Genral Web Comments
Sunday, July 31, 2005
Slashdot Poll
Slashdot Poll: "If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all. - Noam Chomsky "
Slashdot Poll
Slashdot Poll: "'Look Lois, the two symbols of the Republican Party: an elephant, and a fat white guy who is threatened by change.' "
Slashdot Poll
Slashdot Poll: "James Tiberius Kirk: 'Spock, the women on your planet are logical. No other planet in the galaxy can make that claim.' "
The Sniffer vs. the Cybercrooks - New York Times
The Sniffer vs. the Cybercrooks - New York Times: "THE investment bank, despite billions in annual revenue and the small squadron of former police, military and security officers on its payroll, was no match for Mark Seiden.
Skip to next paragraph
Interview: Mark Seiden
In a downloadble MP3 containing interview excerpts, computer security expert Mr. Seiden talks about how he breaks into systems, identity theft and how to protect yourself in the information age. (22:05)
Toiling Through the Drab, Oily Dregs (May 5, 1997) 'Tell me the things you most want to keep secret,' Mr. Seiden challenged a top executive at the bank a few years back. The executive listed two. One involved the true identities of clients negotiating deals so hush-hush that even people inside the bank referred to them by using a code name. The other was the financial details of those mergers and acquisitions. "
Friday, July 29, 2005
John Carmack - Wikiquote
John Carmack - Wikiquote: "'The idea that I can be presented with a problem, set out to logically solve it with the tools at hand, and wind up with a program that could not be legally used because someone else followed the same logical steps some years ago and filed for a patent on it is horrifying.' (on software patents)"
WSJ.com - Lawyers' Delight: Old Web Material Doesn't Disappear
WSJ.com - Lawyers' Delight: Old Web Material Doesn't Disappear: "Earlier this year, executives at Dell Inc. tried to shut down DellComputersSuck.com, a Web site promoting an obscure brand of computers. Dell's lawyers dispatched a stern letter, and within a few days, the site's owner revamped it into an online discussion group about computers. The old version disappeared from view.
The PC giant still wanted to seize the address, a move permitted under rules governing the use of domain names. But Dell had to prove to an arbitration panel it had been used in 'bad faith.' So Dell's legal team turned to the Wayback Machine, a massive archive of Web pages dating back nine years. There, Dell found copies of the deleted site and was able to prove that its owner, Innervision Web Solutions, had used it to redirect consumers to another Web address selling PCs with names such as ZMachinez and Jetbook. In May, an arbitration panel ordered the domain name be transferred to Dell."
Sky - WoWWiki
Sky - WoWWiki: "'Dark wings, dark words' - Jon
Sky is a communications library designed to make adding /commands and sharing data silently between clients using chat channels much easier.
NOTE (21 Jun 2005): There are currently two versions of Sky: 'Sky' and 'SkyLight'. The recommended and fully supported version is the 'SkyLight' version, a largely rewritten version of Sky by AnduinLothar (aka KarlKFI). SkyLight is available from Curse-Gaming.com. The old Sky version is still in Cosmos for the time being. SkyLight fully replaces Sky and uses the same coding standards with more advances and optimized implimentation. SkyLight no longer handles channel index masking nor many of the 'enhancements' that were so buggy in the original versions. The one code difference to note is that SkyChannelManager.getLiveChannelCount has been replaced by SkyChannelManager.getChannelCount in SkyLight.
Sky and SkyLight Dependancies: Sea and Chronos"
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
Hillary vs. the Xbox: Game over
Hillary vs. the Xbox: Game over: "'m writing to commend you for calling for a $90-million study on the effects of video games on children, and in particular the courageous stand you have taken in recent weeks against the notorious 'Grand Theft Auto' series.
I'd like to draw your attention to another game whose nonstop violence and hostility has captured the attention of millions of kids — a game that instills aggressive thoughts in the minds of its players, some of whom have gone on to commit real-world acts of violence and sexual assault after playing.
I'm talking, of course, about high school football.
I know a congressional investigation into football won't play so well with those crucial swing voters, but it makes about as much sense as an investigation into the pressing issue that is Xbox and PlayStation 2."
I N K S C A P E . Draw Freely
I N K S C A P E . Draw Freely: "Inkscape is an open source drawing tool with capabilities similar to Illustrator, Freehand, and CorelDraw that uses the W3C standard scalable vector graphics format (SVG). Some supported SVG features include basic shapes, paths, text, markers, clones, alpha blending, transforms, gradients, and grouping. In addition, Inkscape supports Creative Commons meta-data, node-editing, layers, complex path operations, text-on-path, and SVG XML editing. It also imports several formats like EPS, Postscript, JPEG, PNG, BMP, and TIFF and exports PNG as well as multiple vector-based formats.
Inkscape's main motivation is to provide the Open Source community with a fully W3C compliant XML, SVG, and CSS2 drawing tool. Additional planned work includes conversion of the codebase from C/Gtk to C /Gtkmm, emphasizing a lightweight core with powerful features added through an extension mechanism, and the establishment of a friendly, open, community-oriented development process."
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Wired News: When Cell Phones Become Oracles
Wired News: When Cell Phones Become Oracles: "Cell phones know whom you called and which calls you dodged, but they can also record where you went, how much sleep you got and predict what you're going to do next.
At least, these are the capabilities of 100 customized phones given to students and employees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology -- and they may be coming soon to your cell phone."
Oddly Enough Article | Reuters.co.uk
Oddly Enough Article | Reuters.co.uk: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Cats may like ice cream, but it is not the sugary taste that appeals to them because they are genetically unable to taste sweet flavours, researchers reported on Monday.
Domestic cats and big cats alike have a slightly different version of the sweet receptor gene than other mammals, the British and U.S. scientists found.
Any cat owner knows that cats have individual preferences, but cats will turn their noses up at sugary treats that do not contain some other ingredient such as butter or gelatin.
'One possible explanation for this behaviour is that felines are unable to detect sweet-tasting compounds like sugars and high intensity sweeteners because their sweet taste receptor is defective,' said Xia Li, a molecular geneticist at Cornell University in New York, who helped lead the study."
the Bleeding Edge of Snort - Breaking Snort Signatures
the Bleeding Edge of Snort - Breaking Snort Signatures
Mom Pleads Guilty to Hosting Sex Parties - Yahoo! News
Mom Pleads Guilty to Hosting Sex Parties - Yahoo! News: "GOLDEN, Colo. - A woman who told police she wanted to be a 'cool mom' pleaded guilty to sexual assault charges Monday for having sex with high school boys at parties where authorities said she supplied drugs and alcohol.
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Silvia Johnson, 40, pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of sexual assault and nine felony counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors dropped two counts of distribution of methamphetamine.
'She described herself as a `cool mom,'' Detective R.J. Vander Veen wrote in the affidavit. He said Johnson told investigators 'she was never popular with classmates in high school and now began `feeling like one of the group.''"
Japan profs urge Tokyo's Ishihara to study French - Yahoo! News
Japan profs urge Tokyo's Ishihara to study French - Yahoo! News: "TOKYO (Reuters) - A group of Japanese professors, irked at an attack on the French language by Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, gave the outspoken politician a set of French textbooks on Tuesday and urged him to study during his summer holidays."
Weight loss injection makes patients feel full- UK - Yahoo! News
Weight loss injection makes patients feel full- UK - Yahoo! News: "LONDON (Reuters) - British scientists said on Monday they had developed a new treatment that could help obese and overweight people lose weight by making them feel full.
