amazing Spiderman! [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Introducing the Swinglet: An Autonomous Flying Robot Bird [Video]

Friday 17 February 23:07:03 UTC 2012

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Well, yes and no. This, ladies and gentlegeeks, is the swinglet, an autonomous, ready-to-deploy mini drone that weigh less than half a kilogram and features a complex AI to help it navigate through designated areas. It comes equipped with a high resolution camera and can take off and land completely autonomously.[Swinglet]Related posts:Introducing … [Link]

Slashdot » Ask Slashdot: Life After Software Development?

Friday 17 February 22:58:00 UTC 2012

An anonymous reader writes "I've been writing database apps for various industries as the senior developer or tech lead on a given project for most of the past 20 years. The last few years have become particularly taxing as I struggle to reiterate basic concepts to the same technically illiterate managers and stakeholders who keep turning up in charge. … [Link]

ProgrammableWeb.com » BuildaSearch: Why I Built a Search API

Friday 17 February 22:30:56 UTC 2012

BuildasearchDevelopers are often finding themselves as API providers in addition to consumers. The same is now true for me with my project, BuildaSearch. I recently released a BuildaSearch API for deeper site search integration, moving away from a more plug-and-play approach I took earlier on. When I first released BuildaSearch it received praise around the world for allowing users to build … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » The Alphabet of Movies: Can you Name Them All? [Video]

Friday 17 February 22:30:37 UTC 2012

A short video that quizzes your movie knowledge. Can you name them all?[Evan Seitz]Related posts:The Font Alphabet [Video]Video Game Movies By The Numbers [Infographic]If Nick Fury Were in Other Movies [Video] [Link]

Slashdot » Deadly H5N1 Flu Studies To Stay Secret… For Now

Friday 17 February 22:16:00 UTC 2012

Edsj writes "A spokesman for the World Health Organization announced that an agreement had been reached, after a debate, to keep details secret of the controversial work about the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian flu virus until deeper risk analyses have been carried out. The scientists who made the study, led by Ron Fouchier, still want to release the full … [Link]

Slashdot » Ford and Bug Labs Shipping OpenXC Beta Kits

Friday 17 February 21:55:00 UTC 2012

MojoKid writes "OpenXC is an open source connectivity platform developed in tandem by Ford and open source hardware maker Bug Labs. Announced this fall, the platform is designed to allow developers the ability to use Android- and Arduino-based modules to interact with a vehicle's in-car tech, such as vehicle sensors and GPS units. The OpenXC website succinctly describes the … [Link]

WIRED » Feds Urge Court to Reject Laptop Decryption Appeal

Friday 17 February 21:34:59 UTC 2012

[Link]

WIRED » Tilt Rotors, Pusher Helicopters Coming to Civilian Sector

Friday 17 February 21:34:51 UTC 2012

AgustaWestland will riff on the military V-22 Osprey, while Eurocopter will build a production version of lightning-quick X3. [Link]

WIRED » The Top 6 Exploration Stories of 2012

Friday 17 February 21:34:50 UTC 2012

What are the biggest exploration and astrobiology stories to look for in 2012? Astrobiologist and Extremo Files blogger Jeffrey Marlow offers six tantalizing prospects. [Link]

Slashdot » Book Review: Java Performance

Friday 17 February 21:33:00 UTC 2012

jkauzlar writes "The standard Oracle JVM has about sixty 'developer' (-XX) options which are directly related to performance monitoring or tuning. With names such as 'UseMPSS' or 'AllocatePrefetchStyle', it's clear that Joe Schmo Code Monkey was not meant to be touching them, at least until he/she learned how the forbidding inner recesses of the JVM work, particularly the garbage … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Full Steam Ahead: How Valve’s Ingenious Digital Store Has Taken Over the Gaming World

Friday 17 February 21:30:04 UTC 2012

Full Steam AheadCreated by: Video Game Design SchoolsRelated posts:Gaming: Opening Doors to Other Worlds Since 1958Steam-powered computer gets digital boostGaming can make a better world [Link]

WIRED » The Inside Story on Climate Scientists Under Siege

Friday 17 February 21:05:00 UTC 2012

It is almost possible to dismiss Michael Mann?s account of a vast conspiracy by the fossil fuel industry to harrass scientists and befuddle the public. But now comes the unauthorized release of documents showing how a libertarian thinktank, the Heartland Institute, which has in the past been supported by Exxon, spent millions on lavish conferences attacking scientists and concocting projects … [Link]

