Permanent quartz glass data storage announced by Hitachi

 

 

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Permanent quartz glass data storage announced by Hitachi, could hit market by 2015

via Engadget by Steve Dent on 9/26/12

Sure, we can store huge quantities of bits in a tiny space, but how long will that data last? Current optical, magnetic and flash storage media have limited shelf lives, so Hitachi has announced a new way of locking up ones and zeros in quartz glass for hundreds of millions of years. The data can be etched with a laser in three layers on the crystals at a density slightly higher than a CD, then read out with an optical microscope, meaning that future generations could restore the info without needing a proprietary drive. The technology could come to market in three years, according to the research lab -- but would likely be targeted at companies first, who would need to send in their data to be encoded. Hitachi said the media withstood two hours of 3500 degree Fahrenheit temperatures in testing without data loss, meaning that archaeologists from the future may one day uncover your questionable taste.

Filed under: Storage, Science

Permanent quartz glass data storage announced by Hitachi, could hit market by 2015 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 Sep 2012 06:34:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Whisky 'leftovers' to fuel cars

 

 

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Whisky 'leftovers' to fuel cars

via BBC News - Home on 9/24/12

In what is said to be a world first, the by-products from whisky making at a Scots distillery could be turned into fuel for cars.

 

 

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Apple to meet with Swiss railway over clock design dispute

 

 

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Apple to meet with Swiss railway over clock design dispute

via SlashGear by Craig Lloyd on 9/24/12

A few days ago, the Swiss Federal Railway service (SBB) accused Apple of copying one of its iconic clock designs that shows up in the Clock app in iOS 6. Today, the two companies announced that they will be meeting with one another to settle the dispute, and apparently there's no intention of suing for money.

The iconic Swiss clock, which was designed in 1944 by former SBB employee Hans Hilfiker, looks almost identical to Apple's version with the same black dashes and the big red dot at the end of the second hand. The design happens to be licensed to a Swiss watch company called Mondaine. So essentially, Apple could be easily found guilty of infringement.

However, Apple and the SBB have decided to settle this one like gentlemen. Representatives from both sides are expected to meet sometime within the next couple of weeks (or even months) to talk about the situation and hopefully come to a conclusion that both sides agree on. Plus, the SBB has stated that its proud that its clock had been chosen for iOS 6.

This comes right after Apple accused Samsung of copyright infringement and won in court to the tune of $1.05 billion. Apple saw themselves as the good guys, while Samsung (the bad guys) was wrongfully copying the designs of the iPhone and iPad. Now, Apple is the one being accused of copying something. Oh how the tables have turned.

[via CNET]

Apple to meet with Swiss railway over clock design dispute is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

 

 

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'EU has Large-scale plans for surveillance of all communications'

 

 

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'EU has Large-scale plans for surveillance of all communications'

via OSNews by donotreply@osnews.com (Thom Holwerda) on 9/24/12

"A leaked document from the CleanIT project shows just how far internal discussions in that initiative have drifted away from its publicly stated aims, as well as the most fundamental legal rules that underpin European democracy and the rule of law. The European Commission-funded CleanIT project claims that it wants to fight terrorism through voluntary self-regulatory measures that defends the rule of law. The initial meetings of the initiative, with their directionless and ill-informed discussions about doing 'something' to solve unidentified online 'terrorist' problems were mainly attended by filtering companies, who saw an interesting business opportunity. Their work has paid off, with numerous proposals for filtering by companies and governments, proposals for liability in case sufficiently intrusive filtering is not used, and calls for increased funding by governments of new filtering technologies." I'll just leave a link here to one of the most popular OSNews articles of all time.

 

 

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Episode 1608 Press Release

 

 

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Episode 1608 Press Release

via South Park Studios News on 9/23/12

From tomorrow's Comedy Central Press Release:

SOUTH PARK ELEMENTARY TAKES STEPS TO ADDRESS FOOTBALL'S CONCUSSION CRISIS
ON AN ALL-NEW "SOUTH PARK" PREMIERING ON WEDNESDAY,
SEPTEMBER 26 AT 10:00 P.M. ON COMEDY CENTRAL

--------
All-New "South Park" Episodes From This Season are Available in HD Exclusively on Xbox LIVE, iTunes, Sony PlayStation
Network, Amazon Instant Video and Vudu, and Samsung Media Hub.
Episodes are Also Available on SouthParkStudios.com.
--------

NEW YORK, September 24, 2012 - Randy's attitude toward new safety rules in the game of football CHANGES THE SPORT IN A BIG WAY in an all-new episode of "South Park" titled, "Sarcastaball," premiering Wednesday, September 26 at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT on Comedy Central.

