Blessed are the Cheesemakers

2011-09-15T13:03:00.001-07:00

BBC News - Dinosaur feather evolution trapped in Canadian amber

Samples of amber in western Canada containing feathers from dinosaurs and birds have yielded the most complete story of feather evolutionever seen. Eleven fragments show the progression from hair-like "filaments" to doubly-branched feathers of modern birds.

Last.fm to charge for mobile radio

2011-02-08T10:47:00.001-08:00

So, they build a radio station based on my taste and then charge me $3 a month to listen on my phone? I think not.

Last.fm Moves to Paid Content Model, Largely Abandons Free Mobile Service | Fast Company

Starting next Tuesday, February 15th, Last.fm's "radio service" in its mobile apps, and some home entertainment devices will "become an ad-free, subscriber-only feature" according to an official blog posting. It'll remain free-to-access on its website in the U.S., U.K., and Germany and for U.S. and U.K. Xbox and "Windows Mobile 7 phones" and through its desktop app.

Bring Back the Mammoth

2011-01-14T12:07:00.001-08:00

The new procedure allowed for successful cloning of a frozen mouse ... so there is a way to go.

Mammoth could be brought back to life | News.com.au

Akira Iritani, a professor at Kyoto University, said the same technique could be used to resurrect the woolly mammoth, which died out about 5000 years ago.

"Now the technical problems have been overcome, all we need is a good sample of soft tissue from a frozen mammoth," he said.

Oldest Wine Pess Discovered

2011-01-13T06:28:00.001-08:00

Analysis indicates they were making a dry red.

Archeologists toast world's oldest wine press • The Register

Carbon dating on one desiccated grape vine showed it had grown around 4,000 BC, meaning the press was "1,000 years older than any other wine-making facility discovered".

Music Price Fixing Allegations to be Probed

2011-01-13T06:26:00.001-08:00

US Supreme Court declines to intervene, allowing a civil suit to proceed against Big Music.

Alleged music price-fixing will be probed- The Inquirer

These included the 'big four' music labels - Sony, Warner Music, EMI, and a unit of Vivendi SA, the company behind Universal Music Group. They were accused of making an agreement with each other to make sure that prices wouldn't be any lower than 70 cents a tune, even though some of their rivals were selling tracks for much less.

An inside joke from the behavioral sciences

2010-12-03T07:16:00.001-08:00

Who says scientific journals need to be dry as dust?

http://goo.gl/6qMNW

Bluetooth to FM Converter with style

2010-11-23T09:39:00.001-08:00

New Potato reveals TuneLink Auto Bluetooth-to-FM transmitter for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad -- Engadget

The newly announced TuneLink Auto looks like a typical cigarette adapter charger at first glance, but within, there's technology that accepts audio over Bluetooth and then sends it out over FM. This prevents users from having to connect a dongle of any kind to their iPad, iPod touch or iPhone, but the built-in USB port is actually capable of charging all three should you choose.

Psychohistory

2010-10-21T09:27:00.001-07:00

Well, that's what it looks like: analysis of large aggregations of human behavior yeild enough data to predict the future of the DOW with 87.6% accuracy. Its even more analogous when you figure in that if the tweeters learn about the predictions, the outcome will change.

Twitter Predicts the Stock Market | Singularity Hub

Bollen, Mao, and Zeng fed the 9.8 million tweets into OpinionFinder and GPOMS and compared the trends they found to the Dow. The emotional lens that seemed to have a strong correlation to the stock market was ‘Calm’. When the calmness of tweets changed, two to six days later the Dow would fluctuate in about the same way.

Google to place Dead Sea Scrolls online

2010-10-19T12:29:00.001-07:00

Surely no one will step up with copyright concerns this time ...

Google to bring Dead Sea Scrolls online

The scrolls will be available in their original languages, Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, and at first an English translation. Eventually other translations will be added and Google's translation feature may also be incorporated. They will also be searchable.

Excellent Post on The Difference Engine

2010-10-04T13:52:00.001-07:00

The 100-year leap - O'Reilly Radar

In December 1837, the British mathematician Charles Babbage published a paper describing a mechanical computer that is now known as the Analytical Engine. Anyone intimate with the details of electronic computers will instantly recognize the components of Babbage's machine. Although Babbage was designing with brass and iron, his Engine has a central processing unit (which he called the mill) and a large amount of expandable memory (which he called the store). The operation of the Engine is controlled by program stored on punched cards, and punched cards can also be used to input data.

Wikileaks and "Opened Source"

2010-07-29T06:30:00.001-07:00

Well here is your daily dose of ironic humor. Onion quality satire by Java programmers for Java programmers. Personally, I never liked "static" either ;)

Stevey's Blog Rants: Wikileaks To Leak 5000 Open Source Java Projects With All That Private/Final Bullshit Removed

EYJAFJÖLL, ICELAND — Java programmers around the globe are in a panic today over a Wikileaks press release issued at 8:15am GMT. Wikileaks announced that they will re-release the source code for thousands of Open Source Java projects, making all access modifiers 'public' and all classes and members non-'final'.

Passive Voice has been Studied

2010-07-08T08:19:00.001-07:00

A large chunk of English speakers use a grammar that does not include passive sentences.

Many English speakers cannot understand basic grammar

"If a significant proportion of the population does not understand passive sentences, then notices and other forms of written information may have to be rewritten and literacy strategies changed.

"What's more, the existence of substantial individual differences in native language attainment is highly problematic for one of the most widely accepted arguments for an innate universal grammar: the assumed 'fact' that all native speakers of a language converge on essentially the same grammar. Our research shows that they don't."

An early mobile phone from 1922

2010-05-27T13:16:00.001-07:00

Video of a very early mobile phone ... fire hydrant not included.

As almost everyone and their dog has already mentioned ... it doesn't support flash, either :)

But you can stream music from the early iTunes store ...

It's no iPhone 4G, but it is in black and white... - Computerworld Blogs

Here's something you don't see every day: a 1922-vintage mobile phone. Pathé News has discovered a silent, black and white movie of this pre-historic device being demonstrated, somewhere in America. Let's take a peek at this (ahem) distant cousin of the iPhone 4G

Meet the in-laws ...

2010-05-07T08:21:00.001-07:00

These are not new results, but more details are emerging. Neanderthal genes occur randomly at the 1%-4% level in non-African humans, yet there is no sign of modern human genes in the Neanderthal samples.

Neanderthals and humans interbred, fossils indicate - USATODAY.com

Stocky, thick-browed and heavy-boned, the Neanderthals last shared a common ancestor with the African precursors to modern humans about 500,000 years ago. The Neanderthals populated the Near East and Europe until they vanished from the fossil record about 30,000 years ago. The gene maps produced by the DNA analysis of the bones found Neanderthal genes scattered randomly among non-Africans, Paabo says, indicating they don't account for any racial differences between modern-day Africans and anyone else. Also, the study finds no sign of human genes intruding into the Neanderthal lineage.