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Researchers at Imperial College London believe the treatment, an injection of a natural digestive hormone called oxyntomodulin that is released in the small intestine, could help to stem the world's growing obesity epidemic.
'The discovery that oxyntomodulin can be effective in reducing weight could be an important step in tackling the rising levels of obesity in society,' said Professor Steve Bloom, who headed the research team."
Health News Article | Reuters.co.uk
Health News Article | Reuters.co.uk: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - How well you respond to stress predicts how long you will live, at least if you are a little worm, U.S. scientists reported on Monday.
Genetically identical worms responded to stress in greatly different ways -- and those with more active stress reactions lived much longer than worms with less active stress proteins, the researchers found. More active stress responses suggest the animal is coping with the stress.
The findings will almost certainly apply to humans in some way, they report in this week's issue of the journal Nature Genetics.
Shane Rea of the University of Colorado at Boulder tested more than 100 nematodes known as Caenorhabditis elegans -- a worm favored by scientists because it is easy to work with.
Despite its tiny size, C. elegans is genetically complex and has much in common with 'higher' animals such as humans.
They genetically engineered the little transparent worms to carry a jellyfish gene called green fluorescent protein, which glows green under certain light. They tagged this gene to a gene called hsp-16.2, a stress protein found in most organisms that is associated with the health of cells."
Rare Children's Disease Unlocks Aging's Secrets - Yahoo! News
Rare Children's Disease Unlocks Aging's Secrets - Yahoo! News: "MONDAY, July 25 (HealthDay News) -- Five years ago, Dr. Leslie Gordon was a resident doctor specializing in pediatric ophthalmology. That's when her son Sam, now 8 years old, was first diagnosed with an extremely rare genetic condition called progeria, characterized by accelerated aging.
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Besides experiencing joint, skin and other problems, children with progeria develop an accelerated form of cardiovascular disease, with most dying from heart-related complications before the age of 20."
Monday, July 25, 2005
Quick HOWTO: Troubleshooting Linux With Syslog
Quick HOWTO: Troubleshooting Linux With Syslog: "There are hundreds of Linux applications on the market, each with their own configuration files and help pages. This variety makes Linux vibrant, but it also makes Linux system administration daunting. Fortunately, in most cases, Linux applications use the syslog utility to export all their errors and status messages to files located in the /var/log directory.
This can be invaluable in correlating the timing and causes of related events on your system. It is also important to know that applications frequently don't display errors on the screen, but will usually log them somewhere. Knowing the precise message that accompanies an error can be vital in researching malfunctions in product manuals, online documentation, and Web searches.
syslog, and the logrotate utility that cleans up log files, are both relatively easy to configure but they frequently don't get their fair share of coverage in most texts. I've included syslog here as a dedicated chapter to both emphasize its importance to your Linux knowledge and prepare you with a valuable skill that will help you troubleshoot all the Linux various applications that will be presented throughout the book"
Sunday, July 24, 2005
The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Microsoft Windows' new Vista
The Seattle Times: Business & Technology: Microsoft Windows' new Vista: "By naming the next version of Windows 'Vista,' Microsoft may have stepped on the toes of another software company just down the road in Redmond.
That would be Vista, a business software and services company founded in 1999 by John Wall. He was not amused when Microsoft announced its choice yesterday, setting the stage for a massive rollout when its flagship operating system goes on sale in fall 2006."
USB Devices Can Crack Windows
USB Devices Can Crack Windows: "Vulnerabilities in USB drivers for Windows could allow an attacker to take control of locked workstations using a specially programmed Universal Serial Bus device, according to an executive from SPI Dynamics, which discovered the security hole.
The buffer-overflow vulnerabilities could enable an attacker to circumvent Windows security and gain administrative access to a user's machine.
This is just the latest example of a growing danger posed by peripheral devices that use USB (Universal Serial Bus), FireWire and wireless networking connections, which are often overlooked in the search for remotely exploitable security holes, experts say. "
CNN.com - New weapon in fight against smog - Jul 22, 2005
CNN.com - New weapon in fight against smog - Jul 22, 2005: "STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) -- From catalytic converters to alternative fuels, the fight against big-city smog has for years been fought inside combustion engines and exhaust pipes."
Saturday, July 23, 2005
The Grinder, a Java Load Testing Framework
The Grinder, a Java Load Testing Framework: "The Grinder is a JavaTM load-testing framework. It is freely available under a BSD-style open-source license.
The Grinder makes it easy to orchestrate the activities of a test script in many processes across many machines, using a graphical console application. Test scripts make use of client code embodied in Java plug-ins. Most users of The Grinder do not write plug-ins themselves, instead they use one of the supplied plug-ins. The Grinder comes with a mature plug-in for testing HTTP services, as well as a tool which allows HTTP scripts to be automatically recorded.
The Grinder was originally developed for the book Professional Java 2 Enterprise Edition with BEA WebLogic Server by Paco G�mez and Peter Zadrozny. Philip Aston took ownership of the code and reworked it to create The Grinder 2. Philip continues to enhance and maintain The Grinder, and welcomes all contributions. Recently Peter, Philip and Ted Osborne have published the book J2EE Performance Testing which makes extensive use of The Grinder.
The next major version of The Grinder, The Grinder 3 is currently available as a beta quality release. The Grinder 3 uses the powerful scripting language Jython, and allows any Java code to be tested without the need to write a plug-in.
The latest news, downloads, and mailing list archives can be found on SourceForge.net"
House, Senate OK Daylight-Saving Extension - Yahoo! News
House, Senate OK Daylight-Saving Extension - Yahoo! News: "WASHINGTON - An agreement was reached Thursday to extend daylight-saving time in an effort to conserve energy, but not to the extent the House approved in April.
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House and Senate negotiators on an energy bill agreed to begin daylight-saving time three weeks earlier, on the second Sunday in March, and extend it by one week to the first Sunday in November. The House bill would have added a month in the spring and another in the fall.
According to some senators, farmers complained that a two-month extension could adversely affect livestock, and airline officials said it would have complicated scheduling of international flights."
Science News Article | Reuters.co.uk
Science News Article | Reuters.co.uk: "PETATLAN, Mexico (Reuters) - Reyna Mojica saw her two boys shot to death just weeks ago, an attack she traces to a vendetta she says began in 1998 when her family helped block hundreds of logging trucks in Mexico's Sierra Madre.
They call themselves the Peasant Ecologists of the Petatlan Sierra and their fight to save a swath of forest near the Pacific coast is among the world's most important struggles against deforestation, Greenpeace says.
The peasants have largely won. But they have paid dearly.
After the month-long blockade, international lumber firm Boise Cascade canceled contracts for massive cutting operations in the Petatlan mountains, citing supply problems, and 15 logging permits were revoked."
Charges Dropped Against Animal Activist - Yahoo! News
Charges Dropped Against Animal Activist - Yahoo! News: "MADISON, Wis. - Federal prosecutors have dropped four extortion charges against an animal rights activist who was accused of freeing thousands of mink from farms around the Midwest.
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ZIP code where you park at night.
Do you currently have auto insurance? Yes No
Have you had a U.S driver's license for more than 3 years? Yes No
Has any driver in your household had 2 or more accidents or moving violations in the last 3 years? Yes No
Prosecutors said they were forced to act because a Supreme Court decision changed the legal definition of extortion while Peter Daniel Young was on the run. The ruling found someone must actually take something from another person, authorities said.