WIRED » Google Busted With Hand in Safari-Browser Cookie Jar

Friday 17 February 21:02:00 UTC 2012

Google intentionally circumvented the default privacy settings of Apple?s Safari browser, using a backdoor to set cookies on browsers set to reject them, in the latest privacy debacle for the search and advertising giant. [Link]

WIRED » OS X Mountain Lion Pounces on the Cloud

Friday 17 February 20:51:00 UTC 2012

Apple's upcoming Mountain Lion release of OS X is sure to be a hit with the Mac faithful, but for cloud watchers it has an even bigger wow-factor: iCloud integration. Sure, iOS features large in Mountain Lion, but the bigger underlying shift of note here is to the cloud. [Link]

Slashdot » How Companies Learn Your Secrets

Friday 17 February 20:50:00 UTC 2012

Hugh Pickens writes "For decades, Target has collected vast amounts of data on every person who regularly walks into one of its stores. Now the NY Times Magazine reports on how companies like Target identify those unique moments in consumers' lives when their shopping habits become particularly flexible and the right advertisement or coupon can cause them to begin … [Link]

WIRED » Qwikster Rebaptized: Netflix's Name Game With Disc-Only Subscriptions

Friday 17 February 20:46:00 UTC 2012

Qwikster clearly wasn't the answer, but at least it began to address the right questions. [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Nyan Cat Hat With Toaster Pastry Earwarmers

Friday 17 February 20:30:56 UTC 2012

Longtime [GAS] reader E. Foley has recently earned a few attribute points on her knitting skill tree by completing this Nyan Cat hat with toaster pastry earwarmers.This pattern features Chunky Mochi Rainbow yarn, Rowan Drift (for the cat), and Knit Picks Palette for the toaster pastries. You’ll need size 10.5 needles (circular or double pointed) and size 2 needles (circular or … [Link]

Slashdot » EU Court Rules Social Networks Cannot Be Forced To Police Downloads

Friday 17 February 20:08:00 UTC 2012

arnodf writes "According to EU Observer, 'The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has struck the latest blow in the debate over internet policing, ruling on Thursday (16 February) that online social network sites cannot be forced to construct measures to prevent users from downloading songs illegally. The court, which is the highest judicial authority in the EU, stated that … [Link]

WIRED » Greatest Simpsons Cameos From First 500 Episodes

Friday 17 February 20:00:00 UTC 2012

Julian Assange will pop up on The Simpsons this Sunday, landing the embattled WikiLeaks leader in the historic 500th episode of an animated show known for its quirky cameos. Assange's unlikely cameo is just the latest celebrity "get" for the show's bookers, who have long specialized in lining up surprising special guests. See the cameos we've selected as our favorite … [Link]

WIRED » Crab Nebula's Pulsar May Be Fast Particle Accelerator

Friday 17 February 19:54:00 UTC 2012

A "light cylinder" in the heart of the Crab Nebula may feed the mysterious, particle accelerator-like behavior of the nebula's rapidly spinning neutron star, or pulsar. [Link]

WIRED » The HTML5 Time Element Is Back and Better Than Ever

Friday 17 February 19:43:00 UTC 2012

The time element was removed from HTML5 last year, but then after developers complained it was rescued and added back to the spec with a whole new set of capabilities. [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Supergirl Catching Some Rays [Pic]

Friday 17 February 19:30:15 UTC 2012

[Source: Eurobeat Kasumi Photography | Cosplayer: McKayla]Related posts:Prettiest Supergirl Ever V. 2.0Prettiest Supergirl Ever [Pic]Supergirl’s Dilemma [PIC] [Link]

Slashdot » DARPA Researches Avatar Surrogates

Friday 17 February 19:27:00 UTC 2012

kgeiger writes "Feeling blue? DARPA is funding a program to investigate the feasibility of battlefield cyborg-surrogates: 'In its 2012 budget, DARPA has decided to pour US $7 million into the 'Avatar Project,' whose goal is the following: "develop interfaces and algorithms to enable a soldier to effectively partner with a semi-autonomous bi-pedal machine and allow it to act as … [Link]

New Scientist – News » USB stick can sequence DNA in seconds

Friday 17 February 18:57:36 UTC 2012

A new product announced today could help doctors pinpoint pathogens, or identify the origins of fossilised bones in the field [Link]

