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Yes, thats same Bose who invented the namesake sound system. I think his was based on magnetic levitation.

Wait wait wait... he died again? This is the third time!

(Take two: Fixing my dead link.)

Wait wait wait... he died again? This is the third time!

(Take two: Fixing my dead link.)

Wait wait wait... he died again? This is the third time!

Wait wait wait... he died again? This is the third time!

PRS-700BC includes built-in LED reading light and a touch-screen and virtual keyboard for quick annotation or search, and it'll read PDF, though current MSRP is $399.99 USD. I imagine it'll drop in the near future, to compete with comparable or improved features on the Kindle 2, which is selling for $40 less. Here's a detailed comparison vs Kindle 1, and a new comparison vs Kindle 2

California Uses More Gas than China http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/07/amazing-stat-ca.html http://www.rediff.com/money/2008/jul/23look.htm just think about it..

Wired published an interesting article last month about the "good, bad and sleazy" of the location-aware future.

Several people have done it. Ring finger is normal, I think, since it's the least used in gripping and such. Quinn Norton got an implant, for instance.

You perhaps read this, and you're not the only person to want one. This guy also built one, and perhaps we should too.

Actually, if you are a modern civil engineer, you could probably get by just fine using nothing but Newtonian mechanics.

And just a note for all of the non-civil engineers out there; knowing "nothing but" Newtonian mechanics doesn't mean simple, back of the hand calculations. A (good) civil engineer needs to know the math that applies to many different subfields. For example, take the Zipingpu Dam, just knowing how to build that dam doesn't mean anything if you're building it over a weak spot on the earth's crust.

Similarly, just building a skyscraper doesn't mean just knowing how high you can build it before it falls down. It also means knowing how to model the effects of air flow around the building, the effects on/by the type of material used, etc. Anyone remember Gertie?

For more, feel free to see Wikipedia's article on civil engineering.

This sounds less invasive than the California law, approved by voters by 62% in 2004, which does the following:

• Requires collection of DNA samples from all felons, and from adults and juveniles arrested for or charged with specified crimes, and submission to state DNA database; and; in 2009, from adults arrested for or charged with any felony.
• Authorizes local law enforcement laboratories to perform analyses for state database and maintain local database.
• Specifies procedures for confidentiality and removing samples from databases.

More here.

Except this time there are graphs - there are graphs!~

Chicken chicken chicken

Chicken Chicken Chicken: Chicken Chicken

Goa'uld!

He said robot snake.
http://blog.wired.com/underwire/2009/01/terminator-dire.html

Where exactly does a Web site "do business"? Geolocation is far from perfect, and while Google may have facilities in Europe, essentially all Web sites are available there, so even your local pizzeria with a brochureware Web page is potentially subject to Italian prosecution just like Google. Or French. Or Saudi. Just ask Dow Jones, which was successfully sued in Australia under Australian law for defamation based upon an article on the Barrons.com Web site.

The Internet is without borders, but the law isn't. That's the real challenge here, and it's one that is becoming more and more problematic for companies of all sizes, in all industries, as they expand their online operations. {ProfJonathan}

Where exactly does a Web site "do business"? Geolocation is far from perfect, and while Google may have facilities in Europe, essentially all Web sites are available there, so even your local pizzeria with a brochureware Web page is potentially subject to Italian prosecution just like Google. Or French. Or Saudi. Just ask Dow Jones, which was successfully sued in Australia under Australian law for defamation based upon an article on the Barrons.com Web site.

The Internet is without borders, but the law isn't. That's the real challenge here, and it's one that is becoming more and more problematic for companies of all sizes, in all industries, as they expand their online operations. {ProfJonathan}

A couple of years ago I invested $10 in a metal travel wallet that functions as a de facto Faraday Cage. Or you could spend 8x that on a microwoven stainless steel version...

"The Hammer" ...Maybe that can be your nickname in federal pound-me-in-the-ass prison. article

South Koreans consume LOTS of bandwidth just watching "broadcasting" and films/"pirated" DVDs. Probably there is little crackdown on at least the piracy of DVDs and related material because ultimately sales downstream probably depend upon or are enhanced by it. Plus, in the South, there are seriously dedicated gamers who'd probably put to shame just about any of the rest of the world.