The surprise move shocked the owner of a farm where authorities said Young helped free 300 mink in 1997."
Oddly Enough Article | Reuters.co.uk
Oddly Enough Article | Reuters.co.uk: "Eight out of 10 French people check their looks in the mirror at least once a day and say they like what they see, a survey by polling group BVA published this week showed.
Men seem to be more content than women, with 88 percent of them saying they like their looks -- compared to 73 percent of women."
Oddly Enough Article | Reuters.co.uk
Oddly Enough Article | Reuters.co.uk: "PALERMO, Italy (Reuters) - An Italian couple stole 50,000 euros (34,700 pounds) from a woman in the Sicilian city of Palermo after convincing her they were vampires who would impregnate her with the son of the Anti-Christ if she did not pay them.
The man, a cabaret singer, and his girlfriend took the money from their victim over four years by selling her pills at 3,000 euros each that they said would abort the Anti-Christ's son."
Health News Article | Reuters.co.uk
Health News Article | Reuters.co.uk: "TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese women had a life expectancy of 85.59 years in 2004, making them the world's longest living group for the 20th consecutive year, the government said on Friday.
Japanese men trailed with a life expectancy of 78.64 years, which placed them second for longevity after Icelandic men, who live an average of 78.8 years."
Health News Article | Reuters.co.uk
Health News Article | Reuters.co.uk: "NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - High outdoor levels of nitrogen dioxide apparently raise the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), according to California-based researchers.
Dr. H. Klonoff-Cohen, from the University of California San Diego at La Jolla, and colleagues linked air pollutant data obtained from the California Air Resources Board with occurrences of SIDS.
The study, in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, involved 169 infants born between 1988 and 1992 who died suddenly and 169 matched 'controls' who were born during the same period.
The incidence of SIDS cases went up and down with average carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide levels, but only the latter was significant from a statistical standpoint."
Did you ever wonder what it would be like to see a water balloon pop in space?
Did you ever wonder what it would be like to see a water balloon pop in space?: "Experimenters burst water balloons in the low-gravity environment produced aboard a NASA Glenn DC-9 aircraft.
The tests were conducted in part to develop the ability to rapidly deploy large liquid drops by rupturing an enclosing membrane. As can be seen from the experiment footage, the initial rupture process is nearly ideal, but the finite size of the balloon material eventually ejects a spray from the drop surface. Then, when the balloon material leaves the drop entirely, it causes a large deformation of the drop (blob) which oscillates throughout the remainder of the test. Calculations suggest that such oscillations will continue for hours before the drop eventually becomes spherical. Highspeed photographs of punctured Water Balloons in a Lab were also taken.
The airplane flies parabolic trajectories approximately 8000ft in height which provide up to 25 seconds of low-gravity time within which researchers can perform experiments to investigate low-gravity phenomena. "
Hawaiian caterpillars hunt like spiders -report - Yahoo! News
Hawaiian caterpillars hunt like spiders -report - Yahoo! News: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tiny, snail-eating caterpillars found in Hawaiian rain forests tie up their prey with sticky silk and snack on them at leisure, surprised scientists said on Thursday.
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It is the first time that caterpillars that eat snails or any other mollusk have been found, the researchers write in Friday's issue of the journal Science.
And while caterpillars of all kinds spin silk to make cocoons, this is the first time one has been seen to use it as spiders do to capture prey.
"
Man Forced to Wear Sign for Animal Cruelty - Yahoo! News
Man Forced to Wear Sign for Animal Cruelty - Yahoo! News: "HOPWOOD, Pa. - A western Pennsylvania man said he endured more than he expected when he agreed to an unusual sentence for an animal cruelty conviction.
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Ulysses Zimmerman, 22, of Point Marion, pleaded guilty to animal cruelty for allegedly neglecting his dog, denying it veterinary care and strangling the animal.
But Zimmerman didn't pay a fine or spend time in jail. Instead, he stood at a busy intersection in South Union Township Thursday, wearing a sign that read, 'I Plead Guilty ... Animal Cruelty is a Crime ... My Dog's Name WAS Salt and Pepper.'"
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Homepage of Peter Korsgaard: Installing debian Sarge on a Linksys NSLU2
Homepage of Peter Korsgaard: Installing debian Sarge on a Linksys NSLU2
Schneier on Security: How to Not Fix the ID Problem
Schneier on Security: How to Not Fix the ID Problem: "Several of the 9/11 terrorists had Virginia driver's licenses in fake names. These were not forgeries; these were valid Virginia IDs that were illegally sold by Department of Motor Vehicle workers.
So what did Virginia do to correct the problem? They required more paperwork in order to get an ID.
But the problem wasn't that it was too easy to get an ID. The problem was that insiders were selling them illegally. Which is why the Virginia 'solution' didn't help, and the problem remains:
The manager of the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles office at Springfield Mall was charged yesterday with selling driver's licenses to illegal immigrants and others for up to $3,500 apiece.
The arrest of Francisco J. Martinez marked the second time in two years that a Northern Virginia DMV employee was accused of fraudulently selling licenses for cash. A similar scheme two years ago at the DMV office in Tysons Corner led to the guilty pleas of two employees.
And after we spend billions on the REAL ID act, and require even more paperwork to get a state ID, the problem will still remain."
Slashdot | Utah Teens Invent Better Air Conditioner
Slashdot | Utah Teens Invent Better Air Conditioner
Really cool invention brings teens awards
Physics students: They came up with an environmentally friendly, economical air conditioner
By Jessica Ravitz
The Salt Lake Tribune
Riverton High School students Tyler Lyon, left, and Daniel Winegar won Ricoh's Sustainable Development Award for their invention. (Danny Chan La/The Salt Lake Tribune )
BLUFFDALE - The code name, Space Beast, was one they came up with in the wee hours of the night.
Tyler Lyon, Daniel Winegar and Chad Thornley were overtired and giddy as they tackled a science fair project. Their idea: Eliminate the use of Freon in automobile air-conditioning systems by relying on the Peltier effect - of course.
"We aren't planning our lives around making air conditioners," Lyon explained. "We wanted to do something to help the environment and the economy."
But what began as a Riverton High School physics class assignment nearly two years ago has morphed into an award-winning, internationally recognized invention.
Lyon and Winegar, two recent Riverton graduates - Thornley graduated in 2004 and is now on an LDS Church mission - won the first-ever Ricoh Sustainable Development Award in May when they competed against 1,400 other worldwide invitation-only entries at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair in Phoenix.
Aside from the $50,000 college scholarship the two 18-year-olds will share, the budding engineers are jetting off to Japan today for a 10-day visit on Ricoh's dime. The office equipment and electronics company, a leader in the field of sustainable development, has invited the Utahns to attend the World Expo, address Ricoh executives, tour their research and development lab, meet with government officials - including the Minister of the Environment - and sit down with Tokyo University professors.
"It's been a total, unbelievable dream," marveled Tyler's mom, Diane Lyon, last week. "They're just typical boys. But when someone believes in you, amazing things can happen."
Physics teacher Kari Lewis, who recently left Riverton High, said trusting in Lyon and Winegar was easy.
"They came up with this idea . . . and they made it work," she said. "It's a perfect solution to an incredible problem."
Today, the young inventors say, U.S. drivers use about 7.9 billion gallons of fuel each year to run their air-conditioners, which draw power from the engine. By adopting their contraption - which taps into the electrical system, using fans to blow hot air through five Peltier chips and then releasing cold air - they say the country stands to save 3.9 billion gallons of fuel annually, or about $10 billion based on current gas prices.