New Scientist – News » Peek into Isaac Newton's theology papers

Friday 17 February 18:57:35 UTC 2012

Compare your scrawl to the handwritten notes of Isaac Newton on alchemy and theology, which are now online [Link]

New Scientist – News » Today on New Scientist: 17 February 2012

Friday 17 February 18:57:34 UTC 2012

All today's stories on newscientist.com, including: parasite-plagued flies self-medicate on booze and if morality is broken, we can fix it [Link]

New Scientist – News » Bending waves of sound and light

Friday 17 February 18:57:17 UTC 2012

Artist Ryoji Ikeda gets visitors physical with sound and light sculptures, and exercises their minds with the art of set theory [Link]

Slashdot » Making a Better Solar Cooker

Friday 17 February 18:44:00 UTC 2012

New submitter jank1887 writes "Back in 2010, the aid organization Climate Healers gave a number of solar-powered cookstoves to rural Indian villages. The stoves were rejected by the communities, mainly because they were useless when they were wanted most: for the evening meal sometimes after the sun goes down, and for breakfast before the sun has risen. Following this, … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Apple gets more triumphant

Friday 17 February 18:30:13 UTC 2012

Yesterday we reported several Apple policy changes that appeared to show the company on the back foot. But today the company has had some good news from both analysts and courts.After CEO Tim Cook made an address this week that referred to the rapid take-up of devices such as the iPhone in comparison to Apple’s more traditional computers, Horace Dediu of … [Link]

New Scientist – News » Parasite-plagued flies self-medicate on booze

Friday 17 February 18:29:00 UTC 2012

The problems of fruit flies infested by parasitic wasps disappear when they have alcohol-soaked meals [Link]

New Scientist – News » Astrophile: 'Missing link' black hole is stress eater

Friday 17 February 18:06:00 UTC 2012

Few middleweight black holes have been found, and a new study suggests why – they may only shine when they binge after a traumatic event [Link]

Slashdot » Former Goldman Programmer's Conviction Overturned

Friday 17 February 18:00:00 UTC 2012

i_want_you_to_throw_ writes "The legal woes will soon be over for Sergey Aleynikov, a former Goldman Sachs Group computer programmer who had been convicted of stealing part of the Wall Street bank's high-frequency trading code. A federal appeals court overturned his conviction and recommended acquittal. We previously discussed this story when he was sentenced to 97 months in prison. It … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Old School Gaming Kickstarter Hits Pledge in 8 Hours!

Friday 17 February 17:57:38 UTC 2012

Just over a week ago I posted about the masterminds behind the now classic Maniac Mansion and Day of the Tentacle games. They recently made a plea to the public,(via Kickstarter ) hoping to fund an old school text click adventure puzzle game. They gambled that if they brought their idea for a game of this style to a major publisher … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Om Nom Nom Nom: Edible Helium Balloon [Video]

Friday 17 February 17:30:39 UTC 2012

The chefs at Chicago’s Alinea Restaurant have created this somewhat unconventional helium filled “delicacy” to please their client’s palates. Unfortunately, there’s no indication on how much they charge for these balloons in the video, but I’m pretty sure they must be fairly expensive considering the nature of the dessert.[Via Neatorama]Related posts:Science is Cool: The Two Balloon SurpriseNewtonian Physics of a … [Link]

Slashdot » A Look At Microsoft's 'Mini Internet' For Testing IE

Friday 17 February 17:19:00 UTC 2012

MrSeb writes "With the grandiose bluster that only an aging juggernaut can pull off, Microsoft has detailed the Internet Explorer Performance Lab and its extraordinary efforts to ensure IE9 is competitive and IE10 is the fastest browser in the world. Here are a few bullet points: 128 test computers, 20,000 tests per day, over 850 metrics analyzed, 480GB of … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » The Phantom Menace According to Binksy [Pic]

Friday 17 February 16:48:31 UTC 2012

The Phantom Menace according to UK-based street artist Binksy.[Via /Film]Related posts:Mario is a MenaceThe Frogger Menace: OMG There’s Another One! [Video]Phantom Flex Camcorder: 2,800fps at 1080p [Video] [Link]

ProgrammableWeb.com » $100K in Prizes Awarded to Students in Stock API Contest

Friday 17 February 16:36:27 UTC 2012

TradeKingOnline stock and options brokerTradeKing, has just announced the results of its $100K Campus Challenge for students to use its TradeKing API. The API lets developers build applications to manage trading activity, access to market data and account management. The company challenged business students to create uniquely new web and mobile applications. A total of 29 teams of undergraduate college students … [Link]

