Newsinspire.com > Blog > All blog > Page 10
 | Across town with the competition 09/09/2553 05:11  My time is short this afternoon, as I am just back from an afternoon with other women. More than that, I was hobnobbing with the enemy. More accurately: I was with two great friends of mine who happen to be fierce daily competitors of ours. |
| He died in a car crash, but his dog Bodhi came home 09/09/2553 04:30 From TODAY correspondent Jill Rappaport
Bittersweet is the only word to describe this story. The heartbreaking part involves the loss of a young mans life in a tragic car crash, and the only solace is that his beloved dog survived against all odds. |
| How Quickly Can You Get Your Product To Market? 09/09/2553 04:29 This weekend I’m attending James Schramko’s seminar in Sydney. I’ll be there for a panel interview on late Saturday and hang around on Sunday as well. James is one of the best Internet marketers I know of when it comes to getting things done quickly. His stuff isn’t always the most polished in terms of [...] |
| Dear Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, Gen Yers … Can We Please Move On? 09/09/2553 04:29 Earlier on today I bumped into an article that made me wonder, once again, about when are we going to stop talking around the topic of multiple generations at work and the generational divide itself, as one of the arguments that’s going to change the workplace for good in the next coming years, if not [...] |
| Google TV Platform to Include Voice Control 09/09/2553 04:28 
This is a bit of a teaser…. The WSJ is reporting that Google TV will include voice control courtesy of Google’s speech recognition technology — the same that powers Android on handsets. No word on how far the integration will go, but a Google product manager says one will be able to change channels just [...] |
| Microsoft Arc Touch Mouse Makes Its Official Debut 09/09/2553 04:28 
I don’t think too many sites noticed this. Microsoft on September 1st officially introduced the Arc Touch Mouse. We got an early glimpse of it in August, but they were mostly leaked pics with some supporting information. What we now know for a fact is that the device can work on just about any surface [...] |
| Intel Seeks Your Ideas for the ‘Ultimate Home Communication Device’ 09/09/2553 04:28 
Intel wants your best ideas for a chance to help the engineers create the home phone of tomorrow. Intel is awarding prizes for the best submissions and they’ve posted a Facebook Page with all the details on getting started, including hardware specs one would base their ideas on. Attached below is an inspirational video Intel [...] |
| Google Targeting Chrome OS to Netbooks Only – Expect a Big Showing at CES 2011 09/09/2553 04:28 
TechRadar is reporting that Google’s Chrome OS (based on Chromium OS), according to a Google senior product manager for the project, will only be targeted to netbooks at this time — even though the OS supports touch capabilities. It makes sense, if you think about it. The tablet, as of late, has gained success as [...] |
| The beauty and wonder of a squids eyeball 09/09/2553 04:24 Look at this squids eye. Just look at it. See anything eerily familiar? Squid, along with the rest of the family Cephalopoda, havent shared a common ancestor with us vertebrates in some 500 million years—long before the evolution of our camera-like eyes. And yet, there the cephalopods are, flagrantly swimming about with eyes that use a lens to project an image onto a retina. Call it Squid Eye for the Vertebrate Guy. So, hows it work? Convergent evolution, my friends. Convergent evolution. We happened to hit on similar solutions to the same problem of sight, even though the eyes of vertebrates and cephalopods evolved separately, in very different ways, at different times. Today, we can see that legacy in cephalopod and vertebrate fetal development. With vertebrates, the eyes grow on stalks, reaching out from the brain. In cephalopods, the eyes start as a clumping of cells on the surface of the skin and reach backwards, into the head, to make brain contact. Similar destinations. Very different road maps. This lovely illustration—featuring dissections of the head, funnel, mantle and eye of a Thaumatolampas diadema—comes from The Cephalopoda Part I: Oegopsida and Part II: Myopsida, Octopoda Atlas written in 1910 by zoologist Carl Chun following a German expedition to the Indian, Atlantic and Great Southern oceans. You can see more of Chuns detailed, passionate illustrations at the BibliOdyssey blog. Image: Some rights reserved by peacay...