The Bandwidth Capital of the World
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.08/korea.html

Korea Broadband Archives (12)
http://www.websiteoptimization.com/bw/broadband/korea/

Who Wants To Watch Full Length Movies On Their Mobile Phones?
http://techdirt.com/articles/20080401/105208716.shtml

south korea, bandwidth
http://www.zdnetasia.com/tags/south-korea+bandwidth/

Until and unless US bandwidth consumers need or demand higher speed and quality and demand it for reasonable (to consumer, not to the execs/investors or excessive R&D or boondoggling) pricing, people here will just shrug it off.

Afterall, don't forget:

Two-thirds of Americans without broadband don't want it
http://arstechnica.com/telecom/news/2009/01/two-thirds-of-americans-without-broadband-dont-want-it.ars

Most Americans without broadband don't want it
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/01/23/poll_most_without_broadband_dont_want_it/

(Captcha: maleness)

worthwhile again. This means put in proper cover art, lyric sheets, etc rather than just a tiny scrap of paper.

I'd substitute vinyl records for CDs. Here'a an interesting article from "Wired", "Vinyl May Be Final Nail in CD's Coffin". Best Buy and Costco are starting to sell vinyl.

Sign some fucking new artists for god's sakes.

There are at least 4 shops within a couple of miles of me that sell vinyl. At one someone told me vinyl was popular with local artists.

There's also one thing I'd love to see happen from the government's end, which would be to reinstate the radio station ownership rules. It used to be, there were over 5000 different radio companies in the US. Now, 98% of the US market is owned by only 5 companies;

Which rules are you talking about? The rules I'll support are those used before the FRC, Federal Radio Commission, which was the predecessor to the FCC. Back then radiowaves were homesteaded. The first person to use a radio frequency was allowed to use that frequency in that area. If someone came along after and started broadcasting and it interfered with the first broadcaster the second station had to move to another frequency or stop broadcasting. And the courts were applying the common law theory of property rights to this. It was after Radio Act of 1927 which created the FRC that airwaves were licensed.

Falcon

As the attackers in Mumbai made use of phones and other mobile devices the NYPD wants top have the ability to cut mobile phone access as and when needed. As reported in Danger Room a short while ago http://blog.wired.com/defense/2009/01/nypd-eyes-disru.html

Honestly though, how is sharing a copy of a game you own a problem? You lend people books don't you? Or movies? What about movie/video game rental stores like Blockbuster or Hollywood Video? In short, explain how its a problem or there isn't one.

Are these serious questions? The answers are blatantly obvious. I'm no DRM fanboy, that's for sure - but are you seriously trying to compare sharing a copy of a game with loaning a book or DVD to a friend? In the first case, you now have TWO copies of said game (which is copyright infringement) and now you BOTH can enjoy the game AT THE SAME TIME. In your second and third cases, your friend can enjoy the content or you can, but not both (unless you both watch it together). I mean seriously... duh.

DRM scheme has been an failure

Unfortunately, your links are wrong. DRM is generally not meant to prevent piracy, it's meant to prevent 0 Day piracy and as long as it can between release and when the price drops from it's release price. That is the point of DRM, and in that it has had varying degrees of success.

Now, I am not saying that DRM is right or good or even necessary. In fact, I think DRM should be limited to the bare minimum of CD-KEY and/or the discs not being copyable by Joe-Average trying to make a quick copy for his friends. Anything beyond that is pretty pointless and just hassles paying customers.

No one really likes DRM however there is little effort on the Anti-DRM Camp to come up with a solution that fixes the companies problem, of illegal piracy, or sharing a copy with your friends.

Game companies already had a solution for the "problem" of people sharing a copy they own. Blizzard's "Spwaned Copies" were freaking amazing. Honestly though, how is sharing a copy of a game you own a problem? You lend people books don't you? Or movies? What about movie/video game rental stores like Blockbuster or Hollywood Video? In short, explain how its a problem or there isn't one.

Also, why do the people that are against DRM get saddled with finding a "solution" to piracy? Every single DRM scheme has been an failure and damaging to the consumer to the point that some people feel morally obliged not to buy the games anymore from those companies. Better still, these DRM schemes do nothing but encourage you to pirate the game since the pirated version doesn't have the DRM!

DRM is not working. This is very fucking obvious. Until they figure out something else to try, they should go back to only having the CD-KEY (which doesn't stop people from pirating in any way whatsoever, but makes it easier in multiplayer games to ban disruptive players. EA already is under a Class Action lawsuit due to the DRM in Spore before it moved to Steam. How many more game companies are going to have to be attacked legally by their own fans to get them to stop ripping us off?