Furthermore, the product would free drivers from Freon - which despite improvements, remains an ozone-depleting chemical in current air-conditioners. The Peltier chips, which they purchased on eBay for $9.99 each, have a life span of 20 to 30 years and an unfaltering cooling capacity. And like every component in the Space Beast, which can be minimized in size to about 2 inches in width, the chips are recyclable.
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As a young boy, Lyon's parents said he tore apart and reassembled household electronics - CD players, clocks, an old stereo that didn't work until he fixed it. And while Daniel's mom, LouAnn Winegar, was grateful her son was "not a take-apart-person," she said her boy's love for science, engineering and computers has been consistent.
"It's nice to see all of his years of interest and hard work being recognized," she said.
The two-year process of fine-tuning, however, was not without its glitches. When the teens were trying to convert a blow-dryer fan from AC to DC power, a miswiring gave Lyon a doozy of a shock - "a low-enough amp that it couldn't really stop my heart," he said. And there was that computer power strip that they managed to ignite, before throwing it outside in the snow, only to retrieve it two days later to recycle its parts.
Despite the setbacks, and bouts of procrastination, the teens didn't give up. When they weren't playing computer games, skiing, snowboarding or, in Lyon's case, rock-climbing, they buckled down, sometimes working through the night. Their focus nearly cost them graduation - they had to scramble to make up work in other classes - but they accomplished what others couldn't.
After they had already begun their work, Lyon and Winegar learned about a 1964 General Motors analysis that explored the idea before the car company concluded it wasn't possible.
Going in with open minds, however, the teens were not deterred and pulled off what GM rejected.
"Nobody told them it couldn't be done," Robert Lyon, Tyler's dad, said.
The first time he felt a cold gust of air successfully come through the system, Winegar said he remembers saying: "We may actually have something here."
Looks like they do. A Salt Lake City attorney is working to secure a patent. The Environmental Protection Agency called to express interest Tuesday morning. And though repeated attempts to communicate with Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. have gone unanswered, high officials in Japan - an ocean away - are awaiting the arrival of Riverton's young inventors.
jravitz@sltrib.com
Hacked $99 NAS gadget runs full Debian Linux
Hacked $99 NAS gadget runs full Debian Linux: "A Debian ARM hacker has published a detailed HOWTO on installing Debian Linux on Linksys's NSLU-2 NAS (network-attached storage) gadget. Peter Korsgaard's HOWTO explains some neat tricks in dealing with endian issues on ARM processors, which have both little- and big-endian modes.
The NSLU-2 (Network Storage Link for USB 2.0 Disk Drives) is a low-cost embedded Linux device that turns any USB hard drive into a NAS (network-attached storage) device, by providing various network interfaces. Tom's Hardware published a rave review, saying the device could revolutionize NAS. Several alternative firmware images soon popped up."
Science News Article | Reuters.co.uk
Science News Article | Reuters.co.uk: "LONDON (Reuters) - Scientists are questioning the safety of a Star Wars-style riot control ray gun due to be deployed in Iraq next year.
The Active Denial System weapon, classified as 'less lethal' by the Pentagon, fires a 95-gigahertz microwave beam at rioters to cause heating and intolerable pain in less than five seconds.
The idea is people caught in the beam will rapidly try to move out of it and therefore break up the crowd.
But New Scientist magazine reported on Wednesday that during tests carried out at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, participants playing the part of rioters were told to remove glasses and contact lenses to protect their eyes."
Science News Article | Reuters.co.uk
Science News Article | Reuters.co.uk: "LONDON (Reuters) - Help may finally be at hand for sufferers of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) thanks to a group of British researchers who have found abnormalities in the white blood cells of the afflicted.
If the early results are borne out by wider research -- and initial indications are that they will be -- it could lead not only to a blood test for the condition but possibly a drug to treat it, New Scientist magazine reported on Wednesday.
'We have shown that a significant part of the pathogenesis resides in the white blood cells and in their activity,' team leader Jonathan Kerr told the magazine.
'It will open the door to development of pharmacological interventions,' he added."
New Spam-Fighting Technique Criticized - Yahoo! News
New Spam-Fighting Technique Criticized - Yahoo! News: "NEW YORK - Escalating the war on spam, a California company wants to let thousands of users collaborate to disable the Web sites spammers use to sell their wares.
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A leading anti-spam advocate, however, criticized Blue Security Inc.'s Blue Frog initiative as being no more than a denial-of-service attack, the technique hackers use to effectively shut down a Web site by overwhelming it with fake traffic."
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Free Diabetes Drugs Could Save U.S. Money - Yahoo! News
Free Diabetes Drugs Could Save U.S. Money - Yahoo! News: "MONDAY, July 18 (HealthDay News) -- Providing certain medicines free of charge to elderly diabetes patients could pay off in huge benefits to society, a new study finds"
Health News Article | Reuters.co.uk
Health News Article | Reuters.co.uk: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Unconscious racism is so entrenched in U.S. medical system that the only way to eliminate disparities is to change the rules, according to a new report released on Tuesday.
But allowing communities to take control of their own health care helped in many cases, and also seemed to encourage healthy behavior above and beyond getting check-ups and taking the right medicine, the report found.
'The health care system as a whole provides vastly unequal access and treatment based on race, language, and ethnicity,' said Will Pittz, an organizer at the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations in Seattle who was lead author of the report.
'Racism within the health system is literally making people of color sick.'
Several studies released this year have supported this claim."
Fewer in U.S. marry as more live together - Yahoo! News
Fewer in U.S. marry as more live together - Yahoo! News: "NEW YORK (Reuters) - Both the U.S. marriage and divorce rates are dropping while the number of unwed couples living together is rising, according to an annual study of marriage released Monday.
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The numbers show a gradual trend in the United States toward the lifestyles in Scandinavia, particularly Sweden, where unmarried cohabitation with children is far more common, said David Popenoe, co-author of 'The State of Our Unions' study."
Schneier on Security: Turning Cell Phones off in Tunnels
Schneier on Security: Turning Cell Phones off in Tunnels: "Turning Cell Phones off in Tunnels
In response to the London bombings, officials turned off cell phones in tunnels around New York City, in an attempt to thwart bombers who might use cell phones as remote triggering devices. (Phone service has been restored in two of the four tunnels. As far as I know, it is still not available in th other two.)
This is as idiotic as it gets. It's a perfect example of what I call 'movie plot security': imagining a particular scenario rather than focusing on the broad threats. It's completely useless if a terrorist uses something other than a cell phone: a kitchen timer, for example. Even worse, it harms security in the general case. Have people forgotten how cell phones saved lives on 9/11? Communications benefits the defenders far more than it benefits the attackers."
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
How to be a Programmer Robert L. Read, PhD
: "This long essay attempts to summarize the non-technical things that I wish someone had explained to me at the beginning of my career as a professional programmer. It is primarily concerned with social situations and team relationships that occur in typical software development. I try to cover what I consider the essential, often non-techncial, skills of the beginning, intermediate and advanced programmer. The essay gives my opinions only; its value lies in that the material is so subjective that it is generally not taught in school directly or emphasized enough in publications. It begins with a table of contents that will allow the reader to judge their interest in the material. To the beginner, it may be a peek into the culture of the software engineer; to the advanced programmer, it is an opinionated review that I hope will provoke thought due to its comprehensiveness."