The Museum of RetroTechnology

2010-05-06T09:36:00.001-07:00

Pneumatic networks, hot-air gramophones, monowheels. Find it all at this site.

The Museum of RetroTechnology

This elegant monowheel cycle- the word "bicycle" seems somehow inappropriate, though there are certainly two wheels involved- dates back to 1869. It was built by Rousseau of Marseilles.
"In 1869 the craftsman Rousseau of Marseilles built this monocycle, which perches the cyclist on the inside of a 2 1/2 yards-high wheel. As there is no steering mechanism, it makes uncommon demands on the rider's sense of balance."

Apple Shuts down LaLa

2010-04-30T10:42:00.001-07:00

Another great online music service is snuffed out, just a couple of weeks following the bizarre changes at last.fm.

The Lala service will be shut down on May 31, 2010.
Service Available through May 31, 2010

You will be able to access and play all music in your Lala collection through May 31, 2010. Any mp3 songs purchased and downloaded from Lala will continue to play as part of your local music library. You can continue to purchase mp3 songs through May 31st using your wallet balance or other payment methods.

Lala - Where music plays

Lala is shutting down
The Lala service will be shut down on May 31st, 2010.

Unfortunately, we are no longer accepting new users.
Members, you can still use Lala through May 31st, 2010.

Neanderthals still with us.

2010-04-21T07:42:00.001-07:00

Comparison of the entire genome of nearly 2000 people world wide reveals evidence that is best explained by two episodes of interbreeding with Neanderthals at 60K and 45K years ago.

Neanderthals may have interbred with humans twice

The research was carried out by a group of genetic anthropologists from the University of New Mexico, and leader of the team, Jeffrey Long, said the findings mean Neanderthals did not completely disappear, but “there is a little bit of Neanderthal left over in almost all humans.”

What Should the Next Supreme Court Nominee Know?

2010-04-20T13:40:00.001-07:00

What key areas of experience and expertise might round out the current court in the absence of Justice Stevens following his retirement? Should Obama nominate a liberal? An Evironmentalist? A representative of any one of the numerous underrepresented and disenfranchised groups that have suffered inequality under the law? Maybe. But then there's also this. Read the article, its unbelievable.

Our Tech-Savvy Supreme Court - Law Blog - WSJ

According to the story, the first sign of trouble came was about midway through the argument, when Chief Justice John Roberts asked what the difference was “between email and a pager?” (Cue sound of hard slap against forehead.)

Teach Yourself C++ in 21 days

2010-03-08T14:52:00.001-08:00

True dat ... click through to see why.

Steampunk Style Test

2010-02-26T10:23:00.001-08:00

Not so sure about the pith helmet ... I was hoping for a deerstalker.

Your result for The Steampunk Style Test...

The Explorer

29% Elegant, 62% Technological, 33% Historical, 72% Adventurous and 6% Playful!

You are the Explorer, the embodiment of steampunk’s adventuring spirit. For you, clothing should be rugged and reliable, and just as functional as it is attractive. You probably prefer khaki or leather, and your accessories are as likely to include weapons as technological gizmos. You probably wear boots and gloves, and maybe a pith helmet. Most of what you wear is functional, and if you happen to wear goggles people had better believe that you use them. In addition to Victorian exploration gear, your outfit probably includes little knickknacks from your various travels. Above all, you are a charming blend of rugged Victorian daring and exotic curiosity.

Try our other Steampunk test here.

Take The Steampunk Style Test at HelloQuizzy

Music discovery service: TuneGlue

2010-02-19T14:28:00.001-08:00

You can't listen to new artists you find, but it brings up some surprising and intriguing results.

TuneGlue Helps You Find New Tunes You'd Like by Mapping Music Connections - music discovery - Lifehacker

You start building a web by searching for an artist. In our sample web above we started with Iggy Pop. When you click on your first node, you can perform a variety of actions with the node but the most important action is expanding the node. Expanding adds more nodes to the web, spun off of the node you expanded. By expanding nodes you can generate connections between artists based on listening patterns. Iggy Pop, for example, links to The Stooge which in turn links to the New York Dolls. Curious how we got from Iggy Pop to Garbage? We went from Iggy Pop through Patti Smith -> PJ Harvey -> Tori Amos -> Alanis Morissette -> The Cranberries -> Garbage.

Now is the summer of our sweet content ...

2010-02-19T10:24:00.001-08:00

The Battle of Bosworth Field, where Richard III met his fate at the hands of ... um ... Edmund Blackadder? has been located. The boar's head badge may have belonged to Edmund himself :).

BBC News - New Battle of Bosworth Field site revealed

Bosworth, fought in 1485, which saw the death of Richard III, was believed to have taken place on Ambion Hill, near Sutton Cheney in Leicestershire.

The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariners

2010-02-19T06:03:00.001-08:00

Unexpected find: Hominids with seafaring technology advanced enough to sail to Crete. Wonder if they had pirates, too?

Primitive Humans Conquered Sea, Surprising Finds Suggests

Crete has been surrounded by vast stretches of sea for some five million years. The discovery of the hand ax suggests that people besides technologically modern humans—possibly Homo heidelbergensis—island-hopped across the Mediterranean tens of thousands of millennia earlier than expected.

Were There Venomous Dinosaurs?

2010-01-15T15:54:00.001-08:00

This is a terrific article that looks into recent claims that there is fossil evidence that some dinosaurs were armed to the teeth.

Groovy teeth, but was Sinornithosaurus a venomous dinosaur? : Not Exactly Rocket Science

It's a dinosaur tooth, and clearly one that belonged to a predator - sharp and backwards-pointing. But this particularly tooth, belonging to a small raptor called Sinornithosaurus, has a special feature that's courting a lot controversy. It has a thin groove running down its length, from the root to the very tip. According to a new paper from Enpu Gong of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, it was a channel for venom.

A top ten list of fantasy series

2009-12-30T07:09:00.001-08:00

Here's a list of 10 fantasy novel series for 2010. Its obligatory for such lists to include Lord of the Rings, and strive to find a reason not to put it in the number one slot. This list is no exception. But that's OK. For a new decade you want to read a new series, and this list puts a few good candidates forward.

The 10 Greatest Fantasy Series Of All Time

Martin rises above the crowd, and that's why, even if he never does get around to finishing it, we think A Song of Ice and Fire is the greatest fantasy series of all time.

Yo Ho Ho

2009-11-17T07:11:00.001-08:00

Compare and contrast.

The Pirate Bay Tracker Shuts Down for Good | TorrentFreak

Despite this success, The Pirate Bay operators today decided to pull the plug and close down the tracker permanently. The evolution of the BitTorrent protocol has made trackers redundant they say, as BitTorrent downloads work well with trackerless solutions such as DHT and PEX.

