You are currently browsing the monthly archive for September, 2006.
“Researchers…have shown it takes about ten years to develop expertise in any of a wide variety of areas, including chess playing, music composition…and research in neuropsychology and topology. There appear to be no real shortcuts: even Mozart, who was a musical prodigy at age 4, took 13 more years before he began to produce world-class music.”
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The fund has lost $6.4 billion, according to the letter, which said assets were down 65 to 70 percent for the month and 55 to 60 percent for the year. Amaranth started the year with $7.5 billion, soared to $9.2 billion before stumbling to less than $3 billion today.
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How will the open access movement affect global science?
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South Korea on Thursday unveiled an armed guard robot that it says can be used to detect and suppress intruders along the heavily fortified border between South and North Korea. the robot, which can fire a machine gun or rubber bullets and sound an alarm when it detects suspicious movement, could dramatically improve surveillance capability.
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Intel has pulled back the curtains and provided details about its budget computer project, a low-cost laptop designed for use by students in developing countries. Last year, Intel chairman Craig Barret derisively dismissed the OLPC project’s $140 2B1 laptop
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Most of it is fairly simple, but what exactly is an “outrage against personal dignity”? I feel certain that nearly 100% of Muslim terrorists would consider being interrogated by a female an “outrage”, shall we allow that interpretation? Of course not and that is what the President chose to clear up.
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It often comes as a surprise to bosses to discover an employee finds them intimidating. Here are a few reasons why managers can seem scary.
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As more and more people gain high-speed access to the Internet, opportunities arise that weren’t possible before. One such opportunity is the idea of virtual education. More and more students are finding new opportunities for learning that involve reaching out over a TCP/IP connection.
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Exerpt:
“# 5 - The Warp Drive. Screw Mars, screw the Moon and screw the near Earth orbit International Space Station. We want new galaxies, new star systems and we really want that cool streaking star effect when we engage warp drive.”
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The exciting news is that there are signs of change, daily indications of an interest in redesigning cities for people. Some cities are far better at planning their growth than others. They plan transport systems that provide mobility, clean air, and exercise, a sharp contrast to cities that offer congestiion & unhealthy air.
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The U.S. government is seeking to develop a powerful ground-based laser weapon that would use beams of concentrated light to destroy enemy satellites in orbit. The largely secret project is part of a wide-ranging effort to develop space both defensive and offensive. The White House has recently sought to play down the issue of space arms.
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Most mobile phone users will still have to wait some time for Internet telephony company Skype’s mobile service because of technical hurdles and a lack of suitable handsets, Skype’s chief executive was quoted as saying in a Finnish newspaper on Thursday.
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A fleet of 100 robotic submarines could in five years’ time be roaming the vast unexplored stretches of the world’s seafloors and helping unlock their mysteries.
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South Korea’s foreign minister kept his spot as the clear favorite in the race to succeed U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in an informal poll Thursday, the only one among the seven candidates to get the needed majority of votes.
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Oslo teens who drank the most sugary soft drinks also had more mental health problems such as hyperactivity and distress, Norwegian researchers reported on Thursday.
Their study of more than 5,000 Norwegian 15- and 16-year-olds … direct association between soft drink intake and hyperactivity, and … other mental and behavioral disorders.
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State of the Union Messages to the Congress are mandated by Article II, Section 3 of the United States Constitution which states,”He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state of the union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient” And now you can read every one of them
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I am writing this article using Writer, part of the slick new OpenOffice.org suite, which by the way is free and now rivals MS Office in terms of features. MS charges about $499 for its product suite if you buy the professional version. OpenOffice.org works just as well, has more or less the same abilities, and can both read and save MS formats.
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Canonical is the company behind Ubuntu: one of the fastest-growing Linux distros on the market today, and certainly one of the most respected among experienced Linux users. Since its inaugural release in October, 2004, Ubuntu has earned a significant and very loyal following among desktop Linux users. More recently, Canonical announced….
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The US continues to lead the world in nanotechnology research, but the influence of the government’s multibillion investment in the field may take decades to become apparent. But the report cautioned that too little money was being invested in understanding the potential health and environmental risks of manipulating matter on such a small scale.
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A slew of new structures including Europe’s tallest building are sprouting up around the Kremlin to form a modern backdrop in Russia’s capital.
