New submitter ratbag writes with this snippet from BBC News: "The BBC's Radiophonic Workshop, which created theme tunes and sound effects for programmes including Doctor Who and Blake's 7, is to reopen after 14 years. The original workshop was known for its pioneering use of electronic sounds. Founded in 1958, it was best-known for creating the eerie swoosh of the Doctor Who theme tune, but its compositions were also used in numerous radio dramas, The Goon Show and The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy.As well as music, the workshop created sound effects — from champagne corks popping to the distorted, strangulated voices of the Daleks."
Lucas123 writes "Western Digital subsidiary HGST today announced that after 10 years of development it is preparing to release 3.5-in data center-class HDDs that are hermetically sealed with helium inside. The helium reduces drag and wind turbulence created by the spinning platters, all but eliminating track misregistration that has become a major issue to increasing drive density in recent years. Because of that, HGST will be able to add two more platters along with increasing the tracks per inch, which results in a 40% capacity increase. The drives will also use 23% less power because of the reduction of friction on the spindle. HGST said the new seven-platter helium drives will weigh 29% less per terabyte of capacity that today's five-platter drives. In other words, a seven-platter helium disk will weigh 690 grams, the same as today's five-platter drives."
itwbennett writes "In the first trial resulting from the controversial three-strikes copyright law, a French court on Thursday fined a man €150 for failing to secure his Internet connection. His negligence led to the illegal download of files, including two Rihanna songs that were downloaded by his wife."
Spy Handler writes "In a Microsoft-esque move, Google threatened Acer with banishment from Android if it went ahead with its new cellphone project with Alibaba (China's version of Amazon), using an OS called Aliyun. Acer has remained silent on the issue, but Alibaba reports that they received notification from Google, stating 'if the new product launch with Aliyun went ahead, Google would terminate Android product cooperation and related technical authorization with Acer.' A possible reason for Google's upset is that the Aliyun OS, which is not Android, can run Android apps as well as its own."
Razgorov Prikazka writes "There is a lot of technology involved in sailing these day's. EPIRB, FHV-DSC, GPS, NAVTEX, Inmarsat, fishfinders/depth sounders, different kinds of radar (with MARPA or ATA) you name it and there are dozens of manufacturers out there willing to provide, all of them with a range of different products. Right now I am planning a 'round-the-world-trip and my ship (an 18 meter Skerry Cruiser sailing yacht) is in its early construction phase, so I need to shop for some hi-tech gear and basically I got lost in all the possibilities. What kind of hardware would you recommend as necessary for a trip of this kind? What would you have installed in your ship in order to have a safe trip?"
judgecorp writes "Eolas, which claims to have patented key aspects to web browsers, is suing again, this time targeting Facebook, Disney and Wal-Mart for infringing hypertext patents. Eolas settled with Microsoft and has sold licenses to other players — but two of the four patents in this case have previously been declared invalid."
OverTheGeicoE writes "The motion to force DHS to start its public comment period is still working its way through the court (DHS: 'We're not stonewalling!', EPIC: 'Yes, you are!'). While we wait for the decision, Cato Institute's Jim Harper points out another way for the public to comment on body scanners, tsacomment.com. Even before this site existed, of course, the government was receiving public comment anyway in the form of passenger complaint letters, which they buried in their files. Even so, the public can get a chance to view those comments as the result of Freedom of Information Act requests. An FOIA request about pat-downs by governmentattic.org yielded hundreds of pages of letters to the government from 2010, including frequent reports of pat-down induced PTSD and sexual abuse trauma."
An anonymous reader writes "The NVIDIA Linux driver across multiple GeForce graphics cards can compete with Microsoft Windows 7 on Ubuntu, but only when using the KDE desktop and not the default Unity/Compiz. It turns out based upon recent desktop environment benchmarking, Ubuntu's Unity desktop is now noticeably slower than GNOME/KDE/Xfce/LXDE with multiple GPUs/drivers. Sam Spilsbury of Canonical/Compiz acknowledges the problem but it may take longer than one Ubuntu cycle to correct."
George Albercook says he got carried away talking with some third and fourth graders about space and asked them, "Would you like to go?" Except, of course, he couldn't send them beyond the atmosphere in person, so as a consolation he worked with them to send up a balloon that could carry experiments high enough that the sky is black 24 hours a day and the Earth's curvature is easy to see. This interview with George was at the 2012 Ann Arbor Mini Maker Faire. Click on the link just below, if you'd like to read the transcript.