The Boat That Rocked (2009) - Plot Summary

It's about a band of rogue DJs that captivated Britain, playing the music that defined a generation and standing up to a government that, incomprehensibly, preferred jazz.

Copyright Time Bomb

2009-11-16T13:39:00.001-08:00

Wired has an interesting article on the fine print in existing copyright law that is about to go off. Well worth reading.

Copyright Time Bomb Set to Disrupt Music, Publishing Industries | Epicenter | Wired.com

At a time when record labels and, to a lesser extent, music publishers, find themselves in the midst of an unprecedented contraction, the last thing they need is to start losing valuable copyrights to ’50s, ’60s, ’70s and ’80s music, much of which still sells as well or better than more recently released fare. Nonetheless, the wheels are already in motion.

Where to watch free movies online

2009-11-02T07:07:00.001-08:00

Quite the list. Enjoy.

Free Movies Online: Where to Watch Them | Open Culture

Where to watch free movies online? Here’s a list that will get you started. We’ve listed 20 sites that feature a wide range of films. Classics, international, film noir, documentaries, indies — they’re all here. Most of these films should be available in every geographic region. However, there will be some exceptions.

Spacebook

2009-10-23T10:46:00.001-07:00

New Google Audio Launching Soon?

2009-10-21T08:14:00.001-07:00

Well, TechCrunch says so ... and it could be an interesting alternative to Last.FM ...

New Google Music Service Launch Imminent

Google will soon launch a music service, we’ve heard from multiple sources, and the company has spent the last several weeks securing content for the launch of the service from the major music labels. One source has referred to the new service as Google Audio.

Google To Partner With iLike And LaLa For New Music Service

Google will partner with iLike and LaLa for their new music service, we’ve learned. And the announcement date is Wednesday, October 28, 2009.

Magic Wand Remote

2009-10-09T11:47:00.001-07:00

Who wouldn't want one?

Magic Wand: Accelerometer + Remote Control - O'Reilly Radar

The wand has a total of thirteen gestures that can be programmed to output IR signals. The gestures can be re-programmed at any time when you have the original remote. Their website doesn't list all of them, but the names are quite suggestive of the motion. They include Rotate (for volume), Flicks (for advancing tracks or channels), and Taps (I would think for Playing and Stopping).

New Fossil Links Dinosaurs and Birds

2009-09-25T08:11:00.001-07:00

Four-winged dino may be missing link in bird debate - Yahoo! News

It was found in rock dated to the early part of the Late Jurassic, between 151 and 161 million years ago, which means it is clearly older than Archaeopteryx.

Rather than be considered a bird, A. huxleyi is a late member of the Troodontidae, a category of dinosaurs closely related to avians, the study argues.

"This new find refutes the temporal paradox and provides significant information on the temporal framework of theropod divergence," it says.

CBS to field a Last.FM powered HD radio station in major markets.

2009-09-14T06:39:00.001-07:00

Crowd-sourced commercial on-air radio programming. Its a long way from Jack and Bob robot programmed stations, let alone WKRP which was programmed by a crew of quirky humans. The question is ... can Last.FM users game the programming?

CBS to Launch Last.fm HD Radio Stations in Top 4 U.S. Markets | Epicenter | Wired.com

Listeners in those cities (who own HD Radios) will be able to tune in to the channel, to be comprised of “an eclectic mix of music aggregated and influenced by the service’s user-generated weekly charts, combined with live performances and interviews from the Last.fm studios in New York, and event updates,” according to Friday morning’s announcement. The station will also be available as a webcast on Last.fm and other CBS websites, of course, as well as through mobile apps for the iPhone and Blackberry.

Name that Tune

2009-09-03T10:07:00.001-07:00

Top of the list in this article was a site I'd never tried before: Midomi which asks you to "hum a few bars" and they'll guess the song. So my first inclination here - as in so many cases where a web site claims to be able to guess what you're thinking - is to toss Gilligan's Island at them. I figure its something that's rarely on people's minds, yet it is familiar to almost everyone. In this case the theme song. They request 10 seconds, so I started with 3 seconds. No dice. Then I tried whistling for 10 seconds. No dice. Then I followed instructions hummed for ten embarrassing seconds and ...

Now you can try this yourself, and perhaps you'll find the "near misses" just as interesting. In my case, Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" turned up as a close match to Gilligan's Island.

HOW TO: Find the Name of That Song

In our usage of Midomi over time, we’ve found it to be startlingly accurate. Of course, it depends a bit on some esoteric factors such as how faithfully you can reproduce the sound (or conversely, how tone-deaf you are!) and how obscure the track is you’re trying to identify. You’ll also need to give the search engine some core identifiable piece of the song to work from, which means knowing enough of the lyrics or melody to trigger a match.

Analysis of the Spotify business model

2009-08-18T07:55:00.001-07:00

An analysis of the economics of Spotify reveal its not as artist friendly as previously believed.

Behind the music: The real reason why the major labels love Spotify | Music | guardian.co.uk

No wonder the majors speak so highly of Spotify – they receive 18% of shares in the online streaming service. It's justy a pity that artists won't get to see any of this

The mathematical model for a zombie attack.

2009-08-18T07:53:00.001-07:00

Convincing, although unsurprising, results from guys who know how to model infectious disease.

Marginal Revolution: Mathematics of a Zombie Attack

Zombies are a popular figure in pop culture/entertainment and they are usually portrayed as being brought about through an outbreak or epidemic. Consequently, we model a zombie attack, using biological assumptions based on popular zombie movies. We introduce a basic model for zombie infection, determine equilibria and their stability, and illustrate the outcome with numerical solutions. We then refine the model to introduce a latent period of zombification, whereby humans are infected, but not infectious, before becoming undead.

Scary Editorials about Health Care

2009-08-12T13:39:00.001-07:00

TalkingPointsMemo captured a truly ironic editorial over at Investor's Business Daily, before it was patched up (the evidence is still in Google's cache). The editorial was highly critical of the proposed U.S. health care reform legislation. Since reform is not expected to be a "good thing" for investors if it passes, we can understand their point of view.

Instead of pointing out the financial risk to investors, however, they decided to scare people by warning that the bill would usher in the same terrifyingly low level of health care quality as is available in the U.K.

They went a little over the top, though, when they suggested that Stephen Hawking would have perished of neglect under the U.K.'s health care system. Hawking is, of course, a Commander of the British Empire and has held the Lucasian Chair at Cambridge (Isaac Newton's old job) since 1979.

Don't Need To Be a Rocket Scientist | TPM

People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance in the U.K., where the National Health Service would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless.

14,000 year old map discovered

2009-08-07T15:23:00.001-07:00

World's oldest map: Spanish cave has landscape from 14,000 years ago - Telegraph

A stone tablet found in a cave in Abauntz in the Navarra region of northern Spain is believed to contain the earliest known representation of a landscape.