Joel on Software - Back to Basics
Joel on Software - Back to Basics: "We spend a lot of time on this site talking about exciting Big Picture Stuff like .NET versus Java, XML strategy, Lock-In, competitive strategy, software design, architecture, and so forth. All this stuff is a layer cake, in a way. At the top layer, you've got software strategy. Below that, we think about architectures like .NET, and below that, individual products: software development products like Java or platforms like Windows.
Go lower on the cake, please. DLLs? Objects? Functions? No! Lower! At some point you're thinking about lines of code written in programming languages.
Still not low enough. Today I want to think about CPUs. A little bit of silicon moving bytes around. Pretend you are a beginning programmer. Tear away all that knowledge you've built up about programming, software, management, and get back to the lowest level Von Neumann fundamental stuff. Wipe J2EE out of your mind for a moment. Think Bytes."
Slashdot | What is Mainframe Culture?
Slashdot | What is Mainframe Culture?: "Corollary: End users (Score:4, Funny)
by Tackhead (54550) on Monday July 18, @09:26PM (#13099994)
> Windows programmers don't know how to program without a GUI.
> Linux programmers don't know how to program with a GUI.
> Mainframe programmers wonder what a GUI is.
Corollary for end users - and yes, my Dad's first email message to me was indeed sent in all caps:
MAINFRAME USERS THINK THAT USING ALL CAPS WHEN SENDING MEMOS IS PERFECTLY NORMAL
Linux users think that using all caps in email is YELLING.
windows users dont no how 2 use nething but there im proggy"
Monday, July 18, 2005
Singapore Opens Landfill to Tourists - Yahoo! News
Singapore Opens Landfill to Tourists - Yahoo! News: "SINGAPORE - The Singapore government has opened a landfill island, made entirely from garbage incinerator ash, to its citizens in a bid to share its 'rich natural environment.'
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'Throughout the planning, design, and construction of the landfill island, and since it came into operation, painstaking efforts have been made to protect the island's ecosystem and preserve its rich natural environment and biodiversity,' the National Environment Agency said in a statement."
PHLAK :: [P]rofessional [H]acker's [L]inux [A]ssault [K]it - :: News
PHLAK :: [P]rofessional [H]acker's [L]inux [A]ssault [K]it - :: News
Sunday, July 17, 2005
Intel to cut Linux out of the content market
Intel to cut Linux out of the content market: "INTEL IS ABOUT TO CUT Linux out of the legitimate content market, and hand the keys to the future of digital media to Microsoft at your expense. Don't like it? Tough, you are screwed. The vehicle to do this is called East Fork, the upcoming and regrettable Intel digital media 'platform'. The funny part is that the scheme is already a failure, but it will hurt you as it thrashes before it dies. Be afraid, be very afraid.
First, lets explore what East Fork (EF) is. It is basically a media server PC on steroids with a lot of interesting software. The downside is that it is aiming for you, not aimed at you. The first iteration, due out in Q1 2006, is based on a Smithfield dual core Pentium 4 with the Lakeport and ICH7-DH chipsets, a fairly plain combo. You also need a S-ATA HD with NCQ, and Intel HD Audio, but you can supplement that with anything else you need as long as it is on the board. You also need MS Media Center Edition 2006 (MCE 2006)."
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Eco-designs on future cities
BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Eco-designs on future cities: "Imagining what our cities will look like in the future has long been a favourite pastime of the Hollywood movie industry.
Many of world's big cities are surrounded by shanty towns
On the whole we are presented with striking images of glass and metallic towering structures, flying cars and technologically smart everything.
Dystopic pockets of inequality and dirt inhabit the not so shiny bits.
Ask a gathering of leading thinkers in the worlds of architecture and design, and you get a rather different picture. "
Saturday, July 16, 2005
Enterprise computing | Business's digital black cloud | Economist.com
Enterprise computing | Business's digital black cloud | Economist.com: "New, faster computer chips are challenging the traditional structure of the huge business-software industry
FOR the past 40 years, companies around the world have grown accustomed to a doubling in computing power every 18 months to two years�fulfilling a remarkable forecast made in 1965 by Gordon Moore, one of the founders of Intel, a semiconductor powerhouse based in Silicon Valley. As their businesses have expanded, managers have been able to sleep easy in the knowledge that next year's computers would be more than able to keep pace with their needs and probably cost no more than last year's models. Alternatively, slowpokes with steady workloads have been able to replace ageing computers with flashier models costing half as much. The declining real cost of computing has been an economic boon.
Even as millions more transistors are crammed on to slivers of silicon, Moore's law continues to deliver the goods. But the tricks chipmakers such as Intel and AMD are exploiting to achieve this miracle are changing the whole approach to enterprise computing. In the process they are unleashing powerful disruptive forces. New chip architecture is allowing them to roll out ever more heavy-duty hardware at competitive prices"
Schneier on Security: Forged Documents in National Archives Change History
Schneier on Security: Forged Documents in National Archives Change History: "'There is a very old trick that wonderfully fools everyone, which may be at work here. When there is a record you would not like coming to light, simply replace the original with a forgery of the original. The records will seem to be complete, and when the secret does come to light the document will later prove to be a forgery, which tricks people into automatically thinking the secret never happened. (This is an old business trick, a variant of keeping two sets of books.)'
I am impressed.
Posted by: Bruce Schneier at July 14, 2005 05:43 PM"
Cyber Crime Rates, Losses Fall, Says Survey - Yahoo! News
Cyber Crime Rates, Losses Fall, Says Survey - Yahoo! News: "A downward turn in overall cyber crime has hit its fourth year, said the 10th-annual survey on computer crime released Thursday, and average financial losses have tumbled by more than half.
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ZIP code where you park at night.
Do you currently have auto insurance? Yes No
Have you had a U.S driver's license for more than 3 years? Yes No
Has any driver in your household had 2 or more accidents or moving violations in the last 3 years? Yes No
The yearly survey, which is conducted by the Computer Security Institute (CSI) in coordination with the
FBI, found that the average dollar amount pegged to a security breach fell by a whopping 61 percent compared to 2004, when the loss per polled company or government agency was estimated at $526,000. In 2005, the amount per respondent was only $203,000.
Even more important, said Robert Richardson, the editorial director of CSI and the author of the report based on the poll, was the finding that the percentage of those polled who have experienced attacks of various types continued to tail off in 2004."
LinuxHardware.org | July '05: Battle of the High-End CPUs
LinuxHardware.org | July '05: Battle of the High-End CPUs: "n this review, we're taking a look at three processors each from AMD and Intel. What we chose to look at is each manufacturer's top enthusiast CPU, their top dual-core CPU, and their top mainstream CPU. On AMD's side this equals the Athlon 64 FX-57, Athlon 64 4800 , and Athlon 64 4000 respectively. On Intel's side this equals the Pentium Extreme Edition 840, Pentium D 840, and Pentium 4 670 respectively.
AMD's FX-57 is the top-of-the-line in terms of single-core AMD processors. The FX-57 operates at 2.8GHz and has 1MB of L2 cache. Like the previous FX-series processors, the FX-57 is multiplier unlocked for the enthusiasts who want full control over the processor's clock speed. The FX-57 uses the latest core, codenamed “San Diego”, which is a 90nm SOI part with an enhanced memory controller and SSE3 support. The last important feature of this processor is its official support of memory speeds up to 533MHz. That's PC4000 speeds that AMD says will run at a 1:1 divider. The catch with this is that there is no official JEDEC spec for DDR memory speeds over PC3200. This means that while the CPU has support for faster memory, you will need your motherboard and memory to support unofficial memory speeds. While some motherboard vendors will surely support this, not all are guaranteed to.