Jon Stewart’s entire interview with Pakistan’s Pres. Musharraf (11 mins).
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What you see on this site are high-resolution photographs of liquids in motion, captured with high-speed flash photography.
This is pretty slick. Enjoy!
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The closest that Alan Watts came to experiencing outer space was on a theme park ride — now the British businessman has traded his multitude of frequent-flyer miles for a real journey 75 miles (120 kilometers) above Earth, he said Thursday.
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The police did something unusual: they determined the “influentials” in the dealers’ lives - mothers, grandmothers, mentors - and cultivated relationships with them. When police felt they had amassed ironclad legal cases, they did something even more striking: they refrained from arresting most of the suspected dealers and gave them a second chance
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Christopher Blizzard wrote up a long update on where they are in the software and hardware for the Linux-based OLPC project. They’ve gotten a lot done, but he doesn’t think that’s been communicated to the outside world very well. So, for the first time, here’s an update of where they are. Hopefully he’ll be able to do this on a regular basis.
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The phrase “easy on the eyes” may hit closer to the mark than we suspected. Experiments led by Piotr Winkielman, of the University of California, San Diego, and published in the current issue of Psychological Science, suggest that judgments of attractiveness depend on mental processing ease, or being “easy on the mind.”
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani disputed on Tuesday reports of growing violence in his country and declared, “I can assure you there will be no civil war.”
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The production drew widespread criticism over the scene in which King Idomeneo presents the severed heads of Poseidon, Muhammad, Jesus and Buddha. “We know the consequences of the conflict over the (Muhammad) caricatures,” the statement said. “We believe that needs to be taken very seriously and hope for your support.”
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“I haven’t read it,” Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said yesterday when asked his opinion of the once-secret April 2006 National Intelligence Estimate. His excuse — the document was classified — is a little shaky. Frist is a member of the “Gang of Eight,” a group of top lawmakers who are briefed on the darkest secrets of American intel.
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Blue Man Group discusses their characters, and speak about being an outsider in the world..
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WASHINGTON - President Bush said Tuesday that Americans will now be able to “Google their tax dollars,” as he signed a law to create an online database for tracking about $1 trillion in government spending on grants and contracts. The law is aimed preventing wasteful spending by opening the federal budget to greater scrutiny.
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Americans are taking more and more prescription drugs, but their doctors are doing a poor job of communicating critical information about the medications they prescribe, UCLA researchers report.
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New research published today by the Economic and Social Research Council shows that positive, informative strategies which help people set specific health and environmental goals are far more effective when it comes to encouraging behaviour change than negatives strategies which employ messages of fear, guilt or regret.
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Jon Stewart welcomed Pakistan’s president to “The Daily Show” on Tuesday with tea and a Twinkie. President Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s tete-a-tete with Stewart on the Comedy Central program was even more unlikely than the much-anticipated meeting between Musharraf, Afghan President Hamid Karzai andPresident Bush, planned for Wednesday.
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Whatever you may think of its arguments, this spot is quite a departure for the ONDCP. Finally, an admission that using pot isn’t necessarily calamitous. It’s possible we’re seeing this about-face only because previous scare-tactic ads were recently proved to increase drug use. But either way, I applaud the new, more truthful strategy.
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The U.S. high-technology industry added more than 140,000 jobs during the first half of this year, nearly doubling the growth during the same period a year ago, according to a report released today. The sector employed 5.8 million people as of this June, the largest number since 2002, said the analysis by the American Electronics Association,
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IBM, the nation’s largest patent holder, will publish its patent filings on the Web for public review as part of a new policy that the company hopes will be a model for others. If widely adopted, the policy could help to curb the rising wave of patent disputes and patent litigation.
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The discovery that a bizarre particle travels between the real world of matter and the spooky realm of antimatter 3 trillion times a second may open the door to a new era of physics, Fermilab researchers announced Monday.
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“We’re actually not trying to cause any harm to anyone,” say Adelson, CEO of Digg.com and Revision3, which makes its official debut Tuesday. “But we are implying that there is something new going on with Revision3.” “This is the first media company, the first Internet TV network that actually produces its own content and distributes it itself,”
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Really cool video showing the manufacturing of tin foil
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A new space transportation system being developed could make travel to Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) a daily event and transform the global economy
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Afghanistan’s president is calling on Pakistan to close extremist schools and looking for support from President Bush in his campaign against “places that teach terror.”