  |
| Apples iPod harvest: hands-on with new Shuffle, Nano, Touch 09/09/2553 04:24 As predicted last week in the Boing Boing agricultural almanac, Apple this week releases three new varieties of iPods for the fall crop. All three bear improvements over earlier generations of this familiar fruit, but some of the new additions—and in some cases, whats missing—may surprise you. Following are snapshots of the new iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano, and iPod Touch, with taste-test notes. You can find them all in your local farmers markets soon, or order them now at the online Apple store....
|
| Secret copyright treaty: USA caves on border laptop/phone/MP3 player searches for copyright infringement 09/09/2553 04:24 Michael Geist writes in with more analysis of the recently leaked draft of ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a secret treaty being negotiated among rich countries whose entertainment lobbyists have decided that the United Nations is too open and balanced to be used for future copyright negotiations. I posted yesterday on the updated Internet chapter in the latest version of ACTA, which features a major change on secondary liability [ed: e.g., holding ISPs and web-sites liable for copyright infringement if they dont surveil and censor their users] and the U.S. attempt to clawback on recent domestic DMCA changes by arguing against linking circumvention and copyright infringement [ed: that is, the attempt to broaden the reach of the US law that prohibits breaking "copy-protection" even if youre doing so for reasons that dont violate copyright, such as loading unauthorized software onto locked mobile devices like iPads]. While there remains a number of issues to be determined in that chapter (and a great deal to be addressed in the other IP enforcement chapters on criminal provisions, civil enforcement, and border measures), the rest of ACTA has largely been decided. As in the Internet chapter, where compromise was needed it was the U.S. that did most of it, as it becomes increasingly apparent that the USTR is willing to agree to almost anything in order to bring home an agreement before the next round of elections in November. Most interesting is the U.S. decision to cave on border issues. The U.S. had sought a provision requiring that each party shall adopt and maintain appropriate measures that facilitate activities of custom authorities for better identifying and targeting for inspection at its border shipments that could contain pirated goods. The article then specified a range of activities including consultation, information exchange, and a mandatory audit power. Moreover, there was an additional article on information exchange between customs authorities. All of that has been dropped, leaving only a provision where a party may consult with stakeholders or share information. ACTAs Enforcement Practices Chapter: Countries Reach Deal as U.S. Caves Again New ACTA leak: It's a screwjob for the world's poor countries ... ACTA "internet enforcement" chapter leaks Delusional EU ACTA negotiator claims that three strikes has never ... Biggest-ever ACTA leak: secret copyright treaty dirty laundry ... ACTA leak: Now we know who is against transparency - USA, Korea ... Secret ACTA fights over iPod border-searches Secret copyright treaty leaks. It's bad. Very bad. ACTA goes public...
|
| Updated Flickr attribution link-generator 09/09/2553 04:24 Last year, Boing Boing reader Cory Dodt responded to my request for a bookmarklet to make it easy to add attribution information for Creative Commons-licensed photos from Flickr. When Flickr updated its layout, the bookmarklet broke, but Cory was good enough to update it so that it works -- and now its better than ever, with links to the relevant Creative Commons license text. Thanks, Cory!...
|
| Ukrainian salt mine therapy for asthmatics 09/09/2553 04:24 From Wireds Raw File, a gallery of a creepy Ukrainian salt mine that has been converted into a convalescent home for recovering asthmatics. Its something called Speleotherapy: breathing in salt-saturated air as a means of soothing respiratory problems: "Kuletski describes the atmosphere among patients as calm and relaxed despite the appallingly unsafe conditions. ... The presence of kids wearing safety helmets and cheap plastic sheets to protect them from dripping water from the ceiling makes being there even more surreal, says Kuletski." Eerie Ukrainian Salt Mines House Convalescing Asthmatics (Image: Kirill Kuletski/Wired)...
|
| US federal IT spending: a wasteland of misbegotten contracts 09/09/2553 04:24 Heres another barn-burner of a speech by rogue archivist Carl Malamud, addressing the Gov 2.0 Summit 2010. Carl sez, "Washington, D.C. has become a vast wasteland of computer contracts. The U.S. government spent $81.9 billion in 2010 on information technology and much of that money is misspent, crippling the ability of government to do the jobs with which it has been entrusted. How can we deal with a global environmental crisis or a renegade financial industry or rescue the vast works that lie fallow in our national libraries when the basic machinery of government does not work?" The Currents Of Our Time (Thanks, Carl!) Yes We Scan! Carl Malamud for Public Printer of the USA Carl Malamud, rogue archivist, in Wired Carl Malamud's "10 Government Hacks" Malamud's "By the People" - stirring history of the Government ... 10 Rules for Radicals: Lessons from rogue archivist Carl Malamud ... Watch America's public domain video treasures, rescue the public ... Watch America's public domain video treasures, rescue the public ... Public Resource demands the source code to America's operating ......