We've seen both the 4800 and 4000 in previous reviews we've written here. The 4800 was just recently reviewed in our Dual-Core on the Desktop article. It is based on the “Toledo” core which also is a 90nm SOI part with the same enhanced memory controller and SSE3 extensions. The 4800 operates at 2.4GHz. The 4000 we have is based on the “Clawhammer” core, which was the previous generation 130nm core. Currently on the market are 4000 parts based upon “Clawhammer” and “San Diego”. Note that these both feature 1MB of L2 cache and operate at 2.4GHz, but the “San Diego” chips will feature the enhancements mentioned above.
Intel has decided that dual-core is the way to go on their latest Extreme Edition part and so the Intel Pentium Extreme Edition (EE) 840 is a dual-core CPU operating at 3.2GHz. It features 1MB of L2 cache per core and has Hyper-Threading for each core. This means that the OS will see 4 processors total. The Pentium D 840 is Intel's top mainstream dual-core processor and it is almost identical to the Pentium EE 840. In fact, the only difference is that there is Hyper-Threading available on each core. The Pentium D 840 operates at the same frequency and has the same amount of cache, but it will only show up as 2 processors. The Pentium 4 670 is the highest clocked Intel processor at 3.8GHz. It also features 2MB of L2 cache for its single core unlike the 1MB per core of the previous two processors. All three of these processors are “Prescott” core processors and are 90nm parts."
How Linux beats Windows in ID management ease
How Linux beats Windows in ID management ease: "
MIGRATION & INTEGRATION
How Linux beats Windows in ID management ease
Paul Murphy
13 Jul 2005
Rating: -4.00- (out of 5)
Pop quiz: What's the hardest thing to do in Windows systems management?
Backups, you say? Yes, well, I wanted something people actually do. So, here's a hint: It goes by a multitude of different names, depending on which Microsoft product generation formed the basis for the speaker's view of it.
If you thought of one of the forms of user identity management give yourself a gold star -- and if you realized that a Linux conversion may be your ticket away from the daily hassles of managing and licensing domain controllers and related software devices, tell your boss I said it should be made of real gold.
In the beginning, or at least in the mid-eighties, Sun created something called 'Yellow Pages' which promptly became Network Identity Services (NIS/NIS ) for copyright reasons. The technology's basic approach to the single sign-on problem was first to assume that the administrative users of other machines could be trusted, and therefore to simply migrate the /usr/passwd entries, then define user privileges on each machine to all the machines within the locally trusted group. Project Athena at MIT (to part of which the IBM/Carnegie Mellon distributed file system is an open source successor) then generalized that solution across the Internet, inventing a number of now-critical technologies -- including pluggable authentication modules (PAM) and the Kerberos authentication protocol -- in the process.
Things have gotten a little more complicated since, but neither the underlying problem nor the conceptual basis for the solution have really changed and the old methods still work for a lot of people. Users with simple environments may, for example, need nothing more than the password file-based approach pioneered at Berkeley in 1981 or, in marginally more complex environments, the NIS/NIS solutions developed at Sun in the late eighties. For most of us, however, the right place to start is with the Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directory and authentication solution developed at the University of Michigan and popularized in the mid-nineties."
Firefox gains on IE in June | InfoWorld | News | 2005-07-14 | By Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service
Firefox gains on IE in June | InfoWorld | News | 2005-07-14 | By Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News Service: "The Mozilla Foundation's (Profile, Products, Articles) Firefox browser nibbled off a small market-share portion from Microsoft's (Profile, Products, Articles) Internet Explorer (IE) in June, continuing a consistent monthly trend this year.
Firefox increased its market share to 8.71 percent, up from 8 percent in May, while IE's share shrank to 86.56 percent from 87.23 percent, NetApplications.com, an Aliso Viejo, California, maker of applications for monitoring and measuring Web site usage, said Thursday in a statement.
Since the beginning of the year, Firefox has increased its market share every month between 0.5 percent and 1 percent, mostly at the expense of IE, according to NetApplications.com, which compiles its browser usage data from more than 40,000 Web sites monitored by its HitsLink.com service."
N.M. Site Marks Anniversary of Bomb Test - Yahoo! News
N.M. Site Marks Anniversary of Bomb Test - Yahoo! News: "ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - Herb Lehr hasn't been to Trinity Site since the day a mushroom cloud filled the early morning sky in the New Mexico desert.
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Standing 12 miles from the blast, he looked toward the Oscura Mountains and watched as scientists detonated the first atomic bomb 60 years ago Saturday, ushering in the nuclear age.
'All of a sudden this very bright light came out and where I was, it was intense enough that the whole mountain range itself was completely whited out,' he said. 'I could see the ball and fire rising up. It was sort of awe-inspiring.'"
Study Hints at Alzheimer's Memory Recovery - Yahoo! News
Study Hints at Alzheimer's Memory Recovery - Yahoo! News: "WASHINGTON - While a breakthrough for humans could be years away, a new study in mice suggests some memory recovery may be possible in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease.
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'There basically are two prongs and we need to deal with both,' said lead researcher Karen Ashe, a University of Minnesota neurologist. 'What we're showing is that there are neurons which are affected (by Alzheimer's) but not dead.'
New research shows a mutant protein named tau is poisoning brain cells, and that blocking its production may allow some of those sick neurons to recover. It worked in demented mice who, to the scientists' surprise, fairly rapidly regained memory."
Lead Exposure Unhealthy at Any Level - Yahoo! News
Lead Exposure Unhealthy at Any Level - Yahoo! News: "FRIDAY, July 15 (HealthDay News) -- There's no safe level of lead in children's blood, according to an international study that found that children exposed to the toxin suffer substantial intellectual impairments, even at exposures far below levels currently considered harmful.
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'The study indicates there is no threshold for the adverse consequences of children's exposure to lead,' study lead author Dr. Bruce Lanphear, director of the Children's Environmental Health Center at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, said in a prepared statement.
'We found evidence of intellectual impairments among children with blood lead levels below 10 micrograms per deciliter, the level currently considered acceptable by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The study indicates that the action level set by the CDC isn't adequate to protect children,' Lanphear said."
Health News Article | Reuters.co.uk
Health News Article | Reuters.co.uk: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A stopwatch-sized device that uses electrical impulses to treat chronic depression won U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval, Cyberonics CYBX> said on Friday.
About 18.8 million adults in the United States suffer from depression in any given year, according to the National Institutes of Health.
News of the FDA approval sent the company's shares up 8 percent in after hours trading to $48.50. Those gains were pared back to $47.50 before after hours trade was through.
The device, known as the Vagus Nerve Stimulation Therapy System (VNS), is implanted in the chest and sends impulses to the brain through a nerve in the neck. It was cleared by the FDA for long-term use in adults whose depression has not responded to other treatments.
FDA officials cautioned that the VNS device is not to be used as the first therapy but would give the sickest patients another option.
'We're really dealing with a very sick group of patients here. These are not standard depression patients,' said Dr. Daniel Schultz, director of the FDA's device center."
Latest Business News and Financial Information | Reuters.co.uk
Latest Business News and Financial Information | Reuters.co.uk: "LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A human rights group has sued three U.S. companies in federal court in Los Angeles to force them to step up efforts to end child labor on African farms that supply cocoa beans used to make chocolate products.