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How can the newspaper industry survive the Internet? On the one hand, newspapers are expected to supply their content free on the Web. On the other hand, their most profitable advertising–classifieds–is being lost to sites like Craigslist. And display advertising is close behind. Meanwhile, there is the blogs…
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Two young designers are proving that environmental consciousness and fashion consciousness are not mutually exclusive.
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EEStor’s device is not technically a battery because no chemicals are involved. In fact, it contains no hazardous materials whatsoever. Yet it acts like a battery in that it stores electricity. If it works as it’s supposed to, it will charge up in five minutes and provide enough energy to drive 500 miles on about $9 worth of electricity.
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A short but powerful message from Noam Chomsky.
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A totally digg-able headline, an insightful article + cynicism & humor about Web 2.0, Open Source and Digg.com - how much better can it get? If you’ve not dugg any story today, this is the one it’s going to be! Enjoy!
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They learned from the master, and are applying the lessons in the hottest races ahead. Meet the architect’s protégés.
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The environmental work of Canada’s boreal forests in purifying air and water and the tourism dollars they generate are worth at least $93 billion a year, says an economist. That value should be taken into account when making decisions about logging, mining and other industrial activity that affects forests, Mark Anielski will urge delegates at …
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The car maker that floored the world in the 1970s with the first gasoline engine to meet U.S. clean air guidelines without a catalytic converter said it has developed a new and simple diesel powertrain that is as clean as gasoline-fuelled cars.
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Britain’s cocaine crisis is hitting workplaces across the country, with record numbers of employees now testing positive for the class A drug. New figures reveal that there has been an increase of 3,000% in the number of workers caught with cocaine in their system over the past decade.
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Researchers have made efficient nanowire logic circuits that could be mass produced, slashing the size of transistors.
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Herbs and relaxation exercises were the remedies most commonly used. About 60 percent of those who used alternative medicine for insomnia said they told their doctor they had done so. Alternative medicine use was more common among younger people, and among more educated individuals.
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Produced by sunlight shining through common atmospheric ice crystals with hexagonal cross-sections, such halos can actually be seen more often than rainbows. The remarkable sunrise picture captures a beautiful assortment of the types most frequently seen, including a sun pillar (center) just above the rising Sun surrounded by a 22 degree halo arc.
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The federal system for approving and regulating drugs is in serious disrepair, and a host of dramatic changes are needed to fix the problem, a blue-ribbon panel of government advisers concluded yesterday in a long-awaited report. The 15 experts drawn from academic and professional organizations were unanimous in endorsing the recommendations.
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Rocket scientists, long considered the gold standard in intelligence among all professionals, are not nearly as smart as originally thought, according to a controversial new study published today by the American Association of Brain Surgeons.
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This is Russian Federal highway Moscow city. The road doesn’t have an asfalt surface, though it is a Federal, vital highway. Everytime it rains the road gets paralized, these shots are made a few days before the traffic jam for 600 cars got stuck there. Hunger and lack of the fuel followed, according to the witnesses.
Fourteen self-made members of the vaunted Forbes 400 shared candid, contrarian and even comedic answers to 20 thoughtful questions–ranging from what they eat for breakfast and how they pray to the importance (or lack thereof) of getting an M.B.A. and what advice they would give aspiring entrepreneurs.
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A nine-figure fortune won’t get you much mention these days, at least not here. This year, for the first time, everyone in The Forbes 400 has at least $1 billion. The collective net worth of the nation’s wealthiest climbed $120 billion, to $1.25 trillion.
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Sometime in the coming months, chances are that we’ll be seeing TV reports that an armed remote-controlled robot has been used in anger for the first time. A machine-gun-equipped robot, called Sword, was certified safe for use by the US forces in June. It’s a prospect that is causing some concern.
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A small company has begun building its line of tiny, gumstick-sized board-level computers into miniscule packaged PCs that displace around 68 cc of volume and come with Linux pre-installed. Suggested apps for the teeny Linux PCs include webservers, printer servers, IP-telephony servers, security appliances….. you name it!
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After yesterday’s ridiculous speech at the U.N. where Chavez called our President “the devil”, its time to re-ignite the call for a full ban on CITGO gas stations in the U.S. We are funding this tin pot dicatator by buying gas at CITGO! Send this thug a message. Stop the flow of money to him and his cronies.