|
| Login screens from Penn and Teller BBS, 1987 09/09/2553 04:24 HappySmurfday has dug up and scanned some printouts of the login screen from Penn and Tellers circa-1987 BBS, Mofo Ex-Machina. They are nerdgasmic and glorious. Mofo Ex-Machina (Thanks, HappySmurfday, via Submitterator) Penn and Teller make thousands of bees appear out of "nothing ... Penn & Teller's Invisible Thread: lost comedy magic special ... Teller and the neuroscience of magic A tour of magician Teller's house Penn Jillette's video rant show Penn Jillette on artistic satisfaction and magic Long-lost Penn and Teller videogame for download...
|
| What parents worry about, what parents should worry about 09/09/2553 04:24 From NPR, a list of 5 common parental worries that are extremely unlikely, and the top five risks for kids: the gap between the two is the source of much anguish, bad policy, and danger: Based on surveys Barnes collected, the top five worries of parents are, in order: 1. Kidnapping 2. School snipers 3. Terrorists 4. Dangerous strangers 5. Drugs But how do children really get hurt or killed? 1. Car accidents 2. Homicide (usually committed by a person who knows the child, not a stranger) 3. Abuse 4. Suicide 5. Drowning 5 Worries Parents Should Drop, And 5 They Shouldnt (via Schneier) Free book on Free Range kids Kick-ass 4m kid-built treehouse to be knocked down "because of ... Britain will subject everyone who works with kids to multiple ... 13-year old boy becomes youngest to summit Everest Hallowe'en is safe, your kids are safe, the only scary thing is ......
|
| How a wristwatch works - film from 1949 09/09/2553 04:24 UPDATE: I changed the embed code to the Prelinger Archives version, which is higher quality and complete. A 1949 film that reveals the inner workings of a wristwatch. They use a giant watch to demonstrate the function of the various parts. (Via onfocus)...
|
| The joy of the Digital Comics Museum 09/09/2553 04:24 Now that Im set up with an iPad (protected by a Moleskine-like Dodocase), Comic Book Pad, and the free Digital Comics Museum, theres really no good reason for me to buy anything else ever again. Above, Sparky Watts No. 9, from 1949, by the great Boody Rogers. The Bizarre Comics of Boody Rogers Scan of Boody Rogers comic Dudley, the Teen-Age Sensation - Boing ... Boody Rogers profoundly absurd comics Boody Rogers: vintage comic is first-brewed weirdtea, Mark was ... Boody Rogers weird and wonderful Babe comic book...
|
| Bombing Guam with dead mice 09/09/2553 04:24 The US Department of Agriculture is bombing Naval Base Guam with dead mice stuffed with generic Tylenol and transponders. Their aim is to kill off the non-native brown tree snakes that are killing off the islands birds and also become ensnared in power lines causing black-outs. From CNN: Since scientists discovered that the household pain reliever was deadly to the brown tree snakes, they’ve been trying to figure out how to get it to where many of the serpents live in the canopies of the island’s forests, according to a report in Stars & Stripes. The Tylenol-loaded mice are attached to two pieces of cardboard joined by paper streamers that snake exterminators hope will catch on tree branches, providing deadly snacks for snakes at those heights, according to the Stripes report. The aerial attack on the tree snakes is designed to augment current trapping systems, which are placed around ports and airports to prevent the snakes from hitching rides to other Pacific islands such as Hawaii and causing the same ecological nightmares they’ve been responsible for on Guam... If the current the experiment works – scientists will know because they’re also packing the dead mice with radio transmitters for the snakes to ingest – death from above will be coming for snakes at the island’s Anderson Air Base next year, according to Guam Newswatch. Success there could see the program expand island-wide. Tylenol-loaded mice dropped from air to control snakes (via Submitterator, thanks rkachowski!) The Brown Treesnake on Guam (USGS)...