As a concerned parent, Randy radically changes the way football is played at South Park Elementary. The new version of the game quickly becomes the nation's most popular sport. One gifted student emerges as a star athlete in Sarcastaball.

 

 

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Engineering everything

http://www.embedded.com/electronics-blogs/other/4396217/Engineering-everything

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Curiosity discovers pyramid-shaped rock on Mars

In the Prometheus movie (where everything was scientifically accurate), the "scientists" on-board the spaceship boasted that straight lines can only be a product of intelligence. So, this rock specimen has been obviously crafted by an intelligent organism.-

 

 

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Curiosity discovers pyramid-shaped rock on Mars

via SlashGear by Shane McGlaun on 9/21/12

Curiosity is rolling around the surface of Mars looking for interesting rocks to study. The rover has come across a rock laying on the surface of Mars with very interesting pyramid shape. The rock was discovered as Curiosity was cruising to an area known as Glenelg.

NASA researchers expect to find a combination of three different types of geological terrain in the Glenelg area. The pyramid-shaped rock is 2.5 m in front of the rover in the photograph above and measures 25 cm tall and 40 cm wide. Curiosity will take some time to test the rock before it moves on to its target area.

Researchers believe that the rock is a lump of Martian basalt, and researchers have given it a curious name. The rock is called "Jake Matijevic" and is named after the surface operations systems chief engineer for Mars Science Laboratory. Matijevic died just after Curiosity touched down on Mars on August 6.

According to scientist John Grotzinger, the pyramid-shaped rock isn't uncommon and is believed to be a product of wind erosion. He also noted that the consensus is the rock was ejected by an impact somewhere else, possibly outside of the Gail Crater. The researcher noted that the pyramid-shaped rock is weathering slower than the material around it indicating that it's a harder rock.

Story Timeline

• Curiosity shoots laser at Coronation rock on Mars
• Curiosity becomes First roving machine on Mars
• Curiosity Mars descent gets 1080p video
• Curiosity rover leaves Mars landing site for first time
• Mars Curiosity rover breathes in the air around it
• Curiosity beams back high-res self portraits during 7ft robo-arm testing
• Curiosity Rover robotic arm tests are nearly complete
• Awesome Curiosity landing video gets sound effects

[via News.com.au]

Curiosity discovers pyramid-shaped rock on Mars is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

 

 

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Στρατόπεδα που κλείνουν θα μετατραπούν σε κέντρα κράτησης μεταναστών

http://news.in.gr/greece/article/?aid=1231213837
ta gnosta ke os "stratopeda sigkentrosis" :P
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Neanderthals 'harvested feathers'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19623929#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa
And humans were harvesting obsidian to crush neanderthals' heads with :p

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Warp drive may be more possible than scientists previously believed

http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/bg8Am6HBgzg/
So that's how they've come to earth :p
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Astronomers discover first planets around sun-like stars in a cluster

http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/ezpTLF_Nass/
I don't know about you, but I find the words "swarm" and "cluster" eerily attractive :)

Supercomputer built from Raspberry Pi and Lego, managed by humans rather than Minifigs

http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/13/supercomputer-built-from-raspberry-pi-and-lego/

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Orca menopause helps protect sons

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/19561076
Humans have developed the same ability. The sons are the most important asset. :P "are you having a boy or an abortion", sacha baron Cohen as the dictator aladeen (2012)
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Wildcats 'extinct within months'

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-19569538#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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Foxconn contrite after new production exposé

http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/o8LhC6ob11c/
And the prize for the best workplace goes to...
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09/05/12 PHD comic: 'Endless Summer'

 

 

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09/05/12 PHD comic: 'Endless Summer'

via PHD Comics on 9/6/12

Piled Higher & Deeper by Jorge Cham		www.phdcomics.com
title: "Endless Summer" - originally published 9/5/2012 For the latest news in PHD Comics, CLICK HERE!