Slashdot » SCO vs. IBM Trial Back On Again

Friday 17 February 16:36:00 UTC 2012

D___Breath writes "The lawsuit SCO started years ago against IBM (but really against Linux) is back on again. SCO first filed this clue-challenged lawsuit in March 2003. SCO claimed Linux was contaminated with code IBM stole from UNIX and that it was impossible to remove the infringement. Therefore, said SCO, all Linux users owe SCO a license fee of … [Link]

WIRED » 9 Things Parents Should Know About The Secret World of Arrietty

Friday 17 February 16:26:00 UTC 2012

The latest from Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli is yet another enchanting tale for families to enjoy together. [Link]

ProgrammableWeb.com » Google Docs + Podio: The Connected Office

Friday 17 February 16:23:37 UTC 2012

PodioCollaboration platform Podio claims to help you “work the way you want to.” To achieve that goal, it means fitting its solution into your workflow. The latest change to the Podio platform has been a frequent customer request: integration with the Google Docs API. The company has added Google to its file upload dialog, with plenty of room for other providers … [Link]

WIRED » Google's New 'Dart' Language to Get a Starring Role in Chrome

Friday 17 February 16:14:00 UTC 2012

Google has added support for Dart, the company's attempt to improve on JavaScript, to experimental builds of the Chromium web browser. Despite a cool reception from other browser makers, Google says it plans to eventually add Dart support to Chrome proper. [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Amazon Deal of the Day: 32% Off Star Wars Moleskine Notebooks (From $10.17 to $13.57)

Friday 17 February 16:10:38 UTC 2012

For today’s edition of Deal of the Day, Amazon has some great deals on Moleskine’s Star Wars-themed series of notebooks. Each awesome notebook is priced between $10.17 and $13.57 (32% Off) and features a black hard cover with silk screen printed and debossed Star Wars illustrations and logo and some exclusive artwork from the original 1977 film.Moleskine Limited Edition Star Wars … [Link]

New Scientist – News » 'Immortal' Tasmanian devil brings vaccine hope

Friday 17 February 16:08:30 UTC 2012

Genome scans show that fatal facial cancers evolved from a single Tasmanian devil alive around 16 years ago, and reveal possible vaccine targets [Link]

ProgrammableWeb.com » Best New Mashups: Tools Mashups Using Google Maps, Google Chart and Zazzle

Friday 17 February 16:00:32 UTC 2012

Google Distance MatrixSometimes the best mashups are the simplest ones. Those mashups that do one thing and do it well. We like to think of those mashups as tools and today we’re going to take a look at some of the most recent ones that caught our attention. Many of these mashups take advantage of Google’s large collection of APIs such as GoogleMaps … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » NEVER let George R.R. Martin read Bedtime Stories to your Kids! [Video]

Friday 17 February 16:00:01 UTC 2012

After watching this, I realized that letting George R.R. Martin (A Song of Fire and Ice) read bedtime stories to your kids might not be the best idea in the world.[Via The Mary Sue]Related posts:George Lucas Shot First [Video]George C. Scott Watches Star Wars On Blu-Ray [Video]George Takei Should Be The Next Amazing Spiderman! … [Link]

New Scientist – News » Twitter shows chatting doesn't have to be political

Friday 17 February 16:00:00 UTC 2012

Twitter users link to people who share their interests and location – but the divisions are rarely along political lines, according to new research [Link]

Slashdot » Small, Modular Nuclear Reactors — the Future of Energy?

Friday 17 February 15:54:00 UTC 2012

cylonlover writes "This year is a historic one for nuclear power, with the first reactors winning U.S. government approval for construction since 1978. Some have seen the green lighting of two Westinghouse AP1000 reactors to be built in Georgia as the start of a revival of nuclear power in the West, but this may be a false dawn because … [Link]

Slashdot » Google Accused of Bypassing Safari's Privacy Controls

Friday 17 February 15:11:00 UTC 2012

DJRumpy points out an article (based on a possibly paywalled WSJ report) describing how Google and other ad networks wrote code that would bypass the privacy settings of Apple's Safari web browser. 'The default settings of Safari block cookies "from third parties and advertisers," a setting that is supposed to only allow sites that the user is directly interacting … [Link]

New Scientist – News » Did otherworldly music inspire Stonehenge?

