news aggregator

November 20, 2009

05:00
I suppose it says something about The Daily Telegraph's admirable commitment to freedom of speech that it let this comment I paste up below through, or possibly, the laxness of its editors. Following a comment piece about the forthcoming trial of the alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, we get this remark, by someone dubbing itself "Lord Barnett": The trial will be a farce,held in New York for the benefit of the jews and the...
Source: Samizdata
03:14
thief21 writes "After claims that console versions Modern Warfare 2 had been recalled in Russia due to complaints from politicians and the gaming public over the infamous airport slaughter scene, it turns out the stories were completely untrue. Activision never released a console version of the game in Russia." Instead, they simply edited the notorious scene out of the PC version. They did this of their own volition, since Russia doesn't have a formal ratings committee.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot
02:36
eldavojohn writes "Both the EU and US are using a strategy to merge what used to be two separate searches: the search for exoplanets that may harbor life and the search for dark energy. In an effort to develop 'robust, low-risk missions that maximize the scientific return,' the article analyzes how, without any changes, a space-based dark energy telescope could also check for microlensing events indicating an exoplanet."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot
01:07
Google Chromium OS Design Documents. Completely in accordance with prophecy. I wonder why they created their own userspace integrity system rather than using IMA.
Source: Wes Felter
00:28
    here's an extra dan that got lost in the editing. he's trying to steal an acorn from the hovering oak.
00:01
lbalbalba writes "Electronic Arts is shutting down its Westwood-based game developer Pandemic Studios just two years after acquiring it, putting nearly 200 people out of work. 'The struggling video game publisher informed employees Tuesday morning that it was closing the studio as part of a recently announced plan to eliminate 1,500 jobs, or 16% of its global workforce. Pandemic has about 220 employees, but an EA spokesman said that a core team, estimated by two people close to the studio to be about 25, will be integrated into the publisher's other Los Angeles studio, in Playa Vista.' An ex-developer for Pandemic attributed the studio's struggles to poor decisions from the management."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot
00:00
The founding of the SETI Institute helps solidify the search for intelligent life in the universe.
Source: Wired News

November 19, 2009

23:30
jenkin sear writes "Data visualization guru Edward Tufte developed Sparklines, a great way to display condensed data as an inline graphic. Excel's new version has incorporated the design element — and Microsoft has applied for a patent on them — without so much as a by-your-leave from Tufte."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot
21:29
“Two men attempted to Rob Gifford’s gas station in Reader Sunday night, but all they got away with were some ventilation holes in their getaway vehicle. At approximately 11:20 p.m. a man went to the residence next door to the station and asked owner Tom Gifford if he could use his phone because his car [...]
Source: 2am News
21:21
“An employee at an East St. Louis business opened fire and killed one of two would-be robbers.Police said the employee was inside the BFM Market in the 1000 block of Bond Avenue around 4:00 a.m. when two men pried open a front door and broke into the business. The employee shot one of the suspects [...]
Source: 2am News
20:23
angry tapir writes "The Chinese Authors Society has demanded that Google present a resolution plan by the end of the year and quickly handle compensation for Chinese authors whose books the US company has scanned without permission as part of its Book Search program. A local copyright protection group, co-founded by the authors group, has said it found at least 17,000 Chinese works included in Google's scanning plan."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot
20:00
Watch video of six of the most spectacular and costly rocket explosions in history.
Source: Wired News
19:06
An intense all-day personal matter has me completely worn-out. It's really good, but I'm beat. This post at Samizdata made me reach for my Hayek and pull this passage, for timely contemplation:"Just as the democratic statesman who sets out to plan economic life will soon be confronted with the alternative of either assuming dictatorial powers...
Source: Two--Four
19:00
Microsoft is touting advances due in the next version of its Internet Explorer browser, answering the challenge of Firefox and Chrome. Sadly, IE9 doesn't look very competitive.
Source: Wired News
18:23
It turns out that the 2005 amendment to the Texan constitution banning same sex marriage in fact stops the state from recognizing any marriage whatsoever. The amendment reads: (a) Marriage in this state shall consist only of the union of one man and one woman. (b) This state or a political subdivision of this state may not [...]
Source: Fr33 Agents
18:22
Is imitation the sincerest form of flattery? Not when that imitation takes horrific video with terrible sound. Meet the Memorex Mini camcorder, a pale and warped copy of the Flip Mino.
Source: Wired News
18:12
Lucas123 writes "Scientists at Intel are working on developing sensors that would be implanted in a person's head in order to harness brain waves that could then be used to control computers, televisions, cell phones and other electronic equipment. Intel has already used Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (FMRI) machines to determine that blood flow changes in specific areas of the brain based on what word or image someone is thinking of. People tend to show the same brain patterns for similar thoughts. 'Eventually people may be willing to be more committed ... to brain implants. Imagine being able to surf the Web with the power of your thoughts.' said Intel research scientist Dean Pomerleau."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Source: Slashdot
18:11
Whatever happened to that indie film revolution the new generation of DSLRs was supposed to start? Turns out even cheap filmmaking isn't as easy as it looks.
Source: Wired News
18:07
Yeah, I was eating breakfast this morning when my cell phone rang, a not very usual occurrence. It was L, my neighbor from maybe a mile and a half away as the crow flies. "We've got Little Bear and Beauty over here," she tells me. She doesn't sound real pleased.I was wolfing the last of my egg when W comes over. "L called, I'm gonna go get Beauty and Little Bear," he says. I said okay, I'd been about to go myself but if you wanna that's fine with me.Now, LB has shown up at D&L's before, but on those occasions it has been in the company of Ghost when they went chasing one of our trucks. In this case all the trucks were sitting in the frozen yard, right where they belong. No, this time Beauty and LB just decided they'd waiting long enough for their morning walky. This Would Not Do. And it is true that Beauty and LB have gotten to be a rather mischievous team. Out here, mischief can get you hurt or killed.W came back with the two miscreants and a rather stern request from L that we do something about our dogs. We couldn't think of anything to do but confine them during the times when they're most likely to get each other in trouble. So this afternoon while buying flashing for the stovepipe, I also bought some stake-out augers and cables. I drove my auger into the ground, connected LB to it, and went into the barn to take a shower, wondering what havoc would have ensued during my absence.When I returned, LB was...Well, he was...
Source: Joel Simon
17:45
Three alleged members of the hacker gang Kryogeniks were hit with a federal conspiracy charge Thursday for a 2008 stunt that replaced Comcast’s homepage with a shout-out to other hackers. As one of the culprits said last year, "This is going to be really bad."
Source: Wired News