First time accepted submitter halightw writes "Scotch tape really can fix anything according to a new study where it was used to induce super conductivity by taping two pieces of material together. A "proximity effect" occurs when a superconducting material is able to induce superconducting behavior in a second material — a semiconductor that does not typically enjoy superconductivity." All that and X-rays, too. Related: An anonymous reader writes "Scientist at University of Leipzig in Germany claim to have measured room-temperature superconducting in specially treated graphite grains. The measurements were reproduced independently before the announcement was made. More tests need to be done to verify the extent of superconductivity and whether the effect can be extended and scaled to be practical."
hypnosec writes "Having procured permission from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, Microsoft's Digital Crimes Unit managed to disrupt more than 500 different strains of malware in a bid to slow down the threats posed by the Nitol botnet. Microsoft, through an operation codenamed b70 (PDF), discovered Chinese retailers were involved in selling computers with a pirated version of Windows loaded with malware. Microsoft believes the malware could have entered the supply chain at any point, for the simple reason that a computer travels among companies that transport and resell the computer. The Windows 8 maker carried out a study focused on the Nitol botnet, through which it found nearly 20 percent of all the PCs that were purchased through insecure Chinese supply chains were infected with malware."
First time accepted submitter stairmaster writes "A couple of months ago I came across an opportunity to supplement my income by doing some consulting work (read mobile app development) on the side. It appears that I will be doing this work for some time and my question for you is this: is it worth it to incorporate as a business? I know that the answer to this question is extremely dependent on circumstance but I'm interested in your experiences. Have you been in a similar situation, and if you have how did it work out for you?"
Techmeology writes "Thieves have discovered how to steal BMW cars produced since 2006 by using the onboard computer that is able to program blank keys. The device used — originally intended for use by garages — is able to reprogram the key to start the engine in around three minutes. The blank keys, and reprogramming devices, have made their way onto the black market and are available for purchase over the Internet."
YokimaSun writes "Nintendo have revealed the release date of the WiiU, in Japan it will launch on the 8th December. The console will ship in 2 versions a Basic version with 8GB of internal memory and a Premium version that has 32GB of internal memory and comes with a stand and docks. Both versions have 1GB of Main and the same for Game Memory. Nintendo claim the console is 20 times more powerful than the Wii and supports 1080p visuals out the box and comes with an hdmi cable. All existing Wii accessories will work with the WiiU but the new Tablet Gamepad will set you back around £100/$173 when you convert yen over. The price of the Premium SKU converts to £250/ $405 but expect that to change when each region announces their release date and price."
BoxRec writes "The BBC is reporting newly-discovered films made by pioneer Edward Raymond Turner from London, who patented his colour process on 22 March 1899." When Turner invented his process, though, existing projection systems weren't up to it; to see the discovered footage, British archivists digitized the film for computer playback. When you're used to old films being both black and white and jerky, it's amazing to see it in color and (relatively) smooth.
It almost looks like CG but the floating drops in this video are quite real and potentially life-saving.
Marines are on the ground in Tripoli. Two Navy ships are speeding toward Libyan waters. And neither they, nor the rest of the U.S. military, are involved in fulfilling President Obama's pledge to bring the perpetrators of Tuesday's lethal consulate assault to justice. That's going to be the FBI's job, for now.
Wired spoke via phone to Nintendo produce marketing manager Bill Trinen after the conference, asking about the Nintendo TVii service that promises to manage your live television watching with added Wii U functionality, the state of the Virtual Console and why the GamePad controller needs a separate AC power adapter.
Ping, Apple's largely ignored attempt at a music-focused social network, is officially shutting down?Sept. 30.During Apple's media event Wednesday, Apple introduced a redesigned iTunes interface for desktop and iOS devices, but Ping was noticeably absent. The new iTunes will be available in October.Apple introduced Ping at the company's?fall 2010 iPod music event as a social ...
Apple is finally making the iPhone compatible with LTE networks. But it's not all good news. Due to 4G fragmentation, Apple has had to make three different iPhone models. What does this mean for you?
But no NFC doesn't mean Apple has abandoned paying with your phone. In fact, the iPhone 5 could do more to make mobile payments commonplace than any other phone or app yet.
A new IDC report predicts $40 billion in public cloud spending in 2012, which it says will grow to $100 billion annually by 2016. One big takeaway: The cloud's growth will be five times greater than that of the IT industry. Perhaps bigger: The public cloud will eat the private cloud's lunch.
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) is again proposing sweeping digital privacy protections requiring the government, for the first time, to get a probable-cause warrant to obtain e-mail and other content stored in the cloud. The proposal is proposed to be included in a bill authorizing Netflix subscribers to automatically update their Facebook streams with the names of the movies they're watching.