Friday 17 February 15:06:08 UTC 2012

The great pillars that make up the stone circle may have been inspired by an auditory illusion that occurs when sound waves cancel each other out [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Introducing the Swinglet: An Autonomous Flying Robot Bird [Video]

Friday 17 February 15:00:41 UTC 2012

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Well, yes and no. This, ladies and gentlegeeks, is the swinglet, an autonomous, ready-to-deploy mini drone that weigh less than half a kilogram and features a complex AI to help it navigate through designated areas. It comes equipped with a high resolution camera and can take off and land completely autonomously.[Swinglet]Related posts:Introducing … [Link]

New Scientist – News » If morality is broken, we can fix it

Friday 17 February 14:33:00 UTC 2012

Some moral rules bring little benefit and can even be harmful. But they are not set in stone, so nothing stops us putting better ones in their place [Link]

Slashdot » DNA Nanorobot Halts Growth of Cancer Cells

Friday 17 February 14:30:00 UTC 2012

ananyo writes "DNA origami, a technique for making structures from DNA, has been used to build devices that can seek out and potentially destroy cancer cells. The nanorobots use a similar system to cells in the immune system to engage with receptors on the outside of cells. The barrel-shaped devices, each about 35 nanometers in diameter, contain 12 sites … [Link]

New Scientist – News » Friday Illusion: Deceptive motion in Super Mario land

Friday 17 February 14:21:12 UTC 2012

Help us identify the brain trick responsible for Mario's vertical leap to win a prize [Link]

Slashdot » Nevada Approves Rules For Self-Driving Cars

Friday 17 February 13:48:00 UTC 2012

Griller_GT writes with news that Nevada has become the first U.S. state to approve regulations for allowing self-driving cars on its roads. "Autonomous test vehicles will display a red license plate, Nevada officials said. If and when the technology is approved for public use, the cars will carry a green license plate. … Nevada said it worked with Google, … [Link]

Slashdot » Obama Pushes For Cheaper Pennies

Friday 17 February 13:06:00 UTC 2012

Hugh Pickens writes "Time Magazine reports that hidden deep inside in the White House's $3.8 trillion, 2,000-page budget that was sent to Congress this week is a proposal to make pennies and nickels cheaper to produce. Why? Because it currently costs the federal government 2.4 cents to make a penny and 11.2 cents for every nickel. If passed, the … [Link]

New Scientist – News » Fracking not to blame for shale gas pollution

Friday 17 February 12:49:19 UTC 2012

Ruptured well casings and surface spills are the main culprits, a new report concludes [Link]

WIRED » Ghost Rider Directors Fake It, in 3-D

Friday 17 February 12:03:14 UTC 2012

Using a Civetta camera and Gener8 propriety software, directors Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine make a fire-breathing movie without a budget-burning price tag. [Link]

WIRED » Three Smart Things About Boogers

Friday 17 February 12:03:13 UTC 2012

Wired digs into the healthy and not-so-healthy facts about mining for nose-gold. [Link]

WIRED » U.S. Commandos in Afghanistan Face a New Battlefield: The Courtroom

Friday 17 February 12:03:12 UTC 2012

U.S. Special Forces bust a bomb-smuggling kingpin, and haul him to an Afghan jail. But can the local — and very dysfunctional — legal system deliver justice? David Axe reports from Afghanistan. [Link]

WIRED » Feb. 17, 1864: We're Sunk

Friday 17 February 12:03:11 UTC 2012

The first successful submarine attack in history is only a partial success: The sub is lost, too. [Link]

WIRED » Must-Complete Projects for Every Hardcore Tech Geek

Friday 17 February 12:03:10 UTC 2012

Hardcore tech geeks make things, break things, and DIY things to the hilt. It?s what nerds do best, and if you want to consider yourself a hardcore geek of the highest order, you?ll need to cross off every project in this list. [Link]

WIRED » Ancient Galaxy Collision Created Enormous Stellar Swirls

Friday 17 February 12:03:09 UTC 2012

New simulations suggest that the enormous swirls of stars surrounding a distant galaxy formed when two equal-sized galaxies collided. [Link]

WIRED » Dell Joins Microsoft, Yahoo for Riverside Data-Center Party

Friday 17 February 12:03:08 UTC 2012

Dell has joined the data center party in Quincy, Washington. Quincy is home to data centers run by Microsoft, Yahoo and Intuit, and this week, Dell announced that it too has opened a facility in the tiny town on the Columbia river. Dams along the Columbia river, you see, provide relatively expensive hydropower for these massive computing facilities. But perhaps … [Link]

WIRED » Houston to NASA Mainframe: You're Through!