Oh and before you bitch I have a link to Steam in with the failures, remember that the Steam DRM does get cracked on occasion. They just patch and ban accounts. Will not stop players from doing it for single player or LAN games (and it takes no real effort) but as a DRM system it still fails at its task. On the plus side at least its largely bearable.

The CEO of Qwest Communications made the same claim and he ended up in jail. They were the only telco that refused to turn over caller records without a proper subpoena. He also claims that the wiretapping program began before 9-11. And he isn't the only one.

Used to be, flesh-eating robots could eat only slugs.

...from back in 2001 was UWE's Slugbot, which was supposed to 'live off the land' by finding and digesting agricultural pests:

http://www.wired.com/gadgets/miscellaneous/news/2001/10/47156

Another summary from Danger Room http://blog.wired.com/defense/2009/01/pentagons-cybor.html

If I were the decision maker to choose the name, I would have named it Otto.

http://www.wired.com/cars/futuretransport/magazine/16-09/ff_agassi?currentPage=all

What, no love for the Big 3? Lemme see here. We've got the range-extended Town & Country EV from Chrysler that will do 40 miles on a single charge, plus another 360 miles using a mixed gasoline-electric propulsion. They're also working on Dodge and Jeep vehicles with similar designs.

Ford used to have the market in a bag with their Ford Ranger EV pickup. Of course, they discontinued it in 2002. Now they're playing catch-up with the rest of the market. They are promising an electric vehicle by 2011, so there should be plenty of competition in late 2010/early 2011.

Speaking of competition, what discussion is complete without mentioning the Chevy Volt? Still the gold standard for the emerging industry, it will be anyone's guess if it lives up to the hype.

Then there's the announcement by Aptera of the first pre-production model of the Aptera 2e

I rather like the look of this car, but I am concerned by a couple of issues. First up is the single back wheel. Won't that make the vehicle a rollover hazard? I presume the front wheels are extended to help mitigate this issue, but one good blowout looks like it could send that sucker fishtailing right into roll. (And for that matter, how servicable is that tire?)

My second issue is the power-train. Generally you want as much weight sprung as possible, and electric motors are heavy. Aptera seems to understand that as it appears there is an axel linkage on the front wheels. Presumably this is how power is transmitted. Is having that axel exposed going to cause any safety and reliability issues? I'm just imagining something flying off the road and getting wrapped around the the axel. Or in an accident, a pedestrian getting an appendage caught in there.

Or is this a rear-wheel drive vehicle? In which case, is that axel really necessary? Could'nt the steering be accomplished by swiveling independent pods rather than linking them?

Just my 0.005 cents worth after accounting for inflation. :-P

P.S. The Shelby looks pretty darn sweet! I'd never spend money to purchase a vehicle like that*, but I wouldn't mind taking her for a spin.

* Unless I had way too much!

My opinion is that attitude and philosophy towards government, such as yours, is the underlying problem.

stop thinking of government as a necessary evil, it's the completely wrong way of looking at it and it allows people like Bush to get into power who have no interest in anything but filling his own pocket.

Republicans think of government as necessary evil, that's why every time they're in power, they screw it up.

Yes, because the Democrats get it right everytime, right? Even the currrent Congress which is and has been a clean sweep of the left? Stop blaming one man (and one party) for everything wrong in this country, it makes you look like a simple minded ideologist with a personal axe to grind. Politicians are politicians.

I really was waiting for Bush to ignore the 8 year deadline and just continue as president, but thankfully that didn't happen.

You people always praise the private industry for having the solutions, even though the private industry has never-ever been able to self regulate to the benefit of the people they serve.

Mostly you're praising that individuals of great achievement can get things done, guess what, you finally elected one as the head of government, and I sincerely hope you not only allow him to clean up the mess that "necessary evil" thinkers got us into, but also CHANGE so you won't ever allow someone as grossly incompetent as Bush gets to power.

Acting as though Bush was an evil dictator and poor ol' Congress was helpless to stop him indicates you live in a fantasy world.
And history has shown again and again just how well Governments treat their people when it gets too large and powerful. Governments are a necessary evil. If people were perfect and always generous and kind towards each other, and selfishness was eradicated, (ie, a Utopian state) there would be no need for governments.

So what has Obama actually achieved to date? He's called for reviews, , started some processes, but "achieved" nothing just yet. Well, except maybe for going back on his word about appointing lobbyists.
Oops, there's one thing he's done - he sided with Bush to continue warrantless wire taps:
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2009/01/obama-sides-wit.html

http://blog.wired.com/business/2009/01/mozilla-goes-to.html

What about seeding the ocean?