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ATLANTA - All Americans between the ages of 13 and 64 should be routinely tested for
HIV to help catch infections earlier and stop the spread of the deadly virus, federal health recommendations announced Thursday say. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said HIV testing should become about as common as a cholesterol check.
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Furber and his colleagues, who reported the findings in the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections, said tobacco smoke may increase susceptibility to HIV infection by modifying a variety of immune system responses.
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For some people, things move from “I have a feeling, I want to call a friend” to “I want to feel something, I need to make a call”. In either case, what is not being cultivated is the ability to be alone and to manage and contain one’s emotions. Technology brings us to the point where we’re used to sharing our thoughts and feelings and what next?
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An MIT researcher has a vision: Four hundred huge offshore wind turbines are providing onshore customers with enough electricity to power several hundred thousand homes, and nobody standing onshore can see them. The trick? The wind turbines are floating on platforms a hundred miles out to sea, where the winds are strong and steady.
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Find out how to save money this year. We lay out 117 ideas to help your college finances including tips on food, housing, books, entertainment, travel, and more…
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If you feel like you need a little help to whip yourself into shape, read these tips before hiring a personal trainer. The industry is not well regulated and as one local trainer puts it: “Don’t turn your body and your health over to someone you don’t trust.”
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Oracle had a lot to prove on Sept. 19, when it came time to report first-quarter results. With strong first-quarter results, the software maker is upbeat about its bold acquisitions strategy paying off
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The wollemi pine is so ancient that it may have provided shade and sustenance to the dinosaurs. Though the tree was thought to be extinct for two million years, a small pocket of the evergreens eventually was discovered in the wilds of Australia. Now you can buy it for yard.
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Scientists say they have discovered a cream that may ward off skin cancer by tanning skin a golden bronze without exposure to the sun. Tests so far have been confined to mice, but researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Children’s Hospital in Boston say the findings would mark a seismic shift in the biology of tanning if the cream …
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Inflation is easing after being fed by surging energy costs earlier in the year. The data could help persuade the Federal Reserve, which meets Wednesday, to keep interest rates unchanged. The Fed paused last month after 17 consecutive quarter-point rate increases that lifted the federal funds rate to 5.25 percent
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Another milestone in women’s history will be reached in coming weeks, when the first all-female unit of U.N. peacekeepers deploys to a troubled corner of Africa. More than 100 strong, the contingent of paramilitary policewomen from India will arrive in October in the West African nation of Liberia.
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A billionaire ex-mathematician believes he has a simple formula for improving math education and making America more competitive.
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New, first-of-its-kind systems engineering cost-estimation model developed by an MIT researcher can ensure that the bid is right on target, which means project risk (and costs) can be reduced.
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President Vicente Fox said Tuesday that Mexico is willing to extradite any drug lord in its custody wanted by the United States. President Fox said Mexico currently has 16 “big leaders” of drug gangs in jail along with 75,000 lower level members of various cartels
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The next 20 years of American innovation will be shaped by these 10 cutting-edge science and engineering programs. But before they change the world, these undergraduates will have to finish their homework.
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YouTube’s new deal with Warner Music looks like the dot-com’s salvation, but it could be its downfall.
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We’re sure that you’ve been following the FCC’s blow-by-blow coverage of the AWS (Advanced Wireless Services) spectrum auction as closely as you would the “So You Think You Can Dance” competition, but just in case you’ve been busy for the last 161 rounds of bidding, we’re here to let you know that the results are in……
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How do you kill the movie industry? Well, first you make it so you don’t have to actually go anywhere to watch the movie. Then you bring the movie into peoples homes for only one third of the cost of what it would be to go to the theatre. Then, you sell a device that allows people to take the movie with them so they can watch it anywhere.
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The largest diabetes prevention study ever done has found that a drug already used to treat the disease also can help keep “pre-diabetics” from developing it. But many experts say that losing weight and exercising remain a safer, cheaper approach.
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She means it literally, snapping off statistics on the increase in ulcers, anxiety disorders and control disorders such as cutting and anorexia.
“Kids aren’t supposed to be finished,” she said. “They’re partial. They’re raw. That’s why we’re in the business.”
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When Google quietly bought a software shop called Android a year ago, neither the suitor nor the quarry revealed much about the terms of their attraction.
