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.

Mashable » People being awesome: The story behind the viral duckling video

Thursday 27 November 23:27:59 UTC 2014

Ducks1 Cute ducks waddling across a road are saving the world one small step at a time. This video, created by Animals Australia, received 90 million views and almost two million shares on Facebook in 10 days. On first watch, it appears to be a compilation of people being generally awesome helping our feathered friends out, but it is not as … [Link]

Slashdot » Kim Dotcom Says Legal Fight Has Left Him Broke

Thursday 27 November 23:05:00 UTC 2014

mrspoonsi writes Kim Dotcom, the founder of the seized file-sharing site Megaupload, has declared himself "broke". The entrepreneur said he had spent $10m (£6.4m) on legal costs since being arrested in New Zealand in 2012 and accused of internet piracy. Mr Dotcom had employed a local law firm to fight the US's attempt to extradite him, but his defence team … [Link]

Slashdot » Behind Apple's Sapphire Screen Debacle

Thursday 27 November 22:09:00 UTC 2014

Frankie70 (803801) writes Apple invested more than $1 billion in an effort to make sapphire one of iPhone 6's selling point. But the iPhone 6 was released without the sapphire screen. GT Advanced Technologies, the small company chosen to supply Apple with enormous quantities of cheap sapphire, declared bankruptcy a month later. Recent documents from GT's bankruptcy proceedings, and conversations … [Link]

ProgrammableWeb.com » Should You Develop for Android or iOS First?

Thursday 27 November 21:12:26 UTC 2014

[Link]

Slashdot » Syrian Electronic Army Takes Credit For News Site Hacking

Thursday 27 November 21:08:00 UTC 2014

New submitter ddtmm writes The Syrian Electronic Army is claiming responsibility for the hacking of multiple news websites, including CBC News. Some users trying to access the CBC website reported seeing a pop-up message reading: "You've been hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army (SEA)." It appears the hack targeted a network used by many news organizations and businesses. A tweet … [Link]

New Scientist – News » How baby talk gives your child the best start in life

Thursday 27 November 20:30:00 UTC 2014

A rich tapestry of words and sounds in the early years should help a child get ahead at school – so the US state of Georgia is starting lessons for parents [Link]

Slashdot » Apple and Amazon Launch Black Friday Price War

Thursday 27 November 20:10:00 UTC 2014

An anonymous reader writes Forbes magazine points out that tablet computers are receiving some of the biggest discounts for this year's day-after-Thanksgiving sales. "With slowing growth in the tablet market and an increasing array of choices, some of the strongest bargains will come in that sector," they report, noting that Target is giving away a $140 gift card with purcahses … [Link]

New Scientist – News » Lucky strike in search for Earth's most common mineral

Thursday 27 November 19:30:00 UTC 2014

Rare sample of a deep Earth mineral that makes up more than a third of our planet's volume means it can officially be named bridgmanite [Link]

New Scientist – News » Bulletproof graphene makes ultra-strong body armour

Thursday 27 November 19:30:00 UTC 2014

Sheets of single-atom thick carbon absorb the impact of bullets more efficiently than steel, paving the way for lightweight, super-strong bulletproof vests [Link]

Slashdot » Riecoin Breaks World Record For Largest Prime Sextuplet, Twice

Thursday 27 November 19:12:00 UTC 2014

An anonymous reader writes Last week, Riecoin – a project that doubles as decentralized virtual currency and a distributed computing system — quietly broke the record for the largest prime number sextuplet. This happened on November 17, 2014 at 19:50 GMT and the calculation took only 70 minutes using the massive distributed computing power of its network. This week the … [Link]

New Scientist – News » Invisible hissing doughnut is Earth's radiation shield

Thursday 27 November 18:48:00 UTC 2014

Hissing static just beneath Earth's protective plasma layer has been found to limit how close radiation can get to the planet [Link]

New Scientist – News » Zoologger: The rodent with a taste for spines

Thursday 27 November 18:11:00 UTC 2014

For the white-throated woodrat, a spiny cactus poses no challenge. In fact, the spines are the equivalent of a neon sign pointing to an all-you-can-eat buffet [Link]

New Scientist – News » 1004 travellers screened for Ebola on entry to the UK

Thursday 27 November 17:34:00 UTC 2014

The low figures of people screened at the five main entry points into the UK raises questions over the need for such measures [Link]

New Scientist – News » Geoengineering the planet: first experiments take shape

Thursday 27 November 15:30:00 UTC 2014

Proposals for the first trials to cool the planet include cloud brightening and spraying aerosols into the ozone layer. They might start in just two years [Link]

New Scientist – News » Super-safe iodide may save millions from heart disease

Thursday 27 November 14:34:00 UTC 2014

In mice, iodide injections drastically reduced tissue damage following heart attacks. If it works in humans, it could save millions by preventing future heart problems [Link]

New Scientist – News » Is it harmful for children to watch 3D movies and games?

Thursday 27 November 13:12:00 UTC 2014

France's health watchdog wants to ban pre-school children from 3D technology. A vision expert looks at the evidence [Link]

New Scientist – News » Bubble physics explains beer's own anti-spill mechanism

Thursday 27 November 11:32:00 UTC 2014

Time in the pub led to the realisation that beer spills less easily than coffee, and time in the lab helped explain why [Link]

New Scientist – News » Finding aliens harder now we know DNA survives space

Thursday 27 November 10:30:00 UTC 2014

A rocket painted with DNA flew to the upper atmosphere and back. The DNA still worked – but this means contamination of other planets by robot explorers is a serious problem [Link]

John Gordon Ross

A Man for All Reasons