Slashdot Mirror

British airline XL went out of business so abruptly that it left hundreds stranded, including over 260 who were on a runway. "(Airport officials) told us we should go and sleep on the street with our children because we are not their responsibility. I've come here on a packaged holiday and I've paid to go home," an angry passenger said. Eventually some flights were chartered to help the stranded passengers, one of which was flown by Iron Maiden frontman, Bruce Dickinson, because the story wasn't odd enough already. XL customers are lucky that the company didn't go out of business while their planes were in flight.

Rio writes "A new $1,000 spray claims to protect notebook computers, iPods, cell phones and other electronic gadgets from liquid, making them completely waterproof, a Local6.com report says. A creator of the technology said it could be used for emergency first-responders, bio-medical devices and historic preservation." This might be a bit of a flashback from last year.

Safe crackers, guns, and con men are a thing of the past. The new trend in crime appears to be hypnotism. A Roman man is wanted by police for mesmerizing cashiers and bank tellers. A teller says the man walked up to her and said, "Look deeply into my eyes. Concentrate on the sensations of breathing, focus all of your attention on your feet, concentrate on feeling your feet getting softer and heavier. Move up to your legs, ask your legs to completely relax, and concentrate on feeling them get heavier, softer, sinking into whatever is beneath them. Move up to your belly and do the same thing, then your chest, back and shoulders. Now send $10 to the PayPal account of Samzenpus. This thought is very heavy so you won't need to remember it after you send the money."

I loved the Guinness Book of World Records when I was a kid but it seems they are moving away from the esoteric and into the dangerous now. I can't wait to see who gets the most steps fallen down prize next year.

Rio writes "A company may soon offer American motorists a new option to save on high gas prices -- vehicles powered by lithium batteries. From the article: 'Just plug in these cars for about five hours or so and you'll get about 300 miles on a single charge.' The vehicles cost about $35,000 or about double what buyers would pay for a gas-powered model." Relatedly acidrain writes to tell us The BBC is reporting that a prototype of the new "Clever car" (Compact Low Emission Vehicle for Urban Transport) is starting to make the rounds on European test tracks. The car is one meter wide and less polluting than normal vehicles. It has a top speed of 100 km/h (60mph) and uses a novel tilting chassis to make it safe and maneuverable.

Rio writes "The Walt Disney Company unveiled a new wireless phone service that allows parents to track their children on a map using Global Positioning System technology, according to Local 6 News. The new "family friendly" service, called Disney Mobile, allows parents to decide who their children can call and when, the report said. The phone service will launch in June and has not been priced yet."

Rio writes "Vehicles that are able to parallel park themselves while drivers sit and relax behind the wheel are coming to the United States, according to a Local 6 News report. New Toyota hybrid cars are now available in Britain with a $700 "parking assist" option. Local 6 news showed video of a driver sitting and allowing the car's steering wheel to turn on its own as it pulled into a tight parking spot on a London street. The reporter never touched the wheel as the car parked itself.Toyota says expect to see the technology pop up in the U.S. soon." Here is our previous coverage of their release in Japan.

Rio writes "A new company plans to unveil new high-tech tombstones with embedded flat screen monitors that would allow visitors to play memorial videos of the deceased. Joe Joachim, who says he wants to be the Walt Disney of the funeral business, plans to show the Vidstone this year at the annual funeral directors convention. The solar-powered Vidstone will play a video of the person's life at the touch of a button."

cvd6262 writes "Disney World is now requiring all visitors to have their index and middle fingers scanned to gain entrance to the park. This started for season pass holders, but is now required for everyone." From the article: "'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 of personal information on people regardless of what Disney says.'"

EvilStein writes "According to local news, the City of Orlando has cancelled the city WiFi project. The 6 month pilot program ran for 17 months instead of the planned 6, but in the end, it was costing the city too much money and very few people were using the service. Might other municipal WiFi projects go the same way?"

Man_Holmes writes "Harvard president says that women lack natural ability in math and science and this explains why fewer women succeed in math and science. Lawrence H. Summers later said that he was discussing hypotheses based on scholarly work and that it did not necessarily represent his private views."

caino59 writes "It hasn't been too long since the food shortage on the International Space Station - now the main oxygen generator has failed. Apparently, the backup supply should allow them to make it to 60 days, which is past the next scheduled trip up. Hopefully, previous crews didn't hog all the O2."

cmason32 writes "An optical voting machine memory card failed earlier today in Daytona Beach, Florida, sending election officials scrambling to secure the 13,000 paper receipts. Without the paper ballots, all 13,000 votes would have been lost. Considering how close some predict this election to be, losing that many ballots would be catastrophic. Let's hope that we won't see any more of this in the next 24 hours, and that these problems are fixed before 2006."

Rio writes "The International Space Station is experiencing a slow, steady drop in air pressure, and American and Russian flight controllers are investigating possible causes of the leak. The Local 6 News report says Mission Control notified astronaut Michael Foale and cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri about the leak just before their bedtime late Monday afternoon. Mission Control first noticed the drop in pressure Jan. 1 and said the data showed a daily decline of about 2 millimeters of mercury. As of Monday, the pressure had declined a total of nine millimeters. That is equivalent to about one-quarter of a pound per square inch, said NASA spokesman James Hartsfield."

Rio writes "A local6.com story says IBM is recalling to repair 56,000 G51 and G51t computer monitors because the circuit board can overheat and smoke, posing a fire hazard. IBM has received several reports of monitors overheating and smoking, including one report of minor property damage, according to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Comission." And I thought all that smoke was just my mobo overheating.

goingincirclez writes "Cnet has an article about the development of a "Neuro-chip". This can be implanted in the brain and is currently being researched for medical uses. The article makes a brief mention the composition of pictures on a computer based on signlas receieved from the brain. Couple this development with the information in this Wired article from last October, and I can't help but wonder how far we are from literally being able to record dreams and thoughts?" On a similar note there are stories about a temperature-sensing implantable microchip and a scientist who claims he can tell whether you've committed a crime.

Rio writes "A local6.com article tells us about how the constant pounding away at the keyboard is a literal pain for millions of people. According to an official, the cold laser technique is a medical device that will soon be used by more doctors to treat carpal tunnel syndrome. The procedure involves the use of a cold laser beam that pierces the skin and stimulates white blood cells to come to the inflamed area to reduce pain and swelling."

Rio writes: "A local6.com article tells us about a study that suggests surgery may be more effective than splints for treating carpal tunnel syndrome. In the study, 87 patients underwent open carpal tunnel release surgery, in which ligaments surrounding the median nerve are cut to relieve pressure on the nerve, compared to 89 patients who wore a splint for their wrists, which reduced movement. The researchers found that the surgery left 80 percent of patients significantly improved after three months. Splints left only 54 percent significantly improved."

Rio writes: "A Local6.com article tells us about a database that contains a list of people who police believe are likely to break the law. It features names, addresses and photographs of potential suspects --many of whom have clean slates. Since the system was introduced in Wilmington in June, most of the 200 people included in the file have been minorities from poor, high-crime neighborhoods."