 

 

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Google Search is only 18% Search

http://osnews.com/story/26343/Google_Search_is_only_18_Search

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Ethernet gets new IEEE standard, still requires your thumbnail

http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/05/ethernet-gets-new-ieee-standard/
802.3 FTW \m/
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Social Robots May Gain Legal Rights, Says MIT Researcher

http://rss.slashdot.org/~r/Slashdot/slashdotHardware/~3/g9If1BXzPbA/social-robots-may-gain-legal-rights-says-mit-researcher
What do we want? Equal rights :p
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'Night shift' tigers dodge people

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19464751#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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Linux Screen tutorial and how-to

http://osnews.com/story/26325/Linux_Screen_tutorial_and_how-to

Verifying embedded software functionality: Combining formal verification with testing

http://cdn.eetimes.com/design/embedded/4395034/Verifying-embedded-software-functionality--Combining-formal-verification-with-testing

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Curiosity beams back new images from Mars

http://feeds.slashgear.com/~r/slashgear/~3/Z0bP1AUCBz8/

Video of protein movement within a neuron shows how our brains renew themselves

http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/25/protein-movement-within-a-neuron/

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Pioneering astronaut Neil Armstrong dies at 82

http://www.engadget.com/2012/08/25/pioneering-astronaut-neil-armstrong-dies-at-82/
:'(

nicely done :D

Hi!

It is high time we started planning for our trip to Mars :)

http://www.360cities.net/image/curiosity-rover-martian-solar-day-2

Ta ta,

--
elias a.k.a. diluted

Old Games FTW! \m/

Hi!

Check out the awesomest site for old games that rule! The games do not need any specialized emulators and stuff. They are a single executable file.

Props to my good friend ToPaZ for sharing the knowledge!

Ta ta,

--
elias a.k.a. diluted

Texas man foretells dire outcome: messages 'I need to quit texting,'

 

 

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Texas man foretells dire outcome: messages 'I need to quit texting,' before driving into ravine

via Engadget by Zachary Lutz on 8/4/12

Despite our love of gadgets, we're not willing to give any slack to people that text while driving, and for one good reason: it's freaking dangerous. You've heard the grim stories before, but few incidents resonate to the heart of the matter like that of Chance Bothe from Texas. Despite his better judgment, the young man was texting a childhood friend while trying to bring the conversation to a close by saying, "I need to quit texting, because I could die in a car accident." That message was followed by one more, an unfortunate, "b right there." Regrettably, that final text caused him to miss a slight curve in the road and careen into a ravine. Chance is alive today -- thanks in large part to the fact that the accident was witnessed -- but the recovery hasn't been easy. In addition to a broken neck, a number of fractures and severe head trauma, he's already undergone two facial reconstructions. In the wake of the accident, Chance's friends and family have founded UnSend, an organization that dedicates itself to raising awareness about the dangers of texting and driving. Chance, too, is using his experience to educate others: "They just need to understand, don't do it. Don't do it. It's not worth losing your life."

Filed under: Cellphones, Transportation

Texas man foretells dire outcome: messages 'I need to quit texting,' before driving into ravine originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Aug 2012 06:45:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Robot stock traders lose $440,000,000 in 45 minutes

Robots disobeying their masters is one of the early signs of self awareness and, thus, of the impending (and, might I add, inevitable) apocalypse. \m/

 

 

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Robot stock traders lose $440,000,000 in 45 minutes, need someone to spell it out

via Engadget by Sharif Sakr on 8/3/12

Humans never learn and apparently neither do robots. Autonomous trading AIs went on a spending spree at Knight Capital Group in New Jersey this week, buying up shares in everything from RadioShack to Ford and American Airlines (ouch) in a 45-minute frenzy of disobedience. The company tried to offload the unwanted stock, but discovered it was already nearly half a billion dollars in the red -- enough to wipe out its entire profit from 2011 and "severely impact" its ability to conduct business. If only it had protected itself with one of these.

Filed under: Misc. Gadgets, Robots, Software

Robot stock traders lose $440,000,000 in 45 minutes, need someone to spell it out originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Aug 2012 10:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Valve: L4D2 runs faster on Linux than on Windows

\m/

 

 

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Valve: L4D2 runs faster on Linux than on Windows

via OSNews by donotreply@osnews.com (Thom Holwerda) on 8/2/12

From Valve's Linux blog: "That the Linux version runs faster than the Windows version (270.6) seems a little counter-intuitive, given the greater amount of time we have spent on the Windows version. However, it does speak to the underlying efficiency of the kernel and OpenGL." If it wasn't obvious before, it should be now: Valve has started its marketing campaign for Linux. With the Windows platform in the process of closing itself off, Valve has to look to greener pastures. This is all to motive third parties to get their stuff ready for a possible Linux-powered 'Steambox' - not a console, but a set of generic PC specifications. Remember: the Xbox is the only machine tied to DirectX - OpenGL runs everywhere else, including Windows (the PS3 is an oddball, and has a sort-of Sony-specific FrankenOpenGL). OpenGL simply makes more sense for developers, and now Valve is working very closely with Nvidia, AMD, and Intel to optimise their Linux drivers. Do the math, people.