Engravings on the stone, which measures less than seven inches by five inches, and is less than an inch thick, appear to depict mountains, meandering rivers and areas of good foraging and hunting.

The Associated Press wil give you a license to quote Thomas Jefferson.

2009-08-03T17:58:00.001-07:00

Yet another reason why newspapers are utterly doomed.

Associated Press will sell you a license to quote the public domain - Boing Boing
I picked a random AP article and went to their "reuse options" site. Then, when they asked what I wanted to quote, I punched in Thomas Jefferson's famous argument against copyright. Their license fee: $12 for an educational 26-word quote. FROM THE PUBLIC FREAKING DOMAIN, and obviously, obviously not from the AP article. But the AP is too busy trying to squeeze the last few cents out of a dying business model to care about little things like free speech or the law.

Hacking Life

2009-08-03T17:24:00.001-07:00

Here you go.

J. Craig Venter, genetic entrepreneur extraordinaire, points out that the efficiency of sequencing genomes has recently outstripped Moore's law for computers by about an order of magnitude for the last four years. Given that pace... do you think that natural or artificial intelligence will be getting the next big upgrade?

Synthetic Life - TierneyLab Blog - NYTimes.com
The rate at which this technology is now improving puts silicon to shame. Dr. Church noted that between 1970 and 2005 gene sequencing had taken place on a Moore’s Law pace, improving at about 1.5 times per year. Since then it has improved at the rate of an order of magnitude, or ten times annually.

Amelia Earhart

2009-08-03T16:53:00.001-07:00

A new expedition hopes to use modern DNA analysis to confirm the last location of the famed aviator.

Solving the mystery of how aviator Amelia Earhart disappeared | World news | The Observer
Gillespie said that modern DNA analysis techniques meant that any other human artefacts recovered could now be swabbed for the tiniest traces of DNA and compared to the Earhart family sample. His team will be looking for traces of mitochondrial DNA, which breaks down less easily than the chromosomal DNA of a cell's nucleus.

Map of Ancient Roman City Unearthed

2009-07-31T12:00:00.001-07:00

Ancient Roman City Rises Again -- Curry 2009 (730): 1 -- ScienceNOW
Altinum was eventually abandoned entirely. Most of the ancient city's stones were stolen in the Middle Ages to be reused elsewhere. Land-reclamation efforts in the 19th century turned the area from marsh into farm fields. "Altinum is unique because it was not built upon in later times," Mozzi says. Previous archaeological excavations have focused mainly on the city's necropolis, located outside the walls; this is the first-ever glimpse of the city's layout.

T. Rex Proteins Again

2009-07-29T09:59:00.001-07:00

The Scientific Method in action. Repeating the previous experiment supports the results: proteins isolated from a T. Rex fossil appear genuine.

Reexamination of T. rex verifies disputed biochemical remains
The scientists describe reanalysis of the T. rex data and also report finding evidence of substances found in collagen. "In summary, we find nothing obviously wrong with the Tyrannosaurus rex [analysis from 2007]," the report states. "The identified peptides seem consistent with a sample containing old, quite possibly very ancient, bird-like bone, contaminated with only fairly explicable proteins. Hemoglobin and collagen are plausible proteins to find in fossil bone, because they are two of the most abundant proteins in bone and bone marrow."

How do you mend a broken heart?

2009-07-27T14:18:00.001-07:00

Sounds preferable to having your chest cracked, no?

Stem Cells Not The Only Way To Fix A Broken Heart
Researchers appear to have a new way to fix a broken heart. They have devised a method to coax heart muscle cells into reentering the cell cycle, allowing the differentiated adult cells to divide and regenerate healthy heart tissue after a heart attack, according to studies in mice and rats reported in the July 24th issue of the journal Cell.

Neanderthal speared by a human

2009-07-22T07:18:00.001-07:00

It looks possible that 50,000 years ago, at least one human threw a spear at a Neanderthal, hit him and perhaps lead to his death weeks later.

Human Stabbed a Neanderthal, Evidence Suggests | LiveScience
Newly analyzed remains suggest that a modern human killed a Neanderthal man in what is now Iraq between 50,000 and 75,000 years ago. The finding is scant but tantalizing evidence for a theory that modern humans helped to kill off the Neanderthals.

Benedict XVI on Intellectual Property

2009-07-10T13:18:00.001-07:00

I wonder how he feels about copyright?

Patent Law Blog (Patently-O): The Pope on Patents
In a recently published encyclical letter, Pope Benedict XVI has taken a stand against strong patent rights because of they way that the exclusive rights of patents tend to promote wealth inequality at the expense of development in the world's poorest countries.

"On the part of rich countries there is excessive zeal for protecting knowledge through an unduly rigid assertion of the right to intellectual property, especially in the field of health care."

Education 2.0

2009-07-09T16:59:00.001-07:00

Pandora Caps Free Streaming in Response to Royalty "Deal"

2009-07-08T07:25:00.001-07:00

The terms of the deal swill allow Pandora to continue ... but at a price their listeners may not be willing to pay.

Lifehacker - Pandora Caps Free Streaming at 40 Hours per Month - streaming radio
The bad news, at least for daily streamers, is that free accounts will be limited to 40 hours per monthly period. Users can then pay $0.99 to unlock streaming for the rest of the month

Ornitopter Video

2009-07-02T08:30:00.001-07:00

Cool: artificial humming bird.

'First-ever' flight of robotic ornithopter announced • The Register
Vid Famous crazycraft company Aerovironment has won a $2.1m contract to further develop its robotic "Nano Air Vehicle" (NAV), which flies and hovers using flapping wings like a hummingbird. The company has also released a video of the innovative craft in test flights.

The Dogfish Time Machine is running again

2009-06-09T07:12:00.001-07:00

Another batch of Chateau Jiahu plus a public offering of Sah'tea and Theobroma. Also try the more regularly available King Midas.

9,000-year-old brew hitting the shelves this summer: Scientific American Blog
Called Chateau Jiahu, this blend of rice, honey and fruit was intoxicating Chinese villagers 9,000 years ago—long before grape wine had its start in Mesopotamia.

Neanderthals, where on Earth did you go?

2009-05-17T11:48:00.001-07:00

It seems they found a Neanderthal skull, with butcher marks, in a human bone midden.

How Neanderthals met a grisly fate: devoured by humans | Science | The Observer
But not every team member agrees. "One set of cut marks does not make a complete case for cannibalism," said Francesco d'Errico, of the Institute of Prehistory in Bordeaux. It was also possible that the jawbone had been found by humans and its teeth used to make a necklace, he said.

...

"This does not prove we systematically eradicated the Neanderthals or that we regularly ate their flesh. But it does add to the evidence that competition from modern humans probably contributed to Neanderthal extinction."

Hobbits may have evolved from H. habilis

2009-05-11T10:07:00.001-07:00

This article has a good description of recent results based on foot structure. It also has a family tree diagram with Hobbits included.