Google never said how Android, a 22-month-old start-up that described itself solely as a maker of software for mobile phones, would fit into its grand strategy.
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GlobalFirepower (GFP) provides a unique analytical display of national military strength based on sources from all over the globe. It is based on statistics such as yearly military expenditure, weapon inventories, oil reserves, and available manpower. You can also compare how to nations stack up against each other.
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“Love Has Made Brad Pitt Want to Use His Handsomeness For Good”
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MySpace (surprisingly) tops the list!
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Making it easier for women to get emergency contraception has not reduced abortion rates in the country, an expert said on Friday. Despite increased use of emergency contraception in the UK, abortion rates rose to 17.8 per 1,000 women aged 15-44 in 2004 from 11 per 1,000 in 1984.
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In recent years economists have led the fight to legalize actually, to “re- legalize” drugs. The Nobel Prize-winning economist Milton Friedman has been the outspoken leader of the re-legalization forces. His open letter to “Drug Czar” William Bennett, published in the Wall Street Journal, is just his latest salvo against the prohibitionist….
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Profit-hungry hospitals are overcharging consumers an estimated $10 billion a year. Some deliberately work to keep bills indecipherable. Here’s how to fight back.
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Republican U.S. Senate hopeful Mike McGavick on Wednesday proposed mandatory substance-abuse screening for welfare recipients with children.
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The future of television and newspapers hit the news this week - here’s an insider’s view of what’s going to happen.
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The Supreme Court will post transcripts of oral arguments on its Web site the same day they occur, beginning in October.
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People who consume alcohol earn significantly more at their jobs than non-drinkers, according to a US study published Thursday that highlighted “social capital” gained from drinking.
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A scientist from Italy has offered another possibility for getting rid of carbon dioxide: turn it back into fuel. The process uses solar energy gathered by a titanium dioxide film to ionize CO2 in its liquid form. Mixing this ionized liquid carbon dioxide with water, chemists can create longer carbon chains - even methanol.
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Most doubt that anything can be done to prevent such a development.
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Perhaps, as time progresses, America will take on the harmonious aspects of China, and China will take on the harmonious aspects of America.
Bush noted that some of Abraham Lincoln’s strongest supporters were religious people “who saw life in terms of good and evil” and who believed that slavery was evil. Many of his own supporters, he said, see the current conflict in similar terms.
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A prominent Muslim American responds to Al-Qaida’s call to kill Americans.
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With 1 billion dollars in funds Google.org will form partnerships, lobby congress, fund start-ups, pay taxes, and take names! Thanks, Google.
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When you just can’t carry shuriken, you can always use a screwdriver. This is a nicely done instructional video.
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Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retailer, says it will double the number of stores using RFID to more than 1,000 by January 2007.
And the economy of scales kicks in further….
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Got a sore throat? Spots? Swelling? An itch? Drink some cranberry juice! Okay, so that is a bit of an over simplification. Read the article!
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Researchers have found a connection between weather here on Earth, and the weather in space. The connection comes from the ionosphere where NASA satellites found that regions become more dense above areas of thunderstorm activity in the lower atmosphere. This is surprising since the ionosphere and the lower atmosphere are 100’s of kilometers apart.
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The implications of this when taking into account its effects on travel and tourism, safety, globalization, communication, economics, business, etc are just breathtaking!
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IBM on Tuesday unveiled new technology it says will help curb the growing problem of businesses exposing sensitive consumer data, either through theft or carelessness, that’s routinely stored on their computer networks.
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Just up the coast from a major luxury resort, at least 725 homeless people - by one community group’s count - are living on a 16-mile stretch of Oahu’s western shore, a pristine beach where oceanfront lots would cost millions.
Armed with city-issued camping permits, the homeless use beach showers and sleep in tightly packed tents.
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Is becoming vogue. Its use and demand are rising and this has many implications.
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A small wind turbine is available in the U.S. from Amazon for just $799 with free shipping.
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Residents of Hawaii have the longest life expectancy of any state, and D.C. denizens the shortest, according to a new Harvard study.
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Shuttleworth’s ‘Ubuntu’ family of software programs is based on the Linux open source operating system, which works on the principle that software is free and can be modified at no cost by anyone to suit local and specific needs — unlike rival Microsoft’s proprietary software.
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