Friday 17 February 12:03:07 UTC 2012

First the Space Shuttle, now the mainframe. It seems like NASA is doing away with the last vestiges of its swinging '70s heyday, when TV astronauts were played by stars such as Farrah Fawcette. NASA pulled the plug on its last mainframe computer this month, an IBM Z9 mainframe at the Marshall Space Flight Center, NASA's giant research facility near … [Link]

WIRED » Photographing Life and Death in Juarez

Friday 17 February 12:03:06 UTC 2012

[Link]

New Scientist – News » Splash dance: Water crisis choreography

Friday 17 February 11:13:00 UTC 2012

The Elixir project combines dance, sculpture and song to explore our relationship with water [Link]

Slashdot » New Technique For Mass-Producing Microbots Inspired By Origami

Friday 17 February 10:23:00 UTC 2012

Zothecula writes "Inspired by origami and children's pop-up books, Harvard engineers have pioneered a means of mass-producing bee-sized flying microrobots. The breakthrough mechanizes the already state-of-the art process of making Harvard's Mobee robots by hand, by mass producing flat assemblies by the sheet which can be folded and assembled in a single movement. The technique, which cunningly exploits existing … [Link]

Slashdot » James Randi's Latest Debunking Operation

Friday 17 February 8:58:00 UTC 2012

An anonymous reader writes "The pair of documentarians behind An Honest Man — The Story of the Amazing James Randi will not only talk to the likes of like Adam Savage, Bill Nye, Richard Dawkins, Neil deGrasse Tyson, and Penn and Teller about the life of the famous magician/skeptic, but they'll also follow Randi's latest operation as he assembles … [Link]

Slashdot » Are UK Police Hacking File-Sharers' Computers?

Friday 17 February 8:03:00 UTC 2012

superglaze writes "Following its takedown earlier this week of the music blog RnBXclusive, the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) has claimed that "a number of site users have deleted their download histories" in response. Given that the site didn't host copyright-infringing files itself, how do they know? We've asked, but SOCA refuses to discuss its methods. A security … [Link]

Slashdot » Pharmacy On-a-chip Dispenses Drugs Automatically

Friday 17 February 5:35:00 UTC 2012

An anonymous reader writes "The idea is simple — load up a microchip with a whole pharmacy of drugs that are dispensed as needed automatically. The devil has been in the details, since mistakes could kill the patient if, say, a leak developed dumping dangerous cocktails into the bloodstream. This MIT sponsored company, however, claims to have perfected wireless … [Link]

WIRED » A Google-a-Day Puzzle for Feb. 17

Friday 17 February 5:19:16 UTC 2012

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

Slashdot » Man Digs Out Basement Using Radio Controlled Toy Tractors

Friday 17 February 4:02:00 UTC 2012

Phurge pointed out a story about a man with a fleet of remote control toys and a lot of patience. "Excavating a basement using professional machinery is nothing new but doing it with radio controlled (RC) scaled models is something unheard of. Welcome to the little big world of Joe, from Saskatchewan, Canada. For the past 7 years, Joe … [Link]

The Joy of Tech » JoT 1653: iPhone address book rage.

Friday 17 February 3:58:49 UTC 2012

JoT thumbAlert New comic is up. Ignore OK. Click here to visit the comic. [Link]

Slashdot » Optimizing Your Caffeine Intake With an App

Friday 17 February 3:02:00 UTC 2012

MrSeb writes "Two doctors at Penn State University have developed Caffeine Zone, a free iOS app that tells you the perfect time to take a coffee break to maintain an optimal amount of caffeine in your blood — and, perhaps more importantly, it also tells you when to stop drinking tea and coffee, so that caffeine doesn't interrupt your … [Link]

WIRED » Free OpenStack Time: What Gives?