Palaeoanthropology: Homo floresiensis: from head to toe : Article : Nature
These features suggest that H. floresiensis evolved from a species that was anatomically more primitive than classic H. erectus from Asia. One possibility (Fig. 2) is that H. floresiensis evolved from H. habilis, whose skeleton is poorly known but is australopith-like in many respects. Another is that H. floresiensis descended from an earlier type of H. erectus, whose body may have been much less modern than we currently credit, and which perhaps deserves a separate species designation (H. ergaster).

Transplant advances

2009-05-11T09:18:00.001-07:00

Just phenomenal progress.

BBC NEWS | Americas | First US face transplant revealed
Surgeons at a clinic in a Cleveland, Ohio, replaced 80% of Ms Culp's face with that of a dead female donor.

"I guess I'm the one you came to see today, " she told reporters but added that "I think it's more important that you focus on the donor family that made it so I could have this person's face."

The transplant is only the fourth to be carried out. Two operations have been conducted in France and one in China.

Man gets first double hand transplant in U.S. : Scientific American Blog
Kepner, who lost both hands and feet to a bacterial infection a decade ago, will need intense physical therapy before he is able to use his hands effectively, according to Rose.

The problem with growth.

2009-05-01T13:18:00.001-07:00

NYT had an article a couple days ago about the demographics of web growth and the associated economics.   I was thinking that they would surely mention Last.fm ... but they didn't. Still its a good read.

Internet Users in Developing Countries Drag on Sites’ Profits - NYTimes.com
Facebook is booming in Turkey and Indonesia. YouTube’s audience has nearly doubled in India and Brazil.

That may seem like good news. But it is also a major reason these and other Web companies with big global audiences and renowned brands struggle to turn even a tiny profit.

Call it the International Paradox.

Lessig's infamous talk

2009-05-01T12:58:00.001-07:00

Here's your daily dose of irony. One of Lessig's talks on how copyright should be adapted to remain viable ... received a take-down notice from Warner music.

I hadn't seen the talk before. You can watch it below. Well worth the time.

update on Warner Music (Lessig Blog)
As you may have read me tweet, the organization that hosted me for this talk:

Received a notice that Warner Music had objected to its being posted on copyright grounds. Apparently, YouTube's content-ID algorithm had found music in the video that they claimed ownership to. The organization is apparently responding by disputing the claim

Judge in Pirate Bay case had conflict of interest

2009-04-23T06:49:00.001-07:00

Downloading pirated movies is wrong. But publishing a web index is not (see the activities of a company called Google for example).

Nevertheless, if the judge in the Pirate Bay case were designing laws, Eric Schmidt would be looking at a year of jail time right about now.

That's the deal the owners of Pirate Bay got from him, anyway.

But it looks like the judge may have been a card-carrying member of pro-copyright groups lobbying for tougher copyright laws. Justice is so not blind.

Pirate Bay judge and pro-copyright lobbyist accused of bias • The Register
The judge in The Pirate Bay trial has been accused of bias, after Sweden's national radio station revealed that Thomas Norström was a member of the same pro-copyright groups as several of the main entertainment industry reps in the case.

What keeps you awake?

2009-04-22T06:07:00.001-07:00

Xkcd is sometimes wickedly funny.   If you don't get it, you'll probably sleep easier.

Things that count as Fair Use

2009-04-21T13:59:00.001-07:00

Who knew that a court would actually side with the public's interest on fair use of copyright? Refreshing.

Fair Use, Turnitin, And... Why Google Never Should Have Caved On Book Scanning | Techdirt
While O'Toole rushes through these points, they're actually pretty important, since they're quite often misunderstood by people (even copyright lawyers) who claim that commercial use isn't fair use, or that using an entire work can't be fair use or can't be transformative. In this case, the court lays out why none of that is true.

via Slashdot

Legislation to help musicians

2009-04-21T12:23:00.001-07:00

Here's an interesting way to level the playing field between terrestrial and internet radio: make terrestrial radio pay the same high royalties as streaming internet stations.

But it turns out that the National Association of Broadcasters and the RIAA are against it (go figure) claiming that paying the higher royalties will hurt the artists.

This is ironically the same argument used by the same people in support of higher royalty rates for the internet stations.

Bono: Radio Should Pay for Songs, Like Web Does - News and Analysis by PC Magazine
Should traditional radio stations have to pay the same royalty fees that are imposed on Internet and satellite radio stations? If pending legislation is successful, that could become a reality, but the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) is hitting back at the bill's high-profile supporters to make sure that doesn't happen.

Funniest April Fool's Page

2009-04-02T08:23:00.001-07:00

Google is always a class act on April Fool's, but this one is obvious enough to prevent any confusion about its authenticity. At the same time, the humor is wickedly subtle.

Its only mildly funny, in a geeky way, until you check out the FORTRAN SDK.

Don't get it? Well I guess you had to be there.

Google App Engine Blog: A Brand New Language on Google App Engine!
If you're an enterprise customer and want to take advantage of Google App Engine, but have a large and cumbersome legacy system, we want to make it easy for you to port to the cloud. By providing a Fortran 77 runtime, along with a familiar, easy-to-use deployment mechanism, we hope to make this process efficient and straightforward.

Want to give it a try? Download our SDK and deploy your application by mailing punch cards to:

Google App Engine, C/O APPCFG
1600 Amphitheatre Pkwy
Mountain View, CA 94043

Obama teams up with RIAA

2009-03-24T03:47:00.001-07:00

Its now clear that our new high-tech administration is not in favor of easing access to music, so much as it is easing access to our private medical records. The Wired article points out that this should come as no surprise. To be fair, though, the President may have to pick his battles these days. Why irritate your political backers in Hollywood when it looks like they are already starting to cut up their bedsheets up into easy-to-wave rectangles on their own?

Obama Sides With RIAA, Supports $150,000 Fine per Music Track | Threat Level from Wired.com
The Obama administration for the first time is weighing in on a Recording Industry Association of America file sharing lawsuit and is supporting hefty awards of as much as $150,000 per purloined music track.

Reverse engineering a dinosaur from a chicken

2009-03-05T13:20:00.001-08:00

Oh like you're not secretly hoping it works.

'Dinochicken' Scheme Puts Evolution in Reverse : Discovery News
Some of the world's leading paleontologists are attempting to recreate a dinosaur -- or something a lot like a dinosaur -- by starting with a chicken embryo and working backward to engineer a "chickenosaurus" or "dinochicken," project leader Jack Horner told Discovery News.

New Self Portrait of da Vinci discovered?

2009-02-23T14:30:00.001-08:00

Check out what could turn out to be only the second authentic self portrait.

