Give Franz Josef Och, a researcher at the Information Sciences Institute at the University of Southern California, enough parallel data and you can have a translation system for any two languages in a matter of hours. His approach relies on two concepts, gathering huge amounts of data, and applying statistical models to this data — it completely ignores grammar rules and dictionaries — the computer-encoded equivalents of the famous Rosetta Stone inscriptions
For many IT managers a weeklong failure of the corporate email system under their control would be more traumatic than a divorce
As much of the world nears an Internet address crunch, North America stands as an island apart, threatening to fragment plans for the biggest overhaul of the Web in decades
The FBI is so scared that Internet telephone calls are fast becoming a national security threat that must be countered with new police wiretap rules. Yet another intrusion into your privacy
Waste product from a Coca-Cola plant in India which the company provides as fertiliser for local farmers contains toxic chemicals. Dangerous levels of the known carcinogen cadmium have been found in the sludge produced from the plant in the southern state of Kerala. Coca-Cola denies the reports and say they will continue to supply the sludge to farmers
MIT student, James Patten, has created a Corporate Fallout Detector. It acts and looks like a Geiger counter, but it’s a barcode scanner with an internal, updateable database of corporate misdeeds, with both Pollution and Corporate Ethics modes
Paul Darrow, who played the ruthless anti-hero Avon, is in a consortium that has acquired the rights to Blake’s 7 in a deal to bring the show back to screens more than 20 years after it ended
While much of Europe seeks to fortify its borders against unwanted foreigners, dozens of Spanish villages have invited immigrants to move in
Apple has just added Soundtrack to their arsenal of digital/creative apps. Soundtrack allows users to produce high quality audio for video, DVD and web projects for a reasonably priced AU$499.
Initially it came as a (pleasant) surprise to me that Apple released an audio/music app – but I guess it was purely logical after releasing iMovie, DVD Studio Pro, Final Cut Pro etc, all apps where users will want to incorporate a soundtrack of some description. It makes perfect sense to create an app that’ll a) help compose audio to compliment your latest creation, and b) keep ’em using (damn fine) Apple products.
I’m very interested to see how readily this app is used/accepted and put through it’s paces. Go hard Apple!
On a slighlty unrelated note, you need an iPod. Your friends need an iPod, your family, lover, dog, cat and single cell amoebas need an iPod. I recently acquired a 30giger and totally adore it! This is some of the best product design you’ll ever see, and one of the most desirable objects you’ll ever posess/caress, from it’s slick shiny chrome to it’s sleek white polymer (or whatever the white parts are).
The iPod has replaced my clunky CD walkman and cds accompanying me on my daily train commuting adventures. It also means I don’t need to play CDs through my computer at work any more, and chance more blue screen of death situations than I have to. (Bloody Windows). I can also carry a hell of alot more music around with me.
The backlit screen is very clear and crisp, coupled with the very intuitive scroll wheel, gives me easy access to my growing collections of mp3s, calendars and notes. Having an extra external 30GB firewire hard drive is also very fucking handy!
Now go forth and iPod-ify!
Medical researchers have warned that wearing a tie could be bad for your eyes. A report in the British Journal of Ophthalmology has shown that a tight necktie raises blood pressure in the eye, increasing the chances of developing glaucoma
Australia’s internet service providers who are excluded from the notorious ‘gang of four’ peering arrangement are steadily forming a more inclusive gang of their own, with help from PIPE Networks, a new national internet exchange operator
Napster may be long dead, but the name and the kitty logo of the pioneer online music-swapping program could return to cyberspace before the year is out. Roxio, which owns the rights to the Napster name, plans to shelve its current online music service, pressplay, and roll out Napster 2.0 by Christmas
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission plans to have an automated robot trawl the web for suspicious sites and discussion board postings could be operational by October
An unusual suspect is being used in Western Queensland to deter feral dogs from having a woolly snack. Tambo Grazier Andrew Marin has employed alpacas to protect sheep flocks from predators and he says so far it seems to be working. Alpacas are highly protective of their herds and more than capable of killing a dog if threatened
Monty, a Shih-Tzu, in Greater Manchester has been offered a gold credit card from the Royal Bank of Scotland with a spending limit of £10,000
I’ve emailed this around before, but was reminded of it on the weekend when I read John Sladek’s Poe parody The Purlioned Butter and thought it would suit the blog nicely. Here it is, then: Edgar Allan Poe’s 404 message.
Once upon a midnight dreary,
While I websurfed, weak and weary,
Over many a strange and spurious website ofhot chicks galore,While I clicked my fav’rite bookmark,
Suddenly there came a warning,
And my heart was filled with mourning,
Mourning for my dear amour.
‘Tis not possible,I muttered,
Give me back my cheap hardcore!—
Quoth the server, “404”.
A bamboo bicycle is a strong step towards making bicycling more sustainable, especially in contrast to aluminium, one of the most resource demanding materials that exist — via Slashdot
Stress is one of the top causes of heart attacks — and working with stupid people on a daily basis is one of the deadliest forms of stress. Despite the dodgy source and unverifiable contacts, I have to wonder if this article would be proven true if authentic research was performed
Malaysian Muslim men can divorce their wives through text messages on mobile telephones. Anyone who is gutless enough to initiate a divorce using SMS is someone you should be glad to be shot of
Just finished the latest project — three dog scarves. Not scarves for dogs, despite what the full size version of the second image may indicate, but scarves made from dog.
The striped warp is commercial cotton in black and natural, the white being too stark against the natural colour of the dog yarn, which gives the finished scarves a fuzzy halo much like mohair.
The weft for two of the scarves is a hand spun blend of Alaskan Malamute and Siberian Husky undercoat — the stuff they would otherwise leave all over the house. The yarn for one of the scarves is overspun, producing a scarf with a corded texture. The third scarf is woven with dog yarn plyed with natural black Alpaca giving the finished item a tweed effect.
All three scarves are finished with hand twisted fringes.
It helps to catch your models during a nap.
Although, sometimes luck is with you and they stop gnawing on each others heads long enough to get a decent picture.
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