Friday 17 February 1:58:06 UTC 2012

How does free cloud compute time on a virtual machine with an available 156 cores, 1040GB memory and 59.1 TB of disk storage running the latest OpenStack release, Del PowerEdge C6100 and C6105 servers and libvirt/KVM sound? You guessed it: There's a catch. [Link]

WIRED » Feds Propose Limits for In-Car Dialing, Texting, Surfing

Friday 17 February 1:58:05 UTC 2012

Federal regulators, concerned that increasing connectivity will have drivers doing everything but drive, urge automakers to begin sharply curtailing the functionality of infotainment systems. [Link]

WIRED » Secret Service Seizes JotForm.com, Nuking Millions of Online Forms

Friday 17 February 1:57:44 UTC 2012

Jotform.com, the domain name of a business providing hosting for online forms, has been seized by the Secret Service, essentially gutting the company?s business. [Link]

WIRED » McCain: Cybersecurity Bill Ineffective Without NSA Monitoring the Net

Friday 17 February 1:51:00 UTC 2012

After three years of haggling to produce bipartisan cybersecurity legislation that addresses the security of the nation's critical infrastructure systems, the Senate finally got a bill this week that seemed destined to actually pass. [Link]

WIRED » HP's Whitman Slags Android to Pump WebOS

Friday 17 February 1:30:00 UTC 2012

On Wednesday, at a meeting of the company's channel partners in Las Vegas, HP CEO Meg Whitman talked up Open WebOS, the company's newly open sourced mobile operating system. But she also took a moment to stir up a batch of fear, uncertainty, and doubt about Google?s Android. The mobile operating system ?may end up being a closed system with … [Link]

WIRED » Dirt-Cheap iPhone Trick Captures Great Ape Close-Ups

Friday 17 February 1:15:00 UTC 2012

[Link]

Slashdot » Study Says Fracking is Safe In Theory But Often Not In Practice

Friday 17 February 1:06:00 UTC 2012

First time accepted submitter chadenright writes "A university study asserts that the problems caused by the gas extraction process known as hydraulic fracturing, or 'fracking,' arise because drilling operations aren't doing it right. The process itself isn't to blame, according to the study, released today by the Energy Institute at the University of Texas at Austin." Share on Google+ Read more of … [Link]

ProgrammableWeb.com » Today in APIs: Google Maps, Twitter Replay and 10 New APIs

Friday 17 February 0:43:59 UTC 2012

Google MapsThe Google Maps API took a hit in France as non-competitive. The Gnip API now lets its customers go back in time, tweet-wise, retroactively tracking specific terms. Plus: APIs for hustlers, putting the “why” in user permissions and 10 new APIs. No Love for Google Maps in France Google was handed a half-million Euro fine in a French court: With all … [Link]

Slashdot » School Sends Child's Lunch Home After Determining it Unhealthy

Friday 17 February 0:38:00 UTC 2012

halfEvilTech writes "A North Carolina mom is irate after her four-year-old daughter returned home late last month with an uneaten lunch the mother had packed for the girl earlier that day. But she wasn't mad because the daughter decided to go on a hunger strike. Instead, the reason the daughter didn't eat her lunch is because someone at the … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Tiny Tower Residents Can’t Leave [Video]

Friday 17 February 0:17:09 UTC 2012

Nobody ever gets out of there… nobody.[Dorkly]Related posts:LOL: Angry Birds vs. Tiny Wings [Video]The Night Before Mario’s Christmas [Video]Zelda’s Boyfriend [Video] [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Nerd Rage [Comic]

Friday 17 February 0:17:06 UTC 2012

So I was talking to a friend the other day and he said he didn’t know about xkcd. Or Cyanide and Happiness. That made me sad. I only recently discovered Nerd Rage but I’m sure many of you have already seen it – he didn’t know that one either. I love reading comics – mainly because I have always wanted … [Link]

Geeks are Sexy Technology News » Settlers of Star Trek

Friday 17 February 0:17:05 UTC 2012

“Will you give me two Dilithium for one Tritanium?” This might be a question you’ll be asking sooner than you think! A new edition of the classic strategy board game Settlers of Catan is primed for release in March, so be ready to get your Red Shirts on ladies and gentlemen geeks, for Star Trek Catan will soon be here! Of course, … [Link]

Slashdot » FCC Cracks Down on Robocalls

Friday 17 February 0:15:00 UTC 2012

Cara_Latham writes "If you want to receive annoying robocalls from telemarketers you will have to opt in. Federal Communications Commission rules now require that telemarketers get your consent before dialing your number. Telemarketers will also have to obtain consent even if they had previously 'done business with' the consumer on the receiving end of a call." Share on Google+ Read more of … [Link]

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