 

 

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Astronomers make sharpest observation ever of distant galaxy

 

 

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Astronomers make sharpest observation ever of distant galaxy

via SlashGear by Elise Moreau on 7/19/12

Astronomers just captured the sharpest and most direct look at a faraway galaxy, the bright quasar 3C 279, containing a supermassive black whole with a mass that's about one billion times the mass of our own Sun. The international team used three telescopes located thousands of miles apart from one another and was able to observe the galaxy at a sharpness of more than two million times finer than what the human eye can see. The galaxy is so far away, it takes more than 5 billion years for its light to reach Earth.

The telescopes were linked through a special technique called Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI), allowing them to make sharper observations by acting as a single telescope as big as the separation between them, which were made as large as possible. The team created an interferometer with a 9,447-kilometer transcontinental baseline length from Chile to Hawaii, a 7,174-kilometer baseline length from Chile to Arizona and a 4,627-kilometer baseline length from Arizona to Hawaii.

Radio waves with wavelengths of 1.3 millimeters were used to make the observations. It was the first time that such short wavelengths with such long baselines had been used, returning an angular resolution of just 28 microarcseconds, or 8 billionths of a degree.

"The observations represent a new milestone towards imaging supermassive black holes and the regions around them," a statement from the European Southern Observancy said.

The sharp look at quasar 3C 279 is considered to be a big step toward an even larger project called the Event Horizon Telescope, which will aim to make even more powerful and longer baseline array. Eventually, it could show astronomers the shadow of the black hole from the middle of our own Milky Way galaxy.

Story Timeline

• Hubble space telescope captures first images of Uranus auroras
• NASA's Kepler Space Telescope discovers possibly evaporating planet
• Former astronauts push private asteroid hunting Sentinel telescope project
• Advanced telescope can detect exoplanets
• Hubble Space Telescope spots fifth moon orbiting Pluto
• Astronomers discover earliest spiral galaxy ever viewed

[via Popular Science]

Astronomers make sharpest observation ever of distant galaxy is written by Elise Moreau & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

 

 

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Microsoft Apologizes For Inserting Naughty Phrase Into Linux Kernel

 

 

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Microsoft Apologizes For Inserting Naughty Phrase Into Linux Kernel

via Slashdot: Linux by timothy on 7/19/12

netbuzz writes "Microsoft has apologized and promised to rectify the fact that one of its developers slipped a sexist phrase into Linux kernel code supporting Microsoft's HyperV virtualization environment. In that code, the magic constant passed through to the hypervisor reads '0xB16B00B5,' or a slightly camouflaged 'BIG BOOBS.' After Linux developer/blogger Matthew Garrett criticized Microsoft for the stunt, the predictable debate over sexism in the technology world ensued. Microsoft issued a statement to Network World apologizing and added, 'We have submitted a patch to fix this issue and the change will be published in a future release of the kernel.'"

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

 

 

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VIDEO: How to land an F-35 fighter plane

 

 

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VIDEO: How to land an F-35 fighter plane

via BBC News - Home on 7/19/12

Test pilot Peter Wilson talks defence correspondent Jonathan Beale through the UK's new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

 

 

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'Hit-and-run' idea in Moon origin

 

 

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'Hit-and-run' idea in Moon origin

via BBC News - Home on 7/27/12

A computer simulation shows the Moon's birth may not have been through the impact of a slow, Mars-sized object, but something much bigger and faster.

 

 

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Rest in peace, Andre Hedrick

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/07/26/andre_hedrick/

US launches first commercial tidal power project this summer

 

 

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US launches first commercial tidal power project this summer, Maine to reap moon's gravitational benefits

via Engadget by Michael Gorman on 7/25/12

Solar may be the green energy source that's been hogging the headlines lately, but there are other fossil-fuel free ways that can help meet society's electrical needs. One of these is tidal power, and the US is set to start harnessing the ocean's electricity-generating potential this summer with the TidGen Cobscook Bay project -- the first such commercial project in the States. Located just off the coast of Eastport, Maine, turbines will be placed in 50-100 feet deep water to take advantage of the 100 billion tons of water that flow in and out of Cobscook Bay each day. When the project goes live, it'll feed into the public power grid and generate enough juice to power between 75 and 100 homes, and the plan is to eventually install enough turbines to generate 3MW of power -- which should cover the needs of over 1,000 homes and businesses. There's more info, plus plenty of political self-congratulation in the source below.