The International Labor Right Fund filed suit on behalf of former child laborers against Nestle (NESN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) , Archer Daniels Midland Co. (ADM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and privately held Cargill Inc. on Thursday claiming the companies are involved in trafficking, torture and forced labor of Mali children who were enslaved to work on Ivory Coast farms.
The lawsuit comes soon after U.S. and European chocolate and cocoa industry missed a July 1 deadline imposed by federal law for adopting protocols to eliminate child labor from the West African cocoa supply chain.
U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin, one of the protocol's authors, said earlier this month he was disappointed that the industry had been unable to certify that its chocolate products were not made with child labor but was satisfied it was 'committed to moving forward.'"
XML.com: Secure RSS Syndication
XML.com: Secure RSS Syndication: "I have a problem. It's actually a pretty common problem. I have data that I want to syndicate to myself, but I don't want you to see it. It's private. Now this could be my credit card balance or internal bug reports for the day job. Either way, I want the information in a form suitable for syndication but not available to everyone.
A Solution
There is a solution. I could password-protect my feed. But that causes a problem, because my aggregator would then need to know my password. Now my aggregator of choice is Bloglines, and I'm sure they're nice folks, but I really don't want to give them my password. One security breach and my whopping credit card debt is splattered across the Web. Just for the record, for the rest of the discussion I will use Bloglines, but in fact one of my design goals is that this technique should work equally well with all web-based aggregators. "
Friday, July 15, 2005
local6.com - News - Finger Scanning At Disney Parks Causes Concern
local6.com - News - Finger Scanning At Disney Parks Causes Concern: "ORLANDO, Fla. -- The addition of finger scanning technology at the entrances of Walt Disney World theme parks for all visitors has caused concern among privacy advocates, according to a Local 6 News report.
I think it's a step in the wrong direction,' Civil Liberties Union spokesman George Crossley said. 'I think it is a step toward collection personal information on people regardless of what Disney says.
Tourists visiting Disney theme parks in Central Florida must now provide their index and middle fingers to be scanned before entering the front gates."
News: Fujitsu Debuts Bendable Electronic Paper
News: Fujitsu Debuts Bendable Electronic Paper: "Fujitsu Debuts Bendable Electronic Paper
Posted: Thu, 14 Jul 2005 01:52:18 GMT
Author: Matt Cameron
Fujitsu today announced their joint development of the world's first film substrate-based bendable color electronic paper with an image memory function. The new electronic paper features vivid color images that are unaffected even when the screen is bent, and features an image memory function that enables continuous display of the same image without the need for electricity. The thin and flexible electronic paper uses very low power to change screen images, thereby making it ideal for displaying information or advertisements in public areas as a type of new electronic media that can be handled as easily as paper. The jointly developed electronic paper will be showcased at Fujitsu Forum 2005, to be held July 14 and 15 at Tokyo International Forum.
Electronic paper offers all of the same characteristics of paper such as being thin, flexible, and lightweight. It also boasts low power consumption in that it does not require electricity except during screen image changes, making electronic paper especially suited for advertisements or information bulletins in public places for which paper is currently used. Electronic paper is especially convenient for use on curved surfaces, such as columns. In addition, electronic paper can be conveniently used in conjunction with mobile devices as an easy-to-read and portable display device.
Numerous R&D efforts are in progress in the field of electronic paper. However, thus far there had been no color electronic paper available that uses flexible film substrate capable of being bent without affecting the screen image and which features a memory function.
No electricity required for continuous display, minimal power consumption when changing screen image
* Features an image memory function that enables continuous display of the same image even when electricity is turned off therefore no electricity is required for continuous display.
* Screen image can be changed using minimal electricity consumption equivalent to the weak radiowaves used in contactless IC cards.
* Fujitsu's new technology significantly conserves energy by consuming only one one-hundredth to one ten-thousandth the energy of conventional display technologies."
In smarts, she's a perfect 10
In smarts, she's a perfect 10: "Sitting down for a personal meeting with Bill Gates this week, 10-year-old Arfa Karim Randhawa asked the Microsoft founder why the company doesn't hire people her age.
IN HER OWN WORDS
Excerpts from Todd Bishop's interview with Arfa Karim Randhawa, in MP3 format:
- Arfa describes her meeting with Bill Gates this week (1:40)
- Arfa's poem about Bill Gates (0:34)
- Arfa describes what she wants to study in college, and what she wants to do when she grows up (1:01)
- Arfa talks about the programs she has made as part of her studies (1:23)
- Arfa recites her philosophy in life (0:14)
Under the circumstances, the question wasn't so unreasonable.
Arfa, a promising software programmer from Faisalabad, Pakistan, is believed to be the youngest Microsoft Certified Professional in the world. The designation, given to outside experts who prove their ability to work with Microsoft technologies, has also been achieved by some teenagers. But it's far more common among adults seeking to advance their computer careers."
Wednesday, July 13, 2005
Food means having to say you're sorry - Yahoo! News
Food means having to say you're sorry - Yahoo! News: "BEIJING (Reuters) - Japanese customers must apologize for their country's wartime occupation of China before getting a seat at a restaurant in former Manchuria or find another place to eat, Japan's Kyodo news agency said Tuesday.
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No Japanese had tried to enter the restaurant in the northeastern Chinese city of Jilin since it started the new apology policy and hung a sign that read 'Japanese people barred from entry.'
'We totally welcome those Japanese customers who can correctly view history,' the manager, surnamed Tian, was quoted as saying.
'But as for those customers who still refuse to admit to history, we want to say we don't like them.'"
Health News Article | Reuters.co.uk
Health News Article | Reuters.co.uk: "TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's biggest drug maker, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd, said on Monday it is on track to release a sleeping pill as early as September in the United States and may extend its use to treat Alzheimer's disease and other illnesses.
The Osaka-based drug maker plans to launch its insomnia drug Ramelteon in the U.S. market in September or October, marking its entry into the central nervous system disease segment, Takeda President Yasuchika Hasegawa told an analysts' meeting."
Wired News: Faked Research Results on Rise?
Wired News: Faked Research Results on Rise?: "Allegations of misconduct by U.S. researchers reached record highs last year as the Department of Health and Human Services received 274 complaints -- 50 percent higher than 2003 and the most since 1989 when the federal government established a program to deal with scientific misconduct.
Chris Pascal, director of the federal Office of Research Integrity, said its 28 staffers and $7 million annual budget haven't kept pace with the allegations. The result: Only 23 cases were closed last year. Of those, eight individuals were found guilty of research misconduct. In the past 15 years, the office has confirmed about 185 cases of scientific misconduct."
Wired News: Faked Research Results on Rise?
Wired News: Faked Research Results on Rise?: "Allegations of misconduct by U.S. researchers reached record highs last year as the Department of Health and Human Services received 274 complaints -- 50 percent higher than 2003 and the most since 1989 when the federal government established a program to deal with scientific misconduct.
Chris Pascal, director of the federal Office of Research Integrity, said its 28 staffers and $7 million annual budget haven't kept pace with the allegations. The result: Only 23 cases were closed last year. Of those, eight individuals were found guilty of research misconduct. In the past 15 years, the office has confirmed about 185 cases of scientific misconduct."
Wired News: FDA Dithers Over Cloned Food
Wired News: FDA Dithers Over Cloned Food: "WASHINGTON -- As the Food and Drug Administration considers whether to lift a voluntary ban on selling food from cloned animals, the agency is getting some resistance from an unusual source: the dairy industry.
