The Ziggurat of Doom

If this review is even close to accurate, the Palm Pre is the smartphone I’ve always wanted.

And lo and behold, my contract is up in July. Win.

Some of you may remember that I had a plan at one point to make a decentralized bittorrent client which would mesh features of Bittorrent with features of DC++.

Well, so did a bunch of researchers from Harvard and some European universities. They wrote tribler, which sounds like it has essentially the same goals and methods.

I might have to give this guy a try.

EDIT: Changed tribbler to tribler. This makes it much less likely they were making a reference to Tribbles, which is sad.

Via the all-seeing eye of the intertron, I bring to you the news that an 800-core supercomputer has beaten an 8-dan go professional in a 9-stone handicap game.

Next week’s article in Go Magazine: “Go community says ‘Holy Shit’, requests change of pants”

Wake n’ Bacon wakes you with the smell of breakfast | Geek.com

The way it works is that a person puts a slice of frozen bacon into the tray of the clock before going to bed. In the morning, the alarm clock then activates ten minutes before the alarm time and turns on two halogen lamps which slowly cook the bacon. Ten minutes later you are supposed to wake with the delicious smell of cooked pork in your bedroom. If that doesn’t do the the trick, then a backup alarm sounds to wake the individual.

“The assembly was finished much faster than we expected, and by noon we were doing science,” Sounds like a transcription error. I think he probably said “…by noon we were doing Science!”

Quickies: Intelligent Sticky Notes

A newly-written Quickie is a simple Post-it note, which is scribed on a sensitive pad that allows the computer to capture and store the written information. This is done using commercially available digital-pen hardware, which translates the movement of the pen on the surface of the paper sticky note into digital information. The data can be viewed at any time through the Quickie software, which stores the sticky notes as images and converts the hand-written notes into computer-understandable text using available handwriting recognition algorithms.

The Quickie application not only allows users to browse their notes, but also lets users search for specific information or keywords. Using a freely available commonsense knowledge engine and computational AI techniques, the software processes the written text and determines the relevant context of the notes, categorizing them appropriately. “The system uses its understanding of the user’s intentions, content, and the context of the notes to provide the user with reminders, alerts, messages, and just-in-time information” – said the inventors. Additionally, each Quickie carries a unique RFID tag, so that it can be easily located around the house or office. Therefore, users can be sure never to lose a bookmarked book or any other object marked with a Quickie.

There’s no reason this has to be a sticky note. I can think of a few form factors that might work better, like a staple or paper clip, for example.

No clinically significant difference versus placebo in treating depression

Props to the writer for including the title of the paper in question.

Ford Adds RFID To F-150 — RFID — InformationWeek

F-150 drivers who use their trucks for jobs will be able to affix RFID tags to tools and construction equipment that can be read and recognized by RFID antennas installed within the vehicle.

Sounds like fun. Probably has uses beyond just tools, too.

Universal Influenza Vaccine Tested Successfully In Humans

British-American biotech company Acambis reports the successful conclusion of Phase I trials of the universal flu vaccine in humans.

Remember when the lack of a cure for the common cold used to be proof that there were just some things humans couldn’t accomplish?

Studies show that 28 percent of adults spend less time socializing because of the internet, and a full 20 percent have less sex because they’re on the internet.

In related news, here’s Bill Gates getting hit with a pie.

Diabetes Cured

There’s a lunar eclipse this weekend, but it’s showing a strong anti-American bias. It’s only too bad Canada has to suffer. Again. I guess.
NASA - Eclipses During 2007

Observers in eastern North and South America will find the Moon already partially or totality eclipsed at moonrise. From western North America, only the final penumbral phases are visible.

For the next time someone says you should stop playing all those violent video games, Game Politics talks about a study that found a correlation between violent scripture and real world violence. So you kids, stop reading that Bible and go play Guitar Hero 2!

Typical canine reaction

In the history of mankind, bubbles have always been a nearly perfect phenomenon, not considered to be lacking in any obvious regard. However innovative scientists have thought of a way to IMPROVE the bubble, shocking citizens all around the globe.

Introducing… the chicken-scented bubble machine

Have you seen Planetes? You should go watch it. It’s good. It’s about an underfunded, over worked group of people who clean up space debris. It’s an interesting setting for a speculative fiction series.

Unfortunantly, it’s also becoming a real problem. One bright note is that it seems to be getting some press, so maybe the clean up efforts won’t be so underfunded.

You know, here, in real life.

If you’ve never heard of molecular gastronomy, it’s basically the idea of applying sound science to the art of cooking. Khymos is a great blog on the subject. See their Perfect steak with DIY “sous vide” cooking for an example.

Warning: Pun Ahead!
I really eat this kind of stuff up.

Processing Key, Media Key and Volume ID found!!! - Page 6 - Doom9’s Forum. This looks like a full, general crack for both formats, instead of large memory dumps, as was used before. Engadget talked about it, but didn’t provide a link.

So here I am. Killing a few minutes until I have to go to my meeting by loading up my bloglines, and I open up Techmeme to see this:

Techmeme link. I know it doesn’t really mean anything, I just think its really funny.

Scientist Bakes Up Nerve-Jangling Donuts Spiked With Caffeine - Gizmodo

Posted without comment: DARPA researching possibility of remote-controlled sharks.