Portrait of Leonardo da Vinci discovered in Basilicata - Times Online
At one time thought to portray Galileo Galilei, the great astronomer, it shows a man in three-quarter profile wearing a hat with a feather in it. Mr Barbatelli, who found the painting by chance while researching the history of the Templar Knights and the First Crusade

Mr Barbatelli said: “I could see at once it was not Galileo. The posture, the style and technique were reminiscent of the portrait of Leonardo in the Uffizi”. He too stressed that the painting needed to be “subjected to more tests”, adding “we are only at the beginning”.

Milky Way still ringing from an impact 2 GYA

2009-02-23T12:54:00.001-08:00

New Scientist has an article about a computer simulation created by Ivan Minchev of the University of Strasbourg, France of the distribution of velocities of billions of Milky Way stars. From the model, a pattern of "ripples" emerged; streams of stars at high velocity. He suggests these stars were jolted by a shock wave from another galaxy merging with ours about 2 billion years ago.

[0902.1531] Is the Milky Way ringing? The hunt for high velocity streams
By matching the number and positions of the observed streams, we estimate that the Milky Way disk was strongly perturbed ~1.9 Gyr ago. This event could have been associated with Galactic bar formation.

Dealing with EULA's

2009-02-19T10:40:00.001-08:00

Step by step instructions on how to make sure your kitty will take the rap for any EULA violations.

The Agreeable Cat by Anne Loucks
How often have you been presented with unplesant click-through license agreements like this one from the Adobe website:

Pride and Predator

2009-02-18T14:18:00.001-08:00

Yep, it seems to be exactly what you'd expect, providing Variety was not duped or hacked. Perhaps not as compelling as recent literary adaptations of Austen, it does make you sort of wonder how Mr. Darcy will fare. Probably a box office hit.

Rocket launches 'Predator' - Entertainment News, Film News, Media - Variety
Elton John's Rocket Pictures hopes to make the first Jane Austen adaptation to which men will drag their girlfriends.

Will Clark is set to direct "Pride and Predator," which veers from the traditional period costume drama when an alien crash lands and begins to butcher the mannered protags, who suddenly have more than marriage and inheritance to worry about.

Neanderthals lactose Intolerant.

2009-02-13T05:03:00.001-08:00

First draft of the neanderthal genome was announced. Very little evidence for interbreeding with humans, and the following tidbit.

First draft of Neanderthal genome is unveiled - life - 12 February 2009 - New Scientist
The new sequences suggest that the Vindija Neanderthal lacked the ability to digest milk sugar in adulthood - a trait that became common among northern Europeans and Africans only in the last 10,000 years.

Oldest fossil animals found

2009-02-09T14:34:00.001-08:00

From the Cryogenian period before the Cambrian.

Oldest Fossil Evidence for Animals Found | LiveScience
The ancient demosponges — probably measuring across no more than the width of a fork tine — were pinned down via fossilized steroids, called steranes, which are characteristic of the cell membranes of the sponges, rather than via direct fossils of the sponges themselves.

"The fact that we can detect sponge steranes at all suggests that by the Cryogenian Period [about 850 to 635 million years ago] demosponges were ecologically prominent and there were abundant demosponges living on the shallow sea floor," said geochemist Gordon D. Love of the University of California, Riverside, who headed up the analysis detailed in the Feb. 5 issue of the journal Nature.

Scorpion claws similar to Anomalocaris?

2009-02-09T14:30:00.001-08:00

Did Anomalocaris really go extinct?

Origin of claws seen in 390-million-year-old fossil
Scientists have puzzled over the origins of the paired grasping appendages found on the heads of scorpions and horseshoe crabs. The researchers suggest that Schinderhannes gives a hint. Their appendages may be an equivalent to those found in the ancient predatory ancestor, Anomalocaris — even though creatures with those head structures were thought to have become extinct by the middle of the Cambrian Period, 100 million years before Schinderhannes lived.

This was a clever try, but it still triggers the curse.

2009-02-09T14:26:00.001-08:00

The Mummy X-posed: The face of an Ancient Egyptian priestess revealed after 3,000 years | Mail Online
She has lain undisturbed for nearly 3,000 years, sealed in a decorated coffin ready for her voyage to the underworld.

Now the face of Meresamun, a priestess who sang in the temples of Ancient Egypt hundreds of years before the birth of Christ, has been revealed to the world for the first time.

Using a hospital scanner, scientists were able to peer inside her closed casket, and see through the layers of linen that protected her mummified features.

Report card on US Infrastructure: D

2009-02-02T14:16:00.001-08:00

The article breaks down the grade by each component of infrastructure. Now, mind you, letting ASCE advise you on infrastructure spending levels is a little like letting a fox advise you on the security systems for your hen house. Still, the picture speaks volumes.

U.S. infrastructure crumbling : Scientific American Blog
The nation's roads, bridges, levees, schools, water supply and other infrastructure are in such bad shape that it would take $2.2 trillion over five years to bring them up to speed. But even that huge chunk of change would only raise their grade from a "D" average to a "B," according to the latest "Report Card for America's Infrastructure" released today by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).

When copyright expires

2009-01-31T05:03:00.001-08:00

Generally speaking, I adhere to the maxim that copyright should expire. So that, you know, new and clever ideas can be explored and advanced based upon the cultural groundwork laid down by earlier works.   But uh ...

"Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" - Broadsheet - Salon.com
And now, perhaps inevitably, we see the blessed union of two beloved trends in Seth Grahame-Smith's "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." To be released by Quirk Books later this year...

...what would Ms. Austen think of this unconventional adaptation? To this, I turned to Salon book critic and Austen fan Laura Miller, who replied:

"Well, she'd be astonished, of course, since her age was, sadly, as bereft of zombie movies as it was of indoor plumbing. However, I don't doubt that Elizabeth Bennet would adapt quickly to the imperatives of a zombie attack...

Shaking up the Tree of Life

2009-01-27T14:25:00.001-08:00

Earth may have given rise to two distinct groups of animals:
bilaterians -- animals with bilateral symmetry, like humans -- and
non-bilaterians, which include corals, jelly fish, hydra, unusual,
often poisonous, creatures known as cubozoans, and other organisms.

Ancestor For All Animals Identified : Discovery News
Although non-bilaterians and bilaterians appear to have followed separate evolutionary paths, nervous systems appear in both groups. Placozoans and sponges don't possess them, but many of their closely related taxa do.

"So this means that if our work is right, nervous systems evolved twice: Once in the lineage leading to bilateria and once in the lineage leading to corals, jelly fish, hydra and cubozoa," he said.

Gene Roddenberry and Majel Barrett to receive space funeral.

2009-01-27T13:18:00.001-08:00

This would be more touching and less creepy, if it had not been for that original series episode called "I, Mudd". Hear Harry Mudd describe it himself.

The Associated Press: Gene Roddenberry, wife to spend eternity in space
The creator of "Star Trek" and his wife will spend eternity together in space. Celestis Inc., a company that specializes in "memorial spaceflights," said Monday

Pandora goes commercial

2009-01-21T13:48:00.001-08:00

Well, not as invasive as Live365 but still, this is not good news. I much prefer the Radio Paradise listener-supported model.