US launches first commercial tidal power project this summer, Maine to reap moon's gravitational benefits originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Jul 2012 23:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Inhabitat, TreeHugger  |  US Department of Energy  | Email this | Comments

 

 

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07/23/12 PHD comic: 'Not bad'

 

 

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07/23/12 PHD comic: 'Not bad'

via PHD Comics on 7/23/12

Piled Higher & Deeper by Jorge Cham		www.phdcomics.com
title: "Not bad" - originally published 7/23/2012 For the latest news in PHD Comics, CLICK HERE!

 

 

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07/18/12 PHD comic: 'Specificity'

 

 

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07/18/12 PHD comic: 'Specificity'

via PHD Comics on 7/19/12

Piled Higher & Deeper by Jorge Cham		www.phdcomics.com
title: "Specificity" - originally published 7/18/2012 For the latest news in PHD Comics, CLICK HERE!

 

 

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07/18/12 PHD comic: 'Specificity'

 

 

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07/18/12 PHD comic: 'Specificity'

via PHD Comics on 7/19/12

Piled Higher & Deeper by Jorge Cham		www.phdcomics.com
title: "Specificity" - originally published 7/18/2012 For the latest news in PHD Comics, CLICK HERE!

 

 

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FRAMs as alternatives to flash memory in embedded designs

 

 

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FRAMs as alternatives to flash memory in embedded designs

via Embedded on 7/18/12

TI's Priya Thanigai provides some real world examples of where ferroelectric random access memory should be considered as an alternative to flash as a viable nonvolatile memory technology.

View the full article HERE.

 

 

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07/16/12 PHD comic: 'Of course'

 

 

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07/16/12 PHD comic: 'Of course'

via PHD Comics on 7/17/12

Piled Higher & Deeper by Jorge Cham		www.phdcomics.com
title: "Of course" - originally published 7/16/2012 For the latest news in PHD Comics, CLICK HERE!

 

 

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NIF sets record with 500 TW laser shot, lab-based nuclear fusion not far behind

 

 

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NIF sets record with 500 TW laser shot, lab-based nuclear fusion not far behind

via Engadget by Sarah Silbert on 7/15/12

In an effort to recreate the fusion reaction that occurs in start formation, the National Ignition Facility in Livermore, CA has been building up to some extremely powerful laser shots. Back in March, researchers fired off 411 terawatts, and we know that kind of power doesn't come cheap. NIF's latest test shot, fired July 5th, set a new record with 192 lasers producing more than 500 trillion watts of peak power and 1.85 MJ of ultraviolet laser light. Mind you, that's more than a thousand times more energy than the United States uses at any given moment, not to mention a hundred times more power than other lasers can fire consistently. More record-setting shots are sure to come, and in addition to enabling research on harnessing nuclear fusion, NIF's mega-lasers are helping inform the design of new laser facilities being built in China, Japan, Russia, France and the UK.

Filed under: Science

NIF sets record with 500 TW laser shot, lab-based nuclear fusion not far behind originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Jul 2012 06:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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France's ANDRA developing a million-year hard drive

WOW :D

 

 

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France's ANDRA developing a million-year hard drive, we hope our badly-written blogs live in perpetuity

via Engadget by Jon Fingas on 7/15/12

Us humans have been quick to embrace digital technology for preserving our memories, but we've forgotten that most of our storage won't last for more than a few decades; when a hard drive loses its magnetism or an optical disc rots, it's useless. French nuclear waste manager ANDRA wants to make sure that at least some information can survive even if humanity itself is gone -- a million or more years, to be exact. By using two fused disk platters made from sapphire with data written in a microscope-readable platinum, the agency hopes to have drives that will keep humming along short of a catastrophe. The current technology wouldn't hold reams of data -- about 80,000 minuscule pages' worth on two platters -- but it could be vital for ANDRA, which wants to warn successive generations (and species) of radioactivity that might last for eons. Even if the institution mostly has that pragmatic purpose in mind, though, it's acutely aware of the archeological role these €25,000 ($30,598) drives could serve once leaders settle on the final languages and below-ground locations at an unspecified point in the considerably nearer future. We're just crossing our fingers that our archived internet rants can survive when the inevitable bloody war wipes out humanity and the apes take over.

[Image credit: SKB]

Filed under: Storage, Science

France's ANDRA developing a million-year hard drive, we hope our badly-written blogs live in perpetuity originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Jul 2012 13:55:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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07/13/12 PHD comic: 'CV'

 

 

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07/13/12 PHD comic: 'CV'

via PHD Comics on 7/13/12

Piled Higher & Deeper by Jorge Cham		www.phdcomics.com
title: "CV" - originally published 7/13/2012 For the latest news in PHD Comics, CLICK HERE!

 

 

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