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/01/fertilizethis.html

Seems like algae growth should increase with more dissolved CO2. Presumably it is limited by things like iron. The idea is you seed the ocean, algae bloom and if you get it right the dead algae sink to the bottom where it could stay for thousands of years.

You can take care of the temperature by spraying sulphate aerosols or see water into the stratoshere.

http://sciencetalks.jpl.nasa.gov/meetings/2008/es/042201/PJR_JPL_april2008.ppt

A lot of web developers are going to be very angry about this. They said there was going to be a 3rd Beta before RC1. RC1 wasn't to be expected before the Mix conference that MS has. Also originally IE9 was meant to be using the new Triton engine instead of being based on the Trident engine that started in IE3 and is in all the other ones since then. It looks like that isn't true anymore. Some more details about IE8 and IE9 here http://blog.wired.com/business/2009/01/more-details-ab.html

Yes I believe it is a law in Japan. The iPhone sold there has been modified to have a shutter sound that can not be shut off.

It has HUGE privacy implications and honestly... IT'S A GREAT IDEA.

Here is how it helps:
- No more sneaky upskirt pics
- No more sneaky downblouse pics
- No more sneaky pedophile pics
- No more sneaky locker room pics
- No more corporate espionage, taking pics of confidential cad drawings / design specs

Here is how it hurts:
- You can't jack off to sneaky pictures on the internet anymore
- That girl's boyfriend is going to kick your ass for taking a picture of her butt
- Your cat might lose their cute lolcat pose when it hears the click

Seriously, before everybody gets all pissed off about the law, consider the fact that the right to privacy is one of the basic (and most overlooked) parts of America's constitution. Giving people the knowledge that their privacy is potentially being violated is a big step in the right direction.

I love the thin client model. I've used NCD with Sun Servers, SunRays, Citrix and Windows TS. You can't beat the price, simplicity, energy savings or maintenance schedule. The only problem I ran into was streaming video. They don't (or until recently didn't) stream video well.

Now that Youtube is one of the dominant search engines you kind of have to expect your brand new school to want streaming video. If not now, then certainly long before it is time to replace your thin clients.

I know that's not a solution but it is something to consider.

I presume you missed this.

Thanks for the info, but it's still not evidence that MS's current problems are due to Linux.

Good point. It's probably due to the dreadful economy and their conversion from growth company to utility. But Apple isn't faring badly even in the downturn, Vista is the bee's flaming immolation, and Linux is gaining share. Also, Microsoft bet the wrong way in the recent election cycle

So there's hope for change. I'm for it.

I wonder if they are taking any bets on the probability of an "oops" incident.

Source: July 16, 1945: Trinity Blast Opens Atomic Age @ Wired "The Trinity test, as it was known, was the culmination of the American effort to win the race against Germany (and, ultimately, the Soviet Union) in building an atomic bomb. A mere three weeks after the test, the United States used atomic bombs to destroy the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But prior to the 16th, none of those involved in the project knew if they had built a devastating new weapon or a spectacular dud. With gallows humor, the Los Alamos physicists got up a betting pool on the possible yield of the bomb. Estimates ranged from zero to as high as 45,000 tons of TNT. Enrico Fermi, who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1938 for his work on nuclear fission, offered side odds on the bomb destroying all life on the planet."

Fermi did have a sense of humor. Offering a side bet for a contingency in which you can never collect sounds like classic scientist humor to me.

what do you mean by full support from developers? Do you mean having software for the system like adobe? They are starting to get there as flash has been on a parallel release for a short time. There are other developers working on linux now too but your right it's not just there yet. Well if that's what you mean by full support of developers. But no OS has the FULL support can't run garage band on windows can you?

The main reason I wanted to respond was because you also said until you can go to walmart to buy linux software it will never work. I guess you haven't seen the news http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/10/200-everex-gree.html/ http://news.cnet.com/Walmart.com-to-sell-more-Linux-software/2100-1012_3-5066148.html/ or http://www.informationweek.com/news/software/linux/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=202805941/

Also typically the point of linux is that you don't have to go out and buy the software, it comes with the OS or with a quick apt-get from a repository. It's free typically you won't see it in the stores for that reason. I would like to see in the future stores selling the CD's and DVD's of distros, as well as openoffice and other alternatives for the cost of production and shelving but I don't think they need to for it to catch on. You just need enough people who have had a good experiance with it for it to start being a force.