Watching the Apple event, I thought not only of the previous week?s phone launches, but the recent political conventions. Apple is like this year's version of the Democrats
Science is painting a dramatic picture of how childhood neglect damages developing brains, so stunting them that neglect might be likened to physically violent abuse. The latest addition to this research narrative comes from a study of mice placed in isolation early in their lives: The researchers found striking abnormalities in tissues that transmit electrical messages across the brain, suggesting a specific mechanism for some of the dysfunctions seen in neglected human children.
Immerse yourself in every eye-popping detail of Curiosity's harrowing plummet to the Martian surface in this new ultra-high-definition video.
If you know what an Erlenmeyer flask is, you remember chemistry too well. These shot glasses will help you forget it.
Apple has confirmed that it will start taking pre-orders for the new iPhone 5 beginning 12:01AM PT on September 14.
Nintendo doesn't want Wii U to just be your game machine, it wants it to replace your cable box. And at $300, it had better do just that.
For the second time this year, self-proclaimed Anonymous spokesman Barrett Brown was raided by the FBI.The latest dramatic incident occurred late Wednesday evening while Brown and another woman identified by some as his girlfriend were participating in an online chat on TinyChat with other individuals.Two minutes into the recorded chat session, loud voices could be ...
Google has added a new Easter Egg to its web search -- the Bacon Number. Yes, the search giant is now playing the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game, connecting celebrities back to actor Kevin Bacon.
He went by many names, the man who helped produce "The Innocence of Muslims," the inflammatory video now roiling the Middle East: Matthew Nekola; Ahmed Hamdy; Amal Nada; Daniel K. Caresman; Kritbag Difrat; Sobhi Bushra; Robert Bacily; Nicola Bacily; Thomas J. Tanas; Erwin Salameh; Mark Basseley Youssef; Yousseff M. Basseley; Malid Ahlawi; even P.J. Tobacco.
Apple's coming iOS 6 adds a new app, Passbook, for storing tickets, coupons, loyalty cards and more. To go along with it Apple has created a new API developers can use to update Passbook over the web. Naturally there's a Ruby on Rails app for that.
Brace yourself for a tidal wave of Facebook campaigning before November's U.S. presidential election. A study of 61 million Facebook users finds that using online social networks to urge people to vote has a much stronger effect on their voting behavior than spamming them with information via television ads or phone calls.
Mark Mallman plans to create music for seven straight days and nights by wiring himself up to sensors that translate his brain waves into music around the clock.
Back in May a team of pioneers set off for Tunisia; their goal, to restore Star Wars? Lars Homestead set back to its on-screen glory and preserve the site for future generations of tourists. The Lars Homestead is one of the most iconic landmarks in the Star Wars universe and appeared in two of the films; now the book Save the Lars Homestead: Preserving Movie History documents the story of its restoration.
Facebook Exchange, an advertising bidding system in private beta, is leaving competitors in the dust, according to one ad broker.
Like the rest of the world, you and your kids have probably already seen Disney/Pixar's Finding Nemo. Friday, September 14th, it will be re-released in the theaters for a 2 week engagement with an upgrade to 3D. That is what I am going to address in this article. I recently had the privilege to get a sneak peek of this enhanced version. Here are a few questions that I have been asked along with my answers:
There's a reason most subwoofers have boring, cube-like designs: They're meant to be tucked into a corner or under a cabinet, out of sight and out of mind. Edifier's 2.1-channel Bluetooth sound system bucks that convention with a subwoofer that's so elegant, so eye-catching, it would be criminal to hide it away.
If we've learned anything from a wave of recent startups, it's that we like things to be done for us, when we want them done (now would be good). YourMechanic joins the ranks of several other startups that cater to our on-demand whims.
Now that Nintendo has unveiled the price and date of Wii U for its home territory of Japan, all that's left is to tell the rest of the world.
While summering in the Italian town of Castel Gandolfo, Pope Benedict XVI will be riding in an electric vehicle supplied to his holiness by Renault. Gratis, natch.The bespoke EV is based on the Kangoo Max Z.E. electric van and painted in matching papal white, complete with Benedict?s coat of arms plastered on the front doors. ...
Business iPad users beware. Your halcyon days of loading whatever the heck you want onto your tablet may be coming to an end. Apple is set to introduce a couple of new features that will give corporate IT new ways to lock down the iOS 6 operating system, which powers the iPad and the iPhone, according to Zenprise, a mobile device management company that was briefed on the features by Apple.
William Gibson, one of science fiction's most visionary and distinctive voices, maintains that he and his fellow writers don't possess some mystical ability to peer into the future."We're almost always wrong," said Gibson in a phone interview with Wired. Gibson coined the term cyberspace in his 1982 short story "Burning Chrome" and expanded on the ...