Pandora ads invasive commercials - PressDemocrat.com
Change has come to Pandora.com, the popular free music site that lets listeners craft radio stations to fit their tastes.

The site added 15-second commercial breaks to its streaming music service Tuesday as it continues to experiment with new ways to generate revenue.

Mitochondial DNA of Thylacine Sequenced

2009-01-13T13:39:00.001-08:00

The Thylacine is one of the most fascinating examples of convergent evolution. Sometimes called a marsupial wolf, they were bounty hunted to extinction by 1936. Of course there's talk of bringing one back via cloning.

Hair Of Tasmanian Tiger Yields Genes Of Extinct Species

The new gene sequences permitted the team to accurately determine how the Tasmanian Tiger is related to other marsupials. They compared the sequences to a mitochondrial genome sequence they determined from a living reference species, a marsupial called a numbat. "The two thylacine sequences were extremely similar to each other, with only 5 differences in 15,492 nucleotides," Miller reports. The researchers say this similarity suggests that, as the species neared extinction, there was too little genetic diversity to resist bacterial and other environmental stresses. "Low genetic diversity is appearing as a common theme in the extinct species being studied by our team," Schuster said.

Neanderthals more likely to have O blood type?

2009-01-09T08:42:00.001-08:00

Several interesting consequences if borne out, including this one that observes O type blood suggests long isolations for certain types of disease.

Neanderthals might have made good blood donors - life - 09 January 2009 - New Scientist
"It is interesting that Neanderthals have a high O frequency, because the other group with a high O frequency today is native Americans," Hawks says. "They're not closely related, but they may have experienced similar environments to the extent that they might have been isolated from diseases that came from Africa and South Asia."

Stacking the DoJ deck against internet radio

2009-01-07T06:54:00.001-08:00

Not in the habit of reposting Slashdot stuff, but if you thought Two-Point Obama was going to friend internet radio ... not so much.

Obama picks RIAA's favorite lawyer for a top Justice post | Politics and Law - CNET News
As president-elect, one of Obama's first tech-related decisions has been to select the Recording Industry Association of America's favorite lawyer to be the third in command at the Justice Department. And Obama's pick as deputy attorney general, the second most senior position, is the lawyer who oversaw the defense of the Copyright Term Extension Act--the same law that Lessig and his allies unsuccessfully sued to overturn.

via Slashdot

5 Free Music Sites - under Createive Commons license.

2009-01-05T08:53:00.001-08:00

Here is the ultimate answer to the RIAA's business model, posted over at MakeUseOf. Enjoy.

The Best Sites To Download Free Music | MakeUseOf.com
Not the torrent or limewire kind; the I-take-it-without-paying-so-it’s free, but music released under creative licenses, by people who don’t think music should be a business. People who sing for emotions, not money.

Was that a Diplodocus in Star Wars?

2009-01-02T14:39:00.001-08:00

Here's a pretty detailed discussion of the anatomy of the Krayt dragon.   Even more interesting is the link in the article to another paleontologist that tracked it down and re-discovered it.

The sauropods of Star Wars « Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week
The first (and best) sauropod of Star Wars will be no surprise to anyone with reasonably sharp eyes and rudimentary knowledge of sauropod osteology: the Krayt dragon skeleton that C-3PO walks past on Tatooine is composed mainly of cast sauropod vertebrae.

What Obama might do about Ares.

2009-01-02T12:18:00.001-08:00

The interplay between Mike Griffin and the Obama transition team has been entertaining. He's even reportedly getting some unexpected help. But here's a report that sounds very interesting, and might tip the hand of the Obama team's plans on development of the Shuttle replacement.

TG Daily - Obama wants Pentagon and NASA to play nice for moon race
According to Bloomberg, "Obama has said the Pentagon's military space program -- which spent about $22 billion in fiscal year 2008, almost a third more than NASA's budget -- could be tapped to speed the civilian agency toward it's goals as the recession pressures federal spending."

NASA currently has a five-year gap between the retirement of the Space Shuttle and the return to space via the Orion six-person craft that can carry astronauts to the ISS and the moon atop the Ares I and Ares V rockets (currently under development). During the gap, NASA has contracted with two commercial space companies to service the ISS.

Java Programmers not Humorless

2008-12-31T13:52:00.001-08:00

And they have a sense of irony ...

but are more probably like Drew Carey than Jim Carrey.

Who Says Java Programmers Don't Have A Sense Of Humor? | The Onion - America's Finest News Source
I've heard the stereotypes about Java programmers being uptight nerds who don't know how to cut loose. Well, that's about as far from the truth as Enterprise is from Gene Roddenberry's original vision. Contrary to what you may have heard, Javaheads can be quite the cut-ups. In fact, I've been working at Symantec for more than a year now, and compared to the systems administrators and IT support personnel around here, I'm a regular Jim Carrey.

Finding TV Online

2008-12-31T08:58:00.001-08:00

A good list of sites, here.   Although its not in this list, I've had some luck finding stuff with Veoh as well.

The Best Tools To Watch TV On Your Computer | MakeUseOf.com
Much like phone companies became complacent with their position of power before the world of VoIP started capturing more of the telecom market, cable TV providers are complacent and oblivious to the rising popularity and reach of Video over IP. More and more people are getting fed up with the exorbitant rates these companies charge, and they are looking to the internet for alternatives.

Anatomically modern humans, in the kitchen, with a lead pipe.

2008-12-29T14:58:00.001-08:00

This interesting modeling technique reveals clues that point to extinction most foul.

Competition, Not Climate Change, Led To Neanderthal Extinction, Study Shows
The researchers conclude that the Neanderthal populations that occupied what is now southern Spain were the last to survive because they were able to avoid direct competition with modern humans since the two populations exploited distinct territories during the cold climatic conditions of H4. They also point out that during this population event contact between Neanderthals and modern humans may have permitted cultural and genetic exchanges.

Goodbye, VHS

2008-12-29T10:22:00.001-08:00

The last VHS distributor calls it a day, although the owner does not reveal the location of the warehouse full of "free tapes" in the article.

Last major VHS supplier ejects from tape biz • The Register
"It's dead, this is it, this is the last Christmas, without a doubt," Distribution co-owner Ryan Kugler reportedly said. "I was the last one buying VHS and the last one selling it, and I'm done. Anything left in [the] warehouse we'll just give away or throw away."

Goodbye VHS. You outlasted Beta, Laserdisc and RCA's Capacitance Electronic Disc, but it was only a matter of time. Last one to watch that ALF Christmas Special tape, don't forget to rewind on your way out.

Another way to make fine wine.

2008-12-19T18:28:00.001-08:00

Another in our on-going series of alcohol alchemy.