Trade groups for farmers and companies that use dairy products are not enthusiastic about introducing milk from cloned cows into the marketplace, fearing consumers would be leery about the products."
Health News Article | Reuters.co.uk
Health News Article | Reuters.co.uk: "BANGKOK (Reuters) - The deadly bird flu virus, which has killed 55 Asians, has erupted again in Thailand despite a major campaign to eradicate it, the government said on Monday.
Infected fowl were found this month in five places of three districts in Suphanburi province, 100 km (60 miles) north of Bangkok, during follow-up inspections of previously affected areas, a senior Agriculture Ministry official said.
The discoveries reinforced warnings by international health bodies about how difficult it will be to eliminate the H5N1 virus now it has become endemic in parts of Asia."
Health News Article | Reuters.co.uk
Health News Article | Reuters.co.uk: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Gold-colored bacteria that cause more disease than colorless strains do so because they carry antioxidants to protect themselves against immune system attack, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.
Their findings, published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine, suggest a potential new way to treat some serious infections, the researchers said.
Gold-colored strains of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, which get their color from antioxidant compounds called carotenoids, tend to cause more disease than colorless strains."
Health News Article | Reuters.co.uk
Health News Article | Reuters.co.uk: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A treatment called Lorenzo's Oil can prevent the onset of a rare but devastating neurological disease in young boys, U.S. researchers reported on Monday.
The study is the first to use validated scientific methods to test whether the substance, a combination of two fats extracted from olive oil and canola or rapeseed oil, actually works, the researchers said.
They tested the oil on 89 boys who had been diagnosed with X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy or X-ALD, but who had not yet begun to show symptoms.
Writing in the Archives of Neurology, Dr. Hugo Moser of the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore and colleagues said it prevented symptoms from ever beginning in most of the boys.
'This clinical study clearly demonstrates that the use of Lorenzo's Oil can prevent the onset of the rapidly progressive and devastating form of the brain disease that affects 50 percent of boys with X-ALD,' Moser said in a statement.
His team tested 89 boys age 7 or younger who had an abnormal gene that identifies X-ALD."
Wired News: CD-ROM Peers Into Dog Innards
Wired News: CD-ROM Peers Into Dog Innards: "A team of veterinary researchers is putting the finishing touches on a 'visible dog' software program that reveals the insides of man's best friend.
Researchers from the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine, who created an interactive Glass Horse in the 1990s, plan to release a dog CD-ROM this fall. They're also planning to update their existing 3-D look at the horse's gastrointestinal system. The products, apparently the only ones of their kind for animals, are designed for veterinary students."
Health News Article | Reuters.co.uk
Health News Article | Reuters.co.uk: "NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Although tobacco smoke is the top cause of lung cancer, some cases of the disease can be traced to smoke of a different sort, according to a new study.
Researchers in Mexico found that of 62 lung cancer patients they assessed, more than one-third of the cases were associated with exposure to wood smoke. These patients, mainly women, were non-smokers who for years had used traditional wood-burning stoves that were not equipped with a chimney to funnel the smoke outdoors.
In many countries, wood and other solid fuels are still used for heating and cooking, and some studies have found potential health hazards. A study in Brazil showed that wood-burning stoves may raise the risk of mouth and throat cancers, while others have found that smoke from wood and other sources may contribute to chronic bronchitis, emphysema and asthma."
Health News Article | Reuters.co.uk
Health News Article | Reuters.co.uk: "NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A human monoclonal antibody against the agent that causes anthrax (Bacillus anthracis protective antigen), which has shown action against inhaled anthrax in animals, appears to be safe and well tolerated in humans as well, researchers report.
'This report describes the first investigational agent against anthrax infection to be evaluated in a clinical study since the 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States,' Dr. Mani Subramanian of Human Genome Sciences in Rockville, Maryland and colleagues write in Clinical Infectious Diseases, a medical journal.
With further successful testing, the anti-anthrax agent dubbed 'PAmAb' could be used in individuals with suspected or probable exposure to aerosolized anthrax spores.
Anthrax spores lend themselves well to aerosolization are hard to breakdown in the environment; 'thus they represent one of the greatest threats in biological warfare,' the scientists note.
Following a single dose, PAmAb provided complete protection against death in a rat model of anthrax disease. It also provided a survival advantage in rabbits and monkeys.
This led Subramanian's team to investigate PAmAb's safety and activity in 105 healthy human volunteers. Subjects received a variety of doses of the agent or placebo as a continuous infusion or a single intramuscular injection.
Results showed that PAmAb can be safely administered in humans and is well tolerated, producing only transient mild-to-moderate side effects, according to the team.
Moreover, the agent has a long half-life in the human body after a single injection and, importantly, provides serum levels that have been shown to provide protection against anthrax in animals.
These findings, the researchers conclude, support 'further clinical development of PAmAb as a novel therapeutic agent for inhalational anthrax.'"
Wired News: Bush Fiddles While Specter Burns
Wired News: Bush Fiddles While Specter Burns: "Senators who want the public to pay for human embryonic stem cell studies said Tuesday that Congress must first pass legislation to lift President Bush's restrictions on such research before paying for unproven alternative methods favored by conservatives.
'I'm all for these alternative sources ... let's go ahead and pursue them. But we already know how to derive stem cells,' said Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). Harkin, with Pennsylvania Republican Arlen Specter, is sponsoring a House-passed bill to lift Bush's restrictions on stem cell research."
Health News Article | Reuters.co.uk
Health News Article | Reuters.co.uk: "NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A high IQ in adolescence and greater participation in various extracurricular activities may decrease a person's chances of developing dementia later in life, according to a study in the current Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
The study found that persons who were more active in high school and who had higher IQ scores were less likely to have mild memory and thinking problems when they got older. Conversely, those who were lower on the IQ continuum and who participated in fewer activities in high school had a higher risk of cognitive decline.
Dementia refers broadly to neurological conditions that cause decline in memory and thinking abilities (cognition) and the ability to perform activities of daily living. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause of dementia in persons 65 years of age or older. It's been estimated that 4.5 million people in the U.S. have the Alzheimer's disease.
The new findings 'add to a growing body of knowledge that dementias, such as Alzheimer's disease, may have a very long-term course, perhaps starting decades before clinical symptoms emerge,' said study author Dr. Thomas Fritsch, of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
'They also indicate that the risk for dementia late in life may be decreased by maintaining an active lifestyle as a teenager,' he added. 'However, this conclusion is based on only one study and must be confirmed in other research.'"
Autism in Hawaii Nearly Doubles in 4 Years - Yahoo! News
Autism in Hawaii Nearly Doubles in 4 Years - Yahoo! News: "HONOLULU - The number of autistic children in Hawaii's public school system has nearly doubled in the past four years, state education officials said.
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There were 1,143 students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders last month compared to 656 students August 2001, officials told the Board of Education on Monday.
Autism includes a range of neuropsychiatric disorders affecting a person's ability to interact socially and communicate, causing unusual and repetitive behavior.
Dr. Paul Ban, director of the Education Department's Special Education Services Branch, said although autism is on the rise, the percentage of students with learning disabilities and other special-education needs has held steady at around 12 percent."
Internet News Article | Reuters.co.uk
Internet News Article | Reuters.co.uk: "BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. computer chip maker Intel (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research) , computer makers and distributors were raided by European Commissio