I'm not a linux fan boi I don't think that it's had a large effect on Microsofts market but it has definatly changed it. Linux is a large part of the embeded market, they had Microsoft playing catchup in the netbook market, and distro's like ubuntu are getting closer and closer to being where they need to, to take on Microsoft. I would argu for most people it's there.

The summary and the article it links to make it seem like much more of a big deal than it actually is:

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/files/alharamainobama.pdf

It's a procedural motion for a stay pending appeal. It's not a policy endorsement, it's them looking to have the judge's ruling put on hold until appeals are over.

That's not to say that Obama won't wind up agreeing with Bush on this, just that this particular filing doesn't actually indicate that.

Agreed, to an extent. They appealed a ruling that the court issued that the government could not rely on the state secrets privilege to withhold documents from plaintiff's counsel. Their filing states they are seeking to stay proceedings pending their interlocutory appeal of the judge's ruling. Basically, they are stating that if they proceed with the case, then the appellate court's ruling on the state secrets privilege will be moot because information that they regard as subject to the state secret privilege will have already been disclosed to plaintiff's counsel. So, although not a directly a policy endorsement, they are still claiming the state secrets privilege applies and that the information should not have to be turned over to the plaintiffs. Any real difference here?

in this document? Does that look like his Attorney General's name to you? No, that's Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michael F. Hertz, who served under Alberto Gonzales; Obama's AG hasn't been confirmed yet.

The US government didn't magically transform itself at the stroke of noon on Tuesday.

Didn't it occur to anyone here that Obama's attorney general pick hasn't even been confirmed yet? Obama is only nominally in charge of the DOJ at this point. So who do you think it is filing these papers? Well, the names are right in the PDF, starting with Michael F. Hertz. Yes, Michael F. Hertz, Deputy Assistant Attorney General under Alberto Gonzales.

The summary and the article it links to make it seem like much more of a big deal than it actually is:

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/files/alharamainobama.pdf

It's a procedural motion for a stay pending appeal. It's not a policy endorsement, it's them looking to have the judge's ruling put on hold until appeals are over.

That's not to say that Obama won't wind up agreeing with Bush on this, just that this particular filing doesn't actually indicate that.

The US already has more households with broadband than with cable TV. About 20% of the population can barely read, let alone type. Why expect broadband penetration to go much higher.

The countries with higher broadband penetration than the US are all either tiny or very cold. Except for South Korea, where most of the population lives in big apartment buildings.

Source: July 16, 1945: Trinity Blast Opens Atomic Age @ Wired
"The Trinity test, as it was known, was the culmination of the American effort to win the race against Germany (and, ultimately, the Soviet Union) in building an atomic bomb. A mere three weeks after the test, the United States used atomic bombs to destroy the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
But prior to the 16th, none of those involved in the project knew if they had built a devastating new weapon or a spectacular dud.
With gallows humor, the Los Alamos physicists got up a betting pool on the possible yield of the bomb. Estimates ranged from zero to as high as 45,000 tons of TNT. Enrico Fermi, who won the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1938 for his work on nuclear fission, offered side odds on the bomb destroying all life on the planet."

XBox Live is actually decent to use. The PS Network sucks... waiting in line at a virtual fucking bowling alley? Even if it's free, it's not worth using. It's like saying that a putrid sandwich from last week you found in the gutter is better than the one you bought for lunch today since it was free.

Even more sad is when the successor to said evil-doers himself intends to protect the criminals that helped do it.

And of course "The One" can be trusted to keep official communications off his Blackberry. Yeah, sure. Imagine the kerfuffle were it revealed there were no recorded communications between Bush 43 and oh say Karl Rove on any known official e-mail system, the ACLU and the Dhimmicreeps would go berzerk.

Um, I don't really get the point of your post. The Bush administration had a pretty solid record of keeping things secret. They had a policy to hide information, use non-government email servers for government communications, and invoke "presidential privilege" at the drop of a hat. People that are interested in transparent government don't like that.

Obama has already enacted a policy of greater transparency and made it clear to his administration that he intends to operate more openly. Maybe he'll actually follow it. Maybe he won't. But things are looking up.

And "The One" and "Dhimmicreeps"? This foaming-at-the-mouth categorical hatred is just as stupid on the "right" as it is on the "left."

think I'm joking right?

there's already a lawsuit

1300 raptors are killed annually. Among them are 70 golden eagles that are federally protected. In total, 4700 birds are killed annually.

although I'm sure these are a little better planned out then they're predecessors I still haven't heard anyone talk about this in a long while.