|
| 70% of US federal spending reports dont add up 09/09/2553 04:24 Nicko from the Sunlight Foundation sez, Today the Sunlight Foundation launched analysis that reveals more than $1.3 trillion in federal reporting data from 2009 is broken. These data inaccuracies account for 70 percent of the total $1.9 trillion in government spending data reported last year. Clearspending offers a critique on the reliability of data from USASpending.gov, across three metrics--consistency, completeness and timeliness--and covers spending from 2007, 2008 and 2009. While there has been an increase in the number of programs reporting to USASpending.gov in the past three years, the reported data suffers from an abundance of errors, as well as problems with the datas timeliness and completeness. Findings from Sunlights Clearspending show that a significant portion of the governments data is unreliable and that USASpending.gov has not fulfilled its legal requirement of providing the public access to accurate, timely and detailed information on how federal agencies fulfill their spending obligations. Clearspending (Thanks, Nicko!) Explore Congressional funding with Sunlight Foundations mashup ......
|
| Fire tornado photos 09/09/2553 04:24 This is a fire tornado that emerged from a brush fire on Sunday near Hawaiis Mauna Kea volcano. National Geographic posted a gallery of amazing shots of these strange blazing whirlwinds. "Fire-Tornado Pictures: Why They Form, How to Fight Them"...
|
| Warez raids in Europe hit close to Wikileaks 09/09/2553 04:24 Police in Europe shut down 49 servers and detained 10 people in 13 countries in a coordinated raid against an online movie-pirating network, according to a statement today from the Belgian prosecutors office. In Sweden, police raided seven locations including one in a suburb of Stockholm containing servers used by file-sharing website The Pirate Bay and WikiLeaks, the whisteblowing website. More: AFP, and AP....
|
| Atlanta appeals court: Its "nonracial" to call an adult black employee "boy" 09/09/2553 04:24 A black man who worked for a Tyson chicken plant in Alabama sued his employer for discrimination, after being passed up for promotion in favor of white workers from another plant—and after being referred to regularly and derogatorily as "boy" by his supervisor, as were other black co-workers. An appeals court in Atlanta, GA ruled that calling an adult black man "boy" in this context was "nonracial." Notably, the NYT article skips the euphemisms. Core values, anyone? (via David Carr)...
|
| New time-lapse video of Japan by Samuel Cockedey 09/09/2553 04:24 Samuel Cockedey, a French photographer based in Tokyo, has uploaded another one of his mesmerizing time-lapse short films. This one is called inter // states, and its best to watch it in HD full-screen here. The sound track is a piece by Paul Frankland, aka Woob, called "Paradigm Flux." Heres an interview with Cockedey abut his time-lapse process. (Via Pink Tentacle)...
|
| Google launches "Google Instant" 09/09/2553 04:24 A big press event today from Google: the launch of "Google Instant," described as "a new search enhancement that shows results as you type." We are pushing the limits of our technology and infrastructure to help you get better search results, faster. Our key technical insight was that people type slowly, but read quickly, typically taking 300 milliseconds between keystrokes, but only 30 milliseconds (a tenth of the time!) to glance at another part of the page. This means that you can scan a results page while you type. More here about the new service, on Google. Coverage: Wired News, CNET, Gizmodo. What fun might we have with this? A "Google Instant" alphabet, charting what term results when one types in each leter of the alphabet? Numbers, too: "4" is for 4chan....
|
|
Hot Topic
Israel
Obama
Stocks
Market
US
China
Hot Blog
10/09 Apple Mac mini Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz Mini Desktop for $648 free shipping
10/09 Sarah Darling "With or Without You" MP3 Song download for free
10/09 Inkgrabber Ink Cartridge Roundup: Deals from $20 $5 s&h
10/09 Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5vi Earphones with Microphone for $60 free shipping
10/09 Aerielle i2i FM Transmitter for iPod for $10 $5 s&h
10/09 Samsung 46" 1080p LED LCD HDTV w/ wireless adapter for $1,300 $39 s&h
10/09 New Apple iPod touch 8GB MP3 Player for $223 free shipping, more
10/09 Refurb Apple iPod shuffle 2GB MP3 Player for $38 free shipping
10/09 Samsung 46" 120Hz 1080p LED-Backlit LCD HDTV for $1,220 free shipping
10/09 Kensington SD100 Laptop Docking Station for $25 free shipping
|