New Technology Transforms Cheap Wine into 'Vintage' Quality in Minutes
Unpalatable plonk could soon become a thing of the past thanks to new research that has managed to fast-track the aging process necessary to turn astringent young wine into something worth drinking.

...

The accelerated ageing process centres on the exposure of wine to an electrical field.

If you don't stand for anything ... you don't stand for anything.

2008-12-14T07:28:00.001-08:00

In Sweden these guys are as big as the Green Party; close to capturing an EU seat. Who knew that Pirates would be the next civil rights champions? Sort of makes Jack Sparrow look like Albert Schweitzer.

Pirate Parties are “A Classic Civil Rights Movement” | TorrentFreak
It was almost three years ago that the first Pirate Party was formed in Sweden. Its aim is to deal with over-reaching copyright law, and this is exactly what the Pirate Party stands for in most people’s minds. But there is more.

In recent times, the Pirate Party has been more concerned with government actions that affect ordinary citizens. The wiretapping law (FRA) for example, as well as the likes of IPRED, which will give companies chasing an alleged copyright infringer more powers than the police.

Proving many worlds through failure.

2008-12-11T14:54:00.001-08:00

Over at Dynamics of Cats they have a keen sense of how to make use of null results ... clever right down to the last line.

Anthropic Selection of Broken Particle Accelerators
Before the LHC there was the SSC which also met its demise in strange ways.

Coincidence?
I think not...

Y'ule Tide Carols

2008-12-05T14:54:00.001-08:00

So I'm not sure what to say about this CD of carols composed and performed by folks who, in a fit of genius, have connected a couple of ideas that may have been better left separate.
Someone went and put together a little music video tribute (also a genius). If you haven't read the right books, this will seem very odd indeed.   If you have read them, don't miss this other carol.

via: Pharyngula: Squidmas carols!

Teddies in Space

2008-12-05T12:22:00.001-08:00

This will make a great screen background.

Out of this world: British teddy bears strapped to helium weather balloon reach the edge of space | Mail Online
t's not often that Britain can claim a win in the space race. But these teddy bears drifting nearly 20 miles above Earth have become the first soft toys to take part in extra-vehicular activity (to use correct NASA jargon) at such an altitude.

Will no one rid me of this turbulent priest?

2008-12-04T08:00:00.001-08:00

Today's Irony.

Conservative Episcopalians Vote to Create Alternative Branch - washingtonpost.com
Conservatives from the Episcopal Church voted yesterday to form their own branch of Anglicanism in the United States and said they would seek new recognition in the worldwide church because of their growing disenchantment over the ordination of an openly gay bishop and other liberal developments.

Copernicus Found

2008-11-20T13:50:00.001-08:00

Scientists say Copernicus' remains, grave found
Researchers said Thursday they have identified the remains of Nicolaus Copernicus by comparing DNA from a skeleton and hair retrieved from one of the 16th-century astronomer's books. The findings could put an end to centuries of speculation about the exact resting spot of Copernicus, a priest and astronomer whose theories identified the Sun, not the Earth, as the center of the universe.

The Monty Python YouTube Channel

2008-11-19T07:05:00.001-08:00

I really never expected it, but they threw up their own stuff.
A nice intro video, too.

YouTube - MontyPython's Channel

A project management joke

2008-11-17T09:57:00.001-08:00

Send it to the PMP in your life.

The Manager FAQ : programming
Three men: a project manager, a software engineer, and a hardware engineer are working on a project.

About midweek they decide to walk up and down the beach during their lunch hour. Halfway up the beach, they stumbled upon a lamp. As they rub the lamp a genie appears and says "Normally I would grant you 3 wishes, but since there are 3 of you, I will grant you each one wish."

The hardware engineer went first. "I would like to spend the rest of my life living in a huge house in St. Thomas, with no money worries and surrounded by beautiful women who worship me." The genie granted him his wish and sent him on off to St. Thomas.

The software engineer went next. "I would like to spend the rest of my life living on a huge yacht cruising the Mediterranean, with no money worries and surrounded by beautiful women who worship me." The genie granted him his wish and sent him off to the Mediterranean.

Last, but not least, it was the project manager's turn. "And what would your wish be?" asked the genie.

"I want them both back after lunch" replied the project manager.

Hobbit on NOVA

2008-11-14T08:57:00.001-08:00

The show provides an excellent summary of the findings.
See it in Quicktime, here:

NOVA | Alien From Earth | Watch the Program | PBS

From Cave Paintings to the Internets

2008-11-11T05:58:00.001-08:00

This timeline site chronicles developments in information storage. There are a lot of important and interesting tidbits to be found, along with greatest hits like the Dead Sea Scrolls.

From Cave Paintings to the Internet: 70,000 BCE to 8,000 BCE Timeline

SongBird 1.0.0 RC1 build available.

2008-11-07T07:20:00.001-08:00

As reported by SlashDot:

Nightly Builds - Songbird Wiki
All of the features for our first official 1.0.0 release candidate are code-complete and we're now on a bug hunt! Check out the cool new stuff by grabbing the rc1 build below, and please let us know if you have any issues. Please also review the Release Notes for known issues.

And check out the change to the icon:

Hubble Back Online

2008-10-30T07:36:00.001-07:00

Nice image of one of Halton Arp's galaxies.

HubbleSite - NewsCenter - Hubble Scores a Perfect Ten (10/30/2008) - Release Images
Just a couple of days after the orbiting observatory was brought back online, Hubble aimed its prime working camera, the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2), at a particularly intriguing target, a pair of gravitationally interacting galaxies called Arp 147.

8tracks avoids the muxtape scenario

2008-10-28T14:41:00.001-07:00

They have started adding typical social features, but the really interesting part is how they avoid the RIAA muxtape treatment. If you don't recall the muxtape quandary, this sums it up. The trick will be what they do when they grow to "large online radio" status.

8tracks: The “Legal Muxtape” That Continues To Thrive
8tracks keeps on the right side of the law by making use of a DMCA loophole that allows it to operate as a small online radio station, which have lower licensing fees for the music they stream. Each playlist mimics a miniature radio station: while users are free to share their playlists with friends, the site doesn’t actually show what songs are in the playlist - you have to listen to find out.

Temple at the Dawn of Civilization.

2008-10-28T06:25:00.001-07:00

Predating Stonehenge by 6000 years makes the similarities even more remarkable.

Gobekli Tepe: The World’s First Temple? | History & Archaeology | Smithsonian Magazine
Six miles from Urfa, an ancient city in southeastern Turkey, Klaus Schmidt has made one of the most startling archaeological discoveries of our time: massive carved stones about 11,000 years old, crafted and arranged by prehistoric people who had not yet developed metal tools or even pottery. The megaliths predate Stonehenge by some 6,000 years. The place is called Gobekli Tepe, and Schmidt, a German archaeologist who has been working here more than a decade, is convinced it's the site